Boston School Committee Meeting 9/16/26 - with ASL Interpretation
2026-09-16

[0:15] Good evening and welcome to this meeting
[0:17] of the Boston School Committee. I'm
[0:19] chairperson Jerry Robinson. We'll begin
[0:22] with the pledge of allegiance.
[0:29] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[0:32] United States of America and to the
[0:34] republic for which it stands, one nation
[0:37] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:41] justice for all.
[0:51] I want to welcome everyone who is
[0:53] joining us tonight in person on Boston
[0:56] City TV and on Zoom. I'm going to ask
[1:00] everyone here in the chamber to please
[1:02] turn off the volume on your laptops or
[1:05] other devices so it does not interfere
[1:08] with the audio for tonight's meeting.
[1:10] Thank you for your cooperation.
[1:13] Tonight's meeting documents are posted
[1:15] on the committee's web page,
[1:17] bostonchools.org/school
[1:20] committee, under the September 16th
[1:23] meeting link. For those joining us in
[1:26] person, you can access the meeting
[1:28] documents by scanning the QR code that's
[1:32] posted by the doors. The meeting
[1:35] documents have been translated into all
[1:37] of the major BPS languages. Any
[1:41] translations that are not ready prior to
[1:43] the start of the meeting will be posted
[1:46] as soon as they are finalized. The
[1:49] meeting will be rebroadcast on Boston
[1:51] City TV and posted on the school
[1:54] committee's web page and on YouTube.
[2:00] The committee is pleased to offer live
[2:02] simultaneous interpretation virtually in
[2:06] Spanish, Haitian Creole, Cape Verdian
[2:09] Creole, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese,
[2:13] and American Sign Language. The Zoom
[2:16] interpretation feature has been
[2:18] activated. Zoom participants should
[2:21] click the globe icon at the bottom of
[2:24] your screen to select your language
[2:26] preference. I'd like to remind everyone
[2:29] to speak at a slower pace to assist our
[2:33] interpreters.
[2:35] We'll begin the meeting with the
[2:37] approval of minutes. I'll now entertain
[2:40] a motion to approve the minutes of the
[2:42] July 8th, 2026 meeting and the August
[2:45] 5th, 2026 special grants meeting. Is
[2:50] there a motion?
[2:51] So moved.
[2:51] Thank you. Is there a second?
[2:53] Second.
[2:54] Thank you. Is there any discussion or
[2:56] objection to the motion?
[2:58] Is there any objection to approving the
[3:00] motion by unanimous consent?
[3:04] Hearing none, the minutes are approved.
[3:07] We'll now move on to the superintendent
[3:09] report. I present to you our
[3:11] superintendent, Mary Skipper.
[3:13] Wonderful. And welcome back everyone for
[3:16] the new school year. And welcome to
[3:18] those in the audience as well.
[3:21] Um, so before I start tonight's report,
[3:23] I just want to take a moment to
[3:25] acknowledge members of the BPS community
[3:28] that have passed away over the summer.
[3:31] Beloved colleague and long-term staff
[3:34] member Frank Hill was an administrative
[3:36] assistant in BPS teaching and learning.
[3:39] He also worked in food and nutrition
[3:42] services, transportation, family and
[3:44] community engagement, and the former
[3:47] curriculum and instruction department
[3:49] over his 21 years in the BPS. He also
[3:52] worked with the Boston Plan for
[3:54] Excellence previously.
[3:56] We also mourn the loss of Tanya Scarlet,
[4:00] who was a first grade teacher at the
[4:02] Ellis Elementary School, who worked for
[4:04] the district for 25 years. Jodie Hall, a
[4:07] beloved theater teacher at the Frederick
[4:10] Pilot Middle School who was appreciated
[4:12] and loved by students and staff alike,
[4:15] and BPS educator for nearly 30 years.
[4:18] Meg Goodwin, a longtime teacher at the
[4:20] Edison K to8 school, who also served as
[4:23] a union representative and was a fierce
[4:26] advocate for her fellow educators around
[4:29] issues that impacted students. Frank,
[4:32] Tanya, Jod, and Meg brought incredible
[4:35] talent, dedication, and compassion to
[4:38] the district. They will be missed by the
[4:40] BPS community. If we could all join in a
[4:42] moment of silence.
[4:58] Thank you.
[5:01] So, as we transition to talk about the
[5:03] school year, I'm happy to report that
[5:05] the school year 2026 27 is off to a
[5:08] great start. And I'd like to share a few
[5:10] updates and highlights from our first
[5:12] few days. Uh,
[5:16] I know that as you entered the room
[5:18] tonight, there was a slideshow that was
[5:20] running. Um, I want to thank the BPS
[5:23] communications office, the mayor's
[5:25] office, Tech Boston Academy, and school
[5:28] committee executive secretary, Lena
[5:31] Parvex, for sharing these photos here
[5:34] from around the district. The first day
[5:36] for students in grades 1 to 12, which
[5:38] was Tuesday, September 8th, and the
[5:40] first day for our littlest learners,
[5:42] Thursday, September 10th. U, these
[5:44] images really capture the excitement and
[5:46] the spirit of the day as we kicked off
[5:48] the new school year. I also want to
[5:50] thank Chair Robinson, Vice Chair
[5:52] Scarret, school committee members Torres
[5:54] and TR for greeting our students on the
[5:56] first days of school. I spent my first
[5:59] day of school in Dorchester where I
[6:01] greeted students from grades 1 through
[6:03] 12 and their families. First at the
[6:05] Holland Elementary, then at the Leela
[6:07] Frederick Elementary where it was uh
[6:10] coming back to life as a new new prek to
[6:13] six school. The uh Dr. Albert Holland
[6:16] School of Technology where I also got to
[6:18] see Dr. Albert Holland uh and Tech
[6:21] Boston Academy. We started our day at
[6:24] the Holland Elementary. There were quite
[6:25] a few visitors and guests there. Chair
[6:28] Robinson, Mayor Woo was there,
[6:31] Massachusetts Secretary of Education Dr.
[6:33] Zich, Commissioner of Education Pedro
[6:36] Martinez, BTU Union President Eric Berg,
[6:40] President of the American Federation of
[6:42] Teachers Jessica Tang, and State Rep.
[6:44] Chris Warell, and State Senator Liz
[6:46] Miranda. So, uh, everyone turned out to
[6:49] greet our students at at Holland
[6:51] Elementary and that was the first time
[6:54] Holland Elementary was being
[6:55] reintroduced to the community as Holland
[6:57] Elementary. It had previously been in
[7:00] state receiverhip with Upholland. So, it
[7:02] was lots to celebrate. Uh, it certainly
[7:05] was a festive and fun first day across
[7:07] the district. There were hugs and smiles
[7:09] as students reunited with their teachers
[7:12] and their friends while parents and
[7:14] caregivers captured these special
[7:15] moments in back to school photos. Our
[7:18] new students found supportive school
[7:20] communities ready to help them find
[7:22] their way. Teachers and staff welcomely
[7:25] warmed welcomely welcomed our students
[7:27] back into schools by greeting them with
[7:29] cheers and banners and balloons and
[7:31] music. Uh pom poms. I had pom poms. uh
[7:34] visits from costume characters,
[7:36] including Elmo, Mickey Mouse, and
[7:38] Holland Tiger. Volunteers from the
[7:40] mayor's office handed out water bottle
[7:43] stickers that read, "It's a good day to
[7:44] learn," which was a positive message
[7:46] setting the right tone for the entire
[7:48] school year. On the first day of
[7:50] kindergarten, I visited the Lion
[7:52] Elementary School in Brighton where we
[7:54] greeted students K0, K1, and K2.
[7:58] Students received a joyful welcome.
[7:59] There were certainly a few tears mostly
[8:01] from parents and caregivers as they said
[8:04] goodbye students went right in, but the
[8:07] line this was especially uh an important
[8:09] start for the Lion Elementary as they
[8:11] actually relocated buildings as part of
[8:13] the long-term facilities plan. Uh and so
[8:15] there was uh quite a bit of effort to go
[8:17] into that facility at the high school to
[8:19] get that ready for our youngest
[8:20] learners. Uh I really want to thank all
[8:23] of our students, our teachers, uh school
[8:25] leaders, volunteers, everyone who just
[8:28] made the launch of 2627 a real success.
[8:32] On the first day of school, BPS buses
[8:34] transported more than 18,000 students on
[8:38] 609 routes. They were supported by 730
[8:41] drivers, 650 bus monitors, and 750
[8:45] buses. BPS transportation achieved a 61%
[8:49] on time performance rate or what we call
[8:51] OTP which was the second highest first
[8:54] day on record with 81% of the buses
[8:57] arriving within 15 minutes of the bell
[9:00] and 92% arriving within 30 minutes while
[9:04] also reducing the number of uncovered
[9:06] routes from the start of last school
[9:08] year. We certainly will continue to
[9:11] monitor the average OTP in the coming
[9:13] days, weeks, and months as we anticipate
[9:16] continued improvement similar to last
[9:18] year. Um, in the afternoon to give
[9:21] perspective, we were at 73% of our buses
[9:24] on time, 88% arrived within 15 minutes,
[9:27] and 95% within 30 minutes. So, it was
[9:30] certainly a very strong start. Um, that
[9:34] said, I think there's challenges that
[9:36] happen every school year as bus drivers
[9:39] are new to routes or new to the city, as
[9:42] buses for the first time are rolling.
