 Okay, so I'd like to call the meeting to order at 6.05. Tonight's agenda is pretty straightforward. We just have the one discussion item and to frame this conversation just a little bit before we get started. Regularly, as we prepare for our annual meetings and budget meetings, we have community members ask us for the rationale behind our four principal model for the schools. And so we thought that with David Wells moving onto a position as a superintendent and Barry, it gave us an opportunity to take a look at our administrative structure and think about the things that we could potentially do. So the board asked the administrative team to meet and to take this opportunity to think about what leadership could look like other than that model. So that's the presentation that we're expecting this evening and the reason why we called this special meeting. We felt like it was really important to turn around to have our meeting happen fairly quickly after our meeting last week because we know that it's getting late in the season to hire a new principal if that's what we're poised to do. So we wanted to be clear as a board what our capacity is, what thoughts are about leadership in our schools and take a look at a model other than the four principal model and see if it could potentially serve us well. So we haven't made up our minds yet but we are interested to see what the principals and our newly hired superintendent came up with. So thank you all for joining us this evening. At this point in time, are there any adjustments that anyone sees a need for in the agenda? And what I'd like to do with such a large group on is have people all mute yourselves and then if you want to be called on to share, please unmute yourself and I will see that as a sign that you would like to share with the rest of the group. So it'll be like raising your hand essentially. Okay, so seeing no adjustments to the agenda, I'm gonna skip over assigning a timekeeper. We really have just the one item and that brings us to our first public comment. We have one a little later in the meeting but if people would like to share something now, please feel free, okay? It looks like we don't have any public comment at this point in time. So that brings us to our next item which is- Lisa? Yes. Sorry, I actually, I missed the first part of where you were talking about how the structure of change came to be. I just missed that first part, like the first three sentences of when you started. Can you just repeat that for me? Thank you, sorry. So regularly when we present during budget season or annual meeting season, we're approached by community members who question why we have four administrators and we have believed in that model, it served us well but we felt like in order to do diligence to our communities, it was important when we had an opportunity to take a look and see if there was another model that our teams felt like we could potentially use. So we wanted to turn things around really quickly, have a meeting as quickly as we could after our meeting last week and the principals and our newly hired superintendent and Mary Ellen, they all worked really hard to bring us a proposal that they think could potentially be effective. So we'll need to make a decision because it's getting late in the season in terms of hiring administrators. So we wanted to act quickly. Any other public comment before we move on? Okay. So that brings us to approving minutes for our March 17th regular meeting which were shared shortly after that meeting. So I would entertain a motion. Yes, Bob. I don't remember, I don't remember or I don't remember anyone asking the principals to develop the process of the budgetary process. Number seven, under the business managers report. Okay. It's the board's responsibility to make sure that there's a budget, a cohesive budget management process in place. That's the law, okay? I would expect that the principals, the business manager and the board would be involved in that process and the superintendent. Right, I'm moving back through the minutes to find the piece that you're referencing. Well, look at number seven, last, very last sentence. I think it's in here a couple of times. Okay. We could probably just delete that last sentence. You know, I think that previous sentence says that a process needs to be developed and then it says the principals will need to develop this process. But okay, I'll read it out loud. So number seven, Robert Gray asked about the monthly spending and warrant process board, observed many lines were over budget in the recent most recent expense report. Business manager provided an overview of the account code process. Lisa F recommended, recommends a system wide approach be taken to address any overspends in a more real time manner. As a future agenda item, a process needs to be developed for shifting funds if overspends occurs on a budget line. Period, principals will need to develop this process. Period. Bob, I think I remember saying that I would bring you guys something that we would use system wide across the SU soon after I assume the responsibilities July 1st. For you guys. I don't want that to be part of the minutes. I agree with Andrew. And it's the board's responsibility to put that whole thing together. And I would get, I would say that's probably with the superintendent. I don't mind if the principals and the business manager involved, but stay locked with the board. The board's responsibility to review that and approve it. But since we're not the ones who actually do the work, I would say it's the superintendent, business manager and administrators who make the plan. But I'm all in favor of breaking that from the minutes. Yeah, I just agree with you, Lisa. It's Title 16, pretty clear about that. Well, the responsibility, the final responsibility is ours, but we can approve what the other, the people who are actually doing the work, they bring a plan to us and then we approve it or change it or whatever. Okay. I don't think we're the ones who will be making the initial plan, unless you have something you want to recommend or something, you know. I would go soon. Well. But I think for the purposes of the minutes, let's strike that last sentence. I make a motion to approve the minutes with that last sentence struck. Okay. Unless there are other changes anybody wants. I thought there were two references in the minutes. I'm only seeing the one. Okay. So Lisa. Are there future agenda items? It has that same sentence on 15. Okay. So we will strike that sentence in both places and approve the minutes. Yes. Perfect. That's the motion. Lisa, can I ask a quick question? Mm-hmm. Has this board typically used a finance committee? We have not. Okay. So I mean, I think that that could be a useful process. If at the next board meeting, we wanted to have that discussion. That might just be something for a future agenda item, because I could see that that committee could possibly, you know, have a role in identifying that system. Yeah. I think that could be useful. All right. So I have a second motion on the floor to approve those minutes with amendments. Did we have a second? I'll second it. Okay. All in favor of approving the minutes for April 21st, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Okay. Any opposed? Okay. Thank you. The minutes are approved. Do we have any board comment at this time? No? Okay. So we'll move right on to the presentation that we're here for this evening. I'm going to try to share my screen and show the proposal. I hope that won't diminish my capacity to see and call on people. So I'm going to give it a shot. I am using Firefox right now, and it, oh, now it's allowing me. Great. But that's not what I wanted to show. Is my screen being shared right now? Yes, it is. Okay, great. Thank you. So I won't be able to call on people during this time in order to show this screen. So I'm wondering maybe if Ray, if you're still on the call, if you could share your screen instead. Lisa, I'm happy to. I'm not sure what it is. So, Dami, at least we can send it to you. So I actually saw someone say that I should perhaps use the chat to share it. So I can just do that instead, and then everyone can look on their own. That works more easily. Thank you. Sorry for that little bit of a flail. We'll turn things over to the team. Thank you. Lisa, there was also a suggestion through chat that if there's any questions, we could look at chat to answer some of those in case people can't unmute or... Perfect. I'll monitor the chat. So if people have questions, put them in the chat. We will have another public comment right after this as well. All right, good evening. So, Lisa, you did a great job of summarizing at the start. I know some other folks popped on afterwards. And so I'm just gonna again engage the community and the board in the process thus far is that the board wanted to take the opportunity based on questions that have come up in the past, leading up to the annual meeting around the budget of the current four principal model. And so last week, the board charged principals McCracken, Bradley Bowen, and Director of Curriculum Simmons and myself with identifying a proposed model for shared leadership across the two campuses of Rudd. This model, the focus that we did is based on feedback we received from the faculty was this idea of how do we look to better unify the two campuses and become a true pre-K-12 school that has two campuses? And that's something that came up often when we looked at the results of the survey that went out to faculty and staff. We believe that our recommended proposal articulates a structure that would accomplish a shared leadership model that increases collaboration, promotes equity pre-K-12 across the campuses of Rudd. This focus of as we're building this comprehensive system of supports, the focus for us really was on how do we approach the component of a systematic and comprehensive approach for the work we're doing. We felt like there's a lot of pieces within our multi-tiered system of supports right now, but one of the things we've talked a lot about as we were meeting as a team is how do we look at identifying the current roles and responsibilities of folks that have MTSS responsibilities and better streamline that work across the two campuses in the pre-K-12 system so that we have common instructional approaches universally that we have common assessment approaches universally and a common social emotional system. Specifically when we think about the fact that we're sharing students at the middle and high school level across both the Bethel and South Royalton campuses. Therefore, we believe that the proposal comes up with an administrative team that can meet those goals and those ends. The other thing we believe is that this is a fiscally responsible proposal because the budget that was approved in the spring was missing one of the principal salaries. Therefore, the recommended model for 2021 that the administrative team believes we can implement and you'll hear there's still some logistics for us to work out. And as we talk about distributed leadership, faculty and staff will have a role in identifying some of those logistics. But what we will be looking to do is ensure that folks are duplicating work and that we're looking to increase the capacity among the faculty, staff and administration