Speaker 1: We will call our meeting to order. This is the Natick School Committee. It is Monday, March 2nd at 7:03 PM So we'll start with roll call. Mr. Patel. Present Ms. Flas? Here. Mr. Brand? Present. Dr. Fugman? Here. Ms. Collins? Yes. Ms. Brunell Here in IMA? Yes. So we have a quorum. So we'll stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence Speaker 2: Of allegiance of the United States of America, and to the Republic, which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Speaker 1: Can we take that moment of silence for our service members serving here and abroad? Any announcements? I have one. So earlier tonight, the first FinCon Education subcommittee meeting was held with school committee administration. That meeting was recorded, and I will send the link when it's available if you want to see it as well. I think Dr. Fash, you can share the slide deck that you presented with the overview of information. And there's a second meeting that will be held March 11th. So when we get the meeting details, I'll forward those to the committee. And apologies that I didn't forward the
link to this meeting tonight. I just forgot about that. So that's education subcommittee. And then the other announcement I have is that the public budget hearing will be held next Monday, March 9th. So that meeting is posted, and that is a meeting for members of the public as always, to come and ask questions. Speaker 2: 6 45, Speaker 1: It, I think it's 6 45. Yep. So it will start at 6 45. It'll be part of the regular school committee meeting held simultaneously, but the public hearing for the budget will be 6 45.
And I just wanted to do just a quick check here that we think we'll be ready to vote the budget after that, after the public hearing with, without any unforeseen changes. Yes. On Speaker 2: March 9th. Speaker 1: On March 9th. Speaker 2: Just wanna be Speaker 1: March 9th. Yeah. Yeah. Just because the, the education subcommittee does need to have our vote before they can vote on our budget. So the timing would be nice if we're able to vote on March 9th. But of course, if something comes, comes up in discussion and we can't, then we'll take that decision on the ninth.
But we have a possible vote for the budget on March 9th. That's it for me. Speaker 3: Elise. Speaker 1: Ms. Collins? Linda, Speaker 3: Could I ask that you send me the verbiage for the public meeting so I can read it at the beginning of the public meeting? We'll, just those to, yep. Thank you Speaker 1: For the, for the hearing. For Speaker 3: The hearing, yes. Okay. I'm sorry for the hearing. Speaker 1: All right. No other announcements. Okay. So I'll move to public speak. Public speak is scheduled for a period of 15 minutes. Each speaker will be permitted a maximum of three minutes during which time they can speak about topics within the scope of responsibility of the school committee.
All remarks will be addressed through the school committee chair. Public speak is speak is not a time for debate or response to comments by the school committee. And I have not received anything by email today. Is there anyone in the room? Speaker 4: No. Speaker 1: Nobody in the room. Anybody online seeking Speaker 3: Not seeing speaker, public speak. Okay. Speaker 1: All right. Seeing no one seeking public speak will now close public speak so we can turn to updates. Do we have our teacher rep online night? No. Okay. If they show up later,
we can offer them an opportunity. Anything from our student rep? Speaker 5: Just one Wednesday. Some members of student heading the cape for the conference with other student councils in the state. They'll go till Friday around 10 of us. I think they're going. So it should be pretty big turnout. Speaker 1: Wonderful. Thank you. We'll look forward to hearing. Hopefully you can bring back some thoughts from the conference after you attend. Yeah. Great. Is Ms. Gomes online? She is. Okay. Ms. Gomes, do you have any METCO updates you'd like to share tonight? Speaker 6: Hi. Good evening. No meco updates at this time.
Speaker 3: Okay. Speaker 1: All right. Do we have a motion for the consent agenda? Speaker 3: Move approval of the consent agenda. Second. Speaker 1: All in favor? Anyone against? Anyone abstaining? So we have six in favor and one abstaining consent agenda passes. So I'll turn things over to Dr. Stash. Speaker 7: Excellent. Good to see everyone. We have a series of items to share with you today that we hope follows the, really the bridge plan. And we're gonna go kind of in order. I know there's a few other people coming in to talk about Lilja Accelerator Repair and Doug Ponts.
We might switch up the order if our guests come into the Zoom in case there's questions. But we'll start with the multilingual learner and tier one instruction update. We're excited to have Joe here to present to you and to hear about our plans for this department. Welcome. And maybe do a full introduction of kind of where you've been, because this, the committee's kind of, is it their first introduction? Yes, Speaker 8: I think so. All right. Hi everybody. I'm Joe Santiago Sylvestri. I'm the Assistant Director of Multilingual Learning. I'm very excited to be here to, to meet with all of you
and talk a little bit about our department and give an overview of some our, of our vision of where we currently are and where we'd like to go in the future connected to our bridge plan. And to talk a little bit about who our multilingual learner students are. We can go to the next slide. This is our draft vision of multilingual education in Natick that the, the ML department co-created together. And it really focuses in on the unified commitment or shared responsibility that all adults in our system have for the success of our multilingual learner students.
And we do that by recognizing their strengths and their assets, holding high expectations of them, while also providing tools and strategies that make the language of instruction comprehensible to them. We focus in on our systems and structures and processes to make sure that we're removing barriers for ML students and that we're seeking solutions when challenges come up. And then we're also focused on building and strengthening our partnerships with families to be more culturally responsive and in alignment with the, the bridge plan.
We can make this vision come alive by really focusing in first on tier one instruction for ML students by looking at our professional development, our formative assessment practices, and our approach to collaboration across departments. Always within the, the lens of our MTSS framework, we focus in on deepening our understanding of who ML students are and what their assets are, what their strengths are, so that we can improve their sense of belonging, really affirm their identities and build inclusive environments where those strengths can be lifted.
And then, as I said, we, we really focus in on enhancing our partnership with our ML families, starting first by looking at our registration and screening processes, and then from there, ensuring that we're providing ongoing support and communication, and particularly looking at how can we strengthen our LPAC as well. And so, multilingual learner is a term, is an umbrella term that encompasses a lot of different types of language learners. It's an asset oriented term, meaning it's highlighting the strength of our students and what they bring with them, focusing in on the fact
that they come already knowing one or sometimes more than one language. In Natick, we have about 15% of our district families report speaking. Another language besides English at home, one of 48 different languages. Here you can see the top six language groups that are represented of those students to about 300 of them are identified as English learners. That means they are actively in the process of learning English. We still use the term English learner because it, it has certain rights and regulations behind it.
And, and it's part of our reporting categories. This is, this represents an 89% increase in the number of English learners students since 2021. Under that term, we also have English Learner students with disabilities. So these are duly identified students who have IEPs. And then we can also have students with limited or interrupted formal education. And then we also have former English learners. So these are students who were identified as English learners, but they've met the state criteria to exit ESL instruction based on the annual access English
language proficiency assessment. So as you can see, multilingual learners are a large heterogeneous group of students who are all part of tier one general education in Natick, like most districts in Massachusetts. Our program model for serving our English learner students is a sheltered English instruction or SCI model, which has two main main components. On one side, we have our core content instruction that's provided by SEI endorsed educators who are teaching all students, but they're using tools
and strategies to, to make the language comprehensible to English learner students at different proficiency levels. On the other side, also part of tier one instruction, we have e English as a second language instruction. So this is instruction provided by licensed ESL teachers who provide systematic and structured language development, and they use content themes and topics as the vehicle to drive that instruction. And then overlapping all of that, we have English language development, and that's what's happening every day, all day throughout all parts of the school for our, for our multilingual learner students.
And that's really the shared responsibility of, of all the adults in the system. So in order to better understand, in order to better understand how NAT has implemented this program model, I've spent a lot of time visiting classrooms, meeting with teachers, sending out surveys, and meeting with PLCs, and really, and talking with leaders to really understand how we've been implementing this program. And what I quickly found, which I don't think will be a surprise, is that we have excellent teachers and administrators who are working so hard every day.
I think the opportunities lie in enhancing our systems and structures, aligning our program models across the district, and building coherency and consistency in how we deliver instruction. Maybe looking at our ESL curriculum and our SEI curriculum to embed language expectations throughout. And then really focusing in on improving collaborative practices. Collaboration is so key for our multilingual learner students. And we know from, from research and from regulations that language development happens best in a meaningful context and through interaction with peers. So looking for opportunities to really strengthen
that meaningful development of language will really help our, our ML students thrive, develop academically and linguistically, and move us towards closing those opportunity gaps. And so if we improve our tier one instruction, especially through building collaboration and shared responsibility, we can, we can create a deeper sense of belonging community for our ML students. This year, we've offered a lot of professional development, myself and the ML department at all schools, really focusing on understanding who our ML students are, especially through that, that asset oriented lens.
For example, we spent time learning about what it means to be bilingual, to be multilingual, and the strengths that are inherent in that, and how we can celebrate that and, and leverage those strengths through instruction and celebrate it through things like the Seal of Biliteracy. Part of this work has also included examining our team meeting protocols and ensuring that when we're discussing ML student progress, that it's again, asset oriented using multiple points of data to make sure that we're making the best possible decisions and recommendations for them.