[9:44] So, sometimes we get a mechanical
[9:46] failure on a bus that has to get
[9:48] repaired and we have to send a coverage
[9:50] bus. Sometimes we have a driver who is
[9:53] still learning the route and they can
[9:55] get, you know, lost and have to get
[9:57] redirected and supported. Um, sometimes
[10:00] we can have the GPS because all the
[10:02] buses haven't been used all summer. Uh,
[10:05] sometimes that can malfunction and then
[10:07] we have to walk the bus driver through
[10:09] that. And so there are those occasions
[10:12] even though we're having very strong
[10:13] OTPs where there's a particular family
[10:16] or student that is delayed um, and
[10:19] sometimes delayed longer than we would
[10:22] ever want. And so we always do our best
[10:24] to apologize to the families, make
[10:26] communication, uh, and work as hard as
[10:28] we can to ensure that's the rare
[10:30] exception and not practice. Um, I also
[10:34] want to share that at the end of last
[10:35] year, it was a it was a big celebration
[10:37] for the transportation team in the
[10:40] district as we reached 95% morning OTP
[10:43] in June. um that was the highest monthly
[10:46] performance for BPS and I think it
[10:48] really underscores the system level of
[10:51] improvements. We've made the commitment
[10:53] to continuously improving and to try to
[10:55] get all of the issues worked out so that
[10:57] our students very safely and on time get
[11:00] to school and get picked up and brought
[11:02] home. Um we're also encouraging our
[11:05] parents and caregivers to use the Zoom
[11:07] app which just tracks the students in
[11:10] real time. Drivers have successfully
[11:12] used the Zoom app to track more than 97%
[11:15] of trips so far this school year and
[11:17] more than 95% of families are currently
[11:19] using the app to track their bus. So,
[11:22] this is been a tremendous effort to get
[11:24] that information out. We want families
[11:26] to continue to register. Uh if you are
[11:29] currently a parent and your student is
[11:31] using our school buses and you don't
[11:33] have the Zoom app, you can download it
[11:35] from our website at the bostonchools.org
[11:37] or and it's under the family resource
[11:40] tab. Um we also have BPS executive
[11:43] director Dan Rosenard who's here with us
[11:45] tonight to answer any questions. But
[11:47] again, just really want to pledge our
[11:50] continued improvement. Um and also just
[11:53] applaud a lot of the great work that
[11:54] that transportation team has done to get
[11:56] the results that we are getting. As we
[11:59] do every year, we're also monitoring our
[12:01] attendance very closely. This is a big
[12:04] message that we want to continue to push
[12:06] out to our parents and caregivers. On
[12:09] our first day of school, school
[12:11] attendance was 81.4%.
[12:13] This was up 2.6 percentage points over
[12:16] last year's first day. Big improvement.
[12:19] So far, the attendance has increased
[12:21] every day over the same day last year
[12:24] and steadily increased to 92% today.
[12:27] That's again a 2.8% overall performance
[12:30] increase. Can't stress it enough to our
[12:34] caregivers, our parents, and our
[12:36] students, high school students. There's
[12:38] a direct correlation with achievement
[12:41] and performance in being in school. And
[12:43] so, we need you here every single day
[12:46] unless there's a reason such like you're
[12:47] sick or something like that. We also
[12:50] know um you know that we every at the
[12:53] start of every school year there are
[12:55] students who last year were chronically
[12:57] absent or who might have been disengaged
[12:59] from school. So, every year we start the
[13:02] school year with our re-engagement door
[13:04] knock event. Um, it's actually one of
[13:06] the most impactful events that I think
[13:08] we do. Um, as a district, we have
[13:10] certainly with chronic absenteeism
[13:12] driven down chronic absenteeism. Was 38%
[13:16] in the 22 23 school year and we saw 30%
[13:20] last year. Um, and this is just a
[13:22] continuous effort of reminding our
[13:24] students and helping remove barriers for
[13:26] students coming to school regularly. Um,
[13:30] at the start of school, we go out and we
[13:32] door knock. So, uh, the mayor and I and
[13:35] a group of volunteers across the
[13:36] district, uh, led by the re-engagement
[13:39] center go out and we greet students that
[13:43] we know last year struggled to get to
[13:45] school. We welcome them back. We tell
[13:47] them how much we want to see them back.
[13:50] We ask what we can do better or what we
[13:52] can do to help support them. And it's
[13:54] just always really eye opening being
[13:56] able to sit. It's like a grace being
[13:58] able to sit with students and their
[14:00] parents in their homes and have that
[14:02] conversation. It always um amazes me how
[14:06] honest our kids are and our parents
[14:09] about what they need. Uh so on September
[14:11] 4th, we held that event. There were 36
[14:13] volunteers. We targeted we knocked on
[14:16] 197 doors and we focused on the Jamaica
[14:19] Plane, Roxberry, and Dorchester
[14:21] neighborhoods. um we met and made
[14:24] contact with 37 students and that's 37
[14:29] more students by doing that than we
[14:32] would have been invited back into
[14:35] school. Um
[14:37] I think that what we got a sense from
[14:40] students is how important a sense of
[14:41] belonging is to them. And so this is
[14:43] another big piece of what we're
[14:45] emphasizing with our schools is having a
[14:47] welcoming environment where students see
[14:49] themselves and have a sense of
[14:51] belonging. They articulated they want to
[14:53] be part and need to be part of the
[14:55] school community. And so that focus on
[14:58] culture and climate continues to be a
[15:00] big effort on the part of our school
[15:02] leaders and our educators to make
[15:05] environments that are that welcoming.
[15:08] As far as staffing goes, our classrooms
[15:10] are fully staffed across the 104 schools
[15:12] in the district. Uh thanks to our
[15:14] dedicated hiring efforts, uh Chief Kanty
[15:17] and OR, uh we've already reached 96%
[15:20] fill rate for our teachers and
[15:22] counselors and the team is actively
[15:24] working to fill the last few final
[15:26] seats. Last month, we also welcomed more
[15:29] than 150 new teachers at our annual new
[15:32] educator institute. the events hosted by
[15:35] our new teacher development program
[15:37] which is designed for educators who are
[15:38] new to teaching or new to the BPS. Um I
[15:42] go the the union has a strong presence
[15:45] at it. We do it jointly. Uh and it's
[15:47] always wonderful to welcome that group
[15:49] of new educators into our school system
[15:52] as part of that family. For permanent
[15:55] BTU educators whose positions were
[15:56] eliminated, this was a big part of the
[15:58] conversation at school committee last
[16:00] year, especially at the end. Um just as
[16:03] a reaffirmation, BPS is required to
[16:06] place or resign or um reassign them into
[16:09] comparable positions and that work was
[16:12] well underway and continued all through
[16:14] the summer on our normal time frame. For
[16:17] members of the BTU's teachers unit,
[16:18] there were 374 permanent or tenur BTU
[16:22] educators who are without permanent
[16:24] positions at the start of the hiring
[16:26] season. As of today, they have all been
[16:29] hired or assigned into a permanent
[16:30] position within the BPS. Another concern
[16:33] had been like as we reported in July,
[16:36] there were 205 paraprofessionals with
[16:38] seniority who are members of the BTU
[16:41] paraprofessional unit who are without
[16:43] positions for the start of the hiring
[16:45] season. All 205 were hired or assigned
[16:48] to positions for the 2627 with a small
[16:52] number either resigning or retiring,
[16:54] which is very typical. Um, chief of
[16:57] human resource Francis Kanty is also
[16:59] here tonight were there to be any
[17:00] questions uh for anything relative to
[17:03] OHR.
[17:05] Um, on August 26th uh the office of an
[17:09] inspector general released a report
[17:12] detailing concerns about procurement and
[17:14] payments at BPS from years 2019 to 2024.
[17:18] The report included a series of
[17:20] recommendations for how we can make as
[17:23] the BPS improvements going forward. as
[17:26] recommended
[17:28] as recommended
[17:30] as recommended by the IGO uh Mike
[17:33] Firestone Corporation Council and a new
[17:36] Jenth who is my senior adviser uh as in
[17:39] the superintendent's office. They've
[17:41] been appointed to lead the city and BPS
[17:43] in the building on the momentum to
[17:46] review the findings and operationalize
[17:48] the recommendations contained in the
[17:50] report. uh together with the working
[17:52] group of BPS and city leaders, they're
[17:55] going to be helping to en drive and
[17:56] ensure that essential reforms are
[17:58] happening. Um as a first step, we
[18:01] instituted a 10-day pause on
[18:03] non-essential payments to review and
[18:05] ensure proper compliance. Um and I will
[18:09] continue to update the committee as we
[18:13] go through the review process and uh go
[18:16] through the timeline with the IG's
[18:18] office of providing updates at the 30 60
[18:22] and 90day marks.
[18:25] The our city just uh in recap uh we
[18:29] always do kind of bright spots um and I
[18:31] know not only do I have bright spots but
[18:33] I know that member Torres has bright
[18:35] spots. Um, our city experienced a
[18:37] memorable summer. We joined the
[18:39] nationwide celebration of America 250.
