 This program is brought to you by cable franchise V's and generous donations from viewers like you Seeing a presence of a quorum of the regional school committee, I'm calling to order this meeting at 6 o 2 p.m And we'll take a roll call attendance. Please state present when I call your name Mr. Demling Demling present mr. Harrington Harrington present miss Kenny Kenny present miss lord lord president miss seager seager present miss spitzer spitzer present miss stancer stancer present and mcdonald present So we are in in session And I will turn it over to miss cunningham for facilitation Well, thank you So, welcome everyone. Um, first I'd like to thank Both the e-school committee and the apea exec board for taking the time to Start this conversation This is a very public Opportunity and hopefully this is the first of many discussions that we'll be able to have One of the things I want to state for this evening is that I'm facilitating the beginnings of a conversation, right? What I'm doing is not considered a restorative circle So this is by no means doing justice to any of the restorative circles that you have seen done It was a very quick opportunity for me to be asked to facilitate this meeting And I thank you all for having that trust and having me facilitate So thank you there But I also want people to know that this is not a circle by no means as how circles are usually conducted Um So the agenda item was listed as a discussion about let me say it's directly Meeting the educational needs of our students during the pandemic And how we can safely get students and staff into the building So that's my understanding of what this whole conversation is going to be about And as this discussion unfolds, there are um There may not be any culture There may not be any solutions that will take place tomorrow Or answers to some of the pressing questions that we're hoping would be answered So once again, it's just the start of a conversation And finally for the full committee and the exec board I just want you to know that although I have upgraded my grid system here That I can't really see everyone so please don't take it personally if your hand is raised and I don't follow on you I have asked Dr. Morris to assist me in seeing who they have their hands up that I haven't Recognized so that he can let me know whose hands are raised Okay So with that being said As with most meetings there are norms. So I want to get through the norms before we get started These norms are simply Saying that we're going to respect each other, right? We're going to respect the conversation We're going to respect the purpose of us getting together and your staying on this call means that you are Willing to abide by the norm. Okay. So the first norm is One person at a time will speak like we normally hear and that you're going to use eye statements If you're talking about how you are feeling if you are talking on behalf of your organization Then you will use the restatement Another is that we're going to assume positive intentions We're going to focus on pollution We're going to listen in order to understand not listen to respond but listen to understand each other's point of view We're also going to accept and expect non closure So those are the six norms that I have written out here And like I mentioned, you're staying on this call means that you are willing and ready to abide by those norms So to begin I only wrote down three prop So three pressing questions that we will have and each side will have an opportunity to speak So each member of each group will have an opportunity to speak And then the other group will have an opportunity to speak to the same term So that's how we're going to work it the first prompt This basically begins because I know that this has been very public there's been a lot of information in the news and people in the community And our staff and our families need to know The responsibilities that both sides have when it comes to making decisions, right? You all have this heavy responsibility when you're making your decision And I want each side to be able to talk about the points the parameters and the responsibilities you each have When you are making the decisions that you are making so with that We'll start with the APEA and ZEC board and as I mentioned we'll go through that board for anyone who'd like to speak And then once they are finished, then we will have the school committee Okay Thank you. Thank you, Doreen. I'll go ahead and I'll start first and I prepared a statement, but it basically answers that prompt So my name is uh, lamiko McGee and I am the acting president for the apa at this time We are committed to democratic process in the apa We followed the lead of our representative council and membership Our next representative council meeting which we informed the school committee is monday And at that time we'll review the data of a member survey and bring the issue Impossible options to our representative council for discussion We followed a democratic process and gathering input from membership during the Negotiation of the MOA which over a hundred members volunteered their time over the summer to work on various committees We also facilitated conversations with families Over the past few months many statements in the media have been made about educators Question in our dedication to students and the community We are the community too. We're parents too And we're committed to students in our profession Educators have worked tirelessly To serve our students remotely and in their homes During this pandemic while managing our own households and challenges We know that the school committee superintendent assistant superintendent faced some of these same challenges And their dedication to students and community We believe it's critical for us to work together Communicate respectfully and efficiently with each other for the benefit of our students and our families and our community So I thank you for allowing this opportunity for us to be able to initiate this communication and hopefully What this leads to is For us to have a common understanding of what we need to do to serve our community our students and our families Thank you This is an open opportunity right now for anyone from the apea executive board to be able to speak Sure. Um, so i'm Tiffany tibodeau. I am the unit a co-chair for the secondary educators and I I guess I just want to add along with what Mika has shared as our president is that our role as the Amherst Pellum education association is to advocate for the working conditions of our educators in the units a b and c So that includes our teachers nursing staff counseling staff parent professionals and clerical staff Still an open opportunity for apea. I'd like board members to speak Um, it might be helpful. Could you rephrase or restate not rephrase? The question or the prompt Mm-hmm. Well, basically, I was saying that there are Responsibilities that you share or parameters that you look at when you are making the decisions that you make um, what I believe I've heard Tiffany tibodeau mention is that Your job is to advocate on behalf of the working conditions of teachers but I believe Ms. McGee to have stated was that You go to your rep council and your membership and you survey them and you bring back information based on what they have mentioned And so the question is just to continue to state How you make your decisions when you are making the decisions because I know many of the community want to know How you base your decision or what you base your what's your decision making