 One of my clocks says six, so I'm going with that, okay. We came to order at the beginning of the budget training, five, when a quarter of board members came present. So let me welcome the board members who were not able to attend the budget training session, and also members of the public. Thank you very much for for coming and joining us. The first item after reception of guests, and I guess, you know, we're all guests, in a way, would be agenda revisions. Now, I should point out, as we go into this that we're nearly in past meetings we've had a 3.3 public comments. I should just explain that the that the agenda setting committee by consensus decided that we would have not the public comments at the beginning of the meeting, but hold them for the end of the meeting. So, if you're wondering where public comments are their agenda item eight now. So, board members you control the agenda. So, if you have agenda revisions, please let me know, raise hands, or Linda. I just like explanation about moving the public comments to the end. Since people have been coming at the beginning and we never know when the end will be. I'm curious about that. I think, and I will invite my colleagues on the agenda setting committee to, to augment my explanation if I, if it's, if I'm not getting it all. But I think the sense was that, you know, in line with the, the old saw that it's. It's a board meeting in public, not a public meeting with the board that the proper place for public comments would be at the end. And is that a pretty good summary. Jonas. Yeah, so we had been had because of the high number of public comments that we've been receiving since the beginning of the year. We made the decision to have public comments both at the beginning and the end of the meeting. And we didn't want to, you know, remove any opportunity for public comments. Until that sort of volume of public input started to go down a little bit, right, which it did, you know, in the last couple of meetings we haven't had, you know, nearly the number of people coming and talking. We also had this budget training and next time we're going to have the budget forum at the beginning at the beginning of the meeting. And all of, you know, both of those, you know, included opportunities for anyone to speak up. So, you know, are the decision was do we want public comment to the beginning, or the end, and we decided to go at the end of the meeting. For, you know, the reasons the Scott just said, you know, floor Diane, Jill, you know, jump in if, if that's not your understanding. I would say also we've been talking about this for a couple of meetings we didn't just do it we we actually referenced it at the last couple of meetings that this was coming. So this shouldn't be the first time people are seeing it or realizing it. And one thing to add is that we felt like to engage with the public we needed to make it meaningful. So, so we are part of our norms and part of what we're trying to do is to provide more opportunities like we've done in the past for the COVID update for the public to be able to engage in a more meaningful way with the board and our superintendent. So that was the other part of it. And we really have a lot of work to get done. So otherwise, it makes our meetings, sometimes not able to get all of the work that we need to get done for the public. Thank you. Thanks, Caroline. Um, what I had to say is about 3.2 agenda revisions, but I don't want to cut anybody off of the public comments. So discussion. Um, we're at anything further agenda revisions is fair game. Okay, I just wanted to say on 4.4.4 substitute rate of pay and action. I'm going to have to abstain from the conversation and the vote. And just block my video and just not vote. So I won't say yes or no, because there's no extension. I just wanted to clarify that ahead so we don't have to go over it. When it comes up because I'm hoping it will be a really fast paced discussion and needing you for that. Any other any other board member agenda revisions. Whether it's discussion of the place of public comments or anything else that's on the agenda. I'm not seeing anything. So, um, let us then move to towns and Anna. I do believe they're here. I guess to kick off the student reports. Um, last week, parent teacher conferences were held. So there was no school on that day. And then also, there was time for parents to meet with their children's teachers over zoom. And they, they, they went pretty well starting to come together a lot. I'm on the yearbook committee and we've started to bring out pictures, as well as chronicles really getting going and we're starting to publish things. And I know that seeking social justice, the social justice organization, the social club also has started meeting again next week is Thanksgiving, which means there only be two days of school. And we'll, you know, have a have a nice long Thanksgiving break. There was the middle school math carnival which has been a tradition for a while. The school is designed games of chance to play with each other. And then go around spending tickets and play each other's games. And that's, that's what's been happening at school. Are there any questions? Yeah, games of chance. Yeah. I believe when you were younger, you did it too. They give us all these supplies. They believe they give us a certain amount. We have to build some form a game. Yeah. And you try to all the games. Yeah, so it's a probability thing where you're supposed to design a game with a certain probability of winning. And then every, you know, kid or team designs their own game and no actual money is gambled. Right. Probability. Yeah. It sounds fun. Sounds good. We're finally starting to get grades together on canvas, which is a big relief for me personally to be able to see my success and everything. That's great. Other board member questions for towns. Thank you very much. She both and and wish you a good short week. Next week, and a wonderful holiday. During which you don't see anybody you don't ordinarily see every day. I hope that's fun. Wonderful. So, Superintendent report. Brian. Thank you, Scott. And I have to say a following up in towns. It's always tough because they have so much energy, but I feed off their energy too. So, I appreciate them both. So, so basically I have a number of things to talk about in my 4.2.1 COVID-19 update. So, first, say that the just recent just as of yesterday, the Department of Health had sent me an email praising our district, our district leadership, the board of ed, and our leadership team for continuing to ensure that our district has the opportunity to come to school each and every day. And they do recognize that it's getting it's more difficult because there's a lot of fear and a lot of anxiety around what's happening just right in our own backyards and with throughout Washington County and Vermont with the rising case numbers. And so, you know, I just wanted to share that it was it was actually nice to get a little, you know, a little email from the DOH saying, hey, keep up the good work and, you know, please let their your leadership team know how much they appreciate how much their efforts are being appreciated at the state level. That being said, I think it's also important that, you know, we're following the state guidance, and we've been very cautious in following the state guidance, I think we operate out of an overabundance of caution. And as your superintendent of schools, I just want to go on record to let everyone know that yes, I do say we're following state guidance, I do say that we're implementing the precautions and making sure we follow and work well with the Department of Health. However, if I feel that need, as your superintendent to make additional things happen in order to guarantee the safety of our students and staff, I will do that with support or without support from the state folks, because that's how I, that's how strongly I feel about it. So I just wanted the public to know that the, I want our teachers to hear that and I want our parents and students to understand that as well. That this is, you know, it's something I understand that as your superintendent that I have the great responsibility that I have. And while the ultimate goal is to keep our children in school, if it has to come to the fact that we can't do that, then we're not going to do that. Just just and as just a little bit prior to our board meeting tonight, the next update is we did get a positive case at co of COVID at you 32, just a little bit before this board meeting tonight. And I just wanted that we are working with the Department of Health with you 32 administrative team has been working extremely hard in this case. And I believe we're going to we're still going to be able to keep the school in school, but there aren't going to be some folks who have been contacted and will will not be be able to come to school. I don't have principal Steven has anything anything else to add on that part. I mean we just literally been working on this prior to the meeting so we're still working on it right now. But we have one pod in our middle school that will have to quarantine and then a couple of other students but it looks like our precautions are keeping us from having to have too many people out and too many students or teachers out so we think we're we're pretty good so far but we're certainly contacting families right now to let them know about this both by email and we're talking to them directly on the phone so we're actually doing that as we speak. So live from you 32 right now. Thank you Steven and thank you 32 and and I think the idea here is when you look at these things when it happened you get recommendations from the Department of Health. And again, they may say, they may say, you know, consider 24 hours, because you know this is what you should consider, but ultimately, it falls it falls on us at my like falls on me in consultation with principal Steve and his team, and our Department of Health and so just so you're aware so we're going to do those precautions, not just for tomorrow but for the rest of the week for that pod so won't just be a 24 hour thing tomorrow. Let's just make sure everyone's safe and do that for Thursday and Friday. Okay. Brian sorry to interrupt you. Just one question. It all sounds as though everyone is doing the right thing. I'm just interested. Who's doing the contact tracing. Is it you 32, or it is the state, they're not asking you, because I saw the article about on the state asking school contact tracing. I'll let Steven talk to you. So, so Scott and board members, we have the word that we got from the state and we had it clarified a couple of days ago was that we're not conducting the contact tracing. We're just notifying people quarantine and things like that they feel like the school has better contact initially with families to be able to communicate that. The health department is the one who does the contact tracing and we've already been on the phone several times with them. So they're they're getting that process started as well. Thank you. Thank you, Steven. Thank you, Scott. Are there any other questions about this particular thing or should I continue. Jonas is the state is the state making it clear to you know everyone who's been you know contact traced and everyone in that pod who's quarantining is the state making it clear and making it easy. For them to access testing. And is there anything that we can do as the district to make it easier or make it more available for those people who are affected to get tested. I guess that might be a question for Elizabeth. I can tell you though actually because we were just talking. So I'm I can't be 100% sure what the state says when they make a phone call but I can tell you that we include information about when you can start testing because there is a delay from when you're exposed. Elizabeth can be much more specific about that but we're including the information about how to get testing and where it's available in the area so that our families can make that decision should they choose to. Yes, Anna. This is for Steven and Brian I guess is school should it be going on as normal, even with this positive case everything should be normal. Yes. Yes, I can have Steven talk more about it because, but the answer is yes, the precautionary model that the you 32 administration had developed in the time of reopening back in July and August seems to be working. So, and I think you know that precautionary guidance was developed so schools could do what we're doing now, which is quarantining certain folks and allowing the school to continue to remain open Steven do you have anything else. No, I think we've learned a lot about first primary contacts and secondary contacts and so there are very few primary contacts here in the school because of our pods and so the rest of the students should be safe and healthy and as long as we keep wearing the masks keeping our distance and washing our hands. And of course not being in any multifamily gatherings and not having any fun whatsoever. We're good. Thank you. Just one more quick question you may not know this or you may not be able to tell us, but do you know if this case was was contracted at school or outside of school. I don't I can't answer that question. No, Steven. We are we're clear that the contact was not here in the school for where they get student contracted it. Thank you very much. Any other questions before we let Brian move on. Your hand is still up. Does that you're good. Okay, Brian. Okay, so thank you. So the, the other big thing moving along here is, I did meet with the leadership team. And we did talk about the early release days that were that did happen in November. And I would like the board to consider adding additional early release days through the month of December for for elementary and middle school teachers. And the following dates would be December 2 December 9 and December 16. And let me explain why. Right. So, first of all, there were some instructional shifts that needed to take place to support remote learning. They needed some time to make the shift. And if I think we want to continue to make progress during remote learning if we have to go to remote learning, we need to make time to make that progress. Now, the second piece is we need to ensure that all families have access and understand how to fully utilize canvas in order to support student learning. The third thing is our teachers have expressed gratitude for this time. And many have been asking their principles for additional time to prepare in case we do need to go remote. So these two days that we had were several hours, but they would need some more time. And they also need to work on getting their remote infrastructure fully prepared with the support staff who might not have good internet access at home in the event that teachers have to work primarily or exclusively from their homes. And last but not least, today was November 18. It was a half day. Prior to when the board approved today, one of the other things is we did not know that today would also be the day that we would be conducting surveillance testing of our entire staff. So that came up last week, we were notified from the from the Department of Health and the Agency of Education about this opportunity to do this. And Wednesday was the day. And we were doing a lot of a surveillance testing and I know Elizabeth I don't see I see Elizabeth somewhere up there. She's I'm surprised she's not slumped over falling asleep right now because she has done just an amazing job trying to coordinate this in such a short amount of time. But I also know that teachers had this had to who participated in this today. We're, what's the word that this is supposed to be a half day to help work with preparing for remote but I know a lot of them were getting tested. They were conducting there was other things that were happening as a result of today so we really want to be able to give the teachers some more opportunities to have the early release on December 2, 1916. So Brian. So we have a motion to that effect be brought to the board at this point. Yeah. Would, would a board member care to make that motion. I do it by saying so moved. Right. As I understand it, the so in that moved refers to early release approval of early release on December 2, 9 and 16. Is that correct for elementary and middle school for elementary school. Right. Thank you. Important detail. Thank you. You captured it so much more elegantly with that so, Joe. I couldn't remember all the details. Board discussion. Okay, then. Oh, Chris. Yeah. Hey Brian. You anticipate that there'll be requests for more early release days. Or that it should be just included as a matter of course. And the reason I'm asking that is that just to give parents enough for warning and notice if, if we, if you think that this is something that will continue on into the into the new year so that people can plan around it. Yeah, great question, Chris. I appreciate you asking it. The, the way I've been looking at it is, I think we got to do it on an as needed basis. I think some districts have made that call to do throughout the entire year. I don't think that's necessarily what we what we need to do right now currently. We're trying to see what our teachers need and make this really like a need based situation for our folks. So, you know, the question is, should we just do it for the rest of the year make Wednesday's early release and I or make it for several weeks at a time. And I think right now we're chunking it, you know, right now in November and now December. I can't really speak to if that's going to continue because we're working on it for on an as needed basis. I see that I see that I do know I've had parents reach out to me asking if that's what we're doing. It's a similar question. And I think the answer is, I don't want to commit to doing it for the rest of the year or for a longer period of time. But we could be prepared to do that. If our teachers really need that extra time. Thanks, Jayal and then floor. You may have gone over this Brian, but is this going to impact when the students get out in the summer. No, no, it will not. We're, we're, we're on pace where we're we're we've had school every day this year so far knocking on wood. Right. We don't keep the schools open. So no, the answer is no not at this time. Should we should we made a make the motion to give you the ability to make those decisions in a need basis instead of having to come back to the board since it's something that you coordinate with the leadership team and the kids and then you come back to the board to inform and not count on our It just because through COVID, you know, and then it would give you more flexibility because you would understand the needs of your staff. I'm just saying that's what we should do, but it might give you more flexibility without having to wait for a board meeting to take that action. And you can always inform us via email because, you know, we don't coordinate operations right. It's an interesting idea floor. Yeah, so And I think it'd be great that if you the board wants to authorize that to me, I can definitely do that. The, the thing is, and if you don't want to do it for the entire maybe you want to do it for the month of January and February and Kate, and then I can re ask it if it's necessary at that point. That's something to consider. I guess I will be willing to do that, you know, we could take this motion, you know, table the motion on going on right now as an option. I don't want to do what you're doing Scott but a, if there was interest from the board just as part of a discussion we could give him at least through the winter be my suggestion without really having talked to anybody about this so I'm just brainstorming with you guys it just feels like it would be cleaner and and give them more flexibility to adapt to the needs of the staff. Do you want to make a friendly amendment to my motion. Is that allowed Scott to love. Yeah, so to, to take the dates out so just do a friendly amendment from, from November 18 through March 31. I don't know that makes is that right. So that gets you through the end of the winter and the third