 Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, this is the Allington School Committee for September 4th 19 excuse me 2014 I want to apologize for the late start. We're on our second night on Technology going paperless and we need to get everybody up and running. I would like to welcome the committee and the town back I hope you all had a wonderful summer and a safe one at this time I would like To extend our deepest condolences to Cindy Bobbi air on the death of her brother bit havin the third Linda kaita monotomy preschool on the death of her father you go Bertolami Joanne Holton on the death of her mother to David Moore upon the death of his mother Ruth more Pam Monahan An ELL teacher on the death of her father Francis Patrick Monahan former I like the school committee teacher Mary Ann Principal passed away earlier this month Mary Ann was a reading teacher in Allington from 1993 until retirement in 2011 and The passing of mrs. Mary Naga heli. I apologize if I mispronounce it a retired traffic supervisor like a moment of silence, please Thank you I Had the pleasure a week and a week or less this past Monday of welcoming the new staff Which was really exciting? Once again, I found out how old I was thinking these were all brand new teachers and only a few were new Others were transferred and on Wednesday welcoming the entire staff back With an exciting busy year Tonight is the second again the second night using the computers and going paperless Mr. Good will be assisting all of us during the night and our secretary There'll be more information later on during committee reports. I want to share with you What's going on? It's going to be a very busy year. So let's begin Let's see At this time we have public participation But before we start as we do each year on the first meeting we basically go over the rules And I'm going to be paraphrasing our policy. I Would like to remind all those who speak tonight and subsequent nights that the policy of the second school committee is to set this time for the public to Make comment or to make announcements this time is governed by our policy be ed h found in the school website All remarks are to be addressed through the chair Speakers may offer such objective criticisms of the school operations and programs is concerned in but in public session the committee Will not hear personal complaints of the school personnel and are against members of the school community And the most circumstances administrative channels of the proper means for the dispossession of the limit Legitimate complaints involving staff members again. I'm paraphrasing from our Policy Right now the only person we have on the list is miss it mr. Elda Hari I would ask you to come Sit at the table, and I would ask you to direct your speaking directly into the microphone so it can be recorded I would like my son to be present in spirit Right ahead for those who don't know him. Here he is. Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the committee Thank you for agreeing to meet with us Samiz mother Francine and I his father Montsef today and to give us a chance to address his committee Please have the patience to allow us the proper time To bring some set to bring certain important facts to your knowledge and attention Concerning an high school High school teacher who happened to be also a son and whose life ended a few weeks ago Please be assured that our requests to meet with the committee does not stem from a desire of revenge or Vindication Sammy would not have wanted that But he would have wanted you to know what his last years at the high school have been As well as the circumstances That led to his employment contract not being renewed after the school year 13 14 Sammy graduated from the high school in 2006 and was hired as a permanent Spanish teacher for two two thousand six two thousand seven School year and subsequently as a Spanish teacher teacher in the foreign language department starting September 4th 2007 The review of Sammy early professional career at the school the high school We clearly indicate that the first four years of his young career showed a teacher totally dedicated to his responsibilities Successful in his profession life and who never never were the subject of Any negative assessment or criticism on the part of any member of the administration in place at the time Regarding his professional conduct and performance To the contrary These early years help him build the solid reputation of a good and successful educator in the Spanish language Always available and ready to help those of his students in need of it All along many students and parents have testified to this fact Had have expressed in many ways their sincere gratitude to our son In addition to being a teacher Sammy will perceive by many of his students as being a true role model and In inspiration for their own future life We have in our possession numerous evidence in the form of message letters, etc Receive from students as well our parents are testing to this reality The appointment of a new director of world language in the school year 2011 12 At the school changed all of that After a first year of favorable evaluation it progressively moved into an unexplained and systematic Descension towards him and finally led to a constant flow of criticism and disrespect for his performance Has shown his many confusing Quote-unquote evaluation reports Seriously affecting his self-esteem and his personal dignity Surprise visits observation with classroom followed scheduled once clear intrusions in the middle of Sammy practices Interrupting his discourse with his students Addressing them directly expressing some blatant critical remark in form in front of his students, etc Etc. All sign of an and an ethical and unprofessional conduct on the part of a superior towards his staff This routine starters early in November 2011 and Sammy became a subject of one observation and evaluation session after another December 8 2011 March 2012 May 10 The 2012 September 25 2012 and finally May 15 2014 most of these sanctions sanctioned by low grading of his performance and Repeated needs improvement quote-unquote statements blended with the acknowledgement that his highly fluent night native Spanish and his clear classroom management skill and his positive professional response to any suggestion is that I said there Then our question is Why all this long drawn-out dragging of the mud in the mud of a respected member of the high school committee for what purpose Demonstrate a selfish hunger for authority authority above your staff Inflict and justify pain and stress Related to your own satisfaction or probably advance your own career by proving how good you are to unearth The so-called weakness of others if there are any cause of adjustable concern on the part of a superior For the performance of a subordinate Why not choose choosing a professional and fair approach? Why not referring to an existing system more than what mandated by the state? Why not coach instead of passing judgment and condemning? Early 2004 were extremely concerned. We were Francine and I were extremely concerned about the changes in semi-normal attitude and spirit He finally confessed to us that he had been officially informed by later dated May 27 2014 after months of confusing discussion and deceptive promises of the decision by Arlington high school Administration to definitely not renew his employment contract in plain English the decision to lay him off at the end of the school year While the saga unfolded Sammy never sees during all this time to be under tremendous stress Which was particularly dangerous and alarming in the context of the syndrome he was suffering from Many among his student colleague and the school administrator knew of his like long life long struggle with several episodes of physical pain But what they did not know of Sammy was his tenacity and courage to live with unrelentied pain and Simultaneously to never fail to meet his professional obligation. Let me let me continue Realizing that Sammy situation certainly this health where did you write it? Rating I decided to alert mr. Janger in May 2014 of a serious concern I did write a letter distant distant to him Which I did not send at the request of Sammy who was concerned about the retribution It might have created and his hope and to the last moment That the school will reverse a decision and Offer him a position in the school As I apologize for letting my emotion. It's all right As early as 2012 I pleased to call to mrs. Mary Villano At the time acting principal at the school To express my great concern for the unjustifying amount of stress and harassment Sammy so was subjected to Mrs. Villano reassured me at the time that everything was done to resolve the situation and that discussion with the high school administration Would resolve quote-unquote this issue The following two years of Sammy's life at the school prove her to be unfortunately wrong and He and this situation turned to end in the most tragic manner Yes, Sammy did allow his teaching license to expire and failed to renew it on time Not only was he the one who immediately acknowledges lapses memory, but he was the first one to inform the principal of the school as well as the HR department of this situation You are certainly acquainted with the option given to any public school to fight a waiver With the State Department of Education allowing any concerned teacher who had allowed his preliminary license to expire To be allowed to carry his teaching practice to the end of the academic school year and at the same time enlist In and complete successfully a class measure program within the allowable maximum nine months duration This option was confirmed to Sammy while personally visiting the master's department of education Where he was told that he said which was not uncommon and All what the school here school would have to do was to file a waiver in accordance with the state regulations In fact, no waiver was ever filed by the school for reason unexplained at this time Give him the administration school administration as a resolute free hand for the disposition quote-unquote of a Sammy's case As a matter of fact the first the gene taken by the school administration was to immediately demote him to full-time substitute teacher The sanction leading to the critical loss of his tenure, which you all know the importance and the meaningful standing sanction which translate into fulfilling the same previous Responsibility, but with a cotton salary then came the gathering of meeting attended by the school superintendent the Arlington Education Association representative and a doomed quote-unquote individual Sammy Totally overwhelmed by the tremendous tremendous stress of a situation and incubate incapable of Defending himself and not really like realizing that the dices were cast Sammy had no other choice than accepting the term was an agreement Which had all the feature of a verdict trial the inclusion of confidential clause Clearly demonstrate the concern of the administration to keep this agreement and revamps and away from public scrutiny With his unusual we said usual attitude and resolution that have dominated all his life Sammy successfully met his challenge and within the only four months alive by the high school administration And a successful class measure program. He recovered his mass department his mass department of education teaching license officially renewed on February 11 2014 and how allowing him to re-qualify as a Spanish teacher in Massachusetts As a result of this some is were reinstated in his original position as full-time teacher at the school But solely for remaining on school year 2013 2014 Mr.. Jenga is not here today with you, but I would have certainly reminded him That he sent Sammy his congratulations when he heard of the good news of Sammy's success in with this measure class measure Sammy has left his word and particularly in high school with his head high and the sensei conviction of Having accomplished with great endeavor and success a Difficult and unique mission Has his parents we are both totally convinced the decision not to renew his employment contract was totally unjustified Confusing and Sincerely immoral This decision will never be disassociated From his demise and we remained a disgrace in the annul of the high school Contrary to what some have conveniently insisted is stating that Sammy died after a brief brief Inness I want to repeat the reality is that Sammy died from the result of a syndrome that had commented Along his short life precipitated and hastened by the long and sustained stress Carelessly apply on him particularly and during the last two years of his teaching career at the high school Ladies and gentlemen and to the last moment of his presence at the school Sammy was suggested without rhyme or reason to Immigration Immigration and discredit on the part of the HAD administration The two following case in point among others will substantiate this statement The decision by the head of his department We had the department language department to eliminate Sammy from distribution lists of Internal communication while he was still active what he was still an active member of the school teaching staff to Sammy was voted by the student to deliver the 2014 graduation speak speech Surprisingly rewarded to our teacher by the school superintendent Or one can easily imagine how much this incentive ruining meant to him in term of disappointment and stress He was denied the privilege to end his professional career with the school with the mutual relationship He had shared with his students and the appreciation he received as their educator But bestowing a teacher on the skids quote-unquote With the honor of delivering a graduation speech was simply inadmissible it admissible for the school And it was not going to happen The this insensitive decision may have been the last nail in his coffin Destiny has decided that some he would depart before the end of the 2013 and 14 school year He's unexpected and certain demise Denied the fully deserved shame and embarrassment for those responsible for the his unjustifier and indignified layoff and His untimely departure for the menacing crowds of discredit Though those you who were able to attend on June 24 His memorial service at the lower auditorium of the school to whom Francine and I want to express our sincere appreciation We're given the opportunity to discover the legacy that our