process? Um, I will add a little bit. Um, I'm not good at speaking on the You know ad lib and I had a prepared statement which really doesn't fit here, but I'm gonna try Um, and just say that everything, you know, of course what mika and tiffani said um is Or what we're about we um At the same time regularly acknowledge that as educators our purpose is educating children and Our working conditions are their learning conditions as teachers often say and that's Something that we factor in when we're considering our responsibilities and so on Thank you Once again, I know that there are a few more board members. You have an opportunity if you'd like to speak um, hello everybody, my name is margaret todd or miss maggie and um I am a kindergarten para at wildwood and um, I prepared a small statement. Um And I just wanted to read it here because um, I had to write it down because otherwise I get all um So I just wanted to address something that happened a little while ago and um, it's been kind of weighing heavy on my heart And um, I just wanted to say that as educators we eat sleep and breathe better for our community and our students And as apa members we eat sleep and breathe better for our community students and our co-workers and um Last month there was a letter sent to the staff across the district and along with those letters Many of the staff including myself received um other emails from families telling staff That they must attend union meetings and vote in their favor And these families are families that I hold very dear to my heart Some of the families are families. I know personally Um, I just feel like this is a huge violation of boundaries And it puts a strain on the relationships that educators Strives so hard to make with their families and their students um The school committee and admin really missed the opportunity to stand up for educators that teach the children in this community And it is as it is as if we are not viewed as members of the same community, but as other And in the spirit of restoration I would like to propose that during future negotiations between apa school committee That we should put out a formal statement to the district and its families expressing the norms of the process um Just as we have to follow norms during discussions on on video or through email families should be held to the same standards And just one last thing I would like to say that our families are the third leg of our tripod And just as staff have an outlet for families I mean just as staff staff have an outlet like the apa family should as well So that the community so the communication can be respectful and within the boundaries Okay, so thank you for sharing that what I do want to just remind us that we are the apa exec board and the school committee that are Having this conversation and so I want to keep it to the things that The apa and the school committee have done and are working on to combine and come come together Um, I understand the letter had a big impact But right now we don't have families on this call to have the family speak us to help their process or their thinking As to why they wrote the letter or the rationale for the letter So I want to just make sure that we're keeping it with apa and school committee. So once again, we do have a few apa exec board members here Who I'd like them to if you so choose to have an opportunity to speak This is in regards to the first question. So I think I'm not sure if there's anyone else on the board that has A response to that first question All right, so we will transition now to the school committee And we'll ask the same question may sound a little different. What is the same? Um, just your decision-making process. What goes into The parameters when you are making the decisions that you make? Um, I I can speak first and um, I'm uh, alice and mcdonald And I'm I'm actually speaking on my Own not on the behalf of the committee everybody else from the committee is here and can speak their their own perspective um, I um for for those We we skipped over introduction. So I'll just by way of of introduction I'm an amherst resident of 18 18 ish years and have two kids In the district that have come through fort river and now in the middle school in the high school um, I think I'm not sure the sort of the best way or most extent way and unlike Others that have well prepared statements and comments. I don't um, so I'm a little bit off the cuff. So forgive me um I see our role as school committee as as really representing um Not just the voice of the community, but also keeping um all of the needs of all of the stakeholders in the school district in mind as we work through and And make our decisions and our decisions are limited in scope. Um, we we we don't have um, I know that the community sometimes thinks that we have a lot more authority and scope of Power if you will then then we in fact do so Uh, but I think you know when we are making those decisions on um That are in the purview with the school committee Um, at least as I go about it. I'm trying my best to keep the the needs the desires Um, and the educational mission of all of our stakeholders in mind um And but first and foremost really our students um that we are are serving because that is core to our mission of our school district um The families um and their lives and the challenges that they face particularly in a pandemic like now are Are are critical in in making those decisions as are the needs and challenges that um our educators and staff um that work in the district Because all of those those pieces work together to fulfill that mission Which is with our students at the heart of that mission. Um, so At least when I'm going through um and looking at sort of the choices the difficult choices and difficult Planning that we've had to do over the last year and we'll have to continue to do in the coming year I first I think first about what our students need and then our families and our community and our And I mean the full community of stakeholders in order to serve those students. Um, and I will as we all know that are on this call. It is exceptionally challenging and difficult When it feels in a situation like now in a pandemic That a choice that might be beneficial or helpful for me for student a or family b Um may feel like it's taking something away from somebody else And that is just a really really difficult position for any of us to have to be in to feel like to serve one We we are taking something away or constraining somebody else. Um, so I that doesn't answer that question about making decisions But I think might put some context in there um That we as volunteers in the community have been Put and forced into this situation of having to make very very difficult decisions and trade-offs within the scope, so Sorry, I've babbled on for too long. So Thank you. Fine. Thank you The floor is open to school committee members So if you are a school committee member of the committee would like to state Please do so and introduce yourself Um, Doreen, I'm sorry to interrupt. I'm only speaking because I think someone just joined by phone And I want to make sure that person has the opportunity to identify themselves. Um, and participate if Um, if they choose to so, um, if if it's okay, Doreen I know you might not have been able to see that that's why only reason I jumped in But it looks like it may be halla who's using her phone as well as the screen So, um, I think she's already identified herself or can do so. Um, I'm sorry That's the only reason I jumped in and I'm going to jump right back