quarter. And we will assess things for the fourth quarter. So authorizing the superintendent to just want to put a few limits on it so would we be authorizing the superintendent to to choose as many as three days for early dismissal for elementary and middle school per month. I don't think that we don't know I'm just like, like, or do we want to leave it totally open I guess I'm open to it I just wasn't sure what you're proposing. I think we leave it open to, to him to, to figure out with the staff and the leadership team on what they, they need if it ends up being every Wednesday or not and they don't really. They can come back to inform us but they don't have to continue to do this that that's just so it authorizes superintendent for to do early release as needed from number eight November 18 through the March 31. Just at that. Okay. Just to make sure that we don't, we don't get lost in this has just suggested that from the amendment. And Jill as the. I'm good. You, you're good with it. And just make sure that Lisa was able to get that. Okay, so I have that. Jill moved to authorize the superintendent to create early release states as needed from November 18 2020 through March 31 2021. Yes. Sounds good. Okay, so that is the motion that's considering now and that discussing and first Jonas and then Mindy. I just seconded that I will do that at this point. I don't see any reason if we're going to do this I don't see any reason why we should put an end date of March 31 on it is not going to be over by March 31. I'd say we just give it to the end of the year. Sounds good. That's fine with me. Okay, now we have a friendly amendment to the front. We're so friendly around here tonight. It's great. Yeah. Lisa, I'm just wanting to make sure that. Jonas proposed a friendly amendment to floor is from the amendment to Joe's original motion that Joe or have accepted. We're wherever we are. Yeah, so through the end of the school year versus March 31. The end of the school year. Okay, so that is now the motion that we're that's before us. And Jonas having, did you have any more to say or show. I would like the word. I would like the word Wednesday in there. You've just given him he could do early releases Monday through Friday till the end of the year, and I just think it'd be good to have in the motion Wednesdays. I saw Anna coming out with a cheer. But, but she's in high school so it wouldn't affect her anyway. Do we now have heard friendly amendment. Are we are we all are we all good with the Wednesdays. Wednesdays or could we say once a week. No, Wednesdays. Okay, Wednesday. I think Wednesdays are important. Yeah. Well, let Brian. So, so I think Wednesdays would be important. What's interesting is this new surveillance testing thing that we did today has, I don't want to say is thrown a wrench into how we do this but we were able to get surveillance testing on Wednesday to this past this week right, but they're going to continue to ask us to do this every four weeks. They're going to 25% of the state every week, moving forward. I think in perpetuity throughout the year. So there may be a, I mean, I would be most likely shooting for Wednesdays, but there could be a, if the state came in and say we're going to do surveillance testing the kids are on their way we're mailing them in on, but it's just the past Wednesdays. But let's say if they said they can only get it to you for Tuesday for some reason I don't know that that might be, but maybe we're over thinking maybe we're overthinking this Elizabeth has her hand up to maybe she can comment more on this. I'm sorry, I didn't see you as best. I didn't see you as. Yeah, so go ahead. The testing we did 200 people today that was pretty good 202 staff and it only takes a moment for staff to do it so I don't think that it has it doesn't have to be a day off to do it or anything like that they can fit it into their day pretty easily I think. So, I wouldn't worry about that. I think it's great that we can do it and I think we'll take whatever they'll give us but time. And Wednesdays. That's fine. Yeah, okay, Linda, did you have anything more. No, I was going to say exactly what Elizabeth said we did it in Essex on Monday with quite a few people. And I think Wednesdays is what families understand has been our early release day anyway, and to just willing willy nilly because I think it would be willy nilly if we decide oh the COVID testing is next week on Thursday let's make it Thursday would throw a wrench and people schedules. I think you have to stick to the Wednesdays. Okay, and that is indeed the motion that is before us. First, is that your hand up. It was but then face someone just happened. It's now with taken down. Okay. Thanks. All right. Is there any more discretion, or shall we go to a vote. Stephen is trying to talk. Oh, Stephen look. Yeah. I had my hand. I'm sorry, Stephen, you're on my page two for some reason. So, that's fine, Scott. I'm lucky I'm on any page. I'm not sure what page I'm on. All right, I offer this suggesting that it doesn't need to be part of the motion, but I want to be mindful of what Chris brought up at the beginning of discussion and what Lindy brought up about Wednesdays. Again, I don't think it needs to be part of the motion, but the superintendent understand from the board that we want the families to be provided with the maximum amount of prior warning for these days. Thank you, Stephen. Yeah, I see Brian has taken note. So, any other board members that I'm not seeing my apologies again. If not, we can go to a vote on the motion as originally moved by Joe seconded floor friend amended in a friendly manner, and by floor Jonas and Lindy. And they were in it. By Lisa. So what we're looking at is early release date authorized the superintendent Claire. And on his early release. On Wednesdays. The year. As needed. Yeah. Right. Right. Perfect. All in favor, please click yes. Opposed click no. Yes. Oh, okay. Thank you, Chris. Okay, I see this vote very good. The motion. So many thanks everyone. Brian back to you. Great. Also, just to let the board know got some good news. Some good news. Just so we were able to I was happy to sign a document from the AOE that we were receiving $80,000 from a grant. Just so that this is a grant as a part of the coronavirus relief fund for child nutrition equipment reimbursement. So we're going to get some money from from one of our from our grants. So this is $80,000 for food programs. We've also received the $50,000 grant earlier, but several weeks ago. So right now we've received $130,000 of in grant money for food programs. And I just wanted to thank Laurie for her leadership in helping secure this money. So, some good news. Definitely. Thanks to you. Thanks to your both Brian and Laurie. Thank you. Okay, so the next piece of it is the are continuing journey through central office job descriptions. This is on page 10 of your packet 4.2.2 this these are the job descriptions that for all the folks that work underneath the business administrator. So, these positions are folks that we already currently have in our in our school in our school district. These are not additional positions or anything like that is just redoing their job descriptions again which has been done in many, many a long, long time. So, and we're just doing them so I'm asking you to approve them for tonight. And then I think we'll continue the job descriptions, until we end up getting them all and then at some point, I would like to show the board a table of organization. So, you have an idea of what that looks like and then you'll have these job descriptions so you, everyone will have a very good idea of what everyone does. That is one of the projects that we've been doing this year. Fantastic. Thanks, Brian. So, and my place to entertain a motion to approve the job descriptions. And then we can discuss them with anyone care to make such a motion. So, so move the job descriptions as it's late. There's five of them. I don't have the names right in front of me for work. Yeah, it seems like five or even more. Okay. So floor has moved. Is there a second second. Thank you, Gail. Okay, floor is moved. Gail is seconded questions. Yeah, I just want to say that this is has been quite a project. There's been a process and a very intentional process when we do these, we take the old job descriptions, we sit down with the folks that are doing the jobs we asked them to review it. We compare them to similar types of jobs that are in the state of Vermont. We also then have the supervisor in this case, Lori, look over the job descriptions, we do sort of several. I don't want to say revisions but updates throughout the process. And this is something that we started back in early as July. So I'm very happy that we're here with this piece now. Thanks. And Steven look, I'm happy to see you on my page one now. Congratulations. Thanks. Maybe. So, I view this as unnecessary to come before the board for approval and it would, in my mind falls under the board micromanaging what's going on. I'll speak for myself. I'm not going to spend any time reading job descriptions that Brian wants to propose. If that's how they want to reorganize the office. That's completely okay with me. I don't need to see it. They've spent time they spent hours. As he mentioned they've been working on it since the summer. They've been collaborative with the employees as well. I think he just needs to say, we've changed the job descriptions. And here's what they are. Thank you, Steven. As always, very much worth listening to. So, Brian, would you like to, is there a particular reason why you wanted the board to approve this. I think as the board, I think the. Yeah, sorry. So as the board, the, when you look at job descriptions, it's common practice and a lot of school districts to approve them because the biggest one of the biggest control mechanisms I know what we talked about this in the morning, you know, what does a board do, right? What does a board control? Well, the board controls the process and procedures and the resources that the board is a financial, not just a governing body that sets policy, but also oversees how money is spent and dictates that. So in many ways, when you do a job responsibility, it's common practice that school boards do approve the job responsibilities because that's typically what boards school boards do as a district in districts. So, you're not just being solicitous towards us on the board trying to make us feel like we're needed when, in fact, this is something that you could just do all by yourself and not I would, I would say that I'm very intentional in how I'm doing this and very strategic in how I'm doing this. And there, I think that I definitely need the board, right? So I would never say that I would never need, I would not need the board. I definitely need the board and I am your employee. And I think it's very important that you are aware of the folks that work under under my leadership. So you have an idea of what people do and what you're supposed to do. Thank you very much. Chris, did I, did I see your box light up? No, not intentionally. Okay. Thank you, though. That's, that's absolutely fine. Are there any, are there any views that, Lindy? Kind of agree with Steven about the job descriptions, but I do like the idea of the flow chart of the jobs that are in the central office, and that also gives us an idea of how many people, what they're doing just by job titles, and then we could refer to job descriptions if we were wondering why do they have three of these payroll people or whatever. So I think more the flow chart of jobs responsibilities and how that works in a system is worth sharing with the board, not necessarily that we approve it, but that information is important to me. Thanks, Lindy. Other other discussion on 70 strong feelings around what Steven and Lindy have been doing that this, that this is actually sort of, in some sense, more than the board should be doing Chris. Scott. No. Yes, Chris. Okay. I actually don't agree with Steven and Lindy on this one, because by having the job descriptions come before us. It makes us aware of what is actually being proposed for each job. And if we are basically giving up oversight of that process, job descriptions could be modified and changed. So I think that it is extending the boards and the districts need to fund other positions because responsibilities have been shifted. And it becomes accomplished as opposed to thought about and agreed to. So I think it just keeps us informed in a way that we should be informed about what employees doing what in central office. Thanks. I think that approving. Hi, please. Yeah, thank you. I just look really quickly. I completely agree with Steven sentiment. I think this is way too detailed for us and down on the management level. However, it's important to Brian. So let's just do it and let's go quickly. It's informational and it helps him to have our support with a formal vote. Let's just do that and, and move through it as quickly as possible is what I say. Once again, wisdom. And so, unless there is any further discussion, shall to a vote. All in favor of approved job descriptions as moved by floor and seconded by Gila. I'm not sure I remember anymore exactly. If you click yes. Opposed click no. Yes. Then yes from Chris. Thank you very much. And I see unanimous approval. And has again taken note of the sentiment of the board on this question and will factor it into his future activities. Could we ask somebody's not muted. My internet is a little unstable today and there's somebody not muted and makes it really hard to listen. Just, I don't know if I'm the only one that it can hear it, but if somebody there's somebody now I see it. Chris, you're muted now. Great. Thank you. Great. Thanks. Very much everybody. Okay. So, Brian, back to you. Thank you all. The, the next piece is about the enrollment trends that we were talking about the, there was a report and that starts on page 36. There is some updates to the enrollment trends. I know in the budget training we talk about the enrollment piece is a huge piece, not just in our district but across the state of Vermont, where we are seeing declining enrollment across schools in the state and districts around the state. And we do know that our census, according from 29 October 1 2019 to October 1 2020 seems to have gone down by 87 students. So we did get, I did ask the principals to reach out to families. We did have them look, we also looked at the, did some extra homework and did some assignment that was assigned last from as a result of last board meeting. And they did get together. They did provide a report to me today as at three o'clock p.m. today. And it was, they believe that they have may have found at the early grades. This is like the pre enrollment grades where, where you have children who are brand new, you know, brand new to this world. And they believe they may have found an additional 21 students that that is some good news, right, because we originally thought that it was 87 students but so now we're down to still a decrease for next year of at least 66 students. It's still a moving target, right, because somebody could have a baby anytime anytime and or move into our into our town but right now we're still seeing a decrease of 66 students. Which means that we could be getting some significantly less funding from the state for the next budget cycle. I don't know if I know Laura, you know, Lori and I we talked about this. I don't know if anyone else has anything else to add on that part but we do have the we all every year we do the nest deck projections report, and the nest deck, I put the trends on there I'm not sure it's all in the packet, unless you have questions about it. But ultimately, this is based on the 2019 student enrollment projection report. I literally as of today received an updated 2020 projection report. So I will have to analyze that and get that out out to you in a future board meeting so you have it, we can compare the 2019 to the 2020 report and still look at these 21 additional students where the principal's got I got that again at three o'clock today but it still seems that we're going to have a significant decline in enrollment for next year. And what does that mean for the year after next year as well and I think the big part, and I want to emphasize this is the two year rolling average right that is going to be huge for our district and what does that mean for our money in the future. Thanks Brian. Are there a board member questions on enrollment? Enrollment trends? If a floor? Was that a jet? No, no. Okay. If not, Brian, I think you may still have more to come. Yes, more to come. I'll follow up with the board with additional enrollment. When we get that, when we get that, we literally got the report today and I got the information from the principals. I'm meeting with the principals again very shortly about those students and some other things. So I think ultimately, you know, I have an updated about the enrollment and that's something we're just going to have to keep our eyes on and how that's going to impact our budget. Because 66 kids, you know, with the equalized pupil per student is significant money. Yeah, Jonas. So just real quick from from having read through this, you know, a lot of this seems to be, you know, more kids being homeschooled, you know, because of the pandemic. A lot of this seems to be very few, you know, pre and pre pre K kids, you know, we haven't lost a lot at you 32 I understand that the, you know, the loss of tuition students is, you know, a revenue problem. It's also hard to predict the future but it doesn't it seem like if, you know, not would things return to normal if there's a vaccine. You know, sometime next summer or fall, you know, widely distributed that numbers will normalize and that and that this is a, you know, an acute rather than a chronic event. I would, I definitely want to say, hopefully, yes the answer to I will hope say the answer to that question is yes. However, looking at that nest egg report. It does show a decline over the next several years and it does show a decline from the previous several years and so it seems to be trending downward, no matter which way you roll it the question is how dramatic is it right so this year seems to be more dramatic than previous years. And that may be because of the homeschooling and the COVID and the situation that we have. But if that is, you know, the two year average is still going to be impactful moving forward and I know that the state currently has said that they're going to hold us harmless this year. However, it still means that we're going to have a previous year was lower than the last year so we're still getting a lower average no matter even if we lower average than the previous year before that so it still seems to me that we're going to have to consider our how we how we utilize our resources as they become a little more scarce. I hear that, you know, there are, you know, larger systemic, you know, issues in Vermont that lead that lead to that long term trend, right we saw that last year as well. You know, but I'm optimistic that you know our location our rural location, you know the fact that a lot of people from away have been introduced to Vermont, you know, over the last, you know, eight nine 10 months now that you know we are an attractive school district and provide good education we have a good track record that, you know, that downward trend may continue but I think that we will see rebounds next year, at least that's my not so informed opinion. Sounds good anyway. I guess I understand what you're saying Jonas and I like I would like to be optimistic to and hopefully we will be able to stay, you know, they will be able to keep us harmless I do worry that this might make us get closer to the excess spending. I, you know, we have less students. So we'll be dividing into less students or our tax rate. We might be too close to that excess spending in the way that we are right now so maybe this year we're able to just get over it but in next year we are going to start to, you know, have those conversations about how we are spending our, our money and if all our kids are having the best opportunities