 Um, public order is public comment. Anyone on the, you know, the tone of the room? Anyone on the screen? Which do I public comment? I mean, because when we look at the screen for public comment, we're actually turning our heads away from, right? Oh, the public. Yeah, yeah. But that's, unfortunately, how we... It's a small room. Yeah, so we find them. So, and then consent agenda, I have a motion to approve the consent agenda. I move to approve the consent agenda. Uh, well, I have a second. Okay. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any vote? Okay. Great. Now we're on to, um, updates. Uh, I'm not going to go from Andrew. Like, do you want to be before we launch into that? Um, I think we have the floor and everyone else, the efforts, Andrew, Tom, Chris, Kim, Libby, uh, Jason, everyone else has been on the last, uh, past month, uh, field work. Um, but the planning situation, high school and also just the support for the, you know, whether you've reached out and, uh, I'll put a date there and other services, uh, all of which I would appreciate it. It's been a very tough month for a lot of people. We're going to be working together. Um, and, uh, it looks like, uh, we're in a, we're in a good place that we can be with the high school. Um, and, uh, maybe really just entirely separate, uh, efforts, um, Andrew and Tom, and I'm going above and beyond to make sure that, uh, we can, uh, get school started, um, in a safe and effective manner. So, uh, I will start at the end of it. So, uh, we are in the bros of, uh, excuse me, you all are muted. There's no one can hear out here. I think you need to unmute please. And thank you. This is Lisa Burns. All right. I would like you to unmute please. Could you? And it's not working. One person just to like, give the memo. Yeah. Anna, can we tell Anna to speak? So let people know that we're trying. Test test. Can you all hear me in the room? This is Anna. I can hear you all and I can hear Lisa. Um, I'm not sure it, to me, it does not sound muted in the room. Lisa, I'm able to hear and I'm here in the zoom. Lisa, can you hear me talking right now? This is Anna in zoom. Is there anybody on you to chat with Lisa and to let her know. I can do that. And Emma, I can hear you. I can hear everyone in the room. So. Often times that even. Will help with audio. Thank you. And sometimes it's just a matter of turning the volume up on your computer. Definitely. I definitely found myself with that. Right. Or like muting. Right. Yeah. Thank you, Anna. Yep. So, um, so let's see here. So, um, well. We are. So why don't I go backwards a little bit. So, uh, initially when the blood happened, uh, this bit, the insurance folks, uh, we're right on top of it. They had, uh, apparently head down immediately before I even gotten there. Excuse me again. Um, it seems that Orca media is on mute. Um, I'd appreciate it if you would ask Orca media to actually broadcast sound because there's no sound coming through and chat was, uh, disabled. I mean, no. See if that helps. Yeah. I'm able chat just for minutes, but yeah. Yeah. Yes. Lisa, I am sending you a chat. Um, I will enable it for everyone, but I'm chatting with you, uh, actively. So check that. Lisa, can you hear me? This is Anna Hipco in zoom. I don't think Lisa can hear anything from zoom or the room. Yeah. So, uh, we, um, so we immediately the next day, um, this is not working. And as you see on the upper screen, Orca media is in fact muted out here. My volume is up to 100%. You can clearly hear me and I see Anna has reactivated chat, but, uh, this meeting is a public meeting and it's not being broadcast. Please see what Orca media can do. I appreciate it. Thank you. They're bringing me a new camera. It's coming through this mic. I'm clearly not. I can hear you, but I don't think it's your camera. Yeah. Well, it's not good audio right now. We're going to get. If you would look at your screen, Orca media is muted. That's, isn't that the case in every board meeting? I think it is. It's, there's a different Orca media that screen recording. So they're probably you are not muted. No. Yeah. I have just, I have just renamed Orca media that is not muted union elementary school. And I can hear it. I can hear Lisa. I believe the issue is a technical issue for Lisa. And Lisa, if you can hear me, I'm direct chatting you. Um, chat is enabled for everyone at this point. Um, Lisa, if you can hear me, let's communicate and chat and try to work this out. But, but everything technically is working. David Delcourt, can you hear us? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Yep. So, um, So, uh, the next day when we immediately started, they immediately started pumping water out of the basement. We had about four and a half feet or so. The water coming through old foundation penetrations. And we think probably ground water. It doesn't sound right. They started pumping. They immediately brought up a, uh, the dehumidification team from Mississippi. We set up, uh, they, and as soon as the water was gone, they, what they've been doing is they've been pumping hot air into the basement and then sucking it out at two ends, pulling that out. And then, uh, the main floor and the second floor, they've been pumping in air conditioning. He put two minutes to keep the humidity down as well as to pressurize the rest of the building. It's basically under negative pressure. So everything's been coming out really good. Um, that has been going well. Uh, the anticipation is that they will be done with that process. Um, by the end of next week, um, which will be, uh, which will allow Tom enough time to do the, they've been able to work around that equipment. They've been trying to run throughout the building. Um, but that should do Tom the time to finish off the work he has. Uh, the step that we're in now is the disinfection phase. Uh, right now they're running tests in the basement with three different disinfectants. They actually took the swab to yesterday's a little better result than the one that's working better than the others or whether they all work well. Um, and as soon as we have that result, we'll know which direction to go. There's that. And they're basically going to spring up. And non-technical terms, hospital-grade disinfection down there in the basement. Um, once that gets done, they'll do another test. We should be fine. Uh, we're also going to do air testing on the first level to make sure that everything's good. They're really safe. We're expecting nothing more positive results on that. So, uh, we were very fortunate that the water never reached the first floor and it never reached our, um, mechanical equipment, uh, individual devices, actuators. Uh, so the boilers did get flooded. Some electrical panels got flooded. Um, that a couple of water tank water heaters or a water heater. Uh, that is in the process of being put back in place. Uh, water heaters for the kitchen is going in. Well, it's probably yesterday, but we'll be, uh, installed today. Uh, we'll have one of the boilers up, the burners getting installed on Friday. BDC is a couple of the BDC things that didn't, that got wet. Um, that was in place or what we didn't state and just need to be hooked up with traditional control. So, uh, we did, but luckily it didn't get wet. It was just the main brain that got a little bit wet. So are these new or are these like you're taking the, the old ones were taken out and removed, dealt with from being reinstalled or these are new replacements? Uh, basically a big, yeah, we're replacing. We're replacing it. Uh, one of the big pieces that we don't have to deal with right now, but we will eventually is, um, the electrical service. Um, we're going to move upstairs. We're very fortunate in that our electrical cutoff is about size. So we're able to kill the power for the moment for a week or so without having to swing to it. But as part of code and, uh, it's more failure specific and very, they now want electrical services above, above the plant. But luckily we've got a space right above where the stuff is now. It has to be replaced anyway. Um, we want something like that gets wet. Um, we have to replace it, but we've got to do 90 day waivers. They know it's going to take a while. It's all been inspected. It's all been joined up on. Um, site wise, uh, we're very fortunate that the game field and the baseball field and the back practice field survive really well. Uh, softball field is gone. The, the play that was in softball just went away. Um, um, um, um, um, um, so what we've done is we fill that back in. We'll address rebuilding that either in the spring or the ball probably the spring, uh, the front mud block and the practice field out front. Um, took it three. It's, it's remarkable to go by now. You'll see there's scraping it off. It's amazing amount of, for what you wouldn't know is down there. There's an amazing amount of dirt. So we're in the process of scraping that all down. Uh, the ship's leaving from, uh, uh, Diamond Tech, uh, our athletic fields because the mountaineers, those kids are too, he's working with them with aunts or in the spring, they'll go back and we see, you know, and do regrade and do their sort of testing and like that. Right now, what we're doing is we're scraping them. We're straightening the city. Still talk. We're going to aerate it, throw some grass down, just to stabilize it and then we'll pack it in here. We've got half, look good practice field out front. This didn't get affected. It wasn't affected by silk. So we at least have that front piece. Um, Matt link, I've been working with onion river soccer. So as I understand it, and there's probably clarity on the round this, but middle school soccer, it's going to practice up at the college of fine arts green. And we're, we're working with chips helping them and we're helping onion river come maintain that field, which is fine because we would have otherwise rented fields down the dog river. Those fields are those goods and toast. Uh, those, those fields are in health shape. Um, so I think Matt's got a very good plan on how he's been on shuffle things, athletic, athletic field room. Once we probably won't get those other fields back for a year. So we'll probably have to plan on, which is okay because those fields need to rest anyway. And they'll just be better for it. You know, in the end, especially the mud block field, I think, um, as part of the reconstruction, it's going to be much better. We'll be, you know, better practice. Um, you know, the impacts to the rest of the buildings, uh, Mickey and I want to say that, that the one thing that, you know, Kim and Chris and Tom have done an amazing job and worked tirelessly, but Tara and Mickey and their crews just picking up the slack and just doing their, doing their job as football, football coach once said, um, it's been great. Mickey's been able to afford part two and it's all learning and the summer, summer school, it was the right, you know, the right jump. Yeah. And he is wise. Um, so he's been able to, um, been able to, uh, that those people, those folks, while Tara and her crew has been sort of sort of, the construction that's been happening, uh, going really well and we were all planning for a nice, buy it August, but, but at least we've been able to, uh, I don't think anyone's overburdened by it all and, uh, this has been great with regards to just get it done, get it fixed and all of the contractors that we work with, the barn have all stepped up. So, uh, we'll get our, we'll get our rare tests and our soil tests back this week. And, you know, the presumption is that we've got a land moving forward and that schedule should not be interrupted. That's, that's the, that's the expectation at the moment. Yeah. The schools were kind of disturbing. Did that, like mess with the foundation or anything? No, no, they were isolated. They were, it was more like an old, you know, they, when they, you know, they, you know, they want to learn about it, you know, they want to learn about it, you know, you know, you know, you know, they want to learn about it. You know, they want to learn about it. And I think, I think, I think they did sound, he sounded so better term. Um, so, yeah, We had, this bit had, um, had their building consultants come through. Oh, why is gentlemen 24 years old? Um, they had a group of engineers that have come through and. And it's sort of not only a check on the work we're doing as like, check on the work we're doing as like we're not overdoing it also to make sure that we're doing it. We're not underdoing it. So that report I believe he's probably said it's they were expecting this week so we buy next week. We should have. Yeah we started all that work. So yeah there's no there's no any of the air quality tests come back yet? Yeah. The ones on the first floor you can promote. Yeah like is that that's sort of the only potential you know sticking point for having kids reenter the building at this point? Yeah it could be and at the same time the people who are professionals in this we requested it like Andrew and I requested to do the air testing on the first floor and they're like you have to do that but it wasn't like that. So our professionals aren't really concerned about it but you know the only piece of mind that we're like yeah we're gonna want that you know completely for the first month let it off a little bit after that so so yeah guys I need to do it. Yeah yeah we're working with Katie's associates I thought early on. So they're a well-despected testing agency and it's all on the side. Is there any I mean it seemed like there must be some cost to the district like a deductible or something or it's $5,000. They have not said no and actually they're gonna cover well they're gonna cover contents so we've gone through and didn't have a ton in the basement. We've already started that process. We've been pouring everything in quotes and pulling that all together but now they've been very good. There's a few things that we're not sure on that. We were pretty confident that they probably won't. And now and again we had the murder order. We'll probably be working on. We've got three boilers. We'll probably be working on the one for the first couple of weeks. That'll be fine since it's hot water. And actually we're gonna convert. Our plan is to invert right now the oil furnace is made hot water to the building. We're gonna convert. We're gonna probably put the heat from hot water heater in there to take care of the summer load. So long as there are improvements that can be made that make the building more resilient in the future. And presumably we're gonna have bigger events similar to this. Sometimes there are other things that can be done in our being that are in the upgrades and also I would say the only real future proofing we're doing right now is planning for moving the electrical entrance. Yeah. Yeah, we'll probably end up what we may end up. Yeah, that's the first one to jump right now. We just given the fact that school was starting sectioning. So it needs to get back here. Yeah. There were a number of capital projects we wanted to do to all of our buildings this summer. Did this impact their timeline at all? A little bit. A little bit. So we're fortunate in that in working with it while you know they're they're not going to be rebuilding a small storefront down on Main Street. Smallers, small electricians, small contractors. Yeah, they're gonna be really different. We think we're in pretty good shape. Obviously things aren't as smooth just because we lost a week in people jumping into the breach. You know, they're not going to do the ultimate reconstruction. You know, we lost the electricians for a week. They were just wandering, going downtown and all that. So we're a little bit behind, but I'm still optimistic that we will fundamentally be done before kids get in school. You know, there may be somebody that needs to get in and do a little work here, a little bit of sort of banging of nails and cutting of two by four. We'll definitely be done before school starts. The guidance office at Union at Main Street Middle and the cafeteria, new stairs, new cafeteria and all that. That's basically where she brought me sanded and painted and ceilings. Over here, the little gym is all studded up. They're roughing in the electrical hole right now. And the gym or the auditorium is there, pull some seats and get a lift in there. But again, once they'll get rotted in all of them there, they should be in pretty good shape. So again, it's not gonna be done and done by the 31st, but we won't have to build in full contractors. So maybe you can get in for a couple of hours now. Were we able to start on any windows this summer? No. Oh, okay. What was holding up on that? Well, that was a cost, not necessarily a cost issue, but a coordination issue with regards to the coordination issue. But it's still there. It's been designed and it's been done. This is related. So in some of our building upgrade projects are connected to the ESSER funding? Is any of that kind of because we have a deadline of September 2024 on that as well? Yeah. Yeah, ESSER, the auditorium is, or the little gym is an ESSER project, the cafeterias and ESSER projects. MS. Over in ESSER. Yeah. We did the stair, the circulation to give a dose on the jewelry, really, that was important. So we got that one. We got that one going. So next year, it really finishes in the kitchen. And we might get an update more on this next week in terms of the track and. So I met with the engineers on the track. And one of the things that we talked about was the idea of moving where our retention ponder treatment area is to a different location and they believe that we can do that. Really significantly reduced the amount of soils that needed to be shipped up the commentary. So that would kind of take that out of the next week. We just have to do a little more testing that area, that one area to really find that. So that's how my list of things to do is to. And issue that. It's probably. I think we're talking in December, but I'm not 100% sure. Right. But this winter. Yeah. Kind of connected back to what Scott was saying, this all begs the question of not if this will happen again, but when this will happen again, you know, I think we thought Irene was the 100 year or 500 years. Yeah, I think I'm going to be right back. I'm going to start right now. It turns out it was a 10 year storm. So, you know, thinking about that I'm curious to see like, technically, NHS is in the blood plane. Yes, firmly, squaring in the blood blend. I already asked this in the blood plane out in adjunct. Do we get flood insurance that kind of allows and provides a larger umbrella of protection or I just I've heard lots of different things about flood insurance over the last month and, you know, what it can't. But you know, just obviously as we're thinking about this, it feel and we're going to be in that laying out large sums of money to make these changes and improvements and additions to our campuses, you know, just the resilience piece, you know, what can be done can be raised 12 to 14 to 24 inches and does that even help or are there other things that can be done as we're about to sink, you know, lots of money into these upgrades and improvements that are clearly valuable and yet it feels like we're on shaking ground. Yeah, that's a good question. But they obviously they obviously are working with us and covering things. So that's a good thing. But the other thing about this is that they're the Vermont school board insurance trust for the schools are there. Thanks. They're not going to be like, oh, we're not going to cover you guys anymore. We're dropping that line of insurance and they're always going to be helpful. Now whether they're overriding traveler travelers is there and sure. So whether travelers wants to do anything without the different that's different conversation but that's it will definitely it's going to be a conversation. Well, obviously, yeah, there's also some things that I know enough to be dangerous, you know, about real stuff. So, um, but as I understand it the way our soccer field has been designed with the way our baseball field has been designed the reason why they survived so well, even though they were under the same amount of water, it's because they've been designed a drain, right. So we do have some of their things in place, the outside, you know, that helped with this situation, so that it's catastrophic and possibly fair ground. The building and existing right ginormous building right that is probably out of the question. So, yeah, I just don't think that's up there is a whole thing to do. Yeah. And I don't think it's because when you did somewhere there, they're going to watch it a little bit awesome for