that we have in place. And as we talked, we realized right now that we have four principles, for example, potentially working on things like maintenance and operations and how could we better streamline some of that work across the administrative staff. The model would be for a White River Unified District high school principal, a White River Unified District middle school principal, a White River Unified District elementary school principal that would go across both elementary school campuses. And when we get into the logistics, you'll hear that the main office of the elementary school principal would be at the South Royalton campus to begin with to strengthen and build relationships because they've currently been working at the Bethel campus. In addition to, we would be looking to hire a coordinator of student affairs pre-K12 that we will talk about what the roles and responsibilities for that position are. In addition, as we were discussing, we recognize the need for additional focus of our two MTSS coordinators that we currently have in place around academic and social emotional supports. So as we lay this out and we present tonight, you'll hear that we're looking at between the coordinator of student affairs and our MTSS coordinators that we're looking to build within our framework of MTSS. And for the board, at some point, I look forward to doing a presentation with you all to bring you up to speed even more intensely around what a multi-tier system supports is. But the idea being that universally, we all have common instructional practices and common approaches to how we handle social emotional needs of students. And then we have a more targeted prescribed approach for some students that need additional supports, both academically and socially emotionally. And we believe that if our system's working well, 80 to 85% of our students shouldn't maintain well at the universal level. So that would be that coordinator of student affairs work when we think about social emotional work. And then we would have the MTSS coordinators working at the targeted and intensive levels, targeted being hopefully around 10 to 15% of our population and intensive three to 5% once the system's working well. Now, to build that multi-tiered system of supports, you've been working on it. I'll tell you, it takes at least three to five years to get it in place. And so we believe that the proposed structure is needed in order for us to really lay that foundation and get it where we want it. So that is capturing the work that we've done. We've met a few times now, actually several. And the principle is now we're gonna lead you through the strengths of the model, some areas of concern, the logistics. There'll be more logistics to work out. And then finally, the changes in regards to how do we better streamline the current folks that we have and also utilize that coordinator of student affairs. Andrew, I believe it's all yours. Thank you. Mike's off, my friend. Sorry, try again. I think you said a lot of it. I think that the strengths will be to unify the two schools and build on what's going really well in both places, but bring it together. I think the strength is that the Bethel campus has Owen who has been there and the teachers there know how to work with him. So if I'm not there, he's there. Plus all the systems that Jamie mentioned that we're gonna work on putting in place for other layers of backup. And I think one of the strengths will be growing and building relationships with the Royalton community that I think it can also be a challenge because there's a lot of people to get to know. That I don't know as much right now. I also think a strength is relying on Jamie who has used this system successfully in Williamstown. I think we have a lot to learn and I think we can be streamlining what we do better to better serve our kids. So I think there's challenges because I have one foot in a school where I'll feel like a new person and getting to know everybody will be daunting as it is always the first year. And then I think it'll be fine in Bethel because we have some systems built and some backup plans. So I think next though, Owen was gonna talk more about the coordinator student affairs. And your mic's off too. Working on it. I'm working on it and success. Welcome everybody. Also I wanna say that I really miss seeing you all even some of the folks that I've butted heads with and I really do and I can't wait till we're all back together again. I'm really looking forward to it. So this was really a great exercise and it was several times and Mary Ellen was very helpful. And Jamie really guided us through the conversation but he left us alone a couple of times and we worked through it, especially the three principles that will remain. And I think it's clear that the high school principal just to say the name parts would be read, the middle school principal will be me and the elementary coverage for principal will be Andrew. And so the student coordinator of student affairs, the whole idea there is to have continuity and equity. And I think it was a big part of the act 46 and it's big part of our strategic plan that what we do in our school districts is the same as much as possible with teachers and staff having the freedom to interpret some of that within bounds, right? This person's gonna help us respond to behavior that is universal that it's the person that and they're also gonna attend other meetings. They're gonna understand the entire three tier piece and they're going to help teachers learn about classroom management or implement some classroom management and to assess that. Then also supporting that will be the two MTSS coordinators. And that's Sandy Tracy and Shane Oaks. And right now they're both primarily on separate campuses but one of the thinking is is that they have a different skill set and to take advantage of both those skill sets. We've talked about this past school year and when we were all together before. So I feel like what we're doing is saying that we were flattening the leadership. A lot of times leadership is very pointy and we're trying to round it down. We also have talked a lot and we haven't made any plans yet because we want to include teachers of having teachers help lead some parts of the school and also bigger the kid more leadership responsibilities. So I think I got it. And if I missed anything team, you can backfill but I'm sure there's also gonna be some questions after we have to read now talks about the logistics piece. Thank you. Muting. All right. Hi folks. So the basic concept is that the elementary principal Andra would split time evenly across both campuses with that time being weighted more heavily from the get go learning the new campus for her, South Wilton. The coordinator of MTSS AB that's also AKA the coordinator of student affairs would split time across both campuses and serve as kind of the responder to social emotional concerns for both campuses. So that person could move back and forth in some ways this person will play a role similar to an assistant principal spends a lot of time on behaviors and helps to set up the behavioral systems to make sure they're running smoothly and continuously especially for fifth graders making the shift from South Royalton to Bethel and then back from the middle school in Bethel to ninth grade at the high school. By defining everything more clearly the idea is there'll be a clear point of contact and the roles and responsibilities for the coordinator of student affairs will make it more obvious that it is now which of the support providers is in charge of moving things forward and kind of taking the lead. The corresponding high school, middle school principles in each building would be the building leader when the elementary principal was on the alternating campus. So that's when some crisis arrives or something happens and there's always a principal on hand who knows the building knows the staff. The intention of doing this is to be more intentional with greater focus to roles and responsibilities of both the existing MTSS coordinators on each campus as well as the principals themselves. So one of the inefficiencies we notice is when an issue arises say with, do we replace the milk cooler in South Royalton you could end up with all four principals being in a meeting with the food service director to tease that out which is not the most efficient use of the highest paid staff members in the district. So we'd be much more defined in terms of which of the building principles was going to be the leader responsible for some of the key pieces of work that that position does. Additionally, we think that having this structure will lead to more collaborative decision making, not just with the administrative team but it allows for the opportunity for kind of an expanded leadership model where staff members will be more involved both in this coordinator position but hopefully also finding some roles for teachers who are interested in playing a bigger role in shaping decisions being made in both elementary schools as well as the middle school and high school. And that's that. And Lisa, can I say something now? Okay, so I wanted to just say from the curriculum perspective I think that we do have a really large need across the whole avenue to address our social and emotional needs of students. We know that that's really important to get them to the level of learning that we want them to be in. And I think this system addresses that by really focusing on that and developing a cohesive system. The other thing that I like about this system is that it provides more continuity in the curriculum wise so that we're on the same page and we're looking at the same proficiencies so that when the students leave elementary school in both campuses they have the same experiences that they can go on to middle and high school. So I just wanted to point them out. Thanks. Thank you all for sharing that. If your formal presentations over I'd like to give the board first an opportunity to ask some clarifying questions and give some warm and cool feedback. And then during public comment we'll open that up to the staff members who have joined us and the community. Does that make sense? Okay. All right. So please board members, if you have a question or would like to ask a question, you can use chat or you can unmute and ask your question. No questions? So this is Chris. Okay. Go ahead. Thank you. So I guess one question that I've got is, I'm assuming that part of this person's day would be fairly self-directed in terms of things that they're doing but then they're also there to consult and support with the principals. I guess I can see a scenario where again they become somebody that the principals lean on but we need to make sure that they're putting their time into the right areas and prioritizing things. And if they're supporting other people, the people that they're supporting are always gonna sort of feel like whatever they need support on is gonna be the most important thing. So will this person have the freedom and the ability to sort of guide their own day in addition to meeting with principals and the other support needs? Well, the principal can jump in. I would definitely foresee them as well balancing off the campuses to begin with that when Andrew is in one campus, more likely than not