 Good evening. I'm calling to order the meeting of the Arlington school committee on Thursday, June 9th, 2022 I'm Liz exton the chair permit me to confirm that all members and persons Anticipated on the agenda are present and can hear me when I call your name. Please respond in the affirmative Not many friends here tonight. Mr. Heiner Present mr. Cardin. Yes, miss Morgan Mr. Thielman All right, I have not heard Okay, I'm gonna keep going we have a quorum tonight's meeting of the Arlington school committee is being conducted in a hybrid model on February 15th 2022 governor Baker signed into law a new session law extending certain COVID-19 related measures the new law chapter 22 of the acts of 2022 includes an extension until July 15th 2022 of the remote meeting provisions of the governor's March 12th 2020 executive order suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law The governor's order which is referenced with agenda materials on the town's website for this meeting allows public bodies to meet entirely remotely So long as reasonable public access is afforded so that the public can follow along with the deliberations of the meeting Before we begin permit me to offer a few notes First this meeting is being conducted via zoom is being recorded and is also being simultaneously broadcast on a CMI Persons wishing to join the meeting by zoom may find information on how to do so on the town's website Persons participating by zoom are reminded that they may be visible to others and that if you wish to participate You are asked to provide your full name in the interest of developing a record of the meeting All participants are advised that people may be listening who do not provide comment And those persons are not required to identify themselves Both zoom participants and persons watching on a CMI can follow the posted agenda materials also found on the town's website using the novice agenda platform and Finally each vote tonight may be taken by roll call if we have a remote person Okay, our first item on the agenda is public participation For members of the public who wish to address the committee there will be 20 minutes of public comment Depending on the number of people who sign up time allotments may be reduced, but will not exceed three minutes each Dr. Allison ampey will be the timer and will give the speaker a signal when they have 30 seconds left If the number of people who sign up exceeds what can be done in 20 minutes The number of speakers may be capped and will be invited to speak based on the timestamp of their email to Miss The school committee respectfully requests participants of the public To utilize their camera if possible while speaking and to adhere to the public comment policy Be dh that requires participants to provide their name and address Speakers may offer such objective criticisms of the school operations and programs as concern them But in public session the committee will not hear personal complaints about school personnel nor against any member of the school community Except for the school committee or the superintendent in their capacity as the operational leader of the Arlington public schools The public is reminded that the school committee does not hold jurisdiction over the performance of school personnel other than the superintendent Additionally, the committee will not hear anything that might identify and or infringe upon a student's privacy By name or incident We have two people signed up for public comment this evening. Uh, one was going to be in person and I Oh, I do see them Julie hall miss hall Thank you for having me here tonight I know how busy everybody is this time of year. Um, so I've emailed you all this week and i'm here to advocate for overnight. Um, science camp Um, I understand that alton jones is closed and we're having an opportunity to build upon and improve our science camp for arlington public schools Three of my four children have attended Science camp and have had excellent experiences This was their first trip away from home. I admit. I was nervous. They were nervous, but I think that in the end we all were better for it Um, they also gained confidence from the experience. So it's difficult to put into words each of their own experiences But I do believe there's a social and emotional connection made in this less formal setting. Um, that's really unique to science camp Um, I remember them learning how to take care of themselves for three days Um, they had chores they had to do they had a schedule of getting up putting their clothes away And they were disciplined there and I really believe that this builds confidence and is really important now in this time Um after the pandemic, um I asked my son tonight You know, if you can remember just the small little things that he liked about science camp I think there's a lot of parents listening tonight That don't really understand what it is And many in k through five might not have children that have been um, but he recalls a night hike And he said only the leader had the flashlight, but that's something we've we never do as a family So that for him was unique and I'm sure it was for a lot of the kids And um another experience was he remembers catching minnows in a pond and fish and how some children caught frogs Another unique experience that I understand I might not be tied exactly to the curriculum But again another experience that you can't replicate in the classroom That I think is important I also remember him talking about the camp counselors and I think they're all passionate. That's why they're there And I think they the children learn to respect nature and they develop an interest interest in the ecosystem And I do recall in fifth grade They built a terrarium that had different layers with a big pepsi bottle and on the one part was was Was the earth they had worms in there. They had something growing on top So there there was something built around the ecosystem when one of my children was in the fifth grade And I recognized that some of the grammar schools had different challenges Um and and I think we need to talk about them So I'm craving to hear healthy discussions about how we got here And and really where we're going Um I'm disappointed that I even have to sit here and do this tonight. Um I was hoping our school administration Would be doing this for us and all of you in this room Um, I feel like this process has lacked transparency I didn't even understand that we were in this position until I was listening to One of these monday c i a a meetings that was revolved around heterogeneous classes You have about 30 seconds. Okay, so I think covet created the perfect storm for alton jones to close and our program to terminate Because of undisclosed issues, but that doesn't have to be our ending now is a time to make overnight science camp the best experience for all students Built with transparency that starts today and I look forward to hearing dr. Holman's overview and moving forward my other side comment is Is it possible for to consider this process to reconsider it? It just feels strange that i'm speaking to you about something really important, but i'll never get a response It's like being in a vacuum And it just feels odd and I just think maybe we can think about a different way to do this That actually builds real-time discussions with possible comments at the end after we learn things And maybe it would create less emails Thank you. Thank you Our next public speaker this evening is elizabeth pile miss pile. They have about 30 seconds One's gonna make a statement about science camp The committee will discuss it can discuss it during the superintendent update, but Just in the interest of these listeners not having to listen for three hours So I was going to address this as part of the superintendent's update But since you both are here and I know that folks might be watching to hear more about where we're at And what has gone on with science camp. I'll go ahead and speak now so I just want to note that it's there hasn't been a Non-transparent process and that there hasn't really been much of a process We knew that we needed to come up with an alternative to what the science camp experience had been when we came back to school This year and we were doing so in the midst of a lot of uncertainty about what might be possible given the status of the pandemic Early this fall We asked our science director to think about what some alternative experiences might be And she along with a couple of teachers started thinking about an immersive interdisciplinary project based Um really tied closely tied to the curriculum and the standards experience that students could do in the context of the school day This is something that they started to plan and then the amicron Um Surge hit and I know that what I'm about to say might sound like an excuse And it certainly is not intended that way But the reality of it is that our science director was teaching In a sixth grade classroom for a couple of months and she needed to be the person who guided the planning for this experience And so we um had to table the planning for that which is going to take some considerable time And we think that something like that is something we should do we do want to plan for that Anyway, it would bring students from fifth grade across the district together to do something very Exciting and experiential in the science curriculum But what I also want to acknowledge is that I don't think that that actually hits all the points that families are advocating for When they talk to us about science camp because what we hear is that the overnight experience is what's really special that that Going away with your classmates is really special that that launch into sixth grade And being together as all Arlington students is part of what makes it special that the social emotional components are what makes it special So we're hearing that and we want to make sure that we don't lose some of those things that we're hearing from community members Are part of why we're advocating for an experience like this to be part of what our students have in Arlington And so we're not We are not able to do what we had originally planned to do this year because we lost the planning time We are planning to plan for that experience Next school year and are anticipating that we will not encounter some of the same challenges and barriers that Just sidelined it this year And we are open to a conversation and a process and a discussion and a dialogue about what it would look like to ensure That we do something more like the science camp experience in future years knowing that we've lost the venue that we used to use But I do want to name a few things that will need to be part of that dialogue One is accessibility And when we talk about accessibility for an experience like this, we're not just talking about financial accessibility We are also talking about accessibility for all students to access the programming making sure that the services and supports are in place For students who might need additional accommodations in order to be able to experience this In a way that is supportive for them and is fun for all of our kids regardless of what their needs are Regardless of what their demographics are regardless of whether they are an arlington resident student or a boston resident student So that's one big thing that we'll need to tackle Another one is logistics the coordination of an experience like this is pretty major task and undertaking And for that to fall sort of in a dispersed way on lots of different people can create a logistical challenge for the schools And that can create a liability which we don't want to do We want to make sure that we're doing something that is safe and that is well supported and that is well staffed Staffing is another logistical challenge that this has faced And so we'll need to make sure that we have a plan to ensure that it is staffed appropriately And that gets back to that accessibility consideration And that we are able to incentivize the staffing of this So that teachers want to participate and want to be engaged in it and want to be part of the work Because having students together in a group setting like that does require us to have educators available for it And then I also want us to talk in whatever dialogues take place next about purpose What is the goal of this? Is it about bringing our students together? Is it about Is it about extending the science the work we do in our science curriculum? Or is it about extending the work we also do in our scl curriculum? Is it about bringing our kids together as they launch into sixth grade something that's really special about the sixth grade school Is that they all come together as one group of arlington students I have heard the sixth graders talk about how awesome that is about their Gibbs experience And are there things that we can consider and do that will help ease some of these other challenges that I mentioned Because we do have the school based model that we have now. So I think we have possibilities We are not shutting down the conversation We are not able to do something this year But that does not mean that we will not in the future and we are looking forward to getting some of this dialogue started next year Thank you, dr. Homan and committee members when we get to the superintendent's report dr. Homan can Mention it again, and we can have a committee conversation all right Next on our agenda is an aef update. I'm very happy to welcome judy geyer the president of the arlington education foundation To our meeting this evening to give us an update on Grants from this year. Welcome judy miss geyer. Sorry Actually, um, judy, are you able to share your screen? You should be able to as a panelist That might be easier on your end for you to do it So Who is it? Yeah We are 12 volunteers And in addition to the district liaison is julie done. I already mentioned and also the school committee liaison is next to We have a teacher representative currently was the net leader of a bishop and also a met co-parent Representative on our board and together we plan on fundraising and also Outreach to teachers about grant opportunities and we make funding decisions Every year we set funding priorities. They're loose But we typically spend about 30 percent of our funding on district improvement grants the blue slices of high that grant is Is Education Or maybe it's a pretty opportunity for a group of teachers to coordinate curricula across schools A lot of our funding is also available for individual teachers both through innovation grants and through scholar awards I'm going to give examples of these in the next few slides So this year our big district investment grant was to support the five-year district vision and strategic planning So You can see at the bottom of the slide some district investment grants we have funded in the past so That was our big grant this year We funded several development and expansion grants this year. We saw a lot of interest from teachers working on our major spaces in the secondary schools so High Vacuum table electric furnace tool cart and a few other things to add to their major space area Autism got more related printers and 3d printers and also some new robotics equipment What we're really excited about for the development and expansion grants At the secondary levels is that we've also funded some professional development Activities so the tech teachers it gives autism and arlington high together Are going to discuss 3d printing curriculum and its integration across grades 6 through 12 That could be opportunity is Going to the Pellet MIT's Edgerton Center for technology teachers The other development and expansion grants we're really excited about is For a great level that ATF sometimes has trouble reaching and that is our youngest learners community garden 27th grade The district's digital learning medium is our approach to ATF for funding request for robot and curriculum to teach early programming skills To community garden 27th graders. They have all of our seven elementary schools So the implementation is just beginning But by using programmable robots students will not only learn early programming skills But also use the robot as a tool that can be aid in their development to Interpret sequences which show up all over the place in this age group, right? The likes that go in the frog or the narrative of a poem or The distance of the planets from the sun So we're really excited for this this new curriculum for k through 2 Next we have our innovation grants Again, these are grants that are requested by teachers individual teachers The maximum is $4,000 we Founded for innovation grant activities that they don't have to see the law the idea Your innovation and curiosity through these through this branch mechanism And we want to help teachers be curious and find a way to implement new ideas in the classroom with the interest of testing whether or not It's a success and a potential activity that should be integrated in the classroom in the long run I'm an extratum one of the reading specialists is using a new version of specialized text For early readers in the later grades where it's always a challenge to find content rich material The art teacher Ida Allen is Working with a visiting artist to for the first time introduce wider sculpture art into the curriculum There are a few other examples here That we were excited to find at the elementary level We funded six innovation grants the secondary level and they're all listed here I do want to point out that a lot of the requests for funding from teachers this year And honestly in the last two years have come from non-core curriculum teachers, so art music phys ed and We want to make sure in the next year that we are Reaching the core curriculum teachers as well we know that there's been a lot of struggle just to Deliver basic content as we all adjust in the pandemic and in This these new years of everyone being back in school Um, so there might be little room left over for innovation and curiosity outside the brain of the main curriculum but we want to be there for teachers And so next year one of our goal is really To do more outreach about our grant opportunities and also to make sure that we're very transparent about The grants that that we fund Okay, uh land here on this thank you slide just because I want to emphasize that it's With the collaboration of the school committee and dr. Coleman and this done that we really get an opportunity to put our donors funds to work We are just a facilitator trying to help Those in the community that want to