 Call the meeting to order at 6.05 or any adjustments to the agenda Do I have a motion to approve the minutes of Tuesday, January 24th? so move Do I have a second? Is there any discussion on the minutes? Board correspondence and communications anything public comments? Wow, we got right here pretty quick So you have my report at hand, but I want to expand a little bit on S56 slash H208 and then S66 And I've been sending you information As I've been receiving new information. I also Have been following this closely and having correspondence on a fairly regular basis with Jeff Francis the executive director of the VSA And I did speak to Sue yesterday the executive director of the BSVA Welcome them together and so And we focused our conversation on S66, but I want to start with S56 and so I also sent you a presentation that presentation have been prepared by Rebecca Webb who is our Regional Act 166 coordinator And so Rebecca is contracted by the Winooski Valley supervisory unions of which were part of To a support pre-k coordinators with the coordination of Act 166 Act 166 is universal pre-k and her biggest role is to ensure that private providers are meeting their responsibilities In regards to quality Education as it has been outlined So that's a big piece of what she does and then we have Renee Hinton who also supports some of that work for us here as an SU And coordinates work around our pre-k teachers around professional development things of that nature and does interventions. I Share that with you to say that's where that slideshow came from There I told you that that I felt like there was a little bit of Her interpretation put into that slideshow when I sent it to you the biggest bullet for me around interpretation And I think this can be argued Is the idea that private pre-k's would have to close She's basing that on up the fact of four-year-olds would all become part Required mandated by law through S56 of public pre a public elementary schools We would be required by law to offer it five days a week Just like we do K through 12 in full days Unless we had a half day, right? So it's the same schedule as we run K through 12 But for four-year-olds the law also provides us a 1.0 FTE for average daily membership and right now we get a little less than a half for Any pre-k student Other big change for our families though is that three-year-olds when I'll follow under the guidance of the agency of education They would remain With the Department of Children's who currently oversees and regulates our three and four-year-old programs Okay, three-year-olds would stay with them four-year-olds would come under the umbrella of the agency of education and Still have the same The regs actually beef up a little more for those of you who aren't familiar with pre-k we like the square footage of classroom Dictates how many students you can serve the staff to student ratios are different for pre-k And so there's some national standards that the agency is going to be basing their expectations on so the three-year-olds are going to be Really the focus of this law would be that three-year-olds and under our service by Private providers and four-year-olds would be service via public elementary schools There was a question I've had is well Does it say that public elementary schools cannot serve three-year-olds it does not explicitly say that Although it does make it clear that you cannot get funding for three-year-olds Other than those three-year-olds who are service via an IEP And it does say that we are required to serve students That are three-year-olds that are served for interventions and supports via an IEP Okay, so I think through drafting they're gonna probably work and clear some of that up in regards to S56 and H 208 they're taking testimony on it this law was drafted by Senators and representatives Without really any consultation With the educational field, okay the same with S66 Okay, these were drafted by reps and so when I've said if you have concerns With these bills is drafted reaching out to our representatives is the most important thing You could do I still stand by that. Okay, that's that's where this was drafted. I do think That that this bill S56 is gonna go through some major drafting and I I have a wondering this is just Jamie speaking I have a wondering whether this bill is gonna be discussed and talked about the table until next year To actually firm it up Is is where I feel like this one might end up being I don't I don't see as much momentum on this bill Right now or having it have as much talk about it as it did a month ago I feel like based on testimony. I think that there's some feeling that they need to do some work on it. I Do think at some point we're gonna have a bill. I Just don't know and this is right now like if I my opinion changes. I will let you all know But right now that's my opinion. Okay. Now if the four-year-olds will Will have to offer the program will they have to attend or be optional? Still optional even for kindergarten students up to I think it's you turn six But we would be required to provide it Or to contract with another public school within 20 mile radius So for most of us other than at Newton Currently in first branch. We do operate public pre-k's and we are serving both three and four-year-olds What we serve in regards to how many hours we provide it does look different We currently have some districts providing full day Programming for three and four-year-olds without fees. We have some growth schools that are providing Part-day pre-k and then they are charging fees in the afternoon for extended care for three and four-year-olds and Then we have a proposal right now in first branch that will go to a vote next week Offering full day three and four-year-old programming for under public pre-k And so I just I mentioned that to say to you that This is something a lot of our families have become accustomed in most of our districts of us serving three and four-year-olds It also has allowed us to provide early interventions and supports for three and four-year-olds Even if they didn't qualify for services via night That is one of the things I get concerned about with the three-year-old change Through our MTSS system. We're providing early interventions and supports without a student necessarily being qualified for supports Yeah, quick quick question you Did I hear you right that we are unsure at this point whether the three-year-olds would If we would still be able to serve them Correct Okay, it's a question. I have out there and I think no one really has that direct answer yet I I think there is a possibility that we could run child care programs if we choose Be licensed and to decide whether we're going to charge a fee or not for a child care program. That's separate pre-k Thank you You would get no credit