[18:43] The 2026 World Cup brought visitors from
[18:45] around the world to our city, giving our
[18:48] young people the opportunity to learn
[18:49] about the different countries and
[18:51] traditions at special events across the
[18:53] neighborhoods. Earlier this week, I
[18:55] joined Mayor Woo at New Mission High
[18:57] School to celebrate the success of this
[18:59] year's summer job program and transition
[19:02] into the schoolyear jobs program.
[19:04] There's approximately 10,500 young
[19:07] people who were connected to summer jobs
[19:10] and we look forward to continuing that
[19:12] moment momentum throughout the school
[19:14] year. At BPS, there were approximately
[19:17] 9,000 students who took part in the
[19:19] district's annual fifth quarter
[19:20] programming, the exam school initiative,
[19:23] and the [snorts] extended extended
[19:25] school year. Uh approximately uh 2550
[19:30] students participated in the extended
[19:32] school year. And then there were another
[19:34] 2500 students who participated in the
[19:36] BPS fifth quarter credit recovery and
[19:39] that was primarily high school students.
[19:42] Um certainly to help our students and
[19:44] families start the school year off
[19:45] strong, the office of family and
[19:47] community advancement hosted our annual
[19:50] back to school webinar on Tuesday Septe
[19:53] uh which was located in earlier in
[19:55] September. Uh it was attended Mayor Woo
[19:58] came to it uh as did 700 families. as
[20:00] all of our BPS departments were there to
[20:03] be able to answer questions, provide
[20:05] information. Uh, and what I've
[20:06] appreciated about this event is that
[20:08] every year we get more families, we get
[20:11] great questions, we build off of those
[20:13] questions, uh, in a way that provides a
[20:16] real strong packet of information for
[20:18] our families. Uh, last week we also
[20:21] welcomed [clears throat] more than 750
[20:23] attendees at Harami Park, um, which was
[20:27] they represented 50 of our schools. We
[20:29] gave away a total of 205 backpacks, 20
[20:32] raffle prizes, tons of food. Um there
[20:35] was a police ice cream truck there that
[20:37] visited the park as well. Uh there were
[20:40] mascots. So it was just it was a
[20:41] wonderful family event. There were also
[20:43] free health screenings that happened.
[20:46] There was a lot of BPS resources and
[20:48] information given away as well as free
[20:50] books and games from more than 22
[20:53] partners uh in BPS departments. And
[20:56] tonight we have a short video to share
[20:58] with you that highlights some of the fun
[21:00] activities that happen during the
[21:01] summer. Uh we will definitely return to
[21:04] school committee as we always do in
[21:06] October to give a more comprehensive
[21:08] presentation on summer 2026.
[21:12] But I think chair we want to show the
[21:13] video.
[21:53] feel like
[22:07] I
[22:09] Yeah.
[22:30] [music]
[22:33] Uh, not this one. So, what am I?
[22:37] Heat. Heat. N.
[23:04] So, thank you to the comm's team and to
[23:06] to offer.
[23:10] It's just so great seeing our kids doing
[23:12] so many different activities, lots of
[23:14] academics embedded, but lots of
[23:16] enrichment and fun and the kinds of
[23:18] things that our students say they would
[23:20] like to learn about and do and get
[23:22] active. So great summer. So with that
[23:24] chair, I will turn it back to you.
[23:26] Thank you, Superintendent. I'll now open
[23:28] up the floor for questions and
[23:29] discussion. I'd like to remind my
[23:31] colleagues about our agreed upon norm
[23:33] that we five minutes per member per
[23:35] round, not including district response.
[23:38] Miss Prax will remind us when one minute
[23:40] remains and when your time is up. Please
[23:43] make sure your questions are on topics
[23:44] related to the items in the
[23:46] superintendence report. Other topics not
[23:48] related to the superintendent report can
[23:50] be raised during new business later in
[23:53] the meeting. BPS staff, please keep
[23:56] responses brief and speak slowly to
[23:58] support our interpreters. Thank you.
[24:00] Oops.
[24:02] And I think Miss Torres has member
[24:04] Torres has some bright spots. So I'm
[24:07] going to I so I visit uh July, August
[24:10] and September. I visit schools and um
[24:13] many places, summer schools. It was very
[24:16] important to see how the kids are
[24:18] working so hard. So I want to thank uh
[24:21] thank you chair, superintendent and all
[24:23] my school committee members and the
[24:25] public. I had the privilege of visiting
[24:27] fight sites and see the work that that
[24:30] was happening across all summer schools
[24:33] this year. Side after sight, educators,
[24:36] site coordinators, and program leaders
[24:39] pour their hearts into keeping our
[24:41] students happy, learning, growing, and
[24:45] connected to summer long. And to all our
[24:48] students who showed up, doing the work,
[24:51] pushing themselves to grow academically
[24:54] even in July and August, we see you and
[24:56] we are proud of you. In August, I visit
[25:00] the summer institute for teacher uh
[25:02] residency BT network alongside 10 BPS
[25:06] teachers coming togethers to share the
[25:09] best practice with the new teachers and
[25:12] each other. Great community building
[25:14] activities. a day of it. I our
[25:18] incredible 25 educators ambassador from
[25:22] 24th school who stepped up to lead the
[25:26] charge in changing the future of
[25:28] teaching and learning. Together they are
[25:31] spearheading the launch of the BPS AI
[25:34] literacy initiative. Now in September,
[25:38] my first day of school at the Samuel
[25:41] Mason and the first day of kindergarten
[25:43] at the Sarah Robert with Lena.
[25:47] We a huge shout out to all the
[25:49] educators, leaders, and co-leaders for
[25:52] the energy you brought to the first day
[25:54] of school. It was such a joy to be part
[25:57] of a dual language kinder 2 classroom
[25:59] where our students proudly introduce
[26:02] themselves and share their favorite
[26:04] color all in Spanish.
[26:07] Naranga was the the main uh color share
[26:12] a shout out to to the welcome center
[26:16] here at bowling. They were on top of
[26:18] their game with explaining the
[26:20] registration process and making sure
[26:22] families felt welcome and heard. And my
[26:26] last shout out goes uh I visit a school
[26:28] with uh Dr. Wright today to the to the
[26:32] office personnel administration
[26:34] educators and all the students from
[26:37] kinder to fifth grade sharing what makes
[26:40] their school great the best and what
[26:43] will need to happen next to get better.
[26:46] So thank you.
[26:48] Thank you
[26:51] comments. [laughter]
[26:58] Thank you superintendent for your
[27:00] report. Um, I want to refer in
[27:03] particular to the inspector general
[27:05] report.
[27:07] When when I told my one of my best
[27:11] friends who happens to be a a BPS
[27:14] teacher that I was appointed to the
[27:17] school committee, his reaction wasn't
[27:19] congratulation was great. See if you can
[27:23] do something about the the vendors of
[27:26] our school getting paid on time because
[27:28] they don't want to work with us anymore.
[27:30] and he was referring in particular to a
[27:32] pro a very interesting project that he
[27:34] does with his students where they
[27:36] publish a book at the end of the school
[27:38] year and the vendor was saying it's
[27:40] taking forever for BPS to pay me for for
[27:43] producing those books.
[27:47] That's one stream. The the the other
[27:49] stream is what happening that we are
[27:51] wasting money in it sounds like trying
[27:54] to solve that problem. It sounds to me
[27:57] that we have a systemic problem. So I
[27:59] would like you to comment on what
[28:01] systemic
[28:02] actions and steps are you and the
[28:05] district taking to address this
[28:07] situation. Uh thank you. So I welcome
[28:09] that question. Um
[28:11] first of all because we have a report
[28:13] that we need to give to the inspector
[28:15] general and and intend to. Uh that is
[28:19] where we'll first discuss as we continue
[28:21] the review and the team that is both
[28:24] city and district comes up with what
[28:26] those action steps are going to be. Um,
[28:28] and so when that report comes to when
[28:31] we're going to produce that after the
[28:32] inspector general, I will report out to
[28:34] school committee the contents of that,
[28:36] but we're still in the process of
[28:38] identifying those steps. Um, I do think
[28:41] that
[28:43] some of what has been was identified and
[28:46] remember the report was looking from a
[28:49] period of 2019 to 2024.
[28:53] uh there were a number of things that
[28:54] had been identified that we've been
[28:56] actively working on and correcting and
[28:59] for the field it has been a lot of
[29:02] adjustment as we've put controls and
[29:04] measures into place of how contracts are
[29:07] done versus how they had been done that
[29:10] often does delay to ensure we have the
[29:13] appropriate paperwork uh to be able to
[29:16] both initiate a contract and to pay it
[29:18] and so there's been a lot of you know
[29:20] for the field I think a lot of
[29:21] adjustment We've done um a number of
[29:24] meetings with partners, a number of
[29:25] meetings with schools uh and school
[29:28] leaders to be able to explain over the
[29:30] course of the last several years what
[29:32] why those changes were necessary. So a
[29:35] lot of this work has been underway. I
[29:38] think what the report allowed us to see
[29:40] was where that is taking hold and where
[29:43] it is not yet. And so that is really the
[29:45] areas that we'll be drilling down more.