son left behind him Sammy was an asset to the school to the high school All into our school to Ellington high school and to Lexington high school as well as both community communities communities Rest in peace my son You have finally Thank you for your attention and patience Yes, I will hurry. I wish to convey our condolences from the entire school committee This time we'll be moving on to the next element on the agenda, which is special education mid-year review and Dr.. Buddy would like to I also echo our condolences as we have Great loss Why don't I hold the opening day? Remarks until we get into a more full report of that. We have members of the special Department here, and I want to Also at this time Recognize Allison Elmer who this is her first as our new director is the first meeting at the Ellington The our answers school committee and we welcome you and we have Kathleen Locker I don't know if all of you are going to come up and join So you all know Kathleen Locker who was who's served the last three years Our interim director and Ben Hellfatt who is the secondary coordinator at the middle school and actually also does all of the data Coordination for the department They're here today to present to you the results of the mid-cycle review and before they do that which is actually a Very positive news. I want to congratulate the whole department And as well as all the administrators and teachers That have worked so closely to improve the way that we We meet all our compliance obligations the the results of the mid-cycle review and not that I want to steal their thunder at all but was extremely positive the They'll explain the whole process, but we had Representatives coming from the Department of Education to audit what we had done on as Part of the plan from our coordinated program review the previous two years and they could not have been more positive Flying colors with absolutely everything one small thing that we need to adjust in our IEP meetings, but We're absolutely could not have been more Congratulatory to the department and so in turn I acknowledge all their work. This is just a tremendous result So I'll let you now. I've sort of spilled the beans. I'll let Allison give a little bit more Actually, you know it's appropriate that Kathleen is up here because it's really the work that I'm Kathleen and her leadership as well as Dr. Boat he said the Staff and the schools who really are responsible for this report for those of you who don't know the DEC conducts As she said an audit every six years But they'll do a coordinated program review and then in the interim at the three-year mark. They do a mid-cycle review So this mid-cycle review Looked at 25 different criteria and in doing that assessment. They found that 24 of them were to be implemented And there was only one criteria that was partially implemented. So there was nothing that was not happening But there was one small area that we'll get to in a minute But what I think really stood out is that the evaluator Noted the amazing work that the district had done to correct stuff that had happened in the past of the previous full cycle Review and that it was really quite remarkable for a district who had a Significant amount of work to do in the past who have made such progress in such a short period of time And as I said, this is really the work of Miss Lockyer and the rest of her team The areas that they highlighted as being implemented and that we did a very nice job with Routinely providing educational assessment information and team meetings by general education and special education providers routine use of the specific learning disability forms for students suspected of having a specific learning disability routine use of an autism checklist, which was a newer criteria that a lot of districts still aren't doing and We have that system in place for students who are identified on the autism spectrum Providing parents with the assessment summaries at least two days prior to the meeting And in some times many the requirements two days, but in many cases they receive it well before that Obtaining written excusal for any absent team member. This is some of the minutiae of what were required to do But meeting all the timelines for consents testing holding meetings as well as I think is a good sign is providing a clear general education plan for students who are not found eligible So when a student isn't found out eligible for special education services We're not simply turning them back to the general education saying it's your problem to deal with We're providing well thought-out on plans to support those students even if they aren't eligible for special ed services Consistently producing our progress reports as well as documenting instances of bullying with an action plan Some more of our paperwork that was really comprehensive as well as providing translation to families who need it both written and Verbal so whether at a meeting or translation of all the documents that are required May take this for granted but general educator attendance at all meetings doesn't happen in all districts and this is something that we Do well and they noted that as well Also including assistive technology discussions at the team meetings and Also working with students in the community who may not come to Arlington High School But we still have a responsibility for their special education services Whether they're enrolled in a parochial school or that and they're eligible. So meetings needs of those students as well As we mentioned there is one area which we need to do a little bit of work on and we'll be following up with the state in October It's producing a notice and plan for parents who want to discontinue special ed services So when a student who has been receiving services and a parent no longer wants to receive those services We have some work to do around how we establish a plan for Discontinuing that student given a certain timeline and so we'll be doing that work and they'll be reviewing it in October and again in January I don't know if you have any specific questions and I think Kathleen if you want to say anything or Ben I think The only thing I'd say and Kathy spoke to this in her opening remarks, you know, it it's certainly I I'm very happy about the report We were pleasantly surprised because you never really know how someone will view things We knew that we had done a good, you know a very good job Responding to the issues and we kept in close contact with desi on some of these Some of the forms that we implemented and so forth, but I really just want to stress. It's the whole department It's team meetings happen at each building. They happen chaired by a number of different people across the district is We worked hard on informing staff about, you know, how they could conduct themselves what they need to bring forth So it really is every single person in the department, you know, they own a piece of this progress I Think one thing that I just want to note quickly is that when we came here talking about our coordinated program review Ms. Vellani really talked a lot about the idea that There's underlying things that we need to work on which is what these all link to and I think one of the things the evaluator saw Was that's actually what's what we're doing right, which is why all these things have moved forward the way They have so one of those being things like communication within the district and with parents and with the general at staff And that just being one example, but he really pointed to we're not looking at the procedural piece We're looking at the underlying problems and how we can solve those so he was very impressed with that piece So I do want to bring that up as well Yeah, I just have a question so three years ago how many of the criteria were not considered fully implemented Oh, okay And is it 26 out of 26 or was there 40 or something that 59? So this was the 25 or 26 that we hadn't fully implemented and okay, I know as well as new ones. Okay. Actually, I just have one more question. How many people do choose to discontinue special ed services? I mean is it It's not large I'd imagine it wouldn't be very large In fact, they asked to pull records and there weren't any available because there wasn't anyone currently Okay, okay, thanks This stocks This is shilligman I'm impressed by the way you were able to Hit do what well on all the required measures It indicates a lot of work to get from a coordinated program review to the the findings We have here before us and having been on the business end of a coordinated program review I understand the efforts and Congratulate you for the work Congratulations great job. I missed the presentation. I'm sorry to step up for something but So what's the strategy to make sure that we continue to meet all of the the marks going forward? I Mean, I certainly I certainly have my opinion on that which is that we continue to really think about those underlying issues I think we can always think about the minutiae of it and a lot of these points are minutiae But the reality is once we start having things flowing correctly in those underlying issues The minutiae come much quicker and people are able to implement things much more and a good example of that again I'm going to use communication as we communicate more that that Part that we are partially implemented on as we communicate more about how we're working with families About coming off an IEP the better that's going to come. It's all about these underlying issues in my mind And I think they established Procedures a lot of procedures and practices that are just now routine at this point It may have taken three years But now and I can tell you coming in as a new person that they are routine because people can tell me Oh, this is what we do for this And so I think that was what will continue a lot of the practices that they noted Often that often the thing is setting up good systems and then Was the point that when I first came here dr. Bode and myself and Laurie Valani who was here at the time Went to the State Department and that's what they talked about is in a large district like Arlington It's really difficult to maintain practices that are effective and they had seen Arlington have effective practices and have things slide So I think we've spent three years really building and you have supported it That's the important thing to say dr. Bode and the school committee has supported building much more Infrastructure support and knowledge in every school, and I think that's how it's going to be sustained It's not from an office on the sixth floor, right? Thank you I too would like to congratulate you and I would ask you to take back to the entire staff Our gratitude for the work not only well done, but well done in a very timely manner Got a couple of questions. Is this report currently online on our web page? Awesome Thank you When they do these reviews are there questions Asked to the parents and things of that nature are they involved in any of this in the coordinated program review They are in the mid-cycle. They only use the documentation that is present and What privacy safeguards do we have in place when we upload? Private records and things of that nature It's done through a secured system that we've purchased to do IP work as well as all the evaluations How many languages besides English are we dealing with right now? Do you know offhand? I don't know Carla had a number last year I don't have the answer for you, but I can tell you that there are many and they are languages that are not as easily Translated as something like French or Spanish. Is this something that we will be seeing an increase in the budget requests Like that. Okay, if you if you have to translate You know pages I understand we haven't found the the optimum system yet to do it automatically Is there any other questions? Again, thank you very much for that and please pass it on to the entire staff. It's I we all realize it's a coordinated effort I would also like to recognize Jill parking who I didn't earlier who's out one of our elementary coordinators that you who you met last year So By the way, I think the answer for languages is something in the neighborhood of between 50 and 60 Just curious I want the public to know Where there's a lot there's a lot there's a lot And there are some languages that are quite actually obscure that we ended up doing some translation on fact last year so We're going to move into the next second before I do that I've been remiss once more and I apologize to the ea representative miss Hanson. Thank you for coming Moving into the the next part for their presentation for ID a new regulation that has Happened this year is that in order for? Federal funds to be released to a to a lea. It's a school district it's necessary that the superintendent all of the principals and the chair of the school committee sign off that they Understand all of the federal laws regarding Special education and there's it's a significant number of laws you you have a lot of documentation that will send to you in fact the The summary pages of those laws which were more of an outline with three pages that in themself so this evening It would be impossible to do a complete training I'm going to turn this over to Ben in terms of what we need to do tonight with the The end goal being that the committee has a motion to allow the chair to sign This this the statement that you were all aware of these laws, so it's been yeah, of course So I think the challenge of presenting a document like this to the school committee is that? It originated what we received was a 26-page document which was Actually condensed from a 300-page federal document which I then attempted to condense into a four-page document So that you can see the challenge and this is only the federal regs When you start taking into the state regs. We're also talking about 10 extra areas on top of the 20 presented here And countless other advisories in case law, so you can see what the challenge would be to present this document as a whole What I did want to do in light of that is really pinpoint a few areas that I thought were very important for us to Hear and also talk about and then ask if anybody had any further questions So the four areas that I really wanted to talk about briefly is the first one which is actually enforcement Which is the reason we're here the idea is that the the federal government can withhold the funds based upon enforcement of