And we also have been collaborating around ways to expand opportunities outside the classroom for MLS to ensure that they have access to extracurricular activities, athletics, mental health services, and summer programming. So for instance, we, we are going to continue to offer and expand our amazing academic summer program for elementary and middle school ML students. Thanks. In large part, to the efforts of Michelle Boyle, who's our department head at NHS and her team, and in tandem with focusing on tier one academics
and a sense of belonging. We're also working to build stronger partnerships with our families. Our schools already do a lot of great work, work, connecting with our ML families through Talking Points and other tools to, to bridge the, the language barriers. We also, our schools are also hosting events like the Thanksgiving night that NHS hosts in a couple of weeks, the middle schools are hosting a board game and pizza night for our ML families. And we're also working on an in-person LPAC opportunity in the spring.
And once the dates are finalized for that, I'll share that. I've also been working closely with the, the registrar and the power school administrator to collaborate around our initial registration and screening process to really make sure that we're getting the most accurate information about our students' language backgrounds and their educational histories so that students are set up for success right from the start. And I know there was a question about grade placement for students. And so in elementary, it's typically by age as students get older, it becomes a little more complex,
especially if they're coming from countries where the, the grade level doesn't neatly match ours typically, because the school years begin and end at different times, right? So often that becomes a case by case basis in collaboration with families to determine what makes the most sense for their child in terms of ongoing support. We are looking closely at our processes and procedures around translation and interpretation to see where we can strengthen that our communication, and make sure that it's, it's both two-way communication
and accessible to, to our families in the language that, that they need. And we really want to help make our ML families feel more part of the communic. We also now have on the Natick website and ML page that ha, that families can go to, to get information about who to contact, but as well as information about the screening and registration process, how to access resources and technology such as PowerSchool. And then there's also a series of videos that are translated from des e that that gives some background information about being
part of an ML program. Looking ahead, we're really excited to expand our ML program to all schools and grade levels so that EL students can attend their neighborhood school and receive and fully receive ESL instruction. So there's a lot of great work happening across the district in our department. There's a lot of things worths celebrating and there's some areas for us to, opportunities for us to strengthen our systems and structures. But really excited to, to be here to help guide us in as coherent and consistently as possible. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Questions from the committee? Do you have your hand up, Mr. Brand? Okay. Mr. Brand and then Ms. Brunell. Speaker 9: So first of all, welcome. Thank you to us. Good luck. Now, that was a, a great presentation. Thank you. I have a data question. Yeah. And you don't have to give me an exact answer. I'm just sort of more interested in directionally, you had mentioned 158 English learners in 20 21, 299 now 136 former. Yeah. Are those 136 students who are still in the district? My real question is what is the trend?
How many new students are entering or graduating out in a given year? Like what is that trend? 'cause you add those two numbers together. If all 136 are still in the district, that's actually only four different, but, so I'm just interested in what the whole math is. Speaker 8: So I can't answer about the trend, but I think it's a great question to look into. I can maybe explain a little bit about the designation might help. Sure. When a student exits ESL instruction, they're monitored as a, a former English learner for four years. And then after four years, that designation's dropped. So I think that accounts for some of the numbers,
but I think it's a great question about looking at patterns of, of enrollment and, and transition and things like that. Speaker 9: And, and so the reason I ask is because we have a budget responsibility, and if there was a big uptick in the need from year to year, that would be something that would be really important. But if it's actually, it's always important, but it, it, that trend, I think affects budgeting. Yeah, absolutely. And so that would be an interesting thing to track. Thank you. Yes, Speaker 8: Thank you, Speaker 1: Ms.
Brunell. Speaker 10: I just, I don't know if I really, really quick your question because the trend, the former learner, the, what's the term again? Speaker 8: Former English Speaker 10: Learner. Yeah, thank you. So that would be a good trend to have, right? Right. So that's, and we have had a trend of an enormous amount of English learners coming into the district, so we know that trend. So I, I appreciate that question to know if we are, where we're being successful, and then to celebrate that. Right. Right. Because that's the, that's the trend we want to see. So I, okay, so I think I just had
to think that through for a second. 'cause there were two different movements there. Thank you for the answer to the question about where we place students, especially at the high school level. I'm so happy to hear that there's flexibility. Absolutely. Because if we could give kids more time to cook basically in the system, I think that that would be preferential right? Before education starts to cost things after high school graduation. Right. So I really appreciate that answer. And then Mike, when you talked about ESL curriculum, you know, everyone talks about high quality curriculum and the DSI website. Natick doesn't always look great on the DSI website.
I know we're gonna make changes in that way. Is there high quality curriculum that we can purchase and, and start off on the right foot for ESL? Speaker 8: The historically really hasn't been, but now there is a trend of, you know, purchasable curriculum materials for ESL that are being rated by DES e as high quality. This is really new as in the last year. Prior to that, historically, most districts for ESL have developed their own resources.
District created resources. It's tricky because language development isn't, it's not linear, right? Everybody's going to learn language in different ways. And so making one program that meets the needs of everybody is very challenging. And so there's, there's a value in being able to create something that works for the students that we have, but also have a resource that we can pull from that's, that's high quality. I think finding that balance is the best approach for teaching our English learners. Speaker 10: Sounds like you're the man to do that, so thank you, Speaker 11: Dr. Fixer. Hi. Welcome to Look me. Thank you.
I, I don't have a question, but I wanted to make a, a comment of things that I don't take for granted that you're doing right, that I think are worth pointing out. First of all, looking at English language learners as a strength, as an asset, I'm probably the exception, but I think most people who are multilingual are pretty smart. But, but beyond that, I think especially, and, and I'll just come out and say in the, in the current climate, it is important that we value the strength of every single student in our community.
And certainly students who come with other languages, other cultures, other experiences enrich the experience of every student in district. And so I just appreciate that strength and asset-based approach. And also you talking about English language learning as a tier one approach. I've heard a lot of districts refer to it as tier two or tier three, which does make me happy. But here we're true as tier one, every student being not speak English as a first language is not a weakness. It's part of our, this is what we do for all students. So those are just things that I don't think we should take
for granted that we're doing. Right. So I appreciate you bringing that vision to our district. Thank you. Well, Speaker 10: Ms. Aloni, I just wanna add on to what you shared, Dr. Fugman is it has been a true gift to have Joe here because, you know, we always talk about technical and adaptive change. And I think that we are truly going through an adaptive change around multilingual learners with Joe here, because I think a lot
of people's mindset ha around multilingual learning has been that it is a tier two or a tier three service. And Joe know sometimes gets on his soapbox, but he's right. And Joe is very quiet, but when he does speak, everyone stops and everyone listens. And the first thing that he says is that multilingual learning is a tier one. And we're all starting to shift our mindset
and develop a better understanding of how we need to support these learners. And even as we're going through our literacy audit, he has truly dug into the curriculums that we are piloting and researching and is giving his input around which ones are meeting and can meet the needs of our multilingual learners. And we're, we've had lots of rich conversations around how they can meet or if they don't have specific
supports in place, if that were to be the curriculum that we go with, how we can make sure that it meets the needs of those learners. So it's been incredibly helpful to have him working so closely with us around curriculum and hi, his wealth of expertise around that. Speaker 8: Thank you. They're doing that. Speaker 1: I just had one question, and I'm just curious, we have a students from a lot of different backgrounds speaking a lot of different languages. Does it change how you do in tier one instruction when you
have students coming from different language backgrounds? Like does it require a different way of teaching English? Does the child who spoke Russian versus the child who spoke, you know, Mandarin as the first language? Speaker 8: It, it can, ultimately everybody is there to learn English. And so we, we can, depending on the makeup of the student, we can tailor that instruction. If, you know, the, the large percentage of the students come from a Spanish or Portuguese speaking background, we can really highlight cognates words that are the same across those languages
and really use that as a strength in our instruction. But there's like, there's a richness to the variety of all the different language groups together and really helping our, our ML students from all different backgrounds learn to live together and to, to be a community that I would love to see, you know, really take hold everywhere, not just in the ESL classroom, but in all of our classrooms. So it can be a challenge because you have to take into consideration all the different cultural backgrounds and norms and expectations.
But I think it's, it adds to the richness and the diversity of our community ultimately. Speaker 1: Thank you. No, I appreciate that answer. Ms. Lathers, Speaker 7: Just curious, and it might not be of what you do, what, what work goes in or is there work that goes in for our non ML students to learn skills for integrating, like experience? I know my daughter mentioned she was at lunch and saw kids sitting alone and tried to bring him over, but he didn't speak English and didn't feel comfortable
and she didn't know how to bridge that gap. So just curious. Speaker 8: I think that's, you know, that's an aspect of, of Natick that I'm learning. But in my previous experiences, as the population of multilingual learners grows, you have an opportunity to really build those connections and help students who are not identified as English learners build empathy and understanding and, and learn about different perspectives and experiences. And there's opportunities for, there's different ways, different structures to allow students, even if they are
born, is only speaking English opportunities for them to also develop multilingually, right? They're looking at world language instruction or looking at other opportunities to help expand their language knowledge, but also their cultural knowledge. I think there's a lot of great opportunities to really enhance every student's cultural understandings and bridge those gaps between people that, you know, language barriers might be a challenge, but there are ways that we can connect as human beings that we can really start to strengthen. Speaker 7: Yeah, no, I think that's great. Just cur, what, what can we do
to just give kids those practical skills when you know they're young and they can't bridge the gap. So then what point do you kind of give up or, and my daughter felt bad about it. She was like, I could, he wasn't ready to talk to me and got frus. And so, Speaker 8: But I imagine that student, even if the student couldn't I, they probably felt the essence of what she was trying to do. And that probably did mean a lot to that student. Speaker 1: Any other questions? Okay. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Coming tonight. Thank Speaker 2: You. We're so glad and thanks to the committee last year.
