going to get our meeting started. We're calling the meeting to order at 6:01. We're going to start with the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, folks. We're going to go a little bit out of order because we have some lovely little friends with us here from our LG. So, we're going to start with our student spotlight with Miss
Carlson and Mrs. >> Valachio. >> Valacio, sorry. >> Come on up, little friends. You want to share first? >> Yes. >> Or they can talk first and we can show the video at the end.
>> Talk first and then show. Perfect. >> All right. Hi everybody. My name is Jen Carlson. I teach first grade at LG Norris and I team teach with Miss Julia whose kids are included in our first grade classroom. I just want to start with a quote from Temple Grandon. Um,
and then I'm going to let the kids talk. There needs to be a lot more emphasis on what a child can do instead of what they can't do. When we presume competence, we believe that the child is capable and competent in their own unique way. And I
think that is the most prevalent idea in room 13 this year that my kids presume incompetence no matter what as do all of our friends. So Ella, here you go.
>> Good. Leave that right to the microphone. Good evening members of the school committee, families, teachers, and friends. We are first graders from LGN. We are excited to share a special video with you all about autism awareness
week. This week is all about learning how every person is unique, important, and value. >> We have been learning that some people think, learn, communicate, and experience the world in different ways. Those differences help make our
community stronger and kinder. >> In our classroom, we talked about being good friends, showing understanding, including everyone, and celebrating what makes each person special. I know.
>> We hope this video helps spread kindness, acceptance, and awareness throughout our school community. Thank you for for watching, and we hope you enjoy our video.
I will help you. It's okay. >> Amazing. AMAZING. >> RIGHT. REALLY? >> YEP. This week we are learning about how everyone's brain works in different and amazing ways. Being kind and included
everyone helps make our school a happy place for all. Beautiful. >> Good morning LG. Good. Good morning, LGN. >> Some people with autism can learn, play,
or communicate in their own unique way. We can show kindness by being patient, friendly, and a good helper. >> Hey, G. What's your favorite color? What's your favorite color?
>> Rainbow. RAINBOW. SEEING a scene, making sure everyone feels welcome. WE MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS PART OF THE GROUP. EVEN SMALL acts of kindness can make a big difference in
someone's day. Heat. Heat. TODAY WE CELEBRATE ALL THE THINGS THAT MAKE EACH OF US SPECIAL and unique. WHEN WE ACCEPT
all and include others, WE MAKE stronger and kinder together. Heat. Heat. Heat. HEAT. No one feels left out. All right. >> All right. G, wrap it up for us.
>> Okay. Hold on. Lucas, what do you say? >> Thank you for having us. Have a good night. >> We're just gonna have Lucas is going to introduce his friends who came tonight to talk. All right. Ready?
>> I'm So, who are you? Yeah, Lucas. Who's that? >> Richard. Who's next to Richard? >> Anna. >> Who's right here? >> Thank you for having >> Jamani. >> Who's right here? >> Owen. >> Who's right here? >> Aliva.
>> Who's this? >> Anna. >> And who is over there? >> Raymond. >> Okay, that's all of our friends that came to talk tonight. Good job, Lucas. Oh, Lucas, come back. Rosie's a Who's Rosie?
>> And Rosie is a second second grade friend. >> Second grade, >> but she's in Lucas's class. >> Yep. She's in Miss Julia's class with Lucas, right? >> Yeah. >> All right. Say thank you, JAYLA. >> UM, Miss Carlson and Miss Flatio, can we get a picture of all of you and your um
students and probably Mr. Higgins as well? Um, >> my friend Benson will take the picture for us. >> All right. >> He He used to be a while ago. >> He was my He was my first.
>> All right, let's take out a picture. >> Parents, feel free to come up and stand behind Benson and take pictures as well. >> Turn that way and face. >> Of course, Mr. Higgins is in the back. >> He's banged in the head by your head. He smiles.
>> Jens, >> that was good. That doesn't So, we're going to give our first two friends uh a little time to clear out if they choose to. They don't have to stay. >> Thank you all so much for coming with us tonight. That was amazing.
>> Mrs. Carlson. >> Yeah. >> Before you go, I just want to say I know we do Character Strong, but this is such a realworld amazing lesson that you put together and experience and taking all of the things that they learned through Character Strong and those traits, but
actually bringing it to life and in the classroom. So, thank you. >> Ton of credit to Miss Julie. >> I was just going to say to you and Miss Julie, I don't know where she went. She saw her, >> but yes. Yes. So, thank you. taught the first graders
isn't a lesson that you can I can teach them. >> No, this was it was wonderful. Thank you and thank you for bringing us here and sharing with us. We appreciate it. >> Thank you all. >> So, do I this whole section? >> No, I think I do. Um, you turn it over
to me. >> Okay. >> All right. Uh, we're going to go back into order now. Now that our first e visitors are moving on. So our next item agenda is the reorganization of the school committee. So we'll be turning it
over to Dr. O'Neal. >> Okay. Thank you, Dan. Um so as of tonight um we have a um new member on our school committee, Miss Heather Forbes. And so as we do every year after
the annual election um we reorganize the uh school committee itself. So I will begin by taking nominations for chairperson of the Norton school committee. Are there any nominations? >> I would like to nominate Justine.
>> Second. >> Thank you. Um any other nominations from the board? Okay. Seeing none, um I would Okay, hold on. I would request a motion to close nominations for the chairperson
of school committee. So moved. >> Second. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Okay. Um because there is only one nominee. Uh the I as the chairperson prom will cast one vote. Um
congratulations to Miss Callahan. that you are the new chairperson of the Northern School Committee. >> Thank you. >> You're very welcome. >> So, I will turn it back over to you >> to do the rest of these nominations. >> Okay. Bear with me everybody.
>> And apparently bear with me as well. So, >> do we can everybody? >> So, uh I guess we do open nominations for >> vice >> the vice chair. Yep. >> Yep. I'm down here. Okay. Any nominations for vice chair?
>> I would nominate Laura. >> Um, is there a second? I think. >> Yep. >> Oh, is that what we do? >> I think so. Yep. >> The same thing we always do. >> I would. >> So, you just ask a second. >> So, the motion has been passed. So, we need a second. >> Well, aren't we just nominating though?
If does there any other nominations, right, or no? >> I think you need to second first before you do. >> Yeah, you would second it and then there'd be no >> Oh, okay. All right. Is there a second? >> Nominations vice chair. >> Second to the motion to appoint Laura as vice chair.
Is anyone seconding the motion? >> Doesn't appear as >> No, >> apparently not. >> Okay, then the motion fails. >> All right. Are there any other nominations for vice chair?
>> I can I make a motion? I can do it, right? >> Yep. >> Um I'd make a motion to nominate Mr. Schliker for vice chair. Is there a second? >> Second.
Uh, all those in favor? >> I >> I >> I guess I can vote for myself. I don't know. Yeah. >> I >> sure >> any opposed or >> Okay. Um,
>> okay. >> Sorry, just trying to follow through here. Next is um we need to appoint somebody for a legislative representative. >> I would nominate Nick.
>> Nick, you currently do that, right? >> Yep. >> You >> second. >> All those in favor? >> I >> I >> um All right. negotiations.
Representatives, >> I'd make a motion to keep it the same. So, myself and Justine Kalinan. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I I >> um All right. We need to do two for capital improvement. So, um for number
one, >> can we have just clarification on this, Jen? >> Yep. Um, but you have one and seconds of backup. >> Yeah. >> Yes. >> Yes. And so typically what we do is Christine and Wade and I will meet with the first person and the second person
to um go through and take things offline so we can have conversations about capital requests without bringing it to the whole committee. Um so those two people would be the the those uh members that we would meet with. >> Got it. >> Okay.
So, um, anyone for capital improvement committee? >> I nominate Justine. >> Second. >> Okay. All those in favor? >> I >> I for number two for capital
>> nominate Dani. >> Second. >> Is that okay? Okay. All those in favor. >> I like to check. Can we make sure people want to do this? >> Whatever days, whatever days they are, I'm busy. >> It might be too late to do apparently.
>> Thought it was like a conversation. All right. Uh, anybody for CPAC? >> I nominate Heather Forbes for second. >> All those in favor? >> I I >> uh All right. Permanent building committee. >> I nominate Laura. >> Second. >> Second myself.
