--------- Good race. >> Good evening. Calling to order the reve school committee meeting of the whole committee of the whole November 18th, 2025. All rise and salute pledge allegiance to the flag, United States to the republic for which it stands, one
nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Look like everyone's in attendance. We have a I guess I'll also call out we have a few of our >> roll call >> school committee elect members here as well. We want to do a roll call, please.
>> We have to. >> Yes. Roll call. We have >> Miss Milis >> present. >> Miss Rizzo >> here. >> Mr. Kingston >> here. >> Mr. Smell present. Mr. Kajiano >> here. >> Miss Montto Roso >> present. and myself, Patrick Keefe. We
also have assistant superintendent Dr. Garcia, superintendent Kelly and Matt Cruz. Also, we have uh school committee elect Steven Daviano here. >> Congratulations.
>> And I believe that's it for future members. Okay, we start with the consent calendar. Mr. Casey, please Mr. Cruz. Um, on page one, numbers 29 29 through, sorry, 29
35 talent recruitment program. >> Dr. Garcia, you want to walk through that? >> It was just a new one to me. >> Yep. He he could probably >> I'll just I'll just highlight also, John, it goes on to the next page. It includes lines um 32 through 35, right?
35 >> and um those uh that's the for the teachers. The RVP is the consulting firm that we work with um to bring our international teachers. >> Okay. >> Uh and so each of those line items is for each one of those international
teachers that we work with. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> You're welcome. And to clarify, this um is part of that teacher diversification grant we received. >> Yes. >> Uh one of the ones I wanted to talk about, I know you can't go into it. Do we have
any pending grievance of litigation? Because I know this uh we have uh I know we talked about an executive session, but do we have something ongoing? We have several issues that are ongoing. Yeah, >> we can talk about that. Okay. I just
want to make sure. And uh how about Commonwealth Clinical Res? >> What line is that? >> Uh page three of 26 86 87 88 89 90 91 says nurses services. Just clarificate.
>> So I'm going to assume that those are nursing services that we're required to provide for outplay students who have that in their IEP. So some of the kids with more severe special needs require a certified nurse to be on their transport when they're going to and from school.
>> So we hire outside agencies to fill that role. uh those kinds of expenses are part of the circuit breaker that we get partial reimbursement from the state after the fact for those they would they would be the kinds of um students whose
educational needs require such extraordinary cost that the state reimburses us partially for them through the circuit break program. >> And one more on page four number 120 the home for little in a school counseling service. Can you clarify?
>> Yes. So we have a partnership with the home for little wanderers where um they come in and provide services to some of the students who are students in rever um but are also under the care of the home for little wanderers um through
their counseling services and um it was actually the city council who helped us with this for a number of years. Um, we had grants that covered that partnership and the Home for Little Wanderers had grants that covered that partnership and then those grants went away and um, the
city council, I think it was councelor Sylvestri actually, who made the original the initial motion um, and he arranged for the city and the city council thankfully to pay that cost so we could continue the program. Um, and
they did that for a couple of years and now I believe we're budgeting for it, >> right? I think it's the third year that we have it in our side. >> But when you say but when we say in school counsel, what kind of counsel are you giving to the the students? I mean,
>> uh, it's social emotional counseling. So, it's for kids that might have some um behavior or um psychological issues. ju just because I I I remember when council Sylvestri uh when I first got on
this was there was some gap in funding basically um a lot of the needs uh tend to be where these these children don't have the health care services through uh individual healthcare plans to cover them. So, this is going to provide that
gap in funding um where they can't get it through traditional, you know, um Medicare or Medicaid or even their own private health insurance companies. So, this was something that was there was a little bit of, you know, obviously since the 2020 year, there was more of these social emotional issues just happened.
There was definitely a need. And I think it's one of those programs where as long as as long as they're providing a service, it's it's money well spent. If we're seeing a decline in need, then then that's probably a decision we can make at some point. You know, whether it's in the next couple years, if
there's no need, there's no need for service. >> And they're wonderful, wonderful counselors that we get to work with. So, >> they help us in other areas, even with a couple of kids that are not on their case load. They can help us get kids uh signed up with the home for little wanderers when we identify a student who's not receiving services, but they
need services in the home. And um >> Okay. Thank you Diane on um nine of 26 page nine on impair of food service equipment. I thought that was
the responsibility of the contract. >> Uh no so the the contractor is the it's the FSMC services management company. So they're managing the program, but all of the equipment
um every fork and knife and napkin really the food too is ours and they're helping us to execute the programming. So we purchase the equipment, that's the the capital reporting we do and the depreciation schedule that we keep and
then we do repairs of the freestanding equipment through um a state contract company. So, as things break down, uh Carl oversees the repair of those and we have a budget that we appropriate for
those needs. If it exceeds that, we can use food services management involving account money. Um, but most years we're we're with we're within that budget. At one time were when the contracts went out were the food services responsible for the equipment?
>> Uh no there have been contracts executed in the past where as a part of the award they make a pledge to invest a certain amount of money in new equipment but that would be beyond the normal recurring management of the program itself.
>> Thank you. Anyone else on boards? No. U so just as an example of why that's something that we mentioned to you and why it's such an unknown. We uh just had our most recent play placement and this
placement was for $576,000 for a student. So that's spiking that deficit more than it had been the last time that we talked. We'll still manage that with all the other tuitions that
you know money that we have. But just wanted to not only make sure that you're aware, but this is why it's something that we would bring up in conversation at these committee meetings because that is the kind of account that could have surges in in cost depending on
unexpected outplacements. Matt, could you repeat that amount? >> 576,000. And there's a in this case, for example, just so you're aware, there's a base fee for the, you know, residential program.
So, 365 days of care, but this student also requires immediate attention for many of the hours that that he's awake. So, there's the cost of an aid servicing as well. So if you looked at the
purchase order contract, you would see two lines, but this is an account that you know we were saying two years ago. If you go to the to the data, you see that our total cost for residential tuitions for the year was around 330 and
then last year was a little bit over a million and now this year it's creeping up toward two million of month funds encumbered at this point. So, it's just the kind of thing we want you to to be aware of and you can feel those dollar amounts can swing financial
conversations as they come. >> And do we recoup any of any of these funds? >> So, this this tuition >> and the onetoone aid would be a part of our circuit breaker claim.
