 Good evening, everyone. Welcome back to the Commissioner's Corner, a monthly segment on the second Monday of every month from 5.25 to 5.55. It's great to be back. Happy New Year. We did take a break during the month of December as folks were busy and wrapping up year-end activities and very happy to be back at the start of the calendar year. My name is Lucia Campriolo. I am your elected school commissioner for Ward 5, which is home to Champlain Elementary School, and I'm your host for this evening's program. This evening we will cover a brief budget update and a couple of announcements, but first I am so pleased to be joined by Isaac Doggett, who is a junior at BHS and one of two student representatives serving on the school board. Welcome, Isaac. It's great to see you. Thank you so much for being here and for prioritizing the time for this conversation. Yeah, no problem. Isaac has recently joined the school board as a student rep and I think we might just, you know, dig right into the conversation of what it means to be a student rep. You know, by way of an introduction, like I said, you're midway through your junior year at BHS. You became a student rep last semester and so have had the opportunity now to participate in a handful of meetings with the full board since your term began. I'm wondering, can you tell us what is the role of the student representative? What's what's that role and tell us about the length of the term, the number of reps at a time, color it in for us? Yeah, so as I've been able to tell so far the role of a student representative is mostly just to keep the school board informed about the on-going's at Brown and High School and what students might be thinking of any policies, the board's enacting and also to give a student's perspective on policies or budget changes the board might be doing. We can't vote in any meetings so we don't have too much of a voice beyond advising the school board and the main thing we actually do at meetings is just give updates on athletics or academics or anything like that that's going on at Brown and High School. Our term length I believe is two years so I will serve this year and the next year so while I'm a junior while I'm a senior and there's always two reps serving at a time so that means this year it's me as a junior and Julia Condell as the senior representative. Next year when I'm a senior we'll have to find a new representative to fill in as a junior. Awesome and is that an application process or how how did you learn about the role and the opportunity and tell us a little bit about the selection process? Yeah there is an application process so I had to fill out just a few pages of applications answering questions talking about why I wanted to be a student representative and then I had to get 20 signatures from my fellow students and I believe that in years where there's more competition for one of the seats there would be an election that did not have to happen for me because I was the only person interested but yeah I found out about it because my dad is kind of a fan of the school but I guess he goes to a lot of meetings and he realized there was only one student rep so he reached out to me and I got in touch with the commissioner of the school board Claire Wool and I guess not the application I filled it out. Awesome well we're so glad you did and I can imagine that it's been a bit quiet just as we've been moving through the COVID-19 pandemic as far as making sure the opportunity is well known and well promoted and so it's exciting to have you join join the board as a student rep and hopefully find some new creative ways to make sure that students learn about the opportunity and you know build some excitement and momentum before the next application session. I know for me personally as a newer board member myself I really value the participation from the students particularly because my children are very young they're five and eight they're only in elementary school and so I really rely on the perspective that you all bring to the conversation particularly that experience as you know touch and feel and for those of us on the board but also community members who might not have students in the school system it really helps tether us to the on the ground experience and so you noted that you all are advisory participants and don't have sort of the ability to vote however what I would note is that your advisory vote is recorded in our minutes and is noted publicly in those meeting spaces and and you always chime in I've heard you do this already in the part in the meetings that you've participated in Julia has as well always chime in with questions and with feedback and so I think your board members as well as the public do really appreciate the participation in the you know lens that you apply to the conversation so you mentioned that within the application there is an opportunity to talk about why you're interested in serving so I'd be I'm so curious tell us about your inspiration for serving um yeah well one of my inspirations was the past couple years like my freshman year of high school especially was pretty rough with the COVID-19 pandemic and everything so I knew that a lot of students were feeling kind of unmotivated I know a lot of people at my school are were at least are kind of were kind of out of sync with their education and they weren't feeling as enthusiastic about school as they might have used to so I kind of thought there's not that many people who are going to be interested in this position I think it's important that somebody needs to stand up for student voice and make sure that the school board has these student representatives so I thought it would be a good opportunity for me both because I thought there's not that many other people are going to want to do it and because I do want to try to help make the school systems better so less people are feeling the way I