Speaker 7: Okay. I'm gonna shift, if it's okay, down to Will Jett accelerated repair project. We have Jillian Wilson Martin who's here on the Zoom. And so just so that she doesn't have to hang out for the whole meeting, we're just gonna switch there so she can do her piece. And I do believe she has a deck. Is that right? You want me to make her co-host? All right. Welcome Jillian. She's muted. Yeah. Speaker 2: Do we know if the microphones are working now Pegasus? They Speaker 7: Are. Sounds very different in the room to me. Speaker 2: Okay. Microphones are not only working here, they're working on sound, but they can, people at home can hear us the rooms.
We did ask about that before this meeting. Yeah. We were assured that there was a meeting that was and ask my wife tune in. Yeah. Doesn't, Speaker 7: You could make everybody else want. When Speaker 2: You spoke that one time, I, you know how to turn the, Speaker 7: Okay. Speaker 12: Hi, can you hear me? Speaker 2: Exactly. Yeah, sorry. Speaker 7: Thanks Jillian. Thanks for your patience everybody. Exactly. And welcome. And Jillian's going to give us an overview or an update on the LJA accelerator repair project with MSBA, which she presented to I think,
well at least six months ago. Welcome. Speaker 12: Hi. Thank you. Yes. Here tonight to talk about the accelerator repair program at lja. This should be a pretty brief update. There's not too much to share since we last met in November, but we did wanna give you an update on the timeline for the project because since we met the MSBA has published the program syllabus and there's a few just nuances of that that we wanted to share. So just as a reminder, we submitted for the SOI for LITTLEY march of last year, and we were invited into the program in, well,
we were told we will be invited into the program on Halloween. And the actual invitation date in terms of when we can start is July 1st of this of 2026. Just for folks who haven't been following this project, this is an MSBA potential project, but it's, it's not the core program. This is not about renovating and rebuilding lilja and the MSBA does reimburse a percentage of all eligible costs associated with this project and projects that are part of the accelerated repair program. And when I was last speaking with you in November,
we were talking about a grant application that we were submitting to support this work. Next slide please. So this is the results of the syllabus that is published by MSBA that shows the timeline for the project in terms of the different phases using their language. So the first phase is meeting the prerequisite requirements and it's three to four months with the first real section of that being 90 days. And that's where we need to talk about the timing. After that, we form the project team,
then we move into schematic design, which is what we're requesting the climate leaders grant to help us pay for. And then it follows the typical MSBA timeline of funding the project, doing a more detailed design and then doing construction. Next slide please. So what we learned through the syllabus is that the program requires a funding vote within 90 days of commencement. And commencement is that July 1st day for us that I mentioned. And the tricky thing about the timing of our town meeting means that it doesn't happen within 90 days
of commencement of July 1st. It's our town meeting starts in October. October 20th is the first day of town meeting in the fall, and that's outside of the 90 day window. So we did reach out to MSPA and we believe a 30 day extension may be possible. It does require us to submit an official request and receive an official decision by the MSBA, but we feel pretty good after speaking with program staff. Matt Gillis and myself spoke with several of the program staff and it sounded like they were pretty
optimistic that we would be granted that extension. And assuming it is approved, then the upcoming schedule for this project is shown on the slide. We expect that we would hear about the climate leaders grant this spring, then the program would commence or invitation would become valid. And then we would submit a few of the requirements that are part of that prerequisite portion by the, within the 90 day window, which is September 29th, including a compliance of certification, the capital maintenance plan, some
of these things we've recently done with Memorial building. And then in the early phase of town meeting, ideally the first or second night we would vote on the project and then we would be able to provide the certification of the town meeting vote in time for the MSBA process to continue as scheduled. So that's where we're at with this, just as really an update for you. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them and if Mr. Gillis has anything to add, I would welcome his thoughts. Speaker 13: No, I don't, go ahead. Sorry, I don't have anything.
Good summary. Speaker 1: No, thank you Ms. Wilson. Martin questions from the committee. I see Ms. Collins, Speaker 3: Jillian, good evening. Is it anticipated that this would be a special call within the fall town meeting so that it could happen and the vote would happen, it would dissolve and that seven day clock would tick then rather than at the end of all the fall town meeting business? Speaker 12: I'm not sure exactly the mechanics of that. Yeah, I, I can offer that. I, we did when we were kind of working through this prepare language for a potential springtime meeting vote. And then in speaking with MSVA, we were told that
that extension was pretty likely. So we wanted to wait until fall time meeting instead of kind of getting ahead of ourselves, ahead of the commencement and ahead of knowing about that grant. But I understand the seven day clock and I can speak with town council about how we might manage it appropriately. I don't know if the seven days will really make a huge difference to, well I know the seven days matter for this certification, but I think once we ask for that extension, we can make sure that we have enough room to allow for the certification. Speaker 3: I, I guess my point of going
with the special within the fall town meeting is the same people are meeting at the same time this business concludes. And if the plethora of free time that the town clerk may have, they could write up the certification of the vote long before November 28th. Could Speaker 12: Be. I can, we can talk to them about that. Speaker 7: So I see those of you who are more familiar with town meeting, but I see this very similar to how the MSBA feasibility MO or move forward. Our deadline was, Halloween town meeting kind of happened
after, but we really ensured, we were front on the agenda of town meeting. And that's, I think when we actually heard back from the MSBA was when we were able to say we asked for this extension and we kept asking for an update and we never got one until we were able to say, we already passed this sue town meeting overwhelmingly so can you please confirm this extension? And that's when they said yes and they allowed for whatever time it took to get that certification. So unless I'm missing something, I'm kind of seeing it similarly. I think your caution or concern is very real, but based on the conversation that Jillian and Matt had with the MSBA feel like it's a very similar
process, but we should use a lot of caution in it. Speaker 3: It's very long town fall time meetings. That's all. Speaker 7: That's why I prefaced it with, you might know I heck a lot more, but at least from the MSBA side, I, I felt like now I know this process, I would always push a vote prior to it's early as possible and then get it to them to kind of get that confirmation. But I think the decision not to put it in spring and to actually wait for the outcome of that grant was the most compelling piece for me because it makes such a different ask of town meeting when we know there's some grant money going against it, as well as reimbursement from the MSBA,
which was why I was heavily in favor of that. Speaker 1: Other questions from the committee? Okay. Alright. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Appreciate your work on behalf of the schools. Speaker 7: Thank you. Thanks Jillian. Awesome. Okay, we'll move on to just going back to the regular schedule for, so item B, building a data rich district research and current context. Welcome Sandy Lemon, who has a long title. She's also new to us this year. You have met her before with the MCAST presentation. Welcome back and we're eager to hear this Speaker 14: Sandy Lemon Coordinator of Data Student Success in the Office of Teaching
and Learning with, with Sue and Joe and Chris. It's a test later. Say it again. It's a test later. Yeah, so looking at a data rich district comes with my title and, and the work that's being done and seeing where data lies in the bridge plan. It's everywhere, particularly in for me, the work that I've been doing in strategic objectives, one, three, and four, I skipped over two
because the steering committee, there's a whole lot of data in, in strategic objective number two. But they have a whole big committee to do a lot of that work and they'll bring me in as needed going forward in the process. Next slide. Yeah. So why does data matter? Data is everywhere. Like the satellites observing earth, capturing trends from, from high above down to our eight schools who work together to show growth trends in areas of focus, but also in schools. Data only matters if it informs the action
and supports each student. So my role as the coordinator of data and student success is to ensure that the insights that we gather from all of these levels actually translate into outcomes in every classroom and for each child. So I'm gonna ask you to think about data as a living organism. Fascia. Fascia is found everywhere in the body. In fact, there are some that would argue it's another organ. It goes all the way down to the cellular level. And I thought it was a great analogy to data because data is a,
a living organism when it's allowed to be. It connects all of the layers of the system. The satellite data is sort of your, your high level 10,000 foot view, macro trends, state assessments, attendance rates, graduation rates, those kinds of things. Map data focuses a little bit more on school and classroom patterns, benchmarks, SEL data, our MTSS work that we're doing at the school level. And then this idea of street data, which goes right down
to the student talking about student experience, student voice, formative assessments, surveys of, of observations and anecdotal evidence from students and families. So just like fascia data flows from the satellite down to the street and back, keeping the system alive and responsive. So in order for that to be successful, you need to be able to have more than one data source.