for it though. There'd be no funding that would follow those three Are we aren't receiving funding now for pre-k, right? You do. Oh, we do Yeah, you get to count each one of those students as it is at point four six ray or point four eight I'd have to look to be sure but yeah, it's either point four six or point four eight. I believe okay Gotcha, so just under a half a student, but they're changing that if they go to this model including the three-year-old This model would be four-year-olds account as a 1.0 And three-year-olds would not count unless they were serviced via an IUP point four six. Thank you, Tara Bill that wasn't too shabby, huh? I had it was right in the range Any other questions on that one before I move to s66? Just that it's still so confusing that whatever information you can share that's coherent and relatively Digestible Please forward it along S66 is The bill that is in response to Carson v. Makin And so what Carson v. Makin did is a Supreme Court ruling that said as a state You cannot provide public funds to independent schools and then also in turn say you're not going to provide public funds To religiously affiliated independent schools That that was a violation of the Constitution Okay, so I know some boards have asked me why Couldn't you jet as a state? Why is this legislation not saying we will provide public funds to independent schools But not religiously affiliated schools. That is what Carson v. Makin was about Okay, so what the What my pillar is trying to do in this bill was to be in response to that And so what they've crafted is a bill that essentially says that public funds will stay with public schools With the caveat of two things one our therapeutic independent schools that service students Who are not having success in public school and need intensive supports? Okay that is permitted and And they created a caveat for the four historical independent schools that at one point were The designated primary public schools for the towns that they sat in now They drew that line there it is My sense is that that could possibly even be challenged the likelihood of that being challenged is Certainly, I think folks would argue less than if you try to create other Oversight for independent schools So that's why they drew the line there currently there's also There has had been talk of is there a ability for the agency of education to have oversight To ensure that independent schools are serving all students and that equitable education is Occurring across all independent schools Right That's another way you could approach this I Will tell you that I think I'll tell you I believe the reason why it wasn't drafted that way is that the agency of education does not have the Capacity or bandwidth to ensure that they can do that and I'm saying that in a public meaning if I was testifying in front of the Legislature that would be part of my written statement and comment I do not believe that they have the bandwidth to do and I believe that the legislature knows they don't have So they've created this other piece of legislation that drew the line there there's some things within this proposed legislation that I believe are Kind of sort of add-ons That didn't necessarily address Carson be making and one of them would be the requirement to designate three schools and so That comes from there is currently State statute that allows boards to designate up to three schools. I Think there could be significant movement on that part of the legislation in regards to draft And I'm not taking it. I am not giving you any opinion right now, right? I'm just telling you where I think there is movement in regards to the drafting of this piece of legislation Where I don't believe there's that is I I believe that there was a sense to want to cap it at three schools because of the complexities of oversight of districts to try to Ensure quality education for the students that attend school choice districts and so for an example I know at times the board has requested that we do a better job keeping track of our students that attend secondary schools An example I can give you though why that's so challenging for us is we have students currently right now in 44 different secondary So our ability to communicate with 44 different schools And have them communicate back and ensure that we're getting data around how our students are doing that is a Significant challenge for us as an organization So I can share one reason why they may be looking at trying to have a cap We are not the only as you are organization that school choice it right there's there's you you'll start to see some of them discuss Kingdom East up in the Northeast Kingdom has Significant school choice. They sit just north of St. John's Berry. So it's Lindenville Burke In that area There's a lot of school choice up on the island schools up in the Lake Champlain Islands There's some school choice up in Franklin East Which is up in the richford area? Okay, so you're and then certainly down In the Manchester Vermont area the burn burn, okay, so and and you'll see often our our traditional historical academies tend to be in Areas where there are school choice towns was at one point That for many of those school choice towns those were designated Designated schools for those towns so an example would be and I can give you an RSU Straford had a long time designation that that for the cabinet That's no longer in place But there was a at one point a long-term designation to TA So where we're at with that 66 is they're still taking testimony. I do I believe my opinion on this bill is is that it's There's a lot to chat talk about it, right? If you look it's on digger. It's in the value news It's on CAX today. The news media is continuing to cover this one. I I think there's a real urgency to do something to respond to Carson being making and To address that and they don't have a tool to address it right now And so I think that out of these two bills This is one that we need to we need to monitor both of them closely. This is one that I continue to check in on With Jeff Francis on at least a weekly basis. So I want you guys to know that I am Accessing that resource to keep a close read on where the bill is Or where folks may be leaning or if there's momentum on the bill And what I'm giving you now what I know about that bill is based on conversations with Sue and Jeff And so that's the overview of that bill And again, if folks have strong feelings, I'd encourage you to reach out to your representatives In your senators, I mean some of our senators that sit within our SU Cosponsored this bill Yeah, I just want to make Are you finished any yes, okay, just a couple comments one is to me our primary vision or mission is what's best for our kids and to the extent that S66 truncates or Reduces the