us. They did really those two kids and really well. Yeah, it was really I think I think that it was the log jam at the bridge itself are really Yeah. Yeah. Calm down as after you got past that's where it really all most of the mud stuff is. By the time I got to the building, it sort of slowed down and spread out. Did you see the track surface? Yeah, yeah. If you're an art assessor, that's right. All your updates and your videos. Yeah, it looks like the kind of road out of the crack. That one got that one has been so we've department lots have been the bad areas have been cut out back filled with. They haven't been paid yet. And I'm sure it's just a matter of waiting for a project that will justify loading up the mix and doing not only our product but another product account. But they've been, this is the campus will be safe. The campus will be safe all those sort of trip hazards are gone at this point. I want to reiterate the things that Jim voice beginning the meeting but, you know, I've been spending a lot of time in public pool and here and there out and about and lots of people have been singing your phrases, and, you know, I think it's unfortunate that you've had to be tested in this way. So much. But I did message, but I was like, please don't put your day job, even though you're so good at disaster management. But like you really do have like sort of a special town in that way and it's great to have you're most of Andrew and his team working. That's great. Well, just deep appreciation to everyone. And if there's anything I feel like probably everyone at the table would be willing to pitch in if there's anything getting closer to the deadline of like bringing people back into the building because if we need more hands for something. We've gotten good with shovels and great. Thank you. Thank you. Orca has requested just a break so we can switch cameras. Okay, so just take it quick. And just do technical difficulties will reopen. We'll have a public comment for a minute to give comments. Yeah, I apologize for my technical failures earlier, and I wanted to just make two comments apropos to today's meeting about your, the school board's priorities. First, I wanted to thank you for rescheduling the meeting. I'm sure you get this important work done before school starts. I also wanted to thank each and every one of you for all the work you've done over the summer researching where our students are and the trends in the district and talking to parents and, you know, functional school districts around the country to see how they deal with improving academics so thank you so much for all the hours and hours of work you've already done this summer and for today. Specifically, I'm sure you all came over it as you were researching and talking to other school leaders that one approach to improving academics is to involve parents and caregivers. And one way that in the literature seems and speaking to other members in high functioning school districts is to provide yearly semesterly and weekly syllabi to each to all parents where they can access what is in fact being taught over the school year over the semester and then as scheduling shifts around in a specific week so parents can assist in their children's learning, especially in our low homework environments of the elementary and middle schools. So I would like to, I will be anxiously watching what you report and come up with today but the parents I spoke to and the people across the country, some experts, some just other families other school board members all listed that and it seems like I know you all have read about it and talk to people about it, but that you would consider requiring that. And my second point is also apropos to academics. And I'll make it brief because I gone over my minute, but I think there's a lot of people and our Roxbury member just mentioned concerned about the flooding and the health implications but most importantly, I think that I would like to ask the board to respectfully to reconsider funding a $2 million track in a flood plain in this climate where pretty much everyone has agreed that this is not once in 100 years, it's not a once in a 10 year and people are asking questions about whether it will happen next month in two months next year or what and $2 million could really go a long way to improving academics in our school district and I think funding a track on that may in fact even run into legal implications because it is in the flood hazard zone. And I would like to ask you all to consider revisiting $2 million plus dollars for a track in a flood plain. Thank you for your time and thank you thank you for addressing the academic issues and make finally making academics one of the three priorities in our school district. Thank you, and I look forward to a really great year. Thanks. All right. So we're going to get started with the retreat part of our meeting. And for those of you who have the document that Anna sent around with the agenda that included times in it. Please ignore those times. We're old. I haven't updated one in front of me and that also being said, I welcome assistance on timekeeping. So I'll try and remember to say, oh, we're going to spend 20 minutes on this chunk of whatever and so and I'll try and keep my eye on the clock but I also love a backup. Anybody else who wants to also keep their eye on the clock so that something stays 20 minutes that I appreciate that because we have a lot to get through by noon and I heard Libby says we were getting started. She has a meeting at noon that we want to let Libby get to her meeting on her next meeting in this room. We don't really have a choice. And we have a lot to get through. What once again that all being said, we have Jim and Libby and I have prepared kept in mind that perhaps we will run over or not complete this full agenda by 12 o'clock on the dot and so have reserved a bit of time at next week's board meeting to carry this over into that if we need to. And as a reminder, we have our first meeting in September has been extended to be four hours to be able to do part two of this retreat which is the goal setting part. So, we're keeping all that time we're keeping in mind. Can I confirm so we are not meeting. I feel like I had another fold. The last week of August. Correct. Okay. So we have a meeting. September 6 was going to start at. Well, we haven't figured it's either 430 or five o'clock. I got responses for everybody but we haven't landed on that yet. No problem. So, even with the time crunch, I didn't want to let go of a warm up exercise as a way of just getting everybody's voices in the room also we haven't seen each other in a while. So, that's a big crazy thing but I just thought let's go around the room and just do a quick checking question. So, saying, just very briefly, how are you. And one favorite memory you have from your education, your years as a student, any year as a student, any part being a student. And because I'm making you do this I'll go first. Okay, I'm doing okay. I like it when the sun's shining so glad the sun's back out today. And I did give this one a little thought. When I was a junior in high school, my social studies curriculum was all centered around a national competition called we the people, and I got to be. And one of that was to compete against other groups of students from other schools around the state of Wisconsin, and one means we got to go to Washington DC and compete against students across the country I actually can't remember how we fared at the national level But it was just a really amazing experience to participate in that with my classmates and it helped the history of our country sink in for me in a way that I don't think it would have otherwise so that was a fun part of being a student for me. How am I, I'm doing well it's been a weird summer. Everyone, but definitely between the flooding. I went to Ireland came back. While failure washed away. I've been dealing with that and also, you know, just have two minutes, the whole little worrisome thinking about, you know, now it was down to revives in the blood zone and narrowing climate change. Memories from school, I'm going to stick with the US history thing I had, just because I think really showed the power of education I had an amazing AP US history teacher, but by sophomore and junior year. You know, I grew up in a pretty conservative suburban Illinois high school and he was kind of a big time lefty and really kind of showed me different ways of thinking and thinking about social issues, the world, and very important person in my life. I'm doing well also worried. I'm changing stuff. But I've been, we've been kayaking and mountain biking, and I have a huge construction budget that I'm taking on which is obsessed. But their school, we read a fellow, I think I was a junior. And I just really loved it. And a lot of kids were having trouble and I was kind of helpful for other kids and I really annulate. Those capacities, but not his. I love to be able to use his capacities to empower people instead of how he uses them so I was really reading. So I'm okay, I would be lying to you if I didn't say if it's raining at night, I can't sleep because I'm thinking about whether or not my school is flooding again. But last night I can't PM, I will PM. It knocks you right out. So last night I got a good night. I was going to point out that it's been raining for us every night. Which is why the PM last night because I haven't had much sleep. And schools are my happy place. So it's hard to pick one actual moment. My dad was a sixth grade teacher, and he was my sixth grade teacher, and he was very, he was very active in the community so I was always in a school growing up always my mom worked a lot and so I was always with my dad. So it's hard to pick one, but I could say when he was my sixth grade science teacher, which he was. He was also everybody's coach like everybody called him dad. I remember one time we must have all like been asleep or something and such great in science and he, and all of a sudden I looked up and my dad is standing on top of his lab table in the front of the room screaming wake you people. He was on the floor and slammed the front of my desk. And like, all of us just busted out laughing and I can, I just, he was just so he was such a good teacher. So it's probably why I chose the path I chose but yeah I can schools are my happy place which makes it hard to see tubes and ET like things going through one of them right now so. That's one of my fond memories of my daddy and my security science. And it makes sense now. Yeah. Yeah, also feeling just the existential threat of this summer and also have been having flood mares. And you know we manage a small farm on our property and it's been a tough summer for survival for animals and plants. It has no part of our farm has been affected. So yes it's been it's been tricky and challenging. And but generally we're doing great all things considered. This is a fun exercise, you know, sometimes I feel like I don't remember anything. It feels like very, very long ago. So it's been fun to kind of just drum up some old memories it was spending the first thing that came to me was some preschool when a teacher came across the room with a giant tower of jello jiggling on a plate and because of its mobility, I was convinced it was alive. And right into a corner and him and I've never eaten jello. But then I flipped to, yeah, it's great when my, our entire grade took a trip to Cape Cod for like an immersion studies week in the ecology of the sea coast in Cape Cod and it was just like an incredible bonding experience you know like living in bunk houses with your classmates and just really getting to have like an enriching experience of doing hands, you know, a lot of especially back in the 80s a lot of school expand and deliver and the idea that we had just this opportunity to like, you know, really get in and out through our classroom and super engaged for me who wound up. And I do remember my ninth grade biology teacher who rolled with an iron fist, she was the biology mother, and she had such high expectations of everything that came through that and the curve was like her test and I, you know, it was hard to do well in her class that she just helped this love for biology in the jars and so it's just a really powerful class and she definitely inspired my thoughts. I am doing fine. It's like that question. It's just really terrible this summer but I'm doing fine by all outward measures and then it's just like such a heavy, sad summer in on so many levels that I'm not even going to talk about it because I'll get to emotional school, school, I kind of feel the same way like this like blur of like, wait, what do I remember what are my favorite memories, but the things that pop out are the things and sensing a theme a little bit that were like very hands on applicable to the real world. I remember my middle school math teacher and I went to Montpelier schools. So this guy's long gone, but my middle school math teacher did an activity with everybody where you've got like a certain amount of money and you invested it, and then you like tracked it on, you know, in the paper because that's where things were done back then with like how your how your stock was doing and so you could buy as many shares of whatever you wanted with the money that you had and then you were like tracking how you did and the winners went to I didn't win, but the winners went and did like a field trip to the stock exchange and so it was really cool and like high stakes. So that stands out to me I also want to give a shout out to like Mary mellow who was my kindergarten teacher who's like the most quintessential perfect like vision of a kindergarten teacher that you can imagine and she, I still remember my room here like that's how much it like came out of my memory and then my daughter ended up having her as her kindergarten teacher was just like this beautiful full circle moment for all of us. And I also wanted to give a shout out to Karen McCaddon who was like one of these like new young teachers that came in in the 90s Karen. Yes, she's not even that much older than me like when I go about it. But yeah she had a lot of energy and she chose really great relevant reading material for for us teenagers. And she did this one thing that I still remember where I'm like, you know and when I went through my teacher training I was like she's a genius like we all thought we were getting away she said that for tests she would allow us to one index card. So anything that you wanted to write on it, you could write on it but it was like, you know, that's you writing the stuff on it is you actually studying for the test, and remembering the stuff that's written on it and then in the end you don't actually need the index card but I was like, you know, we all thought we're really getting away with something here we get to like cheat on the test and bring our index card in and actually it's just her way of getting us to study for tests. Anyway. Yeah, I'm the same. I, this, I don't think there are words to describe what we've all been going through and gone through especially coming off COVID to then go right into this I just. I'm sort of seeing it through the eyes of my teenage daughter and they're somehow the most resilient crew. They just lost their jobs, their hangouts, they finally get to hang out together and then they have to hang out differently and they somehow figure it out and it's pretty impressive. So things that instantly came to mind like a couple of specific teachers, like I don't like a lot of school is sort of a blur, but I had one teacher my freshman year and high school my first like high school English class and he was this massive wrestling ball coach teacher who was our English teacher and he got a super excited about vehicle like he's so into it and it was like that that resume because like I'm my happy places reading a book like I'm I that's my place, and that like really solidified that for me and like that books could be everything and we're like the path to everything and then in college I had a very similar teacher who was very nontraditional this old guy who'd been like a reporter for the post and like, had all these great inside stories about journalism and so I ended getting my degrees in English and journals. And I think it's because of those two teachers and they're just their passion for it. Yeah, very similar sentiments to what y'all have shared there. The one word that that has come up over and over again is existential. Other people I'm friends with have really been dealing with pain. And it's, it's not gonna end. And I'm, I think we mentioned in email early on like I'm privileged enough to like, I live up the hill, I'm even higher than you. So, other than some of them that get got plugged and I got a little dirty like I managed to be pretty much on escape so there's this like, yeah, survivor skill, I don't know what the right expression is for that. I pretty much spent my entire life in school. My mom was a was a high school biology teacher for 44 years. And I remember when I was like a child spending like days in class with her. Actually I was just at her house recently, helping clean out some stuff and we found pictures from like one of the first year she was a teacher. And, and I was like, I remember that classroom. So, it's crazy that not the first memory I have that the most vivid memory I have of school is actually not being in school. My senior year of high school, the last quarter of the year, I, instead of going to school. I worked at the Bronx in the red house. It was like an alternative program that that most of the people in my in my senior year did they just they got to do something an internship, something that they're interested in so again, I committed to the Bronx and with the Did you go to a Ted Sizer school? I was called Ted Sizer now. No, no, I went to regular public schools. He asked something. No, no, is my sister County some upstate. But yeah, they got to work in the nursery like the baby Chinese alligators. When the keeper who was like here put these safety goggles on. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Thanks Aaron for sharing. We're just to do a quick recap of how we got here and help, you know where we're at in the process. We had the almost year long visioning input gathering process facilitated by Nathan sooner built strategies and and and the steering committee of community members teachers, administrators, board members, and that culminated in the Summary and report that made me put together for us and I think had to us by last fall for a year ago now that shared what our community said is the overarching vision of What we want for our graduates and From that, the board has done some work to narrow that down into these three priorities of closing the achievement gap, which the focus on academics, safety, belonging and wellness and community communication and engagement. So those are our three priorities of the board has gleaned from the visioning work that happened throughout our community and we're today taking those very broad themed priorities and making them a little bit more specific. So the question that we want to before we dive into actually doing that that we want to get clear on as a board is how specific do we want those to read. So that's we're going to spend the next few minutes talking and deciding that together before we move into the actual work of kind of writing them. So first as any facilitator has a, I've done this up out of my face from back today, but I used to do in person facilitation and I got a chuckle out of my kids during COVID used these big pieces of paper as something that to occupy themselves while I probably needed to be on this call. And I found this this was on the first top sheet and I don't it was probably someone who now is nine, but at the time was more like, six, tried to remember the school, the union elementary guidelines of being safe, kind, and this might be gentle but then there's also love in there. So anyway, I could not throw that away I had to bring that in. It's, it's a good, it's adorable and a good reminder of what we're all here to do, which is your kids are my kids and my kids. I made a square jar. And it said on the bottom superintendents especially. So that's much nicer than my children. I was still holding on to the warm fuzzy feeling. Anyway, so that was the top sheet. This is what I did with the next sheet, which is just to give us a couple of examples of what they might look like. Before. Well, I think it was early July Jill Scott and I actually managed to find a time and get together and do a little prep with the first priority. And so we wrote what we are calling sort of how we define the first priority of closing the chief recap and then we got into some very specific kind of like into the details maybe ready. So I just pulled these out of that as an example of what a broad this could be our indicator of this. We could just stop here and say this is what success looks like to us. We could also go to the level of getting to a more like nitty gritty detail level so I only pulled these out as a way of just giving us something to picture for this conversation to answer this question of how, how broad or specific do we want these indicators to read. So with that. I'll pass it out to you. Oh, yeah, sorry. What do you all want to know. I can talk about community and communication community engagement. Before. So, we had a lot of phone conversations that's what we were able to do, and the events of the last few weeks did not help. Let's see. So, one of the thoughts that we had was to come up with a measurable goal that we may be able to actually measure was to use the summary tool that you created with Anna which I think is fantastic. Let's see if we can basically put a button on the tool that people click. See how much people are using it and then set a goal to increase the engagement with the summary tool by some number 10% over the course of a year 15% over the course of a year. One of my thoughts was to put a to put a question like do you approve of the board's work for this meeting. Yes, no. And then we're measuring clicks not the yes now we of course are very we want to see a yes answer to that question, but just a number of people that respond to a question like that I don't. The other piece of the community engagement goal, it kind of brings me back to that title one policy that came out where there's only so much the board can do. In a sense, there's a lot that the administration can do there's a lot that building principles will do and thinking about how the board can kind of accumulate the data that comes from all these different levels of engagement that are that are already happening there's a lot of engagement that happens, the board can't necessarily facilitate all of that, nor should it, but all of that engagement is part of the district's goal of engaging families and getting engagement with families to be where our community wants it to be which you know I think we we we do a good job of it. I think that coming out of the pandemic. There's a lot of growth that's been happening. So I don't know if that's, you know, sort of the goal school board meeting summaries will have a 15% increase in independent views from the sometime as measured by responses to school board meeting summaries views of school board meeting summaries will be measured by a button that asks you approve of the work of the board for the that meeting. I don't know if that's a good approach, but to come up with something measurable is challenging. But that would be data that would be hard data that would be measurable I don't know if that meets the inclusive or equitable aspects of the smart goals. I wasn't sure exactly how to link that in. The one thing that we discussed was figure out ways to make sure that board activities are less in the work day, and that helps engagement from the community. It's hard to do things from eight to four. The work is done from eight to four and I don't, you know, everything's worn. Those are tough times to engage the community. That's where meetings are 630. That's kind of what we have, not a lot. So it sounds like you want more to the specific kind of. How can we make this measurable? It's really tough to gauge how successful we are in our community outreach. And I don't know if that's a good approach. I don't know if that's the right question to ask or if it even should be a question. Maybe it's click if you receive this, you know, it could be anything. And the getting more like, this is not just wordsmithing it, but working and refining it. That's what we're going to do further into this meeting. We're right now just trying to decide. So that gives us some guidance. Like, shouldn't we be going that specific or do we want to stay more broad? So that's what the conversation is right now for the others. Should we get to that level of specificity or stay more, more broad? My thought for the indicators is this relatively broad. And then I think we can set for a couple reasons. One, I think we can set goals in the next meeting for like shorter term time friends that are a little more specific about what we could see maybe the next two to three years on something like, you know, taking your example every student reading their highest potential in terms of, you know, reading and literacy. And then we can maybe set a couple of your goals so that way as what we feel meets that indicator in 24, 25, 25, 26. I think the other reason is specific indicators tend to slap towards things that we can quantify. And I think there's a lot of things we want to try. Because if you slap towards things that you can quantify those tend to be the things you look for. And kind of like in the behavioral realm, it's a lot easier to quantify the acting out behaviors. You know, how many reports you have of bullying, how many things you have in the dashboard. It's a lot harder to find, for instance, the high achieving student who's suffering from anxiety and depression and that's really well. And some of those other indicators that I think we really want to pay attention to that are harder to find and harder to quantify. And if we have, if we slant towards things that we can quantify, I'm afraid that that's going to be what we look at. And we say, you know, no one's acting out in class. Everyone's behavior is great. Everyone's feeling good and belonging and that might not be the case. So I'm just as per use getting a little mixed up with, so the way that Jim was just talking about indicators and goals, it almost seemed like he had them flipped from what you have listed here, which is indicators are more evergreen goals have a terminus. And I thought I was hearing Jim do it in the reverse. No, I was saying the indicator is evergreen. Something that you want to be constant. And then with our goals, we can kind of look to the indicator and kind of like, well, what, what goal would give us an idea of say for next year that we're, we're, we're getting towards this evergreen indicator. And your suggestions to work on the broader more evergreen indicator. Yeah. This meeting and then work on the more specific goals. Next meeting. Did I flip it or no. Okay. I agree with that. I think it makes sense starting with the broader more evergreen goal and then working into the details. Yeah, I agree. And I like your point, Jim, about quantitative. Not only looking at quantitative data to inform. There are very effective ways of capturing qualitative. I'm not a qualitative researcher and so I don't know how, but there, there are ways to do that. And, and I think what you're saying is important to keep in mind and include those qualitative measures as well as quantitative, because they're equally as important because they showed different things. Yeah. What came up for me is the, it was a 10 talk of the danger of a single story that like, you know, quantitative data can give you one story, but then there's this whole missing piece. And I do think, you know, we've gotten a mix of types of data. You know, we're now getting data out of the kind of data apparatus. But when I think about student presentations that we get, I feel like that's where we feel like a lot of the qualitative piece we're seeing kind of the, you know, the pedagogy sort of roll out before us and see what kids are experiencing. So I think, you know, when we think about methods for getting the qualitative feedback of how well our district is doing, it's those kind of presentations. Like I think, you know, we've been at, what do you all want to see? What do you want to hear? And not only data, but I think the presentations from different programs and getting students in the room. I know the article that was sent around is like, how are our students doing? The best way for us to know that is to ask them and to hear from them. So kind of how we leave in those, you know, presentations to the board that also really include students. So I like it. I think it makes sense to have indicators broad and then, but I do think, you know, and I think we've been striving to, you know, get to this place, but having that quantitative piece in there also. And I think it would also be helpful. I think setting that those quantitative bars will also be, we're going to need to rely on some baseline data. You know, if we want to see a 30% improvement, you know, then we probably want to know where is our current baseline. So working with Libby and Mike and whoever else from, you know, from leadership to help us kind of make sure that what we're asking is just informed, you know, by what the current data is. Sounds like we can probably move into broad indicator land. Yeah, I am okay with that. I agree that indicators should be evergreen. I think the one thing that I disagree with Jim on a little bit is that I think it's possible to be evergreen and specific, but I'm also okay being overruled. Yeah, this is a, this is a team of people working together. So anyway, I think I agree with that. I agree with that too. So one other thing that when Jim was speaking was like, and I think behavior is a good example of this, that it can tend to sort of operate like the data collection can tend to operate on like a deficit model where it's like, I'm going into the system to report in bad behavior. And so I think it would be nice to sort of be thinking about how do we avoid that pitfall? Like how do we, how can we build in ways to track positive progress also? And also keep in mind other variety of stakeholders. So not just like, you know, well with academic achievement, you know, not just one indicator, but also these other qualitative measures. So not just like S-BACs or whatever they're called now. Cognia or star, you know, renaissance testing, you know, not just one, but like a variety. Right. So, and that we're hearing from a variety of stakeholders because parents feel differently than their students, than the teachers, than the testing, you know, it's like cross-referencing stakeholder input. Yeah. So it sounds like we're going to go more broad with the indicator and get to the specificity when it comes to goal setting time. Okay. So that's the plan for today. Let's, we're going to start by breaking up into small groups, the same ones that did the, we're starting out in the same ones that we, that were sort of our prep groups. So for closing the achievement gap, that's me, Scott and Jill for belonging safety and wellness. That's Jim, Emma and Kristen and communication and community engagement. Uh-oh, that's just Brett. Maybe Brett. Can we shift something? Yeah. I would love to have Libby float to give her expertise to each group. So why don't I join Brett and then Scott and Jill, the two of you can do any more work if you want to refine the one that we worked on when we were. Is there a document in here that we should be working from that has all of our different graph? There is the one that has probably them captured the most of the like work since we've set the vision is the one that we're going to be working on. And then we're going to be working on the values. That one has, yeah, that one has. Yeah. There's not much in there. That's the one that we're going to put what we write today. You could work in that one. I think if it's a editable, which can make it an editable. The one that I was going to point your attention to for information on conversations that have happened up to this point is the one that's in that's titled draft so we'll break up into those small groups. We'll have about get my agenda here. 20 minutes to get a draft written down. And then we'll come back to the big group to present that. The whole group will offer suggestions or questions. And then when we break into small groups, they'll be slightly different small groups the second time around so that it's different perspectives looking at the same words. But we'll get to that after the bigger for now. You go to. Scott and Jill Jim Emma and Kristen and Rhett and I working on our different priorities. For 20 minutes. Can you send me that email? I was just, I'm trying to find it, but it's very, there was an email that you had sent us with. The SBA sort of suggested suggestions. Oh, sure. I will find that. And I would like to use that as a starting point, but I couldn't find it. So that one, that was from Sue right there. So sorry. So the document, the draft priorities questions and indicators, is that part of the things that, that the three of us came up with? No, because I couldn't edit that one at the time. The one that we came up with is in, is actually in the minutes from our meeting. So I can. Thank you. And it's also, so that's the minute, the meeting that was six, 27, 23. I think you can find it on the school board website or our page of the website. And then. Oh yeah, it is. Yeah. It's in the packet too for today. Cause it was. Right. Right. Right. Okay. So. I love Kristen and Jim. Why don't you take that corner of the table? And by the end of these 20 minutes, so about nine 40, ideally you've got something either written down on paper or typed out. You can open a brand new Google doc if you need to. Don't worry about that. It's typed up that then can be shared with the big group. So ideally written down so we can like, put it up there. I have more of the big sheets if you want them. And it doesn't have to be the final product. That's the whole idea of today's. So usually I've been kind of picking up on this. But I was kind of worried on this for the next few hours. So. Yeah. Thank you. We've got. Hey. You're some. You had kind of. Yeah. Your movie. And you're moving to us. And then our indicators, yeah. And I will, I mean, to you, Rhett, just do this, and I'm drafting, right, but you need to find that, so. So we have, I mean, I've been thinking about it, and sort of like, the odds and, yeah. It sounds like, or how I'm seeing it, but maybe I'm just trying to figure out what I like is telling you whatever seems different to me. Good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good. Indicators, as I was just saying. I don't know, I mean, the last time we did it, I heard you in that, broadly. Yeah, I heard a few other things. What's the success with that? So, Rhett, I know you talk, I mean, it's, I miss what, what was the discussion about the difference. And so, here, these, these seem like short term versus, but we're going to talk about that. I don't know if that's the actual outcome. Absolutely. So, I don't think we want to not, I mean, I think, I liked what we took it with, because it's like, like Chris was saying, it's based on, I think that's the starting point, so that's something you can actually measure and aspire to. So, I don't think they would go away. That's right. I mean, are we always going to, Well, we've already said that this, yeah, it totally could be, you know, more of the industry, but I basically, like, right, I think I might have started in the wrong direction, because we're not supposed to be looking at this, right? No, okay. I think what I heard in this discussion was we're going to start broad for this in like 20 minutes. Okay. And then I went right to the narrow, or the specific. So that's my bed. Um, and if I remember correctly, we, this definition from our meeting was what we, the three of us defined as, so we were tasked with coming up with a goal, sorry, and our indicator of closing the achievement gap. And now our indicator is that every single speech and their highest potential. Identity and social impact. So then if that's the case, what are we supposed to be doing right now? I'm really glad I did for some time, because for some reason I thought we'd have some here. Maybe I'm wrong. Because then the goals would be like, well, I'll do well. Right. So this is a goal, right? The goal is every student is reaching their highest potential. And an indicator of the success would be, in case it is. Um. Yeah. Hi. Hi. Very good. So we had come up with the definition of what it means to close the achievement gap is like our goal, right? So every student reaching their highest potential, regardless of identity or socioeconomic status, and that they have equitable access to the opportunities they need and desire to succeed. I just put it, my challenge is the first part of that. Okay. So every student is reaching their highest potential. Who gets to decide that? And are we talking about, we don't need to knowing adults, they decide it for them. And so that is a bias. Okay. Right. Okay. So that would be my only, my only question. Do you have a different way to frame that? Yeah. So what we're, what we, as a leadership team, consistently is every student has any choice available to them on graduation. I mean, that is kind of, like it kind of puts the garbles out of your mouth, but, but it's the idea that you want to go for your school, you're going to go to your technical school. You're going to have to go to do it. You want to travel the world for a year. Any choice that available to them. I don't know. Like we did a big, a big thing in our leadership retreat around that. Like, okay. So let's say a kid wants to go for his school. Say a kid wants to go to a technical college. Yeah. Say a kid wants to go to a school. Put up in a group. We found things like, well, every kid needs financial literacy. And any choice that makes financial literacy. Why is that not a graduation? Like, so it was enabling us to open up those. Okay. Right. And then college for your college should be a choice for any student. Then algebra too. And multilingual, some sort of language. Right. Is necessary. Are those, you know, are we there? So then those become the indicators. Yeah. Yeah. Right. That's okay. Yeah. I'm going to find what those things are. So while the, we haven't figured out a beautiful way that could go. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I don't know if I'm going to say that idea, but that's what we're going through. Any child has a confidence. No. Then I get it was necessary. Any. I think that's. There's three different ideas. Different ideas. Even. You know, even if you're a communicator. So it takes me over. That takes the ownership out of us, but. So. Do we need to write this as. So it's a goal as when they leave. Which is not the same as like a goal. Each year they're getting. No, but you need. So. So if you want that back. That means we have to define what high levels of learning. Right. So. At the high school level. It means that everybody had some sort of writing and reading from. Usually around at the time of grade level. Right. Right. So. They can write. So. Right. So. So. So they can write. the third grade piece as an indicator for literacy and the elementary. So right, we don't want to be to have that VR only right, right piece, because that lets off a major component of our, of our school district, right? It certainly is an influencing factor according to research. And so the ninth grade, so what kind of ninth grade indicators do we have? Right, right, right, that, that, particularly, right now we're still staying literacy. Yeah, do you or the, does your leadership team have some things for the ninth grade that you would? No, that would be a bit more specific than us, right? That's getting more significant, right? That's, but that also gets under the quality. Here's okay, what you were talking about because like ninth grade, it's hard to have a physical longing for it. I'm afraid to ignore it here for kids. And so like qualitatively, our ninth graders feel like they belong in a culture. How do they feel in terms of expectations for the results of learners? And how are they doing? And how are they doing in the future? What are we working them doing? We still could. We did have one of our possible indicators be about percentage of students who report their teachers and administrators have high expectations of them. But it doesn't say ninth grade specifically about the end of the year. I know that unfortunately, or the expected of that case, because my, my first reaction to it is, well, that's the definition to make those specific goals, right? And at the same time, you all need, you all need to put a sample on it. Yeah, so I go back and forth. Yeah, like how to how specific that should be. Yeah, I mean, I, I would hope that whatever we decide is in alignment with what the leadership team is saying. And if not, that's where the play it's a hard conversation. And at this point, we're not focusing on the specific, right? So I'm listening to what you're saying. And I'm trying to translate that to like a very broad statement. And I really like one thing you said. There are a number of things in there. And I'm trying to pull out language to be in a high level goal. And I said something like every student has the confidence and skills to make the choice. And then that's a piece that I'm trying to close the loop. Make what choice. So, so if you think of choices that you think of, the choice I don't want you to make is that they're going to go work at a job assignment. I'm going to be one of the praises when I want them to have the education and the skills to say, that's not good enough. But I want to really work in the trades. So I know that I need to be in a, you know, I need to lead a contest. What do you know, I need to have customer service experience. I'm making that choice and I have the skills and confidence to be able to go get that with me, right? And I also want any child to be able to go to a foreign college. Should that be an open school? That could be any college school, but there are positions that you have to have to be successful. To be able to read a long text, you know, at the most basic kind of thing. You have to be able to sum up, you know, five to six. Literally, you can think about a book or whatever for your college, like you're reading stuff at a time. So are we preparing kids? Well, like the electrician, you know, those kids, they have to do apprentice. They have to read these huge technical vocabulary. Yeah. They have to take tests on those. They have to know how to do their own budget if they're going to do this. Yeah. So whichever choice they make, my bottom line would be that choice is one that leads to some sort of learning in the future. But they have the ability to be able to do that, that they can support themselves eventually. And they can do better than they need to do something about their life. So like this is incredible. So what is that? You know, those are choices. Those are choices. We want all of us to do those things. They're right. And that means going to school and hard to get there. So is that different than closing the achievement gap? They're kind of different. Beasts, they're the same thing. So another way you could look at it is that you, that MRPS student outcomes are not predicted by identifying factors such as through your status, race, the other kind of typical ones that you look at. That's another way to look at it. And that's more of an educational experience. Yeah, so yeah, you know, a student outcome cannot be predicted based on identifying factors. Which gets that opportunity. Yeah, they have access to the opportunities they need. They need to succeed beyond graduation or something like that. Because right now, you can pick an identity. That's a predictor of success in our district right now for lack thereof. So that's just another way to look at it. It seems to me that it's the opposite. Right, socioeconomic status and identity should not be predictors of success or are not. Yeah, that would be our goal. Yeah. I mean, they're both similar. They're both similar. But it's about three more minutes. We don't have to have a final grasp. I think we're going best. No, we're just thinking through a lot. It is yes. It's good to iterate right. Now we can do that, right? So our leadership team. MRPS ensures every student experiences a deep sense of belonging to some relevance and envisioning endless features, enabling them to rise above their biggest dream. So commitment, excellence, collaboration and power partnerships, which is an environment where students thrive academically, socially and emotionally. And I think it's equipping them to excel in a network of all the world. So it's kind of like an overall. Yeah. All the recipes to get under that. Certainly together. Another teacher. That's what we came up with. Yeah. Do we want to do that? I mean, I'm not going to go into what you're saying. And some of the families can be brought a little bit, but does that mean my life could be related to the school? Right. Our fun a little bit. Your work, but do you think at all, the student And what does that mean? So the first time about what behaviors, what behaviors, what behaviors do you think teachers need to get up, what behaviors do you think are important for the students to get every thing that I know. I don't feel like that. It was like, oh, timer. That's our time. Okay. Did you guys then get into like, yeah, measures? We had a measure for third grade. We had measured for high expectations. I don't know. Students who close their achievement gap and move out of special education services. Chronic absenteeism. By nature and by limits to. Is there a way to measure or like talk to kids a year after they get like, is there like a. It's right here. Yeah. Right. And when you're 18, you may not necessarily. Locks down on the path. Right. Cause that would help sort of quantified. We did reset them up. They feel like they have the tools they need or do they. Have a plan. I don't know. Emotionally. Is that what you're saying? All right. Am I in person? Yeah, it doesn't have to be a final drag. But I do have to cut you off. It means a good conversation. Exactly. And I'm sorry to stop it. It's okay. But you can come back to it. Thank you. It's not forever. Wrong. All right. So here we're going to do brief presentations from each group. Just to put out there what you've got so far. And then the board, if there's any like. Small suggestions or questions that will help prompt thinking for the next small group. So we've got three minutes to just say out loud what you've got so far. And then seven for questions and feedback. And we'll start with our academic achievement gap. Friends. I'm going to also try and write it really big here. Yeah. And then you can on the wall and ready to see. Can we put the draft into the MRPS vision approach values priorities dropped? Does that make sense? So that everybody can edit that one? Yeah. Sure. And I can't spell the word achievement. That's the only one. The eye before me gets me every time. And is that one that I think that one was in the board packet. So it is a public document. Anybody can see it too. Yeah. The only thing is that in the board pocket, I believe it's a PDF. So I don't know. So people can't watch us do it in real time. Correct. It's updated. Okay. Okay. So. But if board members want to access it, the link in the agenda, I believe those to the word document. I see a bunch of us in there. So Scott and Jill. Are you able to drop in the draft that you've got into the mission vision? That's okay. That's okay. We want. That's what we want right now. The mission vision or not the draft priorities questions. Correct. We want the one that's vision approach values priorities. That's where we want you to put it. And it would be under the priorities and indicators of progress at that section. Yeah. I'm trying to figure that out and report out to you guys. All right. Well, can I start by reading it? And then maybe meanwhile, I'll try to figure out now. I can't figure out where I. There we go. Okay. So our group was originally it was Mia, Scott and myself. And today we had myself Scott and Lili. Help us with this as well. So our draft from pre flood. We wanted to just sort of define and set the goal for what it means to close the achievement gap. So we had written out every student is reaching their highest potential regardless of identity or socio economic status. And they have equitable access to the opportunities they need and desire to succeed. So Lili was helping us reframe sort of rather than every student is reaching their highest potential, which is still sort of a measure and a measure of what the student is reaching their highest potential, which is still sort of a measure and, and bias towards the adults setting that, but rather that the students leave equipped and reflecting that they are equipped for whatever opportunities they want to pursue afterwards. So we're working on framing that we had, we had started to draft some indicators when we got together last month about there's a couple of sort of key touchstones in third grade and ninth grade. It sounds like of when you sort of want to take that. Temperature on how, how students are doing, because that can really help be a future predictor. So as you articulated here, one of our first ones was 90% of all third graders, regardless of identity or socio economic status. And the year able to read at or above grade level. We do want to set a similar indicator for ninth grade. It sounds like ninth grade is a very important year, transitionally, academically, and social emotionally for students. So maybe we'll be drafting a specific indicator for ninth grade as well. We had also identified, especially following our presentations recently about absenteeism that 10% of all students, regardless of identity or socio economic status are chronically absent from school. 90% of students, regardless of identity or socio economic status report that their teachers and administrators have high expectations of them. We also were trying to articulate a measure of students who are closing their individual gap and can actually move out of special education services. And then we were, we were working on how do we measure or how do we provide and guarantee that students have options while they're here that will prepare them for whatever choice they make out after graduation. So, you know, regardless of what students want to pursue and they graduate, there's sort of some standard skill sets that everyone needs. And then we want to make sure that students leave their school. Yes, I have the skill set and the opportunities I need to pursue whatever that path is after graduation. So a way to measure that might be like the week of senior year, the final week of senior year, checking in with those kids. Because once they leave, it's really hard to sort of get any sort of quantifiable data about did we do how we do, but like what their plans are, what they feel they're equipped to do to navigate whatever that next chapter is. And so we were also sort of trying to articulate how to say student outcomes can't be predicted based on socioeconomic factors, right, that it's not about continuing to sort of put those parameters in place, but rather that those out those socioeconomic factors that we all know and understand, but we're also trying to make sure that students are able to put those parameters in place, but rather that those out those socioeconomic factors that we all know and understand do not predict a student's future and their outcomes when they graduate. Did you have anything else? So what I tried to do while Jill was talking was word Smith that fall into two sentences. And it's not perfect, but but this is and Jill hasn't seen this yet. This is just me going rogue. So I took what me and Jill and I had originally crafted and then the thinking from the the thinking that we had based on feedback from from Libby and came up with and I can't I can't edit the draft priorities document, so I just requested access otherwise I would paste it in. So I'm going to read it. Sure, go for it. So and again this is a first stab at summarizing what Joe said. Every student has the confidence and skills to choose a limit list app that leads to their continued learning benefiting themselves in their community. The identity and socioeconomic status of MRPS students are not predictive of academic success. All students shall have equitable access to the opportunities they need and desire to succeed. That's who it's got. You do have evidence. Vision approach values priorities and draft. Oh, I'm on draft priorities questions. Oh, okay. Yep. There we go. That was on the wrong draft. There are a lot of documents. That's all right. So I will put this totally statement that I just read. You scroll down to the bottom of the first page. There's a link to that. I'm going to get rid of what's currently there. And then you can put what you just read out loud. Yep. Thank you. And then I'll just note that some of those specific ones that Jill mentioned from our pre work session. Those. We maybe would continue to include those in a broad definition of an indicator of success or maybe we reserve those for goals. That would be a good work for the next. Next year. We're going to do that. We're going to do that because they are like we've said, such milestones in a student's career. Or maybe we leave this broad and we keep those for goals. So that's a good. Conversation for our next, the next people who are going to work on this in the next small group run. Yeah. I definitely, I definitely hear what Jim is saying, that if we set measures, then that maybe that's all we're looking at, but I also don't think we want to not look at what we do. I don't think we should be too restrained in our thinking. Some things like academics. Is very helpful. So much for wellness. It's there. It's a little more. Right. Yeah. I'm thinking of the absenteeism thing specifically, because I think the point that was made up really stuck with me was if the student is not here, they're not getting the food. They're not getting the social. They're not getting the food. They're not getting the food. They're not getting the food. It's sort of, it's the, it's the tie that allows them access to all that. And that's, that's better. Well, I'm, they're, they're, they're not. All right. We, let's move on to. So we have a rough draft. Great. Thanks team. Let's move on to group two was. The longing safety and wellness. What's your rough draft. Okay. Okay. So the wellness team currently is on a gym and I, and we had a definition in paragraph format, and then we kind of broke these up into individual. Indicators. So it reads. All students, staff and families, caregivers feel welcomed in our schools and valued for the unique history, identity and beliefs that they bring to the school community. The environment systems and opportunities that foster student and staff wellness are present, successful and thriving in our schools. And we're trying to make sure that the community is physically, emotionally safe while having a strong sense of belonging and health, healthy connections with those in their school buildings. And this was new and it's rough and unfinished, but that resources are available to stop students. Families caregivers that enabled them to access their education. I think something that we were still wrangling with is which of these apply to student staff, families and or caregivers and what, what. And then we also, you know, talked a bit about just from these indicators, the goals within and just how we are able to access the quantitative piece and how we can lean on kind of what is already existing kind of within the data apparatus, but also not wanting to like unnecessarily tax the data machine and the data collecting responsibilities of teachers, leadership, administration, but certainly, you know, wanting to ask for things if they are truly important route, like not, not asking for something just because it might be hard or, you know, require a new, you know, system or our way of collecting data, but that we just want to be mindful of what we're asking and make sure that it's truly important. And valuable. And that's, yeah, that's, so this is what we consider indicators, not moving into kind of measurable quantitative goals and kind of, you know, asking for presentations and things like that. So I think that's, yeah, that's what I have to say. And the initial thoughts or questions on the second priority. And the indicators, I like in the second in the first sentence of value for the unique history, identity and beliefs that they bring to the school community. I like the way you phrase that. So we'll, we'll move on to group three. Thanks for two. Um, you know, um, we. Went backwards from what I, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, with that approach from what I talked about, which was that metric. To measure engagement to why. Why is this important. And so, we thought it's important because we need to hear from the community in order to make good decisions as a board. to the school community and the decisions of the board and the board maintains a communication loop with the community about its decisions. And then we're kind of- Can you hear okay Jim? I can't hear. Do you see it? I can see it. Yep, through the diagram I can see it. He just read it out loud so far. That's all we're at. Yeah, I mean that's why. That's the hope. We talked about the sort of different stakeholders in the community because it's one thing to communicate with families that have children in the district. It's another thing to communicate with folks who don't. And how does that look? And how are we keeping that in mind? We talked about passing the budget but figuring out how to gauge whether we're communicating well with families or community members who don't have kids in the system in the district is another part of our work. And so that we wanted to kind of speak to that objective. So this touches on a question that I have very early on in this process of like are we writing these for the board specifically or are we writing it for the district? And so the other two seem to read more like for the whole school, the district, all of us like for example the second one belonging safety and wellness this isn't about the board specifically like do people feel welcomed and well like members of the board and people who interact with the board. It's written more for student staff and families and caregivers and all of us. And so then this last one now the way that's drafted is very board-centric and I see I mean like evidenced by what Libby is doing right now with the flood information it's like community engagement is so valued and important for the whole school from the whole school community. And right down to things like we've been hearing a lot from the community around you know wanting more information about their individual students academic achievements and stuff like that struggles. So like I was thinking about it more in terms of that type of like broader school community and not just the work of the board. Yeah I kind of think of it as a yes and right if you use that expression and this came up when we were talking with Libby about about the indicator of closing the academic gap like our goals and the goals of the leadership team should be aligned right and if they're not that's when the conversation you know should be happening. And so I feel like this should whatever we decide on should be reflective of what we as a board think is important but should not be it should be an alignment and and parallel to every level within the district whether you talk about it a teacher or a leadership team. Like anyone could accomplish this indicator of success. What are your thoughts on that? I agree with the yes and that it should be both. We're talking about broader community engagement you know in terms of the board and really kind of taking that that role you know seriously and prioritizing that as a sort of you know all the BSGA materials that we would like this is a primary function of a board is to be that conduit. Yes you know so really having that decentralized care but also the school-based piece also you know that parents do want to feel welcome in the schools they do want to know and understand what their students are learning and what the expectations are and they do want access to data and test scores and that there are systems in place to regularly communicate those things to families and caregivers. Right well that's good input for the the next small group that works on this one just to figure out how to weave that in and have it not be solely centered around board and board responsibilities. Yeah good. Any other thoughts on what we've got so far in these drafts before we take up quick break? It was very efficient and effective to break into smaller groups before this so it's much work in our event on. Yeah. I'm going to give most of that product type of system because we were not able to break in this one. A small group of one. All right well why don't we take a quick break let's get back here at supposed to see like five minutes get water use the bathroom yeah so be back in here at about 10.05 and we'll get into different small groups at that point bring our attention back to the work of hand we're going to break into slightly different small groups as we were talking about during the break we are going to we have one person staying in place with their priority so to maintain some bit of continuity um from the conversation before and then bringing in new people to offer those new perspectives which can um