out Thank you Miss lower were you going to speak? You're muted Heather. Okay. I had I'd called in Because it wasn't working My computer keeps freezing, but I'm just going to try to talk and if I freeze I apologize. I hung up In terms of when I make a decision The point of the parameters Up until even in September. I was in the halls as an educator So I come from years of education I My scaffolding is I I think about the students first and foremost And then I wrap around their families And then the educators if I'm doing a ladder And then the administration and school committee and desi and and up and up So I think like I prioritize the students. So if it's a concentric circle So I didn't have the you know, I do the circles and my primary because all of us We are all important to this life of the student and our families in the community But I start with that. I try to get here as many voices A lot of voices don't participate in surveys And so how can we be in the community? Visible? It's been tricky during a pandemic So I can't just sit in you know complex and say hey come meet me these two hours. I'll be here. Let's chat We did do that a little in the summer with masks in distance, but um So it's been tricky and challenging, but I try to hear as many voices as I can I also Do factor in like different articles science? As much as I like I Oh, wait, maybe I'm getting off the I just try to get as much information as I can Have it all spread out sometimes I put it on post-it notes on the wall because my mind has a lot going on and really sit with it And I don't do it in my best interest. I do it in what the voices of what I hear is needed most With the science and the the other considerations Sorry, that was really clumsy, but that's part of how I make my decisions and I mean, oh no Yeah in a big way Thank you Thank you The opportunity is still open for school committee members Yep I'll go ahead. So I'm ben herrington Some of you folks have been my co-workers in the past, but so I'm currently the assistant facility director for Amherst public schools. I've also served as a custodian at wildwood and fort river et cetera, et cetera, so I'll just jump right into my my decision-making process. Those of you that know me know that I'm I'm a communicator aka a talker So I try to suss things out as best as I can It you know when it comes to issues I try to bounce things off of as many different people as humanly possible I also take in a lot of the the emails we we get here I think some of you folks probably get similar emails and I try to do my best to kind of take the the personal out of it and just balance it and Realistically, I don't know if this sounds crazy, but The the key part of my decision-making process If we try to look forward as far as possible to see How the decisions I make right now are going to affect other people in the long term I'll be all right. I'm You know someone of a survivor, I guess but I'm mostly concerned with how like the impact of what it is that we do here And I mean this is the most important work we can be doing right all of us everyone who's here so Keeping the short and sweet here Okay Go ahead. Hey everyone. Um, thank you so much for for being here tonight It's really nice to get faces to go with everybody's names. Um My name is Carrie Spitzer and I'm You know, I grew up in Amherst and I graduated from Amherst high school a long time ago. Um But I currently have um three kids one of them's in the district right now and two will be shortly. So I I'm also a researcher. I I really love, um You know Studying problems and coming up with optimal solutions, you know, that's what I was, you know I've studied public policy and and the thing that's been really really hard this year Is that there are no optimal solutions? And I think, um, you know, I've often what I've leaned on, you know, is, you know, finding you know The expert opinion or the the journal, you know, just to come to an optimal Decision and I think that's been really hard this year And so I just want to recognize that I think all of us have been struggling to to make choices That we've never in a million years thought we'd be you've faced with this year and it's been really hard So when I am, you know, when I because I can't just lean on On that research, you know piece. I've tried to, you know, I've read every single email that's come in Listen to all the public comment. Um when we get it And I do say, you know, I think I There are limits and, you know, I'm super busy with work and three kids. So I I've, you know Haven't been responding to all the emails at any You know, as much as I would have liked I haven't been able to get out and talk to folks because we're in a pandemic. So You know, this feels um Like I wish we were face-to-face, but and that's been a lot of what's been happening this year I think that's made it harder. So I think one of the things that I really like to do is talk face-to-face with people And it's made it really hard. So, um This is not optimal, but I'm really glad it started and I just want to thank everybody and That's it I'm Peter Hi, I'm Peter Demling, uh, resident of Amherst. Um, I had three kids through the Amherst regional public schools one currently almost every building um So in terms of the the responsibility part of the question, um, with almost every topic I approach on school committee I I start from this My own personal synthesis of what our mission is which is equal access to the highest quality education for all students And and there's a lot packed in there Um, but but the things that really drive me a lot and that are driving me on this particular How do we get kids back in the building issue is is equal access and and all students? Um, so, you know by all students, it's not just you 95 percent of students. It's every every student every type of student um, especially those who Um are the most vulnerable and who might not have the strongest advocates So as as my role on It's the representative to cPAC our special advisory council. Um, I hear a lot of those stories directly Um, and that that's pretty intense Uh, to to to um to absorb and to to then try and integrate into how that should affect our decisions Um, you know, which gets to the the parameters part of the question Um, you know, there's we talked really early on uh when we first started planning about this this tension point And I think the spectonums to Harrington just touched on this a little bit about um, you know, there's there's never going to be a perfect solution and um You know, we have a non-zero health risk on on the one hand during an active pandemic And we also have a non-zero educational cost and personal cost and you know to students and families and And you know, we did the best we could and I think I think all parties You know acted in good faith and we got the best we could at the time And now we know a lot more right about both the health risk and the educational cost and In terms of the parameters that things that are driving how I think about this Is is the the opinions of medical professionals about how About how we've managed safety and how we how we create safe environments And and and the educational cost And and we've we've heard the the school community heard quite a bit about the educational cost from parents directly in public input and you know anecdotal story after anecdotal story about the impact to their children and um, you know, uh Without putting a quantifiable percent or number on it A lot of students are struggling and a lot of families are struggling and Our survey data shows