Everyone, good evening. Good evening. Good evening. >> Let's try it. All right. All right. Well, good evening everyone. We're going to get started. Everyone.
>> All right. Hello. Good evening. Good evening. >> Technical difficulties on the mic. So, while LeBron's fixing those, we will uh we'll get started. But appreciate everyone coming tonight. Uh for us, this is one of the most exciting nights of the year to be able to celebrate and recognize uh one of the things that
makes our district so special, and that's our amazing staff. So, I think if you talk to any of the students in our room, I think they can probably share sort of how their journey and trajectory have been shaped by some of these amazing people in the uh here with us tonight, there's so many amazing people in our district. We can't celebrate
recognize everyone, but tonight the people that we're recognizing are pretty special. pretty special because either they've dedicated, you know, three years, 10 years, 20, 30, in one case 40 years to this district, which is absolutely incredible. Others because they've been recognized by their peers,
by the by families, or by students for having a particularly impact um amazing impact on on them. So, just a really special night for us to highlight and celebrate um again our our staff across the district. So, appreciate everyone cramming in. This is maybe the biggest
crowd we have of adults. We have students in here like this all the time. So, thank you. All right. So, first uh thing that we'd like to recognize and celebrate is our professional teacher status. Uh those are our teachers who have now completed year three in our district. Um this is a special milestone
uh gaining professional teacher status. Also for us, we know there's many places that you can choose uh to work uh choose to uh work with our students and to choose Ready Public Schools and to show this commitment uh is really exciting for our community. Want to make sure you
receive the recognition you deserve. So, we got the mic working next. We'll get the clicker. There we go. Uh we would just like to give it up first. If anyone here tonight is professional status, if you could just stand up and wave, we'd like to give everyone a round of
applause. acknowledgement. >> Jumping from three years to 10 years, uh we have several staff members who are now completing 10th year in the district. Um older than many of you, right? They've been here longer than you've been alive, which is pretty awesome. So, we'd like to call these staff members name. If you're here, I
just wave and acknowledge. Let's see. Sorry for the little delay. First of all from Parker Amy Bettin Court from Kellum. Victoria Bins from Birch. Anne Bowen from our IT team. Julian Carr
from Birch. Margaret Costello from RMHS. Elizabeth Crowley from RMHS. Patrick Daly from Parker. Jess Doerty and from Parker. Ariana Ezra from Wooden. Stacy Foresman from Kllum. Lisa Fchett from facilities. Chris Gona Gonzalez
from Kllum in our nursing team. Sharon Gruckow from Kulage. Jess Lozi from Kellum. Walt Lutter from Birch. Bethlyn McCarron from RMHS, Tim McIntyre and from J, Kelly McQuillin. One more list. This is an awesome huge
list. We love it. Uh from Coolage, Roaranian from Birch, Olivia Morris. Formerly from Birch, now district math coach Timmy Merziki from Rise. Carolyn O'Neal from the district. Francine Rubo Jones from Barrows. Allison Sanchez
from Birch. McKenzie Sanfilio from RHS. Jesterio from from Koolage, Pauline Sutsis and from Birch, Heather Weiss. >> Again, what a incredible milestone. Your dedication, leadership, and service our community. Deeply appreciated. Jumping up, doubling that now 20 years of
service. We hope to see many of those 10 years on here and another 10 years. Uh, starting from RMHS, Carolyn Allison from RMHS, Mora Koreah from RMHS. Katherine Crosby from RMHS. Kathy Daly from RMHS. Steve Kennedy
from Culage. Rebecca Mandel from Riseze. Margaret Mcder and from J. Liz McGavna. There's a second page of 20 years. Awesome. Uh from Barrows, Mary McGrath from Kllum, Lauren Naraki from Parker, Steve Olivo
from Bir Danielle Piaza from J. Jamie Quinn from Birch. Beth Slater from Wooden. Lindsay Tench and from Coolage, SYDNEY VENTURA in 30 years. 10's incredible, 20 is
incredible. 30. Wow. Um, jumping in smaller list for 30. We go from RHS, Gary Denton. And for our 30 years, we have a small token of our appreciation if you could
come up if you're here. And Lexi, our our helper here, is going to hand you your uh your gift. I saw Mr. Dent somewhere. We see you hiding. Lexi, can you deliver to Mr. Dent back there? >> He's trying to hide back there. He's coming.
>> He's back there. He's coming. He's coming. and from RH RHS John Fiori >> and from Kllum I'll also share retirement we're not accepting the retirement letter Denise Izzo from Coolage and JACOBS MEYER
FROM KLLUM, Joel McInnity and from Barrows, Nancy Walcott. Again, a huge thank you and congratulations to our 30-year recipients. And we have one uh 40-year recipient is also a retirement this year. We also refuse to accept Lauren
Fusco. >> You got a sneak peek into a couple, but uh tonight we also wanted to acknowledge all of our retirements. Uh we have a pretty special list here of six uh staff members who have dedicated their career to the Reading Public Schools all across varying levels of longevity. Uh but all despite sort of how many years are
deeply committed to this community and we appreciate them spending so many years and impacting so many lives of our students. So we can please give a huge round of applause each as we call their name. And we do have a gift that Lexi will give out as well. First from Bir Jennifer Delaney.
Next up from Parker, I know she's actually leading a concert right now. Jenny Deusio, let's give it up one more time. Lauren Fusco retirement. Awesome. And a thank you to Alana Shonne who almost retired. We convinced to stay
another year. Convinced to stay another year. This is finally the time. A huge congratulations. Thank you to Alana Shonne. Thank you. and from rise Kathy Whan. >> Thank you, Miss Kathy. And cut off on the bottom of the page, we have not
forgot about Denise Io. Round two. Congratulations. >> And if you ever change your mind, there's always employment opportunities in Reading Public Schools. I see a few former retirees in the audience tonight. Thanks for coming back and supporting. Um, a huge congratulations. We wish you the best in the next chapter of your
journey. Uh, and just thank you for the lasting impact you made in our community. Shifting gears to uh moving from longevity onto our award part of the ceremony. Uh we'll start with our distinguished teacher awards. This is a recognition that we started several years ago uh which recognize some of the
uh we say distinguished put in any word you want in there. Amazing, incredible, impactful uh educator in our community. Uh these are can be nominated by students, by staff members, by community members uh can make a nomination. We received well over 200 different nominations this year. Uh and it's just
really, you know, it shows just how much of an impact all these educators make on the lives of our students. So with that, we've asked for each of the recipients. They have someone who's going to come up and speak on their behalf. Uh we've asked all of them just to hold it till like a minute or less. We know that's hard, but we know it's also we have a
lot to celebrate. So just as a reminder that keep uh keep short. Um and thank you for those who are going to come up and speak. We'll start with from Barrows and whoever the rep of Steph Budro is. Come on up. >> Good evening. My name is Ana Odori and I
am here with Camila Brett. Where are you? There you are. And we are the special education teachers in the reach program at Barrows and have the pleasure of working alongside our amazing school counselor Stephanie Budro. We couldn't miss this opportunity to stand up here tonight and share nice things about her
with you all. So, here we go. I have to admit, I have been thinking about Stephanie getting this award since very early on in the school year when Stephanie's case load increased from six students at the beginning of last year to now 17 students this year. and she took on the challenge of managing
schedules, IEP goals, collaborating with other teachers and paras, communicating with families and outside providers, responding to support calls throughout the day, and most importantly, giving each and every one of those students a safe space to process emotions and learn
new skills and strategies with her. As the year progressed, Stephanie rose to every single challenge she was faced with with professionalism, compassion, empathy, and bravery. and she comes back the next day with a fresh start and a positive attitude. Stephanie also has this remarkable quality of being able to
hold high expectations of students balanced with empathy for them. She can be both the good cop and the bad cop and the kids will still see her as their safe space and the person they can trust the most. In all seriousness, this quality is what makes her uniquely qualified to be in the position that she
is. And trust me, this position is not for the weak. I truly admire Stephanie's strength and resilience and the dedication to her students and colleagues. We are so lucky to have you. Stephanie, thank you for being you and for always leading with kindness. I know
you are incredibly humble, but I am so over the moon proud of you and you deserve every moment of recognition for all your hard work. >> I promise to be fast because I know there's two of us. Um, Stephanie is our feelings teacher on our team. She can
handle our kids, our staff, and especially my big feelings with complete ease. She is a compassionate listener and a thoughtful problem solver. But that's enough about what I think of her. I want to share some things that our kids have said. Miss Budro is a community helper. She helps me with my
problems I have, and I love playing bowling games with her emoji stuffies. Miss Budro is empathetic. She takes care of me when I'm mad or sad. She understands my feelings and how to resolve them. Miss Budau is so supportive. She calms me down and
figures out a plan with me so I can have a good day. Miss Budro is caring. She makes me feel happy and we play Legos together. Wow. There aren't any other words that capture how impactful Stephanie is to our students, our team, and our school
community as a whole. She truly deserves this public recognition. And as a humble human, I know she's ready for me to stop talking. >> Congratulations. We are so proud of you. >> And next up, Ralph Cavanis and his team, whoever's team Raph.
And I'll share that the educators don't know in many cases who's coming up to speak from them. So, he's looking around saying, "Who's coming up to speak on my behalf? I'm here to speak on Mr. Cabanis' behalf and I'm up here because I'm on I am out of my comfort zone and I've never done anything like this before. But that's
okay because if I've learned anything for being in class with Mr. Cabanis is that's okay. And being out of your comfort zone is encouraged. And physics is like that. You may not, you know, you may not understand it your first time and maybe not even your second time, but that's okay because with Mr. Cabanis as your teacher, you will understand it when the time comes. And Mr. Cabanas
teaches with a love and passion that he shows every single day when he walks into the room. And I truly believe that if he had a second chance, he would choose this job 10 times out of 10. >> Having Mr. Camis as my physics teacher has been a fun and educational experience. He has taught me how to be
successful in and outside of the classroom and always pushes me to do my best. There has been many times where I felt confused or behind and Mr. Cabanis has always helped me get back on track and continue to succeed in his class. It's very clear that Mr. Camis loves what he does and makes his classroom a positive environment where everyone
feels supportive. I look forward to going to his class every single day. He has made a positive impact on me and many other students, which is why I believe he is very deserving of this award. Next up, Sarah Cy Stone and the RMHS team. >> Nothing. Love me.
Sarah Cy Stone and I began co-eing during the 2021 school year. Little did I know that Sarah, the teacher looking back at me on all those Zoom calls, wouldn't just help me make sense of that chaotic year. Sarah has made sense of all educational philosophies. She has changed my practice and my world, and
she continues to do so every single day. Eventually, we moved from the small square boxes of our screens to being within six feet of each other in a classroom we started jokingly calling Planet Fitness. What began as a silly inside joke quickly became the most important lesson
Sarah has ever taught me. That in the strongest classrooms, much like the gym slogan, students must be free of judgment. Sarah taught me the power of creating a culture in which students know they can make mistakes, speak their truth, fail, try again, and ultimately succeed. I know Sarah's going to be
embarrassed that I'm bringing up all this Planet Fitness stuff. It's cheesy and it probably doesn't make much sense to anyone on the outside, but this judgment-free philosophy has become the very heartbeat of our classroom. It is the reason that so many of our students here took the time during class to
nominate her for this award even when it meant that the assignment in front of them would have to become homework. It is why they're here tonight to tell you about how she is the absolute best. It is the reason why Cyrus Stone is the epitome of a distinguished teacher. My
students here tonight know firsthand how incredible Mrs. Cone is. They're members of our Planet Fitness classroom this year and they're going to take our silly little inside joke and and use it to explain to you just how incredible Sarah is. >> To really understand why we nominated Mrs. Stone, you don't have to look much
further than the mission statement Planet Fitness posts on their websites and in their pretty annoying commercials. Their mission reads, "To enhance people's lives by providing highquality experiences in a welcoming, non-intimidating environment, a judgment-free zone where anyone can feel
they belong. Sure, you could pay $10 a month and maybe find that at a gym, but the four of us are lucky enough to receive receive something far more valuable without any payment commitment. With Mrs. Stone guiding, teaching, and supporting us, we couldn't be stronger.
Thank you. Planet Fitness may claim to enhance lives through fitness, but that's just a workout. Mrs. Cron enhanced our lives through high quality learning every single day. The kind of learning that stayed with us long after the final bell rings in class. Whether you're writing essays or reading complex literature,
Mrs. Cone makes sure we are engaged, on track, and having fun. My essay on the great gas, he was a piece of work I was so proud of and really enjoyed writing. Thanks to our help. Everyone knows Judgement Free is a brand for Platinum Fitness. But for Mrs. Stone, it isn't about branding. It's a
way of life. Plent Fitness also says they make sure anyone can feel they belong. But Mrs. Stone takes that a step further. She ensures that you know you belong, even on the days when you aren't sure of it yourself. Mrs. Stone makes me feel in control when things start to get
overwhelming. She has been understanding and supportive all my past three years in high school and I have grown so much with her support. Mrs. Stone, thank you for being the teacher and the person you are. You strengthen us. Get the joke. You teach us that we belong. You empower us to
take risks and you truly enhance our lives. Congratulations on this well-deserved award. Congratulations. >> Next up, Lauren Fusco from J. >> Good evening everyone. I am honored to recognize Lauren Fusco for her
exceptional 44 years in education. Lauren's impact spans nearly every corner of an elementary experience. She has taught fifth grade, kindergarten, and brings the same energy, creativity, and commitment to students at every level. No matter the age of her
students, she meets them exactly where they are and brings learning to life in ways they will never forget. I don't know anyone with as many wigs, puppy shirts, Bruins gear, and an outfit for every holiday. But somehow Lauren makes
it all part of the joy she brings to school every day. I still remember my first day touring at J as a newly princ hired principal. We walked into Lauren's room and she was dancing with her students and singing their kindergarten graduation songs. In
that moment, I immediately knew we would have some fun together, and we certainly have over the years. Beyond academics, Lauren creates a classroom environment that is warm, structured, and full of personality. Students feel safe to take
risks, ask questions, and grow. There is a sense of belonging in her room that reflects the care and intention that she brings to everything she does. After 44 years in education, Lauren's impact is immeasurable. She has shaped generations
of students, supported countless families, and strengthen the culture of our school in lasting ways. I actually can't even name all of the ways from one thing that Lauren does is she um gets us puts like funny pictures around our school building as just like
a random act of fun. So, you're going to have to come back and do that. Okay. Uh it is with immense pride that we recognize Lauren for this year's uh distinguished teacher award recipient. Thank you. >> Next up from Kllum Joel Mcnity.
Hi everyone. I'm Jess Bruno. I teach third grade with Joelen at Kllum. And I'm really happy. And this is Ann. She also teaches third grade. Well, I thought you were gonna do next. Anyways, we're really happy to be here tonight to celebrate Joelyn. Um, when I first
started teaching here in Reading almost 20 years ago, she was my mentor and she really never gave up that role. Um, anytime I had a question or I need advice or um I just needed someone to cover my class so I could go to the
bathroom, she was always always there for me. And one of the things that makes her truly legendary is her willingness to help. It doesn't matter if it's curriculum or if it's a tricky student situation or you need to get the stain
out of your shirt, she's there. She has all the answers and she's happy to share it. Um, we affectionately call her Joe Mama and it fits her perfectly. She takes care of everyone around her. She's always looking out for her students, for
her friends, for her colleagues, and for all the ways she's helped so many people over the years. She's truly deserving of this reward award, >> and we're so proud of you. We're lucky to have you. >> You, too.
>> Congratulations. >> So, Jess is right as huge. Joe Allen's colleagues, friends, and family are lucky to have her in our corner. She is a legend, and she is our one and only Joe Mama. And let me tell you something else. The kids at our
school feel the same way as we do. Not only the fortunate ones who call the Mcinity Moose Lodge home for six and a half hours a day, but all the kids that cross her path in the hallways, before school, and at bus duty. She engages and connects with each one.
Whether it be about Star Wars, Legos, corgis, Camaros, academics, or giving snacks and winter jackets. She makes each student feel seen and heard as individuals while flawlessly teaching the whole class all the standards and
more. She is the teacher we all strive to be. I'll end with a quote from one of her favorite students that harpooned her heart from the day they met. >> I'm not going to tell you who yet. >> Okay.
>> Mrs. Mciny knows I have trouble learning and when I have a hard time, she always helped me in a calm voice. Also, I never felt like I was in trouble, even though I was a bad boy. Sometimes it is very understandable that she is getting this award. She is very kind and
fair. You have not missed a beat with the evolution of children in all of these 30 years. Everyone loves you. This is so very welld deserved. Congratulations. >> Next up, Ashley Nagel from Coolage.
