 This program is brought to you by Cable Franchise Vs and generous donations from viewers like you With a presence of a quorum, I call this meeting of the Amherst School Committee to order at 4.05 p.m and we are being recorded and live streamed on the web and in An Amherst media on channel 15. Thank you very much Amherst media. Um, and thank you for coordinating Mike and the district IS team for coordinating us being able to meet virtually. This was a grand experiment. So I saw you just shared the the meeting packet. Should I present that? Our first order of business is to approve our minutes from our last meeting March 2nd Um, which is in the packet. Does everybody have that? Yeah, okay So just give a moment for folks to look at that I did have um one comment on um under item three Um, it said miss mcdonald discussed the sealed by literacy group. It was the um bilingual Uh advisory committee Was the was the group and talking about the the presentation of the seal of biliteracy So that was the only uh Correction that I had Anybody else? Yeah, um, Alison. Do you want us to raise our hand when we want to speak? That's a good idea. Yes Okay, mr. Dunling Thank you. Um on item g joint capital planning committee I think it was myself and miss pitzer that volunteered It just says, uh, mr. Dunling. Okay Any other ads? Yeah, uh, yeah, mr. Harrington on the, um Let's see. There's the section to approval of minutes This was seconded by mr. Harrington. I'm h e r r i g t o n not h a Yeah And also in the attendance list as well Yeah, I think that was all right Anything else? Does somebody want to make a motion? mr. Dunling I moved to approve the minutes of march 2nd 2020 Moved by mr. Dunling seconded by mr. Harrington. Yes Any further discussion? Oh, since we're on screen, I think I'm going to ask for a voice vote um Yeah, I was going to say I think part of the instructions that we got from At least that I saw from ma sc is that every single vote in a remote meeting has to be a roll call vote. Great. So, um Proceed Uh, accordingly, um, mr. Harrington Yes Mr. Dunling Yes Miss spitzer I And mcdonald I approved for zero um next on our agenda Is our school choice vote Dr. Morris, do you want to introduce this? Um, I think there's um item 2a and new new and continuing business. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Yes Yes, so our first order of business after that is um to Vote to temporarily suspend policy bedh, which is our public comment period and justice background The the rationale for this is right now We are still working on figuring out a technical solution to enabling public comment and until we have that Solved or addressed We would like to temporarily suspend public comment for for this meeting any Questions discussion No Mr. Oh, sorry. I have the chat window open and I couldn't see your hand up there. Um, mr. Dunling Yeah, um, just briefly to say that um, I think Given literally the state of emergency that we're operating under it. It makes sense And if I'm not mistaken, I believe this is consistent with what the town council Is currently doing and You know, there's nothing that prevents us as we move forward depending on how long we have to be meeting remotely Uh to figure out a way that's that's amenable and and manageable Um, and certainly there's a lot of different ways the public can get in touch with us Um, I would still encourage anybody on any topic Even if it's not related to the current Uh emergency situation to contact us at school committee at arps.org Or just contact us our individual school committee emails are also Uh on post on the website. Um, so, you know, we remain open for business and open for Uh input from the public. Uh, it's just that I think as we're ramping up and starting up on this it It's just another layer of, uh Complication that doesn't make sense. So That's it. Yep um, and I uh just to add to that I um On my on my walk this morning. I ran into a uh town counselor Mandy do Hanakie and I understand from her that they are um working on a solution For a monday's meeting to be able to have public comment So more more to come on on there. So we'll be learning From them as well as our own experience here Any other Comments or discussion? Okay So I'll make I'll make the motion. Um, I move to Temporarily suspend policy bed h on public comment Um for this meeting of the emmer school committee Is there a second A second Seconded by miss spitzer. Is there any further discussion? Okay, so move to a vote. Mr. Harrington Yay Mr. Demling I slash yes, yes Miss spitzer I McDonald I Carries for zero Okay, so now we move on to the school choice vote Sure. Um, so at the last meeting we had the school choice hearing Uh, what was uh, my recommendation is to be remain a school choice district Really looking only at great kindergarten and a pretty limited number of students. Um, We talked in the neighborhood of eight to ten. Um, just because we know with future building projects and future other Plans we want to make sure we're not boxing ourselves in In terms of the infrastructure But with eight to ten students, we certainly we feel comfortable and confident We wouldn't be doing that and it maintains both the financial impact of school choice But also the community impact of school choice, which both of which in my opinion are positive So my recommendation is that there'd be a vote to For the emmer's public schools to be a school choice district for the 2021 school year And of course if those questions are coming Sorry, I'm muted myself, but if there's any questions, I'm happy to any questions from the committee Mr. Demling Yeah, I just just briefly comment