opportunity of our kids to get the education that they need or deserve Doesn't sound doesn't sound good to me I'm not such to say a private or independent school can do any better than what we are doing Secondly is the whole question about costs are our Are we being our funding being bled by all these kids going to private or independent schools and I was looking at some of the numbers and At least from our vantage point here The Sharon Academy, which is the big choice or a choice here has a lower tuition rate And some of the public schools in our area for choice Are far more expensive. So I'd be curious on the Both of these To see what the numbers turn out to be I don't see S66 is providing Us to fill our classrooms and and and take care of our students and save money The other thing is I'm curious about What educational schools are out there and I just guys I'm sorry I misspoke religious affiliated schools and What impact the Supreme Court decision might have on that I don't think that's really really Big so I think it's something that we need to ponder and think about as individual board members in our districts and Figure out what's best for our kids in for our SU and I don't have the answer tonight But I appreciate Jamie being on top of this issue and keeping us informed Anybody else any other questions about my report? Those are two big ones that I wanted to talk them through and answer questions I think it was hard to put that on writing and have it be Folks Jamie you mentioned S56 and H 208 I'm sorry. Are there's that one thing. Yeah, so it's it's essentially identical H 208 cat cars out a little piece that essentially acknowledges that there's districts like Grandville Hancock that don't have a operating elementary school and That they're and they may not have a public school within 20 miles And so that that district would be allowed to contract with a private entity to serve their four-year-olds Which I appreciate that they caught that I mean that is something that Needed to be addressed that S56 didn't address Okay, thank you Yeah, I'm good Okay, thank you So I would just want to highlight the two things in in my report Which just to make sure you had eyes on them the first thing under our goal around a multi-tiered system of supports And being invited to be one of the pilot SUs for this early MTSS work And this is you know a credit to our Pre-K coordinator Renee Hinton who's been working really hard With all of our with all of our pre-K teachers around, you know, what does early MTSS look like? How do we get all of those supports for our students as you know as early as possible? And so she Got this invitation from the AOE And so we'll have one of our schools piloting it and but actually the professional development will be available to all of our school So it ends up that benefiting all of our all of our pre-K's They're excited to be able to have that those important supports in nice and early for our students So we're excited about that. Nice. And then the last thing which is coming up really quickly But we just sort of had the information on so I want to get out the information as much as possible as we're partnering with the Sharon Academy around an additional community conversation focused on Managing anxiety, which we know that a great number of students as well as adults and caregivers and teachers may be you know experiencing for any number of reasons and so they Have identified this psychotherapist Lynn Lyons who comes really highly Regarded and she'll be coming in to do an evening talk. You know, I think mostly for for parents and caregivers Live at Sharon Academy high school, but will also be live streamed home So folks if that's a difficult time for you to get out of your house to go to it It'll be available live stream too. So this is next Thursday evening next week is Incredibly busy week and you may be out of your building out of your homes for other reasons on Monday and Tuesday So but I think this is a topic and we're excited That the Sharon Academy reached out to us to partner on this knowing that you know some of our Families and students might benefit from this conversation as well. So And that's yeah, so I can take any other questions or I can move into the academic data report Ashton anyone So for those of you, I think I've seen a lot of you at your individual District school board meetings. We've talked about the data. So I don't we don't have to go through every detail here But I think it's good for you all as the SU board to see sort of how are we doing collectively as a as an SU We had this again This is our winter benchmark data. So these are the assessments that were taken throughout the month of January Which now feels quite a while ago We're almost closer to the next window than the last window which we'll talk about a little more But in general really pleased with the progress that our students showed between fall and winter, which is about a 13 week period of time between assessments if you are looking at the Sort of the multicolored graph on the second page and you're able to see it sort of a full paper you really can See the difference in fall to winter in each of those grade levels You know my eye automatically goes sort of to those red bars and see how much of those Decrease to those means, you know, we're getting those students who are most furthest behind You know, we're getting them those students are working themselves, you know towards proficiency And then into proficiency levels. So really pleased with a lot of the growth there We still you know as we often say we still have a lot of work to do But seeing that level of growth Over just 13 weeks is is really and encouraging Is great support to our great credit to our teachers and the students that are Doing all that hard work And again the purpose of this data for the most part is for us to identify where are those gaps? And what can we be doing different to serve to serve whole groups of kids individual kids small groups of kids? And we've talked in individual districts about you know, or individual schools about great levels that are identified that we sort of Changed the instructional model. We pushed an interventionist into co-teach. We did something different and we've seen a lot of growth At that, you know at that classroom in that grade level as well. So Our math data is really is really looking really encouraging The next graph just shows those scale scores and we look at scale scores In particular because they grow, you know, it builds on each other That's not, you know, you're going from kindergarten to grade eight each of those numbers are going up Um, and we see, you know, of course our kindergartners came in and took it for the first time And really, you know, show that they they have a good a good grasp on those foundational