She's very humble and I'm sure does not want to be standing here with me. So, my name is Sarah Marshant and it is my pleasure to recognize Ashley Nagel on behalf of many stu staff and students in the re reading public schools. In her 12 years at Koolage and 15 years in the district, Ashley, a special education
teacher in our embark program, consistently demonstrates an extraordinary level of dedication, professionalism, and compassion, all of which have made lasting impacts on students, families, and colleagues. She's deeply committed to meeting the
unique needs of every student with dignity and respect. Her calm, respectful demeanor sets the tone for a classroom environment where students feel safe, supported, and valued. She has an exceptional ability to foster positive relationships among students
while maintaining high expectations, creating a learning environment that promotes growth and independence academically, socially, and with life skills. She is knowledgeable, very flexible, organized, very organized, and
very calm, and maintains positivity no matter what the day brings. And the day always brings something different. This year, Ashley willingly embraced the implementation of a new literacy curriculum and quickly integrated it into her instruction with impressive effectiveness. In addition, she's an
integral part of the Embark program's ongoing development at the district level. She actively contributes to program growth and decision-making, offering thoughtful insight, collaboration, and leadership. Ashley sees each student tre each
students tremendous potential. She's able to build individualized programs to help each student maximize their growth. Yet, a program teacher is not just a guide for students, but also is a compass for the staff who work in the program. Ashley is adept at guiding,
supporting, and collaborating with staff. naturally educating and modeling during the ever moving and involving pieces of the program. Congratulations, Ashley, on this well-deserved recognition. We are all honored to work with you, myself included. >> Next up, Kim Peterson from Parker.
>> Good evening. I'm Phil. I'm the principal at Parker Middle School and I'm honored to introduce Ella Huntington who is going to speak about why she nominated Miss Peterson for this award. Mrs. Peterson is an outstanding science teacher who truly cares about her
students and their success. She uses creative and engaging lessons like labs and demonstrations to make science easier to understand and more interesting. She creates a positive classroom where students feel comfortable asking questions and learning from their mistakes. Mrs. Peterson always is always supportive and
goes out of her way to help students who are struggling. When I was really struggling with a topic that I missed, she told me to come after school and gave me a whole lesson just to help me catch up. Because of her help, I was able to understand the materials and ended getting a really good grade on the test. Before her class, I didn't really
know much about science and wasn't very interested in it. However, she helped me discover a real interest in the subject and even got me more excited about taking honors bio. She is always there for me and never fails to make me laugh, which makes her class a welcoming and
encouraging place to learn. She is also the best dressed teacher at Parker and never repeats an outfit. But seriously, overall, Mrs. Peterson is a dedicated teacher who goes above and beyond to support her students and inspire them to succeed. Congratulations,
Next up, Alicia Radard from Wood End and Rise Preschool. >> Good evening everyone. I'm Nicole Schwarz and I'm the principal of Woodend Elementary School. I'm excited to present this award to our school physical therapist, Alicia Radard. Her dedication extends far beyond the traditional role of a physical
therapist. She's a champion for student inclusivity. And whenever a student encounters a mobility challenge, she does not see it as an obstacle. Instead, she sees it as an opportunity to create access and independence. Whether it's bringing tricycles, adaptive bikes, or
specialized mobility equipment from her collection shed, um she consistently goes above and beyond to ensure that every child can fully participate in our school life. Through her creativity, resourcefulness, and dedication, students are able to access our playground, navigate the school grounds,
and engage with confidence alongside all of their peers. Her passion for physical inclusivity is evident every day as she collaborates with staff and students in classrooms, hallways, PE classes, and on the playground. She works diligently to adapt activities and lessons so no child
is ever left on the sidelines. Her dedication is also evident in her work preparing students for our annual unified sports day where she celebrates every achievement, encourages every participant participant, and helps create meaningful opportunities for se
for success. an entire year's worth of hard work in one day. Beyond her impact on stu of stu on students, she's a trusted colleague who is always willing to lend a helping hand. She's a valued member of our special education team and several others across the district. And it's our privilege to recognize and
celebrate her outstanding contributions over all of these years. Congratulations, Alicia. I cannot imagine another person Next up, Karen Stewart from Rise. >> This is my >> Is this Are they going to speak? Are you guys going to speak?
>> Are you guys ready? Who wants to go first? You. Yeah, you do. There you go. You ready? You want to hold? You can hold it. Ready? You hold it better? I was in the closet. I was in the class. >> And I love her cuz she played with me.
>> We do more than play. >> Do we dance? >> We dance. >> Nice job. You guys did great. >> Well, that's a hard act to follow. Uh my name is Denise and this is Allison and we're both Rise teachers that work with
Karen. Uh and we nominated her for this well-deserved award. Karen consistently greets every child with a happy smile and provides a warm, caring environment to learn and grow in. Karen has a great sense of humor.
and keeps her class laughing and smiling each day. And in addition to her class, she keeps my class laughing and smiling each day uh with the funny joke or a dance down the hall. True. Uh we know that when students are comfortable and happy, they learn and grow. Now, this is
something. So, Karen uh was looking for a way to connect learning to the classroom in the Reading community. She has built meaningful connections between her current preschoolers and a group of senior citizens in Reading in the most incredible way. What began as a simple
act of kindness soon blossomed into a special relationship. Karen organized a donation drive along her students, families, and staff for the seniors at the residents at Pearl Street assisted living facility in Reading. The children
donated word searchbooks, crossword puzzles, and other items that they knew their uh senior friends would love. The students took great pride in gifting these to the residents um at Pearl Street. Karen then worked with Pearl Street's director to provide a chance
for residents to visit the classroom to read to the students. And Karen's students as well as the seniors were benefiting. And if you've ever seen a site of a whole line of senior citizens walking down Woodend's hallway to Karen's class, it's just amazing. Uh
Karen, you are this is where I might cry. You are truly a remarkable educator whose kindness and commitment have touched so many lives. You are a cornerstone of our rise team and we have such a great team and you are an inspiration to us all. We are so happy
that you've deserved this well rece this welldeserved recognition. >> Next up from Birch, Kaylin Whited. Caitlyn is unable to be here with us tonight, but I would like to say a few words about her anyways. And she did get a round of applause at our faculty meeting today.
Just for a second, would you do me a favor and picture a teacher that had a great impact on your life? Just go into your brain and picture them. For some of you, maybe you remember them because they inspired you or they engaged you. For some of you, maybe you
remember them because they taught you something you still think about today. For some of you, maybe it's because they made you feel loved. For some of you, maybe it's because they refused to give up on you. Caitlyn Whiteid refuses to give up on
children, no matter how challenging, no matter how resistant they might be to learning at any given moment. She embodies what it means to show up for every student, especially the ones who need it most. She's the teacher who looks at a kid
when they're having a difficult time and says, "Give that kid to me. I want them." She doesn't back away when things are hard. She leans in and looks for ways forward with kids. Time and again, Caitlyn takes on students who struggled
to find success elsewhere and refuses to let past experiences define their future. She builds trust where trust has often been broken. and she does it with patience, consistency, and high expectations that never waver. Caitlyn doesn't just support students,
she changes their destinies, and we're very proud of her for earning this award. Thank you. And from RMHS, Lena Williams. Thank you. Hi everybody. I'm Jen Keany. I'm one of the school counselors here and I'm with Mora Keefe and Steve Kennedy. Steve and Mora and I are
thrilled to be with you tonight to speak about our guidance director and friend, Lena Williams. When I met Lena in 2013, she hit the ground running as the leader of our department. Lena was not only full of ideas right from the beginning, but full of action steps. I remember her
saying to me, "I have a vision for this department." Lena's dream was for us to meet consistently with our own students, teach them, and provide a robust curriculum for them, and help mold them into the best, most prepared young people that they could become. Lena has
taken our previous guidance curriculum, expanded it, helped craft the school schedule, so we had actual seminars with our students, and in doing so, she has quadrupled the amount of times we're able to see our own students in their flex blocks. This has deepened the
relationships we have with our kids and has made all the difference. As director of school counseling, Lena Williams carries the extraordinary responsibility of leading team leading a team of counselors and providing direct service to students all while remaining
engaged in administrative efforts at both the school and district level. It is therefore all the more impressive that she's been able to shape our developmental counseling program into the envy of all the other schools in the Middle Sex League. At a foundational level, Lyn is a dedicated educator who
is committed to the holistic development of all students. Linda cares deeply about RMHS and our ability to not only provide students with the opportunity to access academics and extracurriculars, but also the supplemental knowledge and experiences needed to become well-rounded members of society. Among
many, many other things, Lena engages the community with parent evenings for freshman, juniors, and seniors. She arranges for experts to help guide parents through the financial aid process. She arranges to have admissions representatives provide insight to the application review process. She has
organized gapyear fairs, alumni days, evenings focusing on the transition to college for students with disabilities. And she spearheads the annual cooperative college fair. Lena helps organize the annual career day event at RMHS and supports the opportunity for
career exploration through the annual job shadowing day. Starting with future freshman night and freshman orientation all the way through senior awards and the graduation ceremony, Lena Williams is everpresent for our students. Either directly or indirectly, she affects
almost every aspect of their educational experience at Reading Memorial High School. What stands out to me most about Lena is that no matter the situation, when there is a decision to be made, Lena will always choose the option that benefits
the student 10 out of 10 times, even if that means making her life logistically harder. For example, this past year, we switched from offering the SAT in October to September because as a department, we felt it was better timing for our students. September is arguably
the craziest month that we have. Um, with senior parent night, financial aid night, seniors applying to college, back to school night, the list goes on and on. Still, Lena, as the SAT coordinator, who has to do all the work for it, led the charge to change it to help our
seniors when she could have easily just kept it at October to make her life easier. To Lena, it's not even a real choice. If it's better for our students, that is what she's doing because that is just who Lena is. Every student in this building is lucky to have Lena as the
director of counseling because she will fiercely advocate for them and keep their best interests at the forefront. Lena has a deep impact on the community as a whole and also is adored by her case load. So, I thought I'd close out with a few quotes from her students. One of her seniors who just graduated
shared, "Mrs. Williams has been so supportive to me throughout high school. She was very helpful and there for me during the college process, especially when I was unsure about the decisions I had to make. One of her sophomores shared, "Mrs. Williams is an important person to me in the building because she is someone I trust. I know that she
cares about me and will help me with anything that I need." One of her juniors shared, "Ever since I met Mrs. Williams my freshman year, she has always gone above and beyond for me. Whether I'm having a bad day or need help planning something, she is always ready to help me and go out of her way
to help. She continues to make such a big impact in my life and she has helped me succeed both inside and outside of school. I don't know a better person for this award. Congratulations, Lena. Our department also feels like there is no better person for this award.
And our last series of awards goes to any staff member who's not in the uh RTA, the teachers union. So non-eing roles, which you see here spans a variety of different roles, responsibilities across our district. So with that, I'd like to invite up uh the team for Rob Bailey.
It is our pleasure on behalf of many staff to rec and students to recognize Rob Bailey, network integration specialist for his outstanding service to the students and staff of the Reading Public Schools. If you've ever watched a third grader
take MCCAST, you know there's a special category of heroism reserved for the person who calmly walks into the room when all of the computers have stopped working and somehow makes it okay. That's Rob
Bailey. Rob is a tech support lifeline, especially when pressure is highest and patience is low. He's got a remarkable ability to show up in the middle of chaos, troubleshoot under pressure, and hit system restore
when the tech situation calls for it. What really sets him apart isn't his tech skill, though. It's his kindness. He meets every student, it's not working, frantic moment, with steady confidence to assure them that everything's going to be fine.
Even when informed of a minor issue that can wait, Rob still prioritizes it and follows through to make sure it's resolved properly. He's committed to seeing things through and ensuring that staff and students can work without interruption. While Rob primarily supports Kulage and
Birch Meadow, he has willingly taken on significant responsibilities at Parker as well, spending a substantial portion of his time supporting staff and students there. While balancing the needs of three busy schools as well as, I guess, awards ceremonies and such because he's working tonight here. That
just is an example. Um, he consistently maintains a high standard of quality, responsiveness, and professionalism. On behalf of the Reading Public Schools, including the IT department, Rob, thank you for your dedication, hard work, and the positive impact you make every day.
You are the kind of behind-the-scenes hero every school and district wishes it had, and we're lucky enough to actually have you. Next up, Michelle Brennan from Food Services. All right. Today, it is my honor to recognize Michelle Renan for her
outstanding leadership and dedication as our cafeteria manager at Kellum Elementary School. Michelle consistently goes above and beyond to make the Kllum cafeteria a welcoming place for every student. She often tells me that the students, the school community as a whole, and the work itself fills up her
cup every day, and it shows in everything that she does. Michelle leads with kindness, organization, and with pride. She works tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that her team, who is all here tonight, is all set up for success and that the Killllum Food Service program runs seamlessly, even on
the days when she can't be there. Her commitment to excellence, her care for students, and her unwavering support of her staff make her truly deserving of this recognition. Thank you, Michelle. I uh I appreciate you and everything that you do every day. And thank you for all that you do to make Hill shine each and
every day. Thank you. Next up from Rise, we have a big contigent here, Lynn Clark. >> All right, Lynn, you're up here. So, um, there are so many dedicated and caring staff members at RISE who help our
preschoolers navigate the life's first big milestones experiencing school for the very first time without parents. So, when one person stands out among such an incredible group of educators, they truly deserve to be recognized. That
person is Lynn. Lynn has a remarkable way of making sure everyone around her feels seen, supported, and cared for. She knows exactly when a child needs comfort, when a gentle redirect is in order, and when a laugh can turn a tough
moment into a great one. She shares her time, her kindness, and her positive spirit freely with everyone she meets. She's often the first to volunteer to stay a little bit later, lend a helping hand, or step in whenever she's needed.
A true team player, Lynn focuses on what matters most and never gets caught up in the small stuff. Most importantly, Lynn shows up every single day with compassion, patience, and a genuine commitment to the children, families,
and colleagues around her. Simply put, Rise is a better place because of Lynn. We are grateful for all that she does and we are lucky to have her as part of our team. Congratulations, Lynn. Next up from districtfilities, Kevin
Gersonner. And >> as you'll see, he's involved in the drama club as well. >> What do you mean? >> What could you mean? >> Hi everybody. Uh my name is Natalie Cuna. I'm the adviser of the drama club here in Reading. And um I am very
honored to be invited to speak about Kevin Gersonner. Kevin was nominated tonight to be recognized by a parent within our organization. She noted that Kevin Gersonner so often goes above and beyond the call of duty to supply our students with opportunities. She couldn't be more right. But I am happy
to come to speak to you today as a colleague and friend of Kevin's to speak to just how barely those glowing words brush the surface of Kevin's impact and dedication to the students of the Reading Public Schools. Kevin started working with the RMHS drama club in the most fitting way when you get to know
him. He was called in by someone to save the day on a show that was falling apart. Abandoned by a lighting designer in my first year of teaching, Kevin appeared to make sure the show could go on, serving as our technical leader, overseeing set construction, and becoming our master electrician, who
oversees some of the most challenging show elements. every season since that for the past 13 years, Kevin has been the person who stands between impossible and possible for the students of RPS. Being the often overlooked grounding wire in a world
full of electric teenage angst and big emotions, as my colleague, I can always rely on Kevin to help me Don't roll your eyes at me. You're just proving my point. Kevin can help me navigate the inevitable problems and challenges that arrive with every production. When set
pieces don't fit or we build staircases in the wrong direction or materials literally crumble in our hands, Kevin never walks away or passes the buck to someone else. He is a part of the solution and won't leave anyone behind. While we have a vastly different style
of how we make theater, something that has allowed Kevin and I to produce well over 40 full-scale productions in our time in this district is the central belief that students leading and learning comes first. And that we were uh we know this because we were both
high school kids who found our greatest moments of validation in the dusty dimlet theaters of our schools. We both knew that when a student is given faith the the faith of a mentor, given a challenge and permission to fail until it's fixed and provided opportunity to strive for greatness and achieve it in a
tangible way like our students are at as every curtain opens. There are no limits to what they can be motivated to achieve. And so with a truly miraculous determination, Kevin Gersonner has not just worked with the RMHS drama club students, he has put them, their
education, and their sense of self as first priority in every decision. When asked about Mr. Kevin, the students have a central theme that returns over and over again. >> Kevin is a wonderful teacher and he will always encourage you to learn and try
new things, even when your next task may seem extremely daunting. Kevin is always there when there's a problem while also always letting us learn on our own. >> Mr. Kevin is one of the most diligent workers I know and encourages us to try new things and work to move past our
mistakes. Um Kevin inspires us to think outside the box every day and encourages us to work hard to achieve our sometimes crazy ideas and goals. Kevin knows everyone's skills and utilizes what people enjoy and are good
at. Kevin gives us the space to problem solve and he pushes us to become more independent and innovative creators when he's not putting out fires elsewhere. He always makes time to connect with the students. >> And sophomore Megan Guzundo, who could
not be here tonight, said it perfectly when she said, "Kevin believes in you even before he's met you." Truth is, there are now generations of students who have had these memories in more of their time working with Kevin Gersonner. From cherished alumni in the technical theater field who still update
him on their next big gigs to make sure he's still proud to the students who credit him as their biggest influence at events like the National Honor Society induction. This isn't always part of the job in facilities facilities management. Kevin is used to being the person to solve the problems, take on the tasks
least desired, and take on the responsibilities that allow our community here to thrive. But all those students who he has impacted, mentored, guided, and befriended, that has all happened as extra dedication and also often personal sacrifice. We are beyond
lucky to have dedicated members of our community like Kevin Gersonner here in Reading. Kevin, for all you have done to help our students succeed, thank you. This honor is so deserving and we are all so glad to see you finally get the recognition we all know you have deserved for so long.
And if you're wondering, wait, I thought that looks like Kevin who's the facilities director. Kevin is also our director of facilities. So just a huge round of applause for Kevin as well. Next up from our facilities team NJ Dino Mazota.