And it, we need to be able to triangulate that data, just as Joe referenced in his presentation, to improve accuracy, validity, and, and insight for us. But by, by collecting and, and really using this data, it helps us inform decision making. It reduces inequities. It targets supports where they're needed. It ensures the growth of each student and it allows us to effectively allocate resources. Go ahead. So as the coordinator of students of Data
and student success, it's still a mouthful. I, I see myself as a conduit for action. And this is sort of a status of kind of what I've been working on this year. I've really begun to work to lift the, the data literacy at, at all levels at our administration council at professional, providing professional development at Nils and in staff and curriculum meetings, coaching of some of our leaders and some PLCs. And then the benchmark reporting that is a first for us
this year being sent home to families pre-K to 10. So when we're talking about data literacy, we're talking about everything from here at school committee and central office all the way down through the, through the fascia, right down out into the, the families we're focused on outcomes for each student and learner groups. And we're finding that the decisions that our leaders are making while they're tied to Dr. SP's strategic plan, they're also very alive
and well in the school improvement goals. And then also very alive and well at the, excuse me, the, the map level, if you were with benchmarking data meetings throughout all the schools. So Stu referenced technical changes and adaptive changes. I too am working on both of those in my position. The technical change has been to introduce and use the use of protocols when looking at data. The one that's most frequently used right now is the one
that's linked here, which allows people to look at data objectively as information, then interpret the data, and then begin to problem solve and think about action steps. So it's a, it's a nice process to help groups of, of educators to really look at data. The adaptive change is to increase the comfort level of using data to inform instruction, whether that be a formative assessment, whether that be benchmarking
progress and growth, which I refer to as in my future memo that is on the agenda. And, and the data supports dynamic shifts in the mindsets of our educators and looks at data as information, not as a vehicle to place blame on a stakeholder group or, or anything other than this is information. And what we do with the information is what matters. So it also allows us to think about the existing resources
and structures and systems that we have that can help support growth and change. So the evidence of impact at this point, we've definitely increased teacher engagement with data on a lot of different levels. There's been teacher design PD in support of the Renaissance reporting. Our school improvement goals are aligned with growth and achievement of learner groups. We've used DI district protocols in a number of different places, including our TLI course for our new teachers, all the way down to a Atlas protocol
with our preschool staff on their first capture of data through our new Renaissance tool for preschool. And most recently coming is a professional development designed for department heads at the middle school level next week that will, with the goal of, of helping them to implement a protocol with their departments in their early release in April. Very excited about that. We've seen measurable improvements in our student progress. So our mid-year achievement data is looking good.
It's increased and so has growth. Growth has been been pretty high. Our benchmark reporting, some of you may have received your first report, your second report is on its way Friday. And then we'll be two outta three for, for this year. A new process, huge learning curve, and a wonderful opportunity to engage families with, with achievement and growth of, of students in Natick. And I'm also very excited to be a part of the data wise process through Harvard Graduate School of at Ed.
I had three in-person days of very intense learning in January and I'm now applying what I've learned with a study group at Natick High School with a focus on opportunity gaps for learner groups. So very excited about that. When we're looking at putting data in motion, right? Thinking about this as a living breathing organism, you get student success. It moves us from just collecting data in a dashboard to actionable steps for instruction.
It connects leaders and teachers and students and families to align and look at growth and outcomes for learners. And it drives adaptive responsive instruction for each learner to achieve what's next, looking ahead. So I'm very excited to continue to see natick's, a district that has a data rich environment to expand the collaborative inquiry and, and staff literacy across the district. I'm beginning to sort of see that motivation and the hunger once you
become excited about data, it's, I, it's a secret, but it's beginning to happen. I I very much wanna integrate student voice into ongoing decisions. So that street level data I think is very important. I think it's a group that sometimes we don't seek and it's nice to have students among us and, and have their voices heard and then be able to use data proactively to anticipate rather than actively. So much of our data becomes, you know, the adage
of being an autopsy. We'd rather flip it. So our goal is a system that's dynamic, responsive, and equitable for, for each learner. And I just leave you with data being alive. It flows, it connects and it informs if we allow it and when coordinated effectively and ensures each student benefits from informed responsive instruction. And this is the impact of a data rich system and the value of investing in a conduit that is hopefully going to be able to make data actionable. Thank you. And then there's one more slide
that just asks for questions. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. You're welcome. Questions from the committee, Mr. Brand. And then Ms. Collins, Speaker 9: I'll always have a question about data then. Thank you for the presentation. Sure. I thought it was, it's it's really well done. I was thinking about the, the whole concept like data is judgment free, right? It's just an objective on the, the looking ahead slide, the, the bullet point, expand collaborative inquiry and staff data literacy across the district.
What have you found has been, I, I think I know the answer, but I'm curious as to what you think the resistance is, and maybe more importantly, what are the tools, the steps that you take in order to actually expand like to, to help educate people? Because sometimes it's really hard data because it's judgment free doesn't always tell us what we want to hear. Speaker 14: You're exactly right. Right. Speaker 9: So, and that's in all aspects of life. So I'm just curious as like, what are the tools?
That's right. Like what are, what are the tools? And I don't mean natural pieces of software or anything like that. Like what are we doing? Speaker 14: I think a lot of this speaks to the ability to create safe, the psychological safety, to be able to look at data in a safe place. And this district has worked very hard in the last few years, many years on psychological safety to be able to have those kinds of conversations and look at information that might not be either what you want it to be or what you thought it was.
And then you also have the, those that, that fear a spreadsheet with numbers. And I think some of what I've been able to do, and, and I don't know if this is your answer or not, but you can pretend like it is if you want it to be, it is Speaker 9: My answer. I can already tell Speaker 14: Da data tell stories and you have to uncover the stories. So when you look at my job as the coordinator of data and student success, I take it very seriously on both aspects. But the combination of both is being able to uncover
and investigate and then be able to tell the stories. Who, whose stories are being told, whose stories aren't being told are just as important and who's telling those stories. So part of it is storytelling because people are comfortable with a story or more comfortable I think sometimes than with numbers. But then being able to frame with a protocol, as awkward as it is the first time you do it, you begin to get comfortable with this idea of being objective
and looking at just the facts for a period of time. And then being able to look at what the, the data is telling you and interpret what that might mean and what might need further inquiry or further investigation or follow up, that kind of thing. And then a lot of what I've been asking in these protocols in the third step, which is when it's done with teachers, it's how does this impact your instruction? But when I'm doing it with larger groups of people or I'm using satellite data,
what structures and systems do we have and resources do we have in, in a place like Natick that we could use to address some of what we discovered? So storytelling, a structure and psychological safety right now have been big, big supporters and drivers of the work. Speaker 9: So if I could just follow up with a comment, because I think that's how I think about it. I'm, I'm a engineer, I dunno if you so gotcha data's in my world, but I, I think that the irony of having
to rely on like cultural subjective empathy in order to properly use objective data is interesting to me. I think one of the ways that like, at least in my job and when I've dealt with, when I talk to people who aren't as nerdy about data as I am is I'm not judging data is what it is, but think of the opportunity and I know how passionate all of our educators are. Think about the opportunity, how, how fun it will be to use this to grow, to fix things
that need to be fixed, to celebrate the things that are going really well. Like that opportunity for like the dorks like me is like really Speaker 14: I'm right there with you. Speaker 9: Always been. I think that that's the way, like when, when I, when you see someone when it clicks and you're like, wow, that's like super interesting. That's the, that's the path anyway. I think this is great and I could do this all night, but I'm not going to. So Speaker 14: I think it's the, I think you're speaking also to the adaptive work. You know, I, I think we're in a really exciting place in, in Natick on a number of different levels.
And I think people are sort of beginning to, to get excited and that's what you want. You want that ground swelling in the momentums contagious. Speaker 3: Oh Ms. Collins, thanks. I don't know if you could find a more data geeky committee in town anywhere in town. And Matt and you, you already got to my question so I'll just make my comment, which is that I know the word data is easy, but it's only useful if it can tell if it provides information and useful information.
And I think being willing and able to hear the stories that data is telling and filter out the noise is the key. And I think that sometimes people get so overwhelmed by the idea that, oh my god, it's in data that, you know, they get the buzzing in the ears and they can't filter that filter out the useful from the not useful. So I applaud the work and I liked your answers, so thank you. Thank you Ms. Brunell. And then Dr. Fen.
Speaker 10: Thank you Sandy, you mentioned that this was the first time we were sending benchmark data home. Could you speak to that? Speaker 14: The Renaissance reports, the fall benchmarking went, went home in late October and then the next round, the winter benchmarking happened at the end of January and they're going to be sent by USPS mail this Friday to home. So if you have students pre-K 10, you should be getting something in the mail. Speaker 10: I might have a few. And, and my question, I guess more specifically, is that a decision we made as a district
or was that a DSI requirement? I'll actually speak to that. So DSI audits us on different cycles and there was an audit out of the special education department out of Erin Miller's office. She's here now. And through that audit we were cited actually for dyslexia screening and communication with families. And while we were actually meeting the requirement for screening students, the piece that we were cited for was not communicating with families effectively
for students who are at risk. And so out of that finding was that we needed to be more proactive in our communication with families, for students who were determined to be at risk in the K three realm. And so Ms. Miller and I made the determination that if we're going to be communicating with just those at risk students in literacy, it didn't make sense because it was going to create more questions for families across the district. And since we're screening students in literacy and math K to 12 at the TI K to 10 at the time,
or K to nine at the time. And then we rolled it up to 10 this year and there's a new preschool screener that we rolled down to that it just made sense to communicate to all families so that they were aware of how their children were doing. And we also knew that it was probably going to create more questions for families as well. But we worked with our educators and with our school administrators to support them in how to answer those questions. And we put, Sandy actually created talking points
for all families, for all educators, for all administrators. She created videos for families, administrators and educators so that everyone would have a better understanding of what the reports meant. That it's one data point. It's not a full picture of a student. Kids have bad days. The screener may not be an accurate representation, but we triangulate data, it's one data point. But the beautiful thing about the winter benchmark in the spring benchmark is that we're hopefully going to see growth over time. And so we felt it was important that we share
that data transparently with all families so that they would have information about their child. Thank you. I, I mean I just commend all of you for that work because it's a brave thing to do with the data that you got. And I learned in my omics course this year at Georgetown University, that is exactly how Mississippi turned their reading scores around. They send a notice out to every family and you know, this already is educators and you are aware when your child is not reading at reading level. So that then starts to create co-production so that parents are involved.