skills in kindergarten So, uh, I think they're setting the bar high in kindergarten first and second grade That um for us to make sure that we continue to meet their needs and and they make that that same level of growth Throughout the years the content does get a little harder when you hit third grade But I think I think we're prepared to to match their what the they're certainly showing us that they're ready to learn And are accessing the learning so we're excited about that And the next couple of pages are just more on the on the informational side So I don't the only but if you've got questions on it What domains we assess in each of the grade levels that aligns to the common core state standards It just gives you an idea of sort of how how things progress over time from kindergarten through eighth grade And then a series of sample questions for you to look at to see what kinds of questions our students are being asked When they're doing these assessments they're You know, they range the mostly are They're not all multiple choice. Although I notice here that all the questions That you're looking at are multiple choice. Sometimes they do have to do a calculation and put it put it in But they yeah, they see those kinds of questions. They can hear all the questions be asked of them There's an audio component to it if that's helps their learning But this is sort of how it progresses from, you know, a kindergarten question all the way to an eighth grade question Any questions on on the math again, we continue to work on the proficiencies and I do I think we've called it out before I do just want I want to credit our, you know, our Our families our parents our caregivers our pre-k teachers and our kindergarten first grade teachers are really Really meeting our students needs and and helping to implement this robust hands-on Math learning that we think is going to be really influential on how they do moving forward I had a comment if I could make it or a question This is very heartening and I think we're all Going to sleep better and we're When we first had your report and I compliment you and your team and the teachers for doing what they're doing And also the presentation. So it's understandable for us that are In la la land, I guess the one question I had was The change between the fall in the and the winter is dramatic in math less so in english you're going to get to How much do you think of that is the summer gap and I guess I would like to think that tracking our progress when we get our spring results We'll be able to compare our spring results to our fall results or You get a little better sense of that, but How big is it is that summer fall off and and again tell us and remind us what we're doing to try to Reduce that fall off Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, bill. I appreciate your your comments on it I think there's a couple pieces there right the summer looks different for different kids and different families So there's not sort of one calculation on that One thing that is different this year and we're continuing to figure out whether this is exactly the right calendar Is that we did do the assessment in october? And part of the reason there was to get a little bit of a better sense of how instructions actually working for our students during those first You know four four to five weeks of school not just testing them right You know, they're not just getting that summer where they are right when they come in but sort of all right They've gotten in they've gotten the routines. So I don't think I think we have a I don't think this totally reflects summer slide when you have an october assessment window It is linked to getting data too. So that that is a just sort of highlighting why we may end up moving it a little bit earlier in the In the fall and so we may have this conversation next year about how much of its summer slide And also you'll have to remember for the vast majority of our students Track my progress was new to them this fall. We had two districts piloted last year but you know any of our Any of our kind of younger kids You know any of our first graders across the district And a lot of our schools this was a new it wasn't very very different from star 360 But it was different and so in some ways some of our fall performance could just be learning how it works And seeing that I would say that our kindergartners who took it for the first time this january didn't seem to have any trouble What they've also read they've had exposure to other things in you know before january and so they you know They may have benefited from that just starting later in the year Um, so I think that's true. I you're on your question around. What are we doing to help? Diminish and prevent summer slide is a great question I think we I think we have work to do there too and we have some resources set aside in our Our esser funding on covet to think about a little bit more about you know, are there Are the materials that families could be um, could have access to that would help in terms of books I know we do have our sort of our robust summer programming through one planet and the department of Special services to help with students there, but I think it's a good question for us to to pull back and make sure that we are thinking More about how can we help those students in particular that might are more at risk of having that slide Thank you Uh, so let me I'll just I'll go through I notice language arts a bill is correct right the the progress here is not as dramatic as it was in math I think I will say we hoped it would be more And we know that the challenge that we have in literacy right now is um Is different than the one in math and is that we are really trying to change Some practices that we know don't don't work in giving students the foundational skills They need to be really good readers and writers um, and that and Sort of changing Established practice is harder Than teaching like sort of new practice and I would say this is not universal of all of our teachers But if I talk in sort of broad strokes in general we hear that people don't feel like they know as well How to teach math when they're coming out of you know being new teachers Whereas people may think they know how to teach reading. I will say I thought I knew how to teach reading I thought I was doing a great job at home And we have learned differently and so you have to sort of change your practice rather than just learning any practice And that is harder to do And so I think this this is where I sort of think a bit more about like a like a ocean liner trying to turn rather than You know trying it's just it's going to I think it's going to take a little longer And we see some good, you know good progress in When we start to look drill down into the data at um