>> All right. Uh it is our pleasure to recognize Dino um who is not able to be here today um as someone who truly makes Joshua in a better place for us every single day. While Dino's title officially may be custodian, anyone who
knows him understands that he wears many hats. He brings positivity, energy, and a genuine love for children that can be felt the moment he walks through the door. One of his favorite sayings is, "It's a little kid school." And he lives by that philosophy every day. Dino has a
unique way of making students feel seen and welcomed. Whether he's throwing a football around in the hallways, joking and bantering with students, or helping children settle into their day by offering them an important role of door checker helper. He create creates
connections that make our school a happier place. He has a fun he has fun with his job and that joy is contagious at the same time. Dino is incredibly dedicated and hardworking. He goes above and beyond to keep the entire school
shining. He always stops in first thing in the morning with a positive attitude. And throughout the day, he checks in multiple times, emptying the garbage and making sure everything is running smoothly. Even checking in to make sure that Michelle Burn and I have had lunch. He's thoughtful, thorough, and always
willing to help. Dino's impact impact extends far beyond the cleanliness of our building. He helps create the welcoming, caring culture that makes Joshua Eaton such a special place. Alongside Keith, he forms an incredible team that works tirelessly behind the
scenes to support our students and staff. Quite simply, we wish every school could have a Dino. His kindness, dedication, humor, and unwavering commitment to the children make him truly one of a kind, and we are incredibly fortunate to have him as part
of the Joshua Eaton team. All right, Amy, come on up. All right, let's give her one more round of applause because she's truly the best. It is our pleasure to recognize Amy for all that she does for Joshua Eaton.
Quite simply, our school could not run the way it does without her. Aean Amy is the very first person that I talk to each morning during our coverage phone calls. Most of the time she's already has everything figured out before I even, you know, get on the call
because that's just who she is. She's a natural problem solver, an incredible thought partner, and someone who seems to have an answer to every question. And if she doesn't, she will do everything she can to find one. What makes Amy especially remarkable is her connection
to Joshua Eaton. She has spent many, many years here, not only as a staff member, but also as a parent and community member. Her two children are in the back as well are former Jaguars. She truly knows J inside and out. And
despite having a very long commute every morning, just kidding, she lives right across the street. She arrives each day ready to support everyone with her warmth, positivity, and dedication. Every day, Amy ensures that students and staff are supported by
coordinating coverage, communicating needs, helping everyone start the day on the right foot. Sometimes she's multitasking so much she's got the doorbell ringing, the phone, uh someone coming up needing help, and somehow she manages it all so gracefully. Her
kindness and welcoming presence sets the tone for our building every day. Amy's impact can be seen in so many ways throughout the year. She organizes kindergarten screening with thoughtful themes and attention to details that make families feel welcomed from the
very beginning. We start the school year together with Amy coming in on Sunday before school begins to help prepare the cafeteria, welcome staff back, and even break some mugs when we decide Kugi is going to be our welcome back activity. And we end the year together as well.
She creates a sense of community and belonging that people feel the moment they walk through our doors. And of course, many of us look forward to her famous hot fudge, which has become just more than one more example of the care and generosity she brings to our school
community. Amy is the perfect person for our front office. Organized, confident, hardworking, welcoming, and deeply caring. She brightens our days, supports every member of our school community, and consistently goes above and beyond.
And we are incredibly fortunate that Amy is a part of our family. Next up from Birch, Mary Beth McGinness, >> Mary Beth. Mary Beth, you know what a roast is? >> I do. I'm ready. Go.
>> Mary Beth brings something truly special to our school, our school community. Even in the most challenging moments, Mary Beth brings laughter. As a PAR educator, she works closely with some of our most complex and high need students, and she meets them daily
with patience, resilience, and an absolutely unmatched sense of humor. True story. My first year at Birch Meadow, for some reason, I thought Mary Beth's name was Rhonda. >> He did.
>> Mary Beth let that go for about half the year until she corrected me. And we laugh pretty hard about that. And we still do, and she hasn't let me live it down. It was no surprise to me that one of the students Mary Beth works with closely
started to come out of their shell by learning how to play pranks on the principal. This student who was a little shy and nervous about school and new people began leaving fake spiders on my chair or by putting a fake mouse by my desk or
by jumping from behind a piece of furniture in the office when I was about to drink my coffee and yelling boo. Do you remember that, Mary Beth? >> Yes, I do. all the time laughing so hard. So, so hard. Humor brought her out of her shell
because humor builds connections. And Mary Beth, of course, was behind it all. Mary Beth has the rare ability to deescalate a tough moment with both a calm presence in just the right well-timed comment to remind everybody that we're going to get through it. Her
humor is never about deflection. It's about connections. She builds relationships that matter. Students trust her because she's steady, real, and fully present. And staff trust her because she brings insight, flexibility, and heart into every
situation she steps into. Simply put, Mary Beth makes hard days lighter, and hard work feel possible. We're really proud of you, Mary Beth. Thank you. your award. Next up, Tayana Pereira from our district team.
Thanks, guys. >> Good evening. I'm Cass Hall. I'm the multilingual learner program coordinator. Um, and I have with me Denise Diaz, um, an RPS parent, um, who is absolutely instrumental in sharing the nomination process for this award with our multilingual families and is
here tonight to provide Portuguese interpretation, um, Tayiana's first language and also the language of many of her fan club. Ugh. Distinguished staff award. We are honored to recognize Tayiana Pereira, our RPS family liaison with the
distinguished staff award. Tayiana received almost 50 nominations from families and community members for this award. One word appeared again and again, bridge. Families describe Tayana as the bridge between multilingual families and
the schools, helping parents feel, sorry, welcomed, informed, and supported. One parent wrote, "Tay is the support system that all multilingual parents and indeed all parents need to have within a school comm community. She
is the reason our multilingual students are striving harder and achieving excellent results. For when families understand how the schools function, they're able to support their children in their education. scholars informing Families spoke about Tayiana's kindness,
dedication, and care. They shared how she helps with enrollment, meetings, translations, community connections for sports and healthcare needs, and helping families feel that they belong here in Reading. Tayiana builds trust and
community every day. Tayiana, thank you for all you do for our students and families. We are so grateful for you and proud to honor you tonight. St.ch. Diana And last but not least from Barrows,
Jaclyn Robbins. >> And we have one more speaker for Tayiana who wants to share a few words. >> Yeah. >> Go ahead. >> I love you. Now, Jacqueline Robbins from Barrow. >> Hello again. I am Camila. This is
Stephanie. And we have the incredible honor of presenting Jackie Robbins tonight. Jackie is an all-around all-star human. She is Reach's very own data queen. She ensures that daily data is accurate, complete, and ready to be entered. She single-handedly ensures
information for our meetings and reports are up-to-date and accurate. Couldn't do our job without it. Every day, she arrives ready for whatever may come. And in our world, that could be anything from catching bees to playing make believe while teaching math. Jackie has
an incredible way of connecting with all of our students. In their words, "Miss Robbins is always loving, really thoughtful, funny, caring, and a good teacher. She never gets mad. She plays with me, checks in on me, and can relate
to our interests. She helps me do my work when it's hard, calm down, laugh so I don't get sad, feel better when I'm upset, and solve problems." As a co-orker and friend, Jackie is steady, reliable, and quite witty. She knows
when to crack a joke, give a hug, or be a listening ear. She is someone who will celebrate personal and professional wins and give encouragement on the hard days. We are also lucky to have her in our lives. You know, I've heard it said that people
come into our lives for a reason. Just kidding. I can't actually finish those lyrics without making all of us cry. Jackie deserves this honor and so much more. We are excited to have a front row seat as she continues her education to further her career in special ed. All of
the students past, present, and future have really hit the jackpot with Miss Robbins in their world. So, as we close, we'd like to give a just a thank you to a few people, a few groups. First, Miss Fenzetti, her food service team for organizing all the snacks and drinks downstairs. Thank you.
Thank you to our HR team as well, Michelle Roach, Andrew Gotchas, Kristen Cohen, and of course, Lexi, our fourth grader, who crushed it tonight. Thank you for organizing such a wonderful night of celebration. And then, of course, just thank you and a huge congratulations to all of our recipients tonight. I think everyone here can see what makes our district so
special, and that's the amazing people that are here supporting our students each day. So, congratulations. Thank you for coming. Have a great rest of the night. Congrats. Enjoy. Congratulations. Great to meet you. Congrats. They are. Yours is on.
>> Yeah, it's on. All right. There's just a lot of background noise. Um, I'm going to call the June 4th school committee meeting to order. Uh, let me take a quick run through the agenda and then we will jump in. Um, we're going to take one item out of order, but the order as listed on the agenda. We'll do public
comment, focus on excellence. Uh, we'll take the consent agenda. We'll move into reports in the new business section. We have our friends from the Reading Education Foundation here with a grant update. Uh end of year learning and teaching update, our pre-quarter 4 financial update, an FY27 budget update,
a lot of updates tonight. Um Birch Meadow principal update just to close us out on the updates. Uh we'll take a look at the proposed FY27 school committee meeting schedule, approve the charge and membership for our facilities naming advisory committee and then close the evening with our annual reorganization.
Um so we are going to take one item out of order um since we're starting a little bit late this evening and um could I take a motion to take E1 out of order? >> Oh, you know what? Let me call us to order properly first. Um >> roll call. Yeah, >> we need a roll call to order because we
got a couple members on Zoom tonight. Um, Aaron >> here. >> Tom >> here. >> Jeffrey, >> uh, can't hear you. Jeffrey, >> oh, he's here. This is the problem. >> Oh, our volume is down. Go ahead, Jeffrey. >> Here.
>> Now we can hear you. And Sarah >> and Sean is here. Okay, now we're called to order. Uh, so I'll move that we take item E1 out of order. >> Second. >> And uh, any discussion on that? No. Seeing none, uh, so we'll go to a roll call. Jeffrey, >> yes.
>> Sarah, >> yes. >> Aaron, >> yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> And Sean, yes. So, we will start with uh the ref team. Tom, great. Well, Dr. Hardy and I would like to share just a couple of brief words. I just like to open with a huge thank you as always to ref. Uh we know that uh over the last,
you know, throughout our time, the ref even before has been incredibly dedicated and supportive of our schools. Uh we got to look back at all the grants over the, you know, the last, you know, five years since we've been here. just innovation, creativity, uh excellence. There's just so many things that have been funded that have had an incredible
impact on our students. So, thank you for all the time that you pour into uh raising money. Uh thank you for all the support of our schools. Uh and we deeply appreciate it has a huge impact. >> Yeah. Uh I'd like to extend the same thanks. I get to review the grants as they come in and each year I'm really
struck by the ways that our teachers innovate and having the rough grants gives them an opportunity to do that that otherwise they wouldn't. And many of the things that REF funds is then later adopted uh in the district by the with the operating budget. But having that opportunity to try something out to
pilot it and to see how it works is really a gift to our the district um to our students and our staff. So thank you. >> So we'd like to invite up the ref team. If the ref team doesn't mind introducing themselves and then I think there may be a presentation of a something exciting
>> probably. Yeah. Just go behind it. Go behind it. Yeah. Pick you up. >> Yep. Sure. >> Uh, thank you. Am I on? Am I good? >> Hopefully. Yeah. As long as green. Is it green? >> It's green. You're good.
>> Okay. So, um, hello. Thank you for that warm welcome. Um, we are the Reading Education Foundation. My name is Megan Fidler Kerry and I'm here as a board member uh for the education foundation uh which for those who don't know hopefully you do know soon uh we are a
nonprofit who raises money to fund small grants for teachers for innovation just like was said um so all of the money that we raise goes directly back into the schools for reading public school children um our biggest fundraiser is the festival of trees so again if you
haven't heard from it heard of it you should and if you haven't been there yet, please, please come. It's such a wonderful, fun community building event and we are delighted to say that this year once again was one of our record-breaking, very successful fundraising events. It was a blast. We
had a really good time. Um, it brings the community together in ways that we all, I can speak for all of us, look forward to every year. Um, and again, we raised this money for the sole purpose of giving back to the schools. So, while some people feel like Reading Education Foundation's purpose is about the
Festival of Trees, the ultimate purpose is about using the money that we raise at the funds Festival of Trees fundraiser to put back into the schools. So, I'm really excited for what's to come. >> Hi everyone, my name is Emily James. I'm a REF board member as well and I just
wanted to share a little bit about our process this year just to give you a little bit more color into what that looked like as we were collecting or really going out to the community. this um our schools and soliciting grants um that then Dr. Hardy eventually was able to review. So I think we've always done
a great job of partnering with our princ our building principles and director of rise to ensure that we're getting the word out. But this year we decided to try something new. We made sure that we met individually with each principal and director um to make sure that everyone was in the loop in terms of what we were
doing, why we were trying to spread the word a little bit more. And then as part of those meetings, we also asked if if they would be open to our attending a staff meeting. And so in early January, um, a couple of us went to a number of the staff meetings and were able to
share a wonderful video that was put together by one of our other board members to just, you know, really bring to life all of the the outcome of um, when those grants are received and what they're used for to be able to see what that looks like in the classroom and and to impact learning. What we found was
that, you know, effort on our part really paid off and we received some just we always receive wonderful grants and this year we just felt as though we received more and we received um grants that continued to just build on kind of the innovation that our um that our
organization is really built on. >> Hi everyone, I'm Christine McCary. I'm also um a REF board member and chair of the grants committee. Um, and as Emily said, we had some really wonderful uh grant applications this year. We had 10 uh grant applications um from seven
different schools and across the whole district, which was wonderful. Um, they were really creative and innovative this year. Um, having gone through a few grant cycles, we really could appreciate that this batch stood out as teachers really thinking outside the box, which is wonderful. Um, these provide amazing
enrichment opportunities for all of Reading students. Um some of the ideas were um using Legos uh to connect to curriculum and coding books for comprehension um a counseling department mural here at the high school and a professional
development for social emotional learning uh for the whole district. So we were really excited to be able to fund those. Um, in addition to the uh regular grant cycle, we have a smaller uh revolving fund uh grant where teachers can make requests for smaller
grants when they have more immediate needs. And we gave out over $2,000 uh for the uh revolving fund over the course of the school year and we will be able to offer the revolving fund again next year as well. So, we're excited about that. >> Good evening everyone. This is Rajender.
It is privileged to serve as a treasurer for Reading Educational Foundation. On behalf of Reading Educational Foundation, we are honored to present this check and we are grateful for the for the community's support. Thank you.
>> Let me start just by saying thank you for all the work that you do. Um, anybody who goes to the Festival of Trees knows what a massive undertaking it is. Um, and I know that's obviously the biggest fundraiser. Um, and and you know, all the the donations or the grants that you're supporting with with that effort are just invaluable to our
schools for sure. Um, we don't like to have a big check come in without taking a photo. Um, so if if you wouldn't mind joining us in front of the table here. Looks like Chris has a big camera as well, so we're in good shape. >> Big camera for a big check. I always try to get it.
All right, we are going to resume our uh regular order here. Um, our focus on excellence tonight recognizes Dr. Milichesky. Um, um, Olivia and I debated including this in uh, in the award ceremony tonight. We knew you would absolutely hate stealing
everyone else's thunder. So, um, you don't quite get the big crowd that you deserve, but we brought the most important crowd here as well. Um, so, uh, you know, the the focus on excellence really is to recognize you for truly exceptional service to the Reading Public Schools and to the students of Reading. Um, when you got
here in 2021, you stepped into a role in a moment that demanded vision, collaboration, and strong leadership, and you delivered all three in spades. Um, during these last five years, under your leadership, RBS RPS strengthened our focus on student achievement, launched countless initiatives to expand opportunities for students, and
implemented a new early literacy curriculum to build a strong foundation for our youngest learners. You championed programs such as innovation pathways at the high school, helping students explore meaningful academic and career opportunities while preparing for the future. You identified, recruited, and developed the next generation of
leaders at RPS. You improved instructional practices and helped Reading take its position as one of the top performing districts in the state for student growth. Uh those are just a few of the things on the scoreboard for the last five years, but it's really how you led and the culture you've built that different differentiates you from
other leaders. What I appreciate most is your approach to the role. Um Tom leads with energy, optimism, and a genuine commitment to partnership with all families and stakeholders. He's worked closely with educators, families, administrators, staff, and the school committee to build trust and move the district forward. He fosters strong
relationships throughout the organization and helps create a culture where collaboration is valued and people feel heard. We've had our fair share of challenging situations over the last 5 years, and it's it's through your leadership and the relationships and trusts you've established that almost without exception, they were handled quickly, professionally, and to the
satisfaction of everyone involved. It is a huge loss for us to see you go. Um, but I'm also encouraged by the team you've developed and the conditions you've established for long-term success. You leave RPS much stronger than you found it with exceptional leaders in place, impactful initiatives underway, and a clear vision for
continued excellence. Um, we also know this is a weird job that's very demanding and has weird hours. So, I want to thank your family who are here tonight for supporting you over these last five years and uh letting us borrow you at some some critical times. Um, you know, we wish you all every success and happiness in Florida. Um, while we will
miss Tom's leadership, we are grateful for the legacy he leaves behind in Reading. So, on behalf of the school committee, uh, our educators and staff, our students and families, and the entire reading community, thank you, Tom, for uh, your dedication, your leadership, and your unwavering commitment to the students of Reading.
class. >> Um, there's there's one more gift. You are getting also the traditional RPS chair. >> Olivia is Well, yeah. Well, uh, Olivia's confirmed we can get it shipped to Florida. So, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but if it's a bad thing, sorry, Sarah. Um, but we we
we will uh have the chair uh sent to your new home as well. Um, so you know, I'd love to open the floor if anybody else wants to say anything uh from the committee perspective. >> Come here, >> Jay. Come here. >> Come on. >> Are you guys going to sit right there?