invest extra in the schools actually reach the schools and And so we are completely dependent on working with with you and the end school staff to make sure that that happens Thank you. I'm happy to take any questions Thank you miss geyer. Um, does anyone have any questions or comments? Mr. Cardin, thank you. I just want to thank uh miss geyer and olive a f for welcoming me and Letting me letting me help them help the school system the last five years. It's a great organization Very strong lots of individuals who are very motivated and do a lot of work to do the fundraising and the grant review and and all of that necessary to um To to help input a lot of funds into the district and in a lot of innovative ways So it's a great organization and I thank them for their all their work and wish you good luck in your participation with them Thanks Anybody else mr. Schlickman? Yeah, I want to thank you too. Uh and You mentioned the fact that a lot of the grants go to teachers and specials and not core classroom teachers Which isn't a bad thing because the core the the special teachers see Uh the entire school And have a lot more needs for stuff in order to do their uh to do their work with So when I was working involved the the teachers who were always at a disadvantage in terms of any kind of supply Formula for for getting equipment and stuff Tended to have the most problems. So uh I wouldn't be too concerned if we're putting money into into specials because it it goes a long way in that case but Uh, just just keep on doing what you're doing. It's a wonderful thing. I'm I'm glad it's going well and and I hope that It gets bigger and better as we go along. Thanks Dr. Allison ampy Thank you. Um, I just wanted to thank both you your volunteers who have been working on this so much And also the donors who have been funding This program for decades, I believe In its various forms over the years and it's without the donors. We wouldn't be able to Our teachers wouldn't be able to try these experiments that they want to try or you know Innovations in education. We wouldn't be able to do the big expansion grants or or the district-wide programs and um, I think You know our community deserves a big round of thanks too for making this possible But but you folks too for making for facilitating so thanks Anybody else Dr. Homan So I want to echo the thanks of the committee and just say I have gotten such a warm welcome and such excellent partnership from a e f this year And i'm really excited about the district improvement work that we are doing Um, it has been a wonderful spring and there's a lot of really positive energy because of the support that we got from a e f and some of the early Imagining and partnership work that you also introduced me to many community members who are able to help us With the work that we want to do in the schools and bring a lot of really valuable expertise to it. So Thank you so much. I really enjoyed running in the 5k too by the way And that was an awesome event. So I look forward to that happening in the future too I'll just echo the thanks briefly For all of the work that a f has done and I am looking forward to Being the school committee representative Going forward. So thank you so much for coming this guy. I appreciate it Thank you all All right, our next Agenda item is a metco update from miss Smith Michelle if you want to tell me when to move I will move the slides Okay, you got it. Let me take this off. It's so annoying By the end of the day. All right. Thank you for having me school committee. Dr. Holman faculty here And uh those listening Uh, I am the mechal director. My name is rachel smith We can move forward to talk about the program So so excited to be back in arlington my third year here. So Excited and first year in this position. And so the program structure I'm going to talk about also the the vision and the mission The core mission really was to build relationships as someone coming in new Into this position. It was definitely to build relationships and also to build and interconnect those relationships with the students the families The mechal program overall arlington staff And the arlington and boston community while increasing program engagement and non is with students families and faculty student academic and scl achievement social and emotional achievement So currently we have three full-time staff members. That's the director We have a licensed social worker that primarily worked with our elementary students Her office is stationed at oddison middle school. So sometimes she does interface with our middle school students We have a ta bus monitor We have two part-time staff members a ta and our parent liaison And then we have as you got to know For a af board member, which is new this year. We have a mechal parent. Um, that's a part of that We have 70 students in the program this 31 elementary students 19 middle school students 20 high school students Um, and we are in bishop hearty pair skibs oddison in the high school and right now We currently operate three school buses through east and bus Arlington transportation and we have one late bus for our high school students Can click Yeah, good. Um, so employee highlights Uh, I serve as a co-advisor for the black student union here at the high school Um, I participated in district based learning walks instructional rounds scl data planning 51a working group equity response meetings Myself and the social worker in the program We lead a monthly bipoc affinity group for bipoc students. That is black indigenous people of color Students who identify as such and we leave that at oddison middle school We do that once a month during their lunch time. We split it up because they have three lunches So we have three groups during that time um, our parent liaison Uh, participated, um, invited by miss thomas hasn't participated in the mass partnership for diversity in education And some of the affiliations listed here is on mechal headquarters. We have a very close relationship with mechal headquarters Simmons university That's through the african-american alumni association as well as the dei subcommittee for the alumni network Uh, we do have a veteran a u.s. Army. We are connected with ruthway for women, which is a nonprofit that serves homeless women Uh, boston public health commission mass bay community college and the boston police department Looking to expand to the boston police department too Um, so our 2020 2021 22 student highlights, uh, we have four Graduated seniors all going to college in the fall albany state university bunker hill Framingham state university umas dartmouth Three of those students received the n double acp mystic valley branch mlk Scholarship and two of the students are of those graduated students receive the j Jua jones memorial scholarship from the st paul evangelical lutheran church in arlington Uh seven students participated in our mechal director seven high school students participated in our mda youth conference So there was two that were hosted this year and the students really enjoyed that And three of our middle school students participated in oddison's anniversary. They had community interviews and those were, um Filmed via youtube as well, but three of them participated. It's funny three of the folks that they interviewed I know so personally, so it was great. Didn't even know that didn't even know one of them was a mechal student um And so our high school students participated in in school based programs the bsu volleyball basketball football ski club uh middle school students participated in school based music band chorus softball affinity groups And organizing what is coming up June 14th rep your flag day in our elementary students participated in school based pto events and after school activities Some of the pictures here, uh, this is from one of our youth mda youth conferences And this is some of the students that attended and they asked me why did you pick us? They're they're the quiet bunch. So that's why I picked you you shine from within I do see your leadership. And so there it is there. They are they had a wonderful time parents did report that This is from graduation I literally ran out to the field so that I can catch all four of them before they You know made their way to the festivities after And so these are our graduating Uh, our graduated seniors right here really proud of them. All right Let me move on. So new program implementations and some of the connections that we've made with the Arlington community as well Uh, so again, I'll highlight that we have our parent representative for the aef board Uh, we also started Friends of Arlington mecho advisory, which is not a nonprofit yet. We would like for it to be so it is a for-profit right now Um, and we had our first donation from the n double acp mystic valley branch We also partnered with ace Arlington community ed for a three-week summer program with transportation for our mecho students to come out here and really again Start building those relationships with the community. So we have 18 students that will start in week two 18 students for week three and 16 students for week four And we have solidified that Arlington eats will provide lunch for our students as well. So that's another partnership uh in 20 22 and 23, uh, we are drafting a Internship for one of our students. So that'll either be a 11th grade student or a 12th grade student who will be able to have a internship opportunity with the n double acp mystic valley Um, so some of the little connections that we had we have the boston public health commission provide our graduating seniors with swag bags We had, um, kurt fawston from the dropout academy come in and facilitate a young men's wellness workshop at oddison middle school And after those students were done they're like miss smith, uh, the girls really need it the most so So hopefully we can get him to come back for the for the young ladies We also had state representative china tyler that offered community service hours to some of our arlington mecho high school students in the past some of our students have participated in that um And then we had the boston public health commission that offered community service and employment opportunities to our seniors Arlington transportation offered also offered employment opportunities for our seniors to come back and maybe bus monitor for the summertime For some of the program that things that's going on. So we're looking to maybe solidify one of those things Arlington eats also offered volunteer opportunities for our students as an a y cc provided our families that were in crisis with gift cards That were very helpful during those times of crisis. So those were some of the partnerships and connections that the program has made Spreading the news about um arlington mecho. I was able to do some presentations this school year So I went to pierce bishop oddison and hardy um Was hoping to expand to other areas, but it was hard because I would impede upon their teacher time So uh, I was lucky to get these times. I also did some presentations to the pto's as well with hardy And also bishop pto's. We had a couple events where we've had 10 family meetings this year We've also had a family art night that we hosted in boston at the mecho headquarters We did a bridge into communities annual family walk where our wonderful superintendent was a part of that. It was so much fun Uh, we did moving. We're doing moving on school based celebrations. Those are coming up next week For each school and we have weekly lunch bunches that our social worker hosts and we have been inviting our resident friends And it has been a hoot Ask mark from bishop So this is a picture of family art night. We're looking to do a banner. So we started with mecho And we we have arlington as well. So um, that is uh, some of that work that we did And then you can move and this is from our family's walk, which is an annual walk by the way So this is the second one. So we plan on doing this every year. So that was some of our participants. All right, and And Recently we did oddison day and mecho was an intricate arlington mecho was an intricate part of that And that was a day dedicated to inclusion and belonging and five of our arlington mecho students participated in the student panel discussion Including one high school student and then one student was selected to be an artist for the keynote speaker Uh, I served as I I facilitated put together the student panel discussion But I served as a moderator for one of those panel discussions. We split it up. So we had three Panel discussions going on at the same time Uh, students were really nervous 300 Um Of my peers I have to talk in front of but they got through it. So it was good And then I facilitated an interactive discussion and presentation Which is a history of the mecho program and where it is now and during that I wanted it interactive So I had the students working groups to come up with a mecho slogan And one of the slogans that the students came up with was learning together working together for better education This also was highlighted in um mecho headquarters milley's monday message And we were recognized for some of the diversity equity inclusion and belonging work that we're doing in the district So that was really nice for that to happen And those pictures that's the um high school. That's the bus that they came on to in the back So that's the high school students the panels and they were mixed in with the middle school students and That is some of our um panelists that is um from yeah, that's from my panel discussion So that's some of the mecho students as well in that And looking ahead that's another picture from oddison day Um looking ahead. We are super excited and students are excited for a ride the bus with super intended day So we're super excited for that um Is very often is not very often that students get to ride with the superintendent. So this is exciting We're looking to expand into dalin We also are looking to incorporate academic instructional support specialists for our elementary and middle school students Continuing summer fun. So in the program and so we're offering additional weeks not just three weeks, but additional weeks to families Uh looking into requiring all our new kindergarten families coming in to participate in a week summer reading and math program Just to stay afloat and try to stay on curriculum and we also are looking to Implement host families. So I know that's something that was that's happened in the past And so we want to bring that back and we want to make sure that it's done organically So really incorporating the teachers in that Um, and so that is another program that we are looking to looking ahead to do And this is our cool middle school is just hanging out. So I thought that would be a nice little segue into any questions or comments. Thank you Thank you so much any questions or comments from the committee. Mr. Hayner The only comment I got to say is you exhaust me. You're phenomenal. Thank you for all you've done. Thank you Mr. Slickman. Yeah, uh with regard to the host families when I was teaching in Boston My principal was an Arlington Medco parent And she developed such a close relationship with her host family that it was really A very positive thing and it was just an underlying structure for the families that That was really really beneficial for for both parties And on these oddball days where kids need to go home and come back It gave them an Arlington home to go home to Rather than having to schlep back and forth to Boston because I know I've made that commute the other direction It's not easy. Um, I want to point out that you have helped us in the school committee Putting together the school committee chapter because we had a couple of dedicated sessions For mecca parents and it's very impressed How Everybody really feels connected to each other in there. It's just that support network among the parents Who are involved in the program and I know that a lot of that ability to support each other is coming from Your effort and Margaret's efforts To build that community. So that's really a job well done And anything we can do to help further support the mecca program. I think that Everybody here is firmly committed to it and would would like to see it flourish Absolutely. Thank you so much Ms. Vargan I I had a question for you and then maybe also from dr. Hooman. Um, you know, she has a lot of Um latitude in terms of admitting students right because she sort of singularly charged with that Um, and I was curious how that process is going for next year as you know our How are we doing at bringing students in and getting them where they need to go? It you know, there were definitely some years there where it was really really hard because we were you know We just had we had so many so many students So I guess I'm curious how that experience has been for for you and and what if anything could be improved around that Absolutely. So I will say I'm thankful that I had two years to be able to be a part of the new Family orientations and interviews. So right now we have six families that will be entering So we we we lost we lost six which is the four graduating students Then we had two that um one graduated and then one left the program So we do have six that are replacing those ones that we do lost and about four of them right now No, five have already registered. So they're already registered. We've already had meetings with them. They've come in They are connected to their principal now because of them registering. So early on we do have two more students in our queue um that will be going through the same meet and greet sessions come check out the school and then we connect with them just to make sure and we'll do our placement based up on seat availability So it actually is going very well I like the process is kind of streamlined and I've been cost in communication with dr. Homan about what that looks like And where our students can be placed Our families are super excited and one of our families was really really adamant about having a host family Um, and so he he was a father. He's not a meco But he had a family member that was meco and they talked about their experience as hosts having host families So our families we are educating them on what the program looks like in Arlington because they're not all the same I'm a new in um graduate. So I'm a new and meco graduate So these programs don't look the same across the districts and so we tell them about the school We tell them about the principal and we have really been getting great engagement from our