they would be in the other campus. While we're strengthening the system so that there's a responder there and that the faculty and staff have an understanding of who that point person is if there's a need. So that we're not leaving one building short with just one principal. I think as we strengthen our systems there could be more flexibility across that that the principals can decide with this person. I also think the nice thing is too if you have a campus that's in more of a crisis based on need because there's sometimes just cohorts that are struggling you can deploy this person and you have a more intensive team to support that particular cohort or the needs of that building at any given time. And principals feel free to jump in if you have any other thoughts around that. Andrew. I guess I was curious. So I kind of get a feel for what the new position would be. So the regular principal, elementary principal would primarily be dealing with staff concerns and kind of planning the overall strategy on curriculum stuff like that or kind of what would the other responsibilities of the remaining responsibility for the. Instructional leadership. You guys as you get to know me better I'm gonna say over and over again I really need principals to spend a majority of their time being instructional leaders which means that they're in data teams that they're out in classrooms that they're meeting with faculty to problem solve issues that they're not responding to the next reactionary need. And so what I look at it is as we strengthen the system I'm looking at how much time is spent on preventative and proactive measures and how much time is spent on reactive measures. And I think when we're in reaction mode that is a telling sign that our system's not functioning at the level we want it to be. And so I'm really looking for them to be the instructional leaders. Okay, that's good. The other thing I was curious about was kind of the parent liaison part of this. So when a parent has a concern or has an issue or needs to talk to do they talk to the principal or do they talk to this behavioral person? I guess it'll probably depend on what the issue is but I think defining who the parent goes through should be. If it was instructional would definitely be the principal hopefully the teacher first and then if there's still questions the principal if it's social emotional it'll probably be who dealt with it. What's that, Andrew? I think chain of command would still be in play. I also think that it would be something that we would have to really coordinate with and this is a piece that we're gonna have to do is have regular communication, daily communication and we do whether it's by phone, text or now we're doing this but that's a key piece that we're always talking and filling each other in especially at the end of the day but also one of the things that's been very powerful is to start the day together even for five minutes stand-up meeting just to check each other's calendars and pick up from what happened yesterday. I haven't heard yet from Bob or Lisa I'm just wondering if either of you have questions. Lisa I have some comments. Okay. Okay. I believe very strongly in direct student contact number one. I believe very strongly in not over-burdening teachers with all sorts of other things other than what goes on in their classroom. I'm not interested in increasing administrative roles I'm more interested in direct student contact. I would like to know, do we have school psychologists in each one of the schools? We don't have a psychologist in each one of the schools we have school counselors and we have our MTSSB coordinators, Andrea, you can we also have therapists on site we have some that are from health hub and we have one that travels around the whole district different days so we do have mental health resources but not psychologists. We do have a partnership with Dr. Ketterer and we also, and that's exclusive with us and we consult with him even if it's not about students that are being supported in that model, the restorative classroom and when we need psychological services specific to an issue whether it's cognitive testing or some other arrangement we have a bank of people that we choose from which most schools do. Thank you. And Bob, just to add I've already talked to Don McMansom about doing a cost analysis around whether it makes sense for the SU to have their own school-based psychologist. I'm talking about regular education kids now. Yep, that's fine. They can still serve them too. Regular kids probably get all of the counseling they need and all the help that they need one way or another. But regular education kids in the classroom do not always get that kind of counseling or help. And a school-joined counselor in some ways can help but a school psychologist, I think, are really important to have in our schools. I'm guessing that's gonna be part of your multi-tier support system. Is that what you're thinking? Yeah, correct. And so even though I said Don, I mean, one of the things that you guys will hear me talk about is I'm looking at his roles within the system of support not just special ed. Yeah. And so if we were to bring those on they would service all students. I'm guessing that the special ed kids get what they need through their IEPs one way or another. Regular education kids don't always get that kind of support. So, you know what? And I'm not, I'm more student contact. Get down to the basic student. Get down there to where they are and give them the support that they need to be successful. So if I'm looking at a position I'm not gonna be looking at an administrative position that I'm not gonna be. Now, the other board members might, but I'm not. So I'm like, maybe you can say lukewarm but that's it for this proposal. And I don't like the idea of an elementary school principal moving between two schools. So I don't think so. I wouldn't support that. So at our previous meeting you had said that you felt like the pre-K-12 principle for one building was probably okay or the pre-K to one principle. Is that still where you're at or are you leaning more toward the four principle model versus this model? Just trying to clarify. I've thought a little bit about this. I haven't put a lot of thought into it. My thought, my initial thought, my gut reaction is that if we're not gonna have an elementary school principal and at this point in time, cost-wise I'm thinking that we need to look at our budget really tight and close with what's going on right now. And the state being in a deficit situation with educational finance. So I don't know where that's gonna lead to us. So I would be looking at, I would be looking more toward one of our elementary school teachers becoming a lead teacher and working directly with the building principle meaning read probably. And sharing information from the elementary staff to him. I would be looking for a school psychologist because I think that regular education kids have issues that need to be addressed and sometimes you need a psychologist to do that. So that's kind of where I'm at. Pretty liberal outline, but. Okay, thank you. Lisa, did you have any questions or I guess we'll just move right into warm and cool feedback? I am just trying to imagine a day or a week with this approach. First off, I appreciate this plan in helping us be more fiscally responsible but also finding ways to meet the emotional needs of our students. But I'm wondering how, if there are certain situations, if it's kind of a level playing field and no one person is really the leader, it seems like I just wonder how, who's gonna pick up the ball? It seems like most situations, you kind of know who's going to, but without being having an individual that is ultimately responding or the last, I don't know, the point person, I just wonder if things could get lost. And let's say this new position, this person, the student affairs pre-K through 12 has something going on and they really need to be working with the student on the campus on a day when Andra is on that campus. Is that gonna be frowned upon because she's already there and you're trying to make sure that one of those two leaders is occupying both campuses. I'm just trying to think of situations like that where have you put certain scenarios through this model to just kind of plan how you'd respond based on maybe issues that you've had in the past couple of years? Well, like I said, when I started, I think there's still more work that needs to be done around all the different types of logistics. And we've spent a week trying to come up with a proposal. And many of the things you guys talked about, we looked at four different proposals when we started and the principles merged two of them to create this one. So I think it's important to note that the three folks that would be looking to implement some type of model, this is the model they feel that they could implement if we weren't with four principles. So I just, I emphasize to the board that the folks that are gonna be looking to implement this, this is the model they stand behind if they don't have four principles. Okay. I guess it's my turn to give my feedback. So I appreciate that you all have taken the time to bring us this, particularly as you're trying to run school and remote learning and all of those other things that we expect you to do. One of the things that's really important to me is that we make sure that teachers have the support that they need, both from the curricular side and the student behavior and social emotional support side of things. So on paper, it seems like that could work. I am worried that if there's a gap in communication, if the system isn't built in such a way that that communication is happening regularly and effectively that that could be a pitfall. I think that this is a more fiscally responsible plan than the four principle model. It really gives us greater role clarity. So I appreciate that. And it builds in social emotional support and hopefully helps us more effectively utilize the PBIS roles that are in place. One of my worries though is also around the fact that the student coordinator will need a lot of experience to be a student coordinator from pre-K through 12. So that's going to have to be a student who really sort of gets kids, so to speak. And has a lot of capacity to be a good support person for our principals. Otherwise, I worry that we would end up in a situation where we're having a de facto four principle model. Those are just my initial thoughts. Any other thoughts from the board or people who worked on this model? Before we bounce to public comments. Lisa? Yes. So the fourth principle wasn't budgeted in the budget? No, we shared that Andrew put that in the presentation. So we've been overt about that. Right, when the budget was built after it had already gone to press, that was caught. Where's the money come for this coordinator? For this position, where's the money coming from? So we were, Bruce indicated after that error was made earlier this spring that probably through the measures. So before COVID happened that they were projecting through the extreme fiscal responsibility this school year that we would have a surplus and we could build it back in. Yeah, the other thing I would say is that the principal salary wasn't completely omitted. I don't think it was just