that I appreciate the way that we're using school choice at the elementary level Topping off the spaces and the teacher resources that we already have and not adding space and resources And as Dr. Morris has said at multiple meetings it enables us Hundreds of thousands of dollars of services and staff to enrich What we have available for everyone. So I appreciate that we're using it judiciously Um, and uh, you know, I'm happy to vote in support Any other comments or questions somebody want to make a motion? I will make the motion. Um, I move to approve the school choice proposal to for emmer's to remain a school choice district for school year 2021 second Moved by mcdonald second and by demling Um, I'll go the other direction. Um miss spitzer You're muted spitzer. I mr. Demling I Mr. Harrington I I'm mcdonald. I it carries four to zero. Uh, next is the student opportunity plan act vote Sure, so, uh, the background on this is the in the fall as was talked about at the emmer school committee The legislature passed the student opportunity act Uh, you know, I'll say personally and professionally. I think it was the right thing to do Uh, it will not merit a result in the emmer's public schools getting funds that weren't anticipated The exception perhaps of charter although that I think that's a It's a moving target. So we'll see how that, um That that goes, um, but, um As a requirement of the student opportunity act each district in the commonwealth had to come up with There has to come up with a student opportunity act plan and, um What you're seeing for amherst is the same for all three districts actually because we're not getting significant new funds It's called the short form. So it's a two page plan for districts getting over a million and a half of new income Which there's about four or five of them in western massachusetts It's like holy oak with springfield springfield chickpea. Um, they have a seven or eight page long form It's much more detailed but there was some acknowledgement By the department of education, which I appreciate that there would be some differentiated Expectations for districts that had large streams of revenue. At least it looked at the time coming in Versus districts like our own So, uh, what you see is a two page document, which was the expectation of the department for districts like ours It as I said relatively brief It follows, um Kind of their template. Um, so all their their the templates in blue and and the writing of the district was in, uh, the black font and, um I think the short story is There is a question about whether this date will be pushed back Um, it was originally due to be voted by april 1st That being said the plan has already been developed shared by the our administrative team shared with every, um parent guardian and every staff member for feedback in Maybe two three three weeks ago. I believe in the my newsletter Um, so if the committee is comfortable, I you know, uh, Voting to move forward. That's great If the committee would like to wait it seems like that timeline will push back But uh for me the inertia is it's been drafted. Um, and if the committee is comfortable I just as well have it submitted Because we think it's it's right for our district. It's the right direction to go in We could always go back and make an edit later Um, you know and revise it as things change with our budget or other matters Um, but it's really up to the will of the committee whether you want to take it up tonight and have it voted or you'd like More time, uh, which it looks like will be granted by the legislature to vote at a later date any Comments or questions from the committee Seeing oh mr. Demley Um, yeah, just I mean, I know this is small money compared to the overall budget, but I do appreciate that it's uh targeted at math intervention Uh, given how many different student groups that affects and that we're rolling in a new math curriculum at least at the sixth grade level um So I appreciate that it'll it'll be interesting to see What this becomes in future years even though it is small money from what I understand of the student opportunity act There was supposed to be targets that desi provided or at least the commissioner provided That these were then drafted towards so without those targets. It's a little Hard to understand exactly what they're looking for, but I'm assuming in this year. They're not going to be that picky. So Um, I'm happy to vote for it tonight Yes, and even prior to the the crisis that were in the health crisis public health crisis were in They were pretty clear. They weren't going to have all those ducks in a row Uh before april 1st that we were supposed to do our best and know there was a multi-year plan I think now that mcass in general is in question. Um, that's probably being generous Uh at the moment, I think, you know, uh, I think there's a lot of things the state will have to figure out and this is Relatively low on the totem pole, but you know for me You know, we believe in everything that's in the document for all the reasons mr. Dunlings said We believe that we need to do more and provide a more equitable outcome for it particularly in all subjects But particularly in mathematics, uh, and if there was no student opportunity act We'd be doing the same things that we're talking about doing here. So It's a it's a box that might get a check, uh, and we can send it off and they may not look at it for months, but uh From from our perspective, we um, if if the committee agrees we'd rather check the box than have to Come back I'm seeing nodding heads. So I'm taking that to I mean that we would like to move to a vote