new family So I am super excited about our new families. I tell that to the principals that will have them I'm like you are going to love this one. You're going to love that one and they're already They've already been invited to some of those into the school Um Program is that some of the schools are having so the it has been a very like smooth process And I will say because I did have that background with working with miss thomas With the meco program. So it's been it's been pretty easy And meco headquarters also helps you in that process as well So anytime you have concerns questions about the process and how it's looking They're they're like readily available to help out. So Haven't had any difficulties. I'm actually in the like I'm really excited And do we use I mean are we do we normally do like six out six in like I mean because we're not obviously replacing them with who's Like I'm just curious what the rest like I mean, I guess that kind of makes sense But I'm so to expand to expand rapidly has some pretty big implications in terms of the desi grant that we get from the state And so we can't expand We don't want to have too big of a jump from one year to another in terms of Enrollments in and out however You can like it can be one or two students here and there and then desi has also told us like if you want to do Have any level of significant expansion We just need to know because of how they're trying to structure grants They're actually looking into restructuring of grants for next year and restructuring of enrollment process To allow families to have a little bit more and districts actually to have a little bit more Visibility to open applications prior to The The way it operates now you can probably speak more Elequently to this is the pretty blind process So they're working on opening that up a little more to give both the families more choice and the school districts more visibility Yes, yes, so school districts more visibility There's even tours they're talking about doing so like taking them to different districts so they can see and then Families being able to have some sort of choice in the process like she said it's really blind So once the families sign up through mecca headquarters They don't know where they're going until the district contacts them So the the beauty of it is usually they're connected to some sort of mecca community So they kind of know about the program and may they may be new to the community like arlington But they know about the program. We do have one family that was kind of new and focused And it's funny They're their oldest student went to school with my students. So they're like, oh, this is great We we want to stay where you have some folks sometimes that will be like, well, it's a little too far Or i'm just not certain and so they go back in the queue or they have to reapply again the next year if they decline So mecca is in desi is working together so that families can have some sort of option of if they want to go large Small medium or however they decide to do it. It's still a lot of work being done with it. So Is the queue grade blind as well So you we request so we know I talked to dr. Holman. Where will we have some opens and we know where There's room for our students and so that is what I will request. I will never request anything over Because I don't want to you know and not have enough funding and not have enough resources for students coming in So we want to try to keep it at 75 This year we were at 72 So the ideal number is 75 that we want to keep it too. So that's why I have two more in the queue Thank you so much. Thank you mr. Thielman. Thanks very much. It's a helpful presentation So my questions are these what what is the state the the the target for metco total like what's the enrollment target? I think we're at 1065 I want to say yeah All right, and then because we we were close to 100 at one point in time in this district Yeah, so we were and so I'm just and I kind of maybe I've lost a plot line Yeah, she just said 125 125 right. So I could someone just kind of give me I'm I'm actually forgetting why we went up because the desi grant went down Our our enrollment numbers Had a big impact would be my would be my guess that our expanded enrollment meant that we didn't have the space And we didn't have the spots. Yeah And the idea is that we enroll where there are where there is room in sections. So as enrollment Levels off We have a little more room actually one of the things that rachel and I have Been collaborating on is thinking through there has been an ask from the metco ink Group that you consider taking in students who are not kindergartners In who the families have decided after a couple years in boss and public schools or wherever their child was at school that They'd be interested in this program And we may have more room in second grade for example or in and we're trying to be careful with that because we're not quite sure What the pandemic return is going to continue to look like but we may have more spots in other grade levels than we do in kindergarten And we've been using that to make sure that she fills the spots that she has We would be open to getting back up to those levels But we have to make sure we do it in the grade levels where we have the enrollment space You know one thing I noticed when I worked in boston Was that there are a lot of alumni Of metco or there were children of metco Yeah, so who are kind of promoting the program because we when I ran a school that competed with metco to try to get metco Oh, yeah, you have kim janey former first woman Yeah, metco bruce brown nba metco tito jackson city counselor metco No, I know that Sometimes they're meeting their children the children of the alumni We're kind of the ones and so i'm just kind of wondering the overall i'm just curious about the overall recruitment effort within the city What does that look like? I mean, I i'm not gonna lie. It's been tough. It has the demographics of boston is chained in drastically Families are moving out. They're going into the south shore They're going where they can purchase homes that are affordable boston is not affordable We're looking at three bedroom apartments three thousand dollars monthly to rent So that that is high. I mean that's higher than a mortgage So there are the struggles there, but I believe like I was hearing marga say back behind me legacy Legacy is what's keeping us afloat because folks are they know that this program works It may not work for all but it's worked for most that are out here shining and a lot of those Those students that I know that I went to school with they're working either in the community or in the community that they went to school in And so they're still very much connected. I'm still very much connected to my new and friends Very much so and so now i'm excited because I have arlington friends now All right, thank you appreciate it. Thank you Dr. Allison ampe Thank you So after that lofty part I want to focus on something that's much more small well I just thought was really cool the picture that you have of the seniors and the sashes that they're wearing I don't know Maybe I missed them before I don't know how no, okay. They're new. They are awesome. No, it it can taste those. Yes It was Yeah, yeah, it it's a wonderful thing and I think if That I know some of the seniors have been going back to their elementary schools and stuff and I think if they're They do that and they're wearing this it gives a sense of community and also aspiration to The other you know the the younger kids who are in the program and yes, so I don't know Whatever we can do to help Continue that I think it was a great idea. Thank you. Yes. So that's something I think is like a tradition through mecca because I remember wearing the kente stole We had him customized this year. So it did say Arlington mecca and then said class of 2022 on it So and they I was nervous. I was like, are they gonna wear them because I snuck them in there regalia And they all four of them came with it. I was super excited to see that so there was some pride there So I think you're you're on to something there. They should Wear it in I think it and I think it's I think having the class and the mecca You know all of that bringing it together with words helps and that may be part of what I'm feeling I'm seeing such a difference with that. So thank you Mr. Carden, sorry, just a quick note of appreciation for the summer fund program I think it's really the innovative type of thing that we don't you know, sometimes we don't see Especially in the last two years. We haven't seen because of covet but um, you know, I know to I imagine it's a lot of work across the administrative team working to put that together So I applaud you all for for doing that. That's great. Thank you. Yeah, I was meeting with Steve for like an hour today Just making sure that transportation is going to be on point. So thank you. This it was definitely a community effort So it wasn't just me. It was a team. So it was awesome. Thank you Yeah, no, go ahead. Okay. Um, I just want to say this Incredible woman hit the ground at a solid sprint As you can tell because that's quite a list of things that she's been working on this year And I really want to commend her for the work that in particular she and Margaret have done at the oddison with oddison day. That was a really big undertaking Then they had to partner with the building leaders The building leaders did a ton of work on that as well And it was really a very special day. The kids were energized by it. I know that That miss Thomas is going to talk about it too, but I was just so blown away by the effort that went into that It's a really great example of the partnership that can happen between our program leaders and our building leaders to make some Really awesome experiences happen for kids And it's been wonderful to have you in this role this year. Thank you so much. I love it here. Thank you Thank you. Most of my comments and questions have been said So I'll just echo my appreciation for all the work that you've done and I appreciate your presentation this evening It was great to hear about meco. Thank you All right, and now miss Thomas with a diversity equity and inclusion update welcome What bridging at you know, how we want to increase diversity? That's it. She was two years my my intern and She wasn't going to apply and I told her she needed to So I'm so happy that she's here So thank you for having me tonight um Dr. Holman school committee In this new role that I've been in since august of August 18th, I think is when I started so I have mines up here too So these are some of my core values that I am trying to live by as I have entered into this new role As a leader, I live each day to fulfill my commitments Look in the mirror at night Is that I intentionally did my best Um You know, um, we don't wake up thinking that we want to make mistakes and if I do make a mistake I am big enough to apologize Um innovative as an innovative leader should not be afraid to push beyond the boundaries of to dismantle systematic racism I think dr. Holman is starting to see that a little bit in me Um, so all can be inspired by their dreams and live them And then inclusion as a leader I want everyone to know inclusion is not just a catchphrase for me But one that has a personal invitation At the that everybody has a personal invitation at the table to share their authentic self And I live that not only professionally but personally because of my son who has made me an advocate um in that area So this year what What is happening is we have never had a diversity equity inclusion director So I am a trailblazer and I am establishing the offices of diversity equity and inclusion um So where I started was with listening sessions with district and school leadership um educators we did family Listening sessions with the lgbtq ia plus by pock arlington residents and students who live with disabilities and students um I have bi-weekly meetings with the director of diversity equity inclusion Jill harvey we meet every other week and we meet to discuss how we can Partner together with the work she does on the community side the work I do with the school side and what can we do together as a team? And I'll get later to what we have done I also met with the town dei commissions human rights lbgt lbgtq ia plus and disability And um, there were I I would go every maybe every other month to facilitate bi-park affinity groups with the mechal director rachel smith and the social worker shell alone and i'm excited that we're going to do be doing flag day Next tuesday So one of the big things that I really pushed for um this year and um, dr. Holman And the cabinet was an agreement with was that we did a district equity audit That rfp was published at the town late november we got five to seven I think it was um Contractors we did interviews. We did have stakeholders that sat on those interviews And then we came into contract with long view education in january and they hit the ground running What the where they are right now? Is that they have finished? Gathering data and having those participants looking at data. So the subgroups are now Reviewing what the assets and the barriers are Um, that was a good undertaking because we recruited the students the staff and community members to be a part of that So it wasn't just us having uh, uh, Cons consultants come in to do it and we I thought it was important We thought it was important that we had everyone at the table all stakeholders to do it I did an understanding bias and microaggression workshop. This is one thing I did do with jill harvey We did it for town employees and district educators and then I facilitated to with the elementary educators on that early release day We have already facilitated to graduate Credit courses one ideas. We did two in the fall. We did one in the fall one in the spring We and then this year we did the ideas two That is new We had 14 participants in that We have total I I looked at the data today. We have 103 People that are still in district who have been Who've taken the ideas one course and the reason why I say still in district. We've had some that have left So that data has shifted And then with the ideas two we had 14 people who have taken it So we have 14 those 14 people have taken ideas one and ideas two Um facilitated all day retreat for the high school students in march Um, I have been doing walkthroughs and classroom observations with principals who have asked me to come And um, I also participated on the deeper learning dozen professional development, which um, I went with the team in may to canada And i'm also a member of the diversity equity inclusion job alike eastern regional organization that is fairly new That is that we meet once a month the end of the um once a month on fridays and um As you know that these are new positions that are popping up. So there's Mostly over there's 30 of us in this group Um And it's really a good group. It's a way that I can come if I have a problem with practice We share resources and we also are looking we're doing some planning. We're looking to um Have our superintendents come to talk to us and to talk about the work And then the other thing is Um at all of this I was also in a doctoral program So boston college, uh, the PSAP program I finished my first year while doing all of this successfully finished my first year I should say that and I will start my second year in july One of the other things that I did was I partnered with acmi and I have a channel called dei matters conversations with margo credo thomas and dr. Home and she wasn't I wanted her to be my first guest Our schedules weren't aligning. However, when she came we had a wonderful conversation. I hope you all had time to watch it Um, I've had jill harvey on there. I've had um Adam and christine from the town and I've had a three di directors that also came Um, so I plan to continue that next year and to continue to open up conversations not only With um educators, but I also want community members And the reason for that is because I want us to start to have some forward conversations Any of you all want to I'm very excited to have you I do I do send you the questions beforehand so you know Um, and yes, this is oddison day. So oddison day Was an exciting time Worked with the administration and miss smith. We met every monday We had 28 facilitators. We had anywhere Workshops on cold switching or being a leader. Dr. McNeil did one of those I did a workshop on double Dutch That was fun and exciting um And What I really appreciated is that the kids all got t-shirts Um, they personalized them themselves. Some of them was walking around. They were writing on their t-shirts names The us as adults we had t-shirts. The plan is that the adults will wear these t-shirts next year once a month um and I appreciated the day because it was a day that we wanted the Students to feel like they belong to oddison and oddison belong to them Um It was such an exciting and joyous time for me because You could see there was a difference in the air And that you could see that the kids were enjoying themselves that day and we also still had the memorial day Um celebration in the morning. So there was a lot that was going on. We had therapy dogs. So This is this is a team and i'm excited that um Oddison will have their their committee that will do this again next year They want to do this again next year, which is great and that i'm looking to see how we can also expand this to other schools Because I think this is a way that we create a sense of belonging so next steps We are supposed to get the equity audit recommendations in july With dr. Holman, we will analyze and review those Um Those recommendations and then have steps of what's next when we get it right now we're thinking of hiring of the specialist um and That specialist Would be able to design and facilitate some professional development and racial racial equity learning In classrooms and in the arlington community And also collaborate with leadership and teachers to expand the special events like I said like oddison day And then to continue to collaborate and participate with building leaders in school through walkthroughs and classroom observations But what I can really say is depending on what that equity audit states Some of these things might change of what the work will be And then the last thing is to launch the new dei's website My year takeaways is that People want APS to create a sense of belonging acceptance and inclusion in the schools and in the community People want