that they can the way that we are managing right now. As a district. Thanks, Diane and then Steven. So thanks for Brian for getting that information. I'm wondering though if we can have more of a broader trend look. So can we look at previous five years. You know, also in terms of real estate and capacity. So again, it's always a hit or miss and we need to be careful about it but we also need to get a better sense of what does this trend look like. And now we know we're in a blip but we're trying to survive this blip but what, what can we inform in terms of previous five years. Thanks. Steven. And I don't want to belabor it tonight but to me this suggests the board needs to do some, as was suggested we need more information, but I think this should become a board responsibility. To understand this trend and just as our responsibility to offer budget development guidelines, the board should review this and, and offer some guidelines to the administration on how we should proceed. I appreciate Jonas's comments but hope is not a method. And our responsibility is plan to plan based on the information that we have. I don't think there's any need for anything dramatic or anything initial and if things smooth out and that works well, but I think we have to plan based on what the current trend is. Thanks, Steven. Right. Yeah, and I just want to further comment on page 38 of the packet. I did talk about the homeschooler list for enrollment trends. And we had a May 29 2020 just to give everyone an idea of last year we had 47 students in homeschool. And this year, earlier this month, we had 80 students on the home list and eight of them returned to school, because they were happy to come back to school but of the remaining 72 37 or new to it so 30 37 students do come back we're still down 30 if the numbers that the principles provided. So I mean it's nice to say hey, we started with 87, but we're still getting down 30 kids is still if that's the case, still going to impact a lot, a lot of money coming in over a longer period of time. Yeah. Thanks. Any further discussion on this or on the agenda this is the last the last bit of yours Brian directly before we move on. Any final for course final words for this part of the agenda for the for the superintendent Caroline. On page 38 under additional information this is sort of just sharing my thoughts. But under to a the loss of students from Roxbury Orange and Washington, it came up in the budget. Last time that if I'm remembering correctly that there was a number of students for more students than we actually got from orange so I just want to say when I see that Roxbury makes sense because they merged with that pillar and I don't know that orange in Washington have done anything different I think there's still choice towns. And so just to me it's just a point of noticing when fewer tuition students choose our high school. It's a huge determining factor but it's for me as a, it's just always know worthy and so I just wanted to put that out there as something that in the report it kind of has a little back for me. I don't know if their numbers went down, or if they're choosing other high schools over hours but it's just a piece. Steve, please, Ryan, go ahead. I might have a principle Stephen also kind of but I believe part of this came down to a consolidation out of act. I don't want to say the word act 46 because that gets people angry here. And it makes me angry too by the way. But the thing is I believe that because the other districts consolidated children in those communities now have an opportunity to go to different high school. I guess principle Stephen probably can brief you more about it, right? Yeah, I think Lori and I both have looked at these numbers over the years. There's not as many kids that come from those towns at times but we've also got a fair number of them here in the school right now so the overall numbers are going down for us as well. And then I would just offer and Brian alluded to it is that now that the Echo Valley district exists, the Williamstown High School is a, it can be a new option for those kids and a preferred option in some cases for them. It's also interesting though if you go to Echo Valley, one of their schools, you have Randolph as your tech center as opposed to Barry, you know, the central Vermont. So there's some different programs there as well. So a lot of little factors for also a very small number of kids who can make choices depending on what they need so it's it's not necessarily reflection on what we offer it's just they have a lot of choices. And I also think that in the last few years you've graduated a lot more kids from those towns and we've been taking in at the earlier grades. Yeah, exactly and we'll see that happen in the next couple of years as well. Great. Thank you everyone. Um, are we good. Then, should we move on to leadership team report. Sure. I'll send. Yeah, let's let's let's do it. I'm sorry, Scott, I lost you. No, no, no, I wasn't saying anything. I think I was waiting. It's an Alphonse Gaston moment here. So I board member questions on the leadership team report. Is there, would you like to add anything or say anything to preface it Brian. Yeah, I mean I think the idea is that you know I like to have the principles and district folks who have been involved in making this report to come on in and talk about what what talk about their section in this report like we did last time. I said I worked pretty well. I know that we did parent teacher conferences on November 11th. It was a different time it was, it was definitely a very different than in the past was during zoom was held during zoom. The fall opera default conferences are an opportunity to check in with families about their hopes for the year and the share evidence of students current strengths and areas for growth. And our district typically enjoys a very high participation rate in parent teacher conferences. Also done some fall assessments I don't know if Jen Miller wants to talk about fall assessments. Great. I'm sure. As I wrote in the report for you all we spent a lot of time this summer the remote curriculum instruction and assessment task force. I think we had a chance for the fall really wanting to strike that balance between understanding how our kids were doing wanting to see them and and assess them but also knowing that they had not been in school since March regularly and we needed to take the time to sort of balance their learning needs as well. So, we factored some information into the plan so that teachers had a lot more time to to administer those assessments as they felt like their students were ready. And, and then we were able to spend time especially around the I ready math diagnostic analyzing those data and acting on them after the October in service day so we just got the curriculum council together to talk through how it was in the fall and how that's going to inform the winter. And again we're looking at sort of pushing back those winter winter windows a little bit and again trying to stretch them out so that teachers have more leeway I think in terms of when their students are ready. Some folks administered right away in September and some waited till later in October and so we really want teachers to use their judgment. So understanding that this is a particularly unusual year and that in general our windows will be tighter and closer but in this year, this seems to be the right way to go. Thank you Jen. Thank you very much. And I've had the opportunity to look at the assessment plan that the district has been working under under Jen's leadership and her team. And very impressive with the amount of work that she's put together and I think that planning document is going to help us as we move forward in the future with the assessment strategy. So we're going to talk about remote planning. I think I know the I know there's we should we be asking our remote principal and I think I know there's some sections about special education in here. Gillian do you want to talk about the remote school? No, I was going to have you talk about the remote school. Yeah, I'll talk about remote school when I talk about Doty. Doty? Okay. All right. So the remote planning piece is really the leadership team has been working on putting structures in place developing what's going to happen if we go into remote. We've had many, many lively discussions kind of reminds me of our summertime together back in July and August. It was it was good to get everyone back together because sometimes it's very hard to get the group together because we're we have school going on. So now we've been we're going to continue to have those conversations about what remote planning could look like. What do our teachers need these half days that we've had have been very helpful to help work with our teachers on developing that plan in case we go to remote. There is a part about special ed. I don't know if Kelly you want to talk about the special ed piece. So just currently what's happening is by Friday actually all of our case managers are working at the school level to develop contingency schedules. Since we came back in the fall all IEPs needed to be taken a look at and developed to include what's called the state is calling contingency plans on the service page of an IEP so and again that's just being proactive and setting us up in the event that we do go into a remote learning mode for a long period of time. And so our case managers did that in the first few weeks of school and now they're taking those plans and developing schedules for in the event we have to shift to remote. And they're also working with the building principles to develop schedules for that pair educators. So that should we shift into remote we have plans in place. Right away and that we don't have to be in crisis mode to get all of those plans up and ready. And so those plans are all due by the end of this week. So there's lots of things happening related to that. Yeah. They've been doing a very good job of keeping Kelly very busy. I can tell you that much. It's a huge undertaking with special education and going to go and remote. Again we're hoping that doesn't happen but we are working to make sure we are ready when it does. So thank you Kelly for all your help and leadership in that area. Can I have one more quick thing. Sorry. Sorry. It's in there. I am. I recently actually am experiencing Canvas as a teacher and I'm learning. I'm setting up a classroom in the spring. You know we had created quickly some Google Docs with lots of professional development opportunities for Paris for times that they were not scheduled to work we were giving them some meaningful learning opportunities. And so in continuing to do that and wanting to experience Canvas myself I jumped into and committed to creating a Canvas classroom so that Paris also could be practicing and experiencing it more. And so over the last couple of weeks I have been spending time with one of our Canvas coaches and figuring this out and I have a much deeper appreciation for what our teachers are navigating and figuring out on the fly. It is not a very intuitive program but when it's all set up it will be great for all of those that are using it. Thank you Kelly. Thank you very much. So let's move on to Berlin Berlin Elementary School principal Boynton. Good evening everybody. So I was thinking about some comments for tonight and was thinking about how things are going obviously at Berlin. Obviously just with the state of everything. I'll be honest and say stress and anxiety is high among staff but as we always tell ourselves we are Berlin strong and we talk about our collective commitments that we have established and regardless of the times regardless of the year those ring true to get us through what we need to do to get us through times. So I appreciate the staff's steadfastness, their perseverance, their hard work. Canvas is coming along very nicely. Folks are more and more comfortable every day. They all have standing meetings every week with our in school coach to become more fluent with using Canvas. That's going well and as always just thanking and congratulating our students for coming through the door every day and working tremendously hard with all the things that they have to put up with when it comes to all the safety precautions. We were fortunate to have a 94% parent conference attendance rate which is really really good. I also mentioned in my report that one of the things we do every Thanksgiving is one of our local local businesses that donates Thanksgiving meals to families. That business is not able to donate this year at all. So we decided as a staff to prepare six Thanksgiving meals for families. So even though things are stressful and anxiety is high and everyone is working really really hard it doesn't get in the way of the giving that staff at our school do for kids and families. So thank you. Thank you Aaron for your leadership and I definitely agree. It's definitely a very stressful and anxious time and I do know that some people have started the countdown to Thanksgiving break so we're getting there. But thank you. Moving forward on to principal fair and Calis elementary school. Hello everyone. Calis you probably recall has a big HVAC project that is beginning. It's underway already. So we are anticipating going fully remote the week of December 7th. Excuse me that's going to last for about two, two and a half weeks. I anticipate it's going to take us right through the December break. The kids and staff have just been incredibly resilient because we're feeling a fair bit of urgency around let's hurry up and get ready to be remote. We can't wait until everyone goes remote. Like we have to figure this out now. And that urgency can sometimes push us to not want to go deep in the work. I've just been so incredibly impressed with my staff. I'm not sure that when we went with canvas as a learning management system that we thought what would this look like for our early or young learners and the parents that will, it will be their position to support them. But it's a lot. Kelly, I had a kindergarten teacher that was just like you that talked to inviting me into the classroom today. Miss LeVangie, she was so proud of herself and her kids. Right now what they're doing is they're focusing on not just how to upload and give opportunities for new instruction in canvas, but to make sure that even our youngest learners, kindergarten, five and six year olds, have the capacity to understand how to navigate canvas and to click on a Zoom link and to know what comes next. Today, what they were practicing was how they could show their parents when they went home tonight. How to give, how to upload their own assignments and get feedback from their teacher. What I was, and Miss LeVangie alone, the smile on her face was gorgeous to see. And some of those five year olds, I saw some sticky fingers, that was icky, but they were having the best time and they were so proud of the work and their, their facility to navigate. And boy, was that an inspiration to some of our teachers who needed that little boost, like Erin shared at Calis. The worry is high, the concern is high and my staff rocks and is resilient and they're figuring out a way to really focus first on kids. A quick update beyond getting ready for going remote on our building is getting really cold and really loud. They're doing the work that they can do before all of the equipment arrives from overseas. But there are times this morning, the kids were like, is something going to come through the ceiling over our fifth and sixth grade, because they were putting in all of the framework, the sheet metal, the housing that's going to go around some of the units. There were big fans to make sure that the air was exiting the building and not coming back into the building from the mezzanine and the attic spaces. And I think they felt like the, the workmen were going to fall through the ceiling. That's not happening. They're not even over the ceiling, but sound travels. It's a little distracting, but the workmen have been great. The work is going well. And I think as long as fingers crossed all of us, the equipment arrives on time will, will do well. That's, that's what's happening at Calis. And kudos to principal fair and her staff for managing not just school, regular school during a pandemic, because nothing is regular at that point, but also doing an HVAC project in the middle of a pandemic. So, but thank you for all your, all that you're doing over at Calis. And moving on, next we have principal Gillian and Dodie, which I know has had an interesting times. It's our last board meeting. Oh yeah. So we, we are back and thrilled to be back in person with the kids, lots of anxiety, lots of anxiety from the staff, lots of anxiety from families. We did have some families who elected to keep their students home all week last week, just to sort of see how things were going there. It's, it's, you know, staff is working really hard and it is really, really, it's just stressful these days. And nervous making all the way around. We don't have any exciting construction products happening right now, which is actually kind of nice. One thing that we are noticing is we did notice that a large number of our students, probably most of our students did come back in the fall with some regression in their basic skill areas. Just from having been out of school for six months. And that wasn't a surprise. But it's just, it's just, it's just, it's just, you know, you know, you know, what is really nice is that we're seeing that by now, most of those students have regained the skills. That they lost during the time of closure. So that's nice. It's, it's just sort of looking forward and thinking about, you know, really we have to conceptualize grades and grade level, you know, how we're going to get back from this one. The dog is starting to maybe snore a little bit. In terms of, I do have to give a man a call pot. I didn't forget to write the remote school blurb. So in the packet, but my period and guilt has kicked in sufficiently to make sure that that comes in next month's packet. The remote school is going well. I mean, I think we did have some students leave at the end of the first quarter, because they just decided to go for the first quarter and see what was going to be happening in in-person school. We've had a couple more students move into the in-person, I mean, into the remote school. Some families moved into the district and went straight into the remote school. We are working to figure out some of the online platforms and tools that are using, that we're using for that. I think that they are working on planning yet another all school Zoom meeting. Very excited that we have gotten music started for the remote school. And PE is going to be starting after Thanksgiving. And the remote teachers met with the school counselors. So we're going to be working on that. And we're going to be working on that actually today to work on figuring out how we can get some social and emotional support in for our remote students. And we've also worked, worked out figuring out intervention services for the remote students. And so it's a, it's a giant puzzle with constantly moving parts. So that's keeping me busy. And I'm going to be working on that. And I'm going to be working in Doty. And then I sit in my office and see what's happening with the remote school. And it's a really nice blend. Thank you very much. Principal Gillian. And appreciate the update on the remote school. I know that's been a lot of work. As well as the recent events at Doty. But I thank you for your leadership. And, and steering that steering the ship through. So thank you so much. Thank you office. Tha, The leading role here is Montpelier, principal lifer. Yeah, there's a few things I would add to what's in the written report. Our teachers, I would. I offer the same sentiments as my colleagues. They're, they're a bit overwhelmed anxiety is high. I think anxiety is high on the part of parents as well. We're kind of holding our breath over this next month and hoping that we'll stay in the great place that we've been in But it's there's just a lot of unknown right now