So that is honestly like just such a huge moment of growth that we in our district that I am celebrating. And I'm sure that the whole committee would celebrate that. That is fantastic. Best practice. Thank you Speaker 11: Dr. Fon. I'd like to just add my congratulations and just kudos to, for all the work. There were so many different things in your presentation that were just really cool metaphor too that I just wrote down. I'm like, that's such a great way of thinking. My favorite one I think is about the autopsy. I think I got it right, that it's easier to use data
to diagnose than to do an autopsy after the fact. That's a definitely good one. I'm gonna use it. But the whole idea of data is storytelling and data as, as communication I think is a very powerful message to build on what Ms. Brunell was saying in this case with parents. But just in general, I think you can have answered this question, but the question I was kind of lingering in my mind, and I dunno if you feel comfortable saying more, but oftentimes there's data anxiety, not you, but hopefully not you 'cause you're the data person. But, but, but in the district, and it could be administrators, it could be educators,
it can be parents anxiety over what is it they're gonna say, what is the data gonna say about me? What is data gonna say about my child? And I'm curious what your reaction, what the reactions that you have received so far. I think the work that you're doing is probably gonna address that. And I'm glad you're doing the work, like the videos and the communication because that is exactly, I mean, that's how you address data anxiety. But I'm just curious if you feel comfortable sharing like any reactions you received. Any, any anything that about Natick as a, as a community, how we're doing in your journey to bring us into a data cult district of data culture.
Speaker 14: So let me, let me ask to make sure I have the question right. Are you asking about Natick as a community or are you asking about the community of educators within the district? That I'm with whom I'm working? Speaker 11: Both, I would say both with the D with the various stakeholders. So yeah. Okay. Educators as stakeholders, administrators or stakeholders and parents and stakeholders. Speaker 14: Yep. So after the first round of reports being sent home, I did a survey of all stakeholder stakeholders within and I also did a survey for families.
And while I didn't get as much, and I don't know if this is survey fatigue, it could be, I didn't get the results back in the numbers that I would have liked, but great information for us to begin to look at how we can tweak and improve the process for the winter, especially from teachers. So for example, frequently asked questions, there's a frequently asked question doc for educators to help speak with families when they have questions. But then also one for families, you know, does this mean
what does this mean or what does that mean? That kind of thing. To try and help allay concerns or fears. And that includes a frequently asked document for preschool families as well. Little different. Yeah. Right. So I, I think I, I think I'm at the beginning. I'm a little bit further along in the process from within than I am from outside. Yeah. And I'm hoping that to Ms. Brunes point, that I think as we get more used
to it and we get comfortable with it, that will come in terms of from within, I have the benefit of living in Natick for a very long time and working in the district for a very long time. So a lot of previous relationships have worked in terms of creating connections, bridges and alliances with various groups and stakeholders. And being, being able to have been an instructional coach and PL coach,
I think also helped the, the process. I love working with adults and teachers and getting them excited about looking at what this means and what it could mean for instruction. Because in the end it's the students that that benefit the most. Speaker 11: Yeah. Well thank you. So for all that work, for all the years of experience you bring. Also, I'll just, and I don't have any another question, but just my sharing my thoughts, I think this is very, very helpful as we go into our strategic planning,
our strategic planning committee has not met yet. Yeah. And I think we're, you know, I've treating it as a blank slate, but yet I can't imagine the data is not gonna be, you know, this transition to a data culture, a, a, a community, a school, an educational community where we value data and we use data, I think is just amazing. I mean, as Mr. Spinelli said, there's so much research about how districts do better when, when what they do is data informed. And anyway, so just something to bring into that conversation as well. Speaker 14: Thank you. It's very exciting. Yeah. Mr. Patel, and
Speaker 11: Then Ms. Brunell, Speaker 9: While, while we have Joe here, I just wanna get this clear for once and for all as a multi-language learner myself, is it data or is it data? Speaker 14: Yes. Speaker 9: Okay, great. Thank you. That helps. But on a serious note, so can you just describe the benchmark reports a little bit? I, I have a preschooler and Sure, sure. I don't think I've received one and I'm just really Speaker 14: Curious. No, actually you're right. We didn't do a fall. So we started in the winter, we needed to onboard our teachers with a new assessment and that took some professional development and training with Renaissance Learning. Who, who does the assessment?
You're going to get a report. Well, preschool will get a report of a series of what they call sub, they call them sub tests once you get to kindergarten, they call them curriculum based measures or cbms and they're these quick little short interactions and with preschool it's very different. And so some of the information that will be coming home to you will be, this was the first time your student ever did anything like this.
So just right context, one data point in a bunch of, a bunch of triangulated data. Right? There are some things that we learned about the tool. There are some things we learned about students, but you will get a, a report in the mail that will explain results for everyone else. There are computer adaptive tests, which are, sorry, screeners, which are, I call them like choose your own adventure. Do you remember those books when you were reading where you could, you know, if you wanna go to the saloon,
go to page 42. The, these screeners, what they do is they are predictive in terms of how you will perform on our state assessment, the MCAS and it will choose the next question according to how you answered the last one, guys. So look forward to that in kindergarten. Speaker 9: And, and is there a point of comparison, for example, I just wanna know like what is my child's weakness? I can focus on that one thing as opposed to like other students. What is she not, not normal in
Speaker 14: For example. Yeah, she, she will have results that will explain sort of what they used and how you can support at home in the report that comes home. Appreciate that. Thank you. Yep, you're welcome Speaker 10: Ms. Brunell. Thank you. Just one more, two more quick thoughts. I communicate regularly with other school committee members across the state and like the METCO memo, I wanted you to know that I sent your presentation to that group because I wanted them to see what we are doing with data because it's a conversation that all school committees are trying to have. And I was like, this has taken years to get to this point.
I just wanna celebrate this with you. So I just wanted you to know that I, secondly, I just pulled up our school committee training that we did last June or July, I forget with Issa am Jackson. And it strikes me that if the committees has the will, we might be able to do, continue that professional development in house in the coming summer with you perhaps because our, this is just my opinion and I don't know what your summer plans are, but our questions were things like, what's the level
of granularity we need to go to with data? Data? What, what? Speaker 14: Either one. Either one. Speaker 10: Yeah. Where is our committee with collaboration and data? How do we ask questions about data without going into the lane? You know, so these were questions that we were asking last year and had a wonderful training session with a, an excellent colleague of ours I would call her. And I think probably the best teaching is when you can start to do some of the learning by yourself. So it's just a suggestion to the fellow committee members and to you. Speaker 1: Yeah. And for in, in terms
of, you know, taking that forward. I, we usually revisit our summer retreat plans kind of towards the end of the school year. So why don't we put this on the list of things we consider for the summer. Yeah, Speaker 7: Yeah, absolutely. So we spent a lot of time on this, but there's so many things going on through my mind. I love the collaboration. I'd be remiss with all the kind of conversation around data and culture of data. Data and culture. Tomato, tomato, the very best piece I found when I was first a principal and it's a book that's like got yellow edges now in my bookshelf and it's called Driven by Data, by Paul Bambrick Santoyo.
And he has one page and I will send it to the committee but it's called, it's really around a culture of data. And there's five phases and it's probably worth me saying, 'cause it's what we're saying now in a summarized way. One phase one confusion and overlap overload. This is too much. We, we've all said that. Two, feeling inadequate and distrustful. This is why psych safety matters. How can two questions on a test possibly establish mastery of, of an objective? These questions are terrible. Phase three, challenging the test. That's a poor question. Answer B is a trick answer. Phase four, examining the results objectively
and looking for causes. Which students need extra help And in what topic, which topics do I need to reteach in different ways? And five, accepting data as useful information seeking solutions and modifying instruction. Their inability to subtract negative integer affected their ability to solve the algebraic equation. I need to revisit the concept of negative numbers and how to use them. This is like the best kind of five phases and it's like so relatable as a teacher. So sharing it because I know many moments I've actually felt like I wanna challenge the test or feeling inadequate
and it's just, we've cycled through that many times. We're so glad you're here. And Joe and Chris who's not here tonight, their office is around the corner. We haven't changed it, but the placard outside of it says school engineers. And I think it's an adequate and excellent name for all of you. I hope you never change it 'cause they're re-engineering the district alongside all of us. So thank you very much for showcasing this very great work and thanks to the committee for having the trust in our team that when we said we needed these positions, now you're seeing why. And so thank you for your engagement
in the conversation tonight. Thank you. Actually, if you wanna stay, we can go right into your memo that kind of goes through, I don't know if you're gonna present that or just take questions on it, but we're gonna go into the memo, winter benchmarking results, which were sent to families from Renaissance Learning and we'll go through her highlights for that memo. Speaker 14: I wasn't gonna present, so if there're questions? Yeah, Speaker 1: Okay, sure. Yeah. Questions on the memo that's attached in the meeting. This is on the, the winter benchmarking results. Any questions from the committee on the memo that we were sent? And for members of the public,
this memo can be seen on the screen, but it's also available in the meeting materials. Yeah, we'll give everyone a minute, take a look. Any questions? Okay, Ms. Brunell, Speaker 10: This is one that I submitted, so apologies if you've seen it, but I guess the question, it was more just really wanting to highlight in the Renaissance testing, 78% of students are at or above the district benchmark in the winter 2025 showing a 10% improvement from 68% in fall. I mean, can we like, Speaker 14: And that's early literacy.