professional development for district leaders and teachers The importance of teacher-student relationships and building an inclusive classroom community The dei department to continue listening forums next year to hear students and community experiences And then communication on the equity audit recommendations and where we would be going next from there I think that's it Thank you Questions or comments from the committee mr. Heiner The the website that you're talking about will will it be just informative or interactive or both? No, so dr. McNeil has been working with that. That's something that was that was happening last year The students were also helping to work on that and so that's something that I would be looking over to So it will it will have what the students have done What do you the dei office has done resources so it won't just be resources Yeah, thank you. You're welcome. Great job. Thank you Ms. Morgan Can you tell us the format that so the equity audit will be sort of a will be some sort of written Document that will be we because we we started one of these a few years ago The curriculum it was curriculum. Okay only curriculum. Yeah, okay, so this is everything. So this is yeah Yeah, so this is there are seven dimensions that we're looking at. It's um, I wrote it down its intervention policy professional development Leadership team readiness student achievement staffing curriculum and school experience and family and community engagement and so the consultants asked us for different data sets and then they went when we asked for um Staff and community participation They are the ones that put the everyone into subgroups. And so they not only looked at the data sets They also did empathy interviews. So they are now synthesizing all of that information Well, no, they already have so what's happening now is those subs groups are now looking at what the findings are So they're looking at what the what our assets are and what our barriers are Okay, great. So are we sort of taking that? The the curriculum audit that was done a few years ago like it there Has that sort of been put on the shelf and we're going to focus on this one at this point or like where where are we at with With that one with the curriculum audit. Yes I know that with dr. Manille was doing was working with the curriculum leaders about some of the recommendations in regards to that curriculum audit Can I so I would think of these as paired audits We couldn't have that same individual who did that audit Didn't have the capacity to content to finish it and then to do a comprehensive audit And one of the things that she wasn't able to do was get out into classrooms. Whereas this group has been able to visit schools Um, and so I would essentially put them next to each other Say they're obviously two years removed from one another at this point But the findings that she had are still relevant for us to consider now And then this one sort of boosts that by giving a fuller picture of the entire system Great. So I don't think given covet and there was there was some real challenges with with accessing that curriculum audit I I I don't really know why at the time, but um, I'm hoping I saw that miss exton has Presentation calendar here for later, but um, I I you know, I really want to get some kind of readout on that Equity audit and and I guess the curriculum audit because we we really didn't we've heard nothing about that So, um, that would be that would be great. Thank you And we have since unlocked that document. So if you want a copy of it unlocked, we can send it over That would be great public. Yeah Sorry, dr. Mr. Thielman You know, I'm not a duck Uh, thanks very much for the very helpful presentation Mike and I know this is that the office is in year one. You're just launching this and there's a lot to do in your one person so and So my my question to you is is what's the longer term strategy to involve the broader community in this conversation? And i'm talking i'm thinking like pto's parents Different views. Yeah, I I think you bring up a good a good question. So I have a both an and answer for you One is to really look at What the recommendations are going to be from that equity audit? I think that's going to drive the work that we need to do And then the and for me is just like you said, um, you know As I was talking to dr. Holman one of the things I would like to do is start to work with the community in regards to For example, the pto president's and looking at the calendar and what are the events that are coming up and And and are they inclusive and and to start to do that kind of? proactive work as as opposed to reactive work and also the other thing is to really start to educate As we're doing the education in the district to also do the education in the community. So it has to go like this um, and so for me it's Those are the pieces the fate and they have to be phased in So we have to understand it's not that we're going to be able to do everything in one year We're going to have to look at what those phases are going to look like and what it's going to be the key priorities That happen and I think the key priorities will line up with the strategic priorities that dr. Holman is also talking about in our vision and mission statement that The new vision and mission statement that we're talking about so all of that I would be looking at to just see where we begin to work So we've already begun so we're slowly building a foundation And then I think with those key data points that will help us to understand how to make how to Design a roadmap in this work Yeah, I mean you're good. That's good. I I have found in my own professional experience We've done this kind of work in this organization of you know 180 people or whatever it is that is in my organization now the um There's a tendency to have this kind of work owned by a smaller group And it's a challenge to get it expanded To a larger part of the community even in a workplace where there's mandates to attend these kind of things So, um, I'm I'm just I'm I mean I don't have an answer But I'm just kind of curious to see how it's ruled out to a broader community in a way that's inviting and non-threatening Yeah, I think I think working with jill harvey is one way that we are working with the community I think that that was something that I thought that we needed to do right away She's the town dei as I'm the the school dei I think also working with the commissions is also important And I think that's the one way that we continue to roll out what we want to do to the community Because they can help us and to partner with us and that That our net can grow larger that way. So it's I'm not looking for this just to land on one to be siloed We're looking for this to equity lives everywhere. So we're looking for everyone to live equity Okay, thank you. You're welcome Dr. Allison ampy Thank you and first congratulations on your doctorate program. Thank you first year. That's awesome. Um I Sort of building on what mr. Thielman had said um, I'm wondering So I understand this was your first year and that you know, it's just been a tremendously difficult year because you're both building A department which has never existed before and you're doing under COVID conditions, which are just crazy um, but I'm wondering How you plan to Get a bigger longer term vision for what your department does And processes and and things like that. I'm not asking for them now. I'm just wondering. How are you envisioning? Figuring that part out Yeah, like I said, I think the equity audit will help me to figure that part out. I think when I Got into the position. I think there were there are a lot of pieces that are Are moving at the same time And I think the reason why I wanted the equity audit one. It gives us the data that we need And two that I would have the recommendations and suggestions of how just exactly how dr Amber you're asking this question and mr. Thielman is asking the question How do we start to do this? How do we start to build this and how do we expand this department? And I think that's important for us to have that data because then we need to know how we're really supposed to be using our resources Um, and I don't want to us using our resources blindly So I that's why I keep saying that I feel like that equity audit would be the roadmap That would help to build what what you all are talking about how we continue the education in the community How do we do the equity in the district and how does it align with our strategic priorities and the vision and admission statement? Okay, I will add I think timing has been has been Important here and that this will come back around the same time that we're starting to build action plans for the strategic plan And there are going to be a lot of entry points or opportunities for us to align whatever the equity audit says with What we're saying our key actions are and nesting them under each of those four priorities So the the it was, you know It purposeful that these would land at the same time and give us that opportunity to put them next to each other as we plan the strategic plan Okay, great. Thank you very much. You're welcome um, I just I would love to hear a little bit more about How the teachers who have taken the ideas courses what what opportunities do they have within the district to Get together with each other to share with teachers who haven't taken the course just The number of teachers who have done that I think just in the two years that I've been on this committee has has like grown us exponentially and so just Say more about how so last year we got the the people who participated last year We got them back together and we asked them After taking the ideas one class how does has it changed their problem of practice? And I do have the the board with all of those notes. So Once teachers have taken it they immediately have Maybe revised their lesson plans or I would I'll never forget a teacher We did an activity called left hand right hand and she was like I got left-handed scissors So it's like the little things that they start to change starts to happen and now Ideas to what's happening is that's more project-based And so teachers were looking at the data and then after looking at the data They had to think about what their research project was going to be and so we have about three teams that are looking to design culturally responsive Lessons to embed them into the curriculum next year and they do have to go ahead from their principals to start doing that And then this year In talking to some people who have taken the ideas course they do want to get back together So what's going to happen is that I'm going to set a time once a month that is more like I call them office hours They can drop in voluntarily and then we can connect and meet and talk about how are things going Great. No, that that's helpful because I think it's it's important You know, we invest the teachers getting that Having that opportunity and that training and then we want to make sure that they're sharing it with Their colleagues and continuing to grow with one another. So Yes, they've been the best marketing too And what more question do you find that? That it's across like from k to 12 that teachers are going or Yes, we've had we've had teachers. We've had nurses. We had school counselors. We've had teacher assistants who have taken the ideas one course Thank you. You're welcome Anybody else mr. Slickman. Yeah. Hi. Thank you. Thank you for everything you're doing I mean, this is such important work and because you're in the schools and you're seeing what's happening on a day-to-day basis Your eyes are important to us and I'm sure that the real advantage of having the equity ought to come in Is it'll be a fresh set of eyes that that they can look at us objectively? and and Think about this one of the things that I think about a lot Is that the demographics of this committee community have changed significantly over the past Say 10 years And I don't know if We are is connected to the changes as we could be or should be And i'm hoping that within the terms of the equity audit That we get there you were with me on the superintendent search subcommittee and We discussed in the committee how difficult it was to do outreach to certain groups because there wasn't Within our linked in the structural organization that we could tap into that other communities traditionally have So making connections to Communities that exist in our length and that don't have an existing structure. That's easy to tap into I'm seeing that as an urgent need on our part and I just hope that we keep our ears open for that And when the audit is Is completed we can look to find ways In avenues to do outreach to to new communities in town Yeah One of the things I have I did do this year is that if anyone wanted to meet with me any family I met with them And I my I did meet with some families of color Which I thought was really important and it it was it was beneficial because then I could explain some things that They just had questions about so that's also something that I have been doing Thank you. You're welcome Thank you so much. Ms. Thomas. This was nice to hear about your first year As our dei director Our next Item is the first read on the vision statement mission statement and strategic priorities for the five year strategic plan Doctor homin hold on one moment So I'm going to Go over first a few process notes and a bit of a timeline to help us sort of understand where we're at with this work um as it is being actively drafted and What some of the things are that we're hoping to discuss tonight? I want to go over a New draft of the vision statement a new draft of the mission statement talk about a couple of the adjustments that we've made Even in the past 24 hours. Thanks to some excellent feedback And a preview of some draft strategic priority statements So a couple of process notes. First of all, I just want to note that everything in this presentation is still undergoing revision It is to be treated as a working draft The strategic planning team is still providing feedback alongside the school committee that part of this will end next week on wednesday And they won't be providing additional feedback. You all will be making a decision about whether or not to move these forward on the 23rd into Being the final version or whether or not we need to have more time In the summer and keep work crafting these and working with these Once I come back to you on the 23rd. I will have incorporated all the feedback from the strategic planning team into whatever version of the Vision mission and strategic priorities That I have for you at that point So my hope would be that in june Of this year, we can finalize the vision and mission statements And it would be nice if we could also finalize the strategic priorities But if we need more time on those that's certainly possible In the summer, I would like to begin some community dialogues to unpack and process the statements and share some ideas That community members might have for action steps aligned to strategic priorities because that can inform the actual writing of the plan itself and then I would We would need to at least finalize strategic priorities if we don't do it in june And start to draft some action steps And I've given some preview action step ideas is part of this evening's slides the revised slides that you received earlier today In fall of 2022, we would want to establish a process for drafting and gathering feedback on a five-year strategic plan It would be helpful to kind of understand what the expectations are of the committee in receiving and providing feedback On the plan as it's being drafted I think It makes probably some sense And after thinking about this also with the chair for this to live in a subcommittee And I it's my belief that the cia subcommittee might be the best place for it, but we're open to thoughts on that We want to make sure that as we're working on drafting this thing that we're Headed in the right direction and that we don't veer off in the wrong direction We also want to Make sure that by january 2023. We are able to Approve it and begin working on it. So that's the timeline and sort of where we are up to now So here's a draft vision statement. This has been tweaked slightly From the one that was presented to ciaa yesterday So the i'm going to read these because I think it's nice to hear them read out loud So the vision would be that we would create an equitable educational community Where all learners feel a sense of belonging experience growth and joy And are empowered to shape their own futures and make positive change in our world We do need to have some discussion about the final clause in this one. Um, some concerns or questions or Tweaks were raised in yesterday's ciaa meeting. I do want to share that I think the spirit of that final Clause the empowered to shape their own futures and make positive change in our world The spirit of that from the committee is that there be two ends to this one is the ability to have Or the the preparedness to have agency over your own path individual And the ability to use that agency to better your community or our society So as I think as long as those two angles are felt in the vision statement that the strategic planning committee will feel As though the work that they've done is been honored But how exactly those two Pieces get worded is something that we can discuss and that I would like your feedback on As far as the mission statement goes we've done some grammatical editing to this from the previous version So the current version is that the Arlington public schools will use a whole child approach to cultivate inclusive and innovative learning opportunities for all students value diverse identities and multiple ways of learning Empower all staff to maintain high expectations while providing necessary supports And sustain two-way partnerships with families and the community so four threads And in crafting statements to go along with each of the priority areas I have attempted to have a thread between This mission statement and each of those priority statements And so I'm hoping you can see that reflected in the priority statements as I go through them I will say this is a long statement If we can make it more concise that would be nice. And then I also We we've talked a little bit about whole child making sure the student is reflected in this statement Whether we want to use a term like whole child, which does it is a It is a word that could feel like jargon to some members of the community and I think that One of the