and that that's a little uneasy for people We had a substantial donation from a community group to our it's we have a fund called the EMS Cares Fund and So that was a very pleasant surprise They wanted to just have a small player use the money in whatever way we felt the community in the school needed it We also had similar to how Aaron shared we have a local church who typically donates Thanksgiving meals And they because they weren't able to donate the actual food this year We have eight families who will be getting gift cards for Thanksgiving meals Friday at the end of the day To do some shopping for their Thanksgiving Um We've been participating in a three-part PD module with our staff around formative assessment So just tagging on to what Jen was saying about the fall assessment data. We looked at that and our teachers set goals Um, I think probably in all of our schools. We saw regression Um, or some pretty stagnant scores from last winter, which is the last time we really have Some good scores from and so our teachers today shared their goals in reading writing and math with one another and Next time we gather together right after Thanksgiving We're going to bring dilemmas and participate in a consultancy protocol on, you know, okay Here's this kiddo. They haven't moved here's some work samples and try to support each other and working through how can we get These kids back to where they need to be because they're there are some who stayed right, you know Stayed the course and are where they should be and there's others who kind of Lost some ground and then we have some students who lost significant ground and we're In a place where we're trying to work together to get them back to where they need to be I mean then I would say on the canvas front this afternoon our teachers spent the afternoon with our canvas specialist Learning how to take multiple data points and create assignments When to use a rubric for assignments when not to use a rubric and just trying to get a little bit more efficient with the Assignment piece of it now that they're getting the hang of creating assignments We're trying to to get a little bit better and learn some tricks around that. Um, I think that's it for us Thank you principal Lyford and I appreciate you talking more about the canvas piece because I know that is a Quite an undertaking for our teachers staff and for our principals, right? This is a New a major new thing to be learning about while you're also teaching and running a school. So thank you for talking more about that Moving forward principal Casey A lot's been said already and so I'm going to echo some of it I will just say that conferences were a great opportunity for us to connect with families We do miss welcoming families into the school seeing them in person and in having some informal ways to touch base So conferences were great to be able to make make more consistent contact there into touch base about how everyone's doing We've been making the most out of our wednesday opportunities For professional development our teachers have been learning a lot more about canvas trying things with students in the classroom They're still a long way to go but just to acknowledge as everyone sort of has We are asking teachers to plan and prep for what they're doing in person But also planning and prep for remote which we hope not to use. So we're asking a lot of teachers And they're carrying a lot with them Students are doing well on a day-to-day basis We continue to remind them to wear their masks which they do really well with with wearing mask Staying apart from each other is hard to remember But we remind them and they understand that they have to do that And washington continues to be going really well So just to circle back to our staff Just to underscore for you that they're working super hard. They're carrying their own worries each day to school Their worries for their own health for their families for their students and families their colleagues But they continue to put on a smile under their mask that you can see through their eyes and give their best to students each day So our staff is working really hard to make this school year as As normal and as successful as it can be for our students I think you said that very eloquently uh, kasey and Appreciate your help in the work of your staff during this very challenging time So thank you for all your all that you do And your teachers as well And last but certainly not least principal steven Right, so um, you've preferred the the trials and tribulations. They're no different here at uh at u32 of what we're all going through But I have two teachers that are here on this call right now Who um wanted to and I wanted to give them the chance to thank you guys For what you've given them. So daisy, you're out there somewhere and holless. I know you are too So, um, I'm calling on two of my middle school teachers to uh to finish my report All right. Hi. Thanks, steven. Um, so yeah, I just wanted to jump in and say that Definitely in a year that's been very new for everyone even uh experience teachers that's felt or years felt very relentless As we all know Having the half day wednesdays has brought us a significant amount of reprieve in that It gives our core teams time to meet and our content teams time to meet So with our new teachers in the building This is provided the senior teachers with some time to really guide them and just provide some stress relief So we have time to get together and talk about content and teaching and how to go remote And just how to handle all the newness um and stress of the year So we appreciate the time that we're getting Um, and I guess I won't take up more of your time But I will add in that I'm working very hard to add three kindergarteners To um our district. So, you know Um Thank you daisy. We we're all doing our part it seems. Um here in the district. Um, and uh, I would just also um Say that one of the things that I heard another principal Not in our district say that this year felt like all of her teachers were first-year teachers Um, and uh, and quite honestly it just resonated so much as to how many new things that we're all learning and doing That it has felt that way a lot But I really feel right now that all of those all of that experience that That we have in our schools is really starting to show now as we're getting into the you know The depths of winter is that we really see what a fantastic staff that we have in our district And and how well they're able to handle these situations that we keep throwing at them And you know, they're they're the they're the reason that we're all still able to meet At all and so uh, so I really just want to praise them for the work that they're doing and what they're all All able to do for all of us and so We're we're gonna fight the good fight and keep it going here at u32 and um, you can read all about it in the news. I'm sure Thank you, steven. I'm sure we will be reading about it. So thank you And that is our leadership team report, uh I don't know if anyone has any questions for the principals But I if they I thought just let you know it is a long day for them So after the after the questions are you ask questions I'd like to uh, if they wanted they're dismissed if they wish to leave If they want to stay but by be my guess But uh, also, uh, elizabeth, I would probably ask elizabeth, uh Get some sleep. She's had a long day with surveillance testing And uh the covid case and I'm sure we'll need her bright and bushy right eye to bushy bushy tail tomorrow. So uh In the morning Just a quick one if I may um, did I Did I hear um You steven mentioned that holless might have something to say too Yeah, I'm not sure if he was just here supporting uh, daisy, but he's he's hanging around out there as well I don't know if he's just lurking but um They're they're a team down there in the middle school. There are department heads down there in the middle school So I don't holless if you have anything to add to your chance apparently not That's absolutely fine And well, we're we're so amen grateful to to all of you and your your colleagues Both those who are here and those who are not um Thank you And good luck And and good night. Uh, am I missing that brian? Are you pointing? Yeah, you got some folks out of there some questions I think floor was first No, I I was just wondering jody had something to share with us because she I've seen her In you know, so I was that was my only question I thought you were watching my cat I was and and me I came to see your cat but I I saw that I um, I just appreciate all the hard work that everyone's been doing across the district teachers students leadership team and Thank you for the wednesdays because that really has helped our staff across the district and We're working on it for december the first december wednesday an ed camp model of pd for teachers using canvas Some different tools that we have a couple of new tools that go with it And um, just making sure that they're feeling more comfortable with it then so We're just excited to keep that work going and and have the time to do it. Thank you Thanks jones So just a couple of quick questions. Um A few weeks ago, uh, we were shown some really good attendance rates Um, which was really awesome to see but I wonder now during the current spike You know, what you know, what the attendance trend looks like Um, and it's sort of in a in a similar vein are you know, are we seeing? You know, you know, I I know that you know if families want to Uh, to take advantage of the remote program, right? We've asked them to talk to their principals So I wondered, you know, if the you know, if the principals are seeing increased numbers of family I know that you said, you know, we lost some students from the remote school We gained some students in the remote school But are more parents asking those questions, right and thinking particularly about the period, you know between You know between the holidays and a couple weeks into the new year when gatherings are expected to spike Cases anymore, you know, what are the atmospherics around that and um, you know I'm just I'm just curious about what what that looks like in the different schools Well, well, I can start off Jonas by saying that uh, I Uh, I do speak with uh principal Stephen fairly consistently about this particular This particular matter about the attendance. Uh, the attendance has been fairly high In the district. It's been lower than it was To be completely honest. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me I'm sure principal Stephen could talk about his particular school But uh, I I do know they've gone down a little bit, but I'm not sure by exactly how much at this point Yeah, so I would just tell you that we were averaging Um About 20 students out in the seventh and eighth grade and now we're seeing it up closer to 35 Um per day. Um, some of those I I would say that there's a fair number of people who are home out of that Potential exposure It's just still a parent may have been exposed and so the whole family is quarantining So we have that in a few cases. Um And so we actually our families are doing us a big favor By really taking it seriously if someone in the household has been exposed We've seen several families that say hey, we've got to be out for a few days till we get testing back and all of that and Yes, thank you. You know, those are those are what we want to see But we do have some families that have expressed concern particularly Once we saw a hundred cases in vermont was when we started to see People get a little bit nervous. Um, we've had conversations with them and uh, and for the most part they're they're still here But you know, there's a couple that are saying we're going to kind of hold off till after Thanksgiving And any you know any atmospherics from the from the elementary principals and you know and from from steven Alicia Yeah, I would just add Jonas to your question around the whole remote and families wanting to go and all of that We had a lengthy conversation about that. Um, just this week the elementary principals jen and kelly. Um Because we are starting to get parents asking, you know, what about part-time? What if we just go remote through the holidays? Is that an option? Um, and so we're wrestling with that We don't have any really great answers right now because we have and we've had since the fall You know 100 in person 100 percent remote switch at the quarter And now this, you know with the rising cases parents Understandably are asking what can they do? So that is something that we are grappling with and and need to continue talking about And don't have any really great solutions right now And I will say that uh Talking with other superintendents It comes down to system capacity. Uh, would we have the capacity to do something like that? And uh With the way our teachers are feeling. I mean we you heard from all the principals today that teachers are, you know How a lot of their place to expect them to start going remote and teaching at the same time in live person would be Something I would not ask our teachers to do at this time I think the system is very fragile and so I've been communicating with parents That while we're continuing to have conversations and grapple with it We're really not at any we really will not be able to Accommitate those types of requests right now from from parents keeping their kids home And you're talking about short-term environment That's right. Okay But you know having heard from from, you know, a bunch of you, you know guys in the leadership team It doesn't sound like you have concerns about people, you know, too many kids staying home because their families You know, don't want them out there, you know in public in the community and it doesn't you know, while you know, alisha I I totally hear you about wrestling those questions Um, it doesn't I also doesn't sound like you guys are concerned about, you know overcrowding in the remote School or having to you know deploy more resources there, you know, if there is a wave of enrollments Lisa I wouldn't I wouldn't say we're not worried about it Yes, it's a worry. Um Like when I said earlier, we're kind of holding our breath, right? We we just don't know yet So the next quarter, which is what we've been telling families comes in january Um, will there be a wave of families who want to go remote in january possibly? Um, and how will we address that? We're not sure And I think the other complicating thing Jonas is we have some Families we are leaving ourselves some room. There are some families who started the year Um With expressed anxiety because there's um either a new baby or somebody with um with a compromised health Uh Condition in the in the house And we are trying to be responsive to that However, with the message that that if you are going to switch to remote because the remote school and the bricks and mortar schools Aren't go marching in lockstep. You need to make a substantial time commitment to it, but it is It's it's it's it feels a bit precarious in terms and we are holding our breaths in terms of attendance I did put in the digest today just Um, lots of their head or Monday there have been lots of scuttlebutt kind of about if we can't have social gathering Why can we still have school? And I honestly haven't had enough time being out and about and Going to lbj's to be honest to find out how Other people are talking about it and kind of have getting my ear to the ground for that one But I I do see You know it don't if there's been kind of peaks and valleys in terms of the attendance, but we are tending to see more students absent Is there a point, you know, is there a threshold where that becomes, you know a real concern for You know student outcomes in the aggregate I would say yeah, it does I mean that's one thing that we have to sort of look at and think about and balance and talk with brian about is if you Have a large percentage of students out who aren't accessing the direct instruction You can you can keep up with cans of canvas on it to an extent but it's sort of the You know when we were talking about attendance and and those things we were using the old analogy of when the kid went to When the family took trips to disneyland And that doesn't really work when you're sort of in a situation where all of a sudden a larger percentage of your families are taking the trips to disneyland And sort of thinking about how do we Ensure that we are providing As robust in education as we can to all students So it's These are challenging times for sure And I would also add though, I think the when you talk about robust education. I think that The the the narrative the story when I talk to parents is You know, if we can keep keep your kids in school in person learning learning in person That's that's the best way to do it. That's the best. Uh, that's the best way to get an education Is coming to school and sending your child to school? And that's why I think there's such a move around the state and you know here in our district And and other places around the country that have reopened fully to try to state open fully And and and I think that you know, we're we're we're talking about our teachers Had been you know learning a lot about canvas right they're learning a lot But a lot of them been doing in person instruction for a lot longer than I've been doing canvas And so I think just just by that alone You know your your child's I think telling parents if we can keep the schools open Your child's going to get a probably a better education in person than they would remotely On average great, um Uh, are we are we good on this? um Should we move on then to uh to the finance committee and bid farewell Take a bite if you guys if you want to go home and go to sleep feel free if not, yeah Feel free to stay But elizabeth you too don't feel like you need to stick around All right, he's no time He's talking to the people who work for him. So many many thanks to uh And a good night Floor um, I do believe we've arrived at the finance committee portion Yeah, sure. I'll do a quick report and then we can move into the actions We review the budget presentation and I just want to talk briefly with the With the board about our intention for the budget presentation for december 2nd It because we haven't had a time to all discuss it So we're thinking on a on a 15 minute presentation and we'll divide the presentation within our finance committee and then we will have Public forum so that most of the meeting the rest of the 45 minutes will be spent A with the public and we are thinking of breaking up into small zoom meetings So into rooms so that we would have a One member of the board a be in each of those zoom We will try to do just board members if there are not how many people we get And we have some specific questions for for the public for the for for that If you guys could send me input a little bit later or or tonight if you want I would all want to spend a lot of time trying to wordsmith those unless you see something that is really bothering you We were thinking of three questions for the public as we go into those rooms And then we come back and debrief each room with one person debriefing from each so that we get a better Involved we get better involvement from the community. So the budget questions will be What clarifying questions do you have? What are your reactions to this information? And are we properly balancing the budget impacts on students school and taxpayers? So those were the three questions that we brainstorm with karis help and We will Unless I I don't know of you should we I'm looking at other A finance committee members if we should spend some time wordsmithing those or do you A are okay with the finance committee taking Charge of that part thumbs up or okay, all right, so then Moving on to that the presentation Really looks much like any other budget presentation we've done I'm not gonna share the slides right now, but we condensed it So it's a lot simpler and we can go faster. I didn't condense that brian and lori Condensed it and we gave the finance committee gave them a lot of input at our last meeting this Tuesday, so the next thing that we would like