at sort of more discrete levels But we don't see where we're looking at sort of the you know the almost thousand students that do this testing We don't see that those bigger bigger shifts from fall to winter as we did in math Um, I think I'm done all again. I think we are encouraged by where our kindergartners are are starting So I think we're starting with something pretty positive there and we'll continue to to build on that um and In general most of our grade levels if you look at the graph that's on the screen now They are they are closing the gap the gap between where our average score was and where the expectation is Um has gotten smaller. Uh, it hasn't necessarily, you know ticked into the cognitive yet, but it has Has shrunk since the fall and so we're um heading in the heading in the right direction the most part there And then at the end there we've got the questions that just sample questions from the from the literacy part of the Um of the assessment that again give you a sense of what kinds of questions are being asked across the grade levels Any questions or comments on that? content area Thank you. Thank you No, I think I'm good unless I know All right. Thank you guys Yeah, so are you awesome about a copy of my report and um like I've been doing for a few months now I have a rule change spotlight Um since I've done so many changes um in the religion regulations around special education So this month I focused on um functional skills and performance Which is now um included as one of the basic skill areas Um, it wasn't before it was focused more on reading math writing listening skills comprehension um, so now um They've added functional skills to the list and really what that what that is all about is um really just skills that um Children need for daily living whether it be you know personal um skills for work skills needed at home or at school It's just kind of like your routine of um activities for everyday living um And that can include for some students some study skills um organization skills Um, and we're just finding that a lot of skill a lot of students right now are just kind of lacking some of those Those basic skills, so I'm I'm really glad that they added this um as an area of focus um The other kind of big big pieces that have been happening in February um We are in um what the agency of education is calling cyclic monitoring It's monitoring that just happens every three years. They just do like check-ins every three years um, so all of our cyclic monitoring documents Which there are quite a few was due To the agency of education by february 15th, so I got those all in In one of the document areas that kind of stood out that we Didn't fully have in place Was a special education Procedures and policy And I know superintendent canarni just brought that Kind of draft that the agency of education had already had Brought it up to the policy committee. So we're moving forward In kind of that adoption So then we'll meet that piece of compliance for monitoring It's something new um, it used to only be for like your policy on like discipline and And kind of your conduct Which we had that one. So I did send that one in as part of our Monitoring pieces, but we were just missing these other ones which are new Um And then also as part of our monitoring We've been needing still monthly with our acquainted coach And focusing on math, which is maybe another reason why our math scores are going up We've been having a lot of professional development around the math. So So we're we're still, you know doing that. So that looks really well done Um, and then the next piece of monitoring that we're in Which at the beginning of the year in september It was called selective monitoring, but now they've changed the title to targeted monitoring Um, and that was for our post-secondary transition plans So students that are 16 and above their plans for transitioning out of high school either going into the workplace or college or independent living And so All of that paperwork is due tomorrow And I have it all done and it's been submitted So we we're looking um, we're looking great So it just kind of like sitting back and just kind of waiting for for their results But that's been a big a big piece of February. There's been a lot of information Due to the AOE So this month And then the other kind of big piece Is haley's ride Who's the one planet director and I have been meeting to kind of start talking about summer summer intervention ESY or what they call extended school year services And what that will look like and so we're starting to plan that and and kind of get a sense of Who's who's willing to to kind of work this summer? Um, and um, just so then we can get things up and rolling Any questions build-up Am I up you're uh, sorry I'm a common and then a question the common is I really appreciate the the coordination and the emphasis you are making uh with andah Michaela, uh about coordinating and thinking about um Uh professional and development, uh planning for next year. I mean, that's just huge There's no way we're going to succeed unless everybody gets better at what we're doing and that includes ourselves as board members and To hear and see and read what you're doing and thinking about and asking the hard questions is I find really Wonderful. My question is um, could you explain what section 504? Plan that the coordinator would be handling. I know when my son jimmy was growing up in the third grade He had a stutter and had to have special help My gosh, his parents really weren't that much aware of it and he also needed help and spelling and he got both of those and and The sky's the limit now. So um, would you explain what? Section 504 is all about Yeah, so remember we added in the budget Um the section 504 plan coordinator and the section 504 plan is based on The americans with disabilities act the ada So basically it's accessing The school building accessing education based on their disability So it's a way to further school to then document accommodations that way and or services Um that need to be made for a student that has a documented diagnosis or a documented disability That may not qualify under the rules for special education Could you give us an example? Sure. Um, there have been some students that may have um a Slight hearing impairment, right? So they have a disability of you know, a hearing loss But it's not to the effect that it's impacting their academic progress enough for special education But they still need some accommodations Whether it be, you know an amplifying speaker in a classroom or where they sit in a classroom Or the volume needs to be adjusted or their headphones need to be a certain type Right. Um, that would go into a 504 plan Thank you. Sure right Any other questions? Yeah, you're welcome Tara Good