You ready? >> You want to start? >> Um, I don't even know where to begin. Uh, I mean, Sean professionally, as usual, wrote it down so he wouldn't mess it up. I'm sure I'll mess it up along the way. Um,
Sean hit a lot of the key points. Um, and I think the most important was the last one about the culture. Um, this this district when you joined had a very fractured culture, a very challenged culture. Um, and you led from the front
while also being behind, which is a weird way to do things. I mean somehow I don't know how you do it right. Um because you constantly deflected praise constantly probably because the people who were doing it with you deserved that their
praise as well. Um but you gave them the opportunity to grow to what they needed to be and what they could be. Um I mean looking right to the side of you I see Sarah nodding along the way right. Um exceptional hires as to as Sean mentioned um exceptional vision and
pushing things forward. a lot of it with phenomenal partnership around the district here at the front table as well as we worked our way through it. Um I think I you know I said this last year during your review I went back and watched the decision day when we made a
decision about who we were hiring. Um and at the time we talked about whether we would hit a home run, right? I think we hit a grand slam. I said I said that before. I'll say it again. Um, and you know, while there's a while there's one here, there's a whole bunch of supporting casts behind the scenes to a
degree. Um, that that make that possible as well. So, we can't thank you all enough, you know. Um, it was kind of a running joke. How many Toms and Sarah do we have in the greater group as we worked it way through? But, um, and Ben's for that matter because my Ben is
home right now, too. Um, but Tom, I think >> two Josies. >> Yeah. Yeah, >> that's true. We do, right? It's just a continual thing. Um I can't even put in words, you know, the way that you help transform the district and you and as Sean said, you put us in
the right path. Um collaboratively, collectively, um and with a key focus on everybody can achieve and all excellence is what we should be striving for. Um so I just want to thank you. Um you know, I'll probably be texting you when I come to Miami just to say, "Hey." Um, you
know, but I uh and I wish you all the best. It is it is a sad but a happy day at the same time, right? Because I know it's the right thing for you and your family. Uh, I firmly believe that. Um, and it's not just for the things that people can see publicly, but the things that you know privately as well that are really important to you and the family.
I think it's it's a phenomenal thing for you and I wish you all the best and you will be missed. Um, big shoes to fill, but you will be missed. Thank you. >> Thank you. I didn't prepare anything either, but I will do my best to talk off the cuff. Um,
I don't use sports analogies, but what I've said all along is that we got a unicorn. Um, and I felt that every step of the way, and I felt that everyone of the last five years. Um, I'm forever grateful for what you've brought to the
district, for what you've accomplished in your time here. Um, and as everyone else referenced for the for the culture that like massive cultural shift that you have brought about in the district, I just think you can't you can't measure that, right? Like it's
just something that um those of us who were paying attention know where things were and know where things are. And um we owe you a debt of gratitude for that. And I know you had a wonderful team with you, but you also helped make that team
and mold that team and and set the tone. And um in very short order, you came in and uh worked to make relationships with with everyone. the time that you spent getting to know everyone in the district
and every one of us and every one of your administrators and really building those relationships um just had a huge impact on on being able to accomplish what what has been done and I think without um without your care and
concern for others I'm not sure we would have accomplished as much as we did you know people people were bought into you and to the mission of the district and that is no small feat. Um, it's wonderful to have your family here tonight. And I said to Sarah, "Thank you
for loaning us your husband for the past five years because we've certainly um had a lot of you." But um, yeah, I'm just I'm really grateful for everything that's happened. I'm I'm grateful for the situation you leave us in. I'm
excited for you and your family and what comes next. As much as I'm sad that we're losing you, um I don't think it's fully sunk in that I was like, "What do you mean this last meeting?" >> Um so, thank you. >> Thank you, >> Sarah. Jeffrey, if you want to uh I know
it's hard to go fourth and fifth, but uh feel free to come off mute, >> please. >> From what I can see on camera, he's ready to fill your shoes there, Tom. So, that's exciting. He's enjoying the spotlight. I'll just echo everything everybody has said so far and just my
deepest gratitude to you for your exceptional service to our district during the last five years. You know, you came to RPS at just the exact right time bringing just amazing a powerful combination of strong leadership, community building, and just an unwavering focus on excellence. And as
I've said to you countless times over the last five years, I just so appreciate not only your ability to celebrate our wins, but even more so your willingness to turn over the rocks, see the ugly things underneath and take the difficult challenges head on and really dig into the work. So I really
just our district has just flourished under your leadership and you're going to be so missed, but you leave an indelible mark and you've really set our district on an amazing trajectory. So just thank you from the bottom of my heart and best of luck. >> Thank you. Yeah, I don't have a whole lot to add. I
I know will echo you particularly what Erin said about really reaching out to everyone and bringing us in. Even though my youngest child graduated in 2021, the year you joined, you still brought me in to, you know, to get a sense of, you know, another perspective on the
community, and really worked hard to make sure everybody's perspective was heard and um, you know, and help us understand what the conflu what the the difficulties were in the things maybe that we were asking for. So, thank you
and and good luck in Florida. Thank you. >> Yeah, I was going to say something during reports, but I'll I'll share that now and just really appreciate all the kind words and especially appreciate just the acknowledgement of just, you know, all of our team, but also family up here. We know that obviously this the
time the job can be really challenging and our family and just appreciate their support, their smiles and their love all the time. But um it's been like and I wrote down a couple of things. Jano is not like me, but I I just want to make sure I was able to say a few things, but want to say it's been an incredible privilege to serve the community over the last five years. Uh Reading really
is a special place and I say this time and time again that deeply values and invests in education um and our students and I'm really proud of where we are as a district and the progress that we've made over the last five years. And I want to emphasize that our district's progress and successes truly are a story
of like a total total town effort and getting behind our students. Yep. Getting behind our students and all of our schools. So, it's been amazing to see our community rally around our schools, rally around all of our students. Uh, and it's been an honor for me to be part of a part of the collective work. Um, so it's with deep appreciation and gratitude. I just want
to thank a couple of groups of people. First, students. Uh, it's the biggest satisfaction in this role is is to watch students shine. um from our pre-K students, which you saw tonight, all the way through our high school students. Um our community has been so proud of all the amazing accomplishments of our students. Um just as importantly, I
think even more important, is the character of our students, what they show each day. Uh thank you to the students for holding themselves to a really high bar, setting a high bar in and out of the classroom, uh and really modeling what excellence looks like for our community. So, just a huge congratulations. Thank you to all of our students for all you do. You inspire all
of us. Uh staff, I think you heard it tonight before this for those who are here. We have the best staff around and I and I mean that. Um, you know, education has not gotten any easier. Yet, our staff continue to show up in incredible ways for our students each day. Counselors, educators, you know, coaches, uh, you name it. And they show up in so many different ways with
dedication, skill, passion. Uh, and it's been so rewarding to hear all the testimonies like tonight and all the stories to hear about the impact our educators make. Just know I feel so fortunate to have worked alongside the best team of educators. also a team of leaders, you know, Sarah, Jen, Olivia, principles, Michelle, every you see,
it's hard to name everyone in our room right now, but just thank you for the partnership, the collaboration, the support. We know that leadership can be a really lonely and challenging job and just appreciate especially navigating all of the complexity, the challenges that things throw in your way and handling that with professionalism, with grace, with care, and most importantly
for a student first uh attitude. Also, I see some families out here, communities. Thank you for the partnership and support like supporting our students and our schools truly takes an entire community and we really feel that reading is a place that really values and rallies around our schools. So families, thank you for partnership, community partners, even those of you
without schools, uh students in our schools, thank you. Town meeting members, thank you. Uh we just know again that this town has really uh supported all of our schools and it takes everyone into our school committee. I know you don't hear this very often from people, but you're a model in our town for what uh like a
strong leadership and a strong committee can do. You're a model in our region for what a high functioning school committee looks like. You've been an absolute integral part of all of our successes and accomplishments as this district. I hope you know that you've challenged us in really important and critical ways.
uh you've helped push us, you've supported us, you've partnered with us in all the ways I think have been uh you know meant a lot to us and also have been key to our our success as a district and I feel an immense sense of gratitude for each of you Carl I see you here Chuck Robinson and everyone on the committee now and as a collective um
it's how you help position this district to th to thrive you dedicated countless dedic you know hours time uh passion without any compensation and yes thrown all sorts of crazy challenging complex ICT situations and doing that in service of our schools and students. So, just
thank you for your service. Thank you for your collaboration. Thank you for your partnership. You've been, you know, such a key part of all we've uh been working to accomplish and all that's ahead. So, just last just to close, uh it is really bittersweet for me to be transitioning. I've loved being here. Uh it's an amazing community. Uh but I'm
leaving with a great sense of pride of of where our district is and also sincere hope uh and optimism and enthusiasm for where our district's heading. Um and I'll continue to follow the district closely. I may not watch th Thursday school committee meetings, but I'll be cheering the team on and the district on and just would like to thank everyone truly for your community, you
know, collaboration, your partnership. It's really been an honor to uh to serve in this community. So, huge thank you and thank you for the wonderful surprise of these smiling faces in the in the front row. Thank you. Eye rolls and smiling faces. Thank you. I appreciate it.
>> Hi, Grace. >> Hi, Grace. Ask me if I can come home, too. >> Can I come home? >> Just kidding. Sure. Yeah, we'll wing it. >> Sit next to me.
>> They're about to be so bored. Um, see how long they last. >> Yeah, we'll see how long this lasts. All right. Uh, let us move to the consent agenda. Is there a motion? I I suppose I'll make the motion since Laura's not here. I move to approve the consent agenda. Is there a second?
>> Second. Uh, any discussion? Okay. Um, Jeffrey, >> yes. >> Sarah, >> yes. >> Aaron, >> yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> And Sean, yes. All right. Um, thank you. Thank you all. Um, all right. Let's move.
>> Oh, picture. >> Oh, yeah. Oh, yes. We do need a picture. Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. >> Focus on excellence without a picture. >> I know. You almost got by without that. It's a very disjointed evening. He is very >> bring us compose me.
actually bounce out a little bit. >> Bounce. Thank you. >> Night. >> You bring it home. Okay. >> You hold this. Hold this. You take good care of it. Okay. >> I'll hold that. >> You'll hold that. All right.
>> As it drop, >> welcome to my house, right? >> Takes a village. >> A little army over there. Yeah. >> All right. Uh let's Did we Did we finish the consent agenda? >> We did. >> We did finish the consent agenda. Okay.
Uh let's um go to reports. Um Tom, anything non >> Yes. before Michelle escapes. Uh it's a night of gratitude and thank you. So, as we shared in our last committee meeting, uh that Michelle will be moving on to a new role, leadership role in the HR field. Really sad for us, really excited
for her. Uh just like to share a couple of quick words about Michelle. Her last day is June 10th, so it's coming quickly. It's our last time to recognize her. Um Michelle's made an incredible impact on our district. Uh I think across three main areas, things that stick out to me about her leadership. One, partnerships, right? her role
requires her to build partnerships with schools, with unions, with leaders, like you know, across oftentimes of conflict. And I think Michelle's done an incredible job of building relationships proactively and also doing a really good job of maintaining relationships uh even when things get really difficult and get
really hard and I think that is it's in her role which again faces some of the most complex difficult issues for her to be you know maintain positive relationships that allow us to move work forward I think has been a model for us in our office. to systems uh like strategic thinking at a systems level
when I think we had started years ago. Uh there was a lot of work that we had to do around building systems in our HR department. Michelle is leaving behind while it's you know will be difficult to us to not have her in the office every day. She's built so many systems her and her team that will allow us to continue
on sort of whoever the person is in the role that there's things that will allow us to sustain the work happening. She has a really unique vision to be able to think systemically, to be able to think strategically, and to be able to get things in pro in place at scale. So, just appreciate that perspective that she's been able to do and ability to
execute on that. And I think last and most importantly, and I think the thing that makes Michelle most unique is her skill in navigating really challenging, complex, nuanced, layered issues that there is no manual
or there's no easy answer. And even when we'll ask legal counsel, they'll say, "I don't really know what to do in those situations." She has really good instincts on how to solve problems. She's got really deep knowledge and skill. Uh she's a good listener and knows how to, you know, piece things together and ask members of her team.
She knows how to collaborate to solve problems. All of that has positioned her to uniquely navigate problems that the public may not see, but things that Michelle behind the scenes is able to navigate and navigate anyone better than anyone I've been around in that role. So, I just we've you know, our district
greatly benefited by by your work in the last five years. Our district's in a much better place with how you're leaving our HR department and just a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation to you and we're all wishing you the best uh as you move forward and I'm guessing there may be a committee member who'd like to share something as well.
I'm looking at Well, I know Tom always is sharing >> feedback on Michelle. >> Well, yeah. I mean, I don't I think you hit it all, but you know what you don't you didn't really hit on is that she Well, I don't maybe you did hit on it,
but but it's it's incalculable the improvement that the that the HR department has made since she's been here and in little things that tie to all the other conversations we've had about excellence, right? Um,
see you back there. Um, you know, I I I think we're going to miss her even just this summer as we start negotiations as well. Like that that kind of relationship stuff, but all of the the handling of contractual updates, all the things that nobody like you, like you
said, nobody sees. Um, and really in I can't even say enough because you've already covered most of it, but what people don't see that she's al she's also a coach and a phenomenal coach, right? I mean, I think there's a lot of, you know, you don't say sports. I talk a
lot of sports and and I love talking to Michelle about, you know, where things are going with with the team she's coaching and because some of them have been phenomenal and she's a phenomenal coach and she's going to he's taking on a new challenge again next year. But, um, you know, that coaching element
comes through in the way she deals with people as well. Like it's just what that's how the team how the team has grown is she's like a natural coach. Um and and that has helped as part of building the the the HR department and building the relationships as well. Um
Tom, you're a coach, right? I mean, I think there's a little bit of a coach synergy here that uh we're going to miss as as the two of you were leaving. Um and I think that's that's part of what established and helped establish um the excellence that we've seen. And I can only uh hope and believe that we'll have
a chance to have people that can help fill that gap. and uh you know equal and we'll raise the bar on them like we have consistently raised the bar on you guys that they can hopefully overachieve where you have been. But you know Michelle, you'll be missed. You
know that. Um you're not going to be far away. Maybe we can kiss you back at some point in time, but you know we we'll miss you and um all the best. >> Yeah. Yeah. Tom and Tom both said it um exceptionally well. Michelle, you know,
I I've said, I think every quarter when you've come to our our updates, the thing that I'm always struck by is how much of a professional HR function this has become in these last five years, and um it's your leadership, it's your ability to build the systems, it's your relational skills with people. Um you know, I I can't say enough about how
much the candidates raved about sort of the experience you created when we were going through our superintendent search. So, um you know, just appreciate everything you've done for us. Um, you know, I talked when I was making my comments about Tom, I talked about how, you know, we had our fair share of challenges over the last handful of years and very rarely did they bubble to
the surface. A lot of those challenges are personnel related and you're a big part of the reason that they never bubbled to the surface. So, thank you for everything. We really appreciate it. So, y >> that was my report. Thank you for your report. >> Okay. Um, Dr. Dr. Do we have a report or
we have a whole section? So, >> I just have something quick. >> Okay, go for it. >> Okay. Um, so today I was very fortunate to be able to meet with about 18 of our students here at the high school. We conducted some what we called AI roundtables and it's part of our ongoing
work to really consider how um AI fits into um education here in writing public schools. got a chance to understand their perspective about um where AI might be acceptable to be used and where it shouldn't be used. And um Tom, when you said the word character to describe
our students, wow. Um that was the impression I had of them today. the nuanced understanding that they're bringing to the topic of understanding um how they might want to use AI in ways that don't take away their own thinking that don't take away the the friction of
learning um and that that meet the expectations of their teachers. I was very impressed with our young people and looking forward to incorporating their feedback into our ongoing work around AI. >> Uh let's do liaison reports. Um we'll
start with Aaron. No report. >> Tom, >> no report. >> Uh Sarah, >> no report. >> Jeffrey, >> no report. >> And I have no report tonight. Okay. So, let's uh move then to item E2, the end of year learning and teaching update.
>> Excellent. Okay. >> Which computer you want to show from? >> Um Sarah's going to share from there. She's got the she's got the presentation should come up. your screen coming. >> We're in. All right. All right. Well, thank you so much for
having us here this evening. We always look forward to giving you our end of the year report. Um, I am joined by two members of my team, Aaron Burchil, our K to8 humanities curriculum coordinator, and Marian Lynn, our K to8 STEM uh,
curriculum coordinator. Two members of our team are not with us tonight. Um, and I want to acknowledge them and thank them because without their support, um, none of this would happen. and that is Liam Lascalzo our um data specialist and McKenzie Bilado who is the ad
administrative assistant in our department. Um I think I speak on behalf of the whole team when I say that um we do truly consider it a privilege uh to work each day on behalf of the students of the Reading Public Schools. Uh and the
work we do truly is focused on this idea of excellence for all. Um you may remember that the uh the report you saw last week from student services had a similar title. Um and that's because it is a united vision that we have. Um we
definitely are on a journey uh towards excellence for all. Um and as you know when you are on a journey it is helpful to have a destination in mind. And so we wanted to start the presentation tonight by putting in a slide that just names um
our district vision and the work that our office is focused on. Um because this is sort of where we are headed as we travel along that path. There are certain commitments that guide our work. Um, and specifically,
as outlined on this slide, they center around um, equity and access, coherence, evidence-based practice, professional learning, and shared responsibility. Um, and I think you'll see themes of the all of those throughout our presentation tonight.