If no one's going to make a motion then I will. Um, I move to vote to approve our Submission for the student opportunity plan act Is there a second? Just change it up a little Moved in the second and is there any further discussion? Seeing none, we'll proceed with a vote. Um, mr. Demling I Mr. Harrington I miss spitzer I And mcdonald I I Carries, uh, my vote of four to zero Thank you so much appreciate it and Moving on to item d appoint budget coordinating group members um Uh, this was a question that uh, dr. Morris and I were talking about whether we already have people appointed to this this coordinating group um, but also given the current, uh Emergency and crisis and and situation there there is a need for us to ensure that we do have members appointed to this group um, and Dr. Morris, maybe you can provide a little bit more introduction on this Absolutely, so the budget coordinating group, um is a group, um That has both elected officials and a more limited number of staff From different departments in the town to the library, you know, the other town staff the schools And they get together to look at the state of the finances in the community um, and they're often years, um And coordinate between the needs of different departments Um, this year was had been a relatively quiet year. Um, so That's changed, uh for all sorts of reasons, but including financially and budgetarily So this is a group that will be meeting in the next couple weeks We'll be meeting shortly to look at the current situation the financial and again, this isn't to minimize the health and human safety aspects of what people are dealing with but We also have to be looking at The other aspects as well because that's we do have a financial fiduciary obligation In our community and the the impact is is significant I think I think everyone can see that if they drive through downtown hammers and so We want to make sure that the school committee is represented with two members Who meet with again with other town staff members As well as other elected officials um Board of trust the library trustees town council and To be honest, I'm not sure if it's the finance committee or how the town council has it as well as staff To be able to have conversations about what the impact is going to be And how we're going to manage it so In the past and that's been the request that I had received from the town manager There's typically two members from the hammer school committee who sit on this group You know, I do want to Let's be honest that this group is probably going to be meeting quite frequently in the next four weeks The town council voted to extend the timeline of when budgets have to be passed By you know, this body to may 1st instead of april 1st That's why budgets not on the one reason why the budget's not on the agenda tonight But this is uh, it's a crisis in all sorts of ways and one of those ways is financial So I do want to be candid that it will be Pretty i'm guessing pretty regular meetings over the next couple weeks On the flip side, you know, uh, it's incredibly important There's a lot of concern about the budgets I'm hearing it from staff as well as community members and what are the implications going to be And this is a group that really works and can bring can bring back to the school committee A broader understanding of the town's finances and how that would influence the school budget Thank you Miss spitzer apologies um I just have a question if you could give any guidance on the Time frame and do you know if these are going to be daytime meetings evening meetings? My understanding is that has not been established. Historically they were in the morning But um historically we didn't have a town council and We weren't in a crisis. So I really don't know exactly How it'll go and historically we didn't do virtual meetings which For some people actually makes it more flexible for some less. Um, as you experienced a couple minutes ago, right? So, um I don't think the time has been established. Uh, historically. I think it was like 9 or 9 30 In the morning, but um, I would say In the communications from the town manager Seemed like getting the group together and then, you know, figuring out the timing was probably the second element So, I'm sorry, I don't have total clarity on that Thank you Any other questions So I I'd be willing to volunteer as as one of the reps. Um on the on the courting group. Um, so would love, uh a partner on that um from from this group if somebody else is willing to Volunteer for that as well I'm interested in serving. I'm just concerned about my ability to be fully present That I have three kids at home and has been continuing to work during the day Um, so I I don't know what other people talk about. I just want people out there that this is something I Have an interest in and I think I'd be happy to serve but I I'm just trying to figure out how to how I can really work Mr. Demling Um, I mean, I'd be happy to be Uh, alternate backup if um, the spitzer would would like to join you and then if once the meeting's scheduled if it doesn't work out um For your schedule, um, you know, I could I could step in um, so if uh That's a flexible way to go at it Yes, sir. Yeah, and could I follow up? Is this going this isn't a just addition to jcpc, which has been temporarily suspended is that I mean just Yeah Yeah, I was just gonna say so jcpc talks about capital funds. Um, the budget coordinating group typically talks uh exclusively Well, I don't know exclusively but the primary piece is the operating budget not the capital budget Well, I'm happy to volunteer with the caveat of what I just