to I Send an email to all of you. So you had a little time to review the parameters I don't think we need to go through the budget the budget didn't change from the last time and in looking at the clock being 1945 already we Need to condense because I really want to get into the quality committee stuff. So we have a We are suggested the finance committee is recommending we that this five Parameters and I don't know if you had time to review them. I'm happy to read them out loud for the members of the public And then we can discuss so the first one was continue to offer and further develop the multi-tier system of supports to all students across all our schools a The second one under the threshold for penalty We just talked about that in our budget meeting bring the net impact of expenses budget in under three percent Include all three new initiatives that includes strategic planning and curriculum management bid facilities director and health instruction For all the schools the two schools that are missing health develop a contingency plan of expense reduction options in case the tax rate is not favorable So That is that would be guidance that we would give to our administrators so that they can start to develop you know draft number two for A future meeting. So I wanted to spend a little time Getting input from you guys and if I missed anything within those parameters, please finance committee members speak up Carrie I would add a couple things to the parameter the recommended parameters one is that part of part of keeping the net impact of the expenses below three percent and adding These three new initiatives to the extent possible Included in that was using fund balance Where it was appropriate to do that and by appropriate. We mean not having any outsized impact on future years budgets and that sort of thing. So keep that in mind that that's something that we were comfortable with That that is part of as part of the recommendation and the and the fifth one being Developing a list of options and that's just looking down the road and seeing If for example, we learn that we're not going to be held harmless for the reduction in students Equalized people that we are going we're going to need to react to that And so we want to be prepared If we get information in december or january that forces us to make some hard decisions We at least want to know what the options are Thank you. Carrie diane So just a question procedurally so We put the parameters on it. It goes back to Leadership team and the work and then they create a new a second budget proposal that includes those three initiatives what So then we come back and do we do a comparison to see what we've potentially Impacted by that new or are we saying if we agree to these parameters? That's what we agree to I think that's that's an interesting question But we are agreeing to these parameters to give them enough Guidance so that they can develop that So they can develop that budget whether they can actually get it under three percent You know, we we don't we don't know there My hope is that they will show us especially how it would affect student Student outcomes, but ultimately. Yeah, that is the guidance. They will develop budget that fits within this Guidance to present to us because otherwise We we're not being very clear with With them so they need some clear guidance But I I feel confident that we're giving them with especially with number one. We're giving them enough guidance to show what is important to us and then we have very specific You know, especially don't get too worried about the three new initiatives We're hoping that those are one-time expenses that maybe like kari was saying we can Maybe we can use either grant money or some excess spending Kari you have something if I can I think Diane's question is a really important one process wise and I don't know how you all did it last year But to me some of the possibilities would include Brian and lori might come back with a budget that meets those parameters and we're just not Comfortable with it. Maybe maybe the reductions in other areas are just too much and we want to amend the parameters Also, we might get new information. We may want to we want may want to Add to or expand Or edit our our previous Parameters, I think I think it's somewhat dynamic But I think it's helpful for us to give a sense of what our priorities are And then let them do the detailed work of the budgeting and then for the next draft and the next draft It's a it's a back-and-forth iterative process as I see it So do you guys feel comfortable with those parameters? I don't know lori. Do you have something to add to to that? Direction and I know brine and I already working on that and tomorrow morning at eight o'clock We'll be meeting with all the principles to continue with that and I'm feeling very comfortable with those parameters right now Thank you. I see caroline. I missed you. Sorry No, you're okay. Okay, so should Oh good move Move on do do we need a more? I feel like it's just a recommendation. So we don't need a motion, but Unless I'm wrong So moving on I'm just gonna close that when so we're okay with questions We're okay with the presentation. So moving on the only other There were several things, but I'm gonna move this one into more important and let brian talk about it the substitute rate of a page just do a quick Overview of what we did at the finance committee brian, would you like to speak to it? Or do you want me to present it? It's up to you. It's up to you. I mean if you want to talk about and then I can come back in It's okay. Why don't you just so we shorten the time to just do a quick Explanation or floor. I'm so sorry to interrupt. Maybe what we could do is um entertain a motion and get a motion on the table and then take it from there that um maybe Even you would like to move it Yeah, so I'll I'll I'll make uh a motion to and we did it in two parts or I'm getting to to that part of the I'll make a motion to adjust the The substitute page pay To 105 brian. I'm trying to get quickly down to my 115 115 And to not require license for Not to have a differentiation between license and non-license to flat fee Lisa were you able to get that? Yes, thank you, and I think the recommended link recommended language is on that page I was just trying to get down Well, I have two three packages open but I just recommended a washington Central unified union school district no longer differentiate between license and non-license for substitute pay and the rate of pay continue To be a paid at a daily and a half day rate Daily rate three uh 115 and a half day rate 63 dollars Wonderful, thank you. Is there a second? second Okay. Thank you. Jonas and I just Recalling and is you're accusing yourself and recall um, so discussion I'll let you Brian Yeah, uh in my uh free time, uh, I read about I read a book one of my magazines. I read is a district administration Um magazine and there was a great article. I'm not going to read the whole article to you but it's called a sub optimal situation and basically the entire country districts large and small Are dealing with a substitute shortage right now in across the country and This is uh, it was a really good springboard to talk about a lot of different things but uh, because this we haven't updated the uh, the sub pay since 2015 And uh, we did an analysis and we are one of the lowest paying School districts in the region for substitutes. We are the one of the only school districts in the region that are open five days a week And uh, we're having a sub shortage But everyone's having a sub shortage and we did start getting requests from uh, folks saying Hey, uh, what are you what do you guys pay because? They have other opportunities So we might be able to get folks who are maybe driving 20 miles outside of our district to get paid Something that we maybe could be offering them to keep them in our district So they're not leaving. Uh, so there was a lots of opportunities here for, um uh Helping our teachers. Uh, one of the one things is uh on this magazine article, which was uh published as recently as it says You know when all else fails Uh, what do you do when you can't find subs and right now? The answer is you leverage existing staff Coaches facilitators counselors interventionists teachers And so we have our teachers who are Working, you know, it's a tough tough environment with anxiety and opening school and following their precautions And now we're also asking them to cover classes and so uh, and so that just adds to A stressful long day for them. And so, uh Yeah, there may be some more information. I'm working currently with the teacher's union on an mou Uh about that that's a separate situation, but I do think that this would really end up helping our Help further our sub pool and maybe help our teachers out who are doing so much already for us Look ahead. I don't think thank you, brian. Yeah, and The 115 just puts us in in a good place between the districts 30 miles around us basically. Yeah Yes, we wouldn't be the highest. We wouldn't be the lowest We would be right right there with everyone else as of right now though. We are the lowest So we're looking to find the goldilocks spot Good Any further discussion Or shall we move to a vote? All in favor, please click yes And opposed click no Yes, Scott and Oh, thank you, chris. Thank you much. Um, and all who are voting Did I miss that and somebody seconded I seconded it. Okay. Sorry about that Great, so uh pass unanimously of all those voting Now flora back to you so one Two more things but one especially We had a discussion on the electric vehicle charger at rumney elementary school And there were recommendation from From the facilities committee. There were a couple of options that were included to us So we decided an option two as a recommendation to you, but we want to talk to you about it So the recommendations that we will continue to provide the ev unit and the electric service to the community But the district will not pay for the assure service agreement maintenance Cost of the network network service costs. We will ask the town to pick up disgust if the town refuses to pick up this The the assure the maintenance and the network service We will then move into eliminating the ev charger From from from this from from the school. That was our recommendation That's great. Um, are you putting it out forward as a motion as well? Sure Okay, um Second second Oh, uh, I heard karey. Thank you. Um So, uh Discussion of this Caroline I had a question. Um, it does not charge people to use it like most Devices now The user gets charged the electric cost So I wasn't sure if the Amount we pay is in addition to what the person using it would pay or if this was a device we put in I was on the board when this happened. I don't remember it at all. Um But we put one in that doesn't charge the user in which case. I know where I'm parking tomorrow So, so I would ask uh Jim garrity our tech consultant He looked he did a lot of work in looking into this a lot of research and Trying to get to the bottom of all this So I'm going to turn it over to him to answer that question and any other questions folks may have Sure, brian. Thank you. And um, you know, I I couldn't have done this without, um, you know, washington electric, uh, you know, um Them helping out with this as well as k.c. Was it was a big help as we look at this and so You're correct. Uh, today we don't charge, um for the electricity for this We do have the option If we renew the service to, um, you know to charge the user for that for that process And they would they would charge charge point and then we would get a you know, we would get our piece of that Of that charge So this just to give the I guess the whole board and and um, you know The constituents a little bit of background on this very quickly. Um, this was a donation back You know in the 2016 time frame before, you know, this predates me in a large amount of the board And it was certainly before we all came together as a school district. And so, um As part of that donation The electric company was also involved and they kicked in The charge point cost which is the the cost to put us on the portal so people can know where to find our our our electric electric vehicle charger and then in addition to that they also They also have a my fi a a um a wireless device in the unit that allows Allows us to to talk to the charge point network. And so, um, what we're being asked for here is to um Is now that that five-year anniversary of the assure service as well as the my fi have come do um, you know, we're being asked to um to to to take on Um the costs associated with that and so, um, that's the motion that's in front of the board right now One of the things we had stated in our, um Uh in our um presentation Was that um the electricity cost now whether or not we extended a charge to Somebody who was charging their vehicle. That's one thing but the electricity charge, you know The service charge would come into the into the school district Then we continue to do so and the reason That we made that recommendation was because it would be too expensive to break out You know the the supply cost and the transport cost for the electricity As opposed, you know, they're just too big of a cost versus leaving it there And the minimal charge of of allowing electricity to charge and back to your your question about You know, could you make all those costs up if you were to split it out or or what have you You certainly make them up if you charge, you know, somebody for that But having said all that, you know, what's in front of the board is, you know, do we continue as is? Do we um, do we ask the town to pick that up because it's not really an educational thing? Um, uh, or or you know, or maybe there's another deviation So that was really what floor was mentioning and uh for I appreciate, you know He did it much more simplistically than I did. So thank you for that and uh, and I'll turn brian it back over to you Just one thing, uh jam, uh How often have people used that? It's a good question So we had a principal um at rum the prior to kasey that was using it on a daily basis and so We were seeing, you know, um, you know a couple megawatts I think it was that were being drawn over the course of the entire service Uh, just a shade under two megawatts. Um Over the entire service, but since um, you know, november of 2018 it hasn't been used once And so um, you know, that's a pretty telling thing and I think it's because that principle is no longer with the organization So, um, you know that can play into it Thank you, jim Thank you Sorry, I'm still not getting why why we're not charging for the electricity I know you you gave a long explanation, but I I need a shorter one. I don't know Is it not matter is it not matter it was it was something that was in the first five years I think it was because it was donated I think the decision was made again this predates me But the decision was made not to charge for it at the time But we have the option through charge point, which is the azure service that connect us to the network We have the option. It's our option to charge for for the electricity. You're not charged It's not being charged for today, but that's a decision that predated me Yeah, I mean the thing about it is that it's in a very odd place unless you work at the school, right? I I own an electric vehicle. I have never charged it there I if I'm in middle sex, I'm going to charge my leaf at home Um, so unless rumny is your destination and you're going to be staying there three or four hours There's no reason why you would ever use that charging station as a vehicle owner. That's right. It's just in a weird place. It's not it's not helpful. So I would go to the red hand bakery. That's what I would do. I use that that's what I correct One would have to ask about the safety of the students. Uh, I think We do we want the general public to get come up and park their cars near our schools Uh and charge their car and Yeah Maybe you know everyone in middle sex in the area, but you can't really say people that are passing through Can't if you're if it's open to the public. That's it. That's another piece there that would have to be considered I thought the one we put that in um through the rumny board Uh, we had limitations on that that it wouldn't be open to the public during school that just I think just for that reason And if that's the case, um, then we would have to adjust the charge point website So that we are off the grid All throughout the day and we come on the grid from four o'clock to you know, four p.m. To Seven a.m. And so so that would be one piece and then the next question is well, why are we on the charge point website at all? We maybe you always want to hide it, you know If we're not marketing it maybe we shouldn't ever just because of the safety of students You know, it's it's that you know, and then it comes back to the business side of it then You know, so it's a you know, there's definitely some decision points there. Um, you know to consider I mean the the attached usage This is very helpful because it really looks like there's no usage for Until you get to 2017 and 18 And then if you said there's not been any since november of one It's november of 2018 was the last time we had usage I think it was if I remember correctly november 21st, but let me just pull the document here It was um, it's it's it's been just basically two years Yeah, just it doesn't sound like it's getting a lot of use actually Yeah, it's 11 21 2018 Was the last use Yeah On my app so Would it would it be would it be useful just to Would it be useful just to remind us the motion on the table? so that um I was actually gonna I don't know what the motion is. Was it the first option? Sorry, I just don't know what the motion is. Was it the first option that wc CUSD WCU whatever would continue to support current blah blah blah. Is that what the motion is? Yes, but the district wouldn't pay. Did you have the other part? Is so so we won and two Options one and two together Oh, so it's option two. Okay. Thank you Okay So when you say an option two we would continue to provide the electricity service Does that mean we would continue to not charge for it? Yeah For yeah for for right now it would require us to have a see a separate meter if we wanted to check it We were incurring cost So if if the town is just while we are in negotiation with the town So basically what we would be doing is giving direction to brian and his team and the future facilities director to go and talk to the town And and you know if they're willing to pick that cost the ev charger can stay there if the town is not willing There's still a cost to remove it, right? Right, but it doesn't make sense for the You know our consensus was that it didn't make sense to to keep it if we were going to continue to inquire to To have discussed You know if I can add one additional comment to that for jill's benefit is Jill I think back to your question if if the town were to You know were to agree to some some level of cost sharing Then they may want to weigh in as well on recouping some of that cost Just like we would want to recoup some of that cost in a charging type atmosphere But until we go down that negotiating path if it's if that's the recommendation of the of the board here Um, you know, we won't be able to speak to that But I think you you know your question and your your comments are noted and this is something that you know If we you if we you track down that path, I'll make sure is part of the conversation Okay, I have a question Um, do we want to make this service available for teachers though? Because with the might and administration there might be some more incentives for people to buy electric cars And then teachers might be wanting to purchase those And have ability to charge when they're at school. So Um, I don't think we should be paying for it if it's not being utilized And then I don't know what the option is again, there might be incentives In the pipeline in a few Years or maybe a year But to put up a solar panel to generate that electricity. So we're not enduring that cost Kind of what they have at