disproportionately affected Students of color it survey data, uh, we know that um Low-income families are being disproportionately affected. We know that students with an ip's and so um It it only makes the problem more challenging and that so that that is what's driving the urgency you know, I think um And and to do it in a safe way because at the end of the day, I You know, we we can't have amazing schools without amazing teachers And I believe personally that the reason why emerson regional public schools are the best schools in the region Is because we have amazing teachers and because we support our teachers Who who support our students and so? um You know, we have to we have to drive towards finding that balance in in an urgent manner. That's that's That's that that's how I I land on it and imperfectly and without closure is This cunningham, um identified at the beginning. Thank you Of course, they're open for school committee members Um at stancer Thank you. Um, I'm margaret stancer I'm a elected to the pelham school committee and as part of that I am also a member of the regional school committee um When I think about making decisions Uh from the school committee I feel some responsibility to the community that elected me. So I will listen to the input from the community um We have direct contact direct contact with In the case of pelham with the superintendent and the principal Occasionally maybe from a teacher But not usually. Um, I'm retired. So I've had children go through the system But I don't have direct contact right now because I don't have children or in the system and I This has been a really difficult time Um, as everybody has said they're when you take in all of the input, um There's no Good solution for everybody. So it's been really challenging and um I try my best to Hear all of the pieces Um, so I would also just like to say I appreciate the opportunity to actually see teachers And have this conversation with teachers because that for me hasn't really happened um Thank you I see about two other members of the school committee. Like I said, my screen doesn't show everyone But if anyone else from the school committee would like to speak the floor is open Yeah, I'll say something. Hi. I'm bethany seager. I am um Representative from leveret and I've been on the leveret school committee For a little while now. This is my second term um, and In that committee so most so I joined the regional committee in june I believe so i'm relatively new to it and i'm still really learning sort of the full picture and how everything and all the groups fit together um So i'll speak more to how I've thought about decisions over the last five years from a leveret point of view um there I think about the children in the school. Um, I think about the learning environment in the school community um and and Thanks to you. It's best for them. Um for the group at large um You know, I'll be honest too. We think a lot about budget there It's all the towns around here reaching their tax levy ceiling So there's there's always that um in the budget and leveret has been challenging in the last four or five years um So there's a lot of that too, but that that to me comes after thinking about the first two categories of children in the school community and what's best for People involved in the families involved um and this year It just feels like no decisions we make are easy. There's just no good options You know, I generally try to find the option that feels the best and it's just been a year of not being able to have a best or In many ways a good option and both both um in my school community life as well as my personal life And you know, just all the choices we as people have had to make that are just subpar um And i'm appreciative that we're here tonight all talking together and i'm just really appreciative of hearing what um Everybody has to say so thank you Thank you, and I believe sarah best you had raised your hand. Hi. I'm sarah best kenny um from the palm part of the region. Um, I um Also went through the regional schools and graduated a long time ago. Um, and now have a kid in palm and one in the middle school and so First I just wanted to recognize like the amazing work I have witnessed this year from all of the teachers We have had any contact with the communication has been fantastic while my kids have Had a very hard time Schooling from our painted room It has nothing to do with the lack of effort and heart that all of the teachers have put in so first Thank you so much for all of your hard work. It's it's just clear. Um, and when it comes to my personal decision making about school committee things, um, I try to think of um first and foremost our students and especially the ones that Don't necessarily have a voice um as loud as some other Others may um, and one of my favorite things about being from palm and it's tiny little town is that I know a lot of the teachers and since my kids have like literally gone through the whole thing I know all the teachers there and I love that we have a relationship where we can have conversation so I am really I don't know if excited is the right word But happy we're all here having conversations together now. Um, I feel like this is a great step forward and so thank you for starting that so I think about our our students and our towns and how we can um Like peter said, I think we have the best schools around It's why it's why my mom moved us here a long time ago And it's why I decided to stay here with my own children. Um, and to um to keep that tradition of great schools going forward Was great teachers and great programs. So thank you There are others who are on the grid that I cannot see. I'm just wondering if anyone else has raised their hand No Okay, I'll keep an eye out. Yeah Thank you. It's one of the main reasons why I started with that prompt Is because I've wanted the community and everyone to know that when you are all making decisions As I believe I heard from everyone here that you're making it on behalf of whether it's communication with stakeholders Or input from stakeholders on behalf of students on behalf of families on behalf of educators, staff Um, when you're you're making decisions based on advocacy work on behalf of the same stakeholders and community members And to some I'm going to point submission statements. So what we've committed to as a organization Is how we've also looked to make decisions. And so I wanted that background to be Understood before we move further so the next House that I have basically is just for Um, Ms. McGee and this mcdonald And with this I'm just going to ask you both Um, at this point we'll start with mcdonald. But what is one assumption? That's out there in the community right now that you would like to have this felt like Refute right now one assumption I would have to go first um I think, um There's probably if I had more time I probably could come up with with Several frankly, but I I think the one that sticks in my mind and and sort of Why I too am happy that we're here together this evening. Um, is that Um, is that the school committee doesn't care? Um, and we don't hear that from everybody Um by any means But I think, you know, that's one that sort of really Actually hurts when when when we do hear that I think, um, you know, probably not always Visible to see that but I I think, you know by listening to um, and actually I'm learning a lot listening to all of not just all of you From a PEA, but also the the school committee too because we we don't usually talk this way um But that we that we don't care about