[29:48] Um and I do think we have some good
[29:51] suggestions already from the team in
[29:53] terms of even things like consolidating
[29:56] the way procurement and payment is done
[29:58] under one branch as opposed to
[30:01] transportation and food service uh and
[30:03] facilities all having different
[30:05] processes where it's more likely that
[30:07] this fracture. So I I do think um we are
[30:12] certainly taking the recommendations
[30:14] with the strongest consideration. We've
[30:16] adopted many of them already. Um, and I
[30:19] do look forward with school committee to
[30:20] being able to give a broader report as
[30:23] we start to update the attorney the IG.
[30:32] Thank you for chair. Thank you for the
[30:34] report.
[30:41] Thank you very much all. I would like to
[30:43] start appreciating the entire team that
[30:45] worked over the summer.
[30:52] Thank you very much. We're working on
[30:53] creating beautiful memories for all our
[30:55] students.
[31:11] I would like to appreciate the job that
[31:14] Anna did because it was the first time
[31:15] that we have we had a carriage in the
[31:17] Dominican uh festival actually and we
[31:20] felt that we were represented as well.
[31:23] Thank you very much to Anna and her
[31:24] team.
[31:35] It was very powerful seeing Annie
[31:39] sharing everything there and I felt very
[31:41] sorry I was not able to lift my
[31:43] Dominican flag there. I felt sorry I was
[31:46] not present at that time.
[32:01] As a matter of fact, what I can in
[32:02] regards to a transportation report, it's
[32:04] been on time and it's a very uh
[32:07] rewarding report. I can actually provide
[32:09] testimony regarding my own nephew as it
[32:11] pertains to transportation.
[32:20] I am very happy because the bus is
[32:21] arriving on time every single day. Very
[32:24] happy.
[33:01] [laughter]
[33:02] No, not Okay. So as as we say
[33:05] transportation it is not perfect. It is
[33:07] not perfect. It's been arriving on time.
[33:09] But I do know that there is some
[33:11] dissatisfaction from some of the
[33:14] families. So the question that I do have
[33:16] for you it is what is it that we are
[33:18] doing for those families where
[33:20] transportation is not arriving on time
[33:23] things systems are not perfect and we
[33:25] are aware of that but there's been some
[33:27] complaints regarding transportation as
[33:28] well.
[33:34] Moreover, some of the families are
[33:36] getting warnings because they are not
[33:38] being able to arrive on time to their
[33:41] works, to their jobs.
[33:47] As a matter of fact, the point that I
[33:48] would like to make is that they are
[33:50] being uh reported as being tardy without
[33:53] any justification. That is the point
[33:55] that I would like to make. How the
[33:57] families are being impacted by
[33:58] transportation.
[34:00] Yeah. And I I know that um our executive
[34:04] director Rosenard will want to comment
[34:06] on this, but what I will say is we
[34:09] strive to have every student be able to
[34:12] get to school and get picked up and
[34:14] driven home safely and on time. I think
[34:18] 18,000 students with so many different
[34:20] routes and buses, there will be
[34:23] situations like there are for all of us
[34:26] when we're getting across the city that
[34:28] impacts it. I think in each of the cases
[34:31] when something's reported, Dan and his
[34:33] team do an excellent job reaching out to
[34:35] the family looking at repeat situations,
[34:39] right? And that was when we left last
[34:41] year, we definitely had a group of
[34:43] routes where they were uncovered. And so
[34:46] that's been a big focus with Dan and the
[34:49] vendor to really assure enough drivers
[34:51] and that the buses mechanically are
[34:54] running fine and sound as a way to be
[34:56] able to address the uncovered because
[34:58] that's really when there isn't a bus to
[35:01] pick the student up. That's when parents
[35:03] really have to figure that out or the
[35:06] bus isn't coming and a replacement bus
[35:09] has to be issued and that's where like
[35:11] longer delays happen. So Dan and the
[35:13] team are certainly working on that.
[35:15] They've been on top of it this year.
[35:17] Many like much much less when it comes
[35:19] to the uncovered routes and any of the
[35:21] routes that are really longer. That's
[35:23] what Dan and his team start right away
[35:26] to identify and look at the data to be
[35:28] able to figure out is it a reroute? Uh
[35:30] is it splitting the route? You know,
[35:32] what is it? Um, but in each case, they
[35:34] really do strive to contact the family,
[35:36] be in contact with the family so that
[35:38] they know if a student's going to get
[35:40] home late or is going to get picked up
[35:41] late so that the the parent has as much
[35:44] notice as possible. Dan, I don't know if
[35:46] there's anything.
[35:47] No. Yeah. Thanks, Superintendent, and
[35:49] thanks member Garcia for the question. I
[35:51] think um the only other thing that I
[35:53] would add on top of what the
[35:54] superintendent said is each year now
[35:57] with with Zoom and with some of the you
[36:00] know the reforms and improvements that
[36:01] we've made is a big focus for us is
[36:04] trying to get to steady state and
[36:06] stability faster. There's always going
[36:08] to be some adjustment at the start of
[36:10] the year. you know, both for drivers and
[36:13] monitors and students and staff coming
[36:15] back to work, but also just there are
[36:17] still students who are transferring
[36:19] schools. We'll have the the DNR process
[36:23] um I think tomorrow. Uh students,
[36:26] families who are submitting requests for
[36:28] drop off at a after school program. And
[36:31] so there's a lot of route adjustments
[36:33] that get made throughout the first few
[36:35] weeks. And I think a big focus for us
[36:37] this year and over the last few years is
[36:38] how do we get to that steady state
[36:40] faster to reduce that period where uh
[36:43] families and students are experiencing
[36:46] you know delays at the start of the
[36:47] year. And I think along with um the
[36:50] reduction in the uncovered roots which
[36:52] is about half what it was last year this
[36:54] time so far um we want it to be at zero.
[36:57] Um the other big focus for us and where
[37:00] we've seen improvement is in just kind
[37:02] of ramping up faster and getting to that
[37:04] steady state faster.
[37:06] Right. And Dan, maybe just explain also
[37:08] like when you have a like an unattended
[37:10] student and you get an undeliverable
[37:12] student like how that can impact
[37:15] Yeah. Yeah. So um you know most most
[37:20] buses will complete I think as you know
[37:22] multiple trips in succession each
[37:24] afternoon you know at 2:00 3:00 4:00
[37:27] school and especially at the start of
[37:29] the year as as everyone you know drivers
[37:32] monitors families are adjusting to new
[37:34] routines. Uh we will often see uh higher
[37:38] um instances of what we call
[37:40] undeliverable students where you know
[37:43] that connection to make sure there's a
[37:45] you know safe adult to adult handoff
[37:47] particularly for door-to-door students
[37:49] or our youngest students um you know
[37:52] doesn't happen exactly as scheduled. And
[37:55] then there, you know, depending on the
[37:57] specifics of the situation, our team and
[38:00] the the vendor safety desk will work
[38:03] with the family and school to coordinate
[38:05] uh, you know, that safe drop off, but
[38:07] that can lead to, you know, sometimes a
[38:09] bus that maybe has to loop back and
[38:12] can't make it to its next school on
[38:13] time. And so then we'll, you know,
[38:15] either send a covering bus or
[38:17] communicate the delay and try to work
[38:19] through it as best we can.
[38:22] Gracia. Um,
[38:29] so my second question is regarding the
[38:31] uh teachers.
[38:42] According to the report, I do believe
[38:46] that the superintendent mentioned that
[38:48] 104 teachers were reappointed. Is that
[38:52] what the report says?
[38:53] So, at the be at the beginning of the
[38:56] hiring season, we had approximately I
[38:58] think it was 374
[39:00] or 84 teachers who are permanent. So,
[39:03] they are owed a position, but their
[39:05] position was either eliminated or they
[39:08] chose to come out of their position and
[39:10] look for a new position. different
[39:12] reasons. We were able in all of those
[39:15] cases to find them a position to teach.
[39:19] Similarly with paraprofessionals, there
[39:21] were 205 who have what we call
[39:23] seniority. So they are entitled to a
[39:25] position and we once again were able to
[39:28] go through and find those 205 a position
[39:32] to be able to be a par.
[39:45] So I do believe I wanted to clarify
[39:47] something. I do believe that uh about
[39:50] more than 500 positions belonging to
[39:53] teachers were lost.
[39:57] 500 approximately was that the right
[39:58] number?
[40:07] So there is part of every budget
[40:09] regarding closures. Wanted to change
[40:12] regarding closures. I I just needed to
[40:14] know exactly how what is the right
[40:16] number. Was it 500 teachers that lost
[40:18] their position?
[40:19] Chief Ky, do you remember what the
[40:21] overall number was? I think it was
[40:22] roughly 550.
[40:25] 512. I knew you would know that exactly.
[40:28] Uh so 512.
[40:30] That was a combination of the permanent
[40:33] and other teachers who were provisional.
[40:36] That could have been because a school
[40:38] was closing, a classroom was closing, a
[40:41] teacher chose to e exit out of a a a
[40:44] school um or they didn't have lenture,
[40:47] they couldn't be rehired. So there's a
[40:49] whole range of reasons why it started
[40:52] off with 512. But the important thing to
[40:55] know is all of the teachers who were
[40:58] owed a position were given a position.