things that a student actually told us as part of the strategic planning was that they don't always know what those words mean So we we do want to think about that And what words will best capture the fact that we want to make sure that we really are considering the whole child In our entire approach to the work of the Arlington public schools So for strategic priority one I've highlighted in green on the next four slides the part that it would be my hope We could approve in june Um the part underneath that the five year action steps This is sort of an introductory idea of what Some of the actions could be aligned with each one. We can tweak those. They are very drafty They are just an idea. They're coming from the noise analysis the data analysis that the strategic planning committee did And these are things that came up frequently as make sure you do this make sure you do this And there are specific actions that the strategic planning committee also really wants to make sure we do That would get integrated into like one year action steps or maybe three year pieces of those five year Larger actions that we want to take on So the first strategic priority would be ensuring high expectations for equity and excellence The statement to go with this the priority statement or goal would be that the Arlington public schools will strive for equity and Excellence in all disciplines and grade levels and will ensure that all students have the opportunity to access rigorous learning experiences All graduates of the Arlington public schools will be prepared to determine their own futures through pursuit of their choice of career And post-secondary education so that they may contribute as active citizens in their communities Priority two would be focused on supporting diversifying and valuing the expertise of all staff The statement to go with this one would be that in order to recruit and retain an excellent workforce The Arlington public schools will foster a collaborative and supportive culture for all staff to include high quality and relevant professional development Opportunities for leadership and shared decision-making and expansion of representation diverse perspectives and expertise Strategic priority three is focused on improving infrastructure operations and sustainability The goal statement for this one right now Is that the Arlington public schools will provide a cost-effective education in schools that are safe well maintained And sustainably operated with the appropriate tools and resources to support best practices And an optimum teaching and learning environment And the final strategic priority four is focused on developing and sustaining two-way partnerships with families and community The goal here would be for the Arlington public schools to consistently and continuously partner with families in meeting the educational needs of all youth And will provide timely transparent relevant and accessible information to all stakeholders So I will leave these slides up while we talk that way I can page back through them And I am ready to hear what folks think and what we need to tweak and what we want to adjust Thank you. I'm gonna just move down the line since I'm imagining everybody has things to share Mr. Hayner Your strategic priorities two three and four are all quantifiable And maybe priority one is I don't like the public schools will strive That to me is is really open-ended the word strive So That's my major comment Mr. Carden Oh, well, thank you for hearing us yesterday and turning this around in one day. That's amazing Um, so I I guess the the longer Strategic priority language has not been seen by your Advisory committees. All right. No, but it is in the feedback form that they're now filling out Anyone who filled it out the first 10 people who filled it out I'm going to reach out to explicitly and say if you want to do it again There are these new statements in there, but the rest of them had it So I imagine there'll be some feedback from from them and that will be useful I don't have any major issues for it. Um, but everybody wasn't there yesterday. So I just want to repeat I was the one who raised the most concerns about the positive change word wording. So I just want to you know repeat Sort of my the two right to the two primary issues that I see with it The first is that, you know, the vision is describing what we want the district to be And with that wording One of the few parts of our ideal district is that we are a community where learners are empowered to make positive change in the world And while that's nice, I don't see that making change is part of our core mission We should equip students to be civically active and you have that now in your your more detailed statement But I don't see specifically empowering change within our schools As a key element in our vision Secondly, the phrase positive change is unnecessarily charged and isolating Yesterday at cia we had eighth grade students who came to us Requesting that the honors grouping in high school not be changed By focusing on positive change I fear we're implying that those students and also the parents who oppose this change And others who who may at other times oppose a change Are somehow unworthy and that focusing on community support or other activities That may not involve change is also less worthy So I I appreciate the motivation behind inserting this and I'm happy to discuss that with, you know, the committee or others Um, why I see this problematic, but I do hope we can avoid language. That's potentially polarizing. Thanks Miss Morgan So I um I've been sort of been talking to some of my some of my people that I go to when I Have to talk through some of these things. Um, and that I What I like about the vision because you're we're just talking about the vision right now Is that the plan? Are we talking about all of it? I just wasn't sure What do you want to do? Well, uh, I thought it was going to be everything. Okay. Um, so, okay. Let's come back. Can we come back to that? So first of all, um, that in number three, uh, cost effective I Gives me hives, uh, fiscally responsible would be fine. Um cost effective Like hard pass. Okay. Um on that for me, um and Let's see, can uh So I I'm really I'm this the positive change piece I think for me what I have a hard time with is that it means it means different things to Every every different everybody a positive change Is something different, right? So then it it essentially becomes meaningless at the end because it doesn't mean It means something different to everybody sitting here. What positive change? um, you know what I mean to lend's point For students who came to talk to us yesterday for them positive change would be reverting away from I mean in their mind, right? It would be reverting back from any kind of heterogeneous groupings. Um, and and other people feel differently. So it I think the challenge with it is because it means something different to everybody It actually Maybe doesn't mean anything at all um So I don't know I but I but I appreciate What they're trying to do with this sort of bifurcation and that articulation was important um I can come back with options Yeah, I yeah, I I don't I so I I am I am struggling with that piece because I I don't know what it means um, so can we go to the um Yeah, so this I mean we we got we went back to the whole child that cursey was asking for um So I this one I I haven't had a chance to look at the the new one. Um, but yes lots of words. So we'll like Well, which is good, right? Like but it's a lot easier to take words out than it is to put them in, right? so I think that's um It feels like it has the This one to me Feels like it has the pieces like it the pieces are are very much there and I don't have None of none of these pieces are pieces. I don't understand. Um, and then can you go to the first one? um The second one, sorry So this one, um Supporting and valuing the expertise of all staff But diversifying I I get what we're trying to I get we want to diversify our staff Right, but but we can't We supporting all staff valuing the expertise of all staff that works diversifying all staff doesn't work, right? so I I don't know how to um, I I totally support the priority but it The the diversification piece. I don't know I don't know how we address that It's supposed to all right. This is grammatical challenge again. Um, it's supposed to be that supporting is one thing diversifying supporting all staff diversifying all staff and valuing the expertise of All staff so I got to figure out how to yes, but we can't diversifying all staff Doesn't make any sense to me. We want to diversify our staff or diversify Okay, I Does that make sense right like and we can't actually diversify the staff that we currently have right? We can't change them We can't make them something different And then can you go to three? Yeah, hold on one second. I think that's the cost-effective one. Yeah But other than that no feedback on that one Um Yeah, that's all I have. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Cardin and mr. Hayner. Do you want me to come back? No, no, no, I'm here. Okay. All right. Mr. Slickman Okay, um I was of the other opinion on the vision statement in that the very first public school in North america was in massachusetts And the trend towards public education was strongest in massachusetts Even before we became a state And one of the reasons is this quirky little way we run our governance and that Participation of the community is expected or certainly was expected Within the boundaries of some very discriminatory boundaries of Who was it allowed to participate but it was expected for members of the community to participate in governance and The representative town meeting we have and the open town meetings that are elsewhere in the state Are aligned to the core belief Of the mission of public schools from when it started that we are agents of change and agents of action within our communities and so that The education wasn't just to make people good clerks to to enable them to read or do the do the minimum The aspiration of public education from beginning in massachusetts was to have adults who are able to engage in the process of town governance and to Make change which we saw on april 1917 75 when a bunch of angry Locals were outside here confronting the The british regulars So i really Like the statement of making positive change in the world We're not defining what that is and we don't know what that's going to be and even in in the course of town meeting there are different visions of what positive change would be and There are dissenting opinions to the outcome and and we have to honor them all So i don't i like this i really like this i think the other critical word in the vision statement That was really important that came from the students Is the phrase empowered to shape their own futures because the the feedback That my groups heard from students who were within the group Was we don't want this to be something where you're doing stuff to us We want this to be For us and supporting us, but we want to have our direction in our lives We don't want you telling us where we're going And and i think that phrase is a really critical thing that was pulled out of there And i'm really pleased that that it's included The mission statement touches all bases It's long Uh, but it is what it is. I think that we've got a lot of stuff. We're looking to do and I think it's an appropriate mission statement um On priority two, I see where the grammatical Issue was playing And i'm not going to sit here and say I have a solution for making it work because I don't um It's it's what the adjectives are modifying Are we supporting the expertise of our staff? I think we are Are we diversifying the expertise of our staff? I think that one of the goals is to bring More diverse experience Into the collective of our staff and supporting that and sharing that So that we're not diversifying the staff Or diversifying the expertise And by bringing in people with new ideas Is important and valuing the expertise of the staff was another one of those very critical things that we heard within The the groups is that teachers It's also felt that there was a lot of top down in our professional development And they wanted something different. They wanted this to be more emerging more from their expertise So the instinct is just terrific to get this together and I do like the fact that diversity equity is Woven into this rather than being number five down the end and we'll get to that when we wanted It's it's it's sort of living and breathing through the document uh I mean, I I think that cursing and I had the experience of participating in the process So we have a different set of eyes on what we're looking at as opposed to my colleagues I I don't know how to express How this really emerged from a large group And and it's been very well distilled And the fact that we're sort of debating tweaking rather than saying no, this doesn't make any sense or this doesn't really represent What the thinking is out there. I think this is a really positive sign I I'm really impressed by the document. I'm impressed by the work of the people. I'm impressed by the Opinions that were put on the table I'm impressed by the ability of the leadership of this district to collect such an impressive group of people to talk together And I thought that the Facilitation was top notch. So this this is the result of some really good work And that that has led us to a really good document. Thank you Mr. Thielman Thank you. Um, so I first I want to ask some questions about process and then I have some comments. So first is So where are we at now in terms of the this is the first read? Yes, we're going to do a second read on the 23rd Between now and the 23rd Who's doing the editing? Yeah, so In other words, is it now at this committee and it's over it's not going to be any more Involved by anyone else in the district or is there's this the group that's going to do the final editing? So what I was planning on doing was Getting to the committee has until Wednesday to provide me with feedback through form on all of this I was I'm working with the facilitators right now who are watching that come in and then their meeting on either Wednesday Night next week or Thursday morning to take a look at that and send me I'm going to be since trying to synthesize it too, but they're going to send me some like here's what we're noticing People really like this. They want to tweak this. They really like this. They want to tweak this I was going to use that on Thursday Of next week to build a draft for you all that I could send to you on Friday And then I can either have conversations with you We could try to put a CIA meeting together quickly to have a discussion But I was going to gather feedback from all of you on it Try to turn a revision around by Tuesday so that you'd have your materials by thursday on the 23rd Yeah, so it seems to me that There like needs to be a deadline as to when the editing will stop within the district And then the school committee has to go through a process to take a vote And at this table since the second reading someone could come forward if they wanted to and make a motion to amend the The statement that we're going to adopt right because that'll be at the second. That's how the rules work here So it seems like That there's got to be some hard deadline. We got to be told that's it. There's no more editing internally It's now your document It would be the Tuesday that I submit that last draft to this group for your meeting on thursday Tuesday the 21st so two days before the meeting Okay, that's as fast as I could possibly move and if that's too fast, that's okay We come up with yeah, I mean we have to meet we have to meet that's an aggressive 48 hour turn around to kind of think Yeah, so I'm I'm not sure that I mean, I don't know. It's up to everybody here. I'm only one guy Well, okay, so Um, okay, that's that's good to be aware of. Okay. So my my first question is you know, I Um, I always assume that when young people are empowered to shape their own features They're going to make positive change in the world. I mean, I just assumed they're going to do that So for me that make make positive change in the world isn't really necessary because once we empower them They'll do great things that will change the world and I also believe that People who are empowered and educated will Do all sorts of things that will change the world in different ways that are that are positive and impactful And you never know quite know what they are the other thing is this is a pet people mine, which isn't really Maybe a lot of people in town don't care about but when you say in strategic priority number one So they may contribute as active citizens in their communities There are some students in the around the public schools that are not able to become citizens of the united states So that's not yeah an inclusive phrase Then the next um thing I noticed in the draft that you and I talked about the other day and the uh With the first read we we had in there ensuring all students graduate prepared to enter in complete post-secondary education Pursue their choice of growing contributors and then in the and then I guess you made this change Yeah, so you brought it up to the top. Is that what you did? It's right here. It's the statement now It's as opposed to the action steps because it's more of a goal than an action I'll see just a pursuit of your choice. Uh, yeah, so um Good. Okay. So there it is. All right Okay, um And then yeah, okay So I think it seems to me that if you're gonna this is tuesday as your deadline So I think we should have a meeting on tuesday And we should all talk about it. We should try to make sure that it's a time that works for also Yeah, it's humanly possible. I don't know what I'm even doing that day, but yeah, be great That's what I think Thank you Dr. Allison ampy. Okay. Thank you um, so To kind of circle back to what um, mr. Schlickman was saying Um about the positive change aspect I felt that that was really the sense of the group That that came out, I mean of the strategic plan group that To me the vision statement is like the star that we're reaching towards That was part of the star that they wanted to see um, I wonder just in terms of wordsmithing if people would feel better if And and I personally feel like they wanted to see it separate from just empower their own future and assume that That's gonna be the fallout, um, I wonder if improve our world would be a less controversial phrase That captures some of