So those are our youngest learners. Speaker 10: It's incredible. It, I mean this is like when I tell people that Natick is about to just like go off the charts, this is how I know it. And so I just am so grateful reading the memo. I was like, this is, this is what all the work has been about. So thank you. Speaker 1: Any other questions or comments? Okay, thank you so much. Thank you. You're welcome. Really appreciate it. Speaker 7: Good, good news is always easy to present. Excellent. Thanks Sandy. Okay, so we're gonna move
to the field trip update, which is really a process overview hot topic also in our PCC meeting last week and Sue's here to cover that. Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker 10: Chris would be here if he could, but he's home sick seems to be going around. So hopefully you've all had a chance to read the memo. And we've talked to the PCC about this, but, and I know this is something that you've been asking for for quite a while and we've talked about this through the budget process, but in terms of removing funding for failed trips from the general funding,
but maintaining some portion of that for students who qualify for financial assistance. But beyond that, we are taking an inventory of all of the field trips that students are taking this year. And we will look at that with all of our building principals this spring. And really we're looking at making sure that all students across the district are having equitable experiences. And when I say equitable, it doesn't mean that every first grader across the district is going
to go on the same field trip, but that they're having a field trip experience that is comparable, meaning that one building isn't sending their first graders on multiple large field trips and another building is only going on one or on not, or not at all, but that we're being thoughtful in the experiences that kids are having and that we're following the school committee policy that students are going on a field trip that aligns to the curriculum that we feel is value added
to their experience with the curriculum. And that if, if we determine that one large field trip is appropriate, that every first grader across the district will go on one large field trip. And we're anticipating, one of the things that came up with the PCC is that some students don't have the opportunity to go on any field trip. So we're anticipating that that will come through in the inventory that we're collecting and we'll have those conversations so that, you know, if one building isn't going on field trips or one grade level isn't going on field trips,
but another is across the district that we're having those conversations and making sure that kids are having experiences. I know a question came up about the farm and that not every building is taking advantage of the free opportunities at the elementary level to experience the farm field trips. And I've, Chris and I have actually met with the farm about that. And what I explained to the farm was that while visiting the farm may be free, it's not actually free for the district because transportation is actually quite expensive, but we have the opportunity for them
to bring the farm to the school so they will come to the school and provide the field trip experience to the school. And so that is something that we are exploring that if it is an opportunity that it is something that they could experience at their school. Like sheep sharing is not something that they can experience at their school, but there are other opportunities that could be brought to the building that we can explore that as, as an additional field trip beyond like going off campus.
So I'm working with the, the farm and the building is working with the farm for those experiences as well. The other thing that we are looking at is creating opportunities where, and I shared this with the PCC, that when my son goes on a field trip, when we received the permission slip, there is an opportunity that if you have the means and want to pay for another student who maybe doesn't qualify for financial assistance, but maybe their family, you know, because they don't qualify for it, but they really don't have the means to pay for a field trip
for their child to go on. I have the means so I could donate and pay for another child to go on a field trip that families could donate that. So Mr. Gillis and I will be working on what is the mechanism for which families can pay for field trips where they're not sending in a check because then it becomes obvious who's paying and who's not. But that maybe we can pay through our unit pay or one of those so that it's not obvious who's paying and who's not. And we have the opportunity to have,
you know, families sign up for the, the field trip and either pay or not pay and we can manage it on the back end and families can either pay extra or that we can take care of their free or reduced fees through that mechanism. Speaker 1: Okay, thank you. I have a question that I see Ms. Collins hand. Speaker 3: The, the last part of what you said, Sue, is this money that's going through the p the PTO budget or through the school committee? The school budget? Speaker 10: No, there's no more going through. PTO PTOs used to pay for field trips there, but we had the conversation with them about it.
Speaker 3: No, no. If if parents pay Speaker 10: Yep. Speaker 3: Where does that money go through? Through Speaker 10: Unit pay, through our, through the school district. Speaker 3: Okay. So any donations then would have to come before us in a memo, correct. That's fine. Okay. That's, I just wanted to tie that loop. Thank you. Yes, Speaker 1: Ms. Purnell, Speaker 10: I just wanted to, I, I appreciate what you're saying about the bus, like the farm field trip, but it in some ways it would be free to the district because we're, we're moving to a model where the parents will be invited to pay for the field trip. So if the field we,
we don't have in our general fund anymore, so in FY 27, I'm thinking if the bus costs $500 and there's 60 kids going on a field trip, you get a letter home that says just like we used to, like you're gonna go Apple picking, please send $15 in with your child. So it actually is, I I love the idea of bringing the farm to the, to the students, but I also think that there's an opportunity for us to keep taking our students out into the world and asking the parents to cover that cost. Correct. And if we feel that going to the farm for
what they're offering is value added to and aligns to the curriculum, then we would absolutely consider that. Okay. Yeah. And we also have to be thoughtful about if they're paying $20 to go on this other field trip to this other location, and now we're also asking for more money to go on this field trip. Like we just have to be thoughtful because transportation, it's more than $500 for a bus and that's a lot of money for parents to be putting out for field trips. And we just have to be thoughtful about is it, is the value
for that field trip because you pay for the bus for the day and it's a one hour or two hour field trip, it's a lot of money. Yeah. That's when I was at the strategic planning meeting. The, the, the people that we're talking about we're not talking about like, could you, if you pay for the bus for the day, could you run multiple classrooms using that same bus all day long? Right. So there's just as a simple example, I just, I appreciate the thought here. You know, I consistently hear from parents and from kids that they're just disappointed that Natick doesn't do the fun stuff that they used to, we used to do.
So I hope that that changes Speaker 7: And yeah, just to respond quickly to that, we heard that loud, we've been hearing that since the first time we went with the PCCs and I was like in listening tour mode and then bridge plan mode. And so it went back again and I appreciate it and they actually said, this is the first time we feel like you're taking this, we're taking the feedback for something we've kind of been talking about for three years and, and landing the plane, my words on that. But we actually committed to them because I think the PCCs boy are they hardworking, dedicated volunteers who don't feel very celebrated all the time
and they're a great voice of and representation for our families. And so we're gonna, we come committed to going back to them to say, we're gonna bring you the field trip permission form, see if you like it, tell us what we, what we could clean up. And we're gonna bring kind of our plans for field trips to that group, which is every grade band rep and every school represented because they're a good voice for kind of member checking, so to speak. So we plan to work on that on this with them through the spring. Speaker 10: Can I just one more question. Does SEL being tied to SEL standards count as being part of curriculum?
Yes. Okay, great. Well, Speaker 7: I mean, you're the school committee, Speaker 10: I guess it's how you would interpret it. I mean, that's how I interpret it, but I just wanted to make sure that there could be SEL reasons as a former second grade teacher field trips. I mean, I got to take my kids to the Cubs, you know, I, I mean it just like, we, it was amazing, like those moments, like I you'll you'll never like forget being on the field of a baseball stadium when you're in second grade. And yes, I could bring in math, yes, I could bring in physical education, those things, but like there was a lot of sel l stuff happening there. I'd add speaking and listening standards too,
especially in those young ages. Kind expensive speaking the pub. Imagine that for stewards. Speaker 1: So I I, I appreciate this work very much. So thank you for, for leading this for us. I have a question about expanding trips beyond just elementary school. Like is there, I've heard from a lot of parents who, you know, know of other schools that take the Washington DC Yeah. To middle school that take the Washington DC trip, you know, as a middle school and how they wish that Natick did that. I don't know if we've ever done that. It's never happened in my, my time of living in Natick.
Is that something that is potentially on the table to consider? Speaker 10: So it wasn't just elementary school that I was talk referring to, it was middle school as well. I I can share that Before my time there were out of state trips for middle school and multiple superintendents ago they were removed because they had experienced some challenges with them. I don't know the extent of it. My understanding is that they were removed because of multiple issues from student
illnesses and student behaviors and that's why they were removed. That's all I can speak to. I don't know more than that, but I think, you know, the cabinet team and the EILT can definitely have conversation about that. Speaker 1: Yeah. And I would hate to have, I don't know, it's had to have been more than 10 years ago, right? Because my kids are, have been in the school for 10 years. Something that happened 10 or 15 years ago with a group of kids and a group of educators that, that time I would hate for that to kind of taint a whole idea in the present because certainly having been in Washington DC
during April vacation week, there are thousands of middle schoolers right there. So if, if, if all of those schools across the country can manage to get their kids there and have that amazing experience, I would hope that we could figure out how to do it too. Just, just a thought. I mean, I I, I definitely have heard from parents that, that really feel like this would be a, a value add to Natick. So yeah, Speaker 7: In closing on the field trip piece, hopefully you can see a kind of repetitive, repetitive pattern here where we do a lot of seeking a voice and then some cohesion work that's aligned to policies.