>> All those in favor? I Is that okay, Laura? >> No. >> Yeah, I want to finish out what I started. >> Okay. >> You don't have a choice. >> Um, >> all right. Signing warrants. >> I I don't mind staying warrants if >> nominate Justine.
>> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Um, all right. And then back for that. >> Yeah, we need a backup. And for the warrant sign, it's helpful to have somebody who is like is in town. Like I wouldn't pick Nick cuz he commutes back and forth to Rhode Island. You know,
Dan's kind of far, but you can pick actually pick whoever you want. Has nothing to do with me. >> I'd like to nominate Heather. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I I >> Okay. All right. Um Okay. Well, that's done. Next is
public comment. Um all speakers are encouraged to present their remarks in a respectful manner and to consider the privacy interests of others. Speakers must begin their remarks by stating their name, address, and affiliation. All remarks will be addressed through the chair of the meeting. Public comment shall concern only items that are within the scope of the school committee's
authority. Speakers will be allowed three minutes each to present their material, and in general, extensions will not be permitted. Speakers may not assign their time to another speaker. Is anybody here to participate in public comment? Seeing none, we will move on. Um, next
is to vote to approve minutes of the April 15th open session meeting um and the April 30th joint meeting with the select board. Has everybody had an opportunity to review the meeting minutes? >> Yes. >> Any revisions or changes, edits?
>> No. >> No. Okay. Um, make a motion to approve the minutes of the April 15th, 2026 open session meeting. >> So moved. Uh, all those in favor? >> I I >> And I make a motion to approve the minutes of the April 30th.
>> Hold on. I'm going to abstain from that one just because I wasn't here. >> April 30th. Yeah. >> Yes. >> Um, all right. Make a motion to approve minutes. Oh, the 15th. >> Sorry. Okay. >> Just when you do it, just say everybody. Yes. Everybody now within. >> Okay. >> Sorry.
>> 401. 40. >> That'll be 301. >> 301. Um, okay. Make a motion to approve the minutes of April 30th, 2026 joint meeting. >> So moved. >> All those in favor? >> Second.
>> Oh, sorry. Second. See, I told you. Bear with me. This is much easier sitting somewhere else. >> So, there's a motion in a second. >> And all those in favor? >> I. >> Did we second the 15th? No, we didn't. On the 15th. Can we >> All right. One more time.
>> Yeah. Make a motion to approve the minutes of the April 15, 2026 open session meeting. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I >> I. >> And >> I'm abstaining. >> There we go. >> So 301 and 40.
>> Um Okay. Next is the warrants. It's me. Um I've reviewed the following school expense and school payroll warrants. The school expense warrant is April 15th, 2026, 5552,388.69. School payroll warrant April 16th, 2026
1,928,215 and7 cents. I reviewed and approved. Wish to enter them into public record. Okay. Student rep updates with Benson and Leah. >> Hello everyone. Um, just from the yell and the JCS. Um,
but from the yell to support math mcast preparation, we held a 3-week STM math April arithmetic absurdity tournament with all 15 home rooms competing in a bracket style format based on weekly STMath puzzle completion. Championship results included Mrs. Rose's fourth
grade class defeating Mr. Chu's class and Mrs. Bruno's fifth grade class narrowly edging out Mrs. Winters and Mrs. Hannon's class. Third place honors went to Mrs. Carine's fourth grade and Miss Cross's fifth grade classes. Winning classes earned doughnut-based rewards including a short walking field
trip for first place. Um, and the tournament was an engaging way to build enthusiasm for math ahead of MCCAST. Our fifth grade students have done an excellent job on ma math MCCAST so far demonstrating strong effort and focus. Grade 5 took testing. Oh, I'm sorry.
Grade 5 testing took place on Tuesday and Wednesday with grade four testing occurring on Thursday and Friday. Testing days were structured to support students with a morning recess, a shared snack, and afternoon specials. Following math MCCAST, grade 5 students will complete science, technology, and engineering MCCAST next week. Testing
will conclude with a bingo celebration for all students sponsored by the H PTO. The GCS hosted several successful spring activities with the support of the school parent organization and family volunteers. The annual fun run was held on April 16th with scheduled runs for grades K through 12, Little Lancers, and
sensory friendly options to support all learners. On April 30th, the school um the school celebrated Sea Turtle Day with a schoolwide assembly, historical displays in the library, a scavenger hunt, a third grade rock garden ceremony, and a student versus staff basketball game. >> The assembly also recognized the
retirement of a senior administrative assistant, Lisa Vney, celebrating more than 25 years in service with the school. A dogwood tree was planted in her honor in front of the school. And that is all from us. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Just a quick shout out. I think Benson
kind of took the lead on it. great job with the senior project by the way. >> Uh there's a bunch of stuff online about it and donations and everything else and uh you know everything you do for these schools are uh quite amazing at your age. So thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Um all right, we already did the student
spotlight so we'll move on to the first reading of JLCD administering medicine to students policy revision. Dr. O'Neal, >> thank you. Um I know I have uh Mrs. Brown is here as well tonight. Um so as you can see the um current policy on
administering medicines to students is um fairly short compared to the one that is is uh next on the docket here. So, um, all of this comes to us based on changes to, um, Massachusetts
regulations, specifically 105 CMR210, um, which we are required to update our schoolbased policies because of that. So, um, ultimately there are some
pretty significant changes to our policy because it is so much more explicitly spelled out and and really that's that's there's really not a huge amount of change to what we've been doing. Um, but things are very really spelled out here. Um, so it walks us through the
importance of um, parental consent as well as prescriber orders. um we are able to provide students with over-the-counter medication. So for example, Advil or Tylenol, but again those all those have to have um parental
permission on file. students with when it comes to the self administration um they are able to self-administer their own asthma inhaler or insulin um based on the student age and it would be a case by case
consideration working with the student um family student the family and the nurse as well. Um, oftentimes we see that when students get to middle school or high school and they're able to self-administer on their own. Um, there is more explicit requirements around the
delivery, storage, and disposal of medications. Um, and then also more explicit um guidelines when it comes to responding to emergency medical emergencies and um
the the administration of epinephrine. So really um it's just much more clearly laid out um than our previous our previous um policy here. Dorian, was there anything that you wanted to add
that was specific or No, >> you did a good job. >> Oh, well is um any questions from the committee regarding the first read on administering medicines to students?
Nope. >> So, it's not changing anything we're currently doing. It's just writing it down. Be more specific. >> Looks to be modernizing it quite a bit. >> Following all these guidelines, but it's really never been out for us. >> Yeah. >> State regulations until this past
summer. That's why I did it this year because they updated everything this past summer. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> It's a lot of updating. Mhm. >> So like just like a quick question here. So delivery, storage, disposal. Students cannot transport medication to school.
So like >> parents got to bring it. >> They can't have Advil in their bags. >> They're not okay. >> We do have it in the health office. >> Got it. >> But even like their prescription medications, the parent has to bring it
in to the nurse. The unless there is an exception. I I saw though like the parent would have to call and say, you know, Johnny's bringing in his medicine today, >> right? He's on the bus, you'd say no. >> Yeah, >> he's driving himself in. I'd say, yeah, but send him straight to an office. >> Yeah. Okay.
>> Okay. Any other questions, comments? This is just a first reading, so we don't have to vote. >> No vote. >> Okay. All right. Um discussion and vote on school improvement plan, the elementary principles. Uh so tonight we
have Mr. Higgins from LGN and Mr. Barrett from JCS here to um share the shared elementary school improvement plan. U Mr. Gein was supposed to join us but unfortunately he had something come up and he wasn't able to attend tonight. So um I think probably what they're
going to share is that Marty is responsible for all the data collection would be my guess. >> I like that idea. >> That's what you said. I like that idea. That's going the minute, right? >> You want us to vote on that, guys? Or >> I'll second it right now. >> Uh, thanks for having us tonight and
sharing this proposed school improvement plan. Um, Justine, congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Um, yeah, Paul and I are are excited to share this. I think, um, you know, for a little history for maybe some new members, uh, when I started here at Dorton Public Schools, Marty and I had a
discussion with Dr. Marcus at the time around um trying to get our school councils all on the same page. Uh attendance at school council meetings can be difficult at times to get parents involved and and teachers who want to do it because they're all doing so many things on top of uh you know their
regular their regular schedule. So we proposed combining the three schools uh you know prek to to three and then the the uh yell with four and five and we have as you can see from the attendance page a great turnout in terms of parents uh you know teacher support and our
community member Mr. Cersei is here tonight he wears many hats as you know and we figured he's a Norton resident he can be our community representative as well uh so we appreciate that from from Vinnie. Um, so you you have the document in front of you. We've aligned this plan
obviously with our new district uh strategic plan and really focusing on the the the work that was done um you know prior to going into next year. So we're excited to to have it streamlined and you know connected to that that district plan. Um and you can see all of
the uh the mission statement, vision, and core values are all aligned. I know Marty did write that preamble. He did a really nice job with that when we decided to join our school council, so I will give him credit for that. Um, >> but that's it. >> He knows. Yeah, that's I love him, Park.