said that I'm kind of in a unique I mean all of us are in the situation right now, but um Um My partner has very limited flexibility in his schedule right now. So to the extent that I can be there, I will be able I'd love to Okay, so we'll proceed with uh, miss spitzer and myself as being the representatives pending The sketch the meeting schedule for that coordinating group And have mr. Demling and on call as backup if um, if the meeting schedule does not work out, um with miss spitzer schedule Sounds good. Okay. I'm seeing thumbs ups Great. Thank you everybody. Um Okay, so um now moving on to our next item, which is the school committee vacancy process There's two items on this which is the suggested interview questions as well as um weather and and if yes, what um selection guidance we would like to offer to both ourselves and um And the town council dr. Morris I think uh, lind greezmer has called in. Uh, you can't see her image, but I see a phone number On mine. So I just wondered if lind was here because because this particular topic is A joint one between uh, the end topic is joined between the emmer school committee and the emmer's town council So I just if lind is here if you could introduce yourself just so that the school committee is aware that you're on the call Hi, this is lind and I did phone in after not successfully being able to come in by chrome. So It's fine I'm mostly here to listen but more than glad to ask answer questions And I'm also taking notes as you have your conversation I probably will mute unless I'm answering a question because otherwise I get an echo Great. Thank you Would would folks like me to project the um share on screen the questions would that be helpful? Yes Let me see if I can pull them up um Give me just a sec And I closed my emails and now I have to go back. Sorry. Oh, thank you. You got to it faster than I did Since since I'm not going to participate orally in this part. I'm happy to just leave my screen with the questions Uh and um for anyone who wants to look at the questions, um If you uh click on me and there's a little pin And if you hover over it, it says pin to screen if you pin me to the screen You should be able to just see the questions if you want to look on in in larger um In a larger size. So again, if you hover your um cursor over my over me And there should be a little like thumbtack pin if you click on that that'll pin This image to the screen It actually pinned you to the screen. So Maybe because I That is curious Uh, let me see. Does that help? Um, oh if I pin hit the pin on the screen. There we go. Okay. Yeah Yes, okay great, so this uh, this collection of questions is um Includes all of the questions that were submitted by uh, school committee members and town council members, um before by Week ago Um, and it has been discussed already once with oh, sorry, and then miss greasmer and myself met over the weekend to consolidate overlapping questions and collapse them into what you see here Um, this this set of questions was discussed at the town council meeting on monday Um, and after our discussion tonight, um miss greasmer and I are meeting tomorrow to Rangle this into what? Hopefully be a final list of questions for our um candidates um, it's Just to remind everybody about the the process is we'll be meeting on the 14th of april candidates have until the 31st of march to submit their statements of interest Um, and then we'll be meeting in a special joint meeting with the town council on the 14th Um to interview the candidates Um, miss greasmer and myself will be asking the questions from this list of questions or whatever our final list of questions will be Um, and that's that's sort of the next next steps of the process and what we want to do is come to that list of final questions, um that that we can use in interviewing the candidates I think there was also some discussion about holding back One or two questions that the town council president and myself will um ask Of candidates during the interview but will not be published as part of the packet Um ahead of time So these just to give an overview of the the questions. They're grouped into sort of buckets of similar similar Angles, if you will or thematic And then roughly in an order that we might propose asking them during the interview meeting So the first question is is basically about the the reason for applying and reasons for interest um, the second set of questions is What is about the experience with the public schools? um The next bucket of questions is aimed at the their understanding of the role of the school committee And my I don't know if you can scroll so I can see the the Folks can see the next group. Um, the next big bucket is um around the msba project and our new new elementary school building project um and a bucket of questions around Uh a current and upcoming issues facing the district and the school committee There's several in that one. Um, and then a last question about uh community engagement and During the interview meeting candidates will get the opportunity to give an opening remark Of two minutes and conclude closing remarks of two minutes And each candidate will be offered the the opportunity to answer each of these questions with one minute As a time limit for their responses I think some of the feedback um from from the town council, which is also Perspective that miss greezmer and I shared but we wanted to bring the full list to the to both groups was that this is a very long list um, and Would be a very long interview for any individual even if it were just one candidate um, so ideally Um, we'd get to some sort of prioritization