Um about the the educators that we don't care about families, you know every I think it's not any one audience that would would say that and I think um You know through through it all I I know that for for myself as well as my My colleagues on the school committee that that that just isn't the case and I think What we've heard and listening to all of all of you is that It's it's just a year of tremendously difficult decisions that there is no great answer That is that feels like we're caring for it for everybody as well as maybe the next person And I think that's that's the one that's the assumption that I would most like to sort of dispel in in people's minds Thank you. Miss McGee. Um Thank you I think one of the the bigger assumptions out there. I mean there there's so many out there right now But I think the one that's most uh disheartening And challenging for educators is this assumption that Um that we don't want to be in the school building with our children. Um, it is It's and i'm a special education teacher and so a lot of what I do is about proximity Uh nonverbal Use um and sometimes just being there the reality of it is I keep a lot of snacks in my room And sometimes it's really easy to get them to work if I can just give them a snack And I can't do any of those things uh remotely and so Trying to find a way to engage students and to continue the learning process while we're not in buildings Um in a remote way is is extremely difficult Um for teachers I think we are certainly putting in a lot more hours and preparing our lessons and trying to figure out how to get students Who just uh don't seem to engage and they're having difficulty with remote learning to get them to Engage and so I think it's really disheartening for uh for me anyway um as a teacher To to have this This narrative out there that you know The reason why We Take the position that we take is This idea that we don't want to be in the building with our students, which is just not the case We want everyone to be healthy and safe um And we are doing our very best at remote learning and I hope that has been apparent um and how we have been communicating with families and The responses from students As best that we can we know that that all students are not engaging and we're fully aware that We have students that Remote learning is certainly not ideal for and it is ideal for us to be in the building with our students And hopefully by opening up communications here Hopefully we have a lot more brain power here and we're working together to maybe get to the point where We can find a solution because as I've heard from you all and and certainly we've had this many many many discussions within our organization There's no easy solution but Maybe by working together and and communicating more effectively and efficiently and Maybe we can move toward that Thank you So now I will open the opportunity for anyone else who is on this In this meeting to be able to answer that same question about the assumptions that you would like to discuss Any APA or school committee member can respond to any tip at all you may go Sure, I think the other thing that I'll Will share is that I think the assumption is that the APA executive board is the The the one or the the all-knowing all decision-making body But I think we want to just remind the people that the APA it's all amorous pellum education and educators and We make decisions together and part of what makes it a messy process What part of what makes it a time consuming process is that we work really hard to discuss together and Come to a place where everyone can at least live with the decisions that were being made and because of this democratic process and because it takes time to hear from everyone's voices sometimes The decision doesn't necessarily work in the in the favor that one individual may have Because it is a collective body and we are making decisions taking a lot of things into account and a lot of people's Experiences and own The way it would impact our students in the way it impacts a variety of staff into account as we make our decisions thank you The floor is still open for any school committee member or any APA executive board member to speak I see um mongola has her hand up You must Jagadeesh please So I am really happy with what I'm hearing here today And this feels like what I would like to see happen all the time and the assumption that I think the community has and maybe even members here have is that school committee and APA Are on different sides of something where we're all working for the students of our amherst public schools and I really would like the entire community and for all of us here To see that that that we are on the same side here and then moving forward. That's what's going to push us Into being able to help our students Thank you Do you see any other handle, uh, mr. Deming? Yeah, I I'll go to um one Uh one one assumption to dispel is that the school committee doesn't value remote learning um, I think and dr. Morris has talked about this before is that um You know when to talk about the urgent need to return to students in buildings It it can come with the perception that maybe we're saying there is no value to remote learning and you know personally I feel because of the way It was thoughtfully designed and because of the dedication and efforts of our teachers I feel like we we have the best in class Uh remote learning. I feel like we have the best design the best implemented of anything I've seen um It's just that It's just the way I feel about it. There's there's a there's a ceiling to what remote learning can provide And for some students, it's a pretty low ceiling um And so it's it's difficult to say to always put that caveat in whenever we're talking about the return to in person But um, I think that's one I think another important Uh procedural process question to dispel in case anybody is is watching is that What this conversation is happening here tonight is is not we're not talking about changing the moa That's like that that's that's a negotiation process that can only start when both the school committee And the ap executive board agree to negotiate the moa and then there's a whole process. So um You know it is it is good to hear the positive vibe here And you know that that you know having open honest communication can only do good um But this doesn't you know, nothing that we're talking about here tonight is is about Resolving differences in the moa. So it's it's it's been a constant point of confusion I think uh because it is kind of a technical process and and you know, the public engages in at different Levels. Um, but it is something to note Thank you Mr. Baker Yeah, actually, I realized I didn't introduce myself before. Um, but I'm Karen Baker. I'm vice president of apa And um, I've been teaching in uh, I teach at Summit Academy and I've been teaching in Amherst since 2008 um And I just wanted to um You know, I'm I'm also feeling really good about this and um, the fact that we get to speak semi face to face and um Um, it feels like there's a lot of potential for opening up communication I did just want to make one small point, which is that um It is not the apa executive board that will decide if we're going to or how Um, we would revisit the moa But rather, you know, it's a process that we go through with the membership. Um And really the vote would come from the the rep council or possibly from all members But we really follow the directive that we seek from The body the representative council and all members But the morris once again, do