not It was a fraction of what it should have been. What it should have been. And that happened between somehow between the last draft that we reviewed and the final one that we approved. So we didn't catch it when it, you know, what happens? What's the projected salary figure for this person? What range are we looking at? We would look at this person being on the master agreement and it would be an extended contract, Bob, probably like a 210 day contract. So there'd be some additional days built in. Yeah, but what salary range are we looking at? Well, it would depend on where we hire them and where they're placed on that master agreement here. They're going to be on the teacher contract? Be on the teacher contract, correct. So any other questions or comments before we move into public comment? So seeing none, yes? Yeah. Yeah, this is Rodman. Yeah, I just have to say that some of them, but anyways, I like it that the principal would be more defined. Their roles would be more defined. I mean, essentially you hire the person and you just not calling them a principal, but their role would be defined of what they do. That might help clarify things. The speaker will sometimes get confused on by who's supposed to be doing what. So I guess that's about it. I mean, it seems like it would work and then I'd say go with this plan, that's my opinion. Okay. All right, thank you. I didn't realize you were with us. Great, okay. So we'll open it up for public comment. Just type in the comments and I'll recognize you and you can unmute and ask your question or share your feedback, please. Do we have any public comment? Rebecca? Rebecca Forz, I think you're first. Yes, hi, thank you guys. Thank you for being here. So I'm coming with two hats obviously. One as a employee of this wonderful school district, but also as a parent. So I'll just quickly brief as my teacher had on, I would support this plan. I think we need to have our leaders leading us and not putting out fires constantly all day. I understand that this is maybe new to us, so it's sometimes scary, but I think that it's a sound model. And if you look at other districts in the state, they're going towards this model as well. That's my teacher hat. My parent hat is, and this is my question, and I wanna be very respectful because your job as a board and all the other people like going to the business office of this, I respect. And just why did we not have, what happened? And maybe it's been belabored, but I don't know why did we not catch the discrepancy? And then I'll mute and you can see Beaker again. Thank you guys. I don't know if anybody else wants to field this and Andrew, you can jump in if I am getting off track. So we looked at multiple drafts of the budget. We went line by line through this budget, I think two or three times. And at some point between the last one we looked at and the one we approved, an amount of money was gone from that line item. I've thought myself over and over and over again about how it possibly could have happened because frankly, it feels a little ridiculous. And all I can attribute it to is having looked at it so many times and that line had been correct so many times that that wasn't an area of focus and concern. And so we turned our attention to the areas that we had flagged and clearly that was a mistake. I would also say that we had a deadline to meet to get the things printed and sent out so in time for the annual meeting. And so we were kind of making changes right up until the last minute. And it was one of these last changes that the error was introduced and we didn't have time before it went to print to go through and really look things over. We went to go make the presentation of everything to the public. That's when we were going through things kind of again to really publicize what it all was. And at that point, we could have either increased the amount that we were asking for or just left it and rearranged things kind of went with the last option as opposed to asking for more money from the expert. Okay, thank you. Rebecca, let us know if that didn't answer your question. All right, Carol. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, Carol Harrington is next and then Ray. My concern is, I had written it earlier, is the coverage for the elementary school that if a principal isn't there, the other person would be. But you're saying this new person is a K-12 person and so that person may be dealing with the middle school or high school leaving one elementary school without a person in charge. And classroom teachers have so much going on and they can contribute to leadership. But there are things that prop up that are really hard. I mean, it seems like more and more things are going on teachers' plates. Then I agree they can help with leadership but we need a touch person. I feel like you're doing a K-12 person when we're taking away support for the elementary. And I've been there 32 years and we had a principal and a vice principal. And then the last couple of years, this is the first time we've ever had an elementary principal. So I'm really concerned. We need to have a touch person at both sides. Andrew's at one, this touch person is somewhere at the other one and vice versa. Because you need whoever said it, somebody to take the ball. Like Reed's doing his high school thing and something goes on in the elementary and who do we go to if nobody's there? That's my concern. And I'd also like to see the description of that job because I think elementary, there's 300 kids almost in the elementary and or the 275 or whatever it is. And that's quite a few students out of the whole population which I'm not sure what the whole population is. But anyway, that was my concern. Thank you, Carol. We shared the job description in the Google doc in the comments. But it didn't say particularly that they would be part of the elementary, that point person. What happened? I'm really concerned about the elementary. Does anyone from the administrator team want to respond? Yeah, this is Reed. I think the idea is that the person will have responsibilities for shaping the systems pre-K-12 but on a practical level, they'll have primary responsibility at the elementary level. Does that make sense? If that's correct. I'd like to see that in the job description that if one principal isn't there, then this person would be covering the other elementary and vice versa. Because I've seen multiple things going on in the high school when you've had to work with David and it gets tricky. You can have three or four things going on if we're short one other person to help with that, that's tricky. Right. Well, the same's true. When David's been over at Bethel or at the SU and I'm alone in the building, I've gone out and helped with elementary school kids. Correct. But I'm just saying. I'll just jump in. We also have two MTSS coordinators too that we're going to be looking to shape their roles and responsibilities as well, Carol. And will they be going between both campuses? Or will they primarily be like Shane has been really helpful and Jenny has been really helpful and the kids all know them really well. I understand you want to coordinate it together but also will they primarily be with us? They would coordinate together but have home bases for the most part. I haven't heard the principal share anything separate of that at this point. I just, Jamie is concerned about that we have a touch port person. The MTSS team is awesome. I think it's great. And I think we want to have somebody else that helps with the communication. As we've talked Carol, the one thing that we've talked about as the administrative team is it always has to be clear to teachers. Who is that responder in the event that a student needs support? And teachers need to know. And so part of this system will be to ensure at all times teachers know who is their point person on any given day or any given time. And we would look to make that consistent and predictable all the time. I think systems have to be predictable. Great. Owen, you wanted to add to that. I would like to thank you. You know, I think one of the things we're talking about is that distributed leadership, the flattening of leadership. And none of this will happen in when we turn the keys in September, but it will happen over time. We're building systems. And I think when you build systems and you do systems thinking, you start seeing that. There's already one bed on the house. You start seeing that it starts building the support. The idea here, part of it is, that a lot of this can be taken care of when we have a system in place. And South Royalton Elementary has done amazing with bringing PBI out here. And I think that is already probably gonna bear some fruit for us. And I think we're gonna see more fruit in the future when we build these systems. And I get that it's like, I hear you, Carol, and I know you folks went without a direct leader for years and years. And we talked about that. And that's partly why we talked about Andrew doing this because she is an elementary focused leader. She was an elementary teacher. And she knows that culture inside and out. And I didn't pre-K through 12 for 11 years, but that doesn't make me an elementary teacher. I started in high school. And I think that's important to have those mindsets. I do think people can grow and change. I do like the redundancy of the student affairs coordinator and then the MTSS coordinators. I think what we're doing is flattening that piece and also making sure the principles are accountable for what happens. We all each have our individual identity, but we're one team. And I just wanna make sure that if we had one principle, there are things like how MTSS, EST, IEPs, and IEPs, but ESTs are set up that there's time to discuss and how that works. Cause I know Bethel does that a little differently than we do. And that whole coordination, putting together things, there's a lot of work to be done. Thank you. Thank you, Carol. And I have taken notes as you were sharing. So thank you very much. Ray, did you have a question? I know you said you withdrew it, but if you do, we're happy to hear from you. Lisa, I'm still looking back through my notes to find what I was gonna talk about, but it's unrelated to everything I can, so please go forward. All right. And Josh Pauley, that was your cat as opposed to raising your hand. Okay, just trying to make sure. There's a cat there. We're really liberal with our public comment policy. Claire Epshook is up next. I'm high. I wanted to just speak to what the fall might look like regardless of what leadership system we have in place. I just wanna be sure that it is pretty secure because when we come back, the kids are gonna be in a pretty vulnerable place. There's gonna be a lot of upset and hurdles just because of what's going on now. And I don't want us to be starting school, floundering, thinking who's doing what and who's on deck and all that. I really think like they're like, Jamie, you were saying that things need to be a work in progress, but I feel that this is maybe not the year to be starting out too open-ended about that. I feel like we really need clear structures and supports in place this particular year, more than others. Thank you. All right, thank you, Claire. Yeah, thanks, Claire. And if I could just correct, I've said to the principals, this