all IDA and mass regulations and and if we don't meet all compliance timelines That's really the reason behind this report right here As we start to think about what our obligations are physically we also have to think about our obligations to students So another area that I thought was really important for you guys to hear is that We really are required to Provide specially designed instruction to any eligible student at public expense Which would happen in all school settings access to all school settings providing service for three to 21 year old students Whether they are expelled or suspended or not and That the IEP is written for all needs not just the disability related needs and I thought it was important There's a quotation here that that might be a little long But I think it's important to hear the idea of special ed is not a room It is all-encompassing and what they really want to stress is that the school district must consider the effects of students Disability on among other things the proper functioning of hearing aids non-academic services recess physical education Assistive technology extended school day or year services transportation counseling and or health services and Program options including art music and vocational education. So you can see this is a large scope of What special ed really works with? And as we think about that, I think it's very important that we actually Acknowledge that Really the overarching principles of where we want to go is thinking about the least restrictive environment and By that we really mean that students cannot be removed from general education solely because of the need for modification The district must provide a continuum of alternative placements to meet the students needs and the students have to have access to non-disabled peers as much as possible and the removal of a student from general education or Their home school occurs only if the nature and severity of the disability cannot be met in the general education With any aids that might be provided And I think that's a really important point and that's really as we go through the special ed process That's really what a lot of our team chairs have in their head We want to know that we are doing right by the student doing right by the families Finally the the last one that I want to highlight is one that often becomes controversial And I want to make sure we understand the law around it, which is suspensions and expulsions and really all it is required that all students receive prior code of conduct written code of conduct in their native language, which would be our Handbooks and that the district maintains the data on suspensions and expulsions of students with disabilities and Really does look into whether there's discrepancies between the suspensions and expulsions of Students with disabilities as compared to their general ed peers and then also Really revising that practice as we see fit based upon whether there is that discrepancy and finally that when a student is in Disciplinary action We are promptly evaluating any students who are currently in referral And we are providing procedural protections of students who are suspended For 10 consecutive or cumulative days or the suspension Constitutes a pattern and by that protection. It is a manifestation hearing to see whether the students disability Was a manifest the students actions were a manifestation of their disability. So those are four key areas that that Myself and dr. Bode thought were really important to highlight But I'm happy to answer questions about any of the areas or the four that that I just mentioned This is this is from this is a 2004 idea With 2006 commentary, that's all it is No, it is just we have to sign off every few years on the law just stating that we recognize them This is not does not mean there are new laws. It just means that we have to show that we still are current Any other members Such liquid I don't remember signing initiating this before so I believe this is a new regulation that we need to keep one Of these on site. Okay, you're assigned by your cohort year. We're cohort for So we'll see you back in four in 2018, okay, we'll make the date I had a couple questions I did look through the big long page, which is apparently Boiled down from something even bigger and I just wondered when they this is on page 10 It says the district states it does not include as part of its special education child count a Few things and then students with disabilities for whom the district has no programmatic Responsibility even if the district has financial responsibility It's at the top of the page. Yeah, I see where it isn't just looking Does that mean if there's a student that we're not I'm trying to understand what those who those students are are the ones that They're out of just So they don't count as our students There are situations in which An example would be the move-in law So we might have a family if they were to move from Arlington into another district after April 1st We would remain fiscally responsible for them for that school year But the other district would have programmatic responsibility, which means they could determine what the students needs were and what not But we would still have to be so so also that falls under the child fine section Which means that we are obligated to make sure that we are doing our due diligence to locate any students We have any responsibility for whatsoever whether it be fiscal or programmatic who are in need of special education services as we mentioned earlier those students in parochial schools that might be service only kids that we would At least be fiscally responsible for them even if they're not enrolled in our school Okay, I guess I'm just confused if I'm understanding it correctly. So even if we have to if we're financially responsible We don't we can't list them as a child that we would get money in to help pay for these responsibilities, okay, so that is okay Yeah, no Please tell me it's not as Okay, so that was my first question and then the other one is on page 24. Let me jump 24. Yeah And this is the first page and this goes back to the language thing It says that the school district states that all students including students with disabilities receive prior written notice required regarding the school's code of conduct as described in the district or school handbook handbook and that the information provided in English and in their native language if other than English and I just want to be sure we're we're doing this because again, I haven't seen lots of Translation services and I'm thinking the handbook's pretty big even if it's just the code of conduct. That's I'm just hoping that we're doing this We are in the process of doing it. They're not entirely complete First of all, we had we decided on the four language actually five languages We would do it you've hit exactly one of the issues is that some of these documents for example program of studies Changes and the cost for translation is enormous and Google translator is not really quite adequate I think last year with one Individual education plan. What was it $14 a word? Something something like that So it's a significant cost and this is something many districts are are grappling with as well but The the important documents that are necessary to be completed. We have done There's a lot of sharing among districts and we also have some of the forms from Department of Education But this is ongoing. This is a challenge I'm not saying it's not important to provide as much as possible in their native language But it looks like it's just the code of conduct that's especially earmarked that needs to be so just the part covering No, everything is everything as translations so that the family and the student can access it Anything under special regulations? It pertains to everything However, there is a clause as feasibly necessary as feasible What that means is vague But that is also part of the clause of and translation is required for any documents so that families and students can access them Okay And then the final thing I want to ask was if the threat that the federal government is holding over our head If we don't sign this is to take away our money. What how much money are we talking about? I? Want to get the exact number. I know I should be able to find it. I can't do it I Think it's about it's about 1.7. Isn't it be the 240 the IDEA grant For this one Spend 94 142 for FY 15 is 1 3 2 8 5 74 And the special ed early childhood which I assume would get zapped as well would be 40,000 832, okay? I'm not saying we shouldn't do it. I just wanted to take I think your initial thought Usually when the feds say if you don't comply they mean all federal money So it may not just be the sped money that we get and that's where miss Johnson. I think was going originally Okay, no, I just wanted to have a sense partly for the audience outside. Thank you I think the clause as is feasible means that They will look at standards They'll compare you to other districts and see what other if you're doing something It's a lot if you're not doing if you're not meaning if you're not providing We're not providing the equal translation services other school districts, then there's a concern isn't that and it's a more of a practical Yeah, may have you know one family that moves in right dr. But he said handbook translation can run $10,000, you know, yeah, so that's why they do have that Under the feasibility is if translation is not available sometimes it's translators are right and you can you know make Appointments for parents to come in and be able to Understand what the document is that they have in their hands and I you know I guess the only question is that we document all those efforts That's the important piece and so that would fall under the feasibility What efforts have we made to make sure though those families understand? Documents that they may not have in their native language. I'm I think school districts get in trouble if they just completely ignore this They you know, you know say we're not gonna you know Even though 25 or 30 students in the school speak Mandarin or whatever it is when we just can't do it So that's too bad. I mean so I don't think that's not the attitude in Arlington So that's not I don't think I think guidance counselors social workers principles All of those people are aware of any families in their buildings Yeah, that are unable to access things just through English Yeah, and I think there's efforts all the time to connect them for sure. Yeah, okay I'm gonna make the motion to No, oh, you know To say something afterwards, but I'll make the motion and okay, so I move that we direct the chair To sign the special education program plan statement. Is that right? Okay. Is that the right thing? Is there a second and discussion, I'm sorry. No, it's alright. It's alright. That's part of your job to keep you down I just want to make a comment. It's interesting. Most state school boards have regulatory Authority, so that's why the chair and the committee is involved We do not have regulatory authority other than over the superintendent Superintendent's job is to sign it one quick question. There's a lot of blank spaces in this document. Are they going to be filled in? With the one I had had some it's Additional notes in any of the relative spaces it had it just said additional notes, and I didn't see any Right, I didn't know if there were any plans to do anything there okay, and Will the document be available for my signature in the next? I think we may have it have it here tonight. No, well, I can wait till tomorrow Sign it just Was there any further discussion? I second she second sorry any further discussion all those in favor say aye aye opposed in any of us vote of Those present No, I just one statement is that one thing that impresses me about the presentation is there's there there's doesn't seem to be this feeling We're overwhelmed by this. This is too impossible. There's a good will effort to do All this and that is important in implementation Yeah, so it's well Yeah, yeah, so it's sort of mandated, but I think it's sort of something you just have to sort of accept and own and not complain about that's all and they do a very good job at that and The principles actually pretty much the whole administrative team had a much more Thorough review of all this though though the principles know this because they They are working with their teachers and their special education coordinators and liaisons all the time But I want to thank thank Ben for trying to condense what is a voluminous amount of regulation into something that's Much more understandable Thank you very much. I'd like to be the last thing There's everyone already signed off If you want me to sign it, I'll sign it now. No, no I just wanted the other one every minute. Is that the signature paper for everyone? There also it has to be initialed throughout signage page I'll do it. Thank you. Okay. I Take you on your own. I'm sorry. I didn't look at it. I look at the screen. It looks different Are we all ready to move on? Okay Dr. Bodie. Oh wait a second. Let's wait for miss Fitzgerald It's in this here, so Did you have a presentation? Well, we're getting the projector set up. Let me introduce Donna. It's in who is who has presented here before She is a director of a community ed program. It has been for many years ten years now And I have said this before she is a very visionary thinker But can combines that vision with a lot of can do and great organizational ability a number of years ago she came to me with an idea about setting up a summer Program called summer fund in which we would have offer week-long Courses I guess or workshops for students and we did begin that. What was it five years ago five and the first year? I mean, I shouldn't give you a report, but I want Donna to come this evening and give a report on where we are with summer fund Which is an extraordinary success story as well as one of the things that we've also started is the enrichment programs that Are available for our elementary students. So, so Donna Thanks. Thank you. Some of you may not know that community education is completely self-funded Which means that we support ourselves my salary all the teachers all our materials Through the revenues of the program. That's nothing unusual. That's really how other programs do their work I'm going to speak primarily about the youth programming tonight But I'm just going