think myself and a lot of my friends were feeling towards the start of our time in high school another reason I want to be a student rep is because I thought it would open up a lot of opportunities for me that I didn't have before it gives me a lot of new experiences I didn't have before like being on TV interview like this and seeing the inner workings of some kind of government system like the school board and I think that has been really interesting to see how those meetings are run see what kinds of people are serving on the school board and see what kind of policies you guys are all tackling nice I love that so I know there's an opportunity within sort of the policy that governs student representative participation which I believe became part of our work at Burlington School District back in 2015 I know there is an opportunity for student reps to participate in committees and I wonder if you've yet had sort of an onboarding conversation to the committee opportunities that there are available right now and if that's something that you would look forward to learning more about committees are obviously another time commitment and as a student particularly a junior in high school I can appreciate that you your time is precious as as everyone's time is but wasn't sure if there was a particular area of interest beyond sort of the broad governance and experience that you just described yeah I haven't really gotten involved in committees yet I'm I'm still relatively new to the school board it's been a few months already but it feels very new to me still I haven't been around for the creation of any new committees I haven't really heard a lot of talk about the committees while I've been on the board so I haven't really felt the draw to any of them and yeah there's a time commitment issue as well so yeah in general I feel like I'm not super focused on any one issue there wasn't any one big issue I wanted to get involved with or learn about when I signed up to be a student rep so I haven't really felt the pull to any of them for that reason as well if I do hear about or if a committee is created for an issue that I do feel passionately about I think I will look into joining that committee and seeing what more I can learn from being in that position awesome you know it's such a good point you make to about being newer to the conversation and to the to the governing body itself I know just again as a person who's was elected last March and so began serving in April it really does take a bit of a cycle to get up and running and and sort of learn the inner workings of the board meetings themselves and then other opportunities there are for contribution and participation and so I'm sure that as you spend more time with us and as we get to know you better and your interests better there'll be good opportunity to make sure that additional opportunities are open and available to you should you be interested in participating I've had a chance more recently to participate in the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee the Governance Committee and more recently just here and just lightly in the Finance and Facilities Committee where some of our budget conversations and so I find myself in that space of learning a little bit about each of the committees and figuring out where best you know my own skills and interests can support the broader team because we've got a lot of talented members who are leaning in in different ways based on their own experience and interests so we'll look forward to figuring out the best way to engage your good thinking and skills in those spaces so you're brand-new I was thinking about what you could expect might be the most rewarding kind of aspect of board service and understanding that you're new I might ask the question differently which is to say what are you looking forward to most you talked already about you know sort of some of the new experiences that you might encounter and new opportunities that you might have the benefit of access to is there anything in particular that you are especially excited about either based on what you've acquired so far in the last couple of months or just generally looking toward the next year or two of service I already mentioned there's probably going to be a lot of opportunities like this where I can get involved in things that haven't really been involved in with before and it's already been very valuable to sit in on the board meetings and kind of learn more about the inner workings of a system like that but I think the thing I'm looking forward to the most that I haven't really gotten to do yet is that as more policies are brought up that I think student voices need to be heard in I think it'll give me an opportunity to really connect with more members of the student body that I haven't connected with before and kind of learn more about my high school and the community around the high school yeah I think I think that I'm going to be able to connect with more people as a result of this position just within the high school itself and I think I'm gonna be able to learn more about people I already know and what their thoughts might be on issues the school board is dealing with. I love that so I mean that's one of the essential elements of all of our roles as you know participants on the governing structure is the kind of community engagement aspect of the work that we bring into the conversation and so thinking about your own kind of community as the high school community can you share some of the ways in which you are either well positioned to do that you know outreach or engagement or what channels or ways you might have available to you as a student whether it's email or clubs or after-school activities or coursework or whatever the ways in which you move through the building that would that you might say you might think you know would be an especially useful kind of way to engage with