So we would claim that for this year, it would go into the calculus in July for next year. So we won't be seeing the reimbursement for this until the next calendar year. So we're chasing.
So god forbid, but if we had five of these kind of things happen, then it's a struggle this year and then next year we'll say, "Wow, look how big our circum reimbursement is." because it's an echo effect, >> right? >> But that money next year is not helping
us cash flow-wise for this, right? >> So, and can you just >> for everyone's edification percentage of reimbursement on circuit breaker? >> Um, so it's at was it 78 this year? >> It is, but so that requires a vote of the legislature every year and we can't
predict what it's going to be. It's been as low as 60%. some >> so you you you probably hear a lot of people saying they need to fully fund the circuit breaker >> and that's why they don't they don't always fully fund it. >> Same goes for transportation.
>> Well, exactly. >> For those students and often their priority is the tuition costs and then they're working with what's remaining to allocate for the for the others. So it's uh just the kind of thing that we would want the committee to be aware. These
are the conversations that we have and this is the budget analytics that you're doing on a monthly basis to to kind of feel your way forward. This is unusual in in that direction and the circuit breaker reimbursement for it won't be felt until the next fiscal year.
>> Thank you. um enrollment update. >> Um so you all have the current enrollments in front of you. As we've been talking about um over the last several months, we are seeing defined enrollment. Um for the first time in a
long time, we're down below 7,000. We're at 6911. Uh typically each year we would see an influx in enrollment in January. We don't anticipate that we will see that this year. that was typically from students who were moving in from other
countries and we don't anticipate that we'll see that this year. So, um we are in anticipating the negative impact that'll have on the budget. Uh but we'll know better in January when the state comes out with the numbers. I know there are a lot of people aware of this at the
state level right now. Um, a lot of the urban districts are dealing with this and I know they're thinking at the state level about how they might um, kind of feather out the impact of this over a couple of years rather than have it be a strong hit in one year. But I'll keep you updated if I hear anything from the
state on that. >> Thank you. Any questions on the road? >> On the bright side, our class sizes look great. and saty. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um personal items. We have new hires
>> and times or resignations. >> And again, that was uh provided. There's a a sheet there if anybody has any questions. >> Questions. All right. Gifts. gifts and donations. >> Yes. So again, as we are always um pretty relentless going after the grants
and there are a number of them. Um Robin provided for you um a lot of information in your packets there. Um but the um Murray Bernstein Charitable Trust gave us $25,000 to the fine arts department and um
Director Williams gave you a little letter explaining uh what that was all about. Um we've also got two grants from Desi. The first was for promoting safe and healthy learning environments. Um $100,000 uh for our teen mental health and first
aid health and wellness in the health and wellness department. And the second one um another $60,000 um in a in a similar area for the health and wellness department as well. Uh and then uh department department of public
health strive grant successful teens relationships identity and values education uh for $80,000. So um we're pretty excited about all of that work and um Jill has done an amazing job submitting for those grants and and
getting them for us. So, we're thankful for that. >> We'll send a letter. >> Yes. Thank you. Letters. Yep. >> Miss Monto, >> these are great to see. I also was wondering if our district is planning to apply to Desty's early literacy tutoring
grant that's due on the 26th. >> So, we already have the early literacy tutoring grant from Jesse and we are continuing with them. So, we are doing the um that's how we're doing the individualized tutoring online with the kids. We've had uh presentations I think last year we had one Rihanna Supus um
coordinates all of that work. >> Um >> so we don't have to reapply. >> We don't. We have that grant. >> Great. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> Okay. School field trips.
>> Uh just one new field trip for you and this is from our outdoors club. Um Miss Goldman and uh Mr. geese are do a great job taking the kids out and they're planning one for February that will be an overnight uh out of state up in the up in the White Mountains of New
Hampshire. Um and the information is on the sheet that they provided. I don't know if there's any questions for that. >> No, sounds wonderful. >> I want to go. >> Right. They need a chaperon. >> It's cool. I like >> I like it.
>> Any of the southern ones? >> Yeah, it's funny. I'll I'll just mention while we're talking about field trips, there was a media request put to the school department that somebody had um it was from WBZ saying that they had a tip that all field trips in the city of Riviera were cancelled. I don't know
where that came from, but I assure them that that wasn't true. And I mean, this is you you all know because you approved the the outofstate and overnight field trips, but of course there's many other field trips that happen. Um, if you got a chance to review the packet for the regular meeting, you'll see that our student representative focuses heavily
on a lot of the field trips the kids went on, but I don't I don't know where the misinformation is coming from, but there seems to be a lot of it out there in the media these days. >> I got a personal request asking about that and I just say, you know, my my response was, you know, I don't recall
us saying that no, we we we don't allow field trips. Matter of fact, we we have a pretty robust schedule of field trips as mentioned. Um, but we do plan, we have to plan them. So, we do just because someone says, "I want to go on a field trip next week," that doesn't mean we can do it because we, you know, as you know, >> the old days of, you know, a field trip
walking down the street to another building isn't really probably as much of to do. But when you, you know, when you go from the old days of a bus was $300, $400 a day, and I remember this planning poper events to now it's 12 to $600, you can't, we have to, we have to
go through procurement. We have to go through all these processes to get to find that that dollar amount and plan it accordingly. So that it should be well planned and thought. It shouldn't just be, you know, last minute suggestions. Everyone wants to take the kids and explore and see the see the best things,
but you know, I I can't see why we wouldn't have a field trip plan months out. Like you should plan out your entire year, I think, >> with the exception of some extenduating circumstances. And one of the things that we did ask principles to do it particularly at the elementary level uh we we are in a tight budget time and
like you said the transportation is just it's unwieldy these days. Um but we did ask them to talk to their PTAs and see if they were able to help support some of the field trips and to meet with their instructional leadership teams at the building level and plan in advance
exactly like you're saying Mr. Mayor. This is what we're going to do with the first grade, the second grade, the third grade. And we did suggest that there might be opportunities to bring people into the school and have a locally based field trip experience. Um to think about that as as ways to save money. We talked
about, you know, the fire department has been wonderful to us and the schools that are near the um central fire station on Broadway um have have sometimes the schools the kids have walked down there and had a walking field trip and you know we need to think beyond just hire a bus and go to the zoo
and that's that's kind of what we're trying to work with everybody on um making sure but I I don't want there to be any misunderstanding that there will be no field trips in the city of Rivier this year. just patently false. >> And in the Hill School, I think um they walk over the third grade class almost
each year to do a tour of city hall and with us and we have a wonderful day. It's very educational for them. So those are ways to tap into what you have in your community. >> Yeah. And back in the day when I was young and we did field trips PTA, we had like a planetarium come in for the kids
and stuff. They and they really enjoyed it. >> They even have great things we can do. Me too. Me too. >> That one good. You're out of here. >> All right. Um, any other business
communications? >> Second. >> All in favor? High and toes. Part: 2
Good evening. Call to order the rea school committee meeting of November 18th, 2025. We'll all salute uh raise and salute the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation
under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Dr. Garcia, would you call the role? >> Mrs. Stacy Rizo >> here. >> Miss Anthony an Anthony Kajiano >> here. Mr. John Kingston
>> here. >> Mrs. Aisha Milbury Ellis >> present. >> Miss Jacqueline Monttosuo >> present. >> Mr. Frederick Sala >> present. Mayor Patrick E. >> Here we have a quorum.