So, you might ask, what is the work that we do along this path that moves us towards excellence for all? We aren't going to go through all of these areas with you, but we tried to encapsulate overall the types of tasks that our team engages in day in day out to help you
understand the scope of work. Since we are not going to have time to go through all of those things and all of the items in each of those buckets, we decided to pick three spotlight areas that we think sort of exemplify some of the important work and capture um what
we're proud of and what we want to uh share with the community, use of data, professional development, and then a little focus on the middle schools. Okay, so we're going to start with use of data and this really leads back to that evidence-based practices that is
part of our commitments. Now, you hear us talk about data a lot in our presentations. Uh, and there's a reason for that. Um, successfully using data is really the underpinning of um, running initiatives in a way that result in improvements for our students. And
that's why data is so important to us. When we look at data, it's also uh very important that we are not just looking in the aggregate across all students, but that we really are noticing trends and how they break out for certain student groups. And so the data work that we've been undertaking this year
includes both aspects of that. We wanted to start by sharing some examples with you so that we can bring this to life. what are the ways that we actually when we say that we're improving our data practices, what are some of the the ways that we're doing that? So, I'm going to share a couple with you and I'm going to turn it over
to Erin to share a couple from her scope of work and then Maryann will hop in. So um one of the things that was new this year which you've heard us talk about already is we were able to acquire a new data tool educ um all sorts of information about our
students across acade across academic assessments attendance um we data around interventions really anything we can imagine um can be put in one place and what we've discovered covered through that work is that we're able to look at
data in different ways. Um we're able to look across years. Right now we have two years of data in there. Um and we're able to make comparisons that we weren't able to before, whether it's across an entire grade level or assessment or drilling down to an individual student.
We wanted to be able to give you just like a little hint of what that looks like. So, at the end of the presentation in the data section, we did take some screenshots for you just to give you a sense of what Edge Climber looks like, but the screenshots really don't do it justice because when you're in the
program, it's a very dynamic screen. So, what you might see as a bar graph in a screenshot when you click into it actually brings up the students who are in that section. um which obviously isn't something we can show live um for confidentiality, but there is um there's
just a lot more to it than the screenshots can even capture. One of the ways that we've rolled out Edge Climber or started to really help it be um a tool that everyone uses is we started a new structure with our district leadership team this year. Uh
we scheduled three what we call district data collaboratives. We've had two of them so far. The next one is Tuesday. Our final one is Tuesday. And those were really times where we bring our entire district leadership team together, principles, assistant principles, team chairs, and all of our directors. And we
use that to look at district-wide data, starting to drill down to school level data and drilling down even further to student groups. And what we did was we went through a process of having schools identify an improvement area based on what they were seeing in the data. And then we've been tracking those improvements over the course of the
year. This has been a really strong practice. Um, it also gives us really great opportunities to communicate with our principles about the things that they're focusing on. Um, so this was this was the first time we ran through it this year. We certainly learned a lot. Um, but I believe, you know, it's a
practice that I would endorse um, continuing for really using data for school improvement. I'll turn it over to Erin to share um, a little bit more. Hi >> everybody. Um, so I'll start with sort of the intervention tracking because that um ties really closely to what
Sarah was talking about with Edge of Climber. Our literacy specialists at the elementary schools um are actually the first educators to be using educ um and they're using it to track their interventions and monitor student
progress. Edgue Climber allows like all of our Dibbles progress monitoring. It just feeds right in. But we added the extra layer um of making sure we are taking daily attendance on the kids that we are seeing. So it's not just like we're getting the attendance data from like are the kids in school, but like
have they actually been seen on the days that they're supposed to be seen for how long? That type of thing. Um so that's like a really important added layer when it comes to the response to intervention and in looking looking at like our kids responding to the intervention we're providing. That's obviously like really
skills and evidence-based, but also are they here and are they here consistently? We can look at both sets of data. Um the other one of the other pieces is um we've been looking at more classroom observation data. Um and I've two sort of examples of that. So the first um has
to do with elementary. Um we Sarah and myself in all five building principles um since what April I think it was April and May um we visited more than 50 elementary classrooms um using a look for tool from the hill for literacy. Our
principles and Sarah and I were all trained on the look for tool um by Cara Deatara who works with the hill and has worked with us all year at lit labs and and knows routing pretty well at this point. Um, and we went in during our core instruction, um, and have all of this data to sort of
sort through, look at. Um, but it was it's it was awesome to go in with principles looking at the same tool, talking about what we're seeing um, and collaborating with like what what's going on in terms of literacy in classrooms. Um the last piece um of data
that we've been collecting and working I think really cohesively with and I'll talk more about it when I talk about middle school ELA um is um a student engagement rubric in literacy for the middle schools um
specifically for ELA. So, this was a rubric um that was created um I I created it in partnership with a couple of folks on the ELA department um specifically Andy Spanelli um who's our um curriculum lead at the middle school for ELA. Um we had a student engagement
rubric. That's what our focus was as a department this year. We kept it really tight in terms of what we were looking at. Um, and then I went into every ELA classroom twice over the course of the year, used the rubric, which was also linked to the educator eval rubric, and wrote up a formal observation with
feedback for each teacher. Um, so we have the data sort of moving forward, um, which is new this year. >> And I'll just add one more way in which we are using this data that we're collecting. Um, we have rolled out a new
common assessment in grades two through five for math that is more closely aligned with the illustrative math curriculum. And so we've been work and then we're still using AMC for KN1 at the moment. Um, but we're we've been
really working closely with our building administrators to ramp up the number of regularly scheduled data team meetings that we have for grade level teams so that we're ensuring that the and we're using protocols
consistently to look at that data. So teachers are becoming familiar with those and throughout the year I think they've been going more and more smoothly. Um, but we just want to make sure that that data from the common assessments is integrated with what
teachers are using when they're planning intervention and enrichment. >> The last slide in the spotlight, I'm not going to read through, but um, for folks who might be looking at this presentation and wondering sort of like, well, how does data look in different
settings? This really shows and explains how we use data across different levels all the way from the highest levels at the district where we look across data sets down to the individual student level to understand how one particular student might either have a need or um
be demonstrating growth. Okay, we're going to switch into our second bucket, professional development. Um, now we've certainly talked with you about the PD that's been in place in most of our presentations, but we haven't focused just on PD in a while. And I have to say I think this is the
area I am most proud of um, presenting to you tonight. Um, we've done a lot of work to update and improve professional development for our educators. Um, it really was fueled by feedback from our teachers. Um, we, you know, we have lots of survey data from our teachers and
that certainly has helped. But through our curriculum councils and our curriculum implementation teams, we really spent time talking with our educators about the things that they felt they needed to learn to implement these evidence-based practices and high quality curricular resources and um what
the the format that they wanted to learn in and and what they thought was best for moving their practice ahead. Um, and so taking all of that into account, uh, this first slide, it lays out sort of our general philosophy about professional development, I want to call your attention to the little blurb at
the bottom. This is the RPS professional learning vision statement. This was written by the PD committee, um, which is a joint labor management committee. And we wrote this about three three and a half years ago now. And it really I think was a turning point for us where
we were able to uh really articulate the fact that um here in RPS we wanted teachers to feel that continuous learning was highly valued um and that it wasn't a spot where you just arrive and you know your curriculum but that we are continually adding on to our
knowledge base and learning from the students in front of us. So tonight we wanted to share just a few examples with you that give you a sense of the scope of work. This certainly isn't everything. And when you heard from the um student services report last
week, I'm sure you also heard about a lot of professional development. This is the professional development that's really um specific to our general ed teachers. So um I'll start by going through a few and then I'll pass it off uh to both of you. One of the district-wide professional development
goals we set this year was around AI. And so we had a number of PD offerings there. Our goal really to start building the AI literacy of our staff and start to understand where they are where they're falling um as far as their understanding and beliefs about AI. We
also were able to bring Jessica Minahan in for our elementary staff. She spent a whole day here in Reading. If you don't know of her, she's nationally recognized uh and does a lot of work around supporting staff working with students who are struggling due to anxiety and um
really gives teachers practical things that they can use in their classrooms the next day. That was a really big win for us this year. Um the other area I want to highlight just is some of the work that happened this year to support t our gened teachers who had multilingual learners in their
classroom. Parker saw the population of ML students more than double this year. So that meant we had a lot of teachers who might be having an ML student in their class for the first time. Um and so there was a lot of professional development focus for them and then for other teachers as well.
Got one more here. The final one I just want to quickly mention is we continue to invest and reinvent our mentoring and induction programming. We know that that's essential to retaining educators that first year of experience they have here. There's just so much coming at them and
overwhelming and we were finding that we really weren't retaining our special ed teachers in the way that we wanted to and it's such a key role. Um and so this year we added in another layer for those folks. Jackie Peluzi and her team actually led additional mentoring meetings um that were a mix of reviewing
our special ed procedures but also just giving them a place where they could learn together, ask their questions and have additional uh people who are like in their corner. Um, I can speak to elementary literacy, um, specifically K to2. Um, a little bit
of three to five, too. But, um, if you all remember, we made a commitment last year with all of our K through2 GenEd teachers to take all of their PB time last year and go through the Hill for literacy's primary science of reading
course. It was 10 modules, pretty intense, especially on Friday afternoons. um but they all went through it just to sort of have a base layer foundation of understanding that we didn't maybe all have before. So all coming in in the same space. This year was really about how do we take that
learning and incorporate it into our curriculum. Like how do we layer it in in ways that make sense for kids in our evidence-based in our routines and our systematic and our explicit. Um so we did this in a couple of different ways this year. Um the one that I was like
the most dorkally excited about was having a partnership with the um our coach from our core Melissa man and Cara Deletera from the hill for literacy. Um and they both came together at our elementary lit labs which had building um reps at every grade level from every
single school. Um, and they did some like really extensive training and worked really hard together to figure out like when I'm teaching the core and our core in terms of foundational skills, where does it make sense to layer in these routines and then how do they fit specifically into toolkits? And
then we spent all of our time specifically with Kay and one during elementary workshop like talking that through, working it through, looking at lessons, looking at toolkits, and really thinking about where and for whom do we layer these routines in, looking at
data, looking at individual students. Um, work still to be had, but um, super exciting to like sort of move from the just like learning about all of it to like what are we doing with it? Um, and what are we making a commitment to?
>> And as Sarah said, we have a number of curriculum councils and implementation teams, and these are amazing groups of teachers to work with, and they really bring the teacher voice to our work. And so, it's just really so exciting and fun
to work with them. And as Sarah also said, a number of our PD topics really come out of working with these groups. And so um that was the building pedigogy note there. And I one example that I can
give to you is that we have a K through6 illustrative math implementation team that's really awesome. And this year they decided that a topic that was really near and dear to the teachers is really improving fact fluency. And so as
a team, they created a math fact progression table that helped teachers to get students to benchmark by the end of the year or laid out what teachers would need to do to ensure the teachers were at benchmark by the end of the year
and put in some intermediate steps in order to support teachers in helping students to get there. And we felt that that work wasn't enough. And so we also did two PD sessions for teachers in grade three to excuse me in grades 2
through five around this work. Um, and why is it so important? Because we really want students to be able to free up that working memory memory for more complex tasks and not have to focus so much on just knowing their math facts.
And so what we did is we we also recognized that rope memorization isn't as as effective as using evidence-based strategies to get them there. So our workshops really focused on helping
teachers to use some of these strategies. We actually used the work of Jennifer Bay Williams out of University of Louisville um who's an expert in this field. And we gave teachers time to look at these strategies and to figure out
how they could work them in to their instruction, especially through things like low stakes games, which give them lots of insight into where students are in this progression without the stress of testing.
Um, and then in middle school science, uh, our curriculum team, our implementation team, I'll speak a lot more about that when we get to middle school, but just wanted to mention that one of the things that came up as we were doing our work was that teachers
really felt like they wanted more literacy strategies built into the content. And so Rene Renee Lamaro was kind enough to do a presentation for teachers to give them reading and writing um strategies that they could
incorporate into their lessons. And so that's been helpful as we're working to redo that curriculum. >> Thank you. I think that this slide is probably like um a highlight for me in this presentation of this spotlight. Um the
role of job embedded professional learning in RPS is uh is something that helps our teachers tremendously and it's something that didn't exist about three or four years ago. Um I think when I got here we had one coach. It was Renee Lamaro, our special education reading
coach. And since then we've really grown this into a diverse group of job embedded u professional learning providers. And this is something that um we envisioned because we knew that that sort of sit back and listen to a
presentation type of PD wasn't landing for our teachers. We heard it from our teachers. We saw that the um sessions weren't getting us the um traction we wanted. uh but this type of personalized and differentiated support is what is is starting to make a difference for our
teachers. So we are really proud of this and excited um that we have to offer it and we look forward to continuing this work and expanding it. Um for your reading pleasure at another time we gathered just a couple of comments from our teachers, our staff about the impact
of professional learning um on them personally and so please take a read when you have a minute. It really uh does demonstrate how successful this model is. Okay, on to our last bucket. >> Can I ask one quick question about that one? Sorry about the last one.
>> Of course. >> Um at some point, do we get to a volume of job of job embedded professional learning where we need less time with sort of formal dedicated professional learning time? >> That's a good question.
I think that um it shifts the formal time. Um so for example, next year we're looking at elementary workshop in a new light whereas the past few years we've brought say like KM1 Aaron would work with KM1 together because they really needed that foundational understanding.
What we're looking at next year is a couple of different avenues. We want to allow teachers to start to have some choice and to dig in and do some deeper work on those workshop days that isn't just not that our workshops now are one-sided, us just talking to staff, but opportunities for teachers to really
start to plan um build things out that can then be later shared. So, I think it shifts those larger workshop times. I I do think it is important though to have the opportunity to bring people together. you know, having our K teachers all in the room talking about teaching and learning, sharing their
experiences, that will always be valuable. It's just that it may not be as directive of instruction, but um the ability to use that collaborative time to continue to share practice. >> Also add to that too is the arguments a little bit different knowing how many
coaches obviously the mix coaches on here. You see two math coaches who are spanning across seven schools, you know, K through eight. So I think there's also that argument there's a layer of just staffing and model in terms of just you know how much we can rely on you know
that would look different if we had a heavier coaching team as well. >> And Tom just related to that I know with our math coaches this year we've really been focusing on having teach or having coaches and teachers do coaching cycles
instead of like a oneandone. I'm going to come in and give you some tips. Um, and they take, you know, six to eight weeks where they work on a problem of practice together and the teacher that will get to try out some new strategies
with the support of the coach um, and do this reflective practice. And as Tom said, like there's just no way for them to do that with every teacher in the district. >> Okay, last bucket, middle school. So, we
um really started focusing on middle school a couple of years ago. I know our first year or two was elementary, elementary math, elementary literacy. Um and then as soon as we had bandwidth, we moved right up to middle school because we knew there was some important work to do there and our educators were looking
for that and our building leaders. Um when we look at just sort of the initial work that's happened, um we actually see that we've had some pretty high jumps in terms of um state rankings. This comes from our MCCAST results that you may look familiar. We presented this to you
in the fall. Um, but just in ELA, we this year we ranked in the 90th percentile. That's up from 88 the year before, 84 the year before that. Um, in math we ranked in the 87th percentile. When you look across all Massachusetts districts, up from 84 the year before,
and 74 the year before that. Um, so we know that we're headed in the right direction. Similarly, when we look at our student proficiency levels on MCCAST at the middle school level, we see some nice upward trends. So, this is encouraging. Um, it tells us that we are um doing some of the work that needs to
be done. However, we aren't where we want to be yet. There is still work to do and we recognize that. So, we wanted to tonight just go over with you some of the things that are underway so that you understand the investment we're making. I also think it's important to note um similar at the elementary level when we
started it takes time to see the results translate into student achievement um because as our teachers learn new instructional strategies or they adopt new programs um there really is an investment in teachers and the time that it takes for them to internalize those
programs um we we do need to be um patient and allow our educators the space to do that. Sorry. Can we pause for one second? Hey, Rob. Any chance you could go let Sarah in? She's at the doors and said they're locked now. >> Laura. >> Oh, Laura, not Sarah. Yeah. >> The front the front doors.