Um, and then on I we should have had page numbers, I'm thinking at this point, but where it says Norton Elementary School's improvement plan goals, uh, it's just a quick overview of the the three major goals that we're focused on. Um, really around communication. Uh having
the three schools communicating to parents in the community at large is important for us to have the same messaging uh the same process for our teachers to understand uh that it's very important to communicate with parents in the community and making sure that we're all of the same understanding of how
that should should happen. Uh it is part of our teachers, you know, rubric in terms of uh parent involvement and community involvement. So we want to make sure that everyone has a similar understanding. Um, we, you noticed we've worked a little bit around, uh, critical attendance. I know there's a
district-wide team. We wanted to focus on attendance as a critical issue, especially after co. And then our third goal around community service. Um, as you maybe recall from a few weeks ago, Mrs. Lions was here with her senior reading buddies. Um, you know, programs like that and initiatives like that are
really important to um, the education of our students. not just the reading, writing, and arithmetic in the classroom, but having those connections across the community and, you know, kind of researching and getting involved in different things. Uh Benson is a good proponent of that as well. LGN kid right
there. We're proud of him. Um so Paul's going to share a little bit more in depth about the first goal and then I'll revisit the second and then Paul will do the third and uh we'll take questions. >> Thank you. I definitely have to pull this down after Mr. Higgins. No, it's okay. Um, before I get into the first
call, I just want to say as as being newer to Norton, I think it's wonderful that all three schools have a combined site council, particularly because as as being sister schools, I think it's really important for us to be consistent in the way that we approach things. And Mr. Higgins has been wonderful to me and
helping me kind of get used to Norton. And I also think because our two schools are the feeder school for the Yell, it makes sense for all three schools to be on the same page with the goal. So that was really a breath of fresh air for me coming into the to the district. Um so I
one thing that I can't stand in presentations is when presenters read things to the audience. So I'm not going to do that. Um but I did want to focus on I think anytime you have a plan whether it's an improvement plan any sort of plan you need to know how you're
going to judge is it successful or not. And so I just want to point out a couple of data points in our first goal around communication. Um when we're using Parent Square as a platform, one of the great benefits of Parent Square for all
the principles is that we get um weekly messages from parent square letting us know how it's used in our school besides how we're using it. So for example, I get um every week a message and I can see kindergarten and pre-K competing for
how many messages they've sent out. um I can see that the first grade they have worked together as a team and their messages are exceptionally consistent. So they're already doing that and so Parent Square gives us as administrators and leaders and also grade level teams
the tools to be able to do those things well. So I think already we have some data that's at our fingertips to let us know okay kindergarten, first grade, prek, they're already using it in this way. It's been very effective. um second and third grade maybe we want to look at
some of the the strategies that the other grades have used or um maybe there are some other things that we can try. The other thing that I would like to talk about with Tom and Marty is surveying families because one of the things that you know we have a number of
parents on the school committee you get inundated with messages from the schools not just from the principal I apologize JCS parents but from teachers from the district from all kinds of places and I think you know it's important for us to
understand what are some ways that we can make parent square and our social media communications, things that are posted on our school websites more effective and efficient for you. Um, we just had our kindergarten orientations this week and I can't tell you in our
slides how many times I referenced um the JCF website and the district website for questions about transportation, about registration. And so I think getting insight from families will help us kind of mold that strategy and and use that data to make some adjustments
and also lead those conversations with our staff. Um so I think from my perspective those are really the data points that we're going to use to see if we are achieving or making progress toward that goal. And I think the last point too is really having some more
conversations about what things should be digital in communication and what things should be both. And maybe there might be some exceptions. Maybe some things should only be hard copy or very specific situations. Um, and I think we do an excellent job of that already, but
I think in talking more together, you know, we have more diversity than ever in the Norton public schools. Parent Square makes it really um efficient and effective to translate communications kind of on the fly, but there are some situations where we need to do things
differently. You know, we use um the telephone service. I use it quite a bit. I'm sure you do as well in talking with families. So, also thinking about other modes of communication as well. We know Marty's the Instagram king of Norton with the yellow Instagram account, but I
know that um at both LG and JCS, we use social media quite a bit to get information out to parents and also just to share exciting things that happen during the day. I mean, I so my youngest is graduating college this weekend, my 22-year-old, but I remember getting the
emails with pictures of what was happening in my kids school. And I look forward to those. Even it weren't if it weren't my kids. I could see what was going on and seeing the smiling faces. So, I think that's already an effective way to communicate. Um, I don't know if there's anything else you want to add to that or you just want to >> No.
>> Okay. Terrific. >> Can I ask you a quick question while you're up there? >> Of course you can. >> So, with parent square I from a teacher's perspective, is it easy to use and to like upload and like overall it's >> very user friendly and Yeah. Okay. Good.
>> There are adapted over the years too. I used to use more back in the day. Yep. >> Um I it was a paid subscription and I I paid it out of my own pocket as a a teacher and a principal. And then uh coming to Norton, it was it was nice to have a platform that had those same uh
those same pieces and to communicate with parents. So um that was a kind of a breath of fresh air. >> I would agree. The district that I came from, we used a different platform called Thrillshare. Um and I find parent square to be a little bit m more user friendly particularly for the teachers.
Also the quality of the templates is really improving. Um so I think that is really helpful because it takes a lot of work to make things look good and having some templates that it's easy just to plug things in. Um our teachers already work so hard. Making time efficient for them I think is really helpful. I know
the first grade takes advantage of it because all their communications use they look very similar which is really helpful. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. So goal two uh is around attendance as I mentioned and um we've done a little bit of work with this already um at the
district level and then also at the school level. So uh I think Brian you headed that committee right the the critical attendance committee at the district level. So, uh, there were there were members, um, from each school on that that committee and, um, we rolled out, I think it was the beginning of
last school year. Um, I I lucky enough to have Carolyn Kenny, who's our wellness teacher and fizzed teacher, join that committee. She knows every student at LG because she sees our our kindergarters and first graders twice a week and our second and third graders once a week. Uh, she's a great resource in terms of just knowing every child and
um, being able to relate with every kid. So she was our chair of our attendance committee and we've we've met um last year quite a bit to kind of kickstart this uh process and just to dive into the data of attendance I think postco a
lot of schools are dealing with a change in a philosophy about sending kids to school um whether it's around illness whether it's around um you know just family stuff that's going on at home um a kid's desire to want to get up and go to school each day which at the
elementary level scares me because those kids usually love coming to school. My goal as principal is to make kids want to come to school and have fun and be happy and do their best learning each day. Uh so attendance is really important to us as principles and our teachers as well. Um so some of the things that we've we've uh implemented
and accomplished over the last year um it was more in terms of you know what can teachers do at the classroom level or maybe what students uh what relationships do students have with other adults in the building that might help them get to school each day. Um so we want to see that replicated across
all three schools and then I know across the district in terms of of making attendance an important thing. Uh, in terms of parent square, I have an attendance matters um, you know, dialogue in there every single week just so people understand that we really want those kids in school. I know there's
times when I've done it as a parent myself, you take your kids out for a trip. Um, and we just want parents to know being there every day uh, is important and learn, you know, being ready to learn is important. And so we really want to focus on making sure um,
that that parents understand that. Um a few of the other things we've got tiered um implementation of of tiered uh approaches in terms of maybe you're receiving a phone call like I said from a teacher, maybe you're receiving a letter from um you know the school. We
also, you know, implore our nurses, our school adjustment counselors. It's really a wraparound approach and making sure that every student has an adult they know and trust explicitly so that they want to be in our school each day. Um obviously the data kind of speaks for
itself. We look at attendance data on a regular basis. Uh our administrative assistance will be important in terms of you know printing that data out having the team look at it and making decisions around how we can help families. Um and then in terms of you know our school
adjustment counselors if a family is in need, if there's a um a very valid reason why the student's not coming to school, uh mental health issues obviously are prevalent nowadays. we want to be able to get them services that they might need to help their child come to school. Um, and then in terms of
maybe medical illnesses, um, having tutors visit students at home if, uh, families are willing to do that is important as well. So, it's, uh, it's really a wraparound type of goal, um, because we can't help kids, uh, achieve
their learning goals if they're not in school. And it's, um, I love the goal. It's one of my my favorites. Most of these goals came out of discussion with our parent groups. Um, you know, their involvement and their kind of feedback around what would be important to them.