and that freshness that can really help refine a draft so this time around working on closing the achievement gap is Scott, Emma and Kristen and working on belonging safety and wellness is Jim and Rhett and working on communication and community engagement is me and Jill so ready wait oh yes questions so are we still trying to stay very broad okay but as we noted in the conversation after the presentation of the first priority there may be some usefulness to getting more specific in the academic one um but that's a good thing for the three of you to discuss okay yeah fantastic okay and we have another 20 minutes for this as well yeah my timer and we can get through this without any injury let's go all right Jim like start your self-projects welcome to the closing achievement gap really thank you for the committee thank you for that during the year that this uh the way it's worded right now is that actually Patrick comes up more in some of the methods I'm like do we want anybody in the district yeah oh yeah I was right so let's but also in our total rental I feel like we've also right right anybody in the district including the board right anyway I digress um I said what I just said actually is that yeah and I just want to remind you about because I think you know the families that you're not in um academic realm this is character in the final one I think I want to think about families that's not for more opportunity to be aware of slightly and also yeah I think that comes to mind when I think about in the community engagement and accountability yeah I think currently so the I think the board as well is to post and facilitate that right like we have to travel that is not enough to provide that opportunity and that's part of the reason why that our like public volunteers at the school board members right because if you start up why that will make sure that and then also like create that opportunity with understand the leader 15 um right uh huh and sort of foster that culture at every level well I just added that as yeah on a yep more than one teacher to parent students to parents students I think I really like um so I don't want to like it makes more sense to like I do think the board has to like yeah but like own that and that foster that and create those opportunities because that's what they there is yeah which we are all in yeah so but at the same time we are not the ones who are right like hosting open house in a school for example like there are two yeah you don't want to get outside of our world no um what's one of the things I'm coming back to is like further up in the document we have already established under our approach communication engagement yeah but learning requires a collaborative approach and therefore we intentionally engage all members of our school community for student success maybe our why here is that students are more likely to succeed when there is engagement of our whole community and therefore success looks like broad and diverse group of stakeholders contributing to our school school community I don't I I think it makes I think the place where it kind of breaks down for me a little bit is that I think it makes sense for the community to drop and give input at least to influence I guess decisions at the board level but then it's like gets a little bit dizzier at the teacher level because yes we want parents to be engaged but we I don't think it's necessary or appropriate for parents to be telling a teacher how to teach you want to leave that up to the question so um to I think the umbrella why or it definitely should center more around student success than around board decisions but then I think absolutely getting to what success looks like yeah so that's just a little bit for all of these little bullet points in there so no for all three of our priorities that's okay right that statement that you just said and I think it's true for all of them not just right and so I do feel that I'm trying to find there's some national long research on this and that would be sort of the political statement you've got a language for us okay I'm just trying to find the where it is I like I've put that environment systems because we have to the role the board's role is out of like to like right so like in our role holds the meetings and I can't do four of those things again but also to like build that structure or support that structure in the district so that it's part of the culture it's like with the fact that we're going to be like right that we are budgeting and we are hiring and we are you know providing things back for our superintendents yeah right with that as like a finish out in terms of success yeah and show that their that's what I feel a little bit like um when you read it again I feel about those resources to say yeah because we also need to like well it just starts to feel a little like protect you know have it be a constructive process and attack our staff and it's right you know what we see in some other states right micromanagement of you know there's specific right we're the key right so we'll have to build a healthy middle school structure for that community engagement right this is a big one that I've been seeing it's like middle schoolers going right to high school you know I mean so of course high schoolers okay then I'll then I'll share my next one which is that um I think some language in here could be you know not necessarily um a part of decisions at the school level but but maybe it's more like systems out in place families and caregivers um report or whatever that they feel a part of their child's education or in partnership or in maybe yeah I think a part of their child's education um maybe and then the this board instead of board we say in the district maintains a communication with the community about decisions because again then it's not like district is or also again makes it more broad but I just forget wouldn't want to make and make don't want to overburden no what I think you're kind of been taught in specific though the products that almost felt like needed in after that the educational journey but you know this kind of structure needs to define that the community don't feel like caregiver and school and educator that's your broad statement what is it that we value yeah indicators your your specifics that maybe you're specific you can have a board yeah you know like you can have us connected to a school specific thing you can yeah no like that's where you can get so yeah that's true board yeah I am I am what you said because we have was connected this up here as approach already communication engagement I don't think we need to rewrite that it was there but so then what I hear you saying maybe it's like every step of the way through the three sentences that are the at the board level this is what success looks like at the school level this is like the classroom so to be a bit more inclusive of the entire like the range of ages so every student and stills to support their continued growth like that otherwise we're trying to see this piece that you're talking about the systems are in place ultimately leading to yeah things I'm not saying the ability to choose a little bit less bad and so I think yeah I think that sort of flows so it includes all of those students in the district we have this place and that's the the board continued growth like throughout their education as they move through yeah some I was going to say it but yeah along their academic where it's going to go yeah that's um what would it look like at the school level sorry they're learning families I think here yeah right I'm gonna put it oh mom chili reply are it actually auto-filled AI this year something about well like they're and maybe they're welcomed into the the building and participating in school activities could be they're also you know you know maybe maybe they're talking about you know so there's like the physical like they're literally they feel welcomed in the school building you know like I don't know if you want like I don't know the staff I don't know if you want to put you know but kind of the welcome you know like you don't just arrive sense of community or like how do we say that yeah like yeah I know I mean I just don't want to put things on parents that like yeah pretty pan involved parent and then I did one and I am never at school yeah okay yeah you know is it maybe then it's more like um so I don't know to me at the school level the insight that parents have rather than parents in the school right it's true but the school at the school level which to me is like principles yeah because then there's the classroom level maybe we don't have to break it down to all three of these but maybe school is enough to to cover whole school and it's just a classroom but so right and maybe it really is enough that we say what success looks like is that parents are see themselves at you know don't just want to be but actually could say yeah I feel like I am a part of my kids education and then like a clear like one of the more specific than that then it's like well I communication with teachers or communication with principles or I don't know I was moving away from insured at all but it's like almost worrying them such that might be at the goal level like maybe for like this year or the next two years yeah the last thing we want to do is well let's start in this in a way that's like well if you're not everybody wins or whatever then you're you're right you're you're absolutely right so families and caregivers believe themselves to be if it's even like maybe this would be more of a survey question like you know where so you'd know how to ask for help for your students like right like oh I know where you like in my words nothing yeah if I needed to I knew I know who I could reach out to at this school that's my exactly but like that could be a measure of because maybe you don't need it in that moment like for all singular I can't get it down still I know how to look on power school to see what teacher I like you know if I needed to or I know how to reach the principal if I needed to or I know how to reach the guidance counselor I needed to that makes me feel very lazy you know comfortable asking for that but if you don't even know where to go you're not going to ask for help uh-huh that might be specifically for down yeah I put that in the like lower down yeah so right now what we have is success looks like a broad and diverse group of stakeholders who contribute to the school community and the decisions of the board and the board maintains a communication with the community about its decisions successful success looks like families and caregivers believe themselves to be a part of their children's education um or can turn that most care I think it's my time for like the first one because it includes all the people like that was saying the vast majority of our voters so much right we communicate with them do we hear them when people may not understand what that means I like that I think when I think of like a very um boiled down is she working in the building guys the power this is too neat all right should i find some absolutely um so that's where our building is still unduring it's not old enough for months oh my gosh yeah no power in a lot of it was very surreal to reset on like because i come off as a little bit i do oh that's really important concept for folks so i'm going to that is like central to the building level because absolutely high school especially right if you have right values listed it could be either classrooms yeah and our values oh yeah yeah thank you okay and so that we are doing what you said we're equitable but also for respect and inclusion yeah and there might be a tiny like another way to phrase themselves to be but i was like i'm trying to get away from this we can get more content i'm a parent who wants to be a part but i'm feeling like there's a barrier right now so that might say yeah i believe myself right so i'm yeah and there's maybe some more language you could play with there we have yeah five minutes so we can that's really funny so there's there's a dual about you know and it's yeah we're still on the side about naming you separately or where they show up and so yeah yeah i mean separately or highlighting i mean i think it probably makes sense to so if you go down to i think it's at least we're revisiting because yeah clearly we're having yeah so especially this part down here the orange with the wording here like students can choose a limitless i think it's so initially that was part of a sentence and then and then we took it out and then created the zone and borrow some language here and we say um families and caregivers feel connected to their students learning and choose a limitless path and so the beginning of that sentence just kind of got thrown together and then wordsmith i can use some help i think for sure and should we in in this last sentence is are we like focusing on the beyond their experience at mrps all right i'm here the capabilities of the school system i'm in it on 12 i think it starts also is but then yeah i know very confusing okay over down here capabilities human capital skills this was talking about the schools that some of the abilities and teachers get really in the middle of a cultural competency about valuing the connections in the community and then there's connections here right important relationships and networks confidence that's why you guys were just talking about like we have maybe that they go over and maybe yeah i'm into the building leadership team and then mission value values this isn't it just because of some nice vision work yeah and i like this you know that they need access to knowledge about student learning and the workings of the system and the skills and great educational support like we're giving yeah i love this and education necessary if you go down to the bottom of the next page never to staff and family partnership outcomes that's what i'm writing right now when you graduate i think that that's yep how i'm reading this red one absolutely and this this piece here that liby shared with us before putting it here informed that language down below in our indicator so i'm not sure we want to say that they are going to want to talk to me there's like this yeah boundaries of this book school education because it's that's not really you know what i mean like there are ways for people to have an alternative journey and that really starts to come out of that school i'm sure yeah this anyway has a lot of really good things and yeah you know over here right so there's systemic and sustainable things that we as the board we want to support we could choose a reasonable to empower leaders that coordinate family school partnerships we are committed to your systemic vision of family engagement but there's lots of things that as a board we would be indicator is yes we need to support maybe like students seeing that there's language here for the indicator itself yeah i like that i think we captured i think that was what i was getting at but the staff and families have sense of what if you take these bullets and made it into a sentence not sure program staff honor and recognize families it's not my family gave me a great welcome to the invite cultures of this life for all students so family MRPS families is not can negotiate my goals and supporters and courageers monitors advocates does it make yours collaborators for their child's education you could just steal that wording and make it in i mean somebody smart i mean i know funds of knowledge is a very i don't i get what that means but that might be a little families we might want to say like yeah i don't know how to say it's background it gets that something so honors i think either that is families backgrounds yeah and um yeah and perspectives or something benefiting themselves in their community we can let the next group from like funds of knowledge we can make it really interesting to talk about too many that's all right so about access our graduates who access someone who's an honor and recognize families i just i think i just undid what you did i think i had leading to and then you changed it to pass that that's our time our program is the vision for the future let's see if i can actually i mean so it's not you can't do this for me i'd rather choose your path now but it's sort of like yeah you have all these doors are open good there's lots of possibilities for your future like just our graduates in vision and then this vision for the school sure limitless path to their future yeah i'm like that better and the number three i just like i don't i'm not crazy about the language i chose there but i think you have said something really a while back when i about the word collaborator is that going a little farther than we want to go as far as i think it goes to what you all were saying the challenge i have is somebody it doesn't happen to me too many people and when somebody to their future gives their keyboard and their future pursuits is to be yeah which is very tricky because they're often conflicting opinions right exactly and so so i think it is a collaboration i think what one thing that the leadership team works yeah it gets so up here i mean something like you know i'm the same thing longer so long you know i think that's part of the collaboration really trying to go back to the pillar and that kind of thing not you did that i mean we can all make sure that we're going back to what our office team has said and they're trying to come back trying to gather understanding that there's a bigger data about yeah are they not truly advising us is that the right term or is it you know like so i think we have a council but yes it was a big conversation okay size i stole a little bit of time from the big because we were like just ready we're just had found some great language i wanted to make sure to capture it so let's bring it back to the big group though and this time we'll do a little um switching up of our presentation and why don't we have Jim and Rhett go first belonging safety and wellness how's your draft looking so we actually thought the work previously was pretty strong we um yeah so um so a couple observations which i think were the same as before again you know cognizant of this unlike the academics where i think specifics matters a lot you know belonging wellness and and safety have a lot to do with how people feel and what their mental state is yeah so we felt it was okay and a lot here that we quantifiable the idea that in order to measure this the school's going to be happy to be pretty proactive for a lot of these in terms of like reaching out checking in giving people opportunities to to weigh in and not kind of assuming everyone's fine like making sure we have check-ins and and surveys and and other things to you know to get a sense of what the issues are and also you know it's something too where you know if 98% of people are feeling great and 2% of people are feeling awful we have problem uh and yeah how do we do that and and one of the and one of the bread and I fleshed out a little bit more um was your kind of the resources being available you know the the idea that even if we have a great environment there are going to be people who are struggling and so having the resources be available and then also making sure that the school community members feel that those resources are accessible for them so just having the resources out there people don't know about them if there's something intimidating about them if there's something that's hard in terms of access um both literally in terms of access and also just in terms of how people feel about the access um that's a problem so you know making sure that that that we have those first three indicators but then making sure that for people who are um who need help that those resources are available for them and they know it and and it feels like that the place again I think that's that's pretty much it I'm putting Chris's original credit for photographing these up she did a great job I just hit on it well and there's not not a lot we we uh wanted to change so I think maybe just for the benefit of folks who can't see this yet um why don't you just read out loud so the four all student staff family caregivers who welcome to our schools and values of unique history identity and beliefs that they bring to the community be the environment systems and opportunities that foster student and staff wellness are present successful and thriving in our schools students staff and families caregivers feel physically and emotionally safe while having a strong sense of blogging and healthy connections with those in their school buildings um resources are available