>> Yeah, she should be at the front doors to >> to the high school. Thank you. >> Sorry about that. >> No, no worries. >> Get another one. >> That's important. >> Yeah. >> Yes, that's right. >> Yeah. >> Does it all. Um, so our efforts at the middle schools
really have been on multiple fronts, but I'd say in general for our office, the work has focused on tier one instruction and strengthening that across the main curricular areas. And what that looks like really is making sure that um there's consistency and alignment across
our two middle schools. Number one, um because we found that that was something that that wasn't in place. Um without that teachers aren't able to collaborate, have those professional conversations that allow them to move towards improvement and understanding their students. Um and so getting a
shared language, being able to look at student work together and really knowing by um content area what are the evidence-based practices for teaching this to our students. Those have been sort of the key like overarching uh work that's been happening at our middle
schools. We wanted to just give you a few specific examples so that um you can get a sense of what that work has looked like. Um I'll start out with social studies. This was the first year that we pulled social studies in um to start
looking at instruction and we had a really successful year. I was super proud of um the social studies teachers for digging into this. We spent the year looking at the instructional strategies that are in place. We also uh worked over the course of many meetings to develop our vision for middle school
social studies taking into account the developmental level of our students. Um and we built some sta shared understanding about the practice standards. Those have not as of yet been incorporated into the scope and sequence. Um and so that's continuing work that we will we will get to, but
those really um should uh be folded right into our content standards. And so that's an area of growth that we're looking forward to. to um hopefully next school year. >> Turn it over. >> I can speak to ELA. Um so we're in year two of our implementation of Amplify ELA
in grades 6 to 8. Um again, as I spoke to before in terms of our data, we really entered this year with a common and consistent lens when it came to both professional learning and looking at data. Um, in that lens was student engagement that was based off of observations from last year and feedback
from the department on sort of where to go next, especially with a new curriculum that looked really different than what folks had been doing before, right? Like there were lots of different pieces to it. Um, so we really wanted to dig in and use all of our professional learning time to think through what does
student engagement look like in ELA, in middle school in terms of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. And that's how we framed the year. Um we developed common expectations. We have a shared rubric. I did the observations and gave feedback just on student
engagement. Um the student engagement piece in the teacher eval rubric and in this rubric that we sort of created. Um, Andy Spanelli, who is the curriculum lead, like he deserves a shout out for
this work because he he was essential in this work um in putting it together with the department and really thinking through like as an educator on these Friday afternoon department meetings that we have, how can we come together as two schools and
really think through student engagement and what it means for our kids and what it means in terms of our curriculum. um as just said like there are no literacy coaches so it's important to me to have people and have like team members that I can go to. He is one of them. Um and the
rest of the department just jumped on board um and came together. We also had two coherence days per grade level um this year. So they were thanks to the building leaders um the teachers were released for two full days this year.
So, sixth grade all came together um for two days. Seventh grade all came together for two days. Eighth grade all came together for two days. Um and we really focused on the coherence of the curriculum. The shift from like everybody sort of doing a couple things similar but their own like like
everything was sort of like different um to like everybody's doing the same thing and we're all following the same pacing guidelines. It it's a really really big shift. Um, so these coherence days were super super important. Um, I had we had
one in March and then one this week. So I I was with sixth grade on Monday, I was with seventh grade on Wednesday. I was with eighth grade today. We had lit labs on Tuesday. So I'm coming off of four full days of professional development. Um, which is my kind of week. Um, being with teachers and
talking about ELA. Um, just an example of something we did. Um, we looked at all of the end of unit essays. Uh, made sure that we were all in alignment for what we were doing for our end of unit essays and then what skills we were teaching that kids needed and how that
sort of looked as an arc. Um, specifically we did seven and eight um this time. So like what is the seventh grade sort of like arc of skills look like? What does the eighth grade arc of skills look like? And do they build off of one another year to year? So that type of vertical coherence um and
coherence across the two schools in terms of expectations is beyond beyond exciting to me. >> Thanks. >> And so I'll speak with to math and science and so we had to do some dividing and conquering during workshop
time. And so Tammy Mziki, who's our new math coach this year, but not new to the district, a former Birch Meadow teacher, and Rachel Marcowski, the sixth grade math curriculum lead. Um, they worked together with the sixth grade team who's
now in year five of illustrative math implementation, but we did still need better alignment across schools. And so they worked really on their scope and sequence and formalizing that across the two schools and have started to work at
building common assessments and then looking at the data from those common assessments together. So that's really exciting because when we get to the point of actually looking at student work, I think that's where we can really see where there are opportunities for
growth and where our strengths are. So, sixth grade is in really good shape. And then grades seven and eight is an exciting time in math as well because we started a curriculum review process this year. And Ramsay Merritt, one of our Harvard interns and Lana Montero did a
lot of work with that group. Um and first they did some some re some um work or education around best practices and research based practices and then went
on to develop a rubric to see what it was that they were going to look for in curriculum. And most of our time on those Friday workshops was spent looking at different publishers. So they were very thorough in their approach and we had presentations from seven different
publishers this year and they have narrowed it down to three publishers for whom we'll field test those math programs in the fall. And then science continues to make progress in building out our units and using some open-source
curricula to make sure that we're building in practices and routines um that have that are evidence-based practices. Um, and I think one of the really important things about having the routines from 6
through the same routines in 6 through 8 is that teachers have so much more time to work on the science and engineering practices and the content and not every teacher teaching their own routines and so that just builds in or buys us extra
time to be working on the content. >> Thank you. I should have mentioned when I talked about social studies, I had four fabulous teacher leaders uh that worked with me on it. Stef Stephanie Malone and Eric Goldstein from the two middle schools and then we actually had two high school teachers that came down
as well to help lead that group. Um Carol Carolyn Allison and Megan Howy. So um huge huge thanks to them. >> Yeah. Similarly, a huge thanks to Kim Peterson who is our science curriculum lead. Um, so overall we are really encouraged
with the traction that we're getting. As you can see, a lot of time and effort is going into um supporting our teachers and moving things ahead. And so we're very excited to see what happens next at our middle schools and encouraged um by the early indicators that we're seeing come out of our middle school. Um, as we
wrap up, um, I just want to say that, you know, we really, we talked to you earlier in the year about coherence and about how that is something that we are focused on. Um, and we think part of that coherence is that the data use we're talking about, really great robust professional development and curriculum
work like the work happening at the middle school are really fine examples of how we build out coherence. Um, now we know that this is um just, you know, a step along the way in our journey. We are not at our destination. We have a long way to go. Um, and so at your
leisure you can read through this list of things that are next. Um the two I would highlight for you is just the first two. I think next year really is a year of deepening and strengthening our current initiatives. Don't think it's a year of layering in a lot more initiatives. We have many things that
are in place um that really um will benefit just from more more work and more investment in them. Um and as I said a little bit earlier, you know, it takes years for our teachers to really fully internalize new instructional practices. We need time to see how do our students respond to make adjustments
to keep having conversations as we look at data and I think that next year that we will continue um work our work towards that. So that concludes sort of the the content of our presentation. The last bit of information um that is in our
presentation and for folks at home that might look through it is we shared out um a good amount of end of the year academic data. I'm not going to go through this all with you slide by slide. I'm just going to give you some quick hits so you know um what to see and then we'll be happy to open it up to
questions. Um the first data that you're going to encounter in here is our Dibbles data. Um we are thrilled at the progress of our students this year. K to3 our students started with about 79% meeting or exceeding which in and of itself is a really strong place to be.
At the end of the year we had um 87% of students meeting or exceeding. Um and the largest growth area is our students and above. Um so that means kids were our our students really are reaching uh top levels when it comes to their
foundational skills. Um you can go through and look at each grade level. I just want to highlight first grade that well below the the red is so small it's only four students in first grade um that are that are um well below and if
you look to start the year we are at 5%. Um I think that that right there shows sort of the urgency that we have when we see that our kids are either well below or below and that the systems that we've put in place are starting to pay off. Sorry I said I wasn't going to talk about the data but I'm so excited about
this. Um, when you scroll through, you'll also see our Earl data, which is our elementary um, formative assessment. Um, we've got some I Ready data in here for you. This I Ready data really has been instrumental as we consider our next steps with middle school. And so,
we've got it organized for you in a couple of different ways. And then, as I alluded to, we did throw in some screenshots of these dashboards. um not as easy to see when it's a screenshot versus what it what we're seeing in Edge of Climber, but just wanted to give you a sense of um some of the the things
that you will see um you would see if you were in Educ Climber. For the first time this year, we threw in STAMP data. And so this is our world language proficiency assessment that we give in grades 8, 10, and 12. Um and so this this data is there for you to take
a peek at. Happy to chat about it if you'd like. Um also really happy to show you for the first time this is this year's um access data from January. Um if you look at the results you will see that our ML students continued to make
progress. Um we went from oh gosh I don't think I can see that without my glasses. 60 up to 67% of our students that are making progress based upon their own goals. And then students exiting, we also saw a nice increase. Um, and this
just, um, demonstrates the continued success of our ML programming. Um, and we'll end on the slide, excellence for all, and turn it over to all of you for any questions you have. >> Anybody want to go first? >> Sarah, Jeffrey, any anything on your
end? >> Yeah, I guess an observation and maybe a question. I just can't underscore how exciting it is to see all of this data. We went from basically being a data desert to really having being rich in data, which is super exciting in terms
of how we can leverage it and really target our resources and efforts for all of our our staff and students. So, that's super exciting and just commend all of you for all that hard work. Um, and observation, I guess, in terms of the Dibbles data. I'd be curious um to know a little bit more about those
kiddos in the red and you know who particularly the ones who were there at the beginning of the year and still the end of the year. >> Um and of those how many are have been assessed for um special education services, two tier three services um and are on IEPs and at what grade? Um and I
particularly concern so super exciting to see the smaller percentages in the early grades but grades two and three were a little concerning particularly given um beginning to end of year percentages. Um so sidebar maybe conversation for future meaning or topic but just kind of looking at that pull
through from tier two to tier three as well particularly for those kiddos it's who stayed in the red all the full school year. Yeah, Sarah, sorry. We have pulled that data and it's it's >> having all of the data means we can then look really granularly at what's happening with kiddos and that's what
we're doing. Um, we can see like exactly who is doing what, what progress are they making, what subtests are they making progress on and and we disagregate that as a literacy specialist team, but also building principles um do that with the literacy specialists. Um I can tell you in the
third grade while the number of red is bigger um we've looked at the number of kids that are already identified with reading goals um on ed plans versus the the number of kids that aren't and we have that we have those numbers too. Um so we can share any and all of that. Um
but we know who the kids are like we know exactly what we're doing like when we have them in tier 2 if they are read twice in a row like they automatically have an SST referral. So we are following like all of those processes but we can definitely get that data to you.
>> That would be great. I think yeah like the kiddos who are in the red particularly by the end of the year in K and one are probably still going to be in the red and like getting moving that bell curve of getting them on IP getting them the tier three support earlier in K and one and not waiting. We still struggle with that as a district and
really not you know that you see the IP bump up at third, fourth and fifth when we really need to be moving that to K1. >> Appreciate it. I'll echo that and put a big exclamation point at that last point. And I think we need to start tracking that data as well, right? When are we putting kids on
IEPs, putting more of that in the in the public? Like obviously we can't put names, but you know, we're putting more of a you know, our our trend is sliding towards K and one, and that's getting them off in three and four, right? hopefully if we do it early enough. Not
every kid can be, but many kids can be and if we're, you know, careful about that. Um I I am equally concerned about grade three. Um as we look at that for the same reason Sarah did. Um so that's an obvious thing there. Um I have a few
different kind of questions. Um, we go back up to uh the intervention tracking in Spotlight One. >> Um, Erin, I heard you talk about, okay, we're measuring that they showed up.
Great. One of the things we talked about before is not only are we measuring that they showed up, but which intervention are we applying? Yep. >> And is it making progress? Are we capturing that information now with Educ Climber as well? So we know exactly what we're doing with them in that period of
time to like you said you're addressing the subtests but >> can you talk a little bit more about that? >> Yeah so that that's ongoing work for sure. Um I think this year was just like a we have edge of climber for for the first time how like how do like how do we do the thing like how do we use the thing right so like we started with the
attendance um but the daily progress monitoring piece is something we are looking at not only just because it is good to look at and what we need to look at but like also for that response to intervention model um that goes from tier 2 to tier three having that like what is happening on the daily what
strategies are we using what practices are we using and then how Are we measuring it so we can see are they growing literally dayto day as opposed to every two weeks when they're progress monitored? That is the that's the work of next year like that we're really
going to try and tease out. Um how to track that and what that looks like. >> Yeah. What strategy we're using, how frequently. Yep. >> Right. Um how many iterations are they going through? Like we've said, I think we've said before, you know, a typical
kid will take four iterations and they get it. A kid on an IEP with you, especially in the in the dyslexia, disgraphia, discalculous space, takes 40. >> Right. >> Right. So, are we measuring the fact that we've actually hit that 40 number and now we see the difference? Right. Um, and so some of those things would be
what I'd love to start seeing a little bit more of. And this does tie to Tom's original goal of data tracking to the actual intervention and are we seeing the progress made appropriately um in in terms of that and and then more to that would be concepts of what are we trying
like what is our evaluation of certain things right so if we we think of a using educimer as a study capture tool like what what do what what did we um trial in a certain place and did that work in that place and if it worked in
that place if we apply the same trial somewhere else did it work there too like can we can we start thinking about it in in a little bit more creative ways along along those ways too so if we can capture some of that as we go forward and I want to see educ I was thinking as you're going through this we have so
many data points in a lot of our school improvement plans but we never report out the next year on our school improvement plans >> I want to start seeing okay we said we're going to go from here to there and here's the data that says we did it right Um, and not right now we just say,
"Oh, here's our new school improvement plan." Like, how do we start tracking that at that granular level would be now that we have some of the tools to do it would be phenomenal to start seeing that? Not to put pressure on the principles, but because it's good to you set a goal, let's measure if we're hitting the goal, right? Um, would be a
good thing. Um, this one's going to be a little bit more sensitive. Uh, you probably know I'm going at this already, Aaron. Um, you may know. um the uh what did you call it the way you were measuring um middle school ELA it
was uh student engagement >> student engagement >> right um first of all obviously we want our students to be engaged so I'm not dismount dis discounting that at all um it gives me a little bit of a red metal art red alert because it falls back to
some of the typical reasons why other things other curriculums have been I counted was we want their engagement. We want them to love reading. All this other kind of fun stuff, right? So, I want to make sure we're I understand that we want that engagement, but it sounds too soft. Where's the hard measuring?
>> So, the I Ready data is not great, right? So, >> so student engagement isn't just like are they like loving what they're doing and are they enjoying it. It's not like the engagement is it like fun. It's the what are students doing? like what tasks are they completing in reading, writing,
speaking, and listening, not like how much they're enjoying it. >> So the shift there's that shift there, but the real focus when it comes to the language and student engagement and I'm happy to share like those rubrics. >> Yeah. >> Isn't actually about like are they like are they enjoying it? Are they engaged
with like just are they just like sitting there reading engaged? It's like what are the actual tasks that we're asking students to do? What level of critical thinking do they need to be doing? like are they all doing it? Like counting numbers of kids doing it, kids not doing it. Um
same with writing, same with speaking, same with listening, right? Like what are the routines that we're getting kids in while they are doing those things? So we know that they are in terms of engagement, are they doing it? Like are are the kids actually doing it? Not like
>> I think the the historical like thinking about engagement. Um, I hope that helps a little bit because it's not it's not down that road of engagement. >> It does. Kids can be if they know they're being measured for engagement as well, they can kind of figure out how to twist the game a little bit. Um, so
that's that's fine and I it's easier said than done because whatever. Um, ultimately my my my point in in middle school is the same point with with elementary is how are we measuring the skills in a in a concrete way, >> right? and the subs skills and then
focusing and targeting on the improvement, right? The the improvement loop has to be there as well just as much as it's been in the K through five level. >> Y >> um and so engagement may be the starting point u and there might be the next the next level and next level next level. We we've done a great job with continuous improvement. So I know that's where the
goal is, but I just my ears went >> as we were saying some of those words. >> Um and then I think the last thing I want to hit on is just a thank you as well. Um it it was a kind of an aha moment for me a long time ago when we
had the reading and writing um advisory committee and some of the teachers and saying well how do we learn best job embedded training was like clear and like jumping out in that in those conversations. Sarah you I think you're in the meeting with me at the time. >> Um and you know getting that job
embedded training such a huge portion of what they're doing on a day-to-day basis. Um I I believe I think and some of the data showing this is moving the needle pretty significantly. So I just want to thank everybody for continuing to push that. I also have been the one
who said do they know the why? Not just you know and so I want to continue to thank you for the the engagement with Hill and others that that's putting the why into the the stuff and it's not just the curriculum provider who's doing the training. So thank you for all the work you guys are doing there.
Anyone else? I I more of a I don't know question or observation but um so first of all this is all wonderful incredible work
happening so I don't like to start out with it but uh something I'm hearing more and more negative feedback about is is I ready um and how how it's boring for kids how it's harder to engage and
it's interesting that the results aren't as strong as they are in some of the other assessments. So, I'm just wondering, you know, something I I didn't feel like I was hearing anything and then this year I'm like hearing it from all directions like, oh, the kids hate it and oh, it's, you know,
and then they get stuck because it only it like advances them if they're doing more challenging work, right? So, I'm just curious, are are teachers still finding it beneficial? It's a lot of structured assessment when you pair it with MCCASTs. Um, particularly when
they're like backtoback, which they are at some points in the spring. Um, so yeah, I guess it's more of just sort of a curiosity from the district perspective how you're feeling about it. >> It's a great question, Erin. I mean, we talk about when we look at the results, um, how much student effort went into
this. Um, and sometimes teachers will say that for certain students, they don't think the assessment results match what they see their students are able to do. Um, having said that, I know teachers do use it. What we share with you is just sort of an overall number, but they're able to drill in by
standards and see where students um, strengths are and where areas of need are. I will say also, we've heard from I Ready that there is a revision to the assessment next year. It's going to be shortened. Um, they say it's going to be shortened by a good amount. So, I'm I'm really hoping. I think the length of the
assessment is also a little prohibitive from our students really fully investing in perhaps us getting their um their best work and so we're we're looking forward to seeing what the amended um assessment looks like. I is one of those assessments we don't get ever to see the
questions so we don't quite know what students are encountering. Um but you know we definitely have heard from some kids that like I do better and then I get harder questions. Um, but that's what allows it to calibrate and really see what grade level students are at. >> Okay. >> Thanks.