students who you don't yet know. Yeah I think the most important thing about having student reps and being able to engage with student body as a result is just the fact that we are students and we we have years of experience going through the school the modern Burlington School District and like learning in all different grade levels having all these different experiences and like knowing what it feels like to be a student within these within the Burlington School District so when policies are brought up like with the budget changes we've been having recently myself and Julia I can think back and be like oh yeah I remember that I know what this all these numbers are relating to I know what I know what it feel what these what the effects of these things we're spending money on are on the students and I think so I think our memories of that and our experiences within the school are probably the most helpful for gathering information about this but I also think just in the high school has so many different people from so many different places in the school district and with being a junior and with Julia being a senior we've already met a lot of these different people so we kind of have access to a lot of perspectives already so if I'm just like talking with my friends or with people I know about these issues I might be able to bring up some of the things that are on the school board and the school boards like dealing with and get their perspectives on it too so there's just a wide range of experiences from the students perspective within the Burlington School District available to myself and Julia and any other student rep just inherently from our position within the school district yeah I love that one of the things I've been really impressed about as I get to know the district is though are the ways in which the district sources insights from the school community both including students but as well as educators and staff and so when I think about our annual reports our strategic plans we have a lot of quantitative data that feeds that those plans and and helps make those data-driven decisions we also include a lot of qualitative reflections from students and so I especially enjoy that perspective again as a parent who doesn't yet have children you know beyond elementary school it's a really valuable way to again begin to have access to that experience which is so incredibly important so yeah I love that you're thinking about you know both the ways in which you can source information just in in your day-to-day kind of moving through the high school and then beyond that thinking about students groups of students etc. who you know maybe aren't in your closed circle but have obviously valuable perspective because everybody really does and I you know that's you kind of hit the nail on the head with just your memories are so recent so that when you are analyzing a budget and I think you went to Edmunds elementary school and yeah Edmunds middle school I'm sorry and I a right that's right yeah and so you've got sort of three of the schools within our district a really good healthy understanding of what the experience of being in those buildings and with that student population and each kind of school has its own demographic characteristics and you can really bring that to light for those of us who haven't had that experience and you know the broader community because not everybody obviously has a student currently in the district and so it is really important so gosh is there anything else you want to share about sort of the role itself or you covered kind of a ton already I guess I I would be I would just offer to you that I would be so interested in supporting any of your work going forward as you think about what when we are kind of in the application process if there's a role for board members and I I don't know that there is because I think a lot of that work happens within the high school but you know thinking about how to promote the opportunity even really broadly for students so that they've got kind of access to the the opportunity itself but also really a strong understanding of what what the role is it's you know what's required of student representatives and also how valuable you know the role is to the school board and to the broader community yeah I I'm really looking forward to that to be honest working to find a new student representative once Julia has to step down I do think there's a lot of work to be done and spreading information about this opportunity to people in the high school because I I would not be surprised to be honest if myself and Julia are the only two students who are aware this position exists in the entire high school when I was getting signatures I know when I had to explain the rule to every person I got signatures from and I think they still didn't really grasp what it was as I didn't really grasp what it was at that point either so I'll I'll definitely be it'll be a challenge to kind of spread the word about this and find a new person to fill the position that's gonna be opening that at the end of the school year I believe that'll be happening I'm looking forward to the opportunity I think a lot of good can come from more students being aware of this position and what responsibility has come with it and what opportunity has come with it I'll be curious to see what kind of students answer because it would be great to have a kind of a wide perspective a wide range of maybe schools that people have gone to and yeah I think I think a lot of good can come from more students knowing about this as that probably will give me and the other student rep more people to like kind of draw on and gain data from to inform our decisions when we're talking to the school ward and what advice we're giving to them yeah well I will certainly make sure that I am actively thinking about you know actively thinking about and bringing up in