the co-op In care kari, I don't know if you can talk to that more about expenses and And things associated with this solar panel Yeah, I mean we could talk about that maybe as an as an option if we decided to stick with it I think I think we should deal with the motion that's on the table. Um, Just recognizing it's not getting a lot of use Yeah, so, um, I'll call the question Chris I have one more question Sorry, I was okay jail if we, um Disconnect it can we reconnect it in like a year if a staff member has an electric car and wants the ability To charge or would that be too? Expensive I from my perspective sure, you know, we can leave or we can disconnect it Leave the electricity capped breaker it off and and I don't think that's a big expense whatsoever And then if we we decided to re re-enable it, um, I don't see that as being expensive And it might be a nice employee park in the future. So I think I think that's a consideration sure Okay, um Have we got enough on this shall we move to a vote? All right, then all in favor of the motion. Um, lisa Can I would you mind reading the motion just to make sure One last time that we've got it straight So I have that floor moved that wc Washington central uus day would continue to provide the eb unit And the electricity service to the community But the district would not pay for the assure service agreement maintenance costs or the network service costs We would ask the town to pick up the cost if the town refuses to pick up the assure Maintenance or network service costs wc usd would eliminate the eb charger and second did by cari Great. Thank you Everybody understands All right, then all in favor, please click yes opposed click no Yes And chris Says yes Thank you All yeses So the motion carries unanimously Um, I should oh point out at this point that my internet connection seems to be Unusually bad So if it's if it gets really um Uh floor you to do right? Okay, I'll take that as a yes Yeah, you can always try putting your video off and in my help Okay, um, I might I might just do that. Um, so, uh, I think Uh, battery floor for the next Yeah, so I'm gonna just make a motion and then I have lori talk about it and we can Vote I made a motion that we purchased the 2017 toyora sienna in the amount of 17,984 dollars Sure, um And cari Moves cari seconds well done Right on top of that Okay, so now I'll speak to that so, um, we have had a recommendation after conferring with Dave hannigan That this van has very little miles on it. We've been leasing it for three years And we're happy to report that the grant that brian mentioned earlier Is going to actually pay for this van because it's being used right now primarily for delivering meals So I just wanted you to know that there's no budget impact to this and we just had Um, honored the recommendation by Dave hannigan and the group that this is a good van and it's would just be helpful to Just purchase the one that we've been driving Thank you Thank you, lori. Is there any discretion? any questions Yeah, this is uh, just really quick. I seem to remember that maybe it was this year Maybe it was last year that we did we authorize the district to purchase vehicles? Without board Without needing board authorization I seem to remember that Is that ringing a bell floor? Because this is a big process. Um, what will happen is because this is also getting paid for from a grant I do need board authorization. Please. Sure. Thank you. I was confused to jonah. So you were not the the only one Yes great So, um, any other any other questions or or discretion If let's go to a vote All in favor, please click yes opposed click no And I'll listen out for chris Yes, please I heard Thank you chris and um Although all votes are yes. So the motion passes unanimously Um, wonderful. Do you have anything else on finance committee floor before we move on? It one quick report. You authorized us to to meet to have that small group Me eat about capital and lori and bill ford and myself matt Is this monday and we're planning on meeting next monday. I believe we just have to schedule it Uh, so we have started the the process I don't have a big update yet But we're looking at the possible projects for next year and then lori already talked about The main thing is to try to move some of that capital money But she's still waiting from abby from the aoe to give her authorization for that And that's it Okay, thank you. Thank you very much um, so It's uh 8 17. We're at a transition point To education quality. We've been going now Some of us for three hours And two hours and 15 minutes without a break. Do you want to take five humanitarian break? And come back at 8 22 Okay, I'm taking that as a yes see you back at 8 22. Thanks. Kari. We're at education quality. I can turn it over to you Um, yeah, take your time. Take your time Thanks god Okay, so um So this month we begin our review process very exciting And on page 68 is the beginning of the slides that were our presentation And just to remind everybody we're Working in service of our two student achievement goals this year One of the goals is a process goal where we're trying to develop a system of reviewing each of the student learning outcomes But the point of that process is to really help the board understand better Our student achievement both in the activities that we do and then the outcomes that we achieve so This month we started with financial literacy and made it was helpful to start with one that's relatively smaller in scope and is Pretty contained seemed like it was an easier one to maybe get our minds wrapped around a little bit and Hopefully everybody's got a chance to review the presentation slides And it gives you a sense of the variety of topics that we're trying to cover within each student learning outcome I believe And i'm going to ask gen to share a couple of the highlights of that presentation just to give you some Additional detail Yeah, great. So thank you. I'm gonna share my screen with you and um, oh, it's been disabled. So Jim, can you enable my screen share, please? Let me see if I can get in there yet Yeah, there we go. Okay So we had talked about sharing a few slides with you Just to highlight a few things. So the first thing that I want to do is Share with you This presentation is it's the overview that um that george cook had provided to to you all and I think that what's important for you to know is that we wanted to embed some teacher and student voice in these presentations So we're going to hear directly from george in this overview and I know I need to share my sound with you Let me just find that Share computer sound and here we go george cook here from u32 and our department of business education Talking with you today about our class in personal finance At u32, this is a graduation requirement I'm happy to say that u32 was a real pioneer in this throughout the state of brahmine Where at the very very beginning there were only a handful of schools Requiring this course and now several throughout brahmine Are on board with this project as well Throughout the course of the semester, we covered three learning themes spending and saving credit and debt and investing And although of course the class does involve Mathematics, it's important to note that we talk a lot with the kids about the psychology of money Being disciplined with their money and making really important decisions So essentially the course is a combination of those mathematical skills Those areas of personal finance, but at the same time This having really good discussions with the kids about our experiences Both good and bad making decisions with their money All of our work is loaded along with all the other work that we have here at u32 and our canvas learning management system We load them week by week And the students throughout the course of the semester can see their work for both in-person And remote learning and at the same time, of course, check the progress of any of their grades Thank you All right, so that's george and I think one thing that I would really emphasize is that it seems especially Relevant one of the themes that came through was the real life of flickability of financial lit and especially during this time of the pandemic It seems all the more relevant wanted to just provide a little bit of information to you about the Proficiency-based graduation requirements and our performance indicator. So as george mentioned, we have three standards You can see them listed on your screen spending and saving credit and debt and investing They are aligned to the jumpstart national standards the vermont agency of education actually adopted these standards in january of 2018 typically Students at u32 take one class in financial literacy over the course of one semester and Upon successful completion they achieve proficiency in those three standards Another thing that's important to note is that We have not articulated pis in financial literacy as a student learning outcome sort of separately Pre-k through eighth grade But we do address a number of the concepts either through mathematics or through global citizenship But that would be a body of work to be considered Then the final thing that i'll highlight for you is a little bit of our student outcome data I'm just going to quickly fast forward here and share this piece with you and this is the The data from last year by the end of the year and I think a few things are important to note again Most of our students not all but most of them Take financial literacy in their junior year And so you can see that the majority of our students are achieving proficiency in those standards through that Experience and some aren't and I think that it's important if you preview the The whole rest of the presentation, you know that we've been offering a summer learning opportunity for two summers for our kids It's an opportunity to do two things One is to make sure that students who need additional opportunities to Repreform a little bit of additional time or experience Have more time and experience and one thing that i'll say Now and again and again is that in a proficiency based system Achievement remains the constant and what can vary is time and place and our summer learning opportunity Is that variation of time and space or place? so that happens and The other thing that sometimes happens is that kids in a more traditional schedule than we have this year May get called back to get additional opportunities Right now, so that's something important and then a few kids just hadn't taken it yet At the end of their junior year and so they will find time to take financial literacy in their senior year or In the summer that's creating an opportunity now for students who want to open up their schedules down the line To take financial literacy and again in the full presentation you saw There were two quotes from students about taking it in the summer and why they took it in the summer For that expanded learning opportunity experience So those were the things that I was playing the highlight and then I will pass it back to kari for the next team Thank you gen So um that gives you a little flavor of the kinds of um information that the committee is looking at and that um is available and um we used a protocol to have a Structured discussion and in the memo that um that was provided you get you'll get some of the I guess you might say findings of the committee Um, and you know in terms of the questions that this raised for us and some of the possible implications So our objective tonight is really it's informational We're just wanting to share this overview with you and just give you a sense of what we're up to And and obviously the content what you know what our district is doing with financial literacy as as one student learning outcome I think with more time And more of these reviews Our theory is that the board is going to become sort of proficient and and and being able to use the knowledge um of uh Student learning outcome a student achievement for planning and budgeting purposes, but we're just getting started now I'll have to test that theory down the road. So I'll pause there and see if there's questions or suggestions See what the reaction is if by mekari The the presentation was great and I also very much liked the memo Um that accompanies it. I think that was really useful too the the questions that that You came up with or that your committee came up with very interesting and um thoughtful I appreciated those Great. Yeah, I think um, it'll be interesting to watch that over time as we get more practice with it and we start comparing Um, you know different aspects of different student learning outcomes. I I'm really looking forward to it I think it's going to be good and I'll just take that opportunity to make a plug that any uh board member who wants to come sit in on any given Student learning outcome review. You're more than welcome that we generally meet. Um, our practice has been to meet the Uh, the five o'clock hour before the first board meeting of the month So on december 2nd, we're going to be tackling transferable skills Maybe at the other end of the spectrum from financial literacy. This is going to be a pretty rich discussion. So everyone's invited Come and join in Thank you for the invitation um other other uh questions for uh for kari or for jen Board members uh, joni I just want to give a shout out to uh, george and bonnie We learned today in an email that was forwarded to us that that u32 high school was recognized by ngpf And i'll have to look at who that is as a gold standard school for financial literacy education And that just came through today. So it'll be in the next newsletter, but it seemed like a good time to share it Yeah, most definitely that's that's wonderful to hear Thank you It's almost like you could have planned this It's almost like you couldn't plan that. I mean, it's that's just, you know, amazing kudos to u32 and jen uh, kudos to jen uh for educating me about the student learning outcomes Because I think that was also a big part of it. Uh The work with the student learning outcomes that the district has been working on for a number of years I thought jen was very strategic in selecting financial literacy first because it's uh It's easier to get your arms around that than picking a larger subject area, which it can definitely get a Uh more challenging. So thank you jen Yeah, yeah Am I even a student able to come to those reviews about student learning outcomes Absolutely, please do We would welcome have you participate Excellent Fantastic, I'm very happy to hear it. Um So kari anything anything else before we move on? Uh, no, I I don't have anything else at this point We're informational at some point. We're going to be asking you to wrestle with With the substance a little bit more, but we're just we're just getting our feet wet here That's great. That's much better than being pushed into the deep end Thanks, um so then uh, we can move on to 4.6 policy committee and chris I can turn it over to you for that Thank you scott. Um, so on our agenda. We only have one um a policy that is up for Second reading and adoption and it is the title nine policy which is uh, Is very lengthy so Is there a motion to approve The title nine policy as presented in the board packet Oh, right. That's that's for you to say scott I'm I could just sit back and relax chris No, I'm sorry. Thank you. You and all the hard work for me There you go Um, but but just to echo chris's request would anyone care to make that motion I'll move to accept the first reading of policy c12 I think there's Second and adoption Reading adoption. I moved to accept the second reading and adoption of policy Thank you, Dennis. Thank you very much Um, was that lindy or dian? It was it's lindy. It was lindy Um, and lindy seconds. Thank you. Uh, so, um, any discussion or chris, do you have further presentation? Do you have some further comments? Uh, this is the policy that was um, given to us by the agency of education And the indication is that we must adopt it as is that we don't have a title line policy in effect And we need to have one in effect We also had discussion that since this has basically come down from the federal government u.s. Department of Education There is a possibility. If not a probability That it may change within the next year or so Because it's I don't know if there's any Now, well, it was somewhat in the news in terms of If being Just a very different policy than what we've been used to and kelly bush who was I'm telling us that they they'd gone through some training And it is You know, it looks like it's a policy that does not keep the complainants Name confidential as much as What we had been doing And it just reading through it. It's just it's it's an odd mix to me of both civil process and almost incorporating some element of criminal process into it as well so It just It sounds like it's just going to be a much different A type of process and what we would we would be laboring under Or using under the bullying harassment and hazing policy that we have in place right now And I welcome any any correction or clarification that anyway may have on my on my comments Thank you chris ryan has this hand up Sorry, it was it's interesting. I was reading the AAS a that's the national organization for like we had vermont super intense association Also, remember the AAS a which it's a national part and they were talking about That this the current administration That and the federal government this is one of their Probably the longest lasting legacy that they may have from the federal government in the educational policy realm but they do think that There wasn't really a requirement to have title nine policies before Now we have we don't have one but now there's a requirement to have one So we definitely need to have one. I think we're exposed in certain areas by not having a policy And I want to thank kelly bushey for her leadership in working on this with with attending trainings be working with the title nine legal team at the state level and Recognizing that this may be altered and we may have to amend this policy as we move forward When the new administration takes over in the federal government and as they get their arms around this piece It is a quite a rather lengthy policy I think it's there is a lot of it work that we're going to have to do with our school based administrators and I can let kelly talk more about it the But it's a it's a Opportunity for us to make sure we have something on the books And be open to the fact that we may be asked to change this as we move forward Kelly do you have anything? No, I think what you'll notice in this policy that's different from most other policies is that the procedures are included And typically we don't do that here and it is the recommendation from legal counsel That the procedures do be included in this policy because there's not a lot of wiggle room and that we are required to follow these procedures Thank you very much Certain amount to unpack here, but in terms of the board's decision on this are there any further questions or Concerns or shall we move to a vote? um I'm not hearing anything so Let's go to a vote then all in favor of Jonas's motion to accept the second reading and to approve the second reading in adoption of policy c12 Please click yes if you're opposed click no And we'll hear from you chris Yes, I in favor Okay, thank you, and I'm seeing all in favor. So the motion carries unanimously Many thanks Now, um moving on to board operations We have um, we have jill oleson to thank for the draft on page one on one of um board norms um Why don't we have a motion to adopt um on the table and before we discuss with our Do you feel ready to do that? silence I would move that we adopt the board norms as I have presented them I'll second that sorry. I was I got kicked out of the meeting and my internet is really weird Uh, um, I know what you mean flooring. Yeah, so joe moves floor seconds Approval of the board norms as drafted on page 101 the clean version um discussion Scott would it help if I just reminded everybody what I how I approached this I would be delighted. Thank you. It would help a lot. Okay. So in our last board