has to be in place and articulated by August. By work in progress, I mean, we didn't want to jump to getting too many details in place, but I would look for us to have a clearly defined system for folks that's rolled out and that folks understand prior to in-service in school. Coming back in session. Thank you. Janelle? Yes, hello, everyone. This is Janelle Wurl, and for those that don't know me, I have two hats as well. I teach first grade at the South Royalton School and then I'm also a parent to two middle schoolers over in the Bethel School, which is fantastic. Something that Jamie said really struck with me, and that was being proactive versus reactive. And if anything can be set out of this, four teachers, three teachers, whatever model that we choose, I feel as though that reactive is where we need to be. I always feel like we're that road runner running down the road, trying to keep up with what we thought we were going to do. And I guess when I heard the, and this is not, we all make mistakes. So I'm just pointing at this, but not having a fourth principal budget put in there. Okay, listen, I'm not perfect, especially as I stumbled through all of this online learning. I'm sure I sent out at least three emails today that gave out clear instructions or a different point of where they needed to be. But I just hope that in everything across the board that we get to that proactive versus reactive. Owen talks about systems in place. And I started with PBIS at South Royalton two years ago, and we do have good systems in place. It's been running for two years, but I'm hoping that in the next year or two years that those systems become more proactive rather than reactive. I'd like to have our team at both schools have a structure that leads us to that place. I think our community, especially in South Royalton is looking for the leadership and guidance. And if we provide that for them, it's not going to matter if we have a salary of four principles or three principles. They're going to be behind us regardless. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have, so we have 30 people on the call. So I'm feeling like having heard from really four members of the public who assembled here makes me a little bit nervous because I feel like there's probably a lot more comments. So if you have something to say, but don't feel comfortable necessarily speaking up, please feel free to put it in the comments because we're really trying to make this a deliberative process. Ray, you're back. Yes, Lisa. Specifically, one of the callers, they're unmuted again. I just wanted to make sure. So the caller ending in the four six, perhaps they have a comment or a question. Okay. Hello? Yep. Can you hear me? Yes. Can you please say who you are? Absolutely. This is Galen Hugo Bart. Okay. I dropped a meeting. My internet's not that good. So this is a phone call. And calling as a resident and staff member. I just want to emphasize that my role involves with kids and part of my opening day routine, whichever room I'm in is, this is our fire drill. This is our safety. So when we talk about systems and structures, having the draft of the safety report done and accurate, really having the school well known. Like, Vlad acknowledged my call, but as a safety team leader, there was a sense of consistency and reliability in everything we do and it included our drills for the extreme and sticking with them, doing them frequently, repeating them. And so safety team, I think having, as things get organized, really making it clear who are the safety team members and consider the need for multiple responders because of the nature of our school community. And I think we've got a lot of really dedicated people who will accept those roles and we can fill in some gaps, but really having it clearly identified and doing a little bit of bonding around your safety teams. We meet out back. We meet out back by the softball backdrop or whatever it is. We meet between groups of high school students. We are a community. They're the expectations for them and the same for us. So I think that will benefit us all as we make plans for doing a little different and really important to emphasize, I know administrators have a lot of meetings, but who's on charge in the building now? It's really helpful so that our administrative assistant and registrar don't need to respond to are we going out for recess today? And other small details of changes, that would be really give everybody a sense of a role responsibility and the kids know their parts too. And I think we could really strengthen that. Okay, so I'm hearing that regardless of what model we go with, we need to really focus on safety, role clarity and regular routine predictable schedules so that students know what to depend on. Yeah, and specifically in terms of safety team, location-based people. So, you know, a strong safety team that won't have members away from the building on a regular basis. Okay. Like meeting at central offices and clearly identifying who those people are. So, you know, really make it, I think somebody used the term home base for the MTSS coordinators. People can be burst in whole school, but each location needs their dialed-in safety net and having staff identified clearly in roles supporting us all really gives us confidence as teachers. But we're all doing this together. Awesome. Thank you so much, Galen. All right, thank you Ray for catching on the dial. I'll do pound six. Jamie Rainville, you're up next. Hi, I just wanted to say as a listener that, and I'm a parent of a student in Bethel and I work in Bethel, that I've worked with Andrew and Owen for about five years, maybe longer. And I believe I have the confidence that they will be able to do that, to do this model. Working as, you know, knowing when Andrew's not in the building that I can go to Owen. And if Owen's not in the building, I can go to Andrew. Whether it's a parent issue or a staff issue, they're both always available. So, and I think they'll, this model will work. Okay. So you're not concerned about communication with this model? I don't think so. I think, and, you know, working in Bethel, Andrew and Owen have always communicated, you know, whether they're at central office having a meeting, I've always known where they are and how to reach them. So I think with some refining and, you know, the things that are gonna happen over the summer that I think it will work. Okay. Thank you. Hey, Lisa. Yeah. I promise I'm not gonna pull them out of your buildings too much, folks. Cause guess what? We're all accustomed to this now. So we won't meet just to meet me, is what I'm trying to say. And if we need to meet, I'll look to use technology. All right. Any, Tracy. Hi, everyone. This is Tracy Gardner and I teach first grade in South Railton and thank you to the admin team for working so hard on this. I know it takes a lot of time. I have a couple of different questions and comments. So I think it might make sense to ask one and then hopefully I can ask another one. I'm looking to see what specific feedback from the survey was used. So before vacation, teachers were asked to fill out a survey and I'm wondering what specific feedback from the survey was used to come up with this proposal. That's the first question. I can jump in Lisa. So Tracy, the feedback was fairly split around the idea of four principles versus maybe a different model is around what the strengths were versus what things could be strengthened. And so one of the themes that came across was how could we strengthen the continuity pre-K-12? And so that was one of the things that the admin team looked at when we proposed this model. If we weren't gonna have four principles, what's a model that can straighten from the continuity? That's why you've heard us talk about that. And so, but as far as four principles versus not, it was a bit split. Did that answer your question? Yeah, kind of. You know, I'm wondering what specifically, not just as far as the numbers, but what teachers were feeling like they needed. And were you able to see who the, not the name of the person giving the feedback, but like what, you know, if they were elementary or high school versus so row campus, okay. Yeah, we shared that at the last meeting. Yeah, I broke it down into percentages. Okay, so the South Royalton Elementary campus, that was also split, you would say? I can tell you, I can tell you elementary teachers and the number of respondents, I can't tell you per se how many of them were South Royalton Elementary versus Buffalo. Okay, okay. We didn't collect it that way. Okay. You know, and I think it's good as we, you know, transition from one person to another to kind of think outside the box and think about what we need. It's a good, you know, opportunity to reflect on what's happened and what we need moving forward. Certainly. I do agree with some of the things that have been said, you know, Claire's point about, is it the year to do it? I hear Jamie saying a lot about the importance of having systems in place. I completely, completely agree with you. The problem is they're not in place. I know that's our goal and I know we'll get there and I have a lot of confidence in you, but we're not there yet. And so it's a little scary actually to move forward with something like this when we don't have systems in place and it's almost May. So while I think many of us are open to trying, you know, new types of leadership absolutely, I do think that we have to think about the timing of it. And I think, you know, once again, it's feeling like another position is being creative, created, excuse me, as Carol said, that's K-12. It feels like we're continuing to have these positions, K-12 and the South Railton Elementary has been through a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot in the last few years, as have others, you know. And I hear Jamie and that makes me so happy that she feels that she can work with Owen and Andrew so well. You know, and that's exciting, but we aren't there yet. And so, and like I said, I know we'll get there, but we don't have that feeling yet. And so I think it's a little scary to say, okay, you're gonna South Railton Elementary, you're gonna lose another person and not have that person replaced. So I think that we really need to really think about this. Thank you, Owen, you have a response? Yeah, I do. Thank you, Tracy, great points. And you know, I think you said it, and we're saying it sort of, yeah, South Railton Elementary School, I think has got the short end of the stick for years, my opinion. You know, I don't think, I'm not judging the people that are involved. I feel like a lot of schools hire principals that are very high school focused. And you know, I know this, I'm not gonna, I think if we don't talk about it, we're not telling the truth. I think, you know, in the past, a lot of principals have also come out of sports areas. I mean, there's all of that stuff, but I also have faith. And I said this to Andrea today. I said, I have so much faith in you. And we were talking and I said, you know, you're gonna have to, it's gonna have to be like your new principal. And you know, you got to do new personal stuff with the Royalton staff. You got to like get to know them. That's, I mean, I agree with you. The system isn't built, but first you build the relationships