conversation whether I'm talking with parents of other high schoolers or other students themselves but just kind of be a you know a cheerleader cheering you on as well as Julia as she wraps up her term but also promoting the opportunity itself I think you're absolutely right and I have every confidence that you have already created a bit of momentum around the role given the application process and the signatures and everything else and so we're lucky to have you as an ambassador in this space and thank you so much for your service yeah I think there's there's just I feel like it's there's nothing more important really to the school board I feel like to have student voices represented because that at the end of the day that's like the number one priority of the Burlington School District I think to make sure students are getting the best education the best experience they can have and I think you really can't beat the qualitative data and the informed decision-making you can make when you have student reps on the board yeah I think it's gonna be great to spread the word about that and find a new person to replace Julia yeah I couldn't agree with you more nice awesome well I think we will shift gears just a little bit and move into a couple of announcements and share some of the information that the board has been working on as a team which you've participated in and then a couple of other bits of information that I know were shared recently in this past week's community update from Superintendent Flanagan which is available on the website which is at www.bsdvt.org and I would really encourage folks there it is right on the website fantastic I would really encourage folks to check out the website there are a couple of things right now that I would point people to you're looking at your screen now which is delightful because it means that Isaac and I are not looking at each other or ourselves rather on the screen in front of us but those community updates are regular are updated weekly and they're really wonderful portals into what's happening both in our specific schools and then also at a district level so I would encourage folks to look at that the other side section of the website that I would encourage folks to check out related to you this next quick update is the section on the website that talks about our budget so budget season began for the district this past fall and the superintendent in fact I think is presenting the budget to the city council this evening during tonight's meeting which is an important moment for the city council to dial in on the school board or sorry on the district's budget before it's finalized and ahead of language finding its way onto the ballot for town meeting day so the board thus far has had an opportunity to view a handful of updates that the district's leadership and management have prepared all of those updates are on the website right now in the district overview section there's a drop-down for budget specifically again chock full of information everything is quite transparently available for you've got a section that covers the budget planning process as well as a section that reflects our current budget which is always helpful if you're looking for a comparison and then a whole bunch of archival information about previous budgets next month on this program superintendent Flanagan will be joining Lauren Glenn Davidian for a specific conversation on the district's budget which will be another great opportunity for a much deeper dive with our subject matter expert in the superintendent to share that budget with viewers once it's been finalized as well as your school commissioners will be traveling through neighborhood planning assembly meetings in January and in February previewing the budget with folks so that'll begin later this month as well as in February so that we can share the budget with community members and make sure that folks have the information they need to make an informed decision on town meeting day in March the neighborhood planning assembly schedule can be found on the city's website on the community economic development office website the CEDO website and that's Burlington VT.gov backslash CEDO CEDO you can also just Google Burlington neighborhood planning assembly which is how I find most information versus memorizing complicated websites but I would encourage folks to check out that schedule you are welcome to attend any neighborhood planning assembly they are organized by ward a couple of wards joined together to form you know a mega neighborhood planning assembly I'll be joining the ward 5 NPA meeting on January 19th and I think a number of folks will be joining in the in the February time slots as well but those meetings schedules are populated on the CEDO website and often promoted through front porch forum and other email channels as well so lots of opportunity to weigh in as the budget is finalized and again I think you know really what what the board's role and and kind of considerations and guide posts that we really think about in providing guidance to the leadership team and management who develop these budgets are really around you know recognizing that staffing levels are responsive to enrollment changes limiting budget growth due to increases in wages benefits and of course costs associated with the high school and tech center ensuring that funding is adequate to support our strategic plan objectives continue to offer meaningful and robust programming and consider the multi-year impact of any changes that we make so we never really budget in isolation of course we present and prepare a budget each year but we want to be really thoughtful about any implication of change in one year as it relates to subsequent years particularly when we're talking about staffing levels and enrollment and lots of data that moves around that our state tracks closely for us and and provides us with to