packet You may remember we had three documents. We had the old u32 board norms We had a document that scott had drafted and then we had One that looked more like a a chart that had and I can't actually remember the source of that one A floor brought it to us, but I don't longer remember where it came from Restorative justice from oh, yes. Yes. Okay. And so that had some other Sort of many of them were sort of like, you know, how we behave as as individuals What where we landed was that we thought that the u32 the old u32 board norms were a pretty solid starting point and We agreed that I would start with those and incorporate a few items from the other documents that That we thought made sense So I did give you both a clean version and actually it looks to me like it's got a little bit of formatting problem because I I did keep the You know, I did keep I did keep the changes tracked. So you you also have the revised the version that's the where you can see the revisions from the u32 The old u32 policy. So what I tried to do actually I'm going to just look at that um was um We we agreed the first one Just needed to be more clear about communicating to the public. So I just reworded it and clarified it a little bit Made some clarity about the opportunity for public comment Um, and also how we deal with it if something comes up in public comment that warrants further discussion Um, that gets back to my the concern I keep raising about not getting kind of buffeted by by new topics um I added the idea of community dialogue about scheduling community forums Um, just to make it clear that that's different than the public comment time Um, and I think then um the other Uh major item is um that there would be uh an opportunity for um enough time and reflection I was again trying to get it like not surprise not having to deal with something hard Um in a in a single meeting. So that's the reflection one um And I think that's Oh, and then the respect each other one I made some That's where I incorporated some of the things from the restorative justice document into a kind of an existing bullet Uh, oh and I also on the role of the board I just clarified uh old language from u32 about staying at a high level and not being in the weeds and tried to Make that a little bit more sort of what we really mean Which I think is staying on our in our policymaking oversight role and not in the operational detail. So I just tried to clarify that So that was my approach. I'm totally open to changes if people have them. Um But I thought I would take a stab at at least getting us to a single document I think I think you're stab skewered it joe I think it's great. Um Um And and uh, what we can even turn this video on uh, oh Oh, is Did he see raising his hand? No, no, no, he doesn't have he raises. Oh, okay I see caroline and I see steep. Well, I see steven caroline first then steven um, yeah, I was just going to say jill from the Last meeting did this one. I think you picked up on everything that we discuss Love what you did and Yeah, I think you got everything that we said and it looks awesome. Thank you. Great. Sure Thanks, steven I apologize. I wasn't here for the previous meeting. So If this was discussed and already decided just tell me to be quiet, but um, I don't know what mindful listening is Oh, well, you remember we did mindful listening at our board retreat Right, isn't that wasn't that you know where you're sort of like trying to be able to repeat back I I guess the point I bring it up is that I think the norm should be more general Yeah And to subscribe a certain style of listening Yeah, that's the case that board members are trained in it new board members. Yeah, you know, it's a minor point but if we say We make it more generic and it in my mind it's easier And then I I can't I can't resist the opportunity to suggest That tonight we violated role of the board Going back to my earlier point and I know Brian you and I Are potentially butting heads over this but um, we got into the weeds So the last part was just a pound of flesh for me Just everyone can disregard it. It's sarcastic humor, but you know, maybe taking out mindful Yeah, and we could just say list listening as the word instead of practicing mindful listening I I think that would be Maybe we remember what that meant ever in a year. That's I do try to write documents so that They don't make sense later on. I would be comfortable with that Yeah, I mean Nobody would advocate for practicing mindless listening. I presume so, um Yeah, we don't need Okay, thanks chris um So, uh Would you would you accept that edit from steven jill? I would Okay um, so, uh, I I have a comment if no one else has their hand raised yet Sorry chris. I didn't catch that. I have a comment if no one else has their hand raised No, nobody else that I could see has So, um, in terms in terms of the community involvement during board meeting um I'm not fearful to the part that says The board members should listen but not respond because that would That seems to me to say that you can ask questions Even if a member of the public is making a statement or a comment that you just don't don't understand Or you want to understand better? And it doesn't seem like that's something that should be put off to another Meeting in the future. So, um, you know, I think we have a dialogue with our community members as opposed to um A monologue going one going each way. So I would ask that that But not respond a phrase be taken out So, um, but you agree that it's an opportunity for board members to listen Absolutely mindlessly or not Okay Hopefully not mindlessly. Yeah, um Show I feel less comfortable with that change and and that's because I really actually feel like we Public comment should be largely one way not two way That that's actually something I feel pretty strongly about I think we should have forums that are two way where we have agreed on that But I have routinely been concerned that we've had public comment that has taken us off track from the agenda that we've planned And so I I was trying to get at that idea that we would generally that that the expectation would not be that we would Take up a new topic because it was raised just because it was raised in public comment in the meeting that we we are in So I I guess what I'm saying is I kind of meant it meant it how I wrote it um May I try to bridge that gap just for a moment and yeah, um, but not respond substantively Add substantively after respond because I think chris Uh chris has a it's thinking of you know, if I'm not mistaken of asking like a clarifying question or um, something like that so as to be able to understand What the um community member is saying Um, right. Yeah, I'm not talking about taking up a different topic or adding to the agenda It's just clarifying and and actually asking more information about the if the member of the public is Asking something asking them for more information about it Um, and I I agree with joe that we shouldn't take up new items And if there's a new item that's not on the agenda it should go to a future agenda item But we should be able to inquire And ask questions about and have a dialogue with the public What if we left? Yeah, so what so but chris you're not suggesting taking out the next sentence about If it were or it's further just you agree with that one. I agree with that one just because We've had an unfortunate experience. I think with that this year. Um, it may be every year Um, just to be able to Be able to to respond to with to that new inquiry thoughtfully Um, and with more discussion as opposed to on the fly Right Once it said public comment is primarily an opportunity for board members to listen but not respond would that help? That doesn't change anything chill No I don't think so primarily. No, okay Um, no It seems to me that you're saying board members cannot ask questions. No, I don't mean that I definitely did not mean you couldn't ask questions. I meant would not Uh, be you know start sort of sharing our opinions about whatever the person has raised. That's what I mean So I didn't mean I didn't mean to eliminate the opportunity for a question asking or clarification So then why we what about this this opportunity for board members to listen and ask clarifying questions if necessary Yeah, I could live with that Are you getting this lisa? I hope yes, I am thanks and ask clarifying questions if necessary. I like that. That's very specific Great, um, uh, and Jonas and then flour Um as as someone who violated this norm a few weeks ago, um, you know, that was a situation where I thought it was It would have been inappropriate for us to leave those comments unaddressed. I understand that these are norms But I am really hesitant to put a muzzle on ourselves You know in the in the in the interest of keeping meetings regulated in situations where We have an obligation to respond to someone in the moment That's happened once in the year and a half. I've been on the board um And I don't want to lose that opportunity or to you know I don't know inflict a pobriam on someone who feels it may be necessary to respond Well, I would say there's no penalty for for violating the norm So, um, and I I think they also though allow us to say If we because I've seen us get into the responding at least three times in my time on the board Maybe not you Jonas, but I've seen it happen multiple times and um, so my feeling is it's just an opportunity for a board member to remind colleagues that we don't this is how we generally do public comment and If someone feels strongly that there's nothing that's that's going to stop them But I think it's important for us to set the expectation for the public too that unless we've said it's a dialogue It's more of a one-way street where we're receiving information that we might then act on at another time I'm on board with that Okay, with that with that approach the word smithing. I'm agnostic about okay But you know, I just wanted to say, you know, I felt very strongly. I know that that night and uh, you know, I Yes, that's all Understood. Thanks flora You're a mute floor. Sorry As far as I understand Can you hear me? No. Yeah. Yeah I keep yeah Okay, can you hear me now better? Yes way better Sorry, my email is a disaster as clarifying questions to understand and I am to live without the mindful But this is something that Like a mid to between gel and Floor we couldn't really hear you but I think you said and ask clarifying questions to Understand I think that's what you said. Yes. Yes Mina, are you Okay, let's see um Just to take stock of where we are um I think the the purpose of asking clarifying questions would be to understand and um, ordinarily so Would that would that seem to actually be uh sufficient? Um, I understand I understand what you're getting out of floor um but uh and and the but I think the purpose is implicit in the In asking the questions other clarifying questions um I think we can be good with that Good enough, but Yeah, yeah, and if we need to we can always change these along the way too But um, how would how would you all feel? based basically delete mindful and um Uh opportunity for board members to listen and ask clarifying questions And the um second bullet Uh, those are the two changes Um, are we ready to vote with those changes? Sorry, can I clarify scott? What was the mind? May I ask a clarifying question? Thank you. Um What was the mindful piece did you take out that whole little phrase practice mindful listening or? No, no, um Well Yeah, it sounds dumb if we practice listening listen. Just listen. Okay. Thanks Yeah, thank you Lisa. It's good um, okay So practice mindful listening is going to become listen Um nice and crisp Uh, are we ready to vote with those two changes? All in favor, please click yes Opposed click no And I vote yes Thank you chris and I see all yeses Thank you very much everybody and and jill most especially thanks to you for um having taken that on um next we have We have board size you know, right Um, and as I recall, uh, sorry brine Why was this going to ask jill to if she can send the updated, uh Version over to us so we can get right now. Yep. I will thank you. Thank you. Sorry. Great. That's okay. No, no problem. Thanks So, um, as I recall and kari, uh, uh, um Stand to your correction if I get this wrong you suggested that we do a quick um Turn around the table on the virtual table, uh pros and cons of 15 and then um straw poll and then small group to carry it further depending on the results of the straw poll Am I am I recalling this correctly? Yeah, I might frame it as pros and cons of A smaller number I'm thinking about the change cons of the small Right. Okay. Very good. But yeah, and just not spend a lot of time if we're not actually going to do anything Yeah, sounds great Thank you. So, um So let's let's just um blitz through this. Um, kari, uh, would you like to go first and then we can kind of Sure. Just Thanks. I've given it a little thought so, um Pros in the came come to mind for me. There's a sort of a democratic element of it. So more, um More reliably be able to fill all of our seats I think that's what's driven the conversation so far is that we have an open seat So we want the towns to be fully represented and equitable whatever our number is Um, and related to that we also would increase the likelihood of contested elections if there were more seats and I think that is um You know any one year to not have a contested election is fine, but you want in your system I think you want contested elections. So voters have choices they can um exercise their their their choice And then some other benefits would be less time spent on recruitment and appointment if you haven't filled all your seats And I also feel others might feel differently about this, but I also feel like a smaller group Is better able to deliberate and is and is easier to administer And I say that based on other board experience. I've had and um, I really liked the u3g board was seven Um, that's the smallest board. I've ever worked for or with and and I thought it worked quite well I'm not proposing that but but um, just as a as a comparison and then one last pro would be and this is Minor but not nothing is that there would be less stipend involved or you could redistribute the stipend that exist to better compensate the others Okay, so and then a few cons while I have the floor I think um, if you have less board members, you have fewer people By definition by definition directly involved and that just reduces your connections in the community I didn't like our old system with 32 board members But one advantage is it had is you had, you know built-in relationships throughout the community that helped When it came for budget time and things like that So you have you know as a result of that you have fewer perspectives around the table unless you actively recruit those perspectives Obviously, there'll be more burden on the directors that are left And maybe that makes you less resilient in terms in times of transition or in times of crisis So those are that's what I came up with Yeah, thank you sounds good. Um Jonas would you like I'm sort of just going to where the squares are on my screen um, I think carry said it all um, you know You know, I I agree that a smaller group is um, you know less unwieldy Um, you know, I you know having said that I don't think that our meetings have gone You know considerably longer with 15 people rather than 10. I don't think we've gotten less done I don't think that we've been less effective Um But but I but I've sensed that the possibility is there Um, I also agree with carry that having more people, you know involved period is you know is is a good Um, that you know, you do get more perspectives. There at least there's the possibility for more perspectives Regarding compensation You know, I'm of the mind that That we should increase the compensation to attract More people to the board. Um, you know, and the the the last thing I'll say is that, you know, you know Not only has Worcester not had You know a third member You know since since march, you know, and I think I make up for that with all the talking I do But you know, we don't have full, uh, we don't have full attendance at every meeting Um, and that seems to me to be a real real problem I also want to thank uh, everyone who put this memo together. It's extensive and comprehensive and really really interesting. Thank you Yeah, um, ditto. Thanks very much, Jonas Diane So again, both Kari and Jonas have said quite on point. Um, I guess my feeling would be I wasn't part of the discussion as to how we came to those numbers Um, so I'm fine either way. I don't I guess I don't right now. We're not in a panic necessarily. We're missing one member I don't know what's going on with maybe a berlin member, but Um, I wonder if that this is where our energy should be Or if we need to just really shore up, um, how we run, you know How our meetings are in terms of sticking to norms And then continue to see about growing that so I just I just wonder about our energy level Excuse me toward looking at this Thank you, Diane. Um Yeah, lindy Ever find my on you I I thought this was a good document. I think 15 is an awful lot of people Um, I thought 32 was ridiculous, uh, but So I'm I think it depends on if we're putting the work into it to get to a vote Um, the stipend I don't really have an opinion on it was a voted on amount And I I don't do this for the money, but maybe somebody else would run for it. I don't know Um, how that that affects I don't really know without a survey to find out how I've heard people say Oh, I don't even want to take the money, but it's a voted on amount. It's not, you know, we have to take it, but um I I feel like If it was two from each town, it would be fine and we might have the contested elections like kari was saying Which we don't have it's hard to get people to run Yeah, thank you Joe Sorry, I was having trouble getting my mouse over to the mute button I don't I don't think I have anything to add from from what we've heard. I thought kari did a really nice job of summarizing the the pros and cons I I I'm definitely am inclined To reducing the size somewhat, you know, I like the idea of Maybe town representation plus at large members as a way to kind of split the difference between having enough people to do all the work and Not having quite, you know, too many or not being able to get equal representation from each town So I I think that's an interesting idea Um, I I am a little bit I think it was Diane who just said like do we have the energy for this at this moment? And I I do think that is a fair question, you know, about whether whether this is the moment or whether we You know agree that yeah, this is something we want to pursue But maybe not quite this second. Maybe not this this year. I think that's I thought that was a fair Fair point to make So I would maybe I guess if we take a straw poll split out Uh, do we want to do this ever from like do we want to do this right now? You know talk about timing a little bit separately from whether we we have an interest in changing the policy At this moment great Thank you. Jill um flora jail and then chris I I don't think I have much to add. I like what curry and Jonas and jails said I am One of the big things about having a at large members to me would be to even further unifies more So I think that having Three members are large would be a really good thing and reducing the poor size. I I do want to make a comment about the stipend I if you can you hear me, okay? We're still yeah This type in it to me is really really important Because as you know as the parents right now we're all meeting Remote so makes it a little bit easier. But if a parent needs to have daycare, right? It doesn't have somebody that can Watch the kids while they are at a meeting for example It just attracts other people that do not have especially as we have to have meetings During the day sometimes that can't really afford to take that time. So we we really need to Diversify the you know how we all look in this not look, but who we are in this board So we're accurately present representing our community. So if we look at the demographics of our schools