of what are the most important questions or sort of collapsing of these questions That's my personal opinion. Um, but we'd love to hear sort of thoughts and comments from from this committee On on these questions Can I also just add one more thing? Yes, please Okay, the the town council also Uh has suggested that perhaps Given that we're doing all of this um, remotely Uh, virtually, excuse me That perhaps we might want to choose some questions that we would ask for the answer in writing And others that we would do on the phone so that if there is a technology glitch When we had a terrible one last monday night um, that we at least Are able to get some feedback from all candidates besides their letter of interest That great So presumably we would go through if there's questions and like I said, um, miss greezmer and myself are meeting again tomorrow to coordinate and um the input and feedback from both the town council and our in this committee um, and we happy to make that decision about which ones would be best in writing and which would be during the interview but um Would love, you know any any feedback that you all have on that as well Miss fitzer And sorry for the delay. I'm still getting used to this. Um So I I fully agree my first take when I saw this was this is a very long list of questions and depending especially on the number of people who submit statements of interest. I could find it a bit um overwhelming and in order and also I could think of our Our ability to pay attention over a long period of time And I'd hate to be if if there are 16 questions and also four minutes of opening and closing remarks total I'd hate to be that last candidate who Everybody's really tired and spent on a conference call for hours and doesn't get their full attention so I I really would support this idea of breaking it into maybe a written component and um a Oral component and the other thing I was thinking is that we could even ask people to Like make the videos that we used to make when we you'd go into emmer's video and do your your statement as a candidate you know, maybe we could even have it recorded in a in a way if we if we wanted to but um I guess I would just start by Highlighting some of the questions. I think we might be able to cut. Is that useful? um so Then the number five, which is what role does the school committee play in school or district decisions such as math I mean that kind of feels like a quiz, you know, like we're trying to test whether or not they've prepared um but ideally the answer would be the same from every candidate and um So that one seems less interesting to me. Um Um, I guess if I had to choose one of the msba questions to cut it would be number 10 but I You know, I'm the the other one I was thinking of with the coming on days dual language program I you know, I'm curious about this question, but I'm also feeling like it's such a very focused question that I'm not sure um I'm not sure of its utility compared to some of the other ones and um So those would be some of the ones I would consider Just off the bat, maybe thinking we could we could table or ask for written responses rather than an oral response Um, and I want to thank everybody who's submitted questions and thank you and Lynn for putting this all together. I can tell it. It's Reflects a lot of work on everybody's part. So thank you Yeah, I should I should add when um, this this started out as four pages of questions. So So we got it down to two I can't see everybody anymore. So I I don't know. Um, if anybody else says I'll just call on, um, Mr. Demling or Mr. Harrington if you want to speak Uh, yeah Yep I'm sorry. I didn't hear you Allison. Is that okay to go ahead now? Yes, please. Okay. Um, it's funny I had the exact same, uh questions that I was going to highlight for the exact same reasons as miss spitzer So great minds think alike. Um, yeah, I mean, these are all interesting great questions It's just a matter of in what will even in the best case be a challenging technical environment with 17 plus people on a Conference call trying to listen to and thoughtfully Consider lots of input. It's going to be challenging. So, um, I mean, I would say Uh, it's I I would I would suggest that you and the town council chair should be Should feel empowered to be ruthlessly pragmatic about whittling this down I mean, and I totally understand and support the idea that if you cut a question, it's not because it's not a great question It's just that I would rather have you know, seven or six questions, um Rather than have, you know, 13 that were that were more comprehensive I think between the statement of interest and whatever written portion we asked for ask about And these, you know, we should get a pretty good chunk of input. So, um, I wouldn't stress too hard about You know, not including certain topics I think I think including a number of general generalized questions like the ones about What are the, you know, three biggest issues? Um, and and how do you engage the public about big decisions? Those are broad enough that candidates can take them wherever they want to right? so if The candidate is really looking for an opportunity to highlight one or or Uh, or more aspects of their experience of background. I think I'll have the opportunity to do that So I think it's pretty flexible. Um, and and you shouldn't stress about trying to trying to get 8 million questions into it what great Mr. Harrington, do you have any thoughts that you want to add? Yeah, I guess we're all pretty much on the same page as far as the ones that have been highlighted so far the one the one that I would add to it because