And just in reference to teachers using it, one example I know is the Parker math team was using it to plan their intervention blocks this year or is one piece of data like I think you know there's others but they were definitely
very eager to look at that data to help them because as Sarah said it can really get specific as to what domain students have strengths in and what ones they really need to focus on. >> That's good.
Anyone else? All right. Thank you all. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Uh let us go. Let me scroll back up to my agenda. Um let's go to the preq4 financial update. And Dr. Milichesky, you are pinch hitting
tonight. >> Great. Unfortunately, uh Mr. Little Hill is not able to join us tonight. So, uh, wanted just to make two things around Q4, preQ4 in your packet. You'll find more information about preQ4. Point one, uh, this is a pretty quick turnaround from Q3, just a couple of weeks of the
last meeting. We think the largest push at that meeting from the committee was around trying to uh, make sure we're in a better position for sort of end-of-ear balance for us to be able to get closer to maximizing prepaid. Uh as you'll see in here, that number is now uh for end of year balance for prepay is $77,000
higher, 50,000 through increasing the offset and extend a day and the other $27,000 through going to be an unfilled PO. Uh still early. I mean, we're still there's still POS out there that we don't think will be filled. We think it's a lot of ways this is a conservative number. Um in some ways it
can also, you know, swing the other way, but we feel like at this point in time we wanted to show the committee we made some movement there. we still think we have some points of leverage over the next couple of weeks that is POS that may not be filled. Uh also some line items that we don't think we may fully hit or need. That's like you know for
our substitute teaching line. Um so there's still some you know some more game to be played in Q4. But just wanted to let you know we continue to hear you on that feedback and we are going to try to get that number higher uh through the close of uh Q4. Second piece is Phil wanted me to share that him and the team
have continued to look at the cost per sport analysis and that's close to being ready. Uh so they expect to have that ready for uh for the summer uh prior to going into next year's budget conversations. Uh just you know they've been working with athletic department on sort of historical trends and things like that. So happy to answer any
questions but just wanted to lead start with the headlines and then leave it open if you had any questions, thoughts or feedback. >> It's a great summer topic for when the community is all on vacation. Yeah. >> Don't know if that's what Phil was. Not sure.
>> I'll just raise what I mentioned to you, Tom, in text is that I'm I'm uncomfortable that we've done no transfers at all this year. Um I know why. I think it makes Phil's job a little bit easier to just do one big one at the end. And I I know we've had the transparency to it. Um but there is a
um I don't know rigor to a degree to say like we agree to the movement throughout the year and the fact that we have not agreed to movements throughout the year when we know or are forecasting pretty significant movements um you know is just something I think I want to have us look at a little bit more next year and
and see if there's maybe a compromise. Maybe we don't need to do it four times. Maybe we need to do it you know once and then a final so two times or something like that. But having no approvals of movements throughout the year is is something I'm a little uncomfortable with. >> I think it's a good point. I hadn't
thought about it. Um maybe we also maybe we could think about like a threshold. >> Yeah. >> You know, um where we don't want to we don't want, you know, when at some point we anticipate we're going to be far enough, you know, above X dollars out of whack like that that triggers that
triggers an approval. >> Yeah. >> Um yeah, I think it's a good good thought. There's some pretty big ones in this list right now. So >> fair feedback. Yep. I'll share that with the team and u see if you know we can try to arrive at something for next
year. Thank you for that. >> Any other questions on the Oh, Jeffrey, go ahead. >> Yeah. Tom was pointing out I mean I think Sean were thinking we might not need the last school committee meeting and I wonder if we actually needed to do
those transfers. Um we we won't be closed uh we won't be closed for the year um at the end of this month. So it'll have to carry over to a July meeting most likely. >> Okay. And that's okay to do it into next year. >> Yep. >> Okay.
>> Probably in September really is what it >> Yeah. Yeah. It really won't even be July. It'll it'll certainly have to carry over um six to eight weeks probably, you know, post the end of the year. There's a lot of sort of receivables at the end of the year that have to come in before they can finalize it. So,
um, okay. Do we want to roll right into the budget update? >> Let's do it. So, uh, shifting gears into an FY27 update. Uh, one which will require, uh, would require an action from the committee, one which would not. We'll start with the one which is not. Just want to provide just an update on, you know, spirit of transparency around
the budget. Uh, which is, you'll see in the packet. This is on lost my page number >> 72. >> 72. Thank you, Laura. Uh, 72. you'll see just sort of the two proposed uh budget updates. One uh which is within our multilingual learner department uh we
have a 0.5 teacher position that we've had a hard time filling with uh sort of the candidate that we think is the kind of the right you know leader for the right educator for that role. Uh therefore uh miss you know Miss Casall had a creative solution which is moving
her FTE from 7 up to 1.0. Uh that would then and then therefore we'd be about 0.2 2 under not using that 02 which that would reflect a savings of around uh around $8,000. We think this is a win that we still think we'll be able to cover sort of all required services for
students and Miss Hall who's a great teacher getting her in the classroom with students. You'll also see a bullet here that it'll give her the chance to better understand the new curriculum and to model and coach the department as well. So we think this is a win-win um given where numbers are given where sort of requirements are around services and
feel that um this is sorry I'm gonna sneeze this this is the right direction for the uh for the for the district. So um that's one shifting gears into uh a shift that would require a school
committee approval given uh you know the policy GCA that is shifting a 1.0 0. This is for a one-year shifting a 1.0 ELA teacher at RMHS to a 1.0 Parker student support coordinator position, which would still remain in the bargaining unit. You'll see in the
packet a uh job description for the proposed uh student support coordinator. A couple of points that I'd just like to make about this proposal. One, that this is a pilot, right? This is a pilot that would be a one-year pilot, which would allow us to one evaluate class size continue at the high school. Two, also evaluate the effectiveness of this
position at Parker. Uh this is a position that's been uh I would say supported by RPA leadership and I'd even go as far to say advocated for by RTS leadership thinking that this is a good investment to be able to support uh what we see as some of our needs at Parker. Um the student support coordinator role
at Parker will allow us to you know coordinate supports uh for students at a building that's over 100 students larger than Kulage. Uh I think that will also allow us to better position both leaders AP and principal to focus on uh more the instructional side. Uh this is something
if you look at the job description you'll see that there's a lot of work that they'll be doing around uh coordinating services uh ensuring consistency of services, coherence of services for students across the building. Also to note this would allow us to keep our class size at RMHS for ELA classes still under 20. Last point I
want to make on this is we do feel that a catalyst for the high school improvement, you know, I'd say four or five years ago was adding an additional leadership role at the at the high school. While that leadership role was slightly different and sort of this description, director of academic achievement versus student support
coordinator, we do feel adding another member of the leadership team was something that was then able to uh help us get some traction, some areas that would move the school forward. Why are we investing in Parker? Parker's a larger school. Parker has a higher population of high need students, title one school, and also we know that the
community has been very aware of just sort of the longstanding gap in uh performance outcomes between Parker and Koolage. A couple of years ago, we thought we had made some movement on that uh and didn't get, you know, that movement was not sustained in the same way this past year. So, we think that this is a strategy for us to try. We've
tried a lot of different things to try to continue to improve outcomes. And I think both district and union feel like this is a uh investing in leadership and investing in leadership to directly support students is a good uh pilot for us to try on a one-year basis. Um a couple questions, one on each. Um
one is on the uh on the MLL staffing position. Um I think I know the answer to this, but we're we're coming down by 0.2 2 FTEES and it's only savings about about 8,000. Is that because the rate >> Yeah. Okay. U makes sense. And then on
the Parker one, um you know, I'm I'm supportive of this. I think all the reasons you outlined make sense. I think it's important that we're positioning it as a pilot, you know, uh for two reasons. One is, you know, obviously we don't know where we'll be from a budget perspective a year from now, but two is
um I'm very curious to hear, you know, or to see as we get sort of closer to the school year. I don't expect we have it today, but how are we going to measure the impact of this, right? Um, you know, there's certainly value in having another body and another leader in the building and we can sort of all
understand that intuitively, but um, you know, anytime you do a pilot, you want to have sort of a clear set of outcomes at the end to justify continuing beyond that pilot period. And, um, I don't expect that we've got those answers yet, but I'd love to, you know, make sure we get them before, you know, towards the
beginning of the school year. Y, >> great point. Go ahead. >> Um, regarding the the Parker position, um, I'm assuming the projected class sizes at RMHS were based on the actual numbers
of an incoming because don't we have at least one grade that's like smaller, but rising juniors, I think, is like a Okay, so it's based on the actual number of eighth graders they anticipate moving up. Okay, great. Um, and
seeing as we're um considering it a pilot, do you anticipate someone internally going after the job or potentially being an external hire? I I feel like phrasing something as a pilot, I would still want someone to
like fully invest in in in trying to do the role to the fullest. So, but I think there's that piece that's like, am I going to have a job in a year? So I'm just wondering how we're approaching that angle of it. >> Yeah. Uh great question. Uh we don't we don't know. I will say internally we've
had people reach out who have said who have like you know for the middle school you know knowing that we were working on this saying this is something that want to have more of a conversation on. Uh I will say I I think there's also in like you know from talking to educators across our district a lot of folks who are really interested in the bucket of
student services, student supports um student behavior things like that. So it is a a profile that I I think exists out there. I don't know about external interests, but I I would anticipate we'd at least have some internal candidates. And I Erin, I want to go back to your first point of the class size of the
high school. Also to make it clear to the public that this was there was a resignation. Uh staff was relocating relocated to the Midwest. Uh so this is a spot that is not requiring us to you know move any teacher around. This was an opportunity that came about given a teacher resignation.
Other questions? >> I know you have questions. >> There's a 0% chance we're just going to go. >> You know, I have questions. >> Go ahead, Jeff.
>> Yeah, I had the same question that Sean is. How do we evaluate the the pilot and when do we do that and how do we make sure that it gets on the school committee's agenda to actually review that at the time that it makes sense to make that review. Um so that you know we're as we're planning for the
following year to know whether we're putting some whether we need somebody back in the English department or not. And I guess the other thing is my sense is that um some of the smaller class sizes in English are sort of those those senior electives that are you know
they have some different flavors to them. you know, the the diverse voices or the the horror. I think um sort of, you know, and I I'm forgetting what all the different options are, but just some different options for people to try out
at the senior level that um you know, while the class sizes there might be a little small because there are these different things, it really does give some new options for the seniors in terms of just here's a plain 12th grade English class. So, you know, I I understand the
rationale for doing it. Uh but I take new caution that we we are taking a little bit away from those seniors possibly uh depending on exactly which uh classes are are cut. >> We're not cutting We're not cutting classes, right? There's no options being
removed as a result of it. We're just saying the class sizes are going to be around 20 kids instead of 15 kids or whatever the number is. Right. >> Correct. >> Okay. And Jeffrey, I do want to go to your first point around measurement. And I think there's a there's an there's I have an I have a thought on that and I also have a caution on that. My thought
on is is ultimately this role is put in place to better support student outcomes. Right? I think there is the idea that if you you know Jill and Beth I will say right now as leaders they're managing and around all the things around coordinating supports and in a building of over 500 students that
that's a that take that's a large portfolio of Beth's work. Right. I I do think that you would hope and expect that by having another leader on the team whose focus is to support a lot of the coordination of of supports for students that does and will free Beth up
to you know jump more into the instructional leadership realm which you would expect would then have a positive impact on student outcomes. So how we measure that what that looks like I think there has to be some tie to student outcomes. With that said, I think what's tricky in a lot of these roles, like my role, Sarah's role, like
a principal role, like we talk about APS, how quickly could we expect the APS to start moving the needle on outcomes within, you know, by November? Are we expecting our elementary APs by November to move the needle and get better outcomes? I think we should start to see
some signs of it and start to see some thing, but I don't know if that's can expect something necessarily quantifiable within the first few months of their leadership in the role, too. So, I think you're right. We have to think through that and I think it's just it's really hard to figure out exactly
what that will look like to measure success, but our team will take a crack at it. >> Um, I have some ideas I can put down, but if you have other thoughts or ideas, we're certainly all ears to I think it's a fair point and I think some of those outcomes you're talking about can take two or three years to, you know, to really reflect. Um, but if you know, I'm
reading the role description and we talk about providing directive support to students experiencing school adjustment, engagement, attendance, or behavioral challenges. Some of those things are directly measurable, right? So, you know, are we seeing a near-term impact on attendance? Are we seeing a near-term impact on disciplinary situations, right? You know, and if if if we're
seeing favorable movement there, I think we can all sort of understand that that's going to have a a positive outcome over time on on academic outcomes as well, right? Good point. >> Not only for those students, but for other students who are impacted negatively by, you know, students who are disruptive in the classroom or require additional attention from the
teacher or whatever it might be, right? So um you know I I think there are interim measures we can identify that are tied to the activity that this work this role is responsible for um that are that should be measurable in relatively short term on a relatively short-term
basis. Agreed. Good point. Thank you Sarah. Go ahead. >> I agree with you. I think yes ultimately we want to see outcomes but in year one of a position I think you know you would measure kind of based on object infrastructure and putting all the the systems in place that would lead to the
outcomes I would expect all of that kind of to be the the building year and yes it' be great to see outcomes in year one but putting the the kind of structure into place could literally be how we measure >> thank you great feedback >> yes and yes um and I also agree with
your answer to Jeff I don't think it was something we could answer by November necessarily. Um, so you know, I'm struggling with this. Um, can you help me understand a little bit about this role versus what we have currently from a metco perspective at
Parker? Help me. I mean, I know we we've had some challenges. I'm not I don't want to put that the wrong way. Staffing has been different at the middle school level than it has been at the ele elementary school level. I'm just not remembering exactly what staffing level we have. uh from a metco perspective at
Parker right now. Y um let me start with the idea of like the metco role and I think the piece for me is the metco role we know is 0.5 metco director coordinator and then 0.5 school adjust school counselor the 0.5
with a case load of close to 20 students that's a pretty significant investment in the day-to-day you know uh work of those kids those families being classrooms of them overseeing academic case load so that is a portfolio that takes up should take up 50% of their time. The other 50% what you don't see
in here is that this is a a position for a licensed mental health clinician, right? Our medical counselors are our school adjustment counselors, licensed mental health clinicians. You do not see that in this job description, right? So, we are not expecting someone to come in and to work with students on a
counseling basis. We're not expecting someone when a student's having a mental health crisis to be able to sit with the student to be able to um you know counsel you know you know provide any level of therapy like that's not what's you know the the intent of this role. So
I think it is our counselors are doing a ton of one-on-one work you know also yeah there's some like small group work but they're working with some kids that with some intense situations that are coming up. I don't see that here of that one-on-one because this person does not have a counseling background. So, Parker
does have in terms of staffing has two schools psyches and a school counselor. So, um I don't see like if you ask anyone who's in that building, they're very busy. They're very busy with case loads. They're very directly with kids.
I think this is managing sort of the portfolio of support services across for for cases for kids and also across staff members. And I also think what maybe is not explicit on here and I'll name is some of the lower level behavioral pieces that pop up. I mean you see if
your assistant principal is getting tied up consistently with small issues stemming from a recess issue or from lunch in cafeteria. That's a huge suck of time. And I don't think we wanted this to focus on behavior, but I think
there's a reality to like this person's probably going to get a call first for support on a lower level behavioral issue before Beth will. And I think that will then hopefully have an impact on what Beth's availability is as well. >> Okay. Um,
and it seems clear you're you're focusing this as something to free up Beth to become the instructional leader because one of my other concerns was one of the reasons why the high school one was so so focused and so powerful was
that it focused on academic related improvement. And this one is not focusing directly indirectly and the the soft skills underneath it are necessary to make that happen. It is but not directly in that in that role. So your intent here is to free up capacity. >> You nailed it. I think there's a part of
it and maybe go being even more explicit on that to play that out is that we trying to be mindful too of like the skill set of the team that we have in the building. Not building a model around people but also keeping the people in mind as we're building it. I thought before Jess's skill set was something that would have been uniquely
qualified to handle to to lead the academic work. I think this is a case where we don't want Beth fully into managing though. We want Beth in the instructional world. If you look at Beth's background, I think that's where her strength is. So, I think this does
position her to do that work in instructional leadership that it's easier to do that by adding this position. And it was kind of the flip-flop of the high school. I thought there was other people at the high school who would be able to manage the day-to-day. you know the staff down here, you know some of the people I'm talking about who can day-to-day manage
what happens with students and I think that would free Jess up on more on the instructional side. So I think there is a piece here that we're playing to the strengths of people who are on the team. >> Okay. So then I mean I think a lot of the stuff s Sean said about measurement of of certain things is I think very
important. The other one I think is important um I'm going to call a spade a spade is there's a culture issue at Parker from a staffing perspective. Um, and I think we should be doing a little bit of a a pre, you know, beginning of the year culture survey, mid-year
culture survey, whatever, end of year culture survey as a measurement as well. That theoretically this should be helping with that space too because some of the culture is related to some of the, you know, student activities and the support from the central office and stuff like that. not central office but
the the >> definitely >> the Parker off central office as it is in in those processes. So if we can in addition to having the students actually be there and be present we're also now also seeing a turnaround in culture from a staffing perspective um that would be
good to understand as well. >> Great point. Total agreement. >> Anyone else? All right. Um then so you know as Tom alluded to our policy since this is a net new role not meaning an additional headcount ad but an actual role that
doesn't exist elsewhere in the district. Um our policy GCA requires that we formally approve the creation of of a role. And that's why the the role description is included in the packet. So I'll make the motion. Um we'll see if there's any further discussion then we'll take a vote. Um move to approve the creation of the student support
coordinator role. second. >> Seconded by Aaron. Any further discussion? >> Yeah, I have just one more point that I forgot to raise before um somewhat to to Sarah's earlier point um about what the like foundational year is. I think somebody really needs to think about
what what is the definition of success? Like what what do we think we think the first year if this person comes in knocks it out of the park, what does that mean? Right? um you know and or some subset thereof.