Okay. First up, uh we have recognition. >> No, no recognition today. We're not going to recognize anyone. Okay. Uh actually, well, I will take the moment to uh congratulate. We have a new uh school committee member elect in the room tonight, Mr. Steven Damiano.
[applause] He will he will be representing uh with the ward four school committee. Uh we also want to congratulate school committee woman elect Vanessa Bayella representing ward six. She's not here today but congrat congratulate her as well. There will be two new two new
members serving on the council as well as Alex Ramali representing Ward 2 uh who is was also elected on November 4th. Uh thank you for everyone that got out there and voted. um and offer my my
congratulations to Fred Sinella for for serving his time in the city school committee for many many years and continuing to be part and I'm sure you'll continue to be part of our school committee uh in years to come. Thank you for your contributions Fred. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay. Uh the consent
calendar. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Roll call. Mrs. Stacy Rizo, >> yes. >> Mr. Anthony Kajiano, >> yes. >> Mr. John Kingston, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Aisha Milbury Ellis, >> yes. >> Mrs. Jacqueline Monttou, >> yes. >> Mr. Frederick Sala, >> yes. >> Mayor Patrick, >> yes. >> Okay, we have the student representative
report. Julia Good evening everyone. >> Okay. Um I have the student rep report and tonight's a special night because we have our newly elected advisory board. So I moved up as senior representative
after being the junior rep last year and our newly elected junior representative is Zoha Hassan. And we have our other board [applause] member, Nicolas Pedrosa, Adrien Supellano,
[applause] and Adah Luati who couldn't join us tonight. [applause] Um, as always, we are in accordance with the Massachusetts General Law where our school committee um advisory board is made up of five members elected by the student body.
So, quarter 1 report card grades went out last week which were extremely important for seniors because it impacts early action admission decisions. And then we had our financial aid for students and caregivers. This was an incredible opportunity where we had
presentations from Mecca and Northshore Community College. It was an example of how RHS continues their ongoing commitment for preparing students for post-secary success and strengthening our connections with our school families and community partners. Next, we had a Bunker Hill Community
College compelling conversations event. A group of 13 students were able to visit Bunker Hill Community College for an event with Alli Risman, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and team captain of the US Olympic women's team in 2012 and 2016. They were able to have a meet
and greet with Alli before they asked questions and took pictures. Next, we had the New England Labors Union Training Facility and Hopkin Hop Hold on Hopkin. Thank you. Um, a group of students were able to tour the New
England Labors Union training facility. Um, it's really a state-of-the-art facility. They were able to learn about different work opportunities within the labors union, and they were able to enjoy lunch in the dining hall. We [snorts] would like to especially thank everyone who helped make this opportunity possible for students.
For our sports roundup, our Patriot field hockey team had a tough ending, but an overall great season as they qualified for the state tournament and won the GBL championship for the second time in our school's history. River boys soccer ended off successfully, making it to the second round of states and
finishing second in the GPL. And the River girls cheerleading finished their decade long winning streak as GBL champions and they're going on to states. For a club report, speech and debate competed at Sharon High School for the novice tournament. a [snorts] tournament meant for students new to speech and
debate. All grade levels of student council have sold their pep rally t-shirts and students are almost ready ready for the pep rally next week. One of their favorite parts is pie in the face and we can't wait to meet this year's participants. Modum participated in the fall craft
fair hosted by the Lincoln School PTA, a night filled with fun and it was a great fundraiser for our club. Next, there was a trip to Boston Public Gardens with students for an outdoor painting day. It was an incredible opportunity where students were able to observe real life landscapes, experiment
with natural light, and draw inspiration from the environment around them. The hands-on experience encouraged creativity, reflection, and a deeper connection between art, nature, and the community. Thank you to all the staff members and students for making this a successful trip. That's what I have for the student rep report. Thank you.
>> Thank you. [applause] Okay, this point in time we have public speak. We have anyone in the audience to sign up for public speak? No, Robin. Okay. And anyone online that wishes to speak? >> Okay, seeing hearing none.
>> Motion to close public speak. >> We have a second. >> Second. >> All in favor? I. So ordered. Okay. Superintendent's report. Okay. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have um two reports. As you know, as the committee
knows, uh we like to do two or three reports from different schools or departments each month to keep both the school committee and the community up to date on what what's going on uh across the district. And so tonight we're going to hear from the Rumy Marsh Academy and
then from City Lab High School uh both who are going to present on some of the work that they've been doing and the work that they hope to do. Um we're going to start with the Rumy Marsh Academy and I have to give a shout out to the principal Dr. Bob who [applause]
achieved her doctorate just a couple weeks ago. Congratulations Heather. Uh and I'll welcome you up to introduce your team and your presentation. >> Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. >> Good evening.