and then, and the trust. And then the systems are built around that or with that, with you. I think it's really exciting and really scary. Am I allowed to, yep. One third to Owen, Lisa. Yes. Thank you, Owen. I lost my train of thought. Sorry. He made me think of something too. Oh, that, you know, South Royalton Elementary continues to get lost in this. And that's really upsetting too. You know, I mean, a lot of what's been said is, you know, we have to look, well, what's Bethel doing? What's Bethel? That's what we've been hearing lately. Well, what is the Bethel Elementary doing? What is, what are they doing? And it's come up numerous times at our faculty meeting at the elementary level in South Royalton, that that's really hard to continue to hear. Well, how is Bethel doing it? No, yes, I know that Bethel's doing great things and that we want to work together. Absolutely. I feel like yet again, we're going to be losing our identity because, and Andrew's wonderful. And I, and I've heard so many wonderful things about her. And so I am excited about that. But it's also a little bit scary to say, okay, yet again, we're looking to follow what's Bethel doing. And we're doing some really great things in South Royalton. I really believe, I love the elementary here. And I, and I think that I hate to just say, okay, so now we're just going to keep doing what Bethel's doing. It's come up time and time again at our school. And it's really hard to hear. Even though Andrew, I know you're wonderful. Andrew would like to respond to that. So thank you. You know, I think it's, it is hard. And I think there's this assumption that when you share a leader that we would do exactly the same thing. I think that there's some need for the whole SU to align some things, but I don't think that we need to be doing what Bethel's doing. And I feel bad that that's what the conversations are at your staff meetings. But I agree with Owen. I think what we would need to do is start with relationships and trust and getting to know each other and learning from each other. And I certainly have a lot to learn. But I would hope that people would not think that we would be going into this just, okay, this is how the systems are going to be. It's going to be just what Bethel has. So that's not how it needs to be. And I think we need to align systems pre K to 12. And some of those systems aren't what Bethel elementaries is doing either. Thank you. Carol Harrington is up next. Tracy, if you have a follow up question, just jump in. Yeah, I just wanted to say I totally get what Tracy saying. And I totally get what Andrew is saying. We just all need to be going into this. If this is the plan that we are two separate identities, but we can be a team that have our own identity. And that means compromise and sharing and discussions with more of the classroom teachers and that kind of stuff. I have to say our intervention team between campuses have been great. We've worked a lot. We've met. We've talked and discussed. But I think we're Jamie's talking about having. Leaders within the schools talking together, you know, having a teacher leader group talking with the other teacher leader group, but yet remaining having your own identity. Is that correct, Tracy? Is that the kind of stuff you're talking about? Yeah. There's so much I was. Yeah. Thanks, Carol. Yeah, it's, it's hard. I mean, South Royal tune has gone through a ton of stuff ever since Sean Pickett left. And we're all learning and growing and changing. And we've had to do a lot. And we just want people to know that we want to be. Players and team members, but we also want to be who we are because each community within their most selves has their own identity. And to respect each other and all that good stuff. So that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Important message. All right. Anyone else of the. More than 20 people on here. Just impressive. It's so nice to have so many people come out to be a part of this conversation. Lisa, I have a question. Yes, Bob. I have a question for the teachers from South Royalton. Are you looking for an elementary school principal? So if anyone wants to address Bob's question. So it was predominantly aimed at South Royalton teachers. Asking if you're looking for an elementary school principal. May I answer. Yeah. Tracy. I think. And I'm only speaking for myself. So I'd love to hear from others. I think that. Eventually we could. Have three. I think Jamie's right. I think. That this could be done with three amazing principles. But the systems are not in place. And so right now. I think it would be, I would like one. And eventually you're right. It's money. It's a lot of money. So we're not going to be able to. Tell the community we're paying for four principles. So yes, I do think that. We could have three. I'm not completely convinced that we can right now. That's, I guess that's my answer. No, go ahead. Okay. Oh, sorry. This is Janelle again. I agree with Tracy. I think that the three principles is absolutely. Achievable. I think that the systems that we talk about and the MTSS support. And it's been phenomenal over the last year having. Shane as our MTSS coordinator and just the difference that it made within one year. So I'm positive that in the second year and the third year. It would get even better. I guess. I think that's a good point. I think that's a good point. I mean, like Tracy said, scary. Go from four to three. And even in looking in the job description, how is that? How is our MTSS coordinator? How does like a shame going? Shane oftentimes had two people that were waiting to see him. He was oftentimes not running through the halls, but walking very quickly and grabbing someone on the playground that wouldn't come in almost daily. So I think that's a good point. I think as a pizza, it's hard to imagine one person or no, no person assisting when we see Shane and David. I think that that's a very hard imagination. For us to vision right now. I think. Thank you. We need, we need a person who's on our campus. All the time. And I don't know if that's another principle. But somebody who is set for us elementary. Not necessarily a K. 12 person. What that would be, but. And then moving into this the following year. So sorry, this is Janelle again. So Jamie, you've had this model for a while and in your other school, and it's very successful. Obviously. I think I think to put us at ease and having Andrea in our campus would be great, but I would love to see and hear how by August, we're going to have these systems in place so that. I mean, these are things that you've probably already tackled in Williamstown. One principle running two or three different ways. So maybe in the back of your head, you're thinking, well, we do this by this or by that. You know, we haven't gotten that far yet. So is there a way that certain systems will be in place by August so that it looks achievable? What I think that we need to do is we need to lay out exactly who the point person is, but in the student support system within all levels. So that the elementary staffs know exactly who their point person is. Again, I started by saying, you have to have this coordinator of student affairs on the opposite campus of the principal. And that may take a whole year to change. And Reed's talked about that their role would be more about just common expectations. When you think about PBIS around the universal level pre-K-12, but their primary response would be pre-K-5. The six through 12 responsibilities are more around planning type around the system at the universal level. I also got to say this is not a duplicate model. It's a duplicate model of Williamstown. And I went into this preparing to hire a fourth principal. And then we had a board discussion. So I don't want anyone thinking that this was Jamie's decision to pursue this initially. I'm behind it. I think we can make it work. I think within, you know, looking at shared leadership, this is the right approach. And Tracy, I heard your concerns around the system. And I think sometimes you have to take big steps in order for the system to move forward. And, you know, I think that there's an opportunity here to take a big step. And what I've always thought is when you go to this type of leadership model, teachers have to know who the responder is, who the backup responder is, who their point person is. And same with families. And those are the things that have to be in place by August. Okay. Anyone else want to share or respond to Mr. Gray's question. Okay. Jenny Lane, do you want to chime in? I see your name here in the comments. We'd love to hear from you. Sure. So I feel safest to have an elementary principal in our school. But what I appreciate the most is having someone that specifically advocates for us. So we don't get lost. Because I feel as if we have, we have a great identity and a great, our part of our camp of the campus of South Royalton Elementary is a great school. And I just don't want to lose that in the shuffle. So that's what worries me. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. All right. It seems like we have exhausted. Public comment. Of course, if you have a question moving forward, please be sure to put something in the comments. So that I can, can call on you. I'm interested in hearing a little more from the board at this point in time. While we discuss this issue. So. I'm interested in the board's thoughts after we've heard public comment. So this is Chris. I guess maybe I'm not. I'm still torn between both options, but I know like some people have said, you know, well, we're not maybe ready for, you know, for the three principal model right now. But I think one thing that we would make clear though, two of those, if we stayed with four principles that it wouldn't just be, you know, a one year or two year thing, because we're not going to, you know, hire somebody to just be a caretaker principal for a little while, while things change. So I mean, I think with our model, we go with, you know, that's going to be what we stay with until the next time that, you know, that something that needs changing actually needs changing and that we're not, you know, I think we've talked about that some before too, where we don't want to, you know, lead anybody along or make them feel like that, you know, that it's not something permanent. So I think, you know, it wouldn't be right to, you know, if we hired a principal to say, well, we're hiring you for two years and then, and then we're moving on to this model or something like that. You know, when things like this come up where, you know, we have somebody that's moving on to another position and we can evaluate stuff, you know, that's a good opportunity to do it. But, you know, I think, you know, whatever we go with, I think that's the one that will be committed to for, you know, for the foreseeable future unless something absolutely needs to change. I don't know how others feel, but that's how I sort of do it. I appreciate that. Yeah, I agree with that. And I also think, you know, I definitely hear about the wanting to have the systems of place before you switch the model, but because the system involves a new position, like we can't like hire for that position and a principal in order to set the system up and then transition into it. So that kind of makes it logistically