to give you a sense of where we were where we are now and what we're thinking of for the future so here is that our staff and So what I really wanted to say about Every all of us is that we are Parents of children who have either graduated from the Arlington public schools or Who are in the public schools now and Also Melanie Constan doc at Schwartz who is an Arlington high school History teacher has run our summer fund program since its inception. She's not on our staff, but I wanted to include her This is when we started out several years ago This is where we were at with the program we had we offered about 30 classes per term One to two nights per week in only adult classes So I was brought in by Kathy Kathleen Donovan and she said have fun with the program So I think what we really wanted to do from the very beginning was to create a program that reflected the vitality of this community and And this is where we are today and it's I think many of you know that our programs we offer Everything from adult education to SAT college prep drivers ed and Our kids programming just an idea of where we come with our enrollment where we were up to 6,000 enrollments for the last the end of the last fiscal year and Our revenues have kept pace with that and this just gives you a sense of how we are organized and what you can really see here is That though that our adult education program is probably our signature program the one that the community most identifies with The the prime our primary focus right now is on the development and execution of youth programs Just quickly the adult education program. We now offer 200 plus classes per term we have four terms per year and We also offer more than 200 online courses through the program The we have Pulitzer Prize winners who come to speak we have We're having Alex beam from the Boston Globe is coming. We have Nick Page who was a former one I think he had the highest The highest position non-career position in the State Department so and Now I'm going to get to kids own one of the things I wanted to say that's really important there kids owners are after-school enrichment program We've had a 30% increase in one year and the use of that program It's now in all seven elementary schools when we began it was a tough sell Because as you can imagine Principles don't have the space to give up at the end of the school day So we really had to persuade people that that there was a need there and that there was an interest there Now we don't have to ask anymore there. What are you bringing to us this time? There and also we started out there were just six of the elementary schools We're offering the program and now we're as of last year. We're in all elementary schools Go lingo is an at the after-school language program that has really Exploded I would say that now that they we have two two components one is an hour per week language Through the use of play and music in all the elementary schools It was one I what I wanted to point out here is that it was the very first time that it was offered at hearty and They had the second largest enrollment in the district the very first time it was offered there the and we also Based upon the fact that parents came to the district and said that they were interested in a bilingual or multilingual immersion kindergarten Which the district didn't feel it was capable of supporting at the time? We worked with these parents and created and and at full an extended day and Spanish immersion program at the bracket Students come from all over the district to this program and again. We had 36 full-year students this year that program is expanding so that it is it's gone from three to five days a week and It's gone from kidney garden through first grade to kidney garden through second grade because so many of those kids Parents want them to continue with the the Education summer fun summer fun has been one of our greatest pleasures. We're now up to five weeks of half-and-full-day programming and one of the great things is that a Arlington public school teachers create and Implement all of these classes. They come up with their own ideas. These reflect their passions their interests They get so excited. They'll come at the end of the at the end of the session and they'll say okay next year This is what I'm going to do. This is what the kids want. This is what the kids need We are up to 2,000 enrollments and it was a 15% increase Over last year our first year. We were at about 500 students Melanie constant back at Schwartz has been the director since the inception of the program She does a phenomenal job for us and we I don't think we could do it without her Let's see The other thing I wanted to say about summer fun some of the other components the insiders guide to oddison Which is a really? Fun three-day orientation for rising sixth graders Peg Regan who is at oddison does a phenomenal job with her teachers and Putting this program together. I hear parents just say now Well, you absolutely send your kid. That's all you do. I have to send them We had a 23% increase and we did about half of the entering class. I Didn't I forgot fail to mention that in all of our youth program We know child is ever denied for their inability to pay we offer Scholarships the first the initial screening is free and reduced lunch if you're on free or reduced lunch You get a sharp discount in the program and then of course there are extenuating circumstances and we always respond to those the this year we added the go lingo Spanish immersion program at Pierce Pierce was could not have been greater to us. It worked very well We've had 54 students who went through that program and as I said here at parents signed up for the first week of The program it was so great that they signed up for the second week and we hope to expand that next year Melanie constant dockets also runs club invention, which was held here at the high school for grades one through six and It was it's really a science math and technology program. I Just wanted I think you know pictures convey the story the young girl on the left she was in our sculpture class the The students on the right are in our way cool cooking class, which is always the first class that be that fills every single year And I love the kid in the second from the left. He is ready He that is Nate's ninjas at the class and then we also offer string, you know string ensembles So I'm just trying to show you the breath of the the offerings Yoga breathe in breathe out the upper right hand corner Those are peeps that were created through the hello cupcake class and on the bottom right that was a student's invention in duct tape fun And here we have on the left fun in one act and on the right Hero and villain cartoonings Okay, so what one of the things I just wanted to say is one of our biggest challenges is space Space in the schools to run these programs. We could run them on vacations. We could run them all summer We could run them all the time, but we're always as you all know we're challenged by space and I think that superintendent has done a great job of helping get some of the conflicts in the Everybody wants the odd isn't in the summer and so some programs have been moved to other places And that's been a great help to parents who are trying to park their cars and get their kids In the programs and get off to school in the morning So looking ahead what we're thinking about in terms of programming we're going to continue to build the adult programming We're looking at certification programs where we have the facilities for those here and we're looking at We're working. We're having discussions with the high school administration about the feasibility of providing GED Through community education we're going to expand and develop our youth programming again The model that we use is that surplus pro surplus revenue from our other programs is Used to see the development of new programs. There's no money to pay these teachers There's no money to pay people to develop them in their inaugural year. So that's how we're able to Respond to these community needs One of the other things that we're looking at middle school after middle school after school in Richmond And we're we're in discussions with Todd on that We want to provide a summer tech week perhaps here in the summer Using based on a model that's used in another school where Arlington high school Students and recent grads actually create and teach the classes and it's been a phenomenal success at other schools We're looking at CAD which we offered this summer Electronic music production graphic design programming we're also looking at summer credit recovery classes for high school students and And and you can read here some of the things that we're looking for for For high school for high school students one of the other points I wanted to make is that we really use high school students as much as we can as interns and as Volunteers and as paid staff. So we hire each term for our evening programs students high school students who greet The our students as they come in the building they represent the student body and they represent the district They they guide people to their classrooms They do whatever is needed and they're always at the front door at the beginning of of every evening And we also employ students who as tech aides because any of us who are not digital natives Don't even know how to really use adult CD projector and plug in our laptop So they are great and they also are aides in our technology classes to the teachers Somebody needs a little bit of one-on-one. They are there for them And we also use student aides in our culinary arts program So we have professional chefs who come in and we have culinary art students who work as they work beside them And again, they're introduced to the students To our adult students as representatives of Arlington Arlington High School and in our evaluations We see from the public. I was so impressed by the students You know the high school students that I met so it's it's great and we want to expand that as we can We're also looking at on vacation camps, you know, if that would be built using the summer fund model So we're hoping that we'll be able to offer those in perhaps February and April of this year Let's see and so we're always open to other ideas It was superintendent Bodie who said to me let's use some of this surplus revenue to create Youth programs that meet community needs things that we cannot do during the school school day And that's the model that we've used the What I would say here is that what if there's any message I want to leave you with it It's that we have the flexibility Because of the way that we've that we derive our funding to quickly develop new programs and respond to community needs and Superintendent Bodie has given us a lot of freedom and a lot of direction to do that Thank you Well, I just wanted to congratulate you and say that our family has enjoyed many of the programs My dart took cad the summer and it transformed her was fantastic But actually I also wanted to ask a question about financing I know that I've seen on the check things that we sign some of the the funds Coming out. I mean, I was just wondering it gets it gets sort of funneled through the school committee through the school department It does know it's a revolving fund and I think that's by state law Okay, the community ed programs. I know that on the check things that we sign sometimes there's things. Oh Oh to the warrant the warrant articles. Sorry. Sorry Yeah I mean, it's just sort of kept in a separate accounting. Yes, it's a revolving account, but it is Community education is part of the Arlington public schools. And so it goes through our whole financial I was just curious of how the process was. Okay. Good. But um, yeah, congratulations. I think it's a fantastic program. So This was our first summer experiencing it and our daughter loved over the rainbow and books alive I mean, she absolutely had a fantastic week and that you could have a student do a morning And then have lunch at the Odyssey and then do an afternoon is just it was a great program I do offer aftercare to until six o'clock I'm gonna say exactly the same thing we had to both of my daughters had classes this summer and they just love them the day trippers Adventure day trippers the One was in the one-act plays and also duct tape fun They were all great. Well, I when toys that go was also we can't say enough about the teachers You know, we're in awe that those of us who administrators are in awe these Teachers are it keep their energy up. Keep their enthusiasm up this summer. It did not get it Blazingly hot as it has there and But those teachers are you know, they're they're amazing. They really are Thank you very much. Please pass on our gratitude to them. Yes, I just have one more I This isn't a criticism but I've heard from some seniors that they wish there was more programming during the day There's more programming during the day I'm sorry for seniors that seniors have have said that they wish there was more programming during the day during the day Mm-hmm, but I know that space is an issue for that It is it is an issue during the day But we have a lot of online classes and we're working with Matthew right now To make sure that students know that they're available to take those classes as electives Miss who's do you mean seniors like senior citizens? Yes, sorry, I'm asking you know, I've heard from senior citizens that I've met in the community Yeah, we are having more and more daytime classes whenever we can get this space. Yes I know this is the issue. Yes, and it costs, you know, it costs a lot of money to rent spaces during the day But we are and we're working actually with the Arlington Council on aging. Mm-hmm. We are Cosponsoring, I think there's four classes with them this this term, so we're hoping to develop that great Sorry, I thought you meant the high school seniors. Okay. Thank you again. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Donna Alright Well going to opening day I just want to give some general overviews of what has been going on this this last couple days Actually the last couple of weeks and then we have a number of just short reports are on different different things that In combination all of us will be giving you this evening I have to say it was a very smooth opening all around As I mentioned to you my email the only slight hitch was the malfunctioning smoke alarm At at Pierce on first day at 815 I might add but they all handled it extremely well I had been around to all of the schools and Walked through all of the corridors, and I I'm I always remain so impressed with the teachers and how they begin the school year that the number of practices and pros that they that they are conscious of Educating the children about even where you go outside for for a fire drill So all of that went very smoothly the thing that that I don't know if everybody appreciates is the amount of work That it takes to actually have a smooth opening. There are just so many parts to that and I do want to acknowledge a groups of people and their part that have made it just such a great opening the schools look terrific and This is really due to the wonderful work that our custodians have done. We've and Diane has given you the names of Jeremy Brant and Rodrigo Macedo who are our new Daytime and nighttime supervisors. They have just done a fabulous job Along with mark me on or making sure that the buildings look terrific things that need to get fixed were fixed The the thing I love all the floors are quite are shiny everywhere Which is which is I think very welcoming when people come back That's just that sense of newness and cleanliness. That's that's important but you know in addition to that there's a lot of hiring that went on this summer and I'll let Rob talk about that a little bit more later on but There are hiring committees and principles were working and certainly the HR department was a buzz all summer the the secretaries on this floor as well as building secretaries were busy with the ordering the Unboxing the checking of class lists the the the lists of things that they had to accomplish were tremendous We've had central registration in that office has been non-stop all summer The and I'm glad David Good is here this evening because his team just did an extraordinary job this summer in Doing a number of things which will get a more complete report But we had through the generosity the Arlington Town Capital Committee as well as the Arlington educational Foundation were able to purchase 275 laptops for teachers and there were 500 devices for students who were distributed to the nine schools and all of those have to be prepared as well as distributed and and Dave's team was just Amazing working very very long hours all summer and did an extraordinary job not to mention the fact that we also had new wireless I'm telling I'm probably telling a lot of lawyers report But we have a lot of wireless points put in because of the unevenness of the signals So it was very busy there as well We also had me Janak who has organized The the preparation for our new teachers which included a lot of curriculum work in which they had mentors in their diff different areas of Such as reading mathematics This summer to prepare them to begin an opening day as well as a new teacher orientation And I do want to mention at this point one of the things that We learned quite recently is that the Renny Institute, which is a policy and think tank in Cambridge, which many of you are familiar with have Identified Arlington's mentoring program is one of the four in the state that they would like to see as a model for how other districts organize their mentoring program and I give a lot of credit to not only Marie But to all everybody's been involved in that all of the mentoring that goes on and Linda Hansen has certainly been Part of all of that as well So it's really we knew we were good But we didn't realize how good we really are and I think a lot of that information will be coming out this fall in Their report and we'll certainly share that with you when that comes as I said We were welcomed a new director just quite recently as well as two new principals at Dallas that Digmond and at Thompson Karen Donato and they jumped in right away with As all the boxes the scheduling the registration and they had a pretty busy summer as well Unfortunately, we also are losing one of our really valued colleagues Kerry Dunn who is who the Boston public schools recruited and pursued to become their director of history and it was it's just it was it was a great opportunity and Kerry will be leaving us at the end of the month. I'm not sure that there'll be an opportunity for her to be here at the here with you at at the At a meeting, but if you have an opportunity to see her I know that she she would like to say goodbye so we have they said we have a number of reports and Let me start with The enrollment which has been such a dynamic Process this summer we've had both directions We've had students that are leaving the district from last year in fact in some class in some grades at some schools We've had as many as 23 lead, but then we have more that come I was talking to a principal has been here for at least 10 years and I think the thing that She would say is that in the last couple of years the just the amount of churn with with enrollment has been just dramatic I I don't I can't give you exact numbers this evening because we are in the process right now Of doing a proofing which means that we're going through everything that's in our data management system To the actual class list and that process began today So certainly by next week. We'll have a better idea, but what I can say is That this year we're having a milestone in that we have our first kindergarten class over five hundred That number is fluctuated over five hundred, but it's never gone below five hundred night And I think that it's going to end up somewhere around five ten to five fifteen Which has Made class sizes a little bit larger at the elementary and for for kindergarten. We've had to add to kindergarten's Since we created the budget as well as a fifth grade as well at at Hardy that happened earlier in the summer the Buffer zone tool that we had was very helpful this summer in trying to create a little bit more balance between class sizes and But having having said that there are still class sizes that are quite large and There are class sizes at the same grade level that are smaller and that kind of Inequality is very hard to entirely even out Even with this tool because the buffer zones that we have Represent only about twenty three percent of the town and and while it's helpful. It doesn't completely solve that problem but with class sizes that have been large what we have added this as teacher support teaching aids and At this point We're not going to be adding any additional classes one of the other big challenges this summer is it's not simple to add a class It may seem like you just need to add a class get to have a teacher But it's not that simple because every elementary class for example is supported with physical education art Music and all of those specials have to be Assigned and we've had to add pieces of all of those and Redo schedules that were already created in June and at this point. I think we've sort of We just were able to finally settle that the end of last week The the rescheduling and the hiring of more people to cover that we've had the same issue at all levels We've had to add point two here point point four there in order to be able to cover a classes sections and also In order to be able to schedule the schools So we've had a we've had a fair number of increases and I think you'll hear in the hiring report that Well, there's a lot of full-time There's a lot more part-time this year because of that that that part of it So we'll have a complete report as I said on this as we go forward I will also tell you another place where there was a big a sizable increase this year from last year and that is the oddison We had An increase of a hundred about a hundred students and one of the other surprises that we saw is that Last year's fifth grade was 414 at the end of the year But our incoming sixth grade was 420 and that number isn't hard and fast yet again It's in a little bit of flux But the thing is surprising is that you we've always had a change from fifth to sixth in terms of students going to That's the big change when you go to private school And so we're what you're seeing is that that students did go to private school But even with that we are above what the exiting fifth grade was and so as we look To the budget as we look to the school We are going to have to look at increased staffing and of course space is going to be an issue Which we will talk more about as the year goes on It is a challenge in that respect so that that's sort of like an overview where we are with enrollment It is it's it's keeping in the trend line that we saw the last two years actually I think it's gonna it will be higher than it was last year And we'll have a more by the time we meet next time. We'll have more definitive number for you So before I go on the reports, are there any questions on any of this? Is quick question dr. Bodie on the increase of ELL students and what impact that might have to this current year that that has been Significant also in fact even just this week. We've had some number of increases We've had to increase a number of ELL teachers and in fact we may be in the position of having to increase them even more than we had So that that part isn't finished either in some cases. We're trying to Well, it's it's it's moving students to where we might have the correct programming and We have seen a big increase and I don't think we have the exact numbers But we but it has been significant and we're in the process of assessing students We have and seeing how difficult it's been able to react as quickly as we would like We have already planned for next summer and a different process than we have had in the past The number of the influx of ELL students was not as significant in previous years So it was easy to respond to the additional Student now the numbers are are getting into such a way that we need to to screen prior to the school year starting And this just up tails. I think with that question in terms of the central registration and moving to central registration have you seen an uptick in terms of the Centering the information better than having all the different schools have their own information Or is there still some things to perfect with regard to center there? There are okay. There are still still systems we need to put in place to It's it gets complicated with our data management system because You have to keep last year's enrollment in the system in order to do summer reports and mr. Schlickman probably is aware of what some of those reports are so While maintaining old data you are you're trying to also manage the influx, which is a lot during the summer So we've learned a lot. We're going to be debriefing over the next week or so After that sort of the dust settles a bit to see what what systems we have in place in fact I you've heard me Paul and Neville last year was involved with one of our analyses of the system around our after-school programs and she is going to be working on developing improved systems for this as well over the next few weeks I just have a question what happens when students move in in the upper elementary new students to the district Do we offer them the option to go to a school that has a smaller class size? Or do we strictly go by their district and by buffer zones in those cases? So suppose there's a classroom sort of across town. It's a new student to the district. That's much smaller I was just wondering if there's an option to offer that to this the family there is in fact we have selectively done that this summer and A couple people have taken us up on it others have not We have we we as far as open enrollment requests and then also wait lists one we have periodically Gone over everybody's requests this summer and in fact the last time we did that was last Friday We went we reviewed all of the decisions of the summer and in some cases. We were able to offer even on Friday some an option to Get off the wait list and go ins and some people did and some people did Could I just clarify that anyone that's We offer a position across town the burden of transportation is on them not us am I correct? Yes, okay? That just want to make that clear to the audience out there that the school will not assume the transportation from East Allington Downlington Heights Right though your more your question though Is is a very good question and thinking about a system to do that because the numbers are changing but You don't really know where they're gonna land in July and so If there's a system that we could put in place we do have one for buffer zones, but we don't have one where People who are in a particular district would necessarily say well, can you tell me where the enrollment is in the neighboring? District, I was actually just struck this year by how many new students at higher levels high school Audison, you know upper elementary. I was I don't know if this is particularly unusual, but struck by how many people It's a lot is across the district the increases Yes, I don't have a question so much as Request when we do get numbers about the new students coming into the district. Can we get both? new students I Want to capture how many new people are were enrolled and and how many states so I don't just want totals to compare last year's total to this year I'd like to know we had we have this many and then we got this many new and this many left Actually, I have a report like that right now It's it's it's taking it by school by grade and you can see from October 1 last year It's very interesting. I will share it with you once we confirm all of it But you know one class is up 18 other ones down to up one It's it's there's no pattern to it at all. I think it'll yeah, it helps To understand more than just seeing that the totals. I think it does too. Mm-hmm All right Rob So I'm just going to talk very briefly about this You have in your packet the updated bullying prevention the bullying policy and Procedures for reporting one of the big differences from in this In this version is that now we're acquired because of the law change to have procedures for responding to Complaints of bullying by staff Allegations of bullying by school staff. So that's in this in this updated policy and Cindy Bouvier has put this together and I saw During the new teacher orientation She did training for all the new teachers on the building policy So the training aspects of the requirements of the law are being incorporated in the district I Don't know if Laura or Kathy have anything