Um, thank you once again, Mr. Mayor, school committee, Dr. Kelly, for having us. I'm always proud to brag about the work that we're doing and I brought a team with me today. We're going to be talking about >> the microphone.
>> [cough] >> Yep. >> Thank you, Dr. Garcia. >> Um, what you missed was me thanking the mayor and the school committee and Dr. Kelly um for giving me the opportunity to brag about uh our students, which is my favorite thing to do. And tonight,
we're going to be talking about deeper learning and equity and the journey that we've been on as a school. And so um our presentation is really a systems approach using solid systems and keeping up with them in order to improve student
experience. So I have a number of students with me um who are part of our eighth grade restorative justice class. They are our restorative justice ambassadors. Their teacher is here supporting them. Miss Gil Martin and also Kelly Flynn, our um middle school
ESL coach to talk about some of the work we've been doing in getting students to do uh the thinking and the speaking in class. So um the next slide, our focus has been on the power of presence mostly
as we unrolled this last year. It was about getting kids to school regularly on time and every day. But as we continue to focus and reflect on the power of presence, it goes beyond showing up. We are doing a tremendous
job of getting kids to school. But taking that further and thinking about what it really means to be present. As you are aware, we were deemed in targeted assistance based on our DESIE accountability last year. It's a two-year designation. Um, and so we
created an attendance team last year to really look at getting kids to school. We've tightened up systems in the classroom to um provide regular observations and feedback not only on what we're seeing in classrooms, but looking at teachers lesson plans and
providing feedback and together with our DESIE partners in great schools partnership last year as a school, we decided to focus on three areas. One was providing grade level rigorous work. The second was on teachers co-creating and
sharing the purpose of an activity each day. And the third was who's doing the work here in the classroom. Is it mostly the teacher or is it the students? We want to shift that load to students. So those were the three focus areas that we embarked on last year. We're continuing
them this year with a really amplified look at improving and increasing academic discourse, which is students talking through the content to each other using academic language. Um, so that's part of that third students doing
the thinking. That's our real laser focus this year. Um, and of course being inclusive, ensuring that all students in an equitable way are being heard in the classroom. Um the next slide takes a look at our continued attendance initiatives which [clears throat] is led
by our coordinator of operations data and assessment. Um and then supported by what we call our wraparound team which is administrators, school adjustment counselors, the guidance counselor and the family liaison. So, we have hosted and will continue to host family
engagement events, not just meetings, but celebrations of culture, of student work, and at our parent coffees, opening them up um having an agenda, but opening them up for families to give us feedback on what they would like to see happen at
school. We have co-created success plans with counselors, nurses, social workers. These are individualized datadriven meetings. Again, our coordinator of operations, data, and assessment hosts those meetings. Our teachers are sending personalized parent square messages when
students are not at school, um, letting them know that we miss them and we notice when they're not with us. Um, and so the result of that work and that continued work is that we exceeded our chronic absenteeism targets for every single student subgroup. So we went from
zero out of four points the prior year to four out of four points last year. So this is the work that is continuing with our coordinator this year. Um just some itemized um data related to those attendance and
academic gain. So you can see at the top for chronic absenteeism, it's mirroring uh what I just said, which is that for all students, we went from a 25% um chronic absenteeism rate in 2024 to a 12.8%
in 2025. So we um cut that in half or did better by double I guess is a more positive way to say that. And then taking a specific look at high need students um we did even better than that and we were able to reduce chronic
absenteeism for that subgroup by 14.2%. And then looking at our MCCAST scores um we were able to improve by 3.5 average score points in ELA. And then in science, our high needs students
increased by 7.2 points overall um over the course of one year knowing I I guess for less than a year because this work you get designated you get that in November. We forged a plan with Dr. Kelly and Dr. Moaba um also
took a big role in coming to the school and meeting with our um DESIE partners and our teachers who have been nothing short of remarkable. our team has really stepped up to the plate with any ask, any new initiative. They've been amazing to work with. Um, so speaking of amazing
people to work with, I'm going to turn it over to Kelly Flynn who's going to take us through the next um slide, which speaks to our gains in civics. Thank you. >> Hi. So, um, as you can see, this data shows how well our language learners did
on the eighth grade civics test. Um and I there's a few things that go into that. I think one all of the work we've done with um lesson plan feedback, observation feedback, but additionally Heather has um set a course on making sure students are doing the thinking in
the classroom and in turn that means students are doing the talking in the classroom. So I went into dis uh grade level PGTs or content PGTs and met with teachers and did PGTs on student discourse and how to get students talking in the class. And you can see
that as the students are in these classes they are learning to talk more and when students are doing the talking they are doing the learning. Additionally most of the students at Rumy Marsh are receiving ESL services in a social studies class. So you can see that that co-eing model is working there.