So the intention of today's memo is to kind of give you some highlights, let you know where we are and let you know what we're working on through the spring. And we really will be engaging people in those decisions and it'll be an iterative process. So appreciate the voice of people here too that we'll incorporate into that. Speaker 1: Thank you. Any other questions from the committee before we go to the public? No, Dr. McKenzie, Speaker 15: Just a really quick question, Ms. Balog, when you were talking, you talked about big field trips as opposed to smaller field trips. And I, I just wanna know what a big field trip is.
Are we taking the kids to the Red Sox? I mean Red Sox or what's considered a big field trip Speaker 10: By big field trip, I mean a more expensive field trip where they're going out of town, not just to the Natick Army labs or something that only costs bus fees. Speaker 15: Okay. Do you have an example of a big field Speaker 10: Trip, like if they're going apple picking or to Plymouth Plantation? Plymouth Puckett. Speaker 15: Okay. Thank you. Speaker 1: Okay. Speaker 15: Okay, Speaker 7: Moving right along. I think we'll just go right down in order. We have two other items on my report.
One is my midyear update on superintendent goals. I don't think I gave you one of these, but the committee had asked for it. So I'm, I gave it this year. It looks a lot like the kind of summative summary that I did last year where I attached a bunch of evidence. It essentially re reflects the goals that we set at the, the beginning of the year and at the midpoint. All the benchmarks that were scheduled to be completed by this point in the, in the year are complete. We have no reason to believe we're that we're anything but on track for the end of the year to complete these goals. And I wanna emphasize how much these goals are
around setting up systems and structures as opposed to like measurable outcomes in with for students yet usually process and structural improvement predates outcome outcomes for students. So a few highlights, hopefully you read it was very long. Sorry about that. But a few highlights just for those listening. We now have a shared instructional vision that's grounded in informative assessment that educators can find multiple access points too. We've implemented the structured learning walks across all schools. We actually just, were at one at the pre-K today. We are strengthening our tier one behavioral systems
through PBIS, which you'll hear a report on to next week. We have a team that's working, it's a, a representative team with educators and administrators that are, we've drafted a K to 12 code of conduct that's starting to move into a stakeholder review, our long-term strategic planning process, which is underway with this committee. Thank you for your collaboration on that. We've held forums, we've conducted a survey, and now we're about to launch our committee meetings. The budget process, which we met just earlier today with the subcommittee from FinCon is well underway.
We were really strategic in, we delivered a level service budget with strategic allocations that moved us even more. You heard a lot of the strategy playing out this year in the reports you received today. Hopefully you hear the same thing next year in terms of the things we're launching this year. And then we're strengthening evaluator calibration and coaching systems through professional learning series for educators and evaluators. So I'm excited about the work and the trajectory. I think it was aggressive. You mentioned that when we first set, set this up, but we're on track and I'm really proud of the work that the team is doing.
I'm happy to answer any questions if you have them. Speaker 1: Thank you so much Dr. Fash questions from the committee regarding midyear goal updates. Ms. Brunell, Speaker 10: Thank you. And thank you for the memo. I thought it was great. I thought it, it's such a good reminder of the work that you took on this year and just to, you know, to look back on it, you know, the midyear report is not just supposed to be like something that you have to do just to do it. It's also a moment for us to recalibrate if there's anything that needs to be recalibrated.
And so I, looking back at that, at your tier one goal, you know, it's like, it's a huge goal. It could be a five year goal. So I, I wanted justice to give a pause just a second to, in the memo you wrote, at least 75% of schools demonstrate measurable progress on their academic SIP SIP goals. And same for SEL and SIP goals. So we've got eight schools that's like six out of eight schools de demonstrate measurable progress. We never really defined what measurable progress was.
I don't know if we did. Speaker 7: I could explain that. Speaker 10: Okay, great. Speaker 7: So for instance, this is from memory. Yeah. Otherwise I have to have to pull it up. If a SIP goal has an SLGA student learning goal around moving the bottom 25% of their students in math, they know who those 25 students are as of their report to me. When the data comes in, which is after their midyear updates to me, I would, they'd be able to say what percentage of their kids met those goals. It's very measurable. It's for me. I'm gonna have to make it into some meta goal. Yeah, because you guys know from your journey
with me over the last 18 months, I gave them the autonomy to set up their own goals based on the data in their schools. So we'll figure it out. We'll figure out how to report on their achievements. And that's really more of an end of the year goal because these ended right before vacation. The, their, the Renaissance data that you just had a, a memo on, they owed me their evidence on January 6th, I think. And so that was a month and a half before they had finished the renaissance testing. So they couldn't gimme that update and nor did I honestly want them to at that time. Yeah. They're just trying to change things. They're trying to implement all of this plan.
But absolutely by year end, you're gonna have a, you're gonna have that data Speaker 10: And you feel like that language is, is not, I wanna make sure that you feel supported in terms of the language of the goal that we passed. Speaker 7: I do. Okay. Because here's what I'm gonna say. And I said it earlier and, and I'm okay with this. I believe in stretch goals. I believe in stretch goals and I'm okay if you give me a meets or almost meets because if I'm pushing this place that is gonna turbocharge this district, if I believe in that and if I model for everybody else that it's okay if I don't get a hundred percent on everything because I that's on the goals,
the goals can be stretched on the indicators I feel a little differently. 'cause that's like an assessment of my leadership inside those indicators. But on the goals I need to model that bravery. I need to model that messiness and I'm a hundred percent comfortable with what we wrote. Okay, Speaker 10: Thank you. I have a second question, but Speaker 7: Can I add tiny little context to that? When I have, and I've done evaluating for 14 years, I think something like, and before that in different settings, I actually never mark someone below meets if I see their action steps and the work they did were, were turbo. So to me I'm much less interested
because it's really hard to estimate exactly what numerical outcome you're gonna have. I'm much more interested in the structural, the adaptive, the technical aspects of how they drove the, the LED through that goal. And I'm saying that just my own leadership, I'm much more interested in the, the moves they made inside with their leadership toward that outcome than I am on the outcome itself, if that makes sense. And by doing that I've also as a leader and as a teacher, only ever focused on growth because if you get growth, the rest comes. And so I'm just sharing my philosophies of why I am comfortable with that.
However you perceive it is great. I'm just gonna give you the facts when I, when I have them. Thank you for the question though. Speaker 1: Okay. So I'll just go to Ms. Collins and then come back to you. My question was answered well. Oh, okay. Fantastic. Ms. Brunell, Speaker 10: I also read in your memo that a third round has been offered to all the schools of the learning walks, like wow. And that they all accepted. That's fantastic. I, my question is, what's your plan to ensure that the learning walks have the, the depth and the breadth to cover any part of our system that would benefit? Speaker 7: Right now the learning walks are pretty laser focused on
our tool, our look for tool, which is our instructional vision. And I actually believe in that to move for the poor metaphor, but to move the Titanic, you kind of gotta pick a direction you're gonna point in. And so usually I think by, I always like to say you can pato out anything that you need to do and as long as you pick one of the top columns, it doesn't matter even which one and aim there and go hard at it, you're gonna show outcomes. So we are going hard at the formative assessment look for tool in our learning walks. We're we're also changing the culture. Like I cannot even commend this team enough
for their bravery, their opening of their classrooms. No matter what day it is, it's Monday, today we are in the preschool at 8:00 AM you know, and so the culture has switched very quickly to sort of, to be open to this. I do have an answer to kind of the evolution it's going to take on, which isn't a broadening over all sorts of pieces. It's gonna be stuck on this tool. But this tool, I call it the kitchen sink, it's like all of teaching inside formative assessment. It's more around let's pick the top three to five things that we think need attention and we're gonna na aim Nils at that next year.
We're gonna also develop, its early, early days as my cousin would say, but we're gonna develop what we're calling communities of practice that are PD sessions in-house with networked by grade bands. Well more of this in the spring, but we have a plan of where this is evolving. So the third engineer, Chris Cook, who's not here tonight, could give you an overview of these. They're very much a glimpse inside the true functioning of the district. Very, very operational. But they are a, a huge lever towards making a bigger or midsize district feel small and united and cohesive. And so I don't think it's necessarily like
to broaden learning walks to all sorts of other things. It's more to keep it targeted. In fact, even tighter once we get data behind it, not quantitative data, qualitative data from our observation and then we move into a different, what I call real estate next year in our PD time to have communities of practice that can be a learning community around it. So hopefully that made sense, but that's the vision. Okay, thank you Dr. Stash. Sure. Okay. There's one last memo in my report. It's really just informational and it's from Claire Relli who's the conservation agent
and environmental planner. If you may recall, in the spring of 2025, she gave a presentation to us. She asked for support in applying for a grant, let's see, submitted to the municipal vulnerability preparedness program. That was, that didn't come to fruition. So she wants to reapply and just wants to know if she can continue to use the letter here. Well she basically writes it to say the existing letter of support will suffice. So I don't know that there's a vote needed, but just to let, it's really just to kind of close the loop on the fact that the initial application wasn't supported yet, but she's going at it again, which I'm very grateful for. Speaker 1: Any discussion on that Ms. Brunell? And then Ms. Collins,
Speaker 10: I just forgot one question about the mid-year evaluation. So if I could just ask to go back to that when Ms. Collins is finished. Speaker 1: Sure. Yep. Speaker 3: Would it, my apologies, would it make it better or stronger or whatever if we re revolted it for Ms. Relli, if you could check on that and bringing it back Sure. Next time if Yeah, if that would be helpful. I don't think, speaking for myself, I'm not opposed to doing that if she thinks it would be helpful. Okay. I, but I appreciate her trying
to take work off our plate. Speaker 10: I'm happy to do that if you want me Speaker 7: To. Yeah, Speaker 1: Sure I can, I can email her back too and see if you'd like. I'll, I'll do that. Thank you. I think if she's just looking for the same letter then if she thinks it's fine. Are you guys comfortable with me just saying use the same letter unless she would like it Revo. Speaker 3: Yeah, I just didn't know if she needed a new date on it. Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll, I'll, I'll circle back here and see if she wants it revolted. I'll bring it back at the next meeting. Thank you. Okay. Alright, cool. So Ms. Pernell, you wanted to go back to the goals? Speaker 10: Yeah, sorry, this is a question
that I submitted beforehand. Just goal number four to, to your bravery and goals. Your professional practice goal actually involves the professional development of other people. So I was curious, you know, I mean like in the past we've done, it would be something like nsip, right? Like okay, you attended it, you did it, great done. In this case I was wondering your hopes for what we would be evaluating you on or what's your plan about what we would be using to evaluate you? Yeah.