the same sentiment Don't see I'm hearing these things for the first time so it's hard to say. Yeah. Yeah. No. No. No. I'm looking down the lane not just Mr. Thinwood, um, so Okay mission statement. I think it's great. I mean it, you know, yeah, we can see if we can cut out a word or two here But it it hits all the notches um the Strategic priority one I wonder if participants instead of citizens citizens is coming from what we're supposed to I mean what the state wants us to do so this But I understand that that's a very good point And I think participants would hit those goals First I want it. I'm very I'm amazingly impressed at Dr. Holman's ability If folks have to understand I mean the people who didn't go to see I have to understand that I am we mentioned that What it was before was bullet points There wasn't a statement and we kind of pointed out that Some of the you know, it's like some of these are action items and some of they're they're not really defining the priority And so dr. Holman took those and created these paragraphs from Yesterday to today So all these paragraphs that you're seeing for strategic priorities didn't exist 40 hours 40 hours ago 30 hours ago Um, so I don't have a problem with her setting herself to a Tuesday deadline That's eight whole more hours, you know, you're okay. Yeah, I'm just saying we're great. Um So, um, I think we're worried about the that deadline for us I'm making it for us. I'm not although I do I do care about the superintendent's work life I just I just want to be on the right. Okay. Okay, but but I'm also not hearing Tons of disagreement or or you know that it's not, you know, I'm not hearing lots of I mean, maybe a little pop up later, but okay, so I'll just keep marching through like everyone else's house So Priority to I have to think about this one So I have no comment right now, but I need priority three Okay, I agree cost effective fiscally responsible is much better But other than that, I am so impressed that you have put What I was hoping to capture in one fairly concise I mean Concise for something like this statement So that was cool And The priority four I understand that you state Provide transparent Etc accessible information to all stakeholders. I feel like You're missing. I know that's meant to be communication But I feel like that is missing. I mean that that's With that phrase you're missing this sense of communication, which is the whole point Could be communicate Timely transparent relevant No, but by communication I mean partly back and forth. Yeah, yeah, right. Um, so I don't I can't edit that on the fly, but I'm doubt that's my reaction to that And Yeah, so that's that's the main thing. Um, so I think Just circling back to the vision I do You know, we did gather 60 some odd people from the community Uh, I really did feel that what I heard During that process was a desire for our students To improve our world or however you want to phrase it Now I understand that's Other people have different views about that But I'm just I want to be sure that everyone understands that that was Really something that came out of the process We could probably pull out Artifacts to show that but If people wanted to see it, but I'm just saying from my point of view that that was something that came out So So first I just want to say thank you to dr. Holman and the aef for For funding this process and I think that It's been really intense and thoughtful and you've gotten a lot of Input from a lot of different community members that I you know, I understand and appreciate that Ultimately the seven of us are are making the final decision on what's here, but it feels from Um the process and from hearing from the committee members that were a part of the strategic planning committee that that it's been That a lot of voices have have contributed to this and so while I Appreciate that we're going to word Smith it a little bit. I think that it's important that it's something that's coming from the community So just in terms of some of the specifics. I'm wondering So I hear the sort of What one person considers a positive change someone else is not going to feel as a positive change I'm wondering if something and people have mentioned things that I know you're taking notes and I didn't take everybody's notes, but Things like having an impact on the community Or I know mr. Schlickman mentioned it's just the concept of agents of change um, and so that it's Making change but not necessarily Sarely qualifying the the type of change so that people don't feel that I also sort of jumped at The term citizens and thought of things like participants contributor member But just making sure that that's that's an inclusive Identifying praise And then I again, I think the mission statement Actually, I have a different I know the so the whole child As an educator like I get it, but I do worry about how the community Interprets that phrase or maybe I think I get it because of how and I perceive that term, but I don't So I'm just wondering and I without making it even longer Like what is what is it that we mean when we say whole child and it's like not just academics, but social emotional and Interpersonal and so I'm still thinking about that Phrase and then the last number four With the communication and I think this was What some of what dr. Allison ampe was getting at was um, it says two-way partnerships in the heading, but then Feel and I see it says partner, but that it says like providing Information and it's sort of like where is the the the getting the information? From from stakeholders as well So I think those are all of my Comments We've been at this for 30 minutes, but if anybody feels like they Want to say something that they didn't get to say before or thought of anything I'm open to just to clarify the the the idea of the meeting is so that we can have this kind of conversation About wordsmithing 48 hours prior to the so there's not motions made to amend That night. That's what I'm suggesting So The intent is we're gonna just so that Because for me I may need I may need all the things we're gonna vote on at some point in one color Well, just one color maybe Just just like well because this is gonna get it's gonna get kind of you know So so we're gonna vote on the the red things and the green things and the green things. Yes I will put them in one document Yeah, because that would be what would become that policy. That's it currently in the policy manual. Yeah So mr. Then I just want to make sure I understand so you're suggesting that we have a full committee We have a c. I am trying to get everyone there Right on the 20 First, you know, we try to get everyone there do the best we can to have a time that works for everybody And then we can have this conversation now. Thank you. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, so we're not editing Okay, so we're finished this everyone feels this can I just say thank you It's been this has been Really awesome to experience with our community members And I've gotten to know a lot of people through this which has been really valuable and it has Honestly validated and solidified for me some of the things I knew we needed to work on because I've gotten to hear stories like real stories from folks who have experienced some of the things that I heard In listening sessions and saw in data But it it was a really collaborative opportunity too for people to demonstrate You know how the way I experience this versus the way you've experienced this and for people to surface Things that they are both inspired by and excited to see happening in our schools and things that we really need to work on So I've really valued the opportunity to do this work And I'm grateful to all of you for supporting it and for And for the lengthy discussions that we've had this week because it's making these much better. So Thank you Thank you, and sorry miss front. Hey, I I didn't even acknowledge you at the beginning But do you want to say anything about this before we move on? No, I don't believe that for I think it's more appropriate for the president All right. Thank you. Thank you um, okay So this is a job description approval for a specialized support paraprofessional ed coach supporting students in ma i cei program at middle sex community College mr. Spiegel or miss elmer. Do you want to Sure, um, we mentioned this at So the macy program is the massachusetts inclusive concurrent enrollment initiative which partners with community colleges to provide Community college experience to students who will not meet local graduation requirements and will typically You know stay with their public school system until they age out around the age of 22 So we have historically partnered with lab collaborative and students have attended macy Program through the lab collaborative. However, we're going to be a direct partner with macy next year Through a grant that they have and one of the commitments We as a district make is providing the ed coach who will accompany the two students to the community college So this is that position Can I get a motion to approve so move Second All right, so on a motion by mr. Thielman second by mr. Cardin. Does anyone want to discuss The position The temperature Jane made it that sensor on the wall. It should do it. Jane. Just vote here. Mr. Spiegel So it's an incentive. Sorry. Okay. Okay Facts is a job description So the one thing is um this program right now is at middle sex community college We may want to expand the definition in case We have in the future place students at bunker hill or other community colleges Because I think Yeah, a concern was after we met with you third cia we just they had It is throughout the state that they have the macy program at several community colleges We're happening we're happening to partner with middle sex. We plan to continue partnering with middle sex, but there are other So so I think we may just the only modification might just be or other community colleges in the state or something like that because Just so it's not limited just to middle sex if if it expands in the future Is the name of that program unique to this community college? No, the macy program is a massachusetts initiative So, I mean students in macy and stop it there Okay, well I think I think we want to be clear that it is a community. Yeah, that's off-site and it's off-site at community colleges It's someone who would be part of The specialized support paraprofessional is sort of the new title for um specialized paraprofessionals in the in the unit d bargaining unit, so Mr. Heiner If if this job description is set up so that it meets the criteria for this community college If there's an intent later on possible intent to expand it It may require a change in the the job description increase in salary or whatever it is. No, no, no We were just in that the location changed. Yeah, they wouldn't go to multiple colleges They would it just might be instead of at middle sex or it might be at both I mean, I don't know how big it gets but Okay, yeah, we just didn't want to restrict it. Um, and someone's like, no, I Okay, so it would read specialized support paraprofessional ed coach supporting students in macy program at middle sex community college or other community colleges Okay, so emotion by mr. Thielman second by mr. Cardin any other discussions Mr. Heiner, yes, mr. Cardin. Yes, mr. Morgan. Yes, mr. Selectman. Yes, mr. Thielman. Yes, dr. Allison. Yes, and I'm yes Mr. Mason monthly financial report good evening school committee members Uh tonight, um You'll have you'll see multiple documents and novice That will include The previous month of report. Um That was A few weeks ago. Um And then as of yesterday, I had an updated report that I submitted To the school committee for your review to give you more up-to-date finances Which showed some adjustments Um We'll start with the general fund report Uh Do you want me to pull your sides up? Yeah, you can I don't have the google side version. I only have the pdf I can project it though as you talk through it Yeah, you can and I will do that Keep going um, so We'll we'll start with the general fund report Currently, we're at about 67 million dollars expended which is another about another 10 million dollars from The previous time I reported To to this committee And our encumbrances have been brought down to about 12.9 million dollars with uh Projected expenditures around a hundred thousand dollars. Um There's no more projecting department budgets down balances down to zero With the projected remaining balance of 20 thousand dollars now I will say that that projected remaining balance Fluctuates day to day based on when expenditures come in Um, I'm actually seeing that balance go up this this after noon with as we were informed about The district being relieved of pain For an assessment cost So that Balance actually is currently as of june uh, june 9th would be 70 thousand dollars But I'm sure that there are other expenditures that I'm probably missing because department departments lag sometime on informing us There are some of their expenditures If you want to go to the next slide um And so some of the projected expenditures, I think that um if you go there Yeah, so um There is a credit that's a credit transaction that we're still waiting to post which will post at the end of the year Which is for the circuit breaker transfer That's what you'll see is a as a negative number in the projected expenditures As well as uh, we're anticipating a refund from from overpayment of tuition and then We are I have some money set aside for some potential additional salary payments For additional work that our our staff done over the course of the year for final What we call green sheet submissions and then um, we're anticipating Another 400 000 dollars from electricity Expenditures the invoices do lag Um compared to what you're seeing so we'll probably won't see those final invoices until after the close of the year And then um, there's a few other operational needs from the facilities department about around 13 14 000 dollars So we move on to special revenue We started off around 5.3 million dollars at the start of the year after doing some recalculations Um, and we're projecting to have our remaining balance of our of the main special revenue funds that we look at Around 5.2 million dollars meaning we're slightly decreasing Um mainly due to some utility additional utility costs Um that will actually will level off in july with the new Contract for our energy agreements and um As well as some projects that have put that are we're currently projecting to to occur which if you go to the next slide You know, um, i'm still holding off. We still have an encumbrance for our $50 000 vehicle that we spoke about earlier that Waiting to get that replaced We have a contingency For $30 000 for additional spaces in our summer projects That we may need According to the facilities department Um, what I did have previously on the report and held was about 328 000 dollars that was tied to ventilation equipment That was for the down school In in order to preserve our reserves for The next year We are actually going to use it to move it to esser to funding Which is this is appropriate for that funding. It wasn't part of our capital plan And it is also to ensure the safety of our students and Reduce the possibility of covid spread um We're also we're still we're still working on the pierce hvac issue in the class from 127 We we bought the parts that we estimated about 30 000 dollars worth of labor Um, and we still have a hold for the fire control access control panel at the bishop school Which is important if you move to the next slide Just to speak to our grants Our total you'll see in the report that there's additional added grant for premium payments That's basically in and out just to report that The town that was the town paid out in total But our total awarded grants is from 6.7 million. That's excluding the aef grants Um, and we're projecting a carryover of 1.4 million in esser and arpa funds that's between The general esser three and then their additional as arpa special education grants that we received that will be used in next fiscal year Now open up to any questions Messers like men. Yeah, uh, will we be anticipating? requests for project transfers at the end of the It's the next meeting. Yes Mr. Heiner. I just want to add uh edco officially Took a vote today. It will close On june 30th the last edco board meeting was today I'm bringing it up now because We've met all our obligations and it looks like we will be getting Some reimbursement in the next couple of months It's because we were overcharged. That's why we're getting it back Some good news If if I I'll just add to that is that um, I do have to Talk to the comptroller to see if Those funds that do get back come back from edco Come back to the school committee funds or let's go back to free cash. So never said anything. Yes Thank you He's gonna kill me Mr. Mason's too humble to tell you this But I hope you'll join me in congratulating him because he was accepted into an MBA program at boston university today Congratulations hard time. I hope He will very much still be here while he gets that master's degree Dr. Allison ampy So I'm trying to anticipate what we're going to need for next Our next meeting because unfortunately I will not be here Um because I have an unavoidable family conflict um For end of the year funds Mr. Cardin had talked about That the way that we could put money into the special education reserve was to work out Ahead of time that it goes to freak the goes to the town's free cash They know it's ours and then at the next town meeting It gets removed and and Put into the special education reserve And i'm wondering I I see that at least I looked at the Period 11 things and I saw at that point you were recommending prepaying out of district tuition, but if we wanted to do The special education reserve do we I'm assuming we need to do it before the end of the fiscal year. I mean that we need to state that we're doing that so I'm looking for Guidance on what we as school committee need to do to help make that happen So if I don't know at what point do you with the school committee so If I could if we could meet as a budget subcommittee if you have time within the next week I would prefer to give you an updated number Because of certain things that are anticipating to come back in and things that have actually happened today and got cleared up um But I I don't know if you say like under a hundred thousand dollars What do you want to do right? You know and so right now with the with the