[41:01] It also there were lots of other
[41:03] teachers who also secured positions who
[41:05] might have been provisional. Um and
[41:07] we'll report that out in October what
[41:09] the total numbers were, but the the main
[41:11] thing was the 37 the 384 that were
[41:15] guaranteed a position. We were able to
[41:17] find that otherwise we would have been
[41:19] in a layoff situation for those
[41:20] teachers. Chief Kanty, anything else to
[41:23] add on that? Thank you, Chief Kanty.
[41:26] Thank you so much, sir.
[41:31] Thank you. Um
[41:34] just to follow up on the concerns raised
[41:37] by member Peralta and member Garcia,
[41:42] I will focus
[41:44] pretty much uh specifically
[41:47] in the uh area of diversity
[41:52] involving
[41:54] layoffs especially through that last
[41:57] round of uh budget u um problems that we
[42:01] have um before I I do this I I'll
[42:05] premise my questions with the fact that
[42:08] um I appreciate you having been the
[42:14] leader in ensuring that um
[42:18] diversity in hiring retention uh
[42:22] promotion
[42:25] are
[42:27] within within the criteria that I I I
[42:30] think it should be commendable. However,
[42:33] it could be even better. The reason I'm
[42:36] saying this is because even within
[42:42] the retention of teachers, the retention
[42:46] of uh
[42:48] professionals
[42:49] uh who are affected by by u the last
[42:53] round
[42:56] I have received.
[43:00] I'm not going to say the number, but I
[43:02] can tell you that numerous
[43:05] uh professionals had reached out to me
[43:08] with concerns that
[43:11] and I I I do think you also are aware of
[43:15] it. Numbers of a number of of of these
[43:19] are in the hand or at the office of uh
[43:23] the union at this point um dealing with
[43:27] the administration. I hate to see that
[43:30] but there are a number of professionals
[43:32] who are affected by this are moved or
[43:38] given positions that are not comparable
[43:41] to their experience
[43:44] and
[43:45] they were not given the choice or they
[43:47] were not given the chance to apply for
[43:49] something that that are comparable to
[43:52] their
[43:54] um
[43:56] experience Because
[43:59] the job posting new jobs that are posted
[44:03] listed only certain number of languages
[44:10] despite the fact that that office or
[44:13] those offices
[44:16] deal with all languages but there are
[44:20] only a number of languages that are
[44:22] listed as one of the preferred
[44:25] requirements. So that pretty much
[44:27] prelude a number of professionals who
[44:30] are
[44:34] you know who are I believe more than
[44:36] qualified absent that preferred language
[44:40] even though the person has other
[44:42] language that could not apply and the
[44:45] other language is also part of the the
[44:48] office um uh service.
[44:51] So that is something I I think human
[44:56] services should look into
[44:58] because
[45:00] and if you want to I can I can give you
[45:02] the number of of of because they are
[45:05] they're ready
[45:07] in the back of me
[45:09] to appear
[45:11] to talk about them rather than to talk
[45:14] to you directly
[45:16] rather than through the union. And I
[45:19] think I think you know I thought in the
[45:21] spirit of upholding diversity equity
[45:27] even within the multi the multi-
[45:30] languages
[45:32] community it should also be
[45:36] applied
[45:38] fairly and equally and evenly.
[45:41] So these are the kind of issues that I'm
[45:43] I'm I'm
[45:45] hearing for the last two months or so.
[45:50] um
[45:53] hiring, retention,
[45:56] promotion
[45:58] are not really
[46:01] I I
[46:03] like I I preface before I I I I put this
[46:06] question out that I have no
[46:11] I have no suspicion
[46:15] that your office under the super
[46:20] superintendent's ages is doing a hackler
[46:23] job
[46:25] um in
[46:27] dealing with this
[46:30] but often time
[46:32] small minute issues create tensions
[46:35] among them
[46:38] my times out thank you
[46:39] it's great I what I would s just two
[46:42] suggestions or a comment and suggestion
[46:44] member tren one is I think it's a great
[46:46] idea to suggest to educators to reach
[46:48] out directly to Chief Kanty because if
[46:51] they have a concern, it's on us to be
[46:53] able to talk to them about it and
[46:54] explain it. I do think there's a handful
[46:57] of positions where language is specific.
[47:00] Interpretation services like for
[47:02] instance might be one. Testing uh when
[47:06] for our um our uh English language
[47:09] learners as they come into the district
[47:11] might be another that I can think of.
[47:13] And then where there's bilingual
[47:14] education with a specific language, that
[47:17] would be another case. Um, but I think
[47:20] it's best solved if we can get the
[47:21] educators with Chief Kanty so that we
[47:24] can figure out like how we can
[47:27] strengthen our process and make it
[47:29] clearer. So, thank you for raising it.
[47:39] Um,
[47:39] that's
[47:41] thank you for the update. Um, wonderful
[47:43] to hear that all permanent BTU members
[47:45] and Paris have been placed uh
[47:48] considering the consolidations and and
[47:51] closures. Appreciate that update. Also
[47:53] appreciate the um uptick in daily
[47:56] attendance over first day last year and
[47:59] the increase there. Uh I know that we
[48:02] are still in the middle of the state
[48:04] before um students are dropped from the
[48:07] roles after a certain number of days of
[48:09] not reporting. Uh so would the next
[48:12] meeting be the appropriate time to ask
[48:14] about enrollment trends as they're
[48:17] looking uh this year compared to last
[48:20] year and as projected? Would would that
[48:22] be a clearer view by the next meeting?
[48:24] Uh we can give some loose observations
[48:27] at the next meeting. It's generally we
[48:29] wait until the October 1st report that
[48:32] we um with SIMS that we give that we can
[48:34] then start to crunch the numbers
[48:35] officially. it. We're still in a
[48:37] transfer period with with students as
[48:39] well coming into the district. Tomorrow
[48:42] is the last day of official report um
[48:45] which we we call it DNRs did not report.
[48:48] That's how we should refer to it. Um
[48:51] [clears throat] and but there there's
[48:52] still an extensive shuffle going on.
[48:55] Kids coming in, kids, you know, some
[48:58] kids moving between schools, weight
[49:00] lists being called. So um I think by the
[49:04] next school committee meeting in
[49:05] mid-occtober uh we should be able to
[49:08] give you a a pretty good idea of the
[49:11] enrollment pattern.
[49:12] Yeah.
[49:12] Thank you. Or even the trends as you did
[49:14] today compared to last year at that time
[49:16] around
[49:17] Yeah. I mean one of the one of the
[49:18] trends that we've been tracking all
[49:20] along and I just think it's continuing
[49:22] unfortunately is that we're just not
[49:24] seeing newcomers.
[49:26] uh we're not we're not seeing uh our
[49:29] ELLL MLE students
[49:32] coming into the district.
[49:34] Yeah.
[49:35] So
[49:36] um on that related piece in terms of the
[49:39] 37 students know every student counts
[49:41] and we want every student to be able to
[49:43] take advantage um of the education
[49:46] available to them. Um the 37 students
[49:49] with whom um the staff made contact for
[49:52] the door knocking. Is there tracking
[49:54] related to those 37 in terms of who
[49:56] followed up with reenrollment, whether
[49:58] they're placed and settled? Um, and is
[50:01] there another circle back for some of
[50:04] the students who may not have?
[50:05] Yeah. So, I really appreciate this
[50:07] question. Uh, because this is actually a
[50:08] a passion for me, but um, we actually
[50:12] the team knows uh, sort of from day one
[50:14] with the did not reports andor students
[50:17] uh, that last year were chronically
[50:19] absent. Um, we have had like our schools
[50:23] have engaged very intently on contacting
[50:27] homes, contacting families, visiting in
[50:30] an effort to be able to account for
[50:32] every student. The ones that we may
[50:34] contact through the re-engagement door
[50:36] knocking event, um, we follow or the
[50:38] re-engagement center follows up with
[50:40] those students. If they're engaged with
[50:42] the re-engagement center, if they are on
[50:44] a school's roles, uh, we would alert the
[50:47] school that we door knocked, had
[50:48] conversation. If the student, young
[50:51] person expressed,
[50:52] I don't intend to go back to the school
[50:54] I'm at for these reasons, we will
[50:57] redirect that student to the
[50:58] re-engagement center. We'll make an
[50:59] appointment. In fact, one of the young
[51:00] people that I happened to visit uh with
[51:03] the mayor had an appointment that
[51:05] afternoon with the re-engagement center.
[51:07] So, the goal is every student accounted
[51:10] for. Um and even after the did not
[51:13] report time frame goes on, we then are
[51:17] also tracking students who are starting
[51:20] to compile absences because chronic
[51:22] absenteeism starts honestly after day
[51:26] one when they don't report that is that
[51:28] student is now accumulating absences. So
[51:30] if they don't report for 8 days where
[51:32] they report on the eth day, they've
[51:34] already been absent seven days. 18 days
[51:36] is chronic absenteeism. They're already
[51:38] moving in that direction. So this is um
[51:41] the reason that we've been able to be
[51:43] successful
[51:45] lowering chronic absenteeism is because
[51:47] we're accounting for every kid.
[51:49] Similarly, the other group that
[51:51] sometimes is more susceptible to
[51:53] dropping out and you know this well from
[51:55] the high school lens, those students
[51:57] that did not graduate their class, did
[52:00] not graduate in the summer. We actually
[52:02] have that list. We've been reaching out
[52:04] and engaging them to either allow them
[52:07] to finish the credits that they need to
[52:09] graduate for the fall, which would count
[52:12] in this graduation cycle, or to be able
[52:15] to get into a placement that would allow
[52:17] them to graduate during this year.