you see any I don't think so. I think I saw a dog come into a screen, but I think that's the only thing that I saw Come into a screen in the last last 10 seconds. So I think Oh, I'm sorry. No, mr. Harrington Now has his hand up Yeah, so there's two Strong misconceptions that I'd like to speak to one that involves strictly the school committee The other that involves the group where we come together as the apa and the school committee And so as far as the school committee is concerned, I've seen this from All walks of life. I'll say it's been a broad misconception But that the school committee has been viewed some as some sort of like Ruling body that that exists in this ivory tower as if we are not part Of the amorous community as if we are not part of the school community And that's something that I personally take I take umbrage with you know, I I forge through it all the time I understand that, you know, first and foremost, I am a father. I'm a coach I work in our schools. I worked alongside you I deal with some of you folks as kids at different times and all and so, you know, that that's tough But then the I think the uh The more difficult one I think Mika and Mr. Sullivan can can back me up on this is the the misconception misconception that this group that that Where we talk about safety the the joint labor management safety committee that that we are some sort of a Decision-making body that also exists actually not even in an ivory tower as I've heard it worded that we uh sit behind closed doors making decisions That you know, that's that's not it's not what we do And it's not helpful to the work that we do either. I feel like it's been a hindrance at time to have to deal with that I mean I don't know if either of you want to refute any of that or if you agree But that's kind of how I felt throughout this process I I agree and I think that the the uh in a school committee meeting um that it was there's some clarification around what JLMSC does however, you know There are still, you know, some members of the community that somehow think that That um, there are powers that we have that um, the JLMSC that we just don't have we come together to discuss safety issues Thank you Any other comments from either the APDA board or the school committee? Okay, so What i'm going to say is that Based on this reference to this prompt, I've heard that one of the assumptions Or some of the assumptions is that the school committee doesn't hear And that um teachers don't want to be in the building Or that the school committee doesn't value remote learning And combining that with the initial Telling of how those make decisions and knowing that most people didn't want to hear those two They came to came up with the thought instead of to How Do we Get students and staff back in buildings, right? And so with that being said, I know that um the next question that I would like to ask for the next prompt I'd like to put out there is It says what do you believe is needed for students and staff to safely return to building So that being the main Um description as to what the agenda item or what the purpose of this meeting was for The question is out there now and it is once again What do you believe is needed for students and staff to safely return to buildings? We know and understand that the MOA needs to um be considered And reopen And I'm not looking for that as a response But I want the school committee and I want the apea to talk about what is needed What do you and each of your roles believe is needed for students and staff to return to buildings? And with that, I believe it would be the apea. Um, mika. Um tiffani will be taking that Sure, so um as mika mentioned early on um when we we first began this meeting We are meeting with our members on monday um for a our typical rep council meeting and during that time we will be um communicating The data that has come from our survey committee and we will as a rep council and perhaps as all members be making a decision about Next steps based on the findings that came out of that survey and based out of a number of building meetings that we've had and trying to communicate um with various Staff members and and understand What our next steps need to be With that said we kind of envisioned this Meeting here to be the first of a few communications to move us forward And to that and we're hoping to establish some regular meetings so that we can communicate between our different parties and have dialogue And in the spirit of improving communication between us all we are particularly Particularly based because this is such a pressing matter We know that sometimes there's information and documentation that we all need to have so that we can begin to make decisions with our respective bodies So if there's a process that you um That we could agree upon um for Receiving documents and information that we can all use to help us make decisions. That would be great Next miss mcdonnell So when I think of um, so you asked us specifically not to mention the the moa um, but I I do Rather than say um what with the existing moa. I think just in general um we I think of the community a school community and and I I use that word um, really intentionally not to mean sort of the school committee or The apea but the full community um We we need to be able to come together and understand that there's no one solution of getting kids back into buildings that's going to be perceived as The one that I want or everybody wants there there isn't and that's the unfortunate Thing um, I mean even in a regular world in a regular scenario. No pandemic There is it's challenging to meet everybody's needs equally And we're always as a as a school community striving to do better at that But I think when we're when we're thinking about this is I would love for us to be looking for solutions or you know creative solutions That recognize that and are flexible To accommodate the different spectrum of needs in in our school community um particular among students so students that desperately need to be in buildings and students that desperately need to be at home um and every variation in between um and same with with educators and staff How can we find a solution that Acknowledges the differences and experiences and needs of all of us in the community And does much better than what we're doing right now to meet those needs I don't have answers. I'm hoping that that's what that's what comes out of sort of collective discussion but I think that that's um I think the first step Is that we're all able to sort of acknowledge that and recognize that and sort of not be not Not make that become a barrier, but actually The framework and something that can empower us to come up with creative solutions The floor is open for any hate to ea and school committee members What do you think they did? Yeah, did you call me? Like I didn't agree. Okay. Um Yeah, um, so it's a pretty tricky question How do you Get students and staff safely back in the buildings if if we can't talk about changing the MOA That's kind of the elephant in the room. So um I mean, I'll be honest. It's hard to see It's it's hard to see um How students and staff get back in the buildings anytime soon um With without addressing that because that's what determines the parameters, right? So um Yeah, um, I I think maybe One suggestion would be to Articulate as specifically and practically as possible What the goal of these continued meetings would be If if it's not related to the MOA at all Right, because I mean I I do like Being able to see people face-to-face. I do