evening everyone. Can you hear me? Okay? No Right, you have my report which outlines what is happening in the business office for the month of February or march. Sorry So if there's any questions on that, otherwise we can move to the Projections So this is the projection for the su as of December 31st. So the close of second quarter So you'll see that we have some potential areas of savings. We've got salary budget versus contracts of just under $79,000 Benefits $2,376 And transportation for special education of $385 and that's because we're currently using IDEAD funds Which is our grant to cover those transportation costs So we're not accessing them at this point in time out of the special education budget So we have $466,331 as the potential Expenditure savings as of December 31st So on the revenue side Within the central office budget, we had $131,000 projected for title revenue and we actually currently have $155,570 so we're about $25,000 over there And then we received just shy of $244,000 more than anticipated in our census plot grant for special education And you'll see the decrease in the extraordinary reimbursement is because of the fact that we are using The IDEAD fund to cover the transportation costs for our students We cannot include those costs And what we had budgeted for for the extraordinary reimbursement because then we would be double dipping So right now that is only anticipating tuition that we have paid through December We have many contracted services that have not invoiced us yet So as we continue to progress throughout the year That number will change based on what our students are needing for Above the $60,000 threshold. That is the the maximum that We're to pay and then the state reimburses us For over that 60,000 So you'll see we have the increase in the IDEAD basic flow-through grant So that was a lot of carryover that we had and some additional funding there So that's why we're using those funds to cover our transportation costs right now We're getting a little bit more than we anticipated in the IDEAD preschool grant And then the triple E grant we got a little bit more than anticipated there So overall as of the end of December, we potentially have a $32,000 surplus For the entire central office and special education budget Thanks Thank you, Tara. Nice job. You're welcome Any questions for Tara? All right, Bill. You're running out of questions Well, I was wondering because Tara looks so cool and relaxed And here she is deep in budgeting season with the possibilities of making all these things happen And we're staring at $32,000 potential surface and your experience with us, Tara Would you expect that number to go up or down between now and June? I would say based on Last year I think it could stay consistent prior to that. Um, I would say it was a moving target We've got a pretty good handle on our expenditures and within all of our departments So that the key there is really, you know, if we get a student that moves in that we didn't anticipate That requires, you know, a lot of extra cost like that because throw that number off But yeah, I mean, I'm I'm pretty confident as of December based on what we had paid Wow, thank you Anything else guys? All right. Thank you, Tara Ray Hello everybody. Hi As I bring up my report here and Look back over it I am still waiting to hear from the state about Cognitive and I am still confident that we have a great plan for us here WRVSU And the one thing not my report that I would like to mention is that with the help of some of the folks who are here prior to the meeting Um, we hung up some pictures of students learning around the central office So those of you attending virtually the next time you're here be sure to check those out It's the goal of the superintendent to make sure We are reminded of and celebrate the reason we're here Thank you and now entertaining any questions Any questions for ray? I'll just add to ray. He's been working hard behind the scenes on population projections We expect what that we're going to be able to roll those out By the end of March to all districts in the SU Wow, great. So thank you for those efforts, right? Sure No problem All right, so Maggie let's do it. And Maggie I'll let you roll with us. Thank you. Um, can you put up the Policy on engagement ray or should I am I allowed to do that? I think he's doing it right now, Maggie. Thank you so much. Uh, we moved today to bring the, um Um This policy out of committee and to the full board. Um, specifically just looking at how People board members engage with each other around board business So, um, there's a couple key Lines here, but mostly it is a policy about Orderly and respectful communication, uh and specifically Uh with with board policies. So, um, you know, there have been occasions We had something that came up Recently where someone took um bridge with how a board member was communicating on social media But in under that in that circumstance, um, the board member wasn't acting as a board member. It was their their, um personal facebook Postings and so, um, this this helps clarify, right that when we are engaging as board members We are comporting ourselves professionally and using appropriate language Um, not offensive or objectionable Uh, and that is separate than our personal lives Questions that I can answer Bill I'm so surprised you have a question Yeah, I My question is, um Are we acting when we're as a board member? um When we're at board meetings and and our activity starts when the chairman Gables us to order and it ends when Somebody calls for adjournment and we're adjourned Is that what this policy addresses is from? um, the Initiation of a board meeting to the end of the board meeting and we should behave ourselves and we should Be kind and civil makes all the sense in the world and in fact if we're not there could be a a censure Uh option which we don't have right now and it seems to me is it's nice to have that in our Pocket even though hopefully we'll never never never have to exercise that So the reason I'm asking that is so I step out and I get in my car and I drive home and I stop at Shaw's and I picking up something I won't say what and somebody comes up to me and says bill You know, I can't stand what you're doing about xyz Have to do the school and I get into conversation and it gets hotter and hotter and hotter And I finally can't stand anymore and I go nuts Is that covered that that situation covered by this policy or is it end at the schoolhouse gate Or put in other words at the end of our meeting So so two things That if you'll look at the one two third paragraph in the last line It's the board expects that speech and conduct among and between board members members of the administration Faculty staff students and the public are civil and respectful. So we do hope