Speaker 7: Yep. I read that question earlier. So here, you know, the goals that we wrote are primarily imple. This goal is an implementation goal with benchmarks, very clear benchmarks. So I should be measured on the benchmarks. That's what it is. And it's really the focus is around building the systems that support stronger instruction and leadership practice. So for goal four specifically, I think the committee's role is to assess whether the system benchmarks are met or exceeded, which I hope to do. That includes things like the establishment of professional learning for evaluators, calibration protocols, peer observation cycles
among principals, et cetera. It's actually MS. Al's goal as well. So we'll have her kind of assessment of self-assessment of that goal at the end of the year to help support my work. Okay. So everything that's actually a really important point. Every single thing I have on here is owned by co-owned by Cabinets and principles. So it's not just me at all, it's just, you know, I, ever since I became a principal, I believe, or even, you know, any leadership role, I believe my goal should reflect those of the people who work with me. That's cohesion.
Speaker 10: I'll be honest. I think that's why it struck me. I, I wondered if there was an opportunity to incorporate other people's feedback into your evaluation if it, you know, and I, I, I guess I don't, I don't know enough about education language or evaluation language to know what I'm exactly talking about, but it, I mean obviously I've heard about like 360 degree re reviews or something like, you know, it doesn't have to be that formal, but is there a way to bring in the growth that you wanna celebrate that other people have had? Speaker 7: I mean I think that that's, so even in full transparency
to do this mid-year update, I asked my team for memos of updates on their goals. Yeah. And I use that to give you the data. So it's, I can be more explicit in that in the summative memo, but it it's directly from them. Yeah. Speaker 1: I don't think the, the DSI framework doesn't really call for external feedback, right? Like it's, I don't think it's a formal need to include that is what I'm thinking. Speaker 10: No, but it, we just have the responsibility to evaluate the goal and so we need to make sure that we are comfortable with
what we're using to evaluate the goal. So if you read, read goal four, you know, developing professional development streams for principles and central office administrator that build evaluator capacity. So that's my question. Like how will we be evaluating if our evaluators have built capacity? Speaker 7: So my answer is the benchmarks Okay. That are written there. Like honestly that that's exactly what should measure it, is the benchmarks that are on, there's key actions and then there's benchmarks. Otherwise there would've been an explicit
metric in the italicized portion of each of those goals. Like that's what we see in the SIP goals. There's like an italicized absolute metric. If there's not a metric because it's a building of a system, it shows up more in the benchmark. Yeah. Would be my answer to that. Speaker 10: That's really helpful. Yeah. Thank you. Speaker 7: Yeah, thank you for the question. Speaker 1: Alright. Okay. Speaker 7: That was the end of my very long report. Speaker 1: It was excellent. Lots of good stuff today. Yep. Wanna go to finance or to MSVA? Well don't go to MSVA for a minute. Sure. Yeah. So we have the, the post occupancy evaluation with KMS on Wednesday.
Yeah. Dr. Stash included the agenda for us to see about what will be happening and Ms. Brunell will be attending that on behalf of the school committee and the MSBA building committee as well, or the Memorial School Building Committee. And I don't know if either of you wanna say anything about that or Speaker 7: I'm happy to take questions. There is a memo in there in case you haven't had a chance to look at it. That just kind of outlines. I really just tried to summarize and contextualize this visit and even shared, I asked the MSBA for an example report so you know what it's gonna look like. We're just wanting to be extremely transparent about the structure of the day.
We don't structure it. The MSBA does, as I mentioned in this report, there's an interactive kind of website where you can go look at what's kind of out there for other districts. There's only 36 districts thus far who've completed module nine. We opted into this. So just to give some context to what this is, this is not some established process they've done for decades. It's brand new and we didn't have to do it. And we said, yeah, of course we're gonna do it so we can learn. So just to kind of revisit that and remind people, but we're, I'm excited. I think it's gonna be great. Speaker 1: Any, any questions from the committee or comments about that? And thank you to the committee members who are available.
But in the end, it made sense to have Ms. Brunel attend since she's on the, the building committee. Speaker 7: One other key piece in here is that the online surveys were sent to parents were sent to students. So there's much more than just the participants on this tour. There's a good, this is the MSB process, but I was excited to see that. That's it. Speaker 1: Finance. Speaker 13: So in your packet, you got a, a memo for me and two pages worth of line item transfers and I'll summarize briefly and then take some questions. So, you know, we set our budget, we built a budget
probably about 18 months in advance before it completes. And not all the staff actually show up and, and everything works out exactly the way we thought it was 18 months in advance. So staff members change, they turn over, sometimes there's savings there. If somebody left it was at a higher salary and we hired somebody at a lower salary, we have some, some money in that particular line item. Students' needs change and sometimes the staff have to migrate to a different line item to follow the students so that, that reflects some of the changes. And we're always kind of looking for,
as the superintendent says, trying to find some efficiencies. And so as we're going through this year, we did find some efficiencies. The majority of it is from salaries, but the money, the, the money that we're looking to transfer to cover other things kind of goes to a few areas. About 53,000, a pd, about $115,000 to furniture, $26,000 to tax, about 47 5 to facilities, about 226,000 to technology
and another 47,000 to vocational tuition. Some of that is OC Aggie and some of that is the, we have a, a student that moved into town that was going to another vtech High School. There's no seat at Keef Tech and so we have to pay the tuition at the other, the other high school, the town would've normally paid. Not gonna haggle too much with them on that. But obviously this, it's not fair to this student to say, oh no, sorry, we're not gonna pay you and you can't finish your vocation when you're midway through high school.
So that's, that's basically it. There were some questions. One was in regards to substitutes. We estimate subline items for all the schools and then one for district wide. The bulk of the transfer to cover those basically comes from the district wide account to cover the other schools. We, you know, the school year is about 60% over in the number of days. And I've got three schools that have between 78 and 86% of their, their sub budget spent. And so I think most folks understand that September is our,
our, our best month of attendance. People haven't gotten sick, they're rested up, they're, they're back and ready for work. And so, you know, the rest of the year is a little bit different. And so it's not linear and we expect to have to cover that one way or the other. And so with, with everything that was given here, it was, it was with the thought that a lot of this is either required like the subs and the vocational stuff, or it's one time money for things that we kind of have delayed over the last few years
or didn't need to do over the last few years. But if we don't do it, we're gonna have to have to do it anyway. And FY 28 looks like it'll be a, a tougher budget year than than f than FY 27. So anything that we can sort of shorten the list on or that we delayed because we didn't think we had the money in 25, 26 or 27, which is the case of some of the maintenance and maybe technology items that we take care of 'em and keep, keep a smooth running operation so that we don't have, we don't have to kind of face the choice of, of some non-salary expenses that are, that become,
have tos instead of some salary expenses that really become want tos. So you can continue to see the student achievement growth that we, that we just kind of went over earlier tonight. So I would ask since school committee's policies to vote to approve transfers that if you find these acceptable, if you have more questions, you know, I'd, I'd like to see it voted so when the town comptroller gets back, we can adjust the budget and proceed with closing out the air in a nice, clean fashion.
Speaker 1: Thank you Mr. Gillis questions from the committee Speaker 3: When you're ready. Speaker 1: Okay, great. Motion Speaker 3: Move to reallocate total of 1,835,004 $546 from salaries. $1,319,319 would remain within the salary section and $516,227 would be moved to the non-salary section.
Second. Speaker 1: Okay, so discussion. Speaker 3: I an easy part of that. Speaker 1: All right, any discussion on that? I have a, a question. Do we need to add something about as described in the table or do you think it's enough to be that high level Speaker 3: If you would like to say as described in the memo dated February 20th, 2026. I am amenable to that. Okay. And I'll beat Mr. Brand if he's not, Speaker 1: Lemme Speaker 3: Just think about that for a second. Also amenable. Speaker 1: Okay. Alright. Any questions before we vote? All in favor? Anyone against? Anyone abstaining? 7 0 0.
Speaker 3: Appreciate Speaker 13: The support. Speaker 1: Great. No, thank you. Thank you for doing that. So that is the end of our agenda. Speaker 3: Motion to adjourn. Second. That's what he was warming up for. All in favor. Second. Speaker 1: All right, we are adjourned. Goodnight everybody.