to add. I was also say that at the faculty meetings on Thursday all of these trainings were Were provided to all of our staff so some of our new teachers not only heard it at the Orientation day, but they also Had it reiterated on that at the faculty meetings, but there is one change in the law. You might want to mention The Alligations of bullying by just to clarify that's bullying by staff against students against students. Yes The bullying law and policy covers allegations of bullying by students against other students and by staff against students members of the committee I Had questions a couple things so I went through the new policy and It talks on page 2 it talks about That there's information Available on the website and it gives the address, but when I go to our website I mean that the main are went in public schools website I find it's actually very very difficult to navigate not knowing this specific address You have to know to look for safe schools and click on that and then start and it puts you off in this whole another wall and it's like Wow look at all this stuff, but you can't get there either by searching or by keywords like bullying I mean looking for things so I think that's a problem and then So that's that's one thing then the other thing on page 11 it talks about Needing notification to parents and that parents are supposed to get I'm having a hard time finding my pages The annual parent notification letter sent home includes information about the dynamics of bullying and cyberbullying on the reporting process and location of suspected bullying incident report forms, so I looked at the two Things which I think are these letters that I got from various schools not trying to call out specific schools But neither one Contained the information that they're talking about one of them had wrong links if you actually typed in the link You couldn't get to the the thing that they were talking about you got to the old one Or one of the links didn't work at all They They didn't have any language around them trying to explain what was what this information was being provided for it was Just like a cut out of policy one of them was for the high school And I don't have a high school or kids so it really didn't make much sense at all so I think I'm concerned that you know the bullying policy and and all these procedures are great But we need to be sure that they're actually being filtered out to a to the bottom where they're working I'm worried that we've done all the stuff on the top because that was required by the government But we never actually looked at the lower layers to make sure that when it gets down to the parents that it's actually the Informations there and findable and they're in understandable and actually that we're following all the I'm not sure right now That we're in all schools following the letter of what this policy says. So I ask can you Get from the principles. What did you send out and see does it do you feel it? It matches? And and if not, can we send something else out? So in fact, it would be helpful if you could tell me I can't I'm not again I'm not trying to call out any specific I didn't have a chance to call and see if any you know to check with other schools, but I did do two and Neither one the links did not work No, they're the wrong links It's not been updated So any other members I Have a couple We're required to record the amount the numbers do Do you offhand right at this moment to have the the current numbers of Reported incidents the past three or five years. So I don't have that Which she should when when we talk when we say annual training is the follow-up throughout the year I know we do it initially from the new teachers coming in that's part of the teacher orientation and Usually first day of a couple of days teaches here the standard things, but are there for follow-up? done by principles the department has and things of this nature periodically on bullying because I can just remember as a teacher first couple of days you hear these this Going on. I'm just Do we normally have follow-up during the year I think the I mean the Training happens as we said during new teacher orientation and the for opening day meetings I think the focus of professional development is so extensive in this district that it's hard to fit everything in for the rest Of the year, I guess I'm not asking for a full program, but I think often You had that initial statement made the first couple of days and then there's an incident Then you gather the whole faculty to refresh them when you become reactive rather than proactive That's all I'm saying just I want to bring that to your attention I realize we're overwhelming with our staff, but too often when there's a bullying incident We have a tendency to revamp and remind everybody about it in the reporting and everything and it's a reactive thing I think this also speaks again You know to the decision a couple years ago to add full-time social workers in every elementary school the social workers and the guidance counselors are the the professional staff along with the principal who really Work on this issue and respond to complaints and they are very well trained the other question If a student is on an IEP and is deemed the the bully aren't we required to have a manifestation hearing dealing with that No, but you are required if the student is Either likely to be subject to address it in the IP which they noted we did that Right, but also if the student because of their eye because of their disability has a tendency to perhaps engage in bullying behavior So the manifestation hearing is not automatic if you're on an IEP Okay Looking at the form there was no in the reporting I don't know if we're required to report and identify the person being on an IEP For the bullying yes But when a student is suspended if they were suspended for bullying then you have to Notate at that time and that they actually talked about that in terms of you have to look at the suspension I thought it was it was any kind of disciplinary action Had to be looked at in light of the the disability Well as Allison, I mean suspension is one form of disciplinary there could be other forms But if you were denying a student participation in social activities as a result of this You're not you're not suspending them from school. You suspect it would be Okay, thank you Anything else, okay Do you give the summary of the summer professional development and looking ahead for this year? Sure We had as usual quite extensive professional development this summer We had 208 teachers that participated in almost a hundred days of Professional development. I still have some green sheets that are coming in so then you know the number right now is around 52,000 but I expect it to be give or take that's We spend a lot of money in this district on professional development this summer and it is definitely worth it We have already had I've already had meetings where people are saying and I went to this this summer for professional development And we absolutely have to have those people That worked on this or that share that throughout the year So we'll definitely have that going the vast majority of our professional development is sponsored and Designed and and given by our own staff We very rarely use people from the outside and I think that that says to a lot of the level of expertise that we have within the district while there's topics across all subject areas When there's an area such as a social worker or special education Person or guidance counselor that we may not have something that is about That's relates to their field We have courses offered at edco that we will the district will pay for in order for them to attend We really focused a lot this summer again on the implementation of the common core what it looks like in the classroom particularly in the area of nonfiction Reading and writing and also in the math practice standard So we'll continue to see that that also is reflected in our very full professional development calendar Already for this year. I worked with the curriculum directors and actually Linda and I worked together to also make sure that there's As much time as possible for not only professional development for teachers to work in their professional learning communities to have time to look at student data and common assessments And you know really impact student achievement We also will have a full day professional development day in November one portion of that day will be a required training based on What that subject area needs to work or sub tier grade level needs to work on but there'll also be options for faculty to choose and with this year We've again formed a professional development committee That will help us to plan that day and also to plan what offerings will offer for next summer and during the next school year Yes So I was just wondering is there an opportunity for staff to comment on the professional development they've done I know there's something that was asked for last year. Yeah, we actually all the people that offer professional development offer a Survey for the faculty to respond back to and you know, we'll be continuing to look at that data But the data that I've seen thus far is very positive Okay, and then one more question. Who is a professional development team? Are they a mix of teachers and they will be people who volunteer to participate as part of that committee As well as pardon me how many people about What do we say? Ten ten. That's what I thought, but I wanted to make Linda and I've been writing Well, we're just in the process of forming it, but it's our it's our hope that we would have people representative from each school Yes, I just wondered if there isn't some way to capture the the breadth of the Professional development that was offered and the number of people who participated and help use it as a recruiting tool when we're hiring new teachers I mean, I don't know how hard it is for us to hire the teachers that we really want But it seems like having good PD offered on a regular basis would be something that would be a plus I mean that is definitely something we mentioned in recruiting Visits and in job fairs in in some of our literature. So it's definitely been It's out there that we're proud of that and we do We do speak about it and I know the principals and curriculum directors when they go to Represent the district of job fairs or when they're doing interviewing which they're they're doing the interviewing they'll mention that too We've made adjustments modifications in the budget in our professional development budget over the past several years In different I can't remember all you would know the details there But is that is that impacted the amount of PD we can deliver? Or the summer PD it wouldn't impact because some of its teacher. No, I mean some of the PD We offer in the summertime is is funded by title one. Yeah, for example, okay some of it is offered funded by title to a In previous years, we've also had summer PD last year We ran a t21 class and that was funded by the Arlington educational foundation So and we ran a literacy workshop at the alum middle school level Also last summer that was funded by the Arlington educational foundation. So We're pretty creative and going to when I talk about that number. That's not all from the operational budget That's the number total, but it comes from a variety of sources. Okay. Thank you And that's been a number we've been pretty much using for summer PD for the last few years is about 50,000 multiple sources, but that's about I mean a tendency of school districts has been when budgets get tight PD gets caught We don't It's so important. Yeah, it's that that is how you revitalize your school district and and I Think it's money that it's not one That's not an area that I would want to cut unless really good. I just wanted to make sure that was clear In fact, I would like to see more money available for it But certainly the summer is Laura said that that is a key time to do a lot of this work and it's We just haven't cut back on it. Got it. Thank you Listen more reports The new teacher manual you have seen Which is something that we give to all of our new teachers and again I think that this is something that I've come to understand is not uniformly done in other districts so The the whole model of what we do for mentoring is something that as I said the Renny Institute is very interested in one of the things that we do and That is unusual. We've talked about this before is that we actually have curriculum mentors at the elementary grade and these these mentors Work as actually as models as master teachers in the and and the new the new teachers in that grade level or New to the district or new to the grade level go to that teacher's classroom during the year to see model lessons So it's it's a very comprehensive and maybe once we get this full report It'd be nice to have Marie come and talk about this But we also people here who are very much part of that whole program as well, but moving on I Glory want to give the technology port and then we'll go to building constructions. Okay, as Kathy has spoken before we Had such a busy summer in technology and I would be remiss if I did not mention by name Dan Shan Francis de Barra Sean Faith Dennis Lowry has Foskey and Matt Paisano who just I mean just from opening the boxes to imaging the machines Just sending emails over and over and over again We originally planned for 275 machines because of the new staff that we got in the district were more gonna be at the 290 range They did two upgrades to power school There was not ever a day where I felt like I wasn't saying again and again. This is a priority This is a priority. Everything was a priority and they did it with a smile on their face Even though they might have been thinking something else in their head They did a major upgrade to the Wi-Fi networks at OMS and the high school And it was always at the time when it was the hottest days of the summer We didn't have too many hot days, but they were always the days when we had to work on that They did an initial cart per grade at the elementary school So we're now up to a cart per grade at each of the elementary schools They did additional carts in a new lab for Audison. They did additional student machines for the high school they were just in every building and You know despite the number of emails that they said reminding staff come in the summer