additional Due to what the new building not being negotiated in the old electricity contract and The expenditures that we've incurred in this budget and we were able to hold That project that money that I thought we had now is Pretty much evaporated. Oh, okay. So so And some of what some of the some of the things that dr. Holman and I have been discussing about how to shift funds around which is around Priorit making sure that the funds that are in our like building rentals and foreign tuition Are kind of alleviated for this year, which will then give the school the school committee greater flexibility for the next year's budget Right. I'm I'm more just trying to make sure that we're using our funds in a fiscally responsible way um, I understand I I think what was said about Funds naming if we get a reimbursement from edco. I think that does rightly go to free cash, you know, we're not gonna quibble If if that's how it happens, but I was operating on old data that suggested there was money that might Either go to the special education reserve or Out of pre-paying out of just new out of district Tuitions, um, either of which I think is a fiscally responsible use of those funds if the money now You know, like said, it's it's in flux because there's a lot of moving parts if that money doesn't exist then it You know, we're happy that we're Stay, you know that we're not going under, you know that we're Our ballot our budget is balanced Um, and yeah, we can certainly have a budget subcommittee next week Yes, I just yeah, I guess I don't want to waste the time of you know of the subcommittee I if there's like a percentage threshold of what The school committee wants to consider we have other things we need to discuss. We'll just Thank you, mr. Mason Uh, superintendents report dr. Holman, all right Um, I'm hopeful that my updates next year will not always start with these graphs But in the interest of consistency, we'll just end the school year with them a couple of more times We are very pleased that rates have gone down precipitously in the schools It's helping us keeps classrooms staffed as we close out the school year And everybody wants to be there for the celebratory last few events And we're also seeing a bit of a downturn in Arlington, though I haven't updated with this week's numbers quite yet We do have a number of administrative hiring searches that are going And mr. Spiegel will let me know if I missed any on this list We have welcomed as I mentioned last time kim visco as our new k-12 wellness director A recent update is that we are excited to welcome k-12 visual arts director leo, uh, mullner Who is coming from remind me can you act in box from act in box bro? Amazing expertise is a cambridge resident. He's an active artist. Uh, he just Blew the committee away in both his interviews with myself And mr. Spiegel as finalist in his forums with members of the community And in his initial interviews with the committee. So we're very excited that he'll be joining us Our k-12 director of history and social studies searches in its final stages And we're hoping to announce that early next week Brackett assistant principal searches in its final stages as well as the arlington high school special education coordinator Yes, or did you land on a candidate? We're still working on that From your face still working. Yes still working on that Stratton assistant principal and oddison assistant principal positions are posted as they Move on to new adventures the oddison assistant principal will be a principal in redding next year And our k-12 director of fine and performing arts role Is now posted that was a position that was part-time We've actually had all of our part-time directors Decide that I think all yes all Decide that they would not be returning next year and our fine are going to retire And so we are posting all of these as 1.0 positions because all of these roles Always needed to go beyond whatever the part-time was and we've expanded our enrollments these programs have expanded We want them to be rich programs We're very excited to welcome full-time folks on it obviously has an impact on the budget A lot of these are right. We did have three reserve positions and we haven't used those for any Classroom teachers or homeroom teachers at the moment. So we're working it out and we'll have revised budget Plans for fy 23 to the budget subcommittee and school committee once we have those ready But we are expanding those roles into full-time positions And so we're excited to do that as well Also included in your materials is the hiring memo that mr. Spiegel and I sent to administrators so that you can see what our expectations were For hiring searches at the schools and that applies not only to these administrative searches We try to model what we want to see at the schools But also to any searches that they were doing at the school level A few additional updates. I want to congratulate the very accomplished class of 2022 We had a beautiful graduation ceremony last saturday. It was a perfect day It was about 75 degrees and sunny and the graduates looked fantastic And I will say the speeches from the kids took the day They had absolutely the best speeches of anyone and they did an absolutely Fantastic job So it was really a wonderful time to celebrate the accomplishments of this class that's been through really Quite the roller coaster ride through their high school years and it doesn't seem to have slowed them down one bit I gave the science camp update earlier. I'm happy to discuss if the committee has any questions as a before school programming update We did a survey. We have received responses from that Of those responses 41 families across all of the elementary schools said yes They need and would use before school care 26 families indicated that they may use it on an as needed basis So at some schools, this is these are enough families to potentially offset depending on what the cost was for this per day The cost of staffing it assuming that we can get staff to staff it So we're taking a look at that now figuring out what the cost out would be and what we would need families to pay in order For us to have a competitive wage to get people willing to come in Early enough in the day to actually staff a before school care program. We need to also think about who is going to coordinate that Um Basically who's going to be the admin on duty at seven o'clock in the morning to make sure that Across all of the sites that these are staffed safely and that the if a staff member can't show up that we know That they can't be there and that we can communicate with families So it is it is an undertaking to get this programming together this swiftly Um, and we're taking a look at what might be possible and whether or not we can accomplish it The website stakeholder survey also went out. We had 216 families and 75 staff responses We learned from families and community members that the website is accessed primarily for event information That was the overwhelmingly biggest response Contact information school information and lunch menus Very important those lunch menus. I know this now as parent myself as a kindergartener. That's what we look at the website for The biggest challenges people reported were finding the right information Um 225 people said that's the biggest challenge they have when they visit the website Too many clicks to get to what I need And a lack of design consistency and that's really across like when you go to a school's website It looks different from this school's website or this organization's website looks different from that organization's website It's really challenging for families to sort of know where to go in the website when the design consistency isn't there So right now we're doing design and my migration work for the website We've picked out a theme and we're working right now on what the navigational menus will look like the A vendor will do all of the move of Content over and then we get to go in and manipulate and take things out that we don't think need to be there or move things around We're going to open with the migration of the district website and the three school websites that are already integrated into the district website I believe those are gibbs hardy and dallon And then we will start the migration process during the course of the year next year of all the other school websites that are currently on different platforms and managed by different groups and That makes it particularly challenging to sort of rain all of this into one Sort of consistent looking site, but we are looking forward to a launch. Hopefully Prior to the start of the school year in 2022. So that will be very exciting A deeper learning dozen update we have we really enjoyed our partnership with them this year I wanted to get us to a convening and then get feedback from my team As to whether or not we wanted to continue our work with them Last year was a free year with the deeper learning dozen and that they paid for all travel for Membership in the organization and for food once you were there and everything else Next year is not and they're still working on what their model will be and so I'm working with them on this right now It looks as though it would be that Membership would not cost us anything and once we're at the conference things like food And accommodations wouldn't cost us anything but the travel to and from may the convenings next year Luckily though are in Kentucky, which shouldn't be as expensive of travel accommodations Revere which is here and the other one would be in San Diego So it shouldn't be Extreme cost if we do choose to stay with deeper learning dozen I know that our team would really like to maintain the work that we've started with them this year It's been informative to our leadership practice and the work that the cabinet team has been doing to Act in unison with one another and really row in the same direction And so we're looking into what our options might be to continue that partnership if anybody has any questions I'm happy to take them and then your enrollment reports are in your folders as well I do want to note for enrollment that we are taking we're keeping a very close eye on stratton fourth and fifth grade We've had some move out in fourth grade and we know of a few more that are coming and we've had some move-ins in fifth grade So we may choose to have a section move from fourth to fifth in order to balance those sections out That's something that we're keeping a very very close eye on right now And that's all I have Dr. Holman just in in terms of the website when you're rolling it out to other schools I would suggest Getting the high school in early just because it affects so many People compared to all the other ones Thank you. Yep Mr. Cardin just going back to the science camp discussion. I appreciate your commitment to Undertake some outreach, but I think I mean that needs to be done because there needs to be a community conversation about it It was something that was lost because of the pandemic And then there was sort of silence So there's sort of suspicion about You know there there was some talk about problems with the program you identified some of them But the community needs to hear about that and also hear about Like you like you you presented What what are you going to do going forward? So I do think um, I don't know if you want to send out an email about it or Just wait until september and and have you know work with community relations to Do a forum, but I do think there needs to be some conversation about it. Thanks I just want to get kind of sorry. Yeah, thanks. Thanks. Uh, so yeah, I just I want to echo what mr. Cardin said the um It means there's a there's a long history with science camp in in When in 2003 when the override the first override failed there were group of parents that got together and saved And so there's a part of the community that really Feels attached to it and so and there's just what people said tonight is very true People have great memories of this overnight science camp in which they learned new things I'm sure not everyone had a great experience and I'm sure there was some exclusion There might have been some issues that there were I'm sure For a teacher to be required to do that is quite a quite an ask. Um, so no doubt about it But I think it needs to be talked about With the community in a very transparent way and there needs to be kind of a message a decision made by a date certain I don't know what that date is whether it's going to be returned or not You know very clearly like I don't know like by october so people aren't misled in any way You know or their their hopes are not lifted Unrealistically because it is true. I mean when you look at the uh What kids write uh about their k-12 experience in arlington lots of them put down one of the highlights as fifth grade science camp They do they just that's a fact And so um, I think Um, I know it was a lot of work for people But it just needs to be thought through very carefully Just one more comment and as as we look at our Mission and vision that we're building You know a lot of the things that were learned in science camp or sort of some of the things that we're looking to to expand and In do so even if we can't Replace science camp we have to replace that social emotional learning somehow Mm-hmm This morning, um, so I guess I um I I I'm not sure so I I have heard I've heard lots of different things about science camp and I'm I'm trying to figure out which of those things to believe I've heard that there is you know that there is not a commitment from the district to do science camp I've heard that we're going to look at it Um, I've heard that some people have looked at options and there are viable ones and I've heard that they're that you know They're not and we shouldn't even consider it because of kovat. Um, so I just I don't I don't really know When people ask me about it. I I really don't know what to tell them and I don't feel any more clear after Today, I don't I don't have any more clarity about whether or not There's any commitment to providing An overnight experience for students Um, and I guess I just I don't want to find out I I don't want to get into a situation where At some point we have to to tell the district that they have to do it Right, I mean because we could get to that place with if there were enough, you know, I just I but I don't I I just I don't really understand any more than I did Yesterday about What the intentions are so I don't know if there's any more clarity that you can give us Tonight. I mean it sounds like We're gonna think about it. Um I don't know like so I I don't have any more clarity about it. So I couldn't share with others what that might be um What I'm remembering from I don't remember how long ago to three years something was there was And and clearly dr. Roman wasn't here, but there was a definite Sense from the administration that they were trying that that The feeling that I got was there was thinking about phasing it out and looking at other things and and And it was said at least in subcommittee meetings, and I don't remember. I don't think it was full committee. I don't remember But that's when you say people are hearing things that that's part of where You know, it's not just people making Things up not that they would but there were definite statements made by various members of the administration about this and it wasn't in a It was just statements that existed by themselves. It wasn't uh here We're going to take a big picture look at this and how can we fix it? It was just kind of we're kind of going this way Um, and yeah, I think we we need to know what the process is so that we can tell people What's coming and how? The decisions are going to be made and because it is and part of it is We never heard from the people who science camp was not a good thing for and I am not I am not trying to discount their feelings or concerns But we have to have this conversation hearing from all these voices and and figure out because because what we have heard is all the Good things and there were a lot of good things and we don't want this to just go away But I do acknowledge there's other things. We didn't hear that. I know we're not good things. So And I think the sense of people is that the the intent of the district is just to kill it that there is no desire To do it and that it just would that the best thing to do is to sort of delay delay push push You know and eventually it will just die and there won't be anybody left who remembers it and That's that all pre that predates you Well predates you But I do think that this is a you know, it's it's a situation where there I think we could you know, we could lose trust pretty quickly if it's if it's not clear Um What the what the intentions are so I I am no more clear about what the intentions are But I you know, I don't I don't know how we get to that point So And I went on science camp twice. It was a great experience from my perspective and from I actually you know I have a pretty good read of kids. I mean I saw kids. I mean a good experience Mr. Schlickman, yeah, I think it's not a time to Ask for a response from superintendent tonight But I appreciate the fact that you're that she is thinking about The problem is directing herself toward a process with community involvement For the purposes of answering all the questions that are out there Um I mean maybe she'll have some thoughts for us in a couple of weeks Maybe not I'm not going to be There's so much on the plate that I don't expect her to be thinking About such a long-term thing over the course of the next two weeks given everything else. It's on her plate But I feel comfortable that she is taking this seriously And as We get out of the the school year and have a little reflective time can bring people together and and Uh Explore the options and engage the community Yeah, I'm I'm certainly not in a position right now to say yes, absolutely Or no, absolutely not. I don't them. We're not I'm not in that space yet. I am I've learned About the history of and the reasons why families want an experience like this Over the course of this year and I've gotten to see some of the dialogue that has happened around it Even just over the last couple of weeks um A couple of things i'm thinking about is one is that I know that Staffing became an increasing challenge over the last several years of the implementation of this And that that is only if we were to try to do something next year That's only going to be harder next year than it was before the pandemic And I have some ideas about