that if it's a situation that escalates that You know, you can exit stage left without you know Amplifying the situation Right. Um that and then to follow up. There is a censure piece here the very last paragraph Um Says that censure requires a majority of vote of board members. So that is a possible consequence If you are at the grocery store picking up donuts and you decide to get have words with your You know fellow towns person then that that is that isn't that is an option that we could exercise Yep I just I read that But I must say the first paragraph and the second paragraph and most of the third paragraph seemed to point to the fact that this applies to board meetings and when we're Conversing with ourselves whoever's in the audience and I think it needs to be clearer um If that's what it is and I support your interpretation or your Emphasis on that last sentence somehow it needs to be clarified that this goes beyond um our behavior when we're at board meetings to when we're out with the general public and that we're Discussing things and that we it's just we should We should not blow it and and um Because it it affects us all and it hurts us all and so I just think if that's the case here And I totally support that I encourage the policy committee to make it a little clearer that and includes our behavior um outside of board meetings Okay, I will I will I will bring that back. Um I am curious if anyone else has any feedback for me to bring back to the policy committee Well, um, yeah, well, I mean I just um to kind of piggyback on what bill was saying I did read the first sentence in the censure section And it refers to you know board members at board meetings And in the in the conduct of board business And so I guess it it seems like the censure part at least is At least when I read it the first time I read it it looked like It was referring only to conduct in meetings. I guess And maybe that's a place where There could be an edit or something This is in the conduct of board business. So I think one of the things we're trying to figure out and we'll talk about more as a committee is Again, what is a board member wearing their board member hat and when are they Not wearing their board member hat and so we try to capture that on your board business So if I was at the general store asking, you know, wearing my ask me questions about the school board name tag Then then that would the expectation is like I'm I'm engaging in a respectful way, but if I am Picking up my own doughnuts at the store and It was somebody and being disrespectful that if there's a um That there is a consequence that we can use um within within the word suit to say listen, you got to You you can't spot off like that, but I think that's great feedback. So if we're I'm not sure But what we will do with that, you know, I think the idea was that where there's this plane engagement with the public is Specifically around board business like we tried to do that. We're not trying to micromanage people's lives and also Someone has opinions on things in the social media. For example We have to make sure that we're not they're not Being identified as board members if they are trying to Express themselves privately Had a question too Yeah, um You know just thinking about kind of what bill had mentioned and and in a situation um that I noticed that arise on facebook in Stockbridge, um connections Uh So I know in the past um, there there is and was a um a on What was it, uh, I believe our sud had had a Page on facebook and we really haven't been using that platform lately. Um, and I know that a a A resident had kind of called that out online and it was almost kind of a jab and so You know, I think We need to have some sort of I don't know standard as far as social media goes my opinion is that You know, we we have a really great website now. I think sui's and and our sud The we've got a great website. So we're just trying to direct people to that website because it has everything on it So why post anything on social media where? Really, that's just a place and a forum for people to complain Um, you know, I just think it just opens up a can of worms and puts us in a really awkward position Um to start conversation there as a board member um So You know, I think As well as say out in public too at a store or whatever somebody confronts you and it's kind of a um A conflicting topic or or whatnot um, if and I feel like if we're a board member and you feel that that that is you know, that it's uh Creating tension in a conversation. I think that's when we just need to to be able to Speak up and say listen, you know, I hear you but I think the appropriate place to have this discussion is at a full board meeting or at the Um, you know at a board meeting, you know, and we invite you to to be there as public and to have comments Um, that would be the place for you to come and and discuss your what you know and voice your opinion um, I don't think that's For us individually to to really get into out in public um I don't know what would you all think of that but I know especially on social media It's it it can be an issue and it made me realize it as an r-sub member That's something that I want to you know discuss with our board And our next meeting is how we handle the facebook page. I mean, I personally think we need to just Step away from that until the public and yes that everything's on our website And we invite them to to visit our website. It has great information It's a great resource to check up on the staff and the students and all the great things that are going on um But yeah, that's just my my opinion and my comment Thank you All right, so we'll bring that back and we'll talk about it the next policy committee meeting a little further guys Perfect. Thanks for the feedback folks. Thank you The other one is a policy that Annette had mentioned um, that's in your packet or it's it's essentially What would play policy from the bsba that was done in Coordination with the agency of education There's one thing that was added based on my consultation with our attorney and it's in the third paragraph And it says along with relevant regulations and applicable laws It's the second sentence to the end In the third paragraph and that is to just make certain that as by policy, we are saying that You know, there are federal laws as well Right and there could be times when the federal laws and the state laws Or the procedures in that manual that we're talking about that we will reference that they are saying we need to reference Could possibly be in conflict with each other And so that is where we would work with our legal counsel to navigate if there was a conflict So I did not want to put in policy that we would necessarily always follow This manual out of the state if there happened to be