think that um Having open-ended discussion like this is positive even if we don't Come to a bulleted list of agreements and conclusions. I honestly do believe that. Um, and it feels good You know, it's like I'm I'm feeling the good vibe. I feel it and that that's good. Um, but I also would not want to miss, um I wouldn't want to set out on a well-intentioned collaborative effort That didn't practically lead to a specific place, right? And I wouldn't want to Set expectations with the public That we are embarking on an a new initiative that doesn't have a really well-defined Conclusion so that would be my one kind of Concern about this this continued format. Um, it's it's not that I Feel that it's good and positive. I just I just think a little clarity around um, you know What does it mean practically and specifically as distinct from the other thing which is going on which is Do we or don't we talk about changing the MOA? All right, so let me clarify some information What was shared with me was that this first meeting was basically to give everyone an opportunity to talk possibly build trust among the two groups and If or if you need to bring up the elements in the way Point to be changed that could be for further discussion or the next meeting, but this one is just to um, introduce you to each other and talk about how we move forward from here building that trust amongst you Okay, that's jack. Would you like to speak? You're on mute You'd think I would know that after all these weeks and weeks of remote teaching Oh, and I didn't introduce myself. Um Dr. Cunningham called me miss jag. I am I teach second graders at wildwood And I am the apa unit a co-chair elementary chair So I really like what miss mcdonald said about creative solutions and teachers have creative solutions That's what we're all about. That's what we spend Every day doing with our students. So I do feel like there are many avenues that we could explore here um And I want to start by just backing up a little bit with the so the first part of the agenda was um Was meeting the educational needs of our school children during a pandemic And I see the first step in that in us working together is to repair the relationship between apa and school committee So that's what this meeting is the beginning of and I don't think that we can get anywhere together Without having that relationship be a good relationship And um, so to that end I want to plead for respectful honest communication We the apa are educators We want to spend our energy teaching our students and when we need to spend our energy responding to things That are being said in the press or responding to one-sided narratives That takes away our energy from what we are really here to do which is to educate the children of amherst and um, so I guess what I would really need is to know That when we embark on this next step that that is where we're headed with respectful communication honest communication with each other and that the media or the community is not used in any way to try to direct or bully or Cause apa or school committee to move in certain directions and we understand that the school committee is That the community members are your constituents um But having that play out in the press Doesn't seem like it's a productive way to move forward So I really hope that we can all leave this meeting being assured that everyone here school committee executive board of the apa rep council of the apa and all the apa members Are doing this work for the collective good of our collective children Thank you for sharing that so I just want to revisit two of our norms And it was to assume positive intention. So when everyone decided to stay in the call They decided that you know, we're going to assume that each entity here are here for positive reasons and on behalf of the kids Or and the community and all stakeholders. So thank you again for um, for reminding us that that's why we are here And also just that we're going to accept and expect non closure, right That we may think that Today we should be talking about the ml a or we should touch the topic But that's not why we're here. Once again, we're here to start to build that trust And so that was the purpose of this meeting future meetings When they occur we'll Hopefully start to open that conversation, right? But we have to build that foundation of trust that's not here yet Before we can move forward as a group Okay Hi, i'm christin roads and I am the apa secretary and i'm a special education teacher at fort river and one of the district programs building blocks And um, I just wanted to say that one of the things I hope that we can do together Is like alice missing come up with this vision of what this could look like because I think we often go into jumping into something Like the moa Which is easy in other years when there's not a pandemic because we know what we're expecting it to look like And we know what we need to do to provide that what we need for our teachers and our students in that situation And right now as we're in a pandemic We need to come up with what can this look like to get the best education for all of our students We're on agreement of that But that's something we've never had before because we haven't been in a pandemic before So as we jumped into an moa with this big question mark of what is learning going to look like during a pandemic That can best reach are all of our students in the way they need it reached We need to think of that first and then work to our moa and decide what we need to put into our moa to do that instead of starting in an moa setting standards To answer something where we don't know that answer yet And so that's what i'm hoping the work of this group can do to brainstorm what this is going to look like What our students need we know data has been being taken by our teachers and staff and by you all surveying The community and we know that parents are telling us what their families need So now we need to implement plans They can meet those needs and then we need to create the moa That can protect our teachers and our students safety based on This solutions that we have come up with for the problems that are in front of us So that's what i'm hoping to do with this group Yeah, so i'm gonna i'm gonna be perfectly honest in up front that i'm Trying to speak through i wear a bunch of hats, you know, dr. Morris is always quick to point that out that I'm biting my tongue with one hat And i'm gonna speak and move forward with the other but but just to let you know that one is informing the other here and so For all the work that we all here do that that relies on like quantifiable data, right? I'm gonna give you the craziest thing what we need to step into our schools right now is faith I don't mean blind faith. I mean informed faith right like the faith that like when I send my son to school It's the crocker farm that His teacher is going to give him the best that that he can give him right like that same exact kind of faith Well, we all need to have that same faith in each other Right because real quick speaking from my other side I have a staff that that doesn't feel like people have faith in them, right? And I know that a lot of you folks a lot of our educators feel like there are people out there that don't have faith in them there there are Parents who are losing faith daily, right? And this is the point that we need to come together we need to Clearly we need to take steps to get to that point But at some point we are going to have to leap through those doors in order to get back into these