pick up your machine now While there's not a long line There was a line of like 40 people as we got down to opening day that we're looking for their machines in addition Jeff Snyder and Susan Bisson and a couple other people John One of the teachers at the high school. I'm sorry. I'm miss forgetting his last name and Nicole Masook Masook Thomas who thank you and Nicole Melnick all ran professional development. So it wasn't like we just gave teachers a machine We offered them all kinds of professional development with that machine and we'll continue to offer that throughout the summer They also did besides the upgrades to power school We did upgrades to baseline edge this summer and several other of our systems So they just worked tirelessly through the whole summer and I think that they're probably all in need of a very long vacation right now Quite a bit of work was done over the summer in addition to the the really great job that was done with the cleaning this summer and the Systematic way that it was done, which was nice having this is the this is the second summer for our two new Pistodial supervisors and you can really see that a year under their belt made a world of difference They went into it with a game plan and they executed it beautifully There was none of the usual scrambling around frantic in the last week. It was all very smooth It was really commendably orchestrated on their part But we did some work at the Hardy With the exterior envelope There's water penetration that we thought was a window problem It's actually a brick and mortar problem and the long-term solution is that there's a sealant that needs to be applied To all of the Hardy about every ten years But in the meantime we did some of the work and we're going back to capital to get more money to finish the entire building It turned to be it turned out to be more extensive than we originally tested for But we are we now know what the problem is and we can address it and then maintain the building More watertight than we have been able to we replace the cafeteria floor at the Bishop We abated and replaced floors at both the Stratton in the high school We were able to do some interior painting at the brack at the Pierce and the oddison We were able to part to paint not all but some of the high school locker rooms The uglier ones and so now the better-looking one looks ugly in comparison, but at least we've moved the bar up a little bit We were awarded a green communities grant that has allowed us to do a tremendous amount of energy efficiency improvements to the oddison replacing a boiler in Replacing the motors inside the unit vents in the classroom because many of them were turned off or disabled because the old The old ones were so noisy and the new ones are much quieter and of course more energy efficient But that's going to improve the ventilation which has been a real complaint at the oddison that the air just doesn't move It gets really funky and stale and these new units are going to go a long way And the fact that they don't make as much noise will make them desirable to be in the run mode And we have a new energy management system We're moving towards eventually having all of the buildings in the district on energy management systems That can be controlled by our facilities manager from his laptop Rather than having to run from building to building We are also at the Pierce. We've gone a step beyond that. We're part of a pilot program To have an overlay system, which will actually be able to give us data about the systems in real time So if a boiler is going wonky and suddenly burning up too much fuel way out of line It'll send an email to mark when it's fully functional We'll send an email to mark and say get down there and check this now. You're losing You know hundreds of dollars a minute or something like that. So Eventually that's where we want to go when we get all of our buildings up to that level that we can really do Some neat stuff. We've also finally got school specialty almost ready Bishop and Pierce are going to be piloting the new work order request system This fall and we'll roll it out to the other schools We just want to shake some of the bugs out with a few schools before we push it out to everybody School dude has many plug-and-play options The work order system is the first step The long-term preventative maintenance is the second step So we make sure we're changing the filters and all of that so that all of our boilers are working optimally For the length of the time we save energy we maintain environment But the next step beyond that is to be able to use a Universal scheduling system that will eventually integrate with the energy management systems the capacity execs exists Technologically to be able to have someone log into our website request the rental of a room Have us do the approvals internally and have it synced with the energy management system Literally to the point where you turn the heat on and turn the lights off during the rental period now We're years from that, but that's where we want to go eventually It's really neat and could potentially have tremendous savings not only an energy usage But also just the hurly-burly of scheduling, you know We really bring the management of the facilities together in a way that's going to be better for everybody Pierce has air conditioning. This was much anticipated long-awaited and more tricky than just plugging it in and turning it on It liked to rain for a while So we had a lot of repairs to do to get it fully functional Apparently when you build a building air-conditioning ready and don't plug the chiller right in it develops the building equivalent of arterial sclerosis So when you do turn it on it starts having embolisms all over the place Water runs and it is just brilliant analogy What you don't use you lose Who knew buildings had the same problems as our cardiovascular system, but they do wow So we've got that all worked out at the pierce and they down is in the budget for We have a down chiller in the budget for fiscal 19 I believe so that will be the second school that we make air-condition ready because the demands for summer PD and Summer school and everything else we need more air-conditioned space for summer activities And certainly I'm sure community. I would love to have more air-conditioned space for some of the programs they'd love to run And that is oh Bishop we did some mold testing at some requests and The atmospheric mold outside the building was far far greater than that inside the building Like a factor of four and the moldiest place on the inside So there's no question of health and that report was shared was with the Bishop principal So that's all good and we were able to repair some wall board that had been damaged by some flooding We've put in a capital budget request for next year We're not a hundred percent sure that regrading the parking lot will help with that perennial heavy rain flooding of that backdoor at the Bishop the The water the water specialists engineers from the DPW are still seeing if that would be a solution But in the event that they decide that that is a solution We've put in a request for next year to the capital budget committee But I think the big building news of the summer beyond all of this great stuff was the Stratton building committee Yes We as you call We began the project of looking at what would create parody the Stratton Compared to with all of the other elementary schools and we put together a building committee that began last year we ended up hiring an architect to work with us and and We worked throughout the whole summer and have now a final report which you will have Given to you sometime later this month We're scheduling a Presentation on at the next school committee meeting with the architects to come here and just talk about What the work was and their suggestions and the price tag and then that? The architects along with the building committee will also meet with Capital committee and the permanent town building committee on October 2nd So we're moving along in that in that effort I'll just save the details of that to later, but it was a terrific committee and worked very well I wasn't quite sure we hit the end of August deadline, but we did and the two architects we worked with From DRA were terrific. I would ask the committee when you get the copy of the report to look at it carefully So we're prepared to Maximize our time with the architect when they come In the date they're coming The 18th the 18th our next meeting You'll have the report before that okay another building Event that happened just came out about a couple weeks ago As you recall when we did the Thompson building one of the things we were looking to do is to increase what they call chip points Which are energy efficient points so that we can increase the And increase the share that the state paid toward Thompson and we just got noticed from our architect that We achieved 53 points and became a verified had a verified leader status Which is actually quite unusual in the state. I think we're one of two In the last year or so so we're we're we're going to we're planning a ceremony that we haven't set the date yet, but probably will be in October and will be inviting that the General the general director of MSBA Jack McCarthy and talk to Adam Chaplain and we're just working on what the date will be at this time But anyway, it was it was wonderful, which meant that we got as much reimbursements through green Energy points as we could possibly get we just feel like one point off That was good All right That is the opening day report a little bit longer. We thought but combined the two times Moving on now just all right ahead because we're on buildings We were told maybe May maybe June we'd hear from MSBA. Oh, yeah It's any word about timing. Yes, I do have word. I talked with Jack McCarthy Beginning of August and it will be decided at the November meeting I should look on the website I'm not sure which day that will be but but I am going to Call him and see what else he might need in the way of documentation if anything we've submitted everything But if you'd like to come and do a site visit, I'm gonna invite him to do that He did not but he did tell me that One of the things they had more submittals this last year than they ever have and more from Districts with which would get a higher reimbursement which then affects the total pot that's available for school So he wasn't trying to discourage me, but the same time show have a realistic picture I've mentioned this to you before but I think we are unique in our population Explosion, I know you've told them once I'd ask you to tell them every half hour With minute-to-minute updates as we we grow we're growing and growing and growing and I've said it if Bill Gates gave us a billion dollars Great, where do we put it? So we're just we need That I think makes us unique in the pot Well, we will send a letter as soon as we get confirmed numbers and let them know where we are and what the what the effect of that is in the high school years out because if we were to be accepted this year probably it'd be at least six years before we completed the project at least and So this the children that we see in the elementary right now would be entering Some of our large classes would be entering the high school would have entered the high school. I I second the idea of sending the increased enrollment update. I think that's really good But I also wondered if there's any point If we should be thinking about We don't one of the things we don't have yet is a master facilities plan that is on their list of things that they ask for through the application process and I'm just wondering if If we have to do another go-round if that would improve our chances and whether we should be thinking about that Actually Diane knows a little bit more about that. It comes actually the master plan piece comes actually Down the road with me. Yeah, it's it's further down the road. It's a master educational plan. So it's not it's not just Planning for your Your change of you know, like if we were to do a shift Like pushing kids back to the elementary which we can't because we're small or pushing more kids this way Right, those are the kind of things they're looking at and to do it prematurely We're gonna end up doing it anyway if we continue to grow like this because that changes the game every time we add 300 kids. I'll go through it again. I thought that there was something else And that it was something that they asked if you already have one and it seemed to Suggest that it was a good thing to have one. So maybe I'm not sure I'm talking about the same thing as you are Okay, that could you well one of one of our district goals for this year It's to develop a plan relative to space needs by June of 2015. Could that be something that? Is in what you're asking I'm not totally sure what the thing I'm asking for it is so I don't know I mean it certainly it sounds part of it Yeah, it would be part of it. Yeah I'm just trying to think is there anything we can be doing to improve our chances I mean besides sending off enrollment notices either now or the next go around Every time I see them in a meeting I follow around It's a tough it's a process that you don't have a lot of control over That's what we learned of the Thompson when I heard about the tornado in Worcester. I just prayed it didn't hit a school Because everybody gets that back with spring field was it spring field a couple years ago. Yeah We all said okay at this time moving on the ed edco articles of agreement and So I will entertain a motion to accept the edco collaborative articles of agreement as presented some moved Any discussion on that All those in favor say aye. Aye Motion and entertain a motion to authorize it. I'm sorry No Yeah Miss Jeff moved I second I'll say I will entertain a motion to authorize it co-collaborative to establish a capital reserve fund to support cost Associated with the acquisition maintenance and improvement of fixed assets including real property pursuant to a capital plan I So moved any discussion all those in favor. Oh, sorry. I just wondered so the Plan says that tooth if two-thirds of the members vote so they can set up this capital thing and then Districts can be assessed if needed to bring in fees. I'm just wondering is this are we setting ourselves up like with Minuteman or something? No, no That that has to be in the in the plan, but This the situation is more