something that could possibly then put us in a situation where we weren't following the federal law So that's why that one sentence was added my hope is This is something we need to have on the books. My hope is to have this ready For action next month would be my goal. Just so folks know anybody got any questions or If not, if many will just let this move along negotiations with council updates We are still working towards Meeting you just support staff And Three weeks ago, we're hoping for another meeting next week And that's where you're at in that process Superintendent evaluation your evaluation should have come out an email. Hopefully everybody saw them Please go ahead get those filled out if you can Come back in like to have a perfect score this year. We're having everybody fill theirs out It's a great process for all of us that are involved And we have board member committee Mentor mentee handbook. Did you guys get a copy of that in your email? Our committee's been working really hard. Michaela's been working really hard for us We saw some more edits and stuff that we're working on but we're I started it and put it in my draft That's what you've got to do together and I saw your name when I was through it. Yeah, so Jamie and I have one work to do So we're going to get our letter done. I made a suggestion One of the things that we wanted to see in here was acronyms for board members Tonight listening to all even me being a board member for a really long time. I'm like, what does that mean? I suggested we put that in hard print because I think It would be much easier if you're in a meeting if you could kind of look grab your book and look that up And see what that is while the people are talking about it instead of trying to get to a link But that was just one suggestion. I had we really want other people's feedback We'd like to roll it out for new members coming on board here in march And kind of test pilot it and see how it goes I just want to thank bill for sharing his glossary of terms and acronyms with us because I did I did take a lot of your work that you had started So thank you. That's my link Does anybody have any questions or thoughts? Um We'd love to hear feedback from everybody. So please take a look at it um Slowly as good as as what we put into it and I think Everybody probably has different things or has different ideas of what they might need or want in there. So please Give us a heads up So Ray's going to share a survey link. Um that will um Allow you to get feedback so then I can share it with you That was good bill you got a question No, I just want to commend kathy It's kathy's this is her initiative. She's the one that thought about this Came up with this is pushing this and leading this is in other words that New board members don't have to wait a year to figure out what's going on Yeah, what a loss of resources that is Everybody that joins us has skills and ideas and passions that we want to tap and this handbook is a huge step in that direction to the speed up the learning curve and and to make us more effective board members and as Phil Gore told us the statistically the more effective the boards are The the higher better performance our students Will be achieving there's a direct direct relationship. So kathy I just wanted to thank you a lot for this Thank you bill And I want to thank everybody at the committee. It's a lot of hard work and especially mckayla She's put in a ton of hours on this for us. So it's really appreciated All right, um discussion this full audit Yeah, I'll start and then terry you can jump in Um, so terry and I just received the su audit. We had requested it last week. I I Spoke with our auditors myself directly asking for a draft the final draft of the audit We received a draft tonight that's that's not finalized Um, and we wouldn't have you take action on it this day. Anyways, we do have draft audits for all your districts What terra has been projecting in regards to surpluses and things of that nature I'm feeling really confident in her projections. We're not seeing anything alarming there with balance sheets I want you to know that Our audit is our is out remember for rfp. It's something that we'll talk about next month Um And you know, I I'll say this so terra doesn't have to I'm really disappointed That we don't have this reaction for you tonight And I want you to know that it was certainly a request that was very directed to my Out of my office and directly from me last week Um, I expect that you're going to have one to act on next month And that you have it in plenty of time to review it beforehand So that miss anything You did not um as far as the district audits what caused the delay in getting them out to you is The auditing team that works with our lead auditor Apparently didn't get the communication that child nutrition was centralized So all of your individual district audits They had broken out all of the child nutrition program So I had to have them reverse all of those transactions and move all of that financial information onto the central office as you Audit so that's what caused them the main delay in the individual district audit And I have So the board knows our goal is to have you adopt them by February so that we don't have audits coming in front of new boards Yeah, that was our goal All right, um any questions on the audit? All right Hopefully some new hires next month and that's working hard to solidify some special educators Yeah, I'd like I'd like the board to enter into an executive session on contracts because we do have a transportation bid And my request would be that you invite the business manager and that roads and I actually invite I asked one of our principals to join us Uh principal andra bowen from the white river unified district. She's the deaf one. Well, I'll make a principal in my second Oh, uh, yeah, I'm looking to go into the executive session And we're going to invite Tara, Amy, Honda Okay And do I have a second second? All right so Do I have a motion to come out of executive session? Make a motion to come out of executive session So I can All right, so moved All right, okay now I make a motion to that we Don't accept the bids that we receive for bussen and We explore we direct the superintendent to explore other options Do I have a second second? Any discussion on the motion? All right, hang on. I'm going to do a roll call vote. Um, Amy I Well Hi Maggie Hi Sylvia Hi Tammy Hi Phil Hi Patrick Hi Sue Hi Rodney's an I. Kathy's an I. Did I get everyone? So unanimously we passed up. All right And is there anything else to it? All right guys, I would entertain a motion to adjourn Make a motion to adjourn All right. Good luck everybody at your meetings next week. Thank you. Thank you Good luck. All right, we're gonna get this everybody's gonna pass