it's it's Just based on on personal experience would be number seven In terms of how will you handle, you know criticism and differences of opinion publicly? I think as a candidate I would have given one answer And then actually understanding what we do and you know kind of experiencing it I'll give completely different answers now I'll be giving you two words before and I would give you a book now. So I I kind of feel like that one's a little extra, but yeah, I'm I'm definitely in favor of whittling it down to seven eight questions. Maybe make it a little more tolerable and easy to digest Get to seven eight questions. So that that's helpful. Um, a target number. Um, miss spitzer or mr. Demling do you to sort of have a Target number that you you'd suggest is seven to eight sound Miss spitzer. Yes, I'm seeing that comes up from mr. Demling miss spitzer The one thing I wanted to add was just um, I mean we could go with a time frame So if we think that 15 minutes per person is reasonable and we're giving four minutes for opening and In closing remarks then that leave in a minute for each question I guess that's seven or one to two minutes for each question. I think that's imitate would work Okay Great. That's helpful. Thank you Okay, so I'm hearing um Resounding support for deleting Questions five ten and fourteen and possibly also seven Or and then guidance on staying with the questions that are higher level broad general questions that give the candidates room to Go down specific avenues that they would like to To go in their responses but Miss spitzer I would just add that I think it's important. We do ask about the msba process. Um, even though that's specific I think that's such a big piece of what's going to be coming down the pipeline. We need to ask about it Okay, I really need to thumbs up emoji function on this uh on this webinar Um So that's a plus one on that one Yeah, okay, great Any other thoughts on the Questions that anybody wants to add before we move on No, okay great Thank you And I took note I did as well. Thank um So the the next piece of the process um, and there's there's differing um I would say one of the one of the things in the process that has been discussed Was the potential for the school committee to weigh in and make a statement about How we will be evaluating candidates or what sort of guidance or criteria that we're using as we evaluate the the candidates to inform how we're going to vote um and there's been conversation in terms of modeling this process off of some of the other processes that town council has put into place for filling vacancies for example on the planning board or the um zoning board of appeals um, so Which includes this documentation or creation of a document called selection guidance or criteria for effective characteristics of effective members um And so we've been asked for this um, I will say um You know, it's up to us. It's a it's a it's it could be a mechanism for us to sort of Alert the town that our counselors as to what we think is important in selecting a candidate Um, we could also opt not to do it. Um, it's it's it's not Like we're forming the process as as as we go in a in a way. Um, so the document that I drafted um, I think the other thing too is we want to be We don't want to be Dictating sort of how people should be making their decision. Obviously every one of us um all 17 of us are going to be making our own decision so um, the document that I drafted is a way of sort of saying here is how we're going to Think about these candidates, but in a way that really just restates the description of the roles and responsibilities as opposed to getting into um You know something anything more specific than that Um, there's also a school of thought that says that the only requirement that we had in running was that we were residents of Amherst Um, which I couldn't you know see that as well However as voters we made we used other things. Um, and you know in Voter is used more than that to Make a decision on who they're going to vote for so Um, I just put this out there. Um, I haven't had the opportunity to talk about this with anybody Other than town counselors. So I'm interested in folks opinion on You know the first question is do we want to? Submit or prepare a document that outlines Our our guidance or our thought process for evaluating candidates. Um, and if yes What how do we want to we can use the document that I drafted as a starting point for for finalizing that? What are folks thoughts? Mr. Deming so reading through the list and um, I mean So maybe for the for for the folks at home I'll I could just quickly read down the list because it's a pretty short list Is that would that be all right? Yeah, okay. Um, so it's uh Amherst school committee selection guidance uh list of characteristics of effective school committee members Uh intended to assist the committee in town council and evaluating candidates And so it's uh six bullets. Uh, it's committed to the mission of the Amherst and Amherst power regional schools commitment and flexibility to attend all meetings of the school committee Uh, or most as practically feasible willingness and ability to participate and contribute to the work of the committees in between meetings including subcommittees and other ad hoc work understanding of the responsibilities and roles of the committees Ability to listen to ideas and opinions different than their own And willingness to work collaboratively with those whose views are different than their own So when I read this list I like I agree with every one of these principles. I think they're very high level very positive um