help make budgeting decisions and we are really intentional and desired to be as thoughtful as possible with an equity lens when developing these budgets and so this will be the second year in a row that we have supported schools with a specific allocation of funds that they have available to use at their discretion and so school principals convene community members to serve as thought partners in developing developing spending plans for a particular allocation of budget that we call the rise allocation to give those leader those school leaders bit of discretion on how best to direct funds to students who need particular resources and also in the ways that best reflect the school's needs so those are sort of the guideposts that we use and again we'll wrap up that budget cycle in the next handful of weeks and make sure that community members have access to information ahead of 10 meeting day gosh I am finding myself chattering and it's 5 51 so I'm gonna wrap up with just a couple of other quick announcements and then invite Isaac to share as well any on-goings that he'd like to promote at the high school right now but just want to flag for folks this was also in the community update as well as in this month's issue of North Avenue's that kindergarten and pre-k registration season will open at the end of this month so it runs from January 30th and closes on March 31st families can choose from six elementary schools when you register online at the district website which again is www.bsdvt.org if you don't have a computer or require any level of assistance you are welcome to either stop by schools in person call the district reach out to your local school or let somebody know that you need assistance and assistance will be provided for you that includes both assistance registering and navigating computers accessing computers and answering any old question that you might encounter during that registration process families are invited to indicate a first second and third choice enrollment is ultimately determined by school capacity and a couple of factors including whether they're siblings at a particular school families income particularly with regards to our magnet schools as well as proximity and so ultimately we do our best to the district does its best to match families with their first choice and is in immediate communication should a family's first choice school not be available so encourage folks to make sure they register their incoming kindergarten and or students interested in pre-k which is awesome that we're able to offer and as a reminder as we're talking about scheduling April is the month that the subsequent school year's calendar is published so I know if you're a family of an elementary school student in particular looking at summer camps which are all published being published now and about to be published you're thinking to yourself gosh what's when when does the new school year start because that really makes a difference for me when I'm organizing my summer we will have that information for you in April we coordinate that information with other districts in Chinden County and that's why the April timeframe is the timeframe that it takes to to get all of that organized for you as a parent not as a school board member as a parent I've noticed that typically school starts on the last Wednesday in August that's just a trend I've observed so not me articulating that that is the first day of school but that is a trend I've observed and will look forward to seeing whether that trend continues this year lastly and quickly I will mention that there's a district job fair coming up on Saturday January 21st at downtown BHS from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. it's also happening at downtown BHS on Tuesday January 24th from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. it's a great opportunity to begin a career with the district there are lots of open positions right now everything from entry-level positions to positions that require managerial experience so do again visit the website check those things out and lastly I'll just wrap by again reiterating that superintendent Flanagan will be on the program next month sharing with viewers a deep dive on the proposed budget and then I will rejoin you in March for a visit with fellow commissioner Martine Lara Gulak newly elected state senator from Chittenden Central District who will share with us her insights from Montpelier and her work on the Senate Education Committee so we're feeling very fortunate on the school board to have a colleague serving in Montpelier with her skills and expertise and experience so anything else Isaac that you'd like to join as far as what's on the horizon for notable activities that community members can pay attention to before we wrap. We don't have too much time left but this week is the last week of the first semester at BHS so there's gonna be some changes in courses there's gonna be some report cards coming in for parents of BHS students and next week we'll start out with MLK Day and something that's notable about this MLK Day is I think it's actually the first one that I'll actually get to do while I've been in high school because we've had snow days the last two years so there's gonna be a lot of people who haven't experienced the programming I know the school district has planned for MLK Day and yeah it'll be exciting to watch for my for me and my fellow classmates. Awesome thank you so much for for that update and thank you so much for being here really a pleasure to talk with you and I look forward to our continued service together and just every time I spend time with a student of any age but more and more I have the chance to spend time with BHS students I am so wildly impressed and you are among those students I am so wildly impressed with so thank you for your contribution and thank you viewers look forward to seeing you next month.