>> Thank you. Don't go too far. Um, so just pointing out in case you can't see the graphic, our um, multilingual learners actually bested the state in civics in that same subgroup in this past year. I warned
you, I was going to brag. Um, the following slide highlights um, one of the features that we have as a district right now and as a school is something called who knew it. It's part of our student information system and each and every day we can take a look at how we
are doing um toward attendance as compared to 30 the last 30 days the year to date and then uh compared to last year and you can see I pulled this report last Thursday um even though we had such great gains last
year we're actually doing even better than that by not only sustaining the systems that we created but through our coordinator of operations really um refining those systems and making sure that we're meeting with families early and often. We are actually ahead of
being where we were ahead last year. The following slide demonstrates um some of our the way that we have crafted a culture of um excellence and celebration and really a place where students feel
comfortable being at school and want to come to school. This was an awards ceremony that celebrated MCCAST growth achievement and many many many of those faces actually have perfect attendance so far this year. We did that two weeks ago. So a lot of those certificates are
for perfect attendance which includes zero tardies to any class or to school. And actually one of the students that you're going to hear from is one of those perfect attendance people if you see her celebrating. Um, so when I speak
of a systems approach, this is just sort of a recap of of a lot of what I have said and what Dr. Maba touched upon in our MCCAST data um, last month. School-based administrators, coaches, and uh, peers are actually teacher peers
are providing observations and feedback on lessons. So, as a coaching and administrator team, we've logged over 300 classroom observations so far this year already. Um, and teachers are are and students, and maybe they can speak
to this if you ask them, are used to having many, many adults come through classrooms throughout the week, and it's become a normal part of our culture and a welcome one, which is a nice side effect. Uh, our teachers submit lesson plans in our Google classroom online
every Friday. And again, our amazing instructional coach team helps us out as administrators um by working together to provide feedback to every single teacher that provides lessons each week. And then we have protocols when teachers
meet for PGT. We use a common language and we have high expectations for ourselves and our students. And so we do our best to use that time very productively and to look at student work and come up with ways to make instruction better. And again um grade
level rigorous materials the purpose and students doing the thinking as our folky and I think students um and teachers if you were to ask them and pull them what our focus is this year they should all be able to tell you we are working on academic discourse as a lever for equity
and for deeper learning because that's one of the very many ways that we know how students are growing and if they're learning by asking them. It seems simple but uh it's true. And so with that, uh, we are going to ask them, I'm going to invite our restorative justice 301
ambassadors to come up and introduce themselves and talk a little bit about their work, what they do, and how it all connects to this deeper learning journey that we're on. So you can come on up. I believe we're starting with no home. Hello, I am Noon Gessa. As you heard,
I'm a restorative justice ambassador. And restorative justice isn't just about talking with others. It's also about building a connection among your community and not only students, but with teachers as well. And it really helps a lot. Uh my name is Jac Mata and uh in
restorative justice we do a lot of like relationship building and bonding and it helps me in uh classes and it helps me to um like in group work and stuff. It's um it allows me to see other students
perspectives more and it allows me to see how they think of certain topics and and in the future it allows me to see other students perspectives and from seeing some students perspectives.
um allowing to see other students perspectives is way easier and it allows me to build up my um my skills and helps me to do work more efficiently and productively. >> Hi, my name is Kayla Men. Uh yes, I'm
R.J. Ambassador. Uh when when we're in restorative justice, we're able to be able to communicate with others more productively and better. Um, we we're able to read things like body language and like eye contact
to see if our like classmates and peers are feeling comfortable or tense or things like that. And with that, we're able to adjust our like personality or approach to the situation that we're given and it helps us just, you know, be
better at working together. Um, so we all make mistakes and like in restorative justice I've learned to always like have an open mindset and always like be optimistic cuz we're not always right but we learn to grow from
our mistakes when we're always wrong like wrong. Like I try to take it as a learning opportunity because there's always times when I'm wrong but like I try to build off of that and become like a better person and more informed from that. And I always try to be optimistic
cuz sometimes things are bad, but I always try to be happy and like think of all the positives. Well, my name my name's Rana and overall using our RJ skills we learn to like
have a approach of confidence and using like [snorts] yeah our approach of that and over time it helps us grow comfortably to talk in classes and engage in different conversations and you know it helps us you know share
our ideas you know express our opinions and overall spread our thoughts without feeling like judgment throughout our class. It helps us just seek more [snorts] like academic growth but more social growth
to yourself and to your peers in your class. >> Excellent. [applause] >> All right. So those students um who we love dearly and we're very proud of act as models when we're uh conducting group work and having this academic discourse. We have one more
slide which is kind of the summary and then if you had questions for the students after we can do that. I'm going to turn it over to Kelly um to to bring it home. >> Thank you. Um, so all of the work that we've done at at Rumy Marsh Academy has involved different systems, student
voice, attendance effort, and making sure that all students are recognized as a part of the Rumy Marsh community. Um, we are providing feedback to teachers to make stronger lessons, which is again impacting every student in the building, not just a certain set. Um, we are offering academic discourse
opportunities through continued professional development for teachers on including more and more rigorous and more frequent opportunities for student discourse. Um, there's family meetings and success success plans to help students and all of that together is going to increase the inclusion of all
students, increase our MCCAST scores, and incre increase our attendance scores. Um, the graphic on the bottom is something that we've been looking at in our weekly RMA coach meetings. Um, and we've talked a lot about how we want to support the educators in the building.
And you'll notice the green box up in the top right corner is where we really want to be for maximum growth. We're giving teachers a lot of challenge and students a lot of challenges, but at the same time, we're supporting them to reach further and further. Um, we're trying to avoid um getting teachers
disengaged or retreating or stagnating where they are. We want to continue their growth and help them succeed and help our students succeed. Thank you, Miss Flynn. That concludes our presentation. Thank you so much for your attention. >> Miss Montrosa.
>> Thank you. Well, first for any proud parents, our uh meetings are on YouTube. So, you can go to River School Committee. You can see the whole video of your students presenting if you want to keep that. But I think it's amazing to see the attendance changes that we're seeing the MCCAST scores like your team
is putting in the work and we're seeing those results and we know there's there's a lot of attention and focus rightly so in RMA but to see that growth is amazing. So I want to acknowledge the work that you and your team are putting into that Dr. Bomb. And then I for the next time that you all come I would like
to hear a little bit more on what specific uh educator retention practices are looking like. We know there's a lot of turnover at RMA specifically. So just learning more about what those trends may be looking like, seeing if these changes are also helping our teachers come back. And then for the students, I
know you all sat down, but I had one question for you. I just wanted to see ask if you all think have you seen a change in how your teachers and all the staff are supporting you from like last year to this year through the all the events, the supporting you to come to school every day? Like, do you feel like
there's a change in that environment from the adults in the building? You're just going to cut it. Come for the cameras. >> Someone's a leader. >> Yes, perfect attendance. Um,
personally, I think I've seen a change for the teachers for like attendance wanting to be more punct. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think I've seen more of a change from like seventh grade to
up to now. I think they've trying to do more for the school, for the students, not just for themselves or for the looks. I think they personally really do want to change. And I've seen like different slideshows, different like talks to the students, posters, our power of present slideshows. And I think
really they're just like building on to like each other and trying to support like the concept of attendance and all these problems, you know. >> Thank you, Dr. I get a couple. >> Thank you for your presentation. Sure. sees everything is going to the right
direction. But I wanted to ask you about the chronic absenteeism. It said in 2024 we had 25%. >> Yes. >> That many kids were out. >> Okay. And how about >> So can I just clarify one thing? So um students are defined to be chronically
absent if they've missed 10% of the school year. So for us it's about 18 days. And so what that data was showing and it's not just at the Romney Marsh across the district even worse at the high school. Uh when COVID happened we saw a huge uptick in the number of kids
who were chronically absent which meant they met missed more than 18 days of school. Um and so that's the work that the Ramy Marsh has done. They brought their percentage down from uh 24% I think so far this 12. >> Yeah 12. >> Right now we're at 7%.