classrooms, right? Like it's not going to be perfect Right That that doesn't mean that that shouldn't be our goal to try to get Close to perfect, but we need to understand that we won't get there and we're going to have to take that leap of faith and actually just do it but Unfortunately, there's there's no way to do that without us all doing that together and having that equal faith within each other My two cents Thank you I don't know if you saw I saw Carrie and then I saw Margaret As the next two in that order in terms of hand raised Doreen Okay. Thank you. Carrie Thanks. I just want to I think I really appreciate what mr. Harrington just said so I feel it feels hard following that but I'd like to You know second the idea of faith, but you know, I when you stated that question. I just quickly jotted down And a few things the first one. I'm not going to lie was we need a reduction in the spread of COVID I mean, I think it's it's hard to have this conversation with that acknowledging that yesterday was the worst day ever In this country for the pandemics. I want to put that out there I don't think any of us are blind to that the second word I put down was trust and and I'm not the first person to say that But I wanted to I didn't want to You know, not not state that the other thing, you know, I There are a lot of things that I think it's worth acknowledging that are beyond our control That are influencing our ability to do these and one of those is funding not just from locally But you know from the state from the federal government The other is what our governor and what our Other leaders are choosing to keep open instead of you know closing like choices about you know Do you keep gyms and in-person dining open? And and I think a lot of us would agree that it's really frustrating to be Making these choices on this micro level when we're in an environment that I feel like is not prioritizing learning so as much as I believe fully that also what miss mcdonald and others have said that There's a whole spectrum of needs in our community. And I think the the thing that There's not going to be There's going to have to be some sort of tiered approach We're not going to just open the doors and everybody's going to come in But I think what I really would like to see Is some flexibility is the other word that kind of came through some flexibility and thinking about how We can try to meet the needs of those most vulnerable students who are least able to access Remote learning And it's going to disappoint some folks who would like to be in person But I think we have to acknowledge that there are things that are beyond the control of this committee and beyond the control of the APA in our in all of our staff that are influencing the environment we're in and making it really harder than it would have to be Thank you miss dancer Um, yes, um, so I really I guess I want to pose a question. Um, miss mcdonald mentioned flexibility miss spitzer mentioned a spectrum of needs and um I'm wondering can we think of things rather than thinking of what we had sort of Specified before is we bring back this grade we bring back that grade Can we think more along the lines of the what students need what an an example I have is that I know someone who teaches And has said That the remote learning has gone really well For the most part But there's a small number of students who just need Help, you know, they can't do What they need to do without some help So if you're thinking You know, is there a way to help that group of students in a different way with the same work that you might help The rest of the students in a class You know, can we build in that flexibility and not be thinking so much about let's bring back first and second grade Let's bring back six or seven tenth grade. It's it's a question Laura still open for a cda or social committee miss mcdonald um, thank you for that and I think that uh through this process That we will gather the answers to a lot of our questions that will um that will inform us of how To best serve students Thank you Any other comments? Okay so Going back to somewhere losing what I've heard in this almost hour that we've been communicating together um We talked about basically That you are making decisions based on information shared or communication and input from Stakeholders community stakeholders the students the families community members and educators And you're going with You understand that it's hard But that you know that it's um something that we have to prioritize as mentioned also It is also a mission part of the mission statement for the district that we prioritize the work with students also some of the assumptions that you want people to Move away from or would like to spell is that the school committee does not appear And that teachers do not want to be in building because that is what basically what i'm hearing is that that is untrue and finally what i'm hearing too is that being the start Of a conversation to build trust between both of you the school committee and the union is that you would like us to be creative And flexible and i like the way miss mcdonald mentioned it to accommodate the needs of all students And that um, we're looking to have informed faith and trust In each other and in the process so that we can move forward So once again this meeting was not supposed to bring closure We were not supposed to leave this meeting with all the answers in a written plan as to what we're going to do But what i'd like to leave this meeting with is next step So i know that both of you will Provide another opportunity to meet again and in that conversation one of the Exec board has mentioned that they are going to have a meeting on monday with their members To discuss survey results. So the possibility of bringing that information back to the school committee would be important and also The establishment of regular meetings or something that everyone said would be or that I heard would be a good start and continuation of um building trust with everyone here and let me see miss Tibido mentioned that she'd like a process for receiving documents. Maybe in a quicker manner so that information can be process shared and listed upon quicker if if that's a possibility So I want to thank both the school committee and the APA for How did this meeting you know coming together having this meeting this evening because like I said, it's a great and important start and With that being said My role has ended here and i'm going to turn the meeting back over to miss mcdonald Thank you. Thank you. Um, it's cunning. Um, that was um great. Um, and we're right on time too. Um, so, uh Unless there's any further conversation with anybody like Any closing comments before we adjourn the regional school committee Go ahead And um, can you hear me? Yeah, okay. I had some no heads um, I just wanted to appreciate doreen because I felt like uh, I was very nervous coming into this meeting with the all of with everybody and um, I I just really want to applaud you for a fabulous job that you did. Thank you Thank you Sounds like I was a a unanimous um agreement with that one Thank you So, uh, I will make a motion to adjourn the regional school committee. Is there a second second Um, moved by mcdonald and seconded by stancer and there's no discussion. We'll roll call mr. Demling Demling I Mr. Harrington Harrington I miss kenny Kenny I Miss lord Lord I miss seeker see your eye Spitzer spitzer I Miss stancer stancer I Mr. Sullivan Sullivan nay And mcdonald I We are adjourned Thank you again, everybody Have a nice evening