So, communication is key, attendance is key, >> and obviously Paul will talk about the community service piece. >> The other ones, but just not that one. >> Thank you. So, um, again, being newer to Norton, one of the things I noticed right away was how tight the community
is. It's is very much like the community I live in, um, which, um, Mr. just like her works in. So we kind of trade off every morning. And so I think a really important thing for us is how do we get involved and get our students involved
in community organizations and in working on things. And I I was very fortunate in my prior school, we had some strong connections with some uh community organizations. And so we talked about some ways to possibly do that. But we we don't want to assume that we
know all the right ways to do that because I don't personally live in Norton. I know Tom doesn't live in Norton. And so one of the ways that we really talked about it was surveying again parents, families, staff members to get some ideas and even community members to say what are the
organizations in the community that one are really important to people, two that are dying to partner with the schools and then have conversations about okay what are some things we can do? One example I was I was talking to Dr. Neil about this is is you know maybe a community garden in each school. There's
a lot of value in kids learning how to grow food and how to take care of things. Um we have wonderful veterans organization in town. You know that they're coming out to a Memorial Day concert soon. They came to our Veterans Day ceremonies at the beginning of the year. That's already a great connection.
But there are lots of other organizations. Our senior citizens in town. Um we're very fortunate the high schoolers are coming soon. The kids love seeing them parade through the, you know, the schools, congratulating them. And so, again, in looking at how we would show what our direction is for
this goal, cuz this is a brand new goal. This really isn't work that we've done systemically. I think we've probably all the schools have done it individually in pockets, but we haven't talked about it all three schools together. So, first we need to kind of establish a direction. So, that'll be our our first step
looking at um survey results from that. then maybe talking about what's more appropriate for each of the three schools. Maybe there's some things more appropriate for Tom and my school versus Marty's school. Um, and then pick some of those things to pilot instead of trying to do everything at once. Maybe
picking one or two. And I think in the plan we identified, we said, you know, the goal would be to pick two to pilot and then try them out and then do a follow-up survey or conversations with teachers, conversations with community members to see how did that work out? What did kids get out of it? What did
community members get out of it? How did we promote it and communicate it? And I know one of the big challenges for all communities right now is how do we help communities see the positive impact schools have on the entire community. So when it's time to support the schools,
there's a really good idea among the community. It's not just what you know when I went to school. We hear that refrain all of the time. When I went to school, there were 35 kids in a class and we didn't have to worry about this type of thing. Schools are different now. and that's okay. So, this is I think also strategic in being able to
share what's happening in our schools, why it's important for the community and why we need the community support. Um, so that's kind of a a a summary of that goal. I think because this is new, we're we're really not sure how well this is going to work. It's going to be really
interesting to try out. I think fortunately we you know, you saw an example with the LG presentation which I thought was absolutely wonderful and the fact that Mrs. Sunderland's here from JCS today. Um, this is Gance is here. But I think we're also going to have some wonderful ideas from our staff that
the principles haven't even thought of. And that's what I'm really excited about to hear these great ideas that staff have. Um, a lot of our staff are animal lovers and so I know that's going to be one of one of the goals at GCS. Um, anything you'd like to add about that or any questions about that goal?
>> I personally I not that I don't think attendance and streamlining communication is important. I do. However, I love this. I think this is what we need and I think this is such an
opportunity for our students to access what's in the community and really see how the relationships can build together. And I think we see it at the high school level a bit more where they're able to get out and and um you
know with our pathway programs and things. Um but I'm excited for this for the at the elementary level too. I think this is wonderful and um and I'm excited to see how it how it all transpires. You know >> I think the kids will be very excited. I
mean, you know, in a galaxy far far away when I was a music teacher, I used to bring my chorus students to um, you know, local senior citizens homes and we would perform for them and it was just an amazing connection and there's so many different ways we can do that and
the young kids, they enjoy it so much and they learn so much from people in the community. I think it would be a great two-way, >> you know, starting conversations, I think. >> Yeah. Yeah. any comments or questions? Uh >> I have some I have a couple questions.
So uh more so uh for the attendance. So goal two. Um so like we know that last year when the handbooks were presented for middle and high school, you know, the discussions there that they have more flexibility in how they can arrange
their system and put it more on the on the student um and their responsibility. So in a way it's a little bit easier for them because they have more you know of an incentive. Um you know I find typically at the elementary level it's the parents that you have to incentivize
more than the kids right. Um and thinking back to the data that um Dr. Aman had presented about and and seeing those upticks and improvement particularly in the middle and high school levels of attendance. Um, so what do you like is your target really going
to be more parent and family based versus the student themselves obviously and then you know like how how do I just find it's more challenging at your level to be able to incentivize them to bring their kids to school. >> Yeah, I agree. Um I think it's it's a
little bit of both. I think a balanced approach is important. Like I said, we want kids wanting to come to school every day. I feel like, you know, I've heard comments in the past, we'll make school more fun. Say, if you LG or JC, I don't know how we could possibly make school more fun than we do. Um,
>> but, you know, I think showing that enthusiasm and love of what we do as adults is important for kids to see. Um, but I I think you'll see in the goal, too. It's important for us to connect with those families and and form those important relationships with them so that they can see that we're not out to get them in terms of attendance that we
want to support them because we know as parents ourselves it can be a struggle sometimes to get your kid to school. I was just sharing with someone recently my mom >> um struggled with me from preschool to probably around second grade getting me to school. If she were here she'd say, "Yeah, yeah." Couldn't get socks and
shoes on that kid's feet. I missed the bus like all of kindergarten in first grade. Um so, you know, living it as a kid myself and having parents who had to deal with that. Um it's important for us to make sure we're we're creating those relationships and positive relationships with parents so they can see that we
want to support. We want to make sure that they know we're not we're not out to get them. Uh that being said, we we've changed the handbook language too around absences in terms of excused absences and unexcused absences. In in our minds, an absence is an absence. Whether you're on vacation in Florida
with your family or you have the flu, not being in school is not being in school. Um, and it's not to say we don't we're not, you know, cognizant of the fact that kids being sick is is um, you know, real. Uh, we just want to make sure that if you're not sick, you're in school. Um, so hope that answers your
question. >> Yeah. Yeah. Um, no. Yeah. No, no, no. I think my follow-up question might help a little bit, too. No, I thank you. Um, and I think more it was less of a question, more of just affirming for you too. I know how difficult it is for you to do that. Um, also, so school
improvement plan, it's a three-year plan. Um, this is this side of things is new for me. Is there ever like do you guys come in and do follow-ups of, hey, here's what's happened in year one. Here's how we concluded. >> Yeah. So, um, in my time here in NOR, no. When I was in Eastn public schools,
each year we would present uh on the progress of our goals uh and give kind of a >> not trying to give you more work. It's just >> No, it's it's a really good question. Uh I think similar to the strategic plan, you want check-ins along the way. Uh you'll see that and we we went back and forth about how many years we thought
this plan should be and we we mirrored the strategic plan to make sure it was the same. So that you know at that time we want to make sure that we're doing the things that >> Right. And I mean not to throw your words back at you too. We're not out to get you. It's just we want to hear about the successes and how well things are going and >> second time here in I think 3 weeks. I
love coming here highlighting the amazing stuff we do in our school. So >> I just that would be neat if we considered that. >> I think that's the goal. So um at one of the upcoming meetings I'm going to be sharing with the committee our strategic
plan update on everything that we have done so far this year. Um, and I think ultimately the principal should expect to come back each spring and share, you know, how they've been how their plan has been going, what they've been working on. You know, the the successes and the challenges of things that have
kind of taken place, have they had to pivot? Um, are they finding something comes much easier than others? And and so all of those things will will be shared as well. Um just like I mean they come almost every year and do handbooks and you know
>> it's so funny because during sometimes during the year Pam and I are like what else can we put on this agenda and then other times you get to the end of the year and it's like okay >> what can we take away? >> What can we take off because we've got way too much to do. So that that will that can be arranged.