>> Right. And of course it's early in the year, >> right? >> Um but one of the things that's great about um the who knew it program that we have in our student information system is it tells us which kids are chronically absent, but it also projects which kids are trending toward being
chronically absent before the end of the year. And that's some of the data that our coders are using to get ahead of it and meet with those families and talk to those parents about making sure habits change so that the kids don't end up being chronically absent. uh when we get to the end of the year.
>> And the other question I want to ask is parents participation. Has that been getting better? >> I have to say our community is is amazing. We right now, for example, we have a food drive going on um to just help out our community and we've we have
hundreds of items that families have contributed. We we have parents showing up for our coffees, for our events. I think having parent square which is the communication platform um has been a real gamecher over the past two years as well at having that as a district it
allows our teachers to communicate in real time and it translates so we have a really high percentage of two-way communication with our families um being bilingual myself is really helpful I think as well because people feel comfortable to come in if they're
Spanish speaking um and just have the conversation we do as an administration team particularly our coordinator again who is catching these uh trending chronic students early and educating families about well this is what we've done before this is what we how we used
to plan trips um she's done a wonderful job of educating people around what the policies are I think there was this misconception that there there is no policy or it doesn't really matter but we are making sure that everybody understands it does matter there is a
policy we do follow it um we're kind of known as forcing it at the RMA from a kid perspective, but I I wear that as a very proud badge. Um because they can, you know, that's why I thought it was important for student perspective to be here because they feel the success and
then they come to school because it feels great to do well. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. [clears throat] >> Thank you, Dr. Bob. >> Want a picture with >> Would you like one? You >> guys want to come up for a photo with the school?
>> Come on up. Right up here. Right up front. [cough] You guys good? >> Very nice. Very nice. >> That's okay. That's okay. I want I just want the kids to have it. >> I don't have Thank you for coming. Very nice.
>> So your fullness rest you all. [laughter] >> We'll see where you're at at the end of the year. >> What are you going to give them if they maintain their attendance for the whole rest of the year? >> Is this the whole Is this the whole group? >> Lunch with the mayor. >> Group lunch with the mayor. But I want
to see good attendance people like like >> what's for lunch? >> What's for lunch? [laughter] >> They'll pick higher. It's gonna be very high. >> I think I want a median steak. [laughter] >> Hold me accountable to it. >> I will. I will. >> Mayor's office lunch with these five. >> You can come too.
>> Oh, thank you. >> Thanks guys. >> Now, now she has to be full attendant the rest of the How are you? >> Uh the next item on the superintendent report is a presentation from Dr. Mulligan at uh City Lab High School and
uh she's got a unique proposal that she's going to put before the school committee. So I am um good evening school committee members, Dr. Kelly, Dr. Garcia. Uh thank you for having me this evening. Um, I will be presenting some really positive
and exciting updates about our first senior class to come through City Lab and a new proposal for you to review. So, it's been four years since we created City Lab. In that time, we have focused on redesigning the student experience and making it an engaging,
real world, applicable, and innovative. I'm just doing my glasses. I don't know what I'm even doing right now. Put it on for a second. Sorry. Um, at this time I'd like to present a new project to the school committee extending this level of innovation to the educators of River Public Schools
and neighboring districts. Um, I approached Dr. Kelly last spring about how I could support all teachers at the secondary level in a meaningful way. This was on the heels of the contract negoti negotiations ending and from the feedback I was hearing.
Teachers felt unsupported and were weren't able to do instruction in a way that would have a positive impact on the student experience. Whether that was from student safety concerns, schedules or lack of resources. I am proposing that City Lab become an instructional hub for our district and
other districts seeking to learn and collaborate around innovative secondary instructional practices. We are looking to provide a space for educators to observe professional practice and share effective strategies that drives instructional growth and
creates intentional leadership pathways for educators. This would be a non-evaluative space. I can't make that clear enough. It's about people coming together to become better better educators. We want teachers to take professional and academic risks to
improve their teaching craft without the fear of evaluation. This is not new to Rever. It is something that needs to be revisited, revised, and innovated. In my conversations with veteran teachers and even this morning with veteran administrators, teachers have always had a strong leadership role in this
district. So, why this model? Just as students learn best through collaboration and peer modeling, teachers thrive when they have opportunities to observe and learn from one another. Adult learning mirrors student learning and seeing effective practice and action as one of the most
powerful catalyst for improvement. We propose positioning our school as a showcase for profess professional practice creating opportunities for meaningful peer modeling both within our district and for visitors from other districts and states. What we are proposing is a spin on what
we have already done in River and bringing life back to it by pulling inspiration for how others have approached this level of educator leadership within their schools and districts. Boston Arts Academy, Boston Day and Evening Academy, the Mass Learning Project, and other institutions
in the state have explored higher levels of teacher collaboration with cross district PLC's, teacher leadership networks, and school-based teacher centers. We want to push this design even further by offering a year-long space for educators to come and see that
school that doing school differently is possible. We have some really great educators at City Lab. But this is not just for my teachers. There are other teachers at the secondary at the secondary level that are just as great if not stronger within the district that
could do a teacher residency with us and have educators observe their practice and craft. This directly aligns with this year's district improvement plans on instructional goals to build teacher capacity while expanding opportunities for educator leadership. So why in River?
At the secondary level, we're losing teachers at an alarming rate. Not just in the city of River, this is statewide. This is nationwide. It has become clear that our students need a different approach to learning. Teachers need a safe space where they can take risk and experiment with new strategies without the fear of evaluation. This
instructional lab can provide a collaborative environment where secondary educators can come together and learn from one another to refine their practice. This past November 4th, we had an indistrict PD where the feedback was overwhelming that teachers appreciate and value seeing their colleagues work
in real time. Over the past two years, I have presented how we do school at City Lab, experiential learning, instructional practices, external learning opportunities, steam pathways, access to early college. Across our district, we have implemented a range of instructional approaches to support and
improve the student experience, project lead the way, high-tech high, project-based learning, competence based learning, and MTSS tiered instruction. This is a chance for some of our strongest educators to showcase this work and share the strategies they have used to make it successful.