to staff student families caregivers that enable them to access their education and school community members feel those resources that are accessible to them awesome yeah yeah I just have one suggestion for the last um bullet point there I wrote it in the comment but um because this one you know we do have a priority of academic achievement I wonder if we can change the wording to that last bullet point that this is more about social emotional well-being and not about accessing their educated like the resources to access their education maybe resources um to ensure their social emotional well-being something along those lines I thought about that too I just wanted to say the reason I kind of like education is because I think we want to look at social emotional and belonging in the context of a school that provides education and that one of the reasons that we want people to feel this way is so that they can access education with the idea of being that if they're not feeling safe if they're not feeling blocked if they don't feel sense of belonging it impedes their education I think if we move it beyond that there people could feel fine in school and not feel fine in their lives and I'm not sure that the I'm not sure the mission of a school is to provide general mental health outside of the context of making sure people have the emotional safety and wellness to access their education I mean I just feel there's a little bit of a mission like like if our if our goal is to just make sure everyone who comes to contact with the school gets the emotional and mental health support they need rather than in the context of what they need to achieve the mission of the school then we kind of want her to become a a mental health yeah that's sort of what we were talking about in the first round which is um readiness to learn like providing them all the resources which would include social emotional well-being to be to feel ready to learn so that makes sense to me and maybe we'll have one more small group session maybe there's a little bit of refining that the next small group can do that to bring both of those things out or to bring the social emotional within the context of education I think too for the next group I do I actually I like the phrase readiness to learn and I wonder if that can specifically be woven in there and then I do think and I have put in a comment that I think some um for purposes of being specific and word efficient that we um get clear on which groups are which groups uh are intended for which indicators like do we intend this indicator for students staff families carry over us or do we specifically intend this indicator for students and staff um so so that we are being realistic about you know the reach and the capacity of the school and just that it's you know kind of surplus back to what our primary you know function and mission is as a school um and I think probably just for a word efficiency purpose like choosing families or caregivers and I feel like in this district we largely lean toward caregivers so maybe just sticking with that just for simplicity and word efficiency readability okay any other thoughts uh huh I I feel like this last D should be moved just one up and then C should be the final sentence all right uh Jill and I will go next we had Libby's help on this as well so we took that feedback from the last big group point um that really to to have this be of the way that we talk about it be not just centered around the board but the somebody's uh uh students or a um caregivers experience with the district holistically so um we did quite a bit of um revising and it currently reads our students are more likely to be successful when our full school community is engaged in their education success looks like a broad and diverse group of stakeholders who contribute to the school community and the decisions of the board and the board maintains a communication loop with the community about its decisions our educators honor and recognize families backgrounds connect family engagement to student learning and create welcoming inviting cultures our families our supporters encouragers monitors advocates decision makers and collaborators in their children's education in the vein of moving around and my wonder if you had the sentence that I was talking about success looks like that I feel like is the final sentence and the yeah going after three to four and I don't even know if that first sentence needs to be there um because we do talk about um the importance of a collaborative approach to learning for the success of students up in approach the approach section so anyway just potentially an edit on my own writing I mean I I like it because the community each multiple parts of the community are are singled out individually and so we talk about our we've written about our students our educators our families and supporters and so I like that that is there and that ties back to the conversation that we had about is there is there a role for and a benefit of defining I feel like that's sort of like a definition of um you know that opening sentence of what of of how we believe students are successful so and while some of those things are mentioned in the approach section up above it's an upstairs but how often are people going to be scrolling back and forth yeah to kind of look at that foundational piece so does it make sense to kind of weave some of that very defining foundational understandings into um these priorities so that's just something for us to continue to chew on but any other thoughts will we engage in accountability um I mean I like the final line I the what it doesn't do is it doesn't I think respect that that families might have different approaches to how they want to engage in their children's education and it seems to create an expert it seems like it's it's it seems to create an expert that families aren't doing that that they're maybe not meeting the expectations of the district could we say our families are welcomed as I was going to say are welcomed or given you know full opportunity to be you know that type of thing so it's it's a you know it allows it allows families to do it if they want to but if some families are a little more you know hey the schools educate our kids and we we trust it and then we stay away that's fine too it's pretty funny you can't see this but as you were talking the camera this is me and I'm used to another it's like I'm wondering just so the now the last sentence where Scott moved it to that it's still um it still reads a little like board-centric and I'm just wondering I and I'd like to hear from Libby on this or anyone with thoughts um like would it would it be problematic to say decisions of the board and district or board and administration like is there you know a maintenance of the board and administration maintains a communication loop with the community you know what I mean I do know what you're saying I don't know that we want to require that our administrators report out on every decision that they make so but actually at board level decision that is appropriate so that's where I get a little stuck on I think part of my challenge is that I consider the board part of the district the board is an integral part of the district so the work district in my mind the work district can emphasis the board and yeah one of the things we talked about was like we're talking abroad right now right when you get to specific that's where there could be specific board indicators I guess that's why I'm wondering why are we calling out the boards because I think when I think about like um the people who have come to us to talk to us about communication issues they're typically not some people are complaining specifically about the board and how we communicate but I also feel like we receive a lot of feedback around like I'm not hearing this from my teacher my kid's teacher I'm not hearing this from like I feel like the individual caregiver and student experience is not typically with the board around communication and engagement but I think we get on that get to that within the second sentence our educators honor and recognize families backgrounds connect family engagement to student learning and create welcoming inviting cultures so if someone is I think we're addressing that and maybe that's something that can happen with better refinement in the next small group but I yeah it was one of the things that Jill and I were talking about was like we couldn't get that we couldn't figure how to put it all in one sentence yeah have it at the different levels of the district the board level and the school level for example right we ended up putting them in separate sentences but I think the whole thing does address what you're saying just not that one particular sentence and I just took a pack saw to what was there and I can undo all my changes very easily um but I took out the board entirely and just changed the end of that sentence to be inclusive of the board and the rest of the district at least a minute we kind of talk this is kind of this this is kind of come up is like how transparency is sort of this double-edged sword where the districts through the board decisions the board is accountable for those decisions and and transparency is needed but transparency is not always necessarily not at every level it's not necessarily required at every level of this different just like in making processes the other thing I'm thinking about as we're talking about whether to use for the whether to report to the board in this paragraph or not is that I've often felt like if they're if community members are unhappy and they're criticizing the board I would far prefer that to criticizing teachers and if there's a way that the board can take heat that can protect our teachers and administrators I would I would like I think that that's an essential function of the board because especially I mean you have to take it too but especially our teachers want to have a protective you know effects on teachers trying to do our work yeah I think I think Scott I do disagree with making it like putting transparency layering transparency for every single decision I would say that for sure decisions absolutely need to happen transparently and we should be accountable yeah and we have we have as me as I think we have a special relationship with the community I will say I um think that having something about circling back on board decisions with the community would be is important to have language like that in here because that was the biggest piece of feedback we got from the survey that we did about community engagement with the board now that is we only asked about board community engagement in that particular survey um and it was but it was overwhelming people asking for it will you just tell us what you decide and do a quick recap for us so I think that to me feels like a clear indicator of success when that is happening um consistently so yeah I'm going to push back a little bit I hear what y'all are saying um it doesn't say all decisions right and I still think being closing the loop is an example of being transparent and accountable agreed and so if we're trying to be we're trying to zoom out and not just talk about the board but talk about the district which is inclusive of the board wouldn't we want the district to be transparent and accountable and the board mechanism might be closing the loop whereas the leadership team mechanism might be you know sending out updates because I'm not really doing a good job particularly but I do think it's important important for us to think of the board as part of the district and not something separate um and I do think yeah like yeah I'm going to just tell I think I what I hear you saying is that you think there should be transparency at all levels and that that is okay for that to be stated here absolutely and or as much as is reasonable exactly like I think that for anyone to read into this you know like and maybe we can clarify in one of our goals you know that like when we're talking about communication and looping back that or when we're talking about transparency and we like write a specific goal for transparency that it could be specified there when appropriate right it's like I feel like most reasonable people would know that there's going to be a million decisions made on a daily basis that are not going to be transparent right and there's a lot of information that cannot be provided for legal reasons to the community and I feel like that's in the spirit of this like I I guess I'm not worried about and if some an individual does read it that way we can educate them yeah I I hear that and I I that makes a lot of sense to me and certainly at that end of the spectrum of like legal reasons one one question that just to tease this out a little further that I have is like you know the district just made a big decision to get to use this panorama data system would we expect that that would be done in a transparent matter where because I think one could argue that wasn't done in a transparent matter you know the administrators just decided to do it we were informed of it we were not even the board was not like hey these are the three we're just we're thinking about here you know this is the one we think we're going to go with we need you to weigh in I think it's totally fine that that wasn't done in in a transparent matter but it doesn't reach the level of like oh we need for fun so I did I just wanted to throw that out there as a way of teasing out this conversation as a almost like a community case study I mean I think the the thing about that is it it was really kind of a system decision I mean like the data was there like this is this is the tool that we're going to invest in right data we have it wasn't a decision about well we're going to stop tracking this thing or we're going to start tracking this thing it wasn't it wasn't substance so much as presentation play I just wonder would that be the kind of thing that somebody could go you just made a really big decision but you didn't do it transparently if if that's the way we have if that's the expectation we set of what success looks like that's all I'm asking yeah I guess yeah that's depends on the privacy I mean I feel like with each one of these priorities there's a way to read into it in a way where we're setting ourselves up to be offering way more like over promising right with if you go back to the one that I spent a little more time on belonging safety and wellness like I'm sure there's a way for community members to read that as like you're responsible for my students you know emotional well-being and you know you need to be held accountable to you know how are they as an individual feeling safe right and it's like sure on some level yes and then what Jim is talking about too is like we can't be responsible for everything and so I think these are aspirational but but I don't think we should be afraid of people reading into them to hold us accountable for things that are that are beyond possibility um I just want to also raise that transparency was a big theme of maintenance work like a visioning process too and I know that that word holds a lot of weight and we're a little bit nervous about the word transparency but I I would encourage us to infuse the language of the of the indicator with transparency somehow because it was a huge value um in that vision work another idea that Scott had during our work is we were we were having a similar conversation around the word equitable in our in our last meeting and up above under values where it says respect equity inclusion empathy accountability so I feel like that's an an opportunity for us to sort of define some of these you know like what is our working definition of accountability and I feel like in accountability we could provide some caveats to what we're capable of providing around transparency or maybe and or maybe the level of decision making you know I think um in the policy committee we tend to try to like provide a lot of like wiggle room for the district in the way that the words that we choose in the policies so that it can be like shale or you know what I mean like there's wording words nothing that can be done to make sure that we're not boxing ourselves in to like oops we chose this new like grading platform and now the community is pointing to this indicator as a way to say that we you know right and we might and maybe that is something that should be made right I think whenever possible and appropriate I think the more transparency and community engagement the better but I also know you know I've been on the board for a while now and I know that things sometimes have to happen quickly and even when you have your best intentions out there and you provide six different ways for community to engage on a decision they don't and we have to move forward and so yeah all right well this is all really good feedback for the last small group to whoever it is I can't remember is yeah right let's put it Kristen's hand let's move on to the closing the academic gap achievement gap um where have you landed so far I want to report out I'm kind of very modest so yeah I'm happy to um so first thing we did was we decided that it would be good to add a word to our um priority and so we propose calling it the academic achievement gap and not just the academic gap or just the achievement gap so the current language is opportunity gap in the literature right so take that for what you know and yeah we get so a third word in there yeah we talked about that as well and well I feel like it's a different definition like when we're talking about what opportunities students have to achieve is different from talking about what they ultimately achieve academically and but I've been I've been out of the field for a little bit so sorry I want to jump in here because it was important to us to step out of the literature jargon and and name what we think our community would understand and I don't know that if they if I don't know exactly what opportunity gap is but I have a better I'm more comfortable with understanding my understanding of what academic achievement happens so that's where that's why we landed there um up for debate certainly um and then we also expanded the previous iteration um and did a little bit of moving around um and the main thing we added was a the piece about the system so bullet point number two I guess number two in the list um we we added a piece about um yeah those mechanisms um that was similar to the um one of the pre one of the other groups maybe the belonging safety wellness so we kind of model the belonging safety and wellness approach in the this priority um and then put the the final statement of update that our graduates um sort of the um like what success would look like would be our graduate the fourth item our graduates envisioning limitless path to their future chosen pursuits of the benefit themselves and then the piece that I think I'm just brought up about we were talking about whether or not we should be defining equitable in this priority and then we realized oh there's also stacks above there and we have our values including equity and so I think and I agree with what was said before it would be if we're going to say our value is respect and equity and inclusion then what do we mean by that and then that would help if we use those terms throughout our priorities and are you was you're thinking then that the a through h here would also be part of the indicators that that's the detail that we didn't want to lose hold over yeah exactly over okay yeah so we didn't we didn't touch any of that got it that's the the specifics that we were trying to avoid for this conversation yeah great any thoughts for the next small group to consider as far as the wording of this indicator I appreciate that you've had the systems in place to measure and monitor and support that's okay yeah question that I'm thinking so in one of the in one of the other indicators or in other priorities the very last statement was success is dot dot dot dot dot dot should we should number four be success is our graduates envisioning dot dot dot dot or just a little bit of sense I think it could be I I actually wasn't sure it's that needed to be there in the last sense of the community engagement it was sort of the like this is how I was getting it out of my brain but I don't know if that's how it is forever right any other thoughts before we move to our final small group round all right good good discussion team so I've shifted up the small groups a little bit from what they were originally so on closing the achievement gap is going to be Kristen and me belonging safety and wellness will be