>> Thank you. I just think that would be kind of neat just to see how things are going because especially because you're very passionate and excited about these that you know I would hope that you come back and be like hey this was amazing so >> we'll see you in a couple weeks >> just to be a piece of paper that you know we get done with with families it has to be something that is achievable
and is purposeful like having an impact on students especially. So >> sorry I think I interrupted you. >> No I would just say we'll see you in a couple weeks. >> Okay. >> What else can we do? I just have uh two things. One, thank you for the committee
or whatever we kind of called them on this for the 25 of you. I know when you do these things, it's a lot more uh meetings and emails and phone calls and stuff going back and forth trying to put all the actual words onto the paper. Um so, thank you for everyone's work there, parents, community, teachers,
principles. Um I guess my biggest thing is one, and I've had this conversation a few times with with admin. Um we got this on, you know, Monday night. we get it handed to us, you know, when Pam drops it off and then we're supposed to look through it and vote on it. And I
just, again, I hate tableabling things. I think me and general on the same page generally when, you know, get it on, get it voted and move it along. I just feel like there's so much information on this. And when we're talking about school improvement plans from our elementary levels going up, I would like
to have a little bit more time just kind of being able to actually go through everything and make sure all of our questions are answered and asked and make sure we're comfortable with it. Um cuz as is again, look through it today quickly. um looked through it last night when I got a when I got a quick minute, but it's just a lot thrown at us and
when we're talking about something as you know massively I guess in terms of you know the three-year plan I would like a little bit more time. Um and then secondly when we talk about goals and I've also said this multiple times it's like we
never put anything that is actually measurable. And I don't want to say that's by design because I don't think that's the case, but like okay, attendance is going attendance up 0.1% improving attendance. Sure. Is it really
improving attendance or did one kid show up to the day and we we you know got to do that? So like I would like to see a little bit more in terms of like again I these objectives are great. I think it ties the whole community in. I think the tennis aspect meets the district stuff. I I'm not saying anything along those
lines. There's just some of these that I'm like, how do we know if we hit it? How do we know if parent square is working? How do we know if you know the attendance is actually improving? Um, and again, I know we covered this at last meeting, you know, smart goals. Exactly. What can we kind of do? And
again, I don't think every little subsection here, you know, in 11A needs a goal and this thing needs a goal, but I think like overall it would be nice to have some measurable marks that are somewhat achievable. And then when you guys do come back, it would be, hey, you know, our attendance has gone up by 7%.
Our, you know, parent square meeting, you know, our, you know, messaging to parents has cut back 10%, but we've seen via survey that they're still feeling like they're getting all the information that they need. Um so again that's just kind of a few things that I see um in
terms of you know looking at this in a you know so so I think with that point Nick I I think that's where we could get with this but since this is fairly new I think it would be you know kind of maybe in the best interest in my opinion to just you know kind of let them you know
let the administrators in this committee kind of put all that into play but at least get the framework built so that we can get to that point to have measurable goals you know cuz we take a look back and to your point say all right yeah.1% means you know the family didn't take the Florida vacation this week or
something like that. Um, so I I think I I understand your point, but I think maybe that's where we get to with something like this. Um, versus just let them build the framework and and kind of, you know, build the foundation and get to that to that end point. That again, just my opinion, not trying to disagree with you.
>> And I think to add to Devil's Advocate, too, I think if you the way that this is broken out, it's that's where your evidence section is is where your data is going to fall in. Um, and so that's how they're being able to measure it right now. So there may not be actual percentage bullet points but um I think that there are actual measurable pieces
at least to goals one and two. Goal three is tough because it's you know the community out but even that when they if they come back and they say that we were able to do outreach successfully to say five you know different communities well then that's five more than they did the year before. So, you know, I think
coming from the teacher aspect where we do make smart goals and we have to figure out how are we making this measurable, there are ways to do it that aren't necessarily as quantitative as as I know that you're looking for >> like a percentage. >> May I um just respond to that because I
think that's an excellent question. Um I think for the attendant specifically and Tom can certainly you know give his opinion. So, in actually in in my personal my plan with the superintendent because where we're at in each school is
different. >> Mhm. >> I put a like and I think I actually spelled it out exactly how you said like we're at this percentage from the prior year. Our goal is to be at this percentage for this year. I think for us to put that in this plan is a little
tricky because we're all in slightly different places and we won't be able to predict where we'll be next year, but that absolutely could be something that we talk about when we come back. And then we could also talk about what would a reasonable goal is. Let's let's say that you know LGN right now 8% of their
students are chronically absent. Okay, maybe their goal is next year we want to be at 7 and a half whereas JCS you're at 10%, you want to be at least at 9% if not lower. I I think you bring up a valid point, but I think it might have to be a little bit different for each school depending where we're at. Yeah.
>> And what our trend is. >> Um, for goal number three, because that is much more qualitative than quantitative, >> we were very mindful on how we wrote our evidence and and I completely understand that you didn't have a chance to go through every detail. Not a problem at
all. But if you if you look in the evidence for goal number three, we put a lot of by this date >> so that we could give oursel those markers and make that quantitative because you're exactly right. It's going to be tricky to say um you know because this is so new. How do we know we're
successful? Was it you know we reached out to the we tried these two projects or whatever but to keep ourselves honest um we were we were like nope we need to do this by this date. We need to do this next thing by this date. So that'll help us like did we reach it? No, because we
didn't do that by this date, but we did it two months after. So not not too bad. >> But um but I think your point is well taken and that's why we tried to highlight too the evidence we would use to show if we're making progress toward the goals. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I and I I do have to piggyback and do agree with Nick that I
think you especially large documents like this if we could have them just a tinge earlier that would help because like Nick we do like to you know write down a lot of questions and you know see those things as they hit us. So um but yeah but thank you so much for all of the work cuz I know that it's a lot. So
>> or we could get it have a discussion not a vote that you know what I mean. >> Right. Right. the discussion, presentation, but I I I like the idea of having in front of me first to write the questions before they they come to talk to us. >> Totally. Totally. >> We could also maybe do like >> the presentation and then the vote the
next week. Come kind of like we do at the first meeting here. >> We wouldn't need I mean >> we wouldn't need you guys next week short of if we have any questions we could, you know, >> I mean Tom does love coming. >> That is true. I wasn't joking when I said I'll see you in a couple weeks. But maybe something like that treated as
like a first reading and then a second reading a vote. And then and then my last question here I guess from a committee standpoint. Um obviously we talk about attendance, we talk about the community service stuff. Um >> was there any thought of like actually
talking about academics? >> Question. >> Um yeah, as I as I mentioned before and you can chime in too. Um, you know, we took our our direction from the council as a as a whole and I mean, we threw out I don't know how many ideas total at
least six or seven different >> ones and ended up with these three. Uh, it's a really great question and obviously our our daily work is around that like that is what we do on a on a daily basis. That's at the forefront of everything. Um, so you know when we think of school improvement plans there
are there's so many different facets you can focus on different things that you can that you want to do. um you know under the direction of of our leadership at the central office there's been a lot of work around academics even just the four years since I started here um you know having new programs in in math in
reading in science in social emotional learning all of those things are happening uh already under under Dr. Acriman's direction. So, um, we felt like in order to to move us forward in other ways, we wanted to focus on these these things. But amazing question
because that that's why we're here, right? That's what we do. Uh, is academics first and foremost. I would I would argue social emotional learning, too. But that's just me. >> Well, I mean, I think it all pieces together like you have to be in school >> to get to the academic piece of it. And
I'm I'm going to say the piece that will probably get people irritated and yell at me at some point, but like attendance. If you're a good family and you have the the ability at home to get your kids to school, whether they want to put on their shoes or not, cuz I fight with that about my daughter every day as
well, but like you're going to school, you're not missing school for things. In our household, attendance isn't a huge deal, right? Our kids are going to go to school. That's where they're going to go. So, we're making a huge thing and we've put a huge push from the district about getting kids to school. That is
very important. But guess what's even more important? What they're doing at school. You see what I'm saying? So, like that's the aspect where like I love it from a district standpoint of how do we do this? How do we get all five schools in place? How do we make attendance? Cuz if they're not in school, they're definitely not learning.