[52:20] Thank you for that update. Um, my last
[52:22] two hopefully fast questions. The first
[52:25] is um some additional bus followup. uh
[52:28] appreciate the illustrative examples of
[52:31] some of the occasions where on time does
[52:34] not happen. Um I think that's helpful
[52:36] for folks to have an understanding. Also
[52:39] wondering about the available levers at
[52:42] the district's disposal to uh remedy
[52:45] issues that fall more on um the bus
[52:48] company. Um namely fines or other um
[52:52] levers that could be used uh to make
[52:55] sure that they're running as efficiently
[52:57] as possible and just wondering if we're
[52:59] using all of those available levers.
[53:01] This is a topic Dan and I have spoken
[53:03] about much.
[53:05] Um no, thank you for that question,
[53:06] member scared. Um, yes. So, we have a
[53:09] number of both incentives for improved
[53:13] performance and liquidated damages for
[53:15] non-performance available to us through
[53:17] the contract. I think we've, you know,
[53:21] those are not the only levers available
[53:23] to us. They're not always the, you know,
[53:25] most effective or most appropriate for
[53:27] any given situation, but we have found
[53:30] in certain situations they are very
[53:33] important and effective. Um, for
[53:35] instance, last school year when we were
[53:37] seeing issues with uncovered roots
[53:39] compared to prior years, we, you know,
[53:42] first, uh, put them on written notice
[53:44] and then when we did not see the
[53:46] improvement that we expected to see,
[53:48] began to issue liquidated damages for
[53:50] uncovered trips. Um, that I think had
[53:54] the intended effect and by the end of
[53:56] last year, we were seeing significant
[53:58] improvement there. That has continued
[54:01] this year. Transdev knows that they will
[54:03] continue to receive uh liquidated
[54:05] damages for uncovered trips. Um and so
[54:09] far this year, we've seen a significant
[54:11] improvement on that compared to prior
[54:12] years. We also saw um last spring was
[54:17] the when they hit 95% in June and 92%
[54:21] for the the last three months of the
[54:24] year. That was the first time that
[54:26] transdev had hit one of the performance
[54:28] incentives in the contract. So that was,
[54:31] you know, great to see as well. And so I
[54:33] think that we've we've seen that those
[54:35] are effective levers and, you know, we
[54:37] will continue to use those to make sure
[54:39] we're, you know, driving improved
[54:40] performance.
[54:42] And does Thank you for that. Does
[54:44] performance incentive mean that they
[54:46] would be gaining some additional
[54:48] financial benefit from the on-time
[54:51] arrival?
[54:52] Exactly. Yes.
[54:52] And is that budgeted? Are we budgeting
[54:54] assuming that they make those
[54:57] milestones?
[54:59] We're we're budgeting assuming that
[55:01] they're making, you know, some
[55:02] percentage of those and we've, you know,
[55:04] been within the budget there.
[55:06] Thank you. Um and kind of moving into
[55:09] budget, um following up on some of the
[55:11] members um questions and interest around
[55:14] um the uh report around contracts. Uh
[55:18] understanding that you have some formal
[55:20] reporting to do that needs to take place
[55:23] before our full update. Um just also
[55:26] thinking how this connects to some of
[55:29] our interests last budget season to
[55:32] start discussing budgets and having a
[55:35] clearer lens into financial processes
[55:37] and systems earlier in the school year
[55:40] so that we're not just thinking about
[55:42] the next fiscal budget in real time but
[55:45] more around how these processes work. Um
[55:48] so just wondering if you know in
[55:50] partnership with Chief Bloom uh in
[55:52] addition to these 30 60 90day reports
[55:55] that we can think about um a a budget
[55:58] presentation cycle um that would begin
[56:01] earlier than the typical I believe we
[56:03] usually have our first one in December.
[56:07] So I think Chief Bloom can hear the
[56:09] request um and we'll look to see if
[56:11] there's a time in November to be able to
[56:13] give some of that update.
[56:15] Thank you. Great.
[56:17] So, I have just two quick questions. Um,
[56:20] wanting to circle back around the door
[56:21] knocking. Is the door knocking focusing
[56:24] on students of a particular age group?
[56:26] Is it more high school or is it across
[56:28] the board?
[56:29] Yeah, it's more um it's a great
[56:30] question. It's it's a great question.
[56:33] And uh I would say it's more uh 9 to 12.
[56:38] Occasionally we will have a 16 or
[56:41] 15year-old eighth grader, right, that we
[56:43] will want to engage or re-engage, but
[56:46] for the most part it's going to be high
[56:47] school age that we go out and visit.
[56:50] What do we do about students at the
[56:52] lower ages that are chronically Yeah.
[56:54] absent?
[56:55] So we we started implementing um
[56:57] attendance plans for the kids three
[57:00] years ago. We use Panorama which is our
[57:03] um student platform uh for any kind of
[57:06] intervention planning and when a student
[57:08] reaches certain threshold with
[57:10] attendance there's been calls home
[57:12] already uh those could be happening from
[57:14] the family liaison to the school
[57:16] counselor to the social worker um or to
[57:19] the frankly administration of a
[57:21] building. uh we log those, make notes,
[57:24] um and also start to try to do some
[57:27] appropriate intervention to get at
[57:29] what's causing the student to either be
[57:30] late all the time or to be absent. And
[57:33] when a student reaches near thresholds
[57:36] for chronic absenteeism, the plan then
[57:39] goes into more of like a tier 2, tier
[57:41] three, um where it could be home
[57:43] visitations that we're doing. uh it
[57:46] could be looking at the overall picture
[57:47] of the student and seeing if like uh a
[57:50] re-evaluation is needed. We we start to
[57:52] ratchet up what the different um kinds
[57:55] of student interventions are for them.
[57:57] It's also brought through the student
[57:59] success team um for each school, the
[58:01] student support team for each school. Um
[58:03] you know, they're meeting as the
[58:05] professionals. They'll engage the
[58:07] parents and the key piece of it is
[58:08] engaging the parents. At the high school
[58:10] level, it's engaging the parents and the
[58:12] students together. I would say even
[58:14] middle school it's the students as well
[58:16] because they're old enough to vote with
[58:17] their feet. Right.
[58:19] Great.
[58:19] Yeah.
[58:20] Thank you. My last question is about um
[58:23] teachers. Um the question is about the
[58:27] provisional teachers. How many
[58:29] provisional teachers
[58:31] were either let go or still waiting to
[58:34] be placed?
[58:36] Chief Kanty, do you have that
[58:37] information or some of that information?
[58:40] You can come on up.
[58:44] I asked that because you also said that
[58:46] we have 150 new teachers. Yeah. So my
[58:49] question is Yeah.
[58:57] Good evening. So out of the 512
[59:01] um
[59:03] non-renewed educators, we've hired about
[59:06] 200 of them. Um we have some that are
[59:08] currently in the process that are still
[59:10] being hired. Um what we are doing is um
[59:15] people who have not been hired there
[59:17] about a hundred about 200 of that 500
[59:21] about 291 of that 512 were because of
[59:25] lensure issues. So I think so when we
[59:28] talk about this number we have to parse
[59:30] out what is it that we're looking at. um
[59:34] it's not as clean like everyone was
[59:36] non-renewed because of positions or
[59:38] there's a variety of the reason as I
[59:40] stated because of lensure reasons um but
[59:44] we have hired about 200 of those people
[59:46] back and people are as positions become
[59:50] available there are people who are that
[59:53] we've um we've taken a a few of them who
[59:56] are now long-term subs um that are still
[59:59] within the um the confines of BPS and
[1:00:02] are still around so that when the
[1:00:04] opportunity in fact presents itself if
[1:00:07] we can hire these people in other
[1:00:08] capacity we are we are doing that
[1:00:12] and we uh one of the things that I think
[1:00:14] um uh Chief Kanty and her team do well
[1:00:17] is as new positions open uh people have
[1:00:21] life circumstances change uh or they
[1:00:24] they take another job they move out of
[1:00:26] state whatever it may be um Chief
[1:00:28] Kanty's and her team are really good at
[1:00:31] reaching back to provisionals
[1:00:33] who it was clear they're looking for a
[1:00:35] position and you know encouraging them
[1:00:38] to apply uh and look at the board all
[1:00:40] the time with what's open and that
[1:00:42] that's just going to be an ongoing
[1:00:43] process.
[1:00:45] Okay. Thank you.
[1:00:48] There any other questions? Okay. Thank
[1:00:50] you all. I will now entertain a motion
[1:00:53] to receive the superintendent's report.
[1:00:55] Is there a motion?
[1:00:56] So moved.
[1:00:57] Thank you. Is there a second? I think I
[1:00:59] heard a second there too. Is there any
[1:01:01] discussion or objection to the motion?
[1:01:03] Is there any objection to approving the
[1:01:05] motion by unanimous consent?
[1:01:08] Hearing none, the superintendent's
[1:01:09] report is approved.