non-controversial Guidelines and so I mean I have no trouble supporting it as a general document. The only place I hesitate is um Is whether this is something that the town council wants or or not Um, and so the point you brought up towards the end. I think is at front of my mind, which is um, well, I well, I don't think anybody would want to Um evaluate a candidate who is not committed to the mission of the schools, for example, right? It's not really a debatable Uh, um anything any reasonable person wouldn't want. Um I am I am cognizant that this is you know, it's a joint meeting of the town council and the amherst school committee and you know people uh on both committees and On the school committee and in the council um have a right to evaluate and come to their own judgment based on whatever Uh principles and guidelines they they think is appropriate. So, um If this is something that the town council is really asking for because they're struggling to Get a framework around this. I'm more than happy to you know word smith this up and and And get something of consensus here But um, but I certainly wouldn't want the town council to feel like we're we're trying to You know box people in our frame into how they ought to evaluate People so I don't know if um if uh if lin has anything to add to that maybe based on that discussion Yeah, we've not there's been some discussion of this in the town council, but not There's certainly not a consensus Some counselors believe that When you put your name forward to be elected the only criteria is that you are resident of amherst and registered to vote That's it Okay, and so therefore having any other criteria in written form is pretty kind of Why okay, and I think peter you also reflected what many counts with some counselors feel and that is um We'll all be evaluating people based on our own criteria of what we think of the candidates And what we think is important having said that is You can even provide us with this the council wants to totally recognize that We are going to do a four, but this is somebody Almost two years, okay and I don't think people are people aren't going to sit there and rate candidates based on the criteria Okay, it is a way sometimes to have a conversation after a meeting That basically says um You know as I look at the candidates after the after the interviews Look at the candidates and so and so Seems to be fully comprehending the role of a school committee somebody else might say You know candidates X or Y Certainly seemed to grasp and As shown through their previous activity with schools that they're really out there and willing to be on committees I mean it if sometimes it allows you to formulate if you want to have a conversation Between the point that you finish the interviews Which I want to come back to in a moment and the point at which you actually vote So let me just mention two things that I just want to go back and reiterate for Of the school committee. We actually will be interviewing both candidates at the same time So candidate one will ask answer the first question or candidate a will answer the first Question candidate b will answer the first question Candidate c will answer the first question Then when you get to the second question you start with candidate b C and a you keep doing it. So the same candidate doesn't always get to go first Okay The other thing that is very important for you to realize and that is in the protocol That we've written up for this the school committee votes first Which was another one of our ways and the council's saying We really want to hear which have to say we want to really hear where you are on this Okay, that doesn't mean you're going to get all the same votes from the council. It just means They want to respect the school committee And the fact that we're selecting a committee member for your committee Okay, is that helpful? Hello Yep, yep, sorry Everybody's muted. I'm going. I just talked to Ben here. Got it. All right No, I think mr. Harrington had a question or comment Yeah, so so kind of my thinking like like when I was reading over this is is that We weren't necessarily held to this standard Right. I mean we absolutely may have been by individuals, but there's there's no way of establishing that. So like For me, I kind of have issues with being withholding someone new coming on to a standard that wasn't even available to us at that time, right? So What I'm kind of sort of more in favor of is us giving our opinion of what we think makes a good committee member and maybe Presenting that maybe we do that as individual statements. Maybe we do that as a collective statement But but not to have any sort of binding guidelines. That's that's kind of my My input I guess I guess my other concern is like I generally agree with all of these like Peter said they're Their qualities that you would like but I'm also worried about the way in which implicit bias in terms of gender or race could end up As making people making assumptions about somebody's commitment and flexibility like oh, I see a mom here She doesn't have the flexibility that this, you know Male person so I'm just thinking like some of this is going to potentially in Ways that we don't actually Think about and and that's going to come into all of this interviewing process But just because we as a district are doing so much work on implicit bias When we're hiring and trying to get a more diverse Group of people working in our schools. I'm kind of thinking the same thing with our Lens should be applied to what we're putting into our selection guidance And I don't know how to do that properly and I I know