But like while they're there in the you know whatever 85 to 90% of the majority of the students who are there on a you know not on a chronic absenteeism list what are we doing when they're there and how do we take that majority and make sure they're getting the best education
possible from public schools. >> Well let's also remember that we have a district strategic plan that the schools don't get to get don't get to opt out of. So all of the components of our district strategic plan are things that
we're doing as a district, you know, and I'll share that. I I don't know if it's the next meeting or the meeting after. I can't remember quite honestly. Um the principles and the schools are all deeply involved in all of that work as well. And it's I mean a lot of that work has to do with academics and student
achievement. and we have a whole um actual goal or a strategic objective around high quality um teaching and learning. So all of those things still have to be done. Um and it's you know it's all the work that we're you know continuously working on as a team as
well. So >> yeah. No, I just like I guess that's my you know we've obviously have been improving here and you know the obviously at the elementary levels with the with the reading scores and so on. Like that's to me where like where we can improve and how do we make that you
know I think that's a concern of everybody's in the in the district of how do we get those things up so we know our kids are ready for from going from LG or JCS to the Yell to the middle school to the high school you know and and doing it that way. So um but yeah
that's kind of all I have. >> Okay. Anyone else comments questions? Do we want to table this then and vote? >> Yeah, I'd make a motion to table to vote at our next school committee meeting.
>> Second. All those in favor? >> I >> I >> I >> All right. So, we'll vote. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you both very much. We appreciate it. >> Marty will be here. >> Marty will be here at the next meeting.
>> All told, I like it. Thank you. >> Thanks, guys. >> Um, all right. Next is review and vote on recommended budget transfers. Mrs. Hadfield. >> Hi. Um, so typically when we do these transfers towards the end of the year,
they're between salaries and expenses. Um, but we're still asking for approval for these transfers because it was after we um did our retrop pay in settling the teachers and um >> yep. Paris contract it was a lot larger
so we thought it was important to bring it in front of you. So we are just um seeking approval for the following numerous transfers that we have in front of you if you have any questions. >> So all of these are just coming from um transferring from obviously so
hypothetically the department chair stipens at the high school like we're just transferring them to something that's above and it can kind of go anywhere. Correct. >> Okay. >> Because it's sal um >> it's all salary. Yeah.
>> Yeah. >> It's all salary items >> and going to a salary. >> So all of these transfers are directly from the budget we already had. >> Yes. >> To incorporate the retropay for the new MTA contract.
>> Most I mean some of them could just be >> we overexpended >> sub coverage or something. >> Longterm leaves. Yep. >> Okay. >> Mhm. >> Okay. Any other questions? >> Nope. >> Right. Uh, entertain a motion to approve
the budget transfers as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Um, next is AI task force update. Mrs. Winsper and Dr. Arian. I would just like to start by saying I'm
not really sure who put the two long- winded people together. >> Going to try really hard. >> Weren't we just talking about what to take off in meetings? >> Oh, no. I'm going to try. >> We were making such good time.
>> And timing. >> See, it would be like a baller move if you just put your whole presentation to AI and just hit play. >> Yeah. >> Like that would have been perfect. Amazing. >> She might spontaneously confess. >> Yeah. >> Was that giant flash?
>> Did you see giant flash? >> I was looking. >> I like your pops. >> Okay. So, thank you for having us. Um, Brian and I had the pleasure this year of launching an AI task force. And you might say, what exactly was that? Well,
we decided as a district, I think uh our leadership team AI is a thing, right? Like we all know that this is something that we cannot um pretend is not impacting us. It is. And
so we decided um actually I think the state had finally put forth some guidance. So we decided okay, we've got some guidance from the state now. let's do something about it. Um, and we convened a task force in the fall. Uh,
we sent out the word and we were very fortunate to get about 27 to 30 people who responded and were willing to participate. So, we're very excited about it. Um, and we're going to kind of give you an update about this tonight.
So, we took Jen's um for our presentation purposes, we took Jen's the Lancer way um just to try to embed that into where we're headed with AI in the district. Um because again, you know,
our approach basically is not what AI is going to do for us, you know, but like does it fit? Does it fit in Norton? And if so, how? And how can we actually think about
as educators what's important? What's important for Norton public schools? And you know, when we began the work, it was more about we want it to serve us, you know, we want it to serve our
students, not undermine what we do. So every kind of decision um every thought process you know we were thinking all about Norton first because we're you know obviously pro teaching and learning that is what we do here um you know we
do want to think about you know what is happening on the national level um the state level and then obviously locally and we can't forget about the fact that this is larger than us um and that there
are some outside forces, you know, pushing and emphasizing AI literacy, you know, and those are critical thinking skills. Um, workforce readiness that incorporate AI. Um, and also, you know, from the federal government, we're
looking at AI as a national priority. um DESIE and also the governor's office pushing out um you know AI training for all Massachusetts residents. Whether that's something you want to, you know, take upon that, you know, is certainly a
personal decision, but it's, you know, we as educators need to take all of this under consideration and we need to think about we want safe, ethical, and, you know, equitable opportunities. And then so thinking about,
well, where do we begin with this? We actually surveyed students and that was what really kind of drove I think our our starting point and you know we were very cautious. Um there are other districts I think Dan we
had a conversation at one point and you were like you know we should be at the forefront of this and it was like I think we need to be slow you know I think we need to you know we don't necessarily have the infrastructure in Norton to go fast so we really are
trying to be not avoidant but we really need to think about how can we cautiously move in a capacity um that is meaningful and maybe that is you know considering
what's the most important piece and that is you know we believe in people you know students and teachers and so that human judgment is the most important right it doesn't replace us um you know teachers are concerned about academic integrity they're concerned about
cheating kids are also concerned about cheating they told us >> I mean I wish the the high school kids were still here uh they were very clear. Um, and we'll talk a little bit about that. You know, for me, data privacy is non-negotiable. That is, um, you know,
something that we've had in place in the district for a long time that we do not use tools or resources that do not sign a data privacy agreement. Um, and so we can't just use whatever is the shiny tool, you know, the AI tool. We have to make sure that any resource whether it's
a new curriculum um that comes out of Brian's office or you know something that is um cutting edge we have to make sure I have Vinnie Cersei all the time you know I've got him trained and he emails me and he's like I you're in my
head like it's the first thing that I ask um a vendor and I'm like that's good that's you know that's our responsibility is to make sure that we're protecting our students um you no data and so also staff readiness because
you know I've been in education for a long time. I also started in second grade as Dr. O'Neal did and um then I taught middle school, my favorite. Um I'm not ready for AI. Like I'm going to
be honest with you like I'm tech. I'm the tech lady and um this is bigger than than anything I think anybody could have prepared for and this is you know three years has been around for three years generative
AI and um our staff I think is open but also very hesitant because of the time and energy that truly needs to be given to this if we
are to do this um or to embrace kind of bringing it into whether it be just for professional development purposes like this is a lot okay and we know that um so with that said let's talk a little bit about the um what our students told
us okay so we did get 317 responses which I was pretty excited about um and 86% of those told us that they had used some type of AI in some form but Yet 44% said they had not used it for school.