ret and Emma and communication and community engagement is going to be Scott Jill and Jim has anyone else been on community engagement because I have not yet so if I could switch places with somebody who has not been on belonging safety and wellness you know I'm saying sure yes and yeah I think that's fine at this point we've all talked about them enough I was trying to keep that continuity but I think it's fine at this point yeah so Jill and Emma will swap and Jill you can go to belonging safety and wellness with ret and Emma you can do the community engagement with Scott and Jim well hi the three of us 15 minutes for this one we're just finalizing this we don't have any soon this is the one to be on so we I mean the greater we not just the board but like in general people feel sort of just more or less over promising thing that I was thinking there's something I want to provide a lot of this right so I want to I want to get to sure we're kids don't say the best while I agree with that statement and yet every so but how can we not say that you know your students so there is there is that is a place whether what we can do is everything we can create those that's welcoming so I we have a really great we did what they were supposed to do they aren't anything that we get just possible honor and honor and you recognize much of what you're not actually doing this trans learning but maybe it's when you're students like literacy and capability you know crises or events you know read sort of procedures in place that are reverse yeah and so let's give a let's say I don't really want one of the word yeah at least I was like doing what I thought but it's like you know when it's like right and we're still in like well then like yeah there's a reaction to it it's saying that's what I was just missing my level of you could well everybody can be on you know I'm so like seventh grade I want natural the both of you like they can engage you know whatever they may not feel like they totally belong because that's that's where everybody that's the way I think I accept that right and it's like I don't like and I agree with you that you're standing very well so it's it's a difficult one and it's a shame right currently at least we want to say that you can honor right you guys I do think you guys this is the biggest thing that's so great I do think like keeping values the first day is like right um I think that all the solos like you sound smart it does seem like there's definitely a lot of things that you were saying about actively like like I think we do honor and recognize the background yeah right like it's like under and and you know there's just always something like that in terms of the the prioritized yeah understand the value of the whole decision experience that I and you know that I don't know like every child that's that's like welcoming and inviting a pretty simple world so it's almost like maybe maybe like I feel like like I hope that we're going to see the transparent intentional systems that I think I too really I choose to um be there in that I get that and like and wrestling yeah I do think some put it in like something to create under history you know like we could think of other words besides what they think is like it's right right because I think no I'm still like you can't promise bad things are not going to happen to our students so that right you know it's but we can help people become more resilient what they have so I just don't so and I also really it's a really helpful it's a more side in the targets of society fun like it's a fun to talk to end it we've been debating a lot at our leadership and you know right but we have a set of a lot of labeling of visualizations through the power we know some of the generalities within our spaces so mm-hmm mm-hmm and the best part the group and I think we're doing a lot of enabling of agility and for right now so it's a and we have some staff who push us there that's my favorite and we have some staff where I like could you stop the one that's not so it's it's just a really a little bit to meaning to be right now to me get the majors in our staff like yeah I'm wanting to see how I would bring that I'm just I'm just you know you know parents who I sort of say is you know I I want my yeah it's G8 switch yeah yeah that's the one before right so it's just a little great is that and you're going for uh cleaning I mean I'm just right right like it's just I mean I'm sure you've got lots of thoughts on that breath that's the mental health information well yeah and also like I I you know I would want to I my thing of what I I think that I think goes well and it's is not the school culture there's been a lot of the ways in which like that I'm very close to not I mean not and in the in the in the in the in the in the right allowed to you know families and engage in the in the things not not the the backings right and that's that's not the the the you know I'm not in that that's that's and I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm concerned like I don't like I'm I mean I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm yes I I'm better I don't know anyway I'm I'm what about when circumstances arise I'm I don't know if that's the right way but when disruptive circumstances arise maybe the just or what about just the the the decision- the decision- the go back to the system well Tom the decision- the decision- they were but really the the student who's one of the skills to choose like we we decision- make the do what we can to them that's them to see that there to get some ways like maybe maybe maybe but you know that the the the the the to the students over over over chance I think we want families to fill them up for me agency over over the decisions it's still like going students I love having to work having to work having to work you It implies that something's hard to take in and boards, and that's not what they should be about, right? They should not dissimilar to what they should call us. Like, it's normal for them to purchase. I hope you know what I'm saying. It's not something that should be a workplace. And that they're not there. It's a muscle there, it's not there, actually, really. Right, you can't really expect it. And we need to work with it, you know. They're, yeah, they're giving it a lot of the time. I don't know, when disruptive services are around, they're just going to be right struck on us and build resilience. But I think that should be, yeah, something that should be there. I think it's fair to say they're not going to be able to get out. They're not going to be able to get out. They're going to be able to get out. Like, yes or no. Superboard news for the moment, they're... And I think if we, if that becomes our indicator, then never to be able to say anything. I think we should say... I didn't get to say that. I wasn't born with this. It's trying to sense if belonging can be the same. You could also connect as like decision makers in their career, streets, educations, right? So students would have family carriers that sort of have a strong sense of belonging, right? Like, I would like to use it a little bit. To our districts to understand how that impacts their... Strong sense of belonging, I like this change here, you know, and they often have a lot of old chairs you're not very considering. Yeah, parents as decision makers, you know. Well, I know I like kids. I like that. So I do think, not mine, you know. Yeah, you know, and that's where I feel that's why it's, it's wrong because I think there are places where physically safe, not to say that they're convenient, but they're actually not resilient enough, like, yeah, that's not good for my kid. Or, I think that's not the right choice for you to be in this. It can actually be part of the real discipline. Yeah, I don't know. I think there is something about, like... We're caring to you. This is where I sit and learn the semantics of, like, I know, because I do know what you mean. I'm not sort of worried about what people think. Yeah, but like, I mean, I don't know what we're doing. I'm like, they know that you're going to step out of the circle. They do, and they're not going to stop it, whether or not we have a decision maker in their system is a place in the environment, a place that makes up. I'm not as afraid of it. Like, I feel like, right, and when it doesn't happen, because kids make mistakes, right? This is always a very hard thing to do. And then, it doesn't have to be a much question, but then, until they give, like, I want to be able to make the decision, if you're always preparing this a lot, so you wouldn't have to make sure that's not how it is. They're a state system maker, and so they're for every day of the process, right? Like, that's like, I'm sorry that you really have weapons, right? I'm doing it. And I don't think we need to put a point there, like, a physical line, at least. It's kind of higher to get away from that. I think it's just sort of like, what's the biggest point of the flooding? You're always going to get into more of it, right? I get it. We've done it in talking, and so how many of you know where I was going to come from, but I just feel like physically saving this. And we're going to, like, wash it, wash all the work, or have guests do it. How are the visioning committees? I could just be like, away to it, at least to know that it's right. Wash all the work. There needs to be mechanics. Like, I absolutely... Safe hands, having a strong side. And then, we're going to be so far away from work. Like, as a standpoint, is it going to ever get, and I don't, I just kind of never I think this is my important philosophy, too. Everything they do, I want to say. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'm thinking of the building and I'm thinking of the skills for it. So what happens with one of my staff members who has a child? I think I've worked with a child who has changed, has not been kept in the spirit, and maybe addressed, you know, your concern with the decision-makers in, by saying that the decision-makers, you know, like, there's lots of things like that. I can't ensure everything, you know, so I'm like, whether it's a worker or not, but I can't go back and say this. And then, this is kind of the acknowledging what we're as, you know, role-advising decisions for their children, some sort of advice for folks that are lost in it. It's every student getting what they need. The worker provides reports. Yes. I would be careful with, like, as appropriate here. I know. Or whether or not to put a comment. Yeah, that's a good one. Maybe we could put it here. But, I mean, as appropriate, I think goes throughout a little kind of, like, that's like what you were saying. But then we're getting sort of, like, then we're getting sort of, like, something that people will use that. Yeah. So that's a trend. Yeah. But we're placed at the other, like, I think that they still use it to kind of, like, we go in, we go in, we go in, when it's not allowed, we just parse it out and define it. Yeah. Yeah, the value, right. So that's, I think, under accountability, like, decision-making inclusion. And I just feel like, then, the bitching support is going on there. Let's talk about the outbreak of indigital care. Right. And then it needs to change more individualized, which is how you're supposed to respond. Like, every bit of research is that type of stuff. So it's just an outbreak. And I think I just get rid of it. There was just a lot to do with it. Mortar and extracurricular, as well. A lot of advocates need the stuff. Everything they continue to do with it. You know, like, this, that trickles down, kind of thing, that doesn't work. You know, like, there was no opinion. It was more of the continuing honor. And that's my family's background. You know, I've run it. Oh, so the sport in Africa does anything about this. You know, where it's like, it just, that's not an accurate statement. No. And frankly, again, the rest is like, everyone, sorry, we need to build something and see that. And we need to re-traumatize people or read, like, to continue. Sure. That way. Because to me, like, what, the word that's important to me is advocate. Like, that they should be, is a fan expected, you'll say, to enable individualized. I can't, I can't. No, it's fine. We'll get it explained. Yeah. And then that gets to volleyball. Just like, you know, you expect, like, that's what you do when you're on this position. It's with the grid, you sort of expect work to be safe. So can we go back to the sentence a little bit with our last minute? Yeah. Remind me of a story that I've heard about. Can we define inviting relationships? Personally. Or could we define that like potential students? That they'll never be out on the streets. There are caregivers. They were talking to their psychologists. And I was there. I was there to support. Or whatever. And he was talking about this. Well, we are warm. Stakeholders. We say that world at the time. It's not what we are. It's like how we decided earlier. I don't have any steering to communicate. In the video, it says, you're subtendly on the loop. To me, I see, Peter, you're telling me you're on the loop. I'm telling you on the loop. That we will repress. You go to the grocery store on your side, on your grocery, on your grocery store. Where are you? So, that's what they honor. But I think that, you know, they're honoring us. We're doing that. We're doing it first of all. How about experienced educators communicate? And it was brilliant. It was not really because it's all about. Yeah, I'm going to do this over and over again. Really, it's so brilliant. I bring that up on every orientation. Delusion, your perspective, your perception. It's an exception. Yeah, your perspective, your reality. And you got to take the granted. That gives the baggage. I can trust what you're saying. And then somebody told me that you're delusional. So now I think everything you said. But those values that our educators are honoring are infused in the way that they. And that, imagine you had that conversation. It was a stroke scene. Yeah, and then it's like a phase. I'm actually trying to continue. It's happened 90% of all for me. But we don't want to ever read that. I love it in the end. Like, it's just like, I don't know if we read it in the end. The faith for this or for something, I don't know. I'm not like, but I think agility. But like, that kind of reads us to 70% and 70% of it. So anyway, what's really interesting in the end is the character. Like, I'm right. It's two. Yeah, we're just in the middle of something. Yeah. It needs to be a couple. It's very cool. I think it's a supervisor, too, right? Like, you know, like more, there's, yeah. So I guess the way I saw that, you know, the indicators would be kind of less true, specific. Yeah. So we would get into that. Yeah. All right. So we're going to move these. Okay. So you go down here. Oh. All right. It's actually, how's it going, everybody? It's about mental health. Oh, So this last part of the sentence was very last. And then we're not wise, you know, abroad and the first bit of the story. Community. And do we separate these? And decisions that are transparent. Are transparent. You know what I'm saying. The book stakeholders. Decisions that are transparent. And it comes in. To make sense. Kind of. When they're separated out. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I'm getting a little like. I already have summer brain. Yeah. And then it's like flood brain. At the last key. But decisions that are made with transparency and accountability. Or no, just let fewer words, the better. Right. So. Yeah. I think. And then we come back in. We will do a. Final read out. Where they stand right now. And talk about next steps. It seems. That's super. It's this idea that we teach kids. Right. Right. Alright. So we are. Reporting out where we've landed. And I think. It's time for group three to kick us off. Even though you weren't. Anyway, yes. Community engagement and accountability. How's it looking? That's here. Oh yeah. That's you. Sorry. Nope. That's facilitator error. We talked about. Just sort of trying to. Trying to. Round the language. In the work that was done with the visioning committee. And make sure that we're staying true to like keep anchoring back to. What our community is asking. From us in this community engagement and accountability. Peace. So. So we're. On board and Scott the words in a third we were able to change a little bit when we felt like brought it back to that. So I'll just read it. For the sake of people who aren't on the live document. Our students are more likely to be successful when our whole school community is engaged in their education. Our educators communicate effectively in a manner that honors and recognizes family's backgrounds and connects family to each other. And that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to make sure that our students are valued collaborators partners. Monitors advocates and decision makers in their children's education. Success looks like a broad and diverse group of stakeholders who contribute to the school community and decisions that are transparent and accountable. Awesome. I just want to air just for. Aware. I like the intent behind. Saying that. Families are. I think we need to acknowledge if they're not decision makers and all things. There are places where I think they should be decision makers. I mean like things that specifically in fact. Their child and maybe not all things specifically. The job is certainly decisions about their child's education. They're not going to be decision makers and who would be high. I mean just so I could be decision makers and I mean they can. Give input to the decision making process and we value their partnership as part of that. But. They're not ultimately going to be decision makers and probably most of the decisions that the school administration makes. So. I just want to be careful about the expectation. We might set up with that indicator. I think most. Community members are going to realize that there's a. As appropriate. In there, but. There are going to be community members that. May not. Jim did type as appropriate. And we deleted that. So. Pushing back, just trying to be like, you know, this is. We're hoping that our community can be reasonable when reading this. And if we just go into like lawyer mode and make sure that. Perfect. Then it's going to read like a legal policy. Right. Right. We wanted to be accessible. Yes. Yeah. And so. Yeah. And we also circled back to the potential for using the. The value. Section as a way to flesh out some of these definitions around expectations that the community may have. Yeah. If we say, you know, we value you as a decision maker. What does that learn? It sort of goes back to transparent as well. Right. As appropriate. Right. Yeah. Here are some. Here's, here's the parameters within which these things apply. Or the appropriate roles. And why. I have a. So. I know you all talked a lot about the word transparent. Do you feel like transparent is enough to, to include that whole, like we, we look back on decisions that we've made. Or should we put that, that wording in there where the board. Is like. Loops back out on decisions or anything or something like that. I, I think I said this last time. And so I'm, I hesitated to say it again, but I. Like accountability to me includes. Great. Okay. So I don't think it needs to be spelled out. Okay. And I'll give it. Yeah. I do think it's possible that the second bullet point, instead of saying, our educators, right? That could be all of us. And instead of specifically calling out educators. Who I think people maybe are just thinking are the classroom teachers. Right. Yeah. So I wonder if we could make a little list there that includes the board, you know, educators. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's possible that this second bullet point, instead of saying our educators, right? That could be all of us. Yeah. Yeah. I really like that at it because I think that we also want to state an expectation that our families communicate effectively too. Yes. And in a way that honors. The backgrounds and expertise of. Everybody in the district. So I know that I like that. And I do feel like I like the communication loop because that's been sort of a theme that's been arising is like us reporting back to people on, because it's not that things aren't being done. It's that sometimes they're just not hearing about the stuff that's being done. So I like. Capturing that it's still in there as a comment, right? I just cleaned it out because we were saying accountability. Encompass. Closing the loop. Yeah. And I also feel like it could be, it could be fleshed out more specifically in some of the goals. Yeah. When we define what accountability looks like as a value. Yeah. I feel really uncomfortable about families being decision makers and their children's education because my kids are in your classroom. And what if I don't like your decisions. All the time. You know what I mean? Like it's, it's a collaborative effort. And so when any individual family. Is under the impression that they decide what their children will be taught, it affects everyone. That's around their children, their child. And I don't, I might not want that. I trust living. I don't trust. I completely agree. And the way I see this is we are valuing that parents make decisions in their children's education. We are not valuing that parents make all of the decisions that affect their children. Right. But the reality is that parents make countless decisions that affect their children. And we value that in our district. And that's only because we are happy. She says, I'm happy. I'm happy. It's like a perfect family that, you know, How about some family members, Green makers, their collaborators? I have an example. I have decided that I will enforce. That there's 30 minutes of reading every day after school in my house. That's a decision I've made. Based on what I want from my, from my kids education. It doesn't necessarily impact what happens in the classroom, going into his junior year of high school and I feel valued as a decision maker at the table when decisions are being made about what classes he's choosing for the next year by hit the guidance counselor. His guidance counselor has been very mindful to be inclusive of me and my husband like in emails and decisions that are being made you know like should he take a pee for this class or should he get the grade as part of his transcript. Should he move into Spanish three or should he stop his second language journey you know and and I'm a voice at the table of that decision making process and I want to be valued but in that way. So I don't think it's I don't this is where this is this is where the conversation came from it's like how literal do we take every word out of context in the in this in the language and there are probably going to be people and I like the way Scott put it he's like those people are always going to lose both no matter how you word it where they're going to come and expect to be able to make like the ultimate decision maybe and then it's about how do we manage those expectations when they arise but I don't feel that the way it's worded you know reasonably and to be interpreted that way. I think when I put when I connect value to decision maker value decision maker it makes more sense there's a lot of words in between. Well let's leave it like that for now so that we can move on to the next. Yeah I mean you know I mean in a situation though where you've got like the you know like open 24 hours and someone comes as you're closing and they're like since that says open 24 hours they're like well it will not go up. I mean it's like so let's go to academic a cheap and gap. Kristen and I just did a tiny bit of refining here we left some of it in so you all can see the changes we made but some of it we felt pretty good about. The first one is every student has the confidence and skills to achieve excellence and to support continuous growth along their learning journey so we just slotted in achieving excellence there but leaving the continuous growth along their learning journey. Systems are in place to measure monitor and support students on their unique path towards meeting or exceeding grade level expectations. We left that one the same I think and then we wanted to put a little bit more of the onus on I think the onus was already there on the district but this I think we shifted it just slightly more by adding by switching up this language a little bit. There are no barriers to academic success based on identity or socioeconomic status for MRPS students. All students have the access they need to opportunities that will help them succeed and that in the second sentence that edit there is a is our way of trying to take equitable which is a little bit of a jargony word in education and other sort of core industries these days but make it a little bit more of like this is what we need by equitable is that they have the access they need and having it be more just like plain speak which I think does it and then our graduates envision a limitless path to their futures and chosen pursuits of continued learning that benefits them and their communities that one we left the same and then we had at the very end of small conversation about though all those that like A through H that were the much more quantitative things and we moved them to goals for the conversation at the next part of the retreat thoughts I I struggle a little bit with this rewording here of the there are no barriers to academic success based on identity and socioeconomic status the way that it was worded before the way I'm reading it are not predictive of academic success it's sort of like we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to for kids who come from lower socioeconomic status or have certain barriers you know the opportunity gap that we were talking about barriers to their learning that we want to provide enough support in within the school environment that they have that you can't take out the free and reduced lunch students and see a clear correlation to their you know uh test scores yeah and so to me like that's the that's the goal is that we don't and maybe it is a goal and not an indicator but to say there are no barriers it's like by their very nature like that is a barrier you know like if I'm coming from a family that nobody in my family has ever been to college you know all of my ancestors right that's a barrier and I think it can be named as such like it's you know I'm working at a distinct disadvantage to the kid whose parents have been talking about college since birth and dressing them in a little harvard onesie or whatever like there is a that is what the opportunity gap is like if my parents don't have money to pay for an outside tutor and another family's parent does that's a barrier yeah like and and it can be named like it's like that is what we're talking about when we're talking about and what we're doing is working against those barriers right but I heard it as there are no barriers to academic success based on identity and so like that is just wrong like there are barriers it's such a difficult barrier to overcome and that's why pretty much every school across the nation if you look at their free and reduced lunch population before later you know so and that's why I said in a meeting a long time ago I was like if we can if we can make this happen like we're going to be like getting national news attention you know like you know because it is such a barrier yeah yeah no I I completely agree so it's a very well I mean not just aren't there there are barriers and I think our jobs are recognized as barriers and that do we can to give students school to overcome and I think yeah kind of what you were getting at right in this provision was also that MRPS will work to eliminate those barriers to the extent that we can right that there is a limit that there are these kind of pre-conditioned culturally informed system induced you know barriers that know we as a district are left with to try and do our best to solve and reduce and I know we're going to like eliminate them I think it's a given students who have been overcome it I mean for instance like you can't eliminate the fact that someone might not live in a household that values a college education and can never get the process but you can instill in students that they're you know that they have the tools to succeed in college and then giving them counseling that can guide them through the college process in a way that some families might be able to guide their own children through the college process you can do things like that Scott are you trying to edit it so that yeah I'm trying to thread the needle over combining the two and what if it's the barriers to academic success based on identity and socioeconomic status don't predict you know that's like making it a longer sentence maybe that it needs to be the thing that thing that I was trying to get at is that someone's identity might actually be a predictor in as a benefit to their academic success there could be strengths and or there are strengths and and benefits that come with you know being a gay black kid and we want to make sure that that is celebrated as well as recognize that there are also things in your education that are harder about that anyway so but that might be just like a too small of a head of a needle to thread with these indicators of success so I think I did what you just said and I'm not involved no you did do what I just said but now we have academic success twice which I think is easy enough to yeah I think it's easy enough to clean up but yeah you did do what I said why don't we just say any barriers based on identity and socioeconomic status students don't predict academic success Jim you started to sort of board it in a way that like MRPS recognizes the barriers and actively works to you know and so some something like that I like to you know like if we don't want to just because I think I think the it not being predictive of academic success could easily be moved into like the goal category so if we want to be more like evergreen about it we could talk about like our it's part of our mission and vision to work to could we say eliminate but serve any barriers based on identity and socioeconomic status students let's say are recognized and I think it's enough to just say it's not going to predict their yeah I think so too and then and then we can get to the I think implicit in that is the in order for it not to predict we have to recognize that exactly and give the tool and work exactly what do folks think about the edits in the second sentence of that like it go for it okay yeah it's good so then let's keep it moving now and I like how you guys really tighten the indicators and get us to wrap it up with the longing safety wellness do we summarize the changes or read the whole thing again let's read the whole thing again in the interest of time because I do want to have a little bit of time closing that's probably that's that so there are five bullets now we added one all students staff and families caregivers feel welcomed in our schools and valued for the unique history identity and beliefs that they bring to the school community the environment systems and opportunities that foster student and staff wellness are present successful and thriving in our schools students staff and family families caregivers can expect to feel safe and have a strong sense of belonging and healthy connections to our school district when disruptive circumstances arise the district provides structures and systems so they'll resiliency resources are available to staff students families caregivers that enable them to access their education and school community members feel those resources are accessible for that so we pointed out that when it was believed that there was a potential shooter in school kids did not feel safe more short period of time and we can't always control that whether or not people didn't say but certainly provide supports as needed when those circumstances come up so that was kind of we kind of we kind of landed on can't expect to feel safe and so we'll be safe because that's not entirely in our control and also just ensuring we're embedding that resiliency because part of safety and wellness is also you know sort of that resiliency it's a skill for you know these other to continue on the theme of where kids go after they're done at MRPS that resiliency is an important skill that's part of being part of a safe community really and then there thoughts or feedback from this one I wonder if just adding on that new bullet when disruptive circumstances arise that jeopardize the wanting safety and wellness just to I don't know it feels like a disruptive circumstance it feels it could feel out of context at folks don't really understand you're obviously not going to name a specific incident but it could be a microaggression or it could be like right catastrophic right could be yeah so then maybe not have the word disruptive and have what you said circumstances arise that correct me I like jeopardize yeah feeling of well sure I think these are good yeah and I think I'll kind of take out all three of these are kind of quite solid really solid yeah nice work strong work team yeah no I'm thinking me up for guy even through this team really team effort you know like reminding the brown dusting what the what came out of the visioning study small the prep work ahead of time all this really got us to where we are with some very solid indicators of success good work everyone so the board meeting next Wednesday yeah we'll be starting to work on the more specific areas correct no that's on the six that's on the six yes okay so this next Wednesday was just to reserve we need the more time here for this yeah so maybe words are getting it on one sheet and yeah giving some time for just to make sure I yeah I think that makes sense I can do so I can do the cleanup of it beforehand I won't be at next week's board meeting because I am on vacation but I can do the cleanup of it beforehand and I think it's a good idea to kind of like present it and maybe I don't know if we're gonna vote on it necessarily but just codify it in a board meeting so that yeah community the community can see it done I mean I know this was all public meeting and everything but not in our regular schedule so I think it's a good idea to do what would be just recommended and then I don't know yeah and then on the sixth we'll move on to setting goals yeah and I think we can put a little side aside just for you know and how it was actually so yeah right thoughts right so that's next week's board meeting and then looking ahead to the meeting on the six which is going to be part two of this retreat is where we will be getting concrete with goals and so the question that I'm posing to all of us is what do you feel like you need in order to set goals is there any information that you don't have at your fingertips or questions that you and you know you might not know those questions at this very moment but that's sort of our homework for the next two to three weeks is to think about that and you know put yourself in the space of okay in that meeting I'm going to need to say what I think a goal should be for belonging safety and wellness for the next one to two years let's just say could I do that right now or is there is a drive missing information and then if the answer is more I have missing information try and think about what that is and you know suddenly an email like can I get something can I get x y or z from Jess Murray or Mike Berry or whatever in that lead up time and the more time they have to do it like our administrators can't just pull that necessarily out in 24 hours notice so um you'll probably need a bit of time for that that might be actually worthwhile part of the conversation next week is okay this is what it is we've sat on it for a week these are um what information is there anything we feel like we need to know that we don't already know in order to be able to set goals I think would be a good board discussion next Wednesday and also just um people just gather email uh due to due to something like very understandable personal and professional changes uh Seiji has resigned from the board sadly um so one uh I just want to publicly thank Seiji for all this great work uh but also uh we will be looking for a new board member um that's probably all that we've experienced it takes a little while to get up to speed uh so if we can you know give some thought to uh folks who might be interested and you know reach out to them we'll uh be putting something out publicly um but if we could get a new board member in place to kind of be an effective in terms of the budget process so I think great I think that's very doable given our time is going to play um and people who are interested should just email you exactly yeah yeah yeah and if we could ideally we could get that appointed by I think the six might be too early but we'll be looking after that from just to give plenty of time if you want a new board member to be part of the fun budget since then yeah that's that should be enough time to you know make sure people have time to give the word out think about it and um and that also you know the important thing about the budget process is the is there a new agenda planning calendar I'm making it right now I was waiting until this work is done because I want to I want to plan the board presentations based on this work based on yeah and the goals that we set so what are our next meetings 16 that 16 6 and then the meeting calendar is available online now still it's just not in the you know planning document but there is a meeting calendar for 2020 okay I am on vacation next week same I'm here what's four so oh but Lynn we might have Lynn so you need to know you know Lynn what do you mean four five five there are nine board members when we have a vacancy does that reduce the number he didn't work one no so sorry parliamentarian a form is needed only for a vote no decisions that are made so no decisions are made but consent agenda is a decision yeah consent but that could potentially be pushed out or is how important is it for it to happen on that day those are warrants yeah okay okay so it's very many years we could move it I could log on for the I was gonna say we could go ahead and log out online or if we yeah I mean let's see how much we have it sounds like if we have Lynn we'll be good we're good we don't have Lynn we'll have Jill log on to vote for the consent agenda yeah and then the rest could be a brief discussion about anything you need in order to set goals yeah and we'll see how ambitious the agenda is because you know Brett and Kristen it might not be worth it I mean you flood in from Roxbury if it's going to be a short meeting we could join virtually too we could make it a virtual meeting if it's general because mhs is still oh yeah because mhs is still going to be next appointment yeah we have to find the alternative location anyways okay let's let's do that let's just make it virtual given given the limited attendance the limited agenda and the budget is still okay it's still a lot of places we want to get the point out or invite the public to come too or invite the public to come to help me okay I had two thoughts um the board vacancy we're in we'll have people email you but that will that be publicly shared noted via various yeah we'll get we'll get something out um we'll work with that I think it's a bit imagining right now she's at her desk already for me some sort of yes why are you knowing this yeah i'm saying if she's feeling happy right now thank you Anna and then two in terms of thinking about goals and the continuation of this work are we gonna kind of pre-organize into groups just um it seems like anybody could suggest anything and any of the priority areas in terms of goals and data needed but I'm just like it was helpful to kind of have a specific priority area to sort of focus on what you're going into so I'm curious if we're gonna follow a similar suit would others be interested in doing that it'll happen some time before the sixth the idea of people staying in their original groups to focus on that but the and then doing kind of the world's happy that you did today was I think probably really helpful to get their brains on I think that was really helpful yeah okay okay so you want to make any changes knowing that sagey is not on the belonging safety and wellness committee anymore or I mean any any one of them is going to be and have just two people are there folks that would rather be in a different group than the one they were previously in for the prep work did you want to go to communication I don't have strong feelings but I'm happy to shift if you want me to I'll keep you where you are it's keep it simple okay so then that'll just be each group should self-organize the way that we did leading up to part one of the retreat because that seemed to work for giving people schedules and things like that and if you do end up having a meeting of two or three people you should warn it because it'll be discussing for business okay I guess maybe three people should we adjourn yeah we have to adjourn yeah I've actually adjourned so moved uh second second all those favor bye