right now We're not representing those demographics That would be the the only extra I think it's worth looking at it because as everything it takes us a while to get going And it will require a vote We are already too late for march. So this would be november. So maybe it's not something that we pick up right now, but we could start that small group And give them a target date it so because you know all of the legal requirements for For properly warning all these meetings really takes about three months before we can be on the ballot That's it Thank you for the jail chris and then steven so the con that I see is Everyone's spoken to this but just having smaller committees But I really like the idea of bringing community members in to sit on those committees And you know, they then they wouldn't have to sit through long board meetings every other week. Um Which would be probably we get a lot a lot more people interested in just joining the committees to help us do the work Thank you jah Chris then steven So I would not oppose reducing the number the size of the board I think it's always been an odd number Though so you can have a the tiebreaker. It's necessary Um, and I do think it's important though to have a certain number of members from each town in the In the union, uh, and if we're going to go with 11, uh, two members from each town with one at large member And yeah, so and and I actually think we could do it this year I don't think, you know, if we're still have to Pass and uh warn a budget we'd certainly be able to pass and warn a a A vote for the communities to to decide whether or not we want to reduce this they want to reduce the size of the uh, the board Thanks Thank you, chris Steven and jonathan I have nothing substantive to add to the discussion although I would Chris is probably surprised I might be contrary to him. I I think it's not something we try to do for march um I I agree that it would be possible To meet that deadline But I just I don't think it's something we want to put on the plate as an active discussion Amongst ourselves and our community members At this time, I think it would be better to Spend the time and the board coming to a real clear recommendation and deal with it at some time in the future Thanks, steven jonathan If um, jonathan, can you hear? Can you hear us? um jonathan may be away from his battle station At this point, um So, uh, anyway, um We can maybe do a straw pool Who is in favor of Pursuing a change in the numbers Say, uh, whatever that might look like but down from 15 to Say 10 or or whatever it might be um And turning it over to a small group to deal with that um a show of thumbs would be good enough for me for those who um I'm I'm seeing I'm seeing thumbs up. Oh, is that a thumb up jail or sideways? Um It's at an angle Indicating slight approval slight approval Okay, great. Um, I don't see anybody Uh objecting. Do I hear uh an objection? Okay Great um Is there anyone who is especially interested in this who would like to To take the lead and um putting together a small group floor are you uh Are you interested in that? Hey, I'm interested in that just because we did the articles of agreement around that so familiar with the language I don't particularly want to be the lead person, but I'm happy to do the work With with the group Wonderful, um That's great. Uh I'll do it Okay, chris sounds terrific. Thanks. So you'll be the point person for putting together a small group and um Maybe we can have this even though we had our agenda meeting um this morning for The second of december Maybe we can find some space in there if you want to let us know who you've managed to press gang into your into your band of um articles changers Jonas well to to diane's point, you know, I would I would really like to participate in this, but I don't have the bandwidth right now um, I mean if we were going to do this, you know in the summer You know after negotiations are over. Uh, I would I would love to participate Yes Let's think about timeline because when we when we talked about this in the policy committee Uh, we were the storm around the idea of And this this to take into account the stare good um, I guess just the logistics of um a reduced board going into effect was voting it one year, but The actual change not occurring for until the next Town meeting and voting So we were thinking that if we got in this year the change wouldn't go into effect for um board change in terms of composition until uh, march of 2022 We don't have to do it that way but in terms of Taking into account that the community may reject it It or or if they approve it It reduces confusion of how many seats are actually going to be open I'm just saying I think that all I'm saying is there I think there's time Uh, depending upon whether we we're Intent on having it take effect Well, I don't I don't even know how we do that. Um without avoiding a lot of confusion of having going to affect the year we the Year it was approved if it was approved or having it going into effect a year later kind of like what happened with the articles of agreement where The articles were approved and then the board expanded the next year Right only universe right well, um I think what we can do is sort of um, if you want to cobble together a team chris from those who Who are able and willing? um, and then we can just see how you can bring it back to the board and um With some general ideas about how to proceed and then we can take it from there Is that Would anybody um Subject to a uh, a subgroup of three or four not beyond that I wouldn't object. I'm not Yeah, okay, so we'll go with three and a half Yeah, three and a half Okay, somebody who's only Half with it You already have me jill Okay, very nice. Shall we move on then? um, kari, I just want to um Check back with you since you were the um originator of this idea Uh, is this going more or less as you had? Yeah, this is great. This this speaks my expectations And we've got a good sense of the board and we'll see what comes next Okay, great terrific. Thank you very much All right, um, then we can move on to consent agenda um And I would welcome a motion to approve the minutes of november 4 The move Okay, i've got It was the freakness and the kentucky derby all is one um, okay, uh Jonas moves and chris seconds, okay um any discussion of the minutes All in favor, please click yes oppose click no Yeah And chris says yes, so it looks like we're um unanimous approving the minutes now, um Lindy, I'm sorry. I have the habit of turning to you for board orders. I don't know if that's at all fair But um I've got him right here Except that would be wonderful when I just un-mute they disappeared but they're there. Um That's so many windows. I gotta stop this. All right, so um, I make a motion to accept the approve the board orders in the amount of 699 1634 7 cents And 26 406 63 cents Thank you very much. Is there a second? second She'll seconds and um, I have my statutory reminder to send an email, please to um To the central office with your electronic signature in lieu of um any any questions or or concerns about the board orders If not, then if you're in favor, please click yes opposed click no And again the board orders are approved. Oh chris Yeah I'm in favor Thank you. Great. Thanks. Thank you. Um board orders are approved unanimously um personnel We have I believe one personnel action to approve Um, would anybody like Pardon me, lindy. I have it open. Do you want me to read it? I would be delighted. Please Um, I make a motion to accept the resignation of damien middleton at callas effective june 30 2021 second Second regret Yeah, diane seconds with regret regret I share damien survived all three of my children And um, it's still smiling So an amazing guy Um, okay, um any other questions or concerns If not, please click yes if you approve no if you disapprove Yeah, and I'm I'm seeing yeses I'm hearing yeses all along Thank you very much everyone and now finally, um for our, uh very patient long-suffering public Where it um public comments time Help for me Just to organize this if you're able if you have a public comment to make If you're able, please to click on raise hand um, which you get to via the participants icon at the bottom of the zoom screen um And Ah, um, I see barrett jones Hi, you guys. Um, yeah great So, um, I as many of you know am a u32 teacher um I recognize a lot of last names in the screens This is a very interesting time that we're teaching through and we're trying to sort out a lot of different Matters that are involved with Situations that come up that are very unique to our time One of which is The planned closure at callous elementary um Really, I'm just speaking to inform the board and maybe Get you guys to just be a little bit aware of certain situations that are coming about by Some of these actions, um Let me pull up my notes so I have a son at callous elementary, um, and the closure at callous is Causing me to provide child care for my son During the closure At u32 I teach algebra 2 and ap calculus Um So unfortunately our options as a teaching staff Are pretty limited as to how we handle our absence from work Um, so option number one is that we use our sick time Um, this option means that employees Um use their sick time when neither their child nor we are sick Um as the employer, uh, the employer pays out for sick time And needs to find a sub when subs are scarce I saw earlier we you guys were talking about raising the sub pay. I think that's a fantastic idea Um, so option option number two is The epsl and the family emergency medical leave So Once that's applied for and approved If approved The employee is paid up to $200 a day For child care But is unable to find suitable safe child care $200 a day does not cover a full time wage For myself And most of my colleagues So For me personally that doesn't Remain an option in terms of covering My costs of living So i'm i'm wondering if there are other options that could be explored In these types of situations Um, I recognize that this is a very unique time and a unique situation in that Closing the school Creates a situation where I need to stay home to provide child care for my son And ironically enough it is my own employer that's closing the school to To to make that happen so it really puts me in between a rock and a hard place and i'm wondering if As just an idea informational idea that if The district were able to cover the difference between What What could be paid out by the federal government and a full time wage and by do It's uh, let's see the the employer would save money because the employer would be paying Only partially To the employee it would be sub pay Would still need to be covered, but the federal government would be covering $200 a day for that child care piece Um, and then as i'm getting Paid and not using my sick time I feel like i'm more available for my students If the need arises so that that I can interact with them So it's i'm just publicly commenting that maybe there's some some way that can be looked at in the future We are closely approaching The time when callous elementary will be Closing and that is right around the corner. I'm Sure that some other situation might occur in the future where our own employees are forced to stay home for these certain cases and I'm fortunate enough to have been in the district For uh This is my 10th year So I've accumulated sick time and I can afford to take the sick time, but I'm wondering if if a discussion is Could be had for other options Thank you Thanks very much barrett very interesting. Yeah, and um A tough one Um, brian you've taken note. Yes Uh, yes. Yes. I have thank you Okay, um, we'll Maybe we can um Have this At least some reference to this type of issue at our at our next meeting um Uh, thanks barrett Um keith mc martin. Oh old friend um, please Let's see. Let's see you again Um from the public side of the fence Keith. Okay. Are you are you there? Can you hear? Oh the irony? Stop it joe Uh, Keith is that better? Yes. Yes. Yes Okay, I normally have a headset attached so I'm still trying to find that Sorry about that Um So, uh, what I was saying was I I did send an email to the board earlier this week But I'm sure you all saw But I just wanted to Speak up again, I guess and Express my concern about the current covid situation And the numbers particularly in washington county being as high as they are And You know my concern with continuing to have schools be open And wondering about Has there been discussion about going to remote learning? And is there an actual threshold for What that would look like and and I have seen some of the guidance um on You know working with the department of health or or things like that Um, it just seems sort of vague and I guess I wonder if you know the plan is to wait until we have cases in the school or Um, so I'm just I'm feeling like there's not Maybe as much information as I'd like And I'm personally I'm having a hard time thinking about sending my kids to school Knowing that there's so much community spread and and while I appreciate You know what we're being told is That it's not spreading in the schools. Clearly there are cases that are coming into the schools at this point so That's sort of where I'm coming from I think the other thing that I've been thinking a lot about is That I know we did a lot of work to prepare to be able to do remote learning um, so I guess I just Want to point that out and and just say you know, I think it's something we could do um And I guess I'm just kind of advocating for you know some more thought about around that Rather than sort of sitting back and saying well somebody will tell us when we need to which is I don't want to say that's what it feels like, but um It does sort of seem like the Department of Health will tell us and I wonder if it's a decision You know, maybe we should make more proactively. That's my piece Thank you very much case and and yes, thank you for your email also from earlier this week um once more um I guess uh following our board norms. We're looking at um A response that is a little bit um delayed in in time um So, uh, we will have another another coveted discretion update with discretion on at our meeting on the second um, of course, that's two weeks from now so, um And and who knows what will happen in the meantime But um Thank you. We we've we've heard you and appreciate your Your comment Keith. So, um Yeah, it's it's sort of it feels it feels like it's kind of hanging at this point. Um to me, but I guess that's that's what we have to do um So Are there any other public comments? That i'm missing Uh, I don't see any other hands raised um, if not The agenda shows executive session for personnel for superintendent evaluation but um We're uh, we're not quite we're not quite there yet. Um Brian um I think we have this lined up for the second of december Yeah, um, do we have There's no other reason for us to go into executive session. Is there? Uh, not not at this time. No Okay, um So there's yet another one that we're kind of kicking kicking two weeks down the road um a few We have The name change issue and and has discussed the budget forum So, um Is there anything else that we need to add? No, scott. I just wanted to let you guys know uh floor had to jump off So she's not going to do her usual good deed of sending around the board orders Um for all of us to reply to so I'm having trouble getting the packet to stay open Otherwise, I would just do it, but maybe if somebody could start that we could get make sure that gets done I'll do that Sure. Okay, kai I think that the um Yeah, I think that our new Norms call for a new standing Board agenda item A reflection at the end of each You're you're right um, so Uh If there's no objection because the board controls its own agenda. Oh brian brian, sorry I don't have an objection to that. I just wanted to say there was something else that did come up recently I just want to let the board know about it um, and uh, I know that uh Kelly bushey presented the apr report to annual performance report uh earlier this school here And we are a district that was labeled as a need of improvement in certain areas uh So, uh, one of the things that the agency of education has reached out to is Uh, if school districts wish to participate in the something called the ssip, which is the school system improvement plan process They it would be something that would be free to our district and we could enter into a collaboration with the agency of education I'm cautiously optimistic about looking into it. It's something that we're exploring Does it mean that uh, I would want to uh, commit us to it without getting some more information about it But there could be some uh opportunities to get some training Uh, uh, free training from the state, uh around ideas around coaching providing instructional coaching Looking at our mtss system and getting some additional support in those areas without actually paying for a consultant But working with the state in collaboration, but I don't want to commit Until I get more information and I think uh part of the feeling is It is uh, the conversation I've had with some of the folks in a district office Uh resemble very similar to the the conversation the board had tonight with uh talking about, you know, do we want? Is this something we want to tackle this year? Yeah, that's one of the it's we have a lot on our plates, but we're also very tired right now Right before the holiday. So it's something we definitely want to look at and re and explore over the next few weeks So this might be something I will want to add to a future agenda Sounds great Brian. Thank you very much for that. Thank you. Um, so, uh, if there's no objection we can um, we can Go to the reflection that karei quite rightly reminded us is now part of our board norms um, steven has uh, Has reflected on the question did we remain focused on our policymaking and oversight role? um, or did we wade into the operational weeds? uh Steven has made his opinion known that we waded into the weeds Am I right steven? We've also violated the norm that we're not ending on time Thanks for that too The timekeeper one of the norm. I would like to see that instituted Yeah, um, okay karei Related to that I I thought we also delved into I thought we delved into the detail Too much and and I'd be specific about that and this would be for the agenda team and this is only my opinion and um And doesn't reflect at all on our on bryan or our leadership team But I thought that the superintendent report and the leadership team report Were about an hour and a half something like that that we spent on that material lots of Important information there lots of it's always interesting But I would recommend that that be less time and later in the agenda so that we're um fresh and at our best When we're talking about the topics of our goals and our budget and and the things that I think that are Central to our work only we can do Thank you very much karei. Yeah Other other thoughts of this these are great Your your work is already paying off joe diane so just To kind of counter some of that too though I I hear exactly what you're saying karei about it's if it's informational and connective Then later on because it does potentially take less bandwidth of our brains Um, I guess I also feel that they're pretty important, especially during covet time because I can't get out into the buildings. I can't Um connect with people in that way. So especially right now Um while it seems like a lot of information it's it helps to To hear and especially the part about um how exhausted the staff is and so I you know um, I just I think it's it's again. It's part of that, you know, what's Way one person feels flip-flops to another person. So I would agree with it being later on though terrific, um anybody else if not I would propose a future agenda item of Having a wonderful Thanksgiving next week In spite of everything I hope that in whatever Constrained circumstances you find yourselves that you still find uh joy and great food and Good wine if that's your thing So Otherwise that if there are no further Comments or or concerns we can adjourn by consensus at 9 43 With thanks as always Buddy