[1:01:16] Okay, we will begin with one report
[1:01:18] before moving to public comment. Our
[1:01:21] first report this evening is the
[1:01:23] Massachusetts School Building Authority
[1:01:25] for Madison Park Technical Vocational
[1:01:28] High School chapter 74 programming.
[1:01:32] Let's aim to keep the presentation
[1:01:33] within 10 minutes. Superintendent
[1:01:36] Skipper will share introductory remarks.
[1:01:38] Wonderful. Thank you, Chair. Uh so, as
[1:01:41] we remember, uh this body approved
[1:01:43] submitting Madison Park Technical
[1:01:44] Vocational High School for the MSBA core
[1:01:48] program in March of 2025. In December of
[1:01:51] 2025, Madison Park was invited into the
[1:01:54] MSBA eligibility phase. As part of the
[1:01:57] eligibility period that concluded this
[1:02:00] summer, the MSBA requires a proposed
[1:02:03] chapter 74 program list as well as the
[1:02:06] approval of the school committee as part
[1:02:08] of the eligibility period, which is the
[1:02:11] first phase of the core program. The
[1:02:14] approved chapter 74 programs will be
[1:02:16] formally studied and evaluated during
[1:02:18] the feasibility period. This is the
[1:02:21] second phase of the core program. The
[1:02:24] final programs for the future Madison
[1:02:26] Park are determined during feasibility
[1:02:28] and design. Chief of Capital Planning
[1:02:31] Dell Stannis Loss is here tonight and
[1:02:33] will provide more detail about the
[1:02:35] proposed list of 22 programs and the
[1:02:38] next steps in the process. Brett
[1:02:40] Dickens, our assistant superintendent
[1:02:42] for secondary schools and college career
[1:02:45] and life readiness is also here with us
[1:02:47] to answer any questions that you may
[1:02:49] have. Uh I also see Brian Mclofflin
[1:02:52] who's a senior project manager at the
[1:02:55] facilities department uh and the city um
[1:02:57] is also here. Um, I have approved this
[1:03:01] list which has also been reviewed by
[1:03:03] Madison Park School Leader Paul Neil,
[1:03:05] BPS Capital Planning Department, the BPS
[1:03:09] Schools Division, the mayor's office,
[1:03:11] and the city's public facilities
[1:03:13] department. Later on in the meeting, we
[1:03:15] will ask this committee to vote to
[1:03:17] approve this list. So, at this point, I
[1:03:19] will turn it over to Chief Stannis Loss
[1:03:22] and uh, Brett Dickens.
[1:03:27] Thank you, Superintendent. Um, good
[1:03:30] evening to members of the school
[1:03:32] committee.
[1:03:34] Tonight, I am providing an update on the
[1:03:37] Madison Park Technical Vocational High
[1:03:39] School project and requesting
[1:03:42] confirmation of the chapter 74 programs
[1:03:45] that the district will formally study
[1:03:48] during the Massachusetts School Building
[1:03:50] Authority feasibility study.
[1:03:54] This represents an important step in the
[1:03:56] MSBA process and in our broader
[1:03:58] commitment to creating a modern,
[1:04:00] highquality technical and vocational
[1:04:03] high school for Boston's students.
[1:04:06] Tonight's action does not finalize
[1:04:09] Madison Park's future programming. It
[1:04:11] established the portfolio of programs
[1:04:14] that the district, the MSBA and DESIE
[1:04:18] will evaluate in greater detail during
[1:04:21] the feasibility study.
[1:04:27] I will begin with a brief overview of
[1:04:29] where the MSBA project stands in the
[1:04:32] MSBA process.
[1:04:36] In April of 2025, the district submitted
[1:04:38] a statement of interest to the MSBA for
[1:04:41] the Madison Park Technical Vocational
[1:04:43] High School project. That submission
[1:04:46] followed with followed school committee
[1:04:48] approval on March 20th, 2025 and city
[1:04:52] council approval on April 2nd, 2025.
[1:04:57] On September 30th, 2025, the MSBA
[1:05:00] conducted a senior study at Madison
[1:05:02] Park. This visit helped the MSBA better
[1:05:06] understand the school's existing
[1:05:08] building conditions, educational
[1:05:09] programs, enrollment, and facility
[1:05:12] needs. In December of 2025, the MSBA
[1:05:15] board formally invited Madison Park into
[1:05:18] the eligibility period. The district
[1:05:21] began the eligibility period on July
[1:05:23] 1st, 2026. This is the first formal
[1:05:27] phase of the MSBA grant approval
[1:05:29] process. On August 26, 2026, the MSBA
[1:05:33] board of directors voted to invite us
[1:05:35] into feasibility study stage. This is a
[1:05:39] major step in the MSBA process as it
[1:05:42] allowed the city to complete the 270day
[1:05:46] eligibility period in approximately 60
[1:05:49] days, resulting in the project moving
[1:05:51] forward roughly 8 months sooner than
[1:05:54] previous projects in the MSBA process.
[1:05:58] The next step in the process is to
[1:06:00] select an owner's project manager and
[1:06:02] designer. The OPM oversees the entire
[1:06:06] project life cycle from planning and
[1:06:08] design to construction. The OPM ensures
[1:06:11] the project is completed on time within
[1:06:14] budget and according to budget
[1:06:16] specification.
[1:06:18] The next slide provides more details
[1:06:21] around the requirement that are the
[1:06:25] requirements that are completed during
[1:06:26] the eligibil eligibility period. The the
[1:06:30] MSBA's eligibility period is typically a
[1:06:33] 270day process that establishes the
[1:06:36] foundation for the project. During this
[1:06:40] period, BPS and the city must
[1:06:42] demonstrate that we have the governance,
[1:06:45] planning, funding, and educational
[1:06:48] information necessary to move into the
[1:06:50] feasibility study stage. We have
[1:06:53] completed the initial compliance
[1:06:55] certification and established the school
[1:06:57] building committee. We must also submit
[1:07:00] the chapter 74 program viability form,
[1:07:03] which is the focus of tonight's
[1:07:04] presentation. In partnership with the
[1:07:07] MSBA, we have conducted a comprehensive
[1:07:10] enrollment analysis and reached an
[1:07:13] agreement on the enrollment capacity
[1:07:15] that the project should study. The
[1:07:18] district also secured the needed
[1:07:21] approval for funding from the city for
[1:07:23] the feasibility study and schematic
[1:07:26] design phases. Because we completed
[1:07:29] these requirements early, the MSBA moved
[1:07:31] us into feasibility phase this past
[1:07:34] summer. The feasibility study will allow
[1:07:36] us to evaluate e educational
[1:07:38] programming, enrollment space needs,
[1:07:41] potential design options, project cost,
[1:07:44] and overall approach to the Madison Park
[1:07:46] campus.
[1:07:48] One of the key eligibility um
[1:07:51] requirements is confirming the chapter
[1:07:53] 74 programs that will be evaluated
[1:07:56] through the study.
[1:08:02] The chapter 74 viability form allows the
[1:08:05] MSBA and DESIE to understand the
[1:08:07] district's current vocational programs
[1:08:10] and the programs we may want to offer in
[1:08:13] the future. The form identifies which
[1:08:16] programs the district proposes to
[1:08:18] continue expand merge sunset and add.
[1:08:22] Our recommendations
[1:08:24] consider several factors including
[1:08:27] current student interests, current
[1:08:29] enrollment, workforce demand, projected
[1:08:33] enrollment growth, wage potential, and
[1:08:36] opportunities for students to continue
[1:08:38] their education after graduation.
[1:08:41] The process also requires us to
[1:08:43] demonstrate alignment with regional
[1:08:45] workforce priorities and to document
[1:08:48] support from partners such as mass hire,
[1:08:51] local employers, and postsecary
[1:08:53] institutions.
[1:08:55] The MSBA uses this information to ensure
[1:08:58] that the building options developed
[1:09:00] during the feasibility study can support
[1:09:02] the appropriate chapter 74 educational
[1:09:05] spaces.
[1:09:07] School committee approval is required
[1:09:09] before the district submits the proposed
[1:09:11] portfolio to the MSBA.
[1:09:14] Most importantly, approval for this form
[1:09:16] does not require represent sorry a final
[1:09:19] or permanent decision about any Madison
[1:09:21] Park program. It confirms which programs
[1:09:24] will receive further educational
[1:09:26] operational workforce enrollment and
[1:09:29] facilities analysis during the
[1:09:31] feasibility study. Any final programming
[1:09:35] recommendations will return for
[1:09:37] consideration and approval through the
[1:09:40] appropriate public and school committee
[1:09:42] process.
[1:09:48] The column on the left shows Madison
[1:09:50] Park's chapter 74 portfolio for fall of
[1:09:54] 2026, so this school year.
[1:09:58] The column on the right shows the
[1:09:59] programs we are proposing for further
[1:10:01] study. The proposed portfolio preserves
[1:10:05] a board a broad range of established
[1:10:08] pathways including automotive
[1:10:10] technology, carpentry, cosmetology,
[1:10:14] dental assisting, facilities management,
[1:10:17] health assisting, HVAC, medical
[1:10:20] assisting, metal fabrication, plumbing,
[1:10:24] robotics, and other technical programs.
[1:10:27] We are proposing a second cohort in
[1:10:30] culinary arts and a second cohort in in
[1:10:34] electricity.