different, difficult to do that. Looks like it might have something to say. Yeah. Yes. I, you know, the, the whole MTSS multi tiered systems of support thinking and PBIS. And that all comes from a practice and researched and proven models. And Jamie's point about like, this isn't Jamie's model. This is highly researched. And it came out of this other set of letters, RTI response to intervention. It's actually what we're doing, what we're offering is best practice. And I think if we were four or three and some more, like we're trying to propose, we're going to do these models. They're, they're practiced, they're researched, they're relevant. They work. If you treat them with fidelity and it takes a few, I mean, Jenelle pointed out where they've, what they've done in two years, a year and a half really is amazing. And we are just starting it at the middle school. This is, we're building a school district. And we talked about this with Jamie and the principles that we also need to stop thinking about small pockets in our pre K-12. Definitely take care of everybody. And everybody has an identity, but we also need to see ourselves as a pre K-12 system. Thank you, Owen. So following up on, like I do see Jenny's point about needing to have kind of who's advocating for each individual location or each component of our pre K-12 system. Would there be a way of kind of having a lead teacher or somebody who would kind of have that role. And give representation to kind of individual groups. Maybe in this system that three principles. Well, I can speak to, I would be looking for not just one teacher. Andrew, I'd be looking for us to creating a distributed leadership team where teachers and staff are making decisions in regards to their continuous improvement plan and making decisions in regards to what professional learning looks like, making decisions around what faculty meetings look like. And so that's as we talk about this comprehensive approach to creating a system. What I'm talking about. And when folks heard me interview is, is that those decisions come from the bottom up and not from the top down. And so when I think about advocating, I'm thinking about. I talked to principles already. They ought to be, they better be advocating for the entire pre K-12. If they're, if we are not in competition with each other. So, you know, we're not advocating for one campus over the other. Oh, and better be advocating for that high school as much as he's advocating for that middle school. I mean, we are all one. And so with that said, I mean that when the principles and I looked at that, we said, how do we ensure we create a model where you're all responsive? Because it's really about collective responsibility. Not just your responsible for just your campus. Or your teachers, they're all ours. It's a we system. All right. Other thoughts. Or questions. I appreciate that idea of a we system. Thank you. Okay. Yeah. I just wanted to chime in as well. I. I appreciate your. Your feedback, Jamie, about creating a we system. And I know that. You know, we're two years into. This merged school, this new school, and we've had a lot of growth. And we've had a lot of, a lot of change on both campuses and within the student body. And I've seen a lot of things turning from. You know, Bethel versus Royalton into something that really represents the whole, the White River Valley school. And I think this is just another grow point that we're having here is learning to, to shed those past identities and to take on this new whole system. View of ourselves. I also, you know, want to appreciate that both campuses still have their own individual or what's left of their own identities of what they were prior to the merger. And we need to honor that and help people process through that and make sure that every voice is being heard. But to make sure that we're also looking at the we and, and looking at all the parts regardless of where those parts might be rooted. All right. Rodney, are you still with us? Lisa, I can answer that. No, he's not. He's driving. Okay. All right. Thank you, Jamie. You're welcome. So I don't know where I'm at in terms of a decision on this. I feel like I have a lot to think about. I've literally taken seven pages of notes tonight. And I understand that, that need for identity. I feel like I have a lot of faith in. I have a lot of faith in the people who are saying that they feel like they can have systems in place. Particularly identifying like what we need in order to keep things safe and who's a point person for whom across campuses. So that, that feels like a good place to start for me. In my mind anyway. I just, one of the things that's hard for me, honestly, if I'm thinking out loud is that when I was on the Bethel board and we merged with Royalton, just communicating with teachers, particularly in the South Royalton elementary school who just felt like they hadn't had an advocate for so long. And having worked with Andrew for years, I feel like she has the capacity to be a strong advocate for both elementary schools. But I just feel like our systems are going to have to be so strong in order for this to work. Yeah, I'm really hopeful about this proposal. But at the same time, it feels like a big jump for me. But I trust the people who are saying they think it seems like a reasonable jump. It's just a little scary right this minute. So I don't know that there was a conclusion in there, but I think I'm getting there. So this is so hard to have a serious conversation like this through computers. Can I ask a question? This is Shannon Palone. Yes. So I've listened pretty intently. And one of the things that I've heard from both sides, from Owen and Andra, and from Tracy and Janelle and Carol. Guys, two years ago, we didn't think we could merge both schools. Yes, there have been difficulties. I'm running with my hair on fire some days. That's not the point. The point is if we don't step out of those comfort zones and don't get me wrong, I've been in the receiving end of, you know, not knowing what my job will be, but I think we have enough positive people in both places to say these are the problems. These are some solutions. You're right. It is scary going from two principles to four principles to three principles and two MTSS coordinators. And I'm sorry I haven't seen Sandy do her job, but I've watched Shane put out fires holding one hand up in the air while chasing down the hallway. So I know it can be done. Yeah, it is scary. It's going to be hard. But I think that this may be that puzzle that Lisa just said when we are now one school, one community, not Bethel versus Royalton, high school versus middle school, two elementary schools on two different campuses. So is it going to be hard? Absolutely. Are there going to be pitfalls? Yes, there are. But I think one of the things that we've learned in South Royalton, as well as in Bethel, that as Jamie said, if we are proactive instead of reactive, there wouldn't be maybe as many pitfalls. That's all I have. All right. Thank you, Shannon. I appreciate that. Can I say something? I'm glad that Shannon pointed out and Jamie, actually that was in my notes as well that you had said you wanted instructional leaders and not reactionary leaders. And frankly, that's what we feel like has been happening. We've taken two years to figure out who decides the snow day and who we're going to hear from. So there's a lot of missteps with communication and stuff that has happened. There's a lot of work to be done here. One thing I want to say that makes it a very difficult and different situation for the two buildings is that one is a pre-K8 building. So there's no missing middle. For our school in South Royalton, and I say, R, it's the one I've been at for 30 something years, and I live in this town, the elementary school I feel is deeply concerned. And with reason, they are, we have no middle. There's no continuity. There's no middle in our school left. So they really have that K5 situation. And they're sort of feel left alone a lot. And not supported in some ways. So it's not, it's comparing apples and oranges. You have a pre-K8 school, and you have a pre-K5, and then the nine through 12. It's an odd mixture, you know. So I do think that plays into it, and I'm sure that is where some of our concerns come from. The elementary might not feel supported, but I can just feel myself when Reid is running around, like a chicken with his head cut off, because there's like 10 things that he has to be doing at once. But something happens in the elementary. Like where do you put your energies? So there, I don't think it's a small concern. I think that people are deeply concerned about it. And I think that's why we're doing this leadership model. And so I want to just say again, we can't like, we have to, we have to have real systems, not imaginary theoretical systems in place. We need real concrete systems. If this is going to move forward in a productive way. Thank you. Um, So I, I'd love to hear from the board where you feel like we're at with this process. Just so we can think about what we're, what we're doing because we need, we're out of the crossroads where we need to either, um, make a decision to advertise and try and fill that position. Um, or we need to make a decision to move forward with this proposal and, um, ask our leadership team to really, um, give us some of the detail and begin working on some of the detail so that they have the time and capacity to create those systems that I think we all agree we need. Um, So what's, what are your thoughts? Lisa. I won't support this. I won't support this before. Okay. So you're in favor of the four principles. No. It's a possibility, but I'm not going to support this proposal. Okay. Um, anyone else, what are your, what, what's your inclination? Um, yeah, I'm kind of split as well. Um, I can see the advantages of both situations. Um, I would be okay with going with what Jamie recommends, I think. Um, you know, I think if he thinks that this is going to be the strongest model that we can put forward at this point, then I'm comfortable taking his recommendation on that. Um, But, you know, so I guess I don't, I don't know what our plan is. If we want to make a decision this meeting completely or if we want to have them kind of go back and maybe get some more. Feedback from the staff now that they built the model. Um, and then see where it goes, but, um, like, are we planning on making a decision tonight? I'm concerned that if we don't make a decision tonight, we're going to really be in a much more challenging situation in terms of attracting high quality candidates. It's getting very late. Most administrator contracts are signed. Um, by statute by February. Um, so unless people have chosen to leave those roles, um, I just know how hard it was when we hired the principles we have in place now. Um, So I'm concerned that the later we push this, um, decision, the more challenging it might become. Having said that, I really feel like we need to, um, deliberate and make the best decision we can. Lisa, I would ask the board to strongly consider either looking for us to be able to post and pursue a four principle model at this point, or to take the administration's recommendation around the proposal. And we can continue to work around the logistics, but to kick us back to say, come up