that the new regulations require that no collaborative can roll over more than 25% of their cash assets into the next fiscal year and there are different ways that you know once that once we have the auditors come and Determine what the surplus funds are Then the collaborative has options that they can do but one of the options that exist But would not exist for edco unless you vote for this is to have a capital fund Which is more necessary now than it has been in the past because as We actually just finished edco just moved to their new building this last week which is out of Middlesex turnpike and We have a 10 year with an option to go 15 year lease on this building, but the the the collaborative as part of the rental agreement will have This this capital needs that will exist as we go forward And there's been capital needs that we've had to just to set up the building over the lat over the summer months So one of the stipulations of the law allows you that if you have excess funds You can either Return them to the district Or you could you could put them into a capital account So it's the idea of building up this capital account to deal with things. We know we're gonna happen. I Haven't right now. I chair the the the finance committee for edco and I don't anticipate any any need to come back to member districts At least in the near future this assets there it's more to make sure that we can We've always taken the capital assets of the cost of the operating budget and Been able to carry that over from year to year, but now we're limited by the law and try much to carry over All those in favor I Will attain a motion to appoint superintendent of schools Kathleen Bodie as the voting member of edco board of directors from the Arlington school district Second Any discussion all those in favor? All right. I have two questions Regarding edco. I noticed in one of the documents that Acton and Boxborough were not listed. I've they Left the or are they coming in as Acton box bar was one coming in as a consolidated And just one minor thing why did it take 18 months to bring it to a vote the documents were dated 18 months ago It's taken a while to it's a quite a process To get the articles great upon then that right now all the district all member districts are voting on the articles and voting on the capital It would took a while that we went review with the our attorney Auditors so it's a process. I was just curious. Yes I would suggest a couple of years ago that we had the edco director coming to make a presentation to us And at some point in the year, I don't know. I mean the chair does the schedule Talks about the new building and the programs. Yeah, so what I would I would suggest that okay good Well, I'm glad you're doing your head of everybody, but I would suggest in the presentation that we get Some financial information on you know, how does Arlington benefit from edco? So we get some so the public has some concrete debt on how we benefit Okay, I will definitely have and so it's more of a and then a little concrete data followed by a presentation on What it does and why it's important to Arlington because I don't think a lot of people understand it In the in the community okay happy and Colleen has offered to come Colleen Dolan who is the executive director and I won't I won't do a presentation on it right now, but I will say this one of the reasons we've also moved We as a as a collaborative is that we're offering more special education programs things that are not offered By lab or other well certainly may be in private, but this again is supposed to be a collaborative effort So Colleen will come we'll set up a time that works, but you are also going to get invited to the open house Which is I believe October 27th from 4 to 6 30, but you'll get the invitation. It's to see the new building Okay, monthly budget report miss Johnson Thank you. I'd like to I'm sending around a handout Two things there was a document that that didn't make it into the upload Which I wasn't aware of until I was able to get into the upload and there's also a revised sheet Staple to the document that was missing that is a revision of what was uploaded There's a very small change less than $2,000, but I wanted to give you the most accurate numbers. I could the story of The story so far for this year is that we had to do additional hiring this summer to cope with More ELL students more students in general shifting schedules specials New classrooms we we went well past the five reserve teachers in the budget and had to add more to it now We're very fortunate to be in a position. Thanks predominantly to our foreign visa students who pay tuition to come here That we have a reserve of funding that will allow us to cover these additional hires. We've had to make this year Other than that we are starting up the year pretty much as we expect We've been as you see the encumbered number is quite high in the general fund. That's typical We encumber what we estimate will spend in Utilities and other things for the entire year Special Ed is in the process of encumbering their estimations on tuition for the entire year So you'll see that encumbrance number go down as the year progresses Expenditures however are small relatively speaking because teachers salary for July and August it relates to the prior fiscal year So it as of this reports you didn't see any Current school year teachers salaries hitting the only teachers salaries that hit over the summer where people actually teaching summer school Which is different from the summer salaries that belong to FY 14 the beginning of October I'll be doing a report talking about where we landed on FY 14 But this month we're doing the end-of-the-year report for the state and we'll be working on that throughout this month Any questions? I Was looking at the budget tracking statement on page one of three Natural gas is estimating under budget and I'm wondering is that because it's coming out of another pot correct, okay? I Have to admit I hit the wrong key a minute ago And I deleted all my questions that would make you happy, but I see I have still a couple that I do remember One did I miss it or is there no entry for special education on this report? Did I miss it? No, they're out of district tuitions in the out of district tuitions here for sure, but the regular sped line I didn't see that Special education Is usually a line that has the word sped on it did I miss it? I may have just wish into other schools That's it. That's it. Yeah, it doesn't say sped but it is and one of the question is do when teachers move I remember we put a special line item in once for Thompson going to Hardy and back. I Then went into the contract and saw Do we Ever move teachers without the teachers themselves doing the moving yes But they get an allowance for the packing when we act the actual moving of the physical boxes is done by the custodial staff Even the if we ever all right. Thank you. I'll discuss Thank you and the teacher teacher moving allowances is 81318 On the budget tracking report for the cost Can you tell me offhand how many we had because it's how many no because the contract says per diem and That that that can vary somewhere from 200 to 400 dollars depending who he is right Anything further? Thank you We're going to move on to 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 community committee So request in which event the item will be considered in its normal sequence approval of warrant Number one four one nine zero dated June 26 2014 in the amount of five hundred sixty four thousand three hundred twenty five dollars and thirty six cents warrant number one four one nine seven dated July 10th 2014 back dated six 3014 in the amount of six hundred and sixteen thousand nine hundred fifteen dollars and ninety cents warrant number one five zero one four dated August 7th 2014 in the amount of six hundred and eleven thousand thirty eight dollars and forty eight cents Approval of draft minutes June 12th and June 26 2014 So moved Pull six twenty six Pull the minutes the minutes. Okay fine. So we will be voting on everything at this time except the draft minutes Mr. Thielman made Made the motion is there a second second any other further questions all those in favor say aye. Aye Now I will attain a motion for approval of draft minutes June I'm sorry She's checking who wasn't there on the 26th, right? Yep, Mr. Hain is a tendency to rush through things and we have to Will we all here in the 26th Oh, that was the famous Well said you have a good time Behave yourself. I will entertain a motion at this time for approval of draft minutes June 12th June 26. I'm sorry 2014 so moved any Discussion all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any abstentions? Yes, Mr. Pierce is abstaining. I want to say that was one of the best discussions we ever had a school committee meeting on the 26th Mr. Which it was a very good discussion all thing. I mean, I don't mean I don't mean to make spillbilt Yeah, we all said I was on the losing end. I'm a good sport It was a tie Well a little decorum here's a little as possible, okay, we're waiting right now Yep, we're not going anywhere promise We can push on this to Yeah, oh gosh for a minutes this Fitzgerald We're going to just go on to committee reports right now. Is that okay? We're on to committee reports Policies and procedures mr. Pierce at this time. I will have something for you in a minute. Okay budget miss stocks Community relations mr. Schlickman nothing over the summer, but we will be looking to have a meeting pretty soon So we can start discussing surveys great facilities. Mr. Thielman No report and I need I'm going to need some guidance from the superintendent on how the committee should go forward this year I need some clarity on that a special study group on superintendent's evaluation I will be sending out a doodle to that group just so that we can all be on the same page for the evaluation this year and have a consistent document The Novus agenda, I'd like to take I'm sorry Did I skip? curriculum instruction and assessment I apologize To report Okay now on to the Novus agenda I Would like you you got a report from Adam Kuroski The Board of Selectmen have voted to go with a contract for one year We are not need it's not necessary for us to vote this the good news is Novus agenda normally charges school committees a fee and selectments a fee Thanks to Adam and his negotiations It's one fee for as long as we have them so we come in under this the selectmen have voted this Through the Not out of our budget It's still out of the Ellington budget, but it's not out of our personal budget. That's the good news I would like that a very short discussion if it can keep it short if we need to have a short-term committee or To assess this for people to discuss or should we give it to one of the standing committees to look at We had a slight setback and getting us all set up today. I Hit the delete button and it disappeared. I don't know these are minor things that go on I've invited Adam to come and I apologize to whoever the new chair is last meeting at the year to give a yearly report on The good the bad that have come out of this and I didn't know if this subcommittee having a subcommittee or having a standing committee Be compiling this thing so I open that up for any discussion at this point or comments Somebody rather than the whole committee is somebody to to collate information and things of that nature on on The things that we find that we might want to have for add-ons late on one of the things that is not covered under the Contract is the electronic voting and I think that was something we we thought we might be interested in and that's a $700 annual fee it records everything. It's black and white. It's like that Can we I mean we would still have to take a voice vote because of the requirements of the law We can't just vote electronically. I don't I mean unless it's being high on the screen I have spoken the it I Spoke to mr. Hyam the dug Hyam the council on a question on Executive documents coming out. He said we can do that electronic I will ask that and clarify that one way or the other whether we I think we just for public whether we Bring it up and show the actual vote like they do a town meeting. I think we have to yeah Either that I have we have we don't have the ability to project it right then and there I would think the chair could announce the vote that it's unanimous or it's The number there's a five four vote with there's a six one vote with We can ask the secretary Right, the secretary will have the lot at the final thing we can ask the secretary Okay, yeah, if that's okay The other idea is that we could have a committee, but it only meets once say before the meeting with Adam or something Will just a sort of collate if there's a need it will be able to come up We'll go with what Ms. Stark said that's agreed will to the committee and if there's a need that shows up We'll discuss it again Anything else that the policies and procedures says well that thank you for reminding me We are required by To to either change the existing agenda policy to reflect what we're doing here are creating policy I will be happy to talk to the chair of policy from the language that I've got both from Adam and from town council Yes, I Know it sounds like several people don't feel it needs to be discussed But I do think at some point we should discuss whether we like doing electronic or not And and it needs to be in an open discussion not just note sent here and there and I think things well It's just we have that's one of the things this whole procedure has really been lacking is open communication between members in an open meeting setting I Think it's well, why don't we put on the agenda for the next week for the 18th my weeks from that, okay? Thank you We bring the Let me speak to let me speak. Let me speak to Well, let me just state this the only reason mr. Good is here is Adam is on vacation Adam is scheduled to be here for at least three maybe more meetings in support of Karen So he will be here. I think it'd be good to have a discussion with him here Ask all the questions we want to have a big so the questions don't have to be sent to him at a later day Yeah, I just figured out put 20 minutes on the agenda. Sounds good Do we have anything for executive session? I'm of adjournment. Just a second You were like a we said breathe Is there I moved to adjourn is there a second all those in favor Thank you