most Um therefore I don't know if it's better to err on the side of doing nothing to you know, like to not have this statement or if it's better to Try to apply that lens and think about how we could write it in a way that Tries to not trigger some of these potential pitfalls And I haven't had the time to think this through thoroughly. So um I'd almost wish kind of like Doreen were on the call because I know she's kind of our in-house expert on this In the schools, but I'd be open to anybody else's thoughts on this issue Mr. Deming Yeah, I appreciate those observations from miss spitzer And I mean I kind of went into this thinking that if we weren't all Immediately on the same page that it's probably not a great idea I mean like I don't doubt for a second that everyone on this committee Supports the mission of the public schools for example. Um, but I think If you know and and it's not like we haven't already signaled what's important to us and in a pretty definitive way I mean we have a very specific question for example about the msba project and process That's you know a question right right in there and we also have a the fairly detailed roles and responsibilities document Um, so I think I think there's been enough Uh articulation of of those kinds of you know principles From us as a committee and also individually, you know, we've spoken of these things now at multiple meetings Um, I think there's enough content out there. I would also be a little wary of Working up what we are presenting as an important document this late in the process You know, it's like five days to go before applications are due applications may have already been submitted. Um, and so, um I was you know more comfortable with kind of Going through these draft documents at the start of the process Uh, but now now that we're kind of approaching The end of it. Um, I guess less so so it's no comment on the content. I think it's they're awesome principles and I certainly think, um Any town councilor who's you know really looking for a base level foundation or guidance could review that? um responsibilities and expectations document they could, um Uh watch the recording of this meeting in which we all Gave the virtual thumbs up to these general principles. Um, but I think beyond that it's it's probably um So it sounds to me like it's it's it's most practical to To to not go forward with something like this I'm seeing general head nodding Yeah, and thumbs up Okay, so, um Uh, Lynn, I think what we'll do is we'll move forward with, um Or I not move forward with um this document so move forward without preparing a any sort of selection criteria or guidance for the meeting but use um our Voting as the way that we're signaling what we think is important in a candidate. Um, so during during the actual Vote voting process is when we'll we'll be sort of making a a signal to um how we are evaluating our candidates That's perfectly great, and I will communicate that as well on Monday night when we meet again. Um, and the other thing is Uh, just to give you a heads up at this point based on the number of candidates applications That we have we will probably only be meeting on the 14th We will probably not use the 16th So that on the 14th, we will actually meet Do the interviews and vote Unless there's a flurry of applications between now and tuesday at close business Okay Yeah, I think it's important to to note that it's not only because we have only two candidates But also because everybody's schedules have been upended and now all of our voting members are going to be able to be present virtually On the 14th, right, right Yes Yes, thank you. Okay. I really appreciate the time you've all put into this. It's important for all of us So i'm gonna sign off if that's okay. Yeah. Thank you, Lynn. Go to my next go to my next conference call All right. Yeah, thanks um So with that, I think we've come to the Uh end of our agenda um Just pulling up the packet. Um We didn't have any sort of discussion of future agenda items on on our agenda. So, um, Dr. Morris I just wanted to share, um That the state of emergency Called by for the town manager who has limited public boards and committees Some many for meeting and even those like this group this body who's able to meet and the reasons for their meeting um, so that that was sort of uh intentional why there wasn't future agenda topics because while we're in this current state of emergency, um It's not so open-ended as it typically is in terms of why this body would come together and for what reason Uh, certainly we talk a lot to paul. I talk a lot to paul multiple times a day. Um these days and, um We've been in communication in the chair as well. You know, we've been in frequent communication Throughout this time period, but certainly any committee members can be in touch with the chair or myself About that, but there are some limitations to what bodies can meet and even the bodies that can meet what topics or uh would be, um Would warrant a meeting during a state of emergency that has been called called for in the town of amr So I just wanted to note that, um Good. Thank you. That's helpful Um, so, uh, does anybody want to make a motion? I moved to adjourn Moved is there a second Second seconded by spitzer Uh moved moved by demling and seconded by spitzer. Uh, there's no discussion. Um, so, uh, we'll do real call vote miss spitzer Spitzer I Mr. Harrington Harrington I Mr. Demling Demling I And mcdonald. I say that is uh four zero. We are adjourned. I don't have my gavel Thank you everyone and this meeting was recorded and we'll be shared with uh amherst media Reviewing great Thanks