Now mind you, this was in the fall. Now if I were to ask them that again, I was not going to put them on the spot before this, but you know, um but that is an opportunity for us, right? They're looking for guidance. They want and they
told us they are looking for guidance from their teachers. Our high school students especially told us >> that they feel as though AI could be used to help
them, but they don't want it used as an unfair advantage. >> They don't want it used for cheating. And I can respect that. Um, so they're looking for guidance from
their teachers, guidance from the district. Now, our staff, this is actually a survey that um was done of the high school staff, just them, not the middle school. Um, that was shared with me and
everybody had used it at the point of the survey um most on an occasional level. But what's really great is they too are looking for guidance. At the time of this, we didn't have anything in place, right? This is the whole year
that this has taken us. Um, so we've got our students looking for guidance. We've got our staff looking for guidance. Everybody wants clear expectations. Now, I think what we need to to realize or
understand is like our staff are not saying absolutely not. They're not, you know, digging their feet in and saying I'm not going to do this. What they're saying is we care about our
kids. We care about our students. We care about them learning and growing and thinking. We care about our professional judgment as teachers and educators. Um, and we also want to make sure
that responsible youth can be taught. >> We have to teach our teachers what that means. We have to understand and have a common language. And and I know Brian's going to speak to this. Um there's some training that we've done this year that
will continue into next year, but we don't even have like we didn't have a shared starting point and and that's really where we needed to to begin. >> And I want to just say Norton is no different than any other community in the Commonwealth. I actually feel really
good about where we are now than where we were at the beginning of the year. Vinnie Hayward if he was here he would tell you he cannot believe like even just in six months time um the changes that that he has seen. Um
so we started with staff and I just want to speak to this for a second. When we started with this the task force we have representation across the entire district. We have people from every building. So staff from every building. We have middle school students. We actually had some seniors who had
volunteered but I said well I don't really want seniors because seniors are leaving us you know if I had some underassmen I would have taken them but you know um I actually was a couple of our tech kids who of course volunteered and I said you know well if you want yes
but then they got so busy so the middle school students did participate we had parents across buildings um and it was our parents who actually said we need to start with the teachers. >> We need to start with training teachers because they're the ones on that are
going to be hearing it from the kids. They're the ones who are going to be hearing it from the parents. They're going to be asking the questions and they're the ones who really need to be prepared and they're not wrong. Like we we agree. So, this is kind of where we
we settled. Um, and again, I want to just be clear, you know, we have some kind of guidance here that is very fluid and very, we're presenting this to you first and sharing this with you first. Um, we, you know, have shared it with
the admin team. We'll share it with staff for feedback. This is not set in stone. This is something that is moving so quickly. We're not going to keep up with this. We're going to have to constantly be changing and constantly be um adding and changing this and it it's
a draft. It's a like an ever evolving draft. So we went and and created this kind of hub which is like a staff facing resource. I'm actually in the process of creating I have a a collection of resources for families. Um and so this
is where we're going to put like this guidance site as well. Um, and then the primary document right now is this assignment scale. And this is something that's being used across I don't even want to say the country, but districts around the country are
using this kind of stoplight scale like something that if you envision you know the red light is no AI can be used for an assignment or if you have like yellow well maybe you know for guidance you know for like a partnership or collaboration.
Norton has decided and this was our task force uh peak group um we wanted like a fourprong not just a three but again looking for common language. Um, and this is where you can actually
find that AI hub. And I just kind of circled on the district website how you can find it if you go to district technology. And then I put the link there. And there's just some links or some screenshots. And this is that actual assignment scale
that I mentioned just the no AI pre-task collaboration and then the full AI. This is not we're not in any way, shape, or form ready to implement this today, tomorrow. This is something we still
need more training. Staff need support. We were talking about um potentially doing a smart goal for next year, supporting teachers if they were to choose maybe
like a a theme or like a unit. and then designing that unit around this scale. So maybe our high school, you know, English department because Kim Briquette was on our um she's on our task force,
but she's also in our peak group that Brian will speak to in a sec. Maybe she's going to take one book that she does with with you know, one of her classes and maybe she'll choose to do this and work through it. um it's in a
completely different design. It's lesson design that's time consuming. It's having the time to completely redesign lessons. >> So with that, Brian, >> thanks Karen.
So, one of the things we really wanted to lean into as first steps because as a result of the task force, we really heard a lot of feedback about teachers being kind of the first point of
contact. So, this year we uh partnered with a um edtech teacher to provide some PD for grades 6 to 12 staff. Additionally, there are some modules on uh the Desi website that are very well done and it's about building that common
understanding, that common language. And so, we provided that for all of our elementary staff. Additionally, we had some early AI pilots at the middle school just to kind of dip our toe in and kind of see what the landscape looked like. And then um there was a
group Karen and I were on it. Vinnie Hayward w was on it, a number of teachers and it was a collection of similarly positioned Massachusetts districts that were wrestling with a lot of the same questions that we're wrestling now. And we've gathered
together monthly now since about what November, January. Um, so we've had monthly sessions and in addition we have a dedicated peak coach that meets only with our leadership team so that we can continue to put it through layers and
layers of feedback and and thought as we bring this first pass to you. And then next year we're going to have a continuing uh professional pathway um for our our staff. We're going to partner with professional learning
organization and again continuing to expand the design work knowing that our teachers are the focal point for this work and that the support is structured and then to begin the process of examining what does AI literacy look
like for our students. And then again, we want to make sure we deepen that staff capacity. We want to build that consistency. I think Karen has alluded to it and and we are all marching to the beat of the same
drummer. Privacy, privacy, privacy, student data protected at all costs. And then to have continued literacy instruction to really understand the you know AI is imperfect, right? So, we have to understand
what some of the pitfalls could be and how to be good consumers and diagnose when something may not be the way it's supposed to. And then I think the three terms that we've really come up with, we want to be
thoughtful, intentional, and student centered. This first phase, it's really all about staff. And we know that staff is that first point of contact. And we know that what all of our survey data is telling us is that people want guidance
and guard rails. They want clarity around expectation. Privacy is always at the front of the line for us as a district. And that it's really about our teachers. It's about our students trusting our students to do
the right thing. And ultimately this all leads to post-secondary readiness so that all Lancers are ready for the next step whether it's college or career, the military or the workforce.
>> And so I'm just going to jump in just for one second. So we have this um community forum on Monday night and that is really to just share with the families um because again our parent representatives on our task force had
said you know families don't understand parents don't understand the potential I think about what AI could possibly do for some of our students and teachers and I think for our special education folks folks especially
>> um we have some >> some people who are on our our special education staff um who are on our task force who are um very in tune to what this could do for
some of our um highne students and so they're actually going to be on the call Monday night so I think that will be very helpful um again this is changing so quickly Uh this is one of those things that I
actually said gone are the tech committees. This is kind of what this is now replacing because this is where we're at. >> Um do you have any questions or comments at this time for us? I know you probably do. So it's exciting.
>> Yeah, it's so much fun. Um first off, thank you for all of the work because um I do agree how quickly this is moving. I mean just in the past year alone I feel like all of a sudden now every single little ad you see on Facebook was clearly AI generated from chat GPT or
whatever and it's like okay so you know everybody's now like jumping on this train. Um so I think I I couldn't agree more about how the staff needs to they're the go-to. They the one they're the ones that need to
have whatever level of buyin they're going to have have but feel comfortable and understanding enough of it. My only worry is like you said it is moving so fast and you have these students
you know freshmen in particular that have are looking for this guidance but now we're talking about okay we've spent this year training staff we're going to spend next year training staff. We're not we're not quite well you know here and there we're trying to start to implement this but like even by that
point now it's already changed completely. So where do you decide that we just need to give particularly I would say maybe our 8th through 12th I'll give a little bit lower just just a good general guidance of I know you want
to use this AI you're afraid that it's for cheating because that's always been the go-to to tell you to kind of keep you away but here are a couple of ways of if you want to dabble of accessing certain things this way about you know how do you ask the questions instead of
looking for the answers, stuff like that. So, I just didn't know like where in this timeline you want to start giving the students some of that guidance, whether the staff is fully ready or not, just so that they can I think we I think we have to rip the band-aid off and I think we have to just plan to tell families
>> this is going to happen in fall. >> Okay. Yeah, that's why I was wondering because like I said because I know that there's been a really heavy push for the staff, don't get me wrong, but with it moving as fast as it is, I think you need to get your students on board as fast as possible so they just know how to navigate and what to do. >> We agree. Okay.
>> I mean, I think personally like I in my current industry, I I have gotten away from a lot of my technology background that I was So, I mean, this is still even new to me and I don't really have the option to use it currently. But I think my biggest highle concern, I'm going to steal, you know, Nick's thunder
a little bit, is is this taking away from our academics because the last thing I want is to just give, you know, give kids the easy route or even the staff an easy route to complete a lesson plan or something like that.