ways that we can resource and an experience like that with staff who may not be teachers But who may interface with our students on a regular basis And I have thoughts about how we can improve some of the logistics of this by thinking through What school group or at what age something like this were to happen And I think there's some potential to do an event like this That could be organized not primarily by but in partnership with the schools I do see it as somewhat outside the charge of the public school system um to try to get our professionally licensed staff To organize an event like this given what I hear its benefits are However, we are a district that is committed to social emotional learning and to really rich experiences for students Um, and I see the benefits of an experience like this Towards that I want to make sure that whatever we were to do it would be Accessible to every single one of our kids and that there would not be financial barriers Or access barriers and that is what makes this a particularly tricky Thing to figure out how to partner even with an outside organization to accomplish So Yes, we are going to look into it I can think through what a timeline would be for a decision on this and get back to the committee One last thing on this I'm sorry. You should which we call on the um We have not heard about kids not having access to it So this is news to us. So it's like be good to get that data or some report on that or some information Let me mean access and special education meaning that part They might be able to physically attend or they're allowed to attend But actually being able to engage meaningfully in the activities and having the supports through the camp To make that engagement and that participation meaningful has been some of the issues for some of our students and other students Yeah, so we've never heard a report on it We've never gotten like data report on it that I recall In my time on this committee, but maybe we did Hard to make You wouldn't hear from families. Most likely would come and right so be hard to make a judgment on it without some report And that report shouldn't have student names, but it should have some something in there. That's possible to do Right, I mean sure figure out what that might be. Yeah, we can talk about what that might be You can put something together without putting student names on it It sounds like this The CIA committee Want to sort of take this I just I only mean in a like in a pop right like a timeline piece Right because because my concern is that If people want something to happen in the spring of 2023 like there's a lot of planning that has to go On and a lot of problems. I'm hearing a lot of problem solving that needs to take place and so um You know just thinking about how can we as a committee be kept abreast of what's happening without it being a Standing agenda item on you know on our on our We would love to do that Very much We uh did some I'm looking forward to our Subcommittee announcements because we did do some some brainstorming of things we wanted to think about so Okay Superintendents report. Yeah Um, all right, uh discussion and approval of the school committee letter to the select board regarding traffic safety concerns. Mr. Schlickman, yeah, uh, we came out of negotiations with the traffic supervisors And one of the things they mentioned Was something that's not directly out of our directly in our control at all Is the traffic out there and you know, we've we're we've got a whole bunch of boston drivers and We've got some dangerous situations out there and the traffic supervisors specifically mentioned two intersections That they were concerned about um River street at university road as well as broadway at rosson road as being treacherous locations for the traffic supervisors So they in conversation Uh Asked what we could do and I said well, okay What one thing we could do is forward the information to the select board and ask them to refer it To the transportation advisory committee Uh for a study So the attack is really really very good at this they organize little task groups and go and and Do a thorough examination Come up with a set of recommendations report back to the select board. The other thing in writing that Uh and in the discussion Is there's really a lack of school zone signages On river street broadway in mass av in various locations And so I tack that on the letter as things that uh to to look at I think it's important for us to do to Maintain our commitment to the safety of students as they're coming to and from school. So I move that we direct the Um chair to submit this letter to the select board copied to tack Second Any discussion? Mr. Hainer. Yes, mr. Pardon. Yes, mr. Morgan. Yes, mr. Schlichman. Yes Yes And I vote yes, we could do this by voice vote. I think Yeah, we could we I've only ever been in a I know I know Only so thank you. I apologize. We're all here. Yeah. Look at this Okay, I think this is the first time we've all been seven of us together. Yeah, yeah, okay So discussion in first read of a school committee presentation calendar for school year 22 23 so dr. Holman and I Worked together to develop this draft of presentations For the 2022 23 school year. It's Some of it is similar from the one that dr. Holman and mr. Hainer had shared with us last summer But I also added some of the items that we will still need for Our superintendent evaluation in November And I also asked that we add more We incorporated more department updates For next year so that not only are we hearing from the schools but also from From the different content areas And I've added a note from earlier about the equity audit So Um Feel free to you know look over this if there's any feedback you want to share now or you can share some other feedback with miss diggins On a later date, but just this is to give everybody an overview of Of what we're thinking Just in the summer programming report can we specify both esy and title one? So that we get both Because it's true. It's different people, right? So Dr. Allison ampey So This is really great and I would love for us to hear of all this. I'm just wondering if it might be a little Over ambitious But I will leave it to you folks to decide Dr. Holman is assuming we're going to rise to her level of energy So we did try that was actually one of the conversations and you'll see like we tried to Refer some of these things to subcommittees too so that it wasn't wasn't all in a full committee meeting So that's something that we can think about too if there are things that That would be better time would be better spent in a subcommittee I will add that the draft that I have I have like a working version of this and we've added some subcommittee Notes to a few of these things in particular More workshopping and budget subcommittee in january I think amachron took over a bit this year in january, which was at a really critical and challenging time And at the same time that I was doing a number of reports on the entry plan And so I want to make sure that I'm sort of Budgeting time in places where subcommittee heavy work needs to happen sounds like fall will be very busy in ciaa And I know that january will be very busy For budget So if there are other subcommittees that we are that we can project Knowing have some heavy work to do that would be helpful to sort of sketch in as well So then the other thing that I wanted to talk about was Some just some summer workshop retreat topics First I want to say thank you to miss diggins And all of you for responding so quickly about available dates I have some thoughts about what we might do and then I'm interested to hear yours as well So first I I'm hoping that we could do some kind of reflection on our first year Working together with dr. Holman Just I'll leave that there for now And then as we've been talking about the strategic plan and the strategic priorities having an opportunity in the summer to to workshop That plan and giving us time as a committee to To really get into some of the the meat of the action steps Assuming that we're able to approve the priorities So that in the fall and that starts to get Drafted and put together dr. Holman has had some Feedback from all of us on where we we would like to see it going and then the third topic is A diversity equity and inclusion workshop for us as a committee I think that dr. Holman and miss thomas have done a tremendous amount of work with their staff And your letter about the hiring practices I've just never I hadn't seen anything so tangible about about how You're thinking so much about this and so I just think it's important that we as a school committee Are participating in in those conversations and in this work as well, so Those are my thoughts and now i'm interested in in yours Mr. Schluckman, yeah, I mean the di a work really is important for us I think it's a focus that the district is working hard on and we need to be a part of that The other thing is when we did the overarching goals 10 years ago It was In many ways a work product that came out of another agenda item, which was to bring the committee together To to build the relationships among members to get in and to and to build a common language amongst each other so that We understood each other and Could say certain things and we all understood um, I think that two years of coveted has sort of frayed the Collegial glue of the committee because we haven't been together We we haven't Sustained the relationships that we had uh two uh two years ago In and I think that we need to come back together as human beings who meet in the same room together rather than little boxes on the screen and and Bringing that back together. I I've really missed that. I've missed the physical presence of being with colleagues and and The conversations that happen beyond what can Happen over zoom I I think we need to talk about the implications Of the the override and the work that we need to do as a school committee leading up to that I mean, there's there's a lot of And len really blended a lot of it the last time and we We supported you. Um, but but there was a lot in in developing well in developing the the five-year budget plan and Engaging with the community and and presenting around that and coming You know, it's 2023 is going to be here Before we know it and I I think having some common understanding of What that's going to look like and what our role as a as a body is going to be in that I think is is going to be important and it's going to take multiple conversations to Get to something meaningful Um, I had actually I I agreed that I would like us to do a di workshop I had wondered about doing it Together with the select board just that it would give us a chance to get together with them because we've had Very few opportunities in the past year or two years to do that, but I don't I don't want to take our workshop time for them So it would be separate, but anyway that was just one idea I had had Just to add on that when we were talking about having diversity Marcus position and the town's position They brought that idea of kind of bringing the two groups together And we have I'm going to brag we have more of a commitment To do things together. I think than they do By Putting the I think it would be good for all of us to be together to see how the other people wear the other shoes You know, I'm not getting a lot of thought to how we're going to do I'm glad we're going to have so we have two days right to two three hour sessions That's what we've booked right now. Yes. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean you You know You know dei workshop is like, you know that there's like that's pretty broad I mean, you know, there's I mean you could there's a lot there. So, um We uh, so I don't know. Um, I mean, I'm not opposed to it. It's just that there's You know, you kind of usually do a series of workshops over a course of many months and you know You explore a lot of different topics and so, um, I'm not sure what you know, maybe we could do something But I agree with jane And that we need to start to have conversations now about, you know, coming together and being unified about our About our position on the override, but clarity on on what it means I mean, I think we need to kind of go into that in depth and talk about it in depth because You know, we've had, um in the past here in negotiations with The select board and other people about the number and we've had we haven't all agreed We haven't all agreed and so I think it'd be good to kind of Start that process so that we're all aligned Not in the recent years, but before that we were not all agreed The consent agenda all items listed with an asterisk are Considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the committee so requests In which event the item will be considered in its normal sequence warrant number two two two six nine May 31st 2022 in the amount of seven hundred twenty five thousand six hundred eighty seven Dollars and seventy cents school committee regular meeting minutes may 26 2022 so move Second Motion by mr. Heiner second by mr. Cardin all in favor Yes I did great. I think you have to do a roll call Oh for for a consent agenda No, no We are we have a remote connection But the members are voting are here whatever okay fine I'm not gonna I I Opposed okay, it's unanimous All right subcommittee liaison reports and announcements budget dr. Allison ampie budget We'll be scheduling a meeting too Community relations, mr. Heiner school committee chats saturday this saturday June 11th at 11 to 12th for special education families Thank you curriculum instruction assessment and accountability mr. Morgan. Uh, we had a meeting. It was great Yeah, we talked about that meeting earlier. I guess we're gonna have some more meetings We're gonna talk about the same thing that we talked about the last meeting we're going to meet We are gonna meet like on tuesday the 21st We're gonna talk about the mission and the vision and then That's what we're gonna do this school year. We are also going to meet at some point and talk about science camp Facilities mr. Thielman Mr. Mason and I are going back and forth and we're probably gonna split the sudden meeting I don't know if we're gonna get it in by the end of June. We'll see Policy and procedures mr. Schlickman. It's tremendous joy Uh in anticipation we're gonna meet at 10 45 or some at some point like that On next wednesday the 15th Arlington high school building committee mr. Thielman. It is going great We're not meeting in july. We don't think Yeah, so we have an update. Um, we are we are um switching counsel To Katie My note my note There is it's actually not a A formal retention letter because I think probably because she hasn't formed the firm yet But she's forming the firm as of july 1st 2022 And this is her offer to us So I move that the superintendent is directed to Engage k.m. Education law llc As school council and authorized to sign a retention agreement second Can we do any questions or discussion? Sorry, can we do can we Approve this as a as a subcommittee Report, yes, we can direct her to do it. Yes. Yes. Oh because as opposed to having it on the agenda as a specific item um Because I hit I so Dr. I'm gonna ask me to put on the agenda and I this agenda is so full that I had asked to wait till next Meeting, but it's okay to do it here. I'm open to that. Can I wait till next meeting? It can I wanted to if there's going to be any discussion concern or otherwise, then it would be nice to know that No, we can have a consensus to support. Yes I I see no problem supporting it, but I think for open meeting that we're retaining new council. That should be on the agenda Okay I withdraw my motion. I think yeah I just wanted to clarify so this is We still retain Fullerio. Yes. Okay. Yes. This is a replacement. Um, this would end our agreement with stonem channeler and miller Ms. Minnell Was previously counsel with stonem channeler miller. We've worked with her in the past And we did interviews for this process and we spoke with multiple firms and considered multiple opportunities and Members of our community who interact most frequently with counsel felt that she was a great fit for what we need and what we have really Enjoyed having in the council that we've had in the past. So and just I don't I understand she's forming her firm and stuff. But what is there for backup? I mean, so she has why don't you speak to this a little bit because she has so she's currently a part of The sanki mine alone firm, but it's dissolving because uh attorney sanki is retiring So that's what um, mr. Cardin's referring to is that she'll be opening her own firm He will stay on his council. So he would or of counsel is the term And so he would be backup if necessary. Okay. Okay. So there's not just one's not just her I know sometimes we need counsel like now Okay Okay liaison reports announcement Mr. Heiner I want to commend students and staff of the oddison school for the memorial day program This is an annual program inviting and honoring veterans. They were veterans from korea, vietnam and enduring freedom We all wanted you to know how grateful we are and want to thank the students and teachers again for remembering us And those who do did not come back We are going to do future agenda items. Oh, thank you. Sorry Just the 22 23 goals We've got it. We did a first read and then we dropped them from this meeting So they need to be on the 20 they're on my list for okay, great. Mr. Heiner could I have a very brief Discussion uh school committee chat format for 22 23 school year whether it's zoom continue to do it zoom or live or make a combination Brief discussion. That's all That's good Yes, sorry. I'm that's all right I'll remind you okay So now we will enter into executive session And we will not be coming back from executive session into open session To conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with union and or non-union personnel or contract Negotiations with union and or non-union in which if held in an open meeting may have a detrimental effect To conduct strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation in which have held in an open meeting may have a detrimental effect Collective bargaining may also be conducted A ea and triple a negotiation discussions and to approve executive session meeting minutes from may 26 2022 Motion to move second Okay, motion by mr. Heiner second by mr. Schlickman This has to be Okay, mr. Heiner. Yes, mr. Cardin. Yes, mr. Morgan. Yes, mr. Schlickman. Yes, mr. Thielman. Yes, dr Allison anthey. Yes, and I vote yes, it's unanimous