with a, another proposal when the administration is saying this is the proposal of the folks that have to implement, believe that they can implement. I'd have a hard time. Okay. Um, So I just received a text from Rodney saying that he is in favor of the three, the, the new proposal. Um, And Carol Herrington said, um, the new proposal. Um, And Carol Herrington, um, also left in the comments a question about, um, if we moved forward with this proposal, when would the concrete plans be started? And then would we expect them to be, to be completed in terms of structure? Um, so do you have any clarity around a timeline? They would be started tomorrow. I mean, the principles and I already talked about the need to get letters out and things of that nature around the staff to better explain this. They would continue to be rolled out in faculty meetings next week. And then, you know, as far as meetings around with the MTSS coordinators, we would need to get this position posted. We have to clearly define it a little more in regards to other additional roles and responsibilities. I would be looking for the principles to be talking to me around their plans to create a distributed leadership team that has teacher voices on it around planning of the CIP, the continuous improvement plan task, and also around planning for professional learning around in-service days and faculty meetings and things of that nature. And then in addition to we'd be mapping out and be able to articulate, I believe by the end of the year so that folks could see exactly where Andrew would be and where the coordinator student affairs would be. And there would be both, that would be communicated to the faculty and staff, but also families. There'd be a family communication plan distributed to, for students and families. Okay. And I mean, that's why I guess I'm pushing for a decision because there is a great deal of work to be done. And I want to help the principals with this work because Bruce has turned this over, but I also need folks to keep in mind I have a full time running to two schools as well. Lisa, this is Lisa. Okay. I want to, I'm voting in support of this proposal. I know that there's a lot of work that needs to be done to make everybody feel like this is moving in the right direction and all the people that are needing support are getting the support they need. But I have a lot of faith in our administrators and I'm really impressed with Jamie's ability to communicate so effectively. And it sounds like there's some good experience behind all of this. And I'm really excited about what coordinator student affairs could do for dealing, responding to emotional and behavioral needs of the students to add that extra. So I think this model is doable. It's not going to be easy. I can see there's a lot of questions, but I think these questions are probably helping everybody even come up with, you know, some of the things that we need to do to make sure that we're helping the process. So this has been instructive and I hope that this continues to get feedback from staff and the public as needed as this gets locked into place. Thank you. Chris. Yeah, I mean, I trust the, the people that we have in the, in the leadership positions. And. And I trust Jamie's judgment too. I don't know what to say. And so, you know, I think, yeah, I mean, we need to, we need to pick away forward. And if, you know, and if everybody feels like, you know, that this is what, you know, the future of schools looks like. I know we know, you know, that we hear a lot about, you know, the needs for the support for students and, and all the different things that need to be in place for them and that can, you know, help with that focus. And I think that would be in support of this too. Okay. All right. Andrew, have you come to any conclusion? Yeah, I mean, I think I just, if I, I'd follow what the administration recommends as well. I think, you know, if this is what they think is strongest model, having heard the feedback and everything, then. I don't think I have a reason to go against what they think would be best. Okay. All right. So it seems like it would be time to make a motion if people feel like they've reached a conclusion. So I'll make a motion that we accept the recommendation of a three principal model is put forward by the. Administration and a coordinator of student affairs position. As well. Okay. Described in the report. And we can link that right in the notes, correct? Yeah. Okay. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Is there a second for that motion? This is Lisa. I'll second. Okay. All right. Any further discussion before we, before we vote. Okay. All right. All in favor of accepting. Our administrators proposal for a three principal and one. Okay. People have to specifically. Respond because it's an electronic meeting. Right. So when we get to the voting, we'll go. Go around and everybody says what they think. Correct. Sorry. I may. I was just clarifying the motion. Okay. So. All in favor of approving the motion to move to the administration's three principal model and we'll. Go around and each person can say. Yay or nay accordingly. When we get there individually so that we have an accurate record of who approved this. So the, the model that's on the table to adopt a three principal and one coordinator of student affairs pre K through 12. Please say I will start alphabetical order by first name please. So. Andrew. Okay. Okay. Bob. No. Okay. Chris. Okay. Lisa. I. And I will vote in favor as well. And Rodney sent a text message saying that he is in support, but I don't think that needs to go in the actual record. I just feel more comfortable saying, saying where he stands. So. All right. So I think our administrative team has. Some work to do. So can we expect regular updates at our meetings about where we're at with this. Process. Yeah. If you guys want to have a standing agenda item on that, that would be great. Yeah, I think if we can put that in the future agenda item for our meetings, Lisa, that would be really helpful. Because I feel like. I would love to have as many people as we're here this evening continue to come to our meetings and give us feedback and share their thoughts as we move through this process so that it's as transparent and so that we have. As many voices at the table as we can. Do we need to set up a hiring committee for the new position? Or do we need to clarify that more before doing that? What's the plan for that? I would. I mean, I, our hiring committee is usually done at the building level or is the board appoint those. This, this is not an admin position. Yeah. So they're usually done at the building level. And I feel like it's really important to make sure that we have teachers and students involved in this process, particularly since it's a student coordinator position. And we do have an outline procedure for hiring. And if we could follow that, I think that will meet everybody's needs. Okay. All right. So that brings us to other. We don't have anything there at this moment. Does anyone have anything that we need to discuss further? Just a question. This is Lisa. I was wondering our next meeting is not until I think the 19th of May. Are we going to. Try to. Meet more frequently or have. Just to be updated on the progress of this, it seems like there's not a lot of time between now and August. Maybe between, you know, just something to think about that there might be opportunities for special meetings so that we can track what's happening on a more regular basis. Does it make sense that notes of the meetings as this system evolves would be shared with us? And if there were concerns, then we would call a special meeting. Yeah, that sounds good. For public as well. Updates. I mean, the administrative team can provide updates. We will be to faculty and I'm fine with us to include those updates to the greater community and board as we move. I think that that's, that has to be part of the plan. I'm not feeling necessarily that we need special meetings. I think by May we'll say here all the tasks we've accomplished. Since April 28. Right. Yeah, because it's three weeks really. Yeah, I mean, you know, we got to get an ad up and get moving on hiring coordinator student affairs. So, you know, potentially we might have someone in front of you for that. Okay. All right. Does that sound okay? We'll, we'll get updates. And if we feel like we need a special meeting, we'll schedule as needed. I feel like, yeah, that sounds great. That is one benefit of this current world that we're living in. We all don't have a ton going on every evening. Well, speak for yourself. Okay. Right. I'm not running a working farm. So. True story. Lisa. We want to communicate this to the Harold so that the broader community knows of the change. I think that would be great. Are you still in touch with Zoe, Lisa? I am. Yeah. Okay. So maybe we could have her reach out to Jamie and. Share notes with her and see. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Shannon, did you want to jump back in? I heard you say my name or maybe Lisa's name. It's hard to tell. I just, I'm looking at the comments and it says they're meeting weekly and then you said the 19th. So I guess. That the administrators are meeting weekly. The administrators are meeting weekly. Yes. Open meetings. No, but Shannon, what we will do is we'll start a. Weekly communication thread in regards to these changes after those meetings that. And so that will be something I'll charge the principles. Okay. And Owen just also let us know that Grace La from boys. Rights for the Harold. So she might be a great person to reach out to and see if she wanted to do an article. So she currently is a senior at our high school. The great idea, Owen. Yeah, we can reach junior. Sorry. Grace is a senior. She's one year ahead of my son. Who's the junior? You were batting 1000. Oh, and not now. Oh, Owen says we're keeping her. I. Are you going to retain her? Are you going to retain her? Okay. I don't want to alarm grace. So. We can reach out to grace to see about. To see about whether should write that article. I'm not joking about that part. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. Oh, and was joking about retention. Clearly. So thank you. All right. Should I reach out to, I could send an email to. Zoe and grace. I mean, it's. Yeah. The editor of the paper to decide who carries it. But I think it'd be great if it was grace, but anyway. Yeah. Email to both of them. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we might be relieved to have grace working on it and they could collaborate. Yeah. Mary Waterman. Mary Waterman is the one that handles. The kids who write for the paper. So she may, if grace can't do it. Mary Waterman may be able to get one of the other kids. To take it on too. From there. From their point of view. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Anything we should add to other or consider at this time. Lisa. Yeah. I'd like to say you ran a really nice meeting tonight. Oh, thank you. There were a lot of people here. You're a tough one. You did a good job. All right. Thank you so much. Okay. I would entertain a motion to adjourn if anybody wanted to do that. Okay. I'll make a motion to adjourn. Okay. Any second. Okay. And our meeting is adjourned at eight oh nine. Thank you all so much.