Like I understand that a lot goes into the lesson plans, but you know, I just academically I have, you know, pretty big concerns that this is just going to oh, you know, I remember the days in high school staying up late to do that three-page paper. Now you can put it
into an app and it's done in 25 minutes. And you know, and I remember going back to when I went back to school many years after I should have, you know, we had to submit our papers through a checklist and if it got kicked back, you had to redo it. So that's those are my biggest concerns. I mean and that kind of falls
into the privacy aspect of this but um you know and that I just don't want to give staff and students and forgive my words but I don't want to have it the easy way out because we still have to teach. We can't just teach them to use
AI. We have to teach them. >> Mhm. >> You know, we and and AI it it's kind of like, you know, for those who are my age, it's like, you know, when you looked it up in the encyclopedias, you know, >> you know, it's just that's the newest resource. And I get that it's not going anywhere. But so the framework is
>> all the letters. >> I had a friend that sold them door to door. >> Um, and I guess my other question is I know you know we have our schoolisssued devices. are are these platforms do we currently allow them on our school devices or is that part of what we're
trying to build as as our framework? >> So, we're trying to build that. I will tell you that uh we do have two that have signed the data privacy agreement. So, they would be approved for use in the district. >> Okay. >> Um
>> so therefore they could be used and I would have no worries about that. Okay. Um in terms of your other question u are they take is this taking away from academics I think this is where the shift goes to we can't do academics like
we've always done academics and that's where the time that teachers are going to need to to shift and redesign some of their lessons because I've had conversations with teachers about I just need an AI detector. Well, an AI eye detector is
not 100%. >> Yeah, that's my biggest concern. >> Yeah, an AI like that's not a thing um that we can solely rely on. It's not accurate yet. I'll say yet, right? Um
relationships matter. Our teachers do a tremendous job of building relationships with their students and I think that is what is key. It's the academic integrity question and conversations. You know, we
do have something in the high school handbook about AI use and how that fits under the honor code and I think that was approved last year if I'm correct. Um, I've talked, you know, Mr. Haywood, it was on the task force. He knows that that's something we need to look at and
build into the middle school handbook. So, I don't think that this is the easy way out, but I do think it's the how can we have the conversation with the students upfront with the parents because if we're doing this uh stoplight, we need to tell parents what
that means uh what to look for, what's acceptable, you know, because if they see their kid using AI, they might be like, "Hey, wait a minute. You're taking what are you doing here? Are you cheating?" They that's what they might be thinking as well. So, we have a lot of conversations.
>> Okay. Thank you. >> I love the quote that said, "Students are not asking for unchecked AI use. You want adults to set clear expectations." I think that is you could put unchecked AI use and put anything that we do in our schools in that spot. So, I don't
think like on this edge of things much changes. I think AI is a huge web. I think people think of AI and the automatically go chat GBT co-pilot and that's AI and that's not the case whatsoever. Um, obviously it's a very big web that I don't think anyone really
has a handle on. I don't think there are any real AI experts out there just yet. Um, however, I completely agree with Dan and yet again, I'll say the quiet part out loud, like this is where all of this comes in. And how do we get these children
to stay in academics and get some of this technology out of the classroom? Once it's out, then it's gone. Then we can't be cheating and using it. You know, it's the same thing going back to encyclopedias and open quizzes and notebooks and everything else. you
didn't sometimes you couldn't use a calculator on your math test and then when you in calculus you might have been able to use your graphing calculator you know and then kids were programmed in on the graphing calculator all the test answers and everything else it's the exact same thing so somehow while they're in school we need to be able to
have a checks and balances system in the classroom but we also when we go home for homework and and everything else that we need to also figure out how do we keep it and keep the academic honesty up because that 44% I can tell you right now is not real. Most of these kids are
doing exactly what mom and dad and everybody else does with AI and plug in something and say, "Hey, what's the answer to this?" And they assume it's right. You know, >> it might have been real in September. >> I think that's the point, Nick, of um you know, we know that they're doing it.
>> So, we need to just just like anything, we need to teach them how to use it appropriately. Um so, that way um there are things that AI is is good for, right? There are great ways for you to analyze data and for you to
whatever it may be. It it's it's like anything like social media is a cesspool and so we need to teach kids how to be good consumers of what they read on the internet. >> Mhm. >> We are going to need to teach students to use AI appropriately.
And that's and that's hard because we don't really know how to use AI appropriately yet either as the adults. It looks like Mr. Cersei wants to say something. >> Cersei, >> here's our AI master. >> What I am though is I hear from our students, our past students, and I'll
tell you what our graduates are telling me when they come back, especially the ones that are at the higher ends. We better get on board. Mhm. >> We are leaving our kids behind if we don't get them taught on how to use it, when to use it, what to use it for,
because in their lives already in college and in the workforce, they would come here and I don't think there's anybody in this room, cuz I know most of us in this room that would even begin to be able to have a conversation with them about this and how it's being used in
their place of business, especially high-tech, especially finance, entrepreneurship, all of that. So, we have an obligation in my opinion to teach this to teach it right and not just shut it down. So, we're going to
have to find that balance. I don't know how we're going to do it, but that's direct quotes in the last 3 4 months from alumni that I've they they come back during their breaks and I'm lucky enough to have some of those relationships and I have kids that are at that age as well in the field and I'm
this is what I'm hearing like what is education doing? What is public education doing to get us where we need to be or the kids need to be because otherwise they're going to get left behind. So, I think we have to find that balance. So I just wanted to say because it's been a hot topic with the kids
coming back >> and I think we have to understand too that this definition of academics has been an evolution particularly over the past 15 or 20 years. You do have to cons consider social emotional learning as academics. You have to start to consider
technology advancement as part of academics because these are all also things that they do need to use in their real lives outside of of the world as well. How to be able to you know be able to self-regulate when they are in a you
know large busy place or something is happening. How to again properly and appropriately access the AI that is already being thrown in their face consistently. having the computers in the classroom, not in the classroom, it doesn't really matter because when they go home, like you said, we we're
offline. We don't see them anymore. Um, so having that opportunity to be able to give them that knowledge is really important. Um, and there was another point that struck stuck out when you were talking. I'm trying to think of what it was. Um,
you know, this is being used for things again like the younger kids, that's a whole different ballgame. That's where it's more of the adults have to be educated and understand. Um your 44% you'd be amazed the number of students that feel like it is against the rules
and so they are straying away from it because they are afraid because they don't know how. Um you know so there's a lot of just stinging points that are coming out but it's not going away. Oh I remember I was going to make a ridiculous reference of what I used to do when we started getting heavy on
technology. Again, I'll go back 10 years when we started to implement more in the classroom with first iPads and then we brought in Chromebooks and everyone was similar concerns and I just always used the well if we never tried to advance where we are in our technology then we
would still be holding an abacus in front of us. Um but additionally though we have to this is moving fast and it's dangerous to me. I don't I'm apprehensive about it. Um, so I just think that the more knowledge that we can get into everyone's hands, it's
still not going to rain it in as much as it needs to, but they have to know something. So, thank you. >> If I use AI to fact checking whenever I see a big story come up on social media such as a fake hurricane or or pandemic,
I use AI to back fact check. >> Yep. And that helps a lot too to be able to have them navigate what's real and what's not because there's a lot of that now just watching the kids watch an AI video of a bear has come up to grandma and they're oh she's petting it's like
is it real or not? How are you learning what is real and what is not anymore because that is going to continue to move whether we want to move with it or not. And I had a conversation with a first grade teacher actually who had done years ago a lot of work with green
screens. And so, you know, the kids were able to identify green screen videos. And so we joked about that and said, well, now when you're showing videos, are they able to identify AI generated videos? because that could be something
that a you know primary school teacher >> could be discussing so much operating the AI education >> exactly. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you both very much. This is great.
>> Um >> yes, >> I was going to say we have three policies that we need to go and do a second reading. Um I know that um Chief Clark is here with our SRO's. >> We could push those to unless you guys have like one or I mean I was going to
say before the um town meeting on the 18th. Um we could push those to to that meeting and they should be fairly quick to run through. It's up to all of you. >> Yeah. Out of respect for their time, I would like to go to executive session if possible and then we can either come back here and vote on these ones or if
we want to push it to the next meeting, I'm good with that as well. >> Push them. >> Yeah, we can just push it. question or anything about them, but >> well, we can do it at the next meeting. >> Yeah, I know. I just don't want to take up Yeah. You think it's >> all right. >> Yeah, I think these guys have been here. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Yep.
>> Um All right. How do I I'm going to need a a script here on this one. Um it's right under number 15. >> Yeah. So, business >> chat GPT. How do I >> business? Okay. No, no, no. It's um under number 15. Yeah.
>> All right. So, uh, a motion to entertain a motion to adjurnn and enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing school safety, not to return to open session and table the last >> three items for second readings. >> Yep.
>> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I It's a roll call. >> Oh, it's a roll call. So, Forbes, sorry. >> I >> I >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. >> Thank you all so much. Have a great night.
>> I'm in heaven.