But how are we defining success with this? You know, we're not going to have enough time before budget season to say yes or no, but come May of next year, hopefully we have enough of an idea um as we go into the next year and whatnot and we know class sizes and other things like that if if we feel like they have
hit that definition of success and it needs to be broadly understood um between the team at Parker, between Dr. Turner, Sarah, as you continue on as as well, like we just need to we have a very clear picture of of that. It's a
classic interview question like what does your first 30 60 90 days look like and and and how you how are you defining success for me coming into this role? We should be able to answer that question like that and we should have it prepared and ready to go. >> And I think some of the wheels are already greased for that. And I'll say
this is the fact that the the union has worked collaboratively with us to like talk through this. They think some of the challenges I've been like describing of like what maybe we need to do for improvement there they agree with. They view this also as a potential solution or strategy to try to mitigate that. I
think they should also be partners with us and saying well here's how we should measure success for the role and here's what outcomes look like. So I just again like to think that those open conversations with the union on this have been important. I think will continue to be important as we move forward because again this is a union role. This will will stay in the union.
So Tom I agree with you. I appreciate you raising that. >> Any other discussion? Go ahead, Sarah. >> I just holding on what Tom just said and I think or both Tom's just done. I think if we set kind of OKR this a little bit Tomwise of like what is our objective
for this role and then it's the 30 60 90 is are those kind of key result kind of things of setting what how do you achieve that objective? >> Okay. Uh let's move to the vote. Sarah, I'll start with you since you're off mute. Yes. >> Jeffrey,
>> yes. >> Aaron, >> yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> Laura, >> yes. >> And Sean, yes. Thank you, everyone. >> Um, all right. Birch Meadow Principal update. >> Great. The update is more straightforward now at this point. So, I just like to uh kind of give the headline in your packet. You'll see the
letter that we sent to the community earlier this week announcing that Lisa Azero uh will be jumping in as the interim uh principal at Birch Meadow. So, huge congratulations to Lisa. I would just like to say that we are really confident in uh Lisa's leadership. It's been great. We talked
years ago about building a pipeline of talent in the district. Lisa's been an assistant principal in our district for three years. Uh Lisa, even before that, which you see in the letter we sent out, has pretty extensive uh leadership background. Um I think is very ready and eager to step into this role at Bur. So, we are already working with her on
tradition. We have her uh interim assistant principal position posted, which closes a week from Monday. So we'll hopefully have that, you know, buttoned up within the next couple of weeks as well. So again, like to thank Steve for his service for the last five years to the community. Uh like to
congratulate Lisa on, uh stepping into this leadership role and just like to convey enthusiasm around her hire, convey optimism around what the future looks like at Birch and uh convey our confidence in her and her ability to come in and do uh do a really good job at Birch. So
>> great discussion. My big question was going to be the assistance assistant principal. So, thank you for answering that question. >> That will also be interum >> for obvious reasons. >> Obvious reasons. >> Yes.
>> Okay. Um, next we have I think things might be out of order in the in the packet. Uh, next we have the proposed FY27 meeting schedule which is on what page is that on? >> 81. >> 81. >> 81. They are out of order. Okay. Good.
I'm not going crazy. Um, so I've put this together. You know, again, this is just proposed at this point. I think we probably will need to get the wheels or the ball what wheels rolling, the ball moving. Yeah, I don't know. I'm mixing metaphors here. U, we'll need to get going on at least uh certainly executing
on that July meeting. So, you know, I would say um whoever's chair in about four minutes know um whether there's an issue with with that meeting. Um, generally speaking though, my ask would be to just review this more more broadly. Couple things I'll say. Um, we
um, you know, we'll probably end up cancing, you know, if history tells us if history is our guide, we'll probably end up cancing four to five of these meetings throughout the year um, just because we won't have enough content. But I, you know, I just tried to sort of mirror our typical every other week cycle. Um, I believe I've successfully
steered clear of all the all the uh, sort of major holidays per policy. Um, uh, Sarah, you know, Passover is one we typically mess up. I think I got it right with Passover. It's on the fifth night, so I think we're okay. >> What's that? >> Just the first two are important.
>> Yeah, I they're all important, but the first two are the ones that we we need to steer clear of from a conflict perspective. So, um, you know, just ask everybody to take a look at this, you know, offline at some point and and, um, you know, provide any feedback. The one, uh, you know, or I guess there are two
conflicts. Um, one is the middle school back to school night is the same evening as um, September 24th. If we keep September 24th, uh, we could move it to September 21st. We also could start a little bit later. I think that's usually over by 7 or 7:30, so we could
potentially start a little bit later. Um, we don't have a ton of middle school conflicts, but we've got some. And then, um, you can see that the K through five open house night in May. I did uh propose we we hold that meeting on May 10th, the Monday instead of May 13th,
but otherwise this sticks to our Thursday schedule um uh pretty well. So just take a look at it and again, you know, feedback to whomever is chair here in a few minutes. >> Laura, you will have a new middle schooler. >> I will definitely be going to the middle school night.
>> I was going to say half of the committee is impacted by middle school. Yeah, I think I think the play there is let's find out what time they're actually scheduled for and if we if we >> Yeah, I mean it's usually staggered and so like I have a one who's going to be a sixth grader so that'll be the earlier part of the night >> but I'll have Sean and I have
>> but you guys will have the later part of the night. >> I'll have an eighth grader and a sixth grader. So, um if I guess my point is if it's, >> you know, 5:30 to 7 >> and we can start our meeting at 7:30, maybe we stick with Thursday. if it's, you know, otherwise maybe that one ends up moving to Monday, you know, or or
whatever, you know. So, I I I think that's one we can revisit once the schedules come out. >> Um, but I'm just flagging that that one could be a conflict. >> The one thing I would flag is it's possible that we're going to need to have more meetings in September and October and potentially August based
upon how this summer goes and um as we come up on the override vote. >> Definitely true. going to have to we might have to have some strategy meetings or public forums or things like that that we need to think about um to bring people along in that conversation. So that's just something for us to be cautious of that there might be more in that period.
>> Definitely true. I would say these are the meetings we're going to slot sort of our normal content against. Um but 100% agree that we may we may need to add some in the interim weeks in those months in particular. >> When is the November election? November 3rd. >> That sounds right.
November 5th for Thursday. So, yeah, that should be right. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Um Okay. All right. So, everyone could take a look at that offline and provide any feedback if there is any. Um All right. Approve the charge and member Oh, sorry.
Go ahead, Jeffrey. >> I just wonder if we had a thought whether the uh the May 10th meeting would be at Metco in Boston again. >> Yeah, that's typically the time of year that we target. Um, obviously we have to work that out with MECO and their availability often means that one moves
a little bit, but you know that's that would be the one that we target. >> Do do you want to note that on the proposed calendar? >> Uh, sure. Yeah. >> Yeah, I can I can add that. Um, >> we can inquire about availability. I'm not sure when they start planning out for next year. We can ask. >> We've also done April. We've done Yeah, we've done late. So, kind of in that
April May time frame. >> Yeah, that sort of mid-spring >> time frame is typically the target there. So um okay let's talk then about the charge and membership for the facilities naming advisory committee. So we we talked about this a little bit uh
last time um you know so included in the packet is uh sort of an update on the membership and then and then the the charge that I'm I'm you know planning or pro proposing to submit to the town clerk's office if we approve it tonight. Um let me talk about the membership piece first. So, um, still, frankly,
struggling to find, you know, a discrete local business leader, like a distinct local business leader to do this. Um, I've probably talked to eight different people at this point. And, you know, there's some combination of, you know, I just don't feel like I have anything to contribute to this. And, um, I'm not a, you know, broadly not available during
these summer months that we're expecting these meetings to to occur. Um, you know, I've got a couple of leads still. you know, I'm trying to sort of talk to people one at a time rather than, you know, blasting a few people and then saying just kidding, we don't need you if you know, somebody else responds
affirmatively. So there, you know, there's still a couple of irons in the fire here. Um, so, you know, we've got two options. You know, one is we move forward with that as a TBD. Um, uh, actually probably three options. We move forward with that as a TBD. Number one.
Um, number two, you know, my read of the policy would suggest that we're not, you know, it doesn't require that we have six people. It requires that six sort of perspectives are represented. Um, one of those being a local business leader. You know, I alluded to this last time, but, you know, Chris obviously owns a
business on on Haven Street. So, I I you know, I think from a sort of a pure compliance with our policy perspective, we're in the clear if we if we go that route. Um, so those are those are two options. And then the third option as we uh continue to table this and and take the vote, you know, and and see, you
know, see if we can keep kicking the tires on finding a local business leader to add as a sixth member and then take that vote u on July 9th presumably. >> One one key point of clarification, Jess does not live in Reading, so she cannot vote. So you only have four voting members as it stands right now.
>> That's correct. Would it be possible to get a different select board member to sit in as the select board representative and then have Chris be the business representative? >> Probably. Yeah, I I I'm sure we could get one of them to That's a great idea. That's a really easy creative idea and I'm sort of embarrassed. I haven't thought about it.
>> I mean, there's five other people there, so it seems like or four. >> Yeah. So, you know, so maybe with that we could maybe I would caution that though. Just a little like I mean >> it's a lot of weight from one >> It's a lot of weight from one other committee. select board technically doesn't have realm and responsibility
over school related things. It it it could be a little bit and that that board while hopefully is going to be a little bit better now after the the election, it still has its challenges. So, let's just be a little cautious about that answer. >> Yeah, >> I I'm not worried about in this instance
there only being four people voting. I I was going to say like I I I'm not sure this is >> I'm not sure I'm worried about that either. I just wanted to make sure we knew that >> at all. But yes. Yeah. So, you know what I'll propose then is
that we approve um we approve this five, you know, with the contingency that we may add a sixth if we're able to identify somebody before the group starts meeting. You know, somebody who fits that business leader um construct, we we'll add a six member, you know, if that person's identified before the group starts meeting. I did reach out to
the town clerk for your suggestion, Tom, earlier this week and I I hadn't heard back from her yet and got busy and didn't follow up. So, um I will I will try to track her down uh tomorrow. >> And is this an ad hoc um for these two specific uh >> yeah the >> facilities or is this meant to be a
permanent membership? >> No, it so it's interesting. Our policy sort of you know you could create it uh I shouldn't say that that's I I take that back. Um it's framed in the charge as being termlimited to um when they when they submit their final report
unless we either extend it or dissolve it. Okay. Um, so, um, got it. Okay. >> All right. So, that'll be our approach as far as a membership. As far as the charge goes, you know, I'm not going to read it to everyone. You know, this borrows from the language in the policy
itself. Um, you know, it sets out uh what they're supposed to do. It sets out the deliverables. You know, really this single the key deliverable is a written report. They call it a report, but it's probably more like a memo. You know, it's probably more like a onepage, you know, onepage memo. um that summarizes
the process they went through which again is dictated by our policy recaps the nominations considered describes uh sort of the rationale of the committee in in voting however they did and then and then you know sort of clarifies whatever recommendations they're making to us um
authority you know again is based on our policy membership based on our policy the term we just talked about and then you know guiding principles I think brought from our policy as well um one thing I'll say just in the interest of full disclosure and because we've had a you a few conversations about it tonight. I used chat GPT to draft this
charge. So, um, it did an excellent job. I just I literally said, "Provide me with a a sample charge for uh facilities naming advisory committee per policy FF of the Reading School Committee policy manual." And it went and found it and pulled the language out and it knew what
policy it knew what recommendations we were sending to it. I pulled those out of the language here, but it actually knew knew about it. It said it gave one piece of advice. It was like based on the committee's recent experience with you know Charlie Hardy like you know and had some it was it was impressive how it
was impressive how um how much you felt like you were talking to a human being honestly. So um I no I did I did modify it you know meaningfully you know throughout but um it was a really good first draft from chap GPT. So >> can I make one suggestion please in the
in section two? I'm going to blame it on chat GPT. Whatever. >> That's okay. I'm giving you I gave you that option or you you I'm I'm taking that option. So, um we specifically in the new policy, additionally a naming request may accompany an offer of a financial
contribution to the school district. We don't have to accept it because of the money, but the school committee encourages phil philanthropic contributions in support of the school district. The school committee may acknowledge generous donors by designating appropriate spaces with their school district's facilities. Yeah, >> I think it's important in the context of
this that that specifically be listed as a as a justification or reason to consider that considering what the naming is being asked for. >> Yeah, I I think that's fair and I I don't feel strongly one way or the other. The reason I didn't is just because there's that catchall at the end of any other criteria established by
policy FF. And I do think that that nomination though obviously you know it's it's being um you know it's accompanied by a donation there's a you know there's a case that there's a community connection and that that kind of thing as well. So that's why I chose not to sort of directly address it. Um
but I'm I'm happy to I'm happy to make that ad. I don't feel strongly about it. >> I think it just provides a I mean Jeffrey I mean you'll be on it so you know it but I think it just provides a little bit more direct >> Yeah. >> So nobody else has to dig around and say anything else. So >> yeah. So, I'll add a bullet I'll add a
bullet that summarizes what that clause um allows for as well. >> Thank you. >> Any other discussion on this? >> Okay. Um so, I'll make the motion to uh
approve the membership um as discussed and the um charge as amended for the facilities naming advisory committee. >> Second. Any final discussion? Right, we'll move to the vote. Uh Jeffrey,
>> yes. >> Sarah, >> yes. >> Aaron, >> yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> Laura, >> yes. >> And Sean, yes. >> Um, is that the penultimate item when we Okay, so last item is reorg. Um, I think I typically hand the gavl to Tom for
this to uh start with nominations for chair. It's an honor to preside over the election of the the chair for the writing school committee. So as the committee knows how the process works, we'll open it up for any nominations. Uh once there's no other nominations, we'll then close out nominations uh and then
move to a and have any you know any dialogue conversation and move to a vote. So once the as we know once the chair is elected then I'll turn this over to whoever's the chair will then lead the process for vice chair. So with that, like to open it up any nominations for chair.
>> Wow, we're really falling all over ourselves. >> I think Sean, I would ask you that you've done a fantastic job. I don't know if you're interested in continuing and you have a bandwid.
I would be happy to keep doing it and I and I I think I have the bandwidth as long as we don't have to hire another superintendent. I have I have the bandwidth. Um yeah, any other nominations? All right, I'll close nominations. Any discussion?
>> I'm surprised >> that I'm doing it again. >> Yeah, >> that's the discussion. >> Glutton for punishment. What can I say? >> The other discussion. >> Thank you for being a glutton for punishment. Great. I think we'll move to a roll call vote. >> Sarah,
>> yes. >> Jeffrey, >> yes. >> Aaron, >> yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> Lara, >> yes. >> And last but not least, Sean, >> yes. Sure. >> Look at that. You get it right back. >> All right. I felt I felt naked for a minute there.
>> Um, all right. So, I'll open up nominations for vice chair. >> Uh, I've I've already said I'm willing to do it. I don't like nominating the idea of nominating myself. >> I'll nominate Laura. >> I'm willing to do it if uh if it is as I can nominate.
>> Any other nominations? I think several of you are going to have your hands full for the next few months. So, um All right. Um if there are no further nominations, I will close the nominations and we'll move uh any actually any further discussion before we move to the vote.
>> All right, we'll move to the roll call vote. Jeffrey. Yes. >> Sarah. >> Yes. >> Aaron. >> Yes. >> Tom. >> Yes. >> I'll let you go last. Sean. Yes. And Laura. >> Yes. >> All right. We have our We have our new old chair and vice chair.
>> Um, is there a final motion? >> Motion. >> I'm going to give it to our >> increase the air conditioning. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. It's amazing how much 200 people >> working in the auditorium at Parker. It was an oven in there. >> All right. So, I'm gonna I'm gonna give the motion to adjurnn to uh Laura and
Erin. Would you would you second? >> Sure. >> Aaron will second. Great. >> Uh let's move to the roll call. Jeffrey, >> yes. >> Sarah, >> yes. >> Aaron, >> yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> Laura, >> yes. >> Sean, yes. We're adjourned. Thank you, everyone.