Thanks to Dr. Kelly's leadership, we're preparing to open a brand new state-of-the-art high school that will be one of the most massive and significant construction projects in our state. It is essential that our instructional practices rise across the district at the secondary level to match the potential of this new space for our
students. So, why us at City Lab? Since our redesign process, we have seen measurable improvements. More students are enrolling to the tune of a weight list. Daily attendance has increased. It's tripled. Teacher efficacy has grown
and student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Additionally, our work has drawn attention from educators beyond our district. Visitors from states including New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Kentucky have come to see firsthand how we do school. As a small school, we have the
space and flexibility to support this work. Over the past four years, through our participation in many communities of practice, we have developed strong partnerships with district already engaged in similar models. Additionally, we are entering our fourth cycle of bar grant funding and our partners at bar
have expressed interest in supporting our district in this work. They have already invested $750,000 in our redesign process. They are committed to city lab and have a greater commitment to seeing our innovative practice expand throughout the district. The change cycle according to
supervision and evaluation of teachers, school clinicians, and administrators. An example of professional learning change cycle outlined an approach that was implemented over time, allowing teachers six weeks to implement new practices and then spending another six weeks observing and supervising
implementation to assess mastery. Using these observations to determine the next round of professional learning creates a purposeful and datadriven cycle. After gradually going I'm sorry after gradually rolling out our rigor tuning protocol last year we are now
differentiating professional development based on teacher mastery levels to promote continuous improvement and model the differentiation differentiated instruction we value. So, I'm not going to go through the next slide, but this is just a quick snapshot
of our process. Um, just so you know that this work has a different level of intentionality and we've been doing it since April of last year. We built a strong foundation to help teachers build capacity to maximize student outcomes. I did this by working directly with the
high school content coaches and the teachers in my building to create a safe environment where the work we do collaboratively was not showing up in an evaluative way. We needed to build trust and to allow teachers to develop allow teachers the space to develop their skill, be vulnerable and take risk
without the fear of evaluation. Our process is the next slide. We first defined what rigor looked like. We invited teachers to the table and we looked at student work. Through this, teachers were given the opportunity to improve their craft and I was able to
get a clearer understanding of what I wanted to see in teacher work and in the classroom. I also want to emphasize that during this six-month process, the work was entirely non-evaluative. Observations still occurred, but teachers were not evaluated on this specific focus area while they engaged
in this rigor tuning protocol. So, just some final thoughts about um this endeavor. Um [clears throat] what I'm proposing is going to take time. I know hearing all of this seems like a lot. When I approached Dr. Kelly last May, I said I wanted to do this work. I
have a strong team and I am part of a strong administrative team districtwide that will see this work through. But in all honesty, there will be disruptions. Teachers will need to leave their buildings to come to us. But if we invest in our educators in a different way, the long-term results will be worth
it. Ideally, I'm looking to start this work as of fall of 2026, and I look forward to hearing some of your feedback about it. But before you give me feedback about it, I want to talk about the seniors. Um, so this year marks an exciting milestone. Our first cohhat cohort of
City Lab students will be graduating. Um, we are graduating our 29 seniors a semester early. So, our students will be done as of December this year. Um, on average, seniors have earned 18 or more college credits in the time that they've been with us from, uh, Franklin Cummings
Institute of Technology, Mass Art, University of Pittsburgh, and UMass Amherst. Um, 20 of the 29 are actively involved in the higher ed process. That means they're in the admissions process already. And nine, I'm uh, earned the Abigail Adams scholarship. Um, I'm super
proud of the seniors. Um, and that is all. So, I'm welcome to take your questions. >> There's no Alice. >> Sure. Um, there's [clears throat] no doubt that the work that you guys are doing over at City Lab is innovative and amazing. Um, and this is just an initial
step in a in a long process, but I would be interested in seeing how this plate like what it looks like, the impact that it has on the teachers, the impact that it may have on the current students and their learning, if any. Um, I just want to have a clear picture in my mind as to
what this looks like and I just don't have that just yet. So, no, it's um, we're early on still. So, um, the first meeting is December 2nd and that will be with the Bar Foundation. Dr. Kelly will be there. I don't know if she knows it's in her calendar, but Dr. Kelly will be
there. Some advisers that have done this work from other districts will be there. Um, Boston University that offers um a free coordinator to help you roll out this work will be there. So, it's there's a lot of planning to do. Um, that's why it's almost a year from now
before this even starts. >> Yeah. No, it sounds wonderful. I just want to I mean my first priority is our students and I you know I know we had some kinks to work out anyway it being a new school. So I just really I'm I'm sure that you all have you know the best interest at heart and this is just
something else that we're going to take on that's going to be beneficial to the entire district. I mean it sounds wonderful. I just want to have a clearer idea. So as we go along if you could come back and just give us updates on what's going on and keep us a surprise that way that'd be wonderful. Sure. >> Thank you.
Miss Rizzo, >> I was just looking over the process and I really like how it's nonval I'm not even going to say the word right. Eval >> thank you. Um I like how that process is work and I'm curious to see how it
works. I think it's important. >> Miss Montroso >> I think I've said this before Dr. Mulligan, the way you have transformed this school, like I hope you take that pride. When I first ran for office, C
Coast at this time was referred to as the other school, right? Like I I came here, I moved here was like, well, we have one high school and then we have that school and the way our students and our staff in that building were spoken about was just horrible to me within the community. You have transformed this with your team to a school that has a
weight list where students are just thriving and they're loving it. And I think the opportunity that the superintendent gives our administrators to be able to bring projects like these to us is also why we're able to retain administrators like you. So I hope I hope you see yourself and take that pride um with everything that you're
doing. And I do agree with Malberry Ellis. I think this would be a very easy vote for me, but I would like um to just hear a little bit more. And I think maybe if we hear back from that December 2nd meeting with the Bar Foundation, then we could put it as a formal motion on our uh agenda for the December meeting to just see what updates you
have to the whole committee. We can all discuss more and then um hopefully fully give you um that unanimous yes. Um so you can continue the work. Oh, the one question I will have is um will there be any money from our district budget that would have to go into this just so that
we can have that full picture um in December? Um, I I can't say right now. I don't want to say no and then be begging for money in a few months. Um, I'm hoping not. I feel like this is actually a more costefficient way than to send our
teachers out to expensive PDs um in different states and different schools. Um, having an in-house um train station would be really great and we have the teacher capacity to do it. We have really amazing teachers throughout the district that really want to showcase what we're doing. Yeah. Well, I'm
excited to vote for this uh in a few months. >> Um Dr. Mulligan, thank you for your presentation. I I've seen the transition in the school and I know that you're not your your work isn't complete. It's a growing uh process. So, uh I appreciate it. I think it's been great. um you know
to to just know being here for as many years as we've all been in Riviera that what it used to be and what it's we're growing into having kids uh earn college credits having kids uh have a sense of purpose going to school for actual school is kind of important to me. Um my
question uh when they graduate early, when they finish, you know, halfway through this the their final school year, you know, um so if they if they're graduating December and they don't maybe walk until the um June, do they pick pick up work? Do they start enrolling in college courses?
>> Um there's a mix of everything. Um some of our art students want to continue on in the art pathway, so they will be taking some classes this spring. Great. >> Some kids are interning um this spring. Um some kids want start working and banking money. Um we have some kids that are going into the union and want to
just start that process immediately. So there's a it's not one pathway for everybody. Okay. It's really the beauty of our school. It's always been >> great. And then um just to so and the bar foundation's obviously pretty esteemed uh and we know what that means
for the district, especially if your school if you're able to u receive an award from them. Uh, so if there's any testimony or any support you need, please let us know as a council. Um, and then just for I we talked to I talked to DK just relative to the school. I know
it's not your school, it's the also the Beachmont Elementary School. Just for everyone's knowledge, the the city received a grant to help um put in a mini pitch, which is kind of like a small soccer court in the back where the street hockey court is. Uh, so that'll be refurbished at some point, probably
next spring. Uh, giving you an early heads up. We'll communicate any construction plans. It's not a big amount of construction, but there'll be a mini we we we received a grant uh and a special donation from uh kind of a US soccer federation to add a mini pitch
back there. I think it would be benefit to the area. Obviously, soccer is the growing sport in our community. So, just a little early heads up. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. >> To just the presentation for a minute. So, yes. >> Uh I just want to add my full confidence in Dr. Mulligan in her ability to uh
bring this program to Rivier. She's, as everybody has already articulated very well, um made really influential changes at City Lab that have transformed lives for the children of Rivier. Um, one of a few of the things I want to highlight
that we've talked a lot about um, as a school committee is the idea that what City Lab is is what we envision for all of the children of Rivier. And when we saw the enrollment there increasing, increasing, increasing, um, I think I
said to this committee, our greatest problem is going to be when we want when all the kids want to go to City Lab. Um that's a that means that we've achieved what we wanted to achieve and we are designing the new school. Even the educational plan for the new building is entirely different than what this high
school is. It includes the five pathways that you're all aware of um and a survey for students in their freshman year where then they would pick a pathway uh and study that pathway more intently following the model of what City Lab does where the kids do a lot of academic
work in their freshman and sophomore year and then move on to internships, college level courses, um and that kind of work in their junior and senior year. Um, so one of the things we've learned in our years since we implemented the block schedule here at Rivier High
School is that we really do need to do some really intense work with teachers for them to understand differently what instruction looks like. And our teachers at City Lab with all of the support that we've already had from the bar foundation and other partnerships have
really mastered that well. uh and even when I go over there and walk through the classrooms, it just does not look like what a traditional classroom looks like. And that is a goal for us to get to everywhere across the district. So, um I'll be right beside Dr. Mulligan at
all of the bar foundation meetings. I'll be uh proofreading her grant application with her and uh really striving to make sure that we we get this done. And of course, we'll have the school committee come and observe it as well when if if we if we get the grant and we're able to implement. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next, we have the report of the subcommittees, personnel subcommittee. >> Yes, Mr. Mayor. Uh, as the chair of that committee. So, we met the week before the election. um won't
do that again next time, but [laughter] so I will have the minutes to our subcommittee for you all to review and we can all approve them by next month. But basically we are starting back up the superintendent evaluation process. So last time it was that midcycle one
summitive I always get [snorts] those confused Dr. Kelly the summative formative. So now it is time for the summitive which is the full fuller one. So now that the district improvement plans have been approved, now the superintendent gets to create her plan using those. So she is going to work on it and present it to the full committee
in December for approval. And then those are the goals that we are going to use to evaluate her and then we all decide whether it's um in the spring uh by the end of the school year so she has enough time to work on it. So this was really important because she was working off of old goals when we last did the
evaluation. So it'll be important for us to then see how she crafts these. So it'll come to all of you all for approval at the next meeting hopefully unless she needs more time she'll let us know and then we'll move forward with the evaluation timeline for her. So that's all that we discussed. >> Thank you. Any comments?
>> Okay, great. We have motions. No motions. It's going to be a quick one tonight. Okay. Any unfinished business? No. No new business. Okay. Hey, do we have a motion to adjourn?
>> Oh, Miss Montroso. >> Uh, I think you usually remind everyone, mayor, but anyone watching, we have our community Thanksgiving dinner next Tuesday. Uh, is it Casal Lucia? It's for anyone who wants to join the community. And then happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Uh, next Thursday,
>> there'll also be a food drive at the event. So, if you want to bring any uh non-p perishables, if you can go to the city's uh website or their social media pages, uh the beginning of the night, they'll offer a food drive outside, but come in, enjoy the community Thanksgiving dinner. Uh planning on
serving well over 500 people and offering some homebound meals. Uh but yes, from all of us, I know that we wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving next week. So, >> see see you in December. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Motion to adjurnn. Second. Second.
>> All in favor? I ordered.