[1:10:35] These potential expansion
[1:10:38] expansions respond to both students
[1:10:41] interest and workforce demand. The
[1:10:44] proposed portfolio also reflects program
[1:10:47] transitions already underway or under
[1:10:50] consideration, including mergers and
[1:10:53] programs that are sunsetting.
[1:10:56] For example, culinary arts where you see
[1:10:59] on screen hospitality management merging
[1:11:02] with culinary arts. We are proposing
[1:11:05] three new programs for formal study,
[1:11:08] biotechnology,
[1:11:09] early child early education and child
[1:11:12] and care and veterary science. The
[1:11:15] proposed changes are intended to
[1:11:17] strengthen the connection between
[1:11:19] Madison Park's educational offerings and
[1:11:22] Boston's current and emerging workforce
[1:11:24] needs. Tonight's vote will authorize us
[1:11:27] to study this portfolio. It would not
[1:11:30] automatically open, expand, merge, or
[1:11:33] close any program. During the
[1:11:35] feasibility study, we will evaluate
[1:11:38] student demand, staffing, lenture
[1:11:41] requirements, equipment needs,
[1:11:43] partnerships, space requirements, and
[1:11:45] long-term program sustainability. We
[1:11:48] will also continue engaging Madison Park
[1:11:51] students, families, educators, industry
[1:11:54] partners, labor representatives,
[1:11:56] postsecondary institution, and the
[1:11:58] broader community before any final
[1:12:01] recommendations.
[1:12:10] Biotechnology has been identified as a
[1:12:12] priority industry by Mass Hire, the
[1:12:14] Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and
[1:12:17] the city of Boston. The Boston region
[1:12:20] has a significant concentration of life
[1:12:23] sciences and healthcare employers,
[1:12:25] creating potential career and
[1:12:27] post-secondary opportunities for Madison
[1:12:30] Park students. Labor market analysis
[1:12:33] indicates strong demand, job growth, and
[1:12:36] competitive wages in this sector.
[1:12:40] Early education and care. Expanding the
[1:12:43] early education workforce is a priority
[1:12:45] for both the city of Boston and Boston
[1:12:48] public schools. Boston continues to need
[1:12:50] qualified early educators and this
[1:12:54] pathway could allow students to enter
[1:12:56] the workforce while also pursuing
[1:12:58] additional credentials or college
[1:13:01] degrees.
[1:13:02] The program could create a strong
[1:13:04] connection between Madison Park and
[1:13:06] BPS's own workforce needs. Through the
[1:13:09] feasibility study, we will assess
[1:13:11] student interests, work work-based
[1:13:14] learning opportunities, certification
[1:13:16] requirements, and partnerships.
[1:13:18] Veterinary science has been recommended
[1:13:21] for consideration by the Greater Boston
[1:13:23] Chamber of Commerce. The field offer
[1:13:26] oppers opportunities in animal care,
[1:13:30] veterary assistance, laboratory
[1:13:33] settings, and related scientific
[1:13:35] careers.
[1:13:42] In closing,
[1:13:44] these proposed programs reflect our goal
[1:13:46] of preparing Madison Park students for
[1:13:48] strong careers in Boston's current and
[1:13:50] emerging industries. We are asking the
[1:13:53] school committee to approve the proposed
[1:13:56] chapter 74 program portfolio for
[1:13:59] submission to the MSBA. This approval
[1:14:02] will allow the district to meet the
[1:14:04] requirements of the eligibility period
[1:14:07] and conduct the detailed analysis needed
[1:14:09] during the feasibility study.
[1:14:12] Thank you.
[1:14:14] Thank you. I'll now open it up to
[1:14:17] committee for questions.
[1:14:20] Anyone?
[1:14:26] Thank you, Chief Stannis Los. Just a a
[1:14:29] logistical question around the list of
[1:14:32] programs.
[1:14:35] Robotics is listed as a new program in
[1:14:38] both columns. Is it that it's new this
[1:14:42] year and just will it will continue in
[1:14:44] the proposed list next year?
[1:14:47] Yes. So, robotics started um last year
[1:14:50] as an elective. It's new this year. Um
[1:14:52] and we are also like studying it um just
[1:14:56] like as a long-term potential for
[1:14:58] Madison Park.
[1:14:59] Okay. Thank you. Um can you give an
[1:15:04] example and I know that this is not the
[1:15:05] final list. This is an approval for
[1:15:07] further study but um as you all balanced
[1:15:11] kind of industry demand with student
[1:15:14] interest, community interest, etc. Can
[1:15:16] you give an example of a pathway or
[1:15:19] program of study that may have had
[1:15:22] interest but was determined not to be
[1:15:25] feasible for any reason? Just um to give
[1:15:29] a more holistic sense of you know some
[1:15:31] of the decision-m that was involved.
[1:15:37] I I can't think specifically of a
[1:15:39] program that was suggested that was not
[1:15:42] included in the portfolio. Can you speak
[1:15:44] into the microphone?
[1:15:45] Sure. Sorry. Um I can't think of a
[1:15:47] specific example of a program that was
[1:15:49] not included in the portfolio um at this
[1:15:54] moment. I I would add um to what Chief
[1:15:57] Stannis Los um said is one of the
[1:16:00] considerations for programs that remain
[1:16:03] is considering all of the factors, the
[1:16:05] student interest, the the labor market
[1:16:07] demand. Sorry about that. um but also
[1:16:11] programs that allow students that might
[1:16:13] not be authorized to work in the United
[1:16:15] States um good post-secondary options.
[1:16:17] That's certainly a consideration um at
[1:16:19] Madison Park. Um but I'll I'll go back
[1:16:22] and and get back to you. If there were
[1:16:24] programs that were raised and proposed
[1:16:26] that were not um put forward.
[1:16:29] Yeah. I think um one that comes to mind
[1:16:31] would be aviation,
[1:16:33] right? And uh aviation technology,
[1:16:35] right? Tech. So I think that was I think
[1:16:37] that's great. example. Thank you. Yeah,
[1:16:39] aviation
[1:16:41] for um pilots for preparation for pilots
[1:16:44] is not a chapter 74
[1:16:47] program in um the department of
[1:16:49] education. The only option is aviation
[1:16:52] tech which is the same as auto tech and
[1:16:54] there isn't physical space um for that
[1:16:56] program. It needs the space of literally
[1:16:59] like a hanger. So thank you. I I forgot
[1:17:01] about aviation.
[1:17:02] Okay. Thank you. So that program is as
[1:17:05] an it is operating as an elective at
[1:17:07] Madison but to prepare students for the
[1:17:10] pilot license is not a chapter 74
[1:17:12] option. Okay. And how um comparable is
[1:17:18] this list to some of the more successful
[1:17:22] uh career technical education campuses
[1:17:24] in Massachusetts.
[1:17:26] I think we've all visited um several of
[1:17:28] the very successful um programs. It's
[1:17:31] very comparable. Um, I think you know
[1:17:34] the one the one program that seems to be
[1:17:36] emerging in some of the other centers is
[1:17:38] advanced manufacturing which also has a
[1:17:41] pretty high capital cost and a space
[1:17:43] requirement. Um, but I would say the
[1:17:45] portfolio is very comparable to the
[1:17:46] regional vocational schools.
[1:17:49] Thank you. My last oh sorry my second to
[1:17:53] last question uh Chief Slannis you said
[1:17:55] there is an agreed upon enrollment
[1:17:58] capacity that also drove the number of
[1:18:00] programs that you're thinking about uh
[1:18:03] what is the agreed upon enrollment
[1:18:05] capacity? So the enrollment one of the
[1:18:08] things that we studied that Madison Park
[1:18:10] does not have currently is a seventh and
[1:18:13] eighth grade. So this is like wrapped up
[1:18:15] in like the um the total number for
[1:18:17] consideration with the MSBA. So it's
[1:18:19] 1,800 students.
[1:18:21] Okay. And again, understanding that this
[1:18:25] is not a set and committed program list,
[1:18:28] but if we were to assume that a similar
[1:18:31] list were moving forward um after these
[1:18:34] study periods, etc., can you just name
[1:18:36] the school year that if everything were
[1:18:38] on track, this new column would be in
[1:18:42] operation for students at Madison Park?
[1:18:45] What school year would that be?
[1:18:48] Um,
[1:18:50] I would need to look at the MSBA
[1:18:52] timeline to give you an answer. Can I
[1:18:55] get back to you on that on?
[1:18:56] Sure. Maybe just for the public. Is it
[1:18:58] like two years from now, four, five?
[1:19:00] Like just I think trying to give folks
[1:19:03] an understanding of the timeline and the
[1:19:06] length out that we're really talking
[1:19:08] about.
[1:19:08] So, um, the new programs that are prop
[1:19:12] being proposed like Madison Park, etc.
[1:19:14] Sorry, not Madison Park, but uh
[1:19:17] veterinary science. Um currently at
[1:19:20] Madison Park there, there's no space um
[1:19:24] for that for the for these new programs
[1:19:26] that are being proposed. So, it will be
[1:19:29] um a part of like the new build or major
[1:19:32] renovation through the MSBA process. And
[1:19:35] that process can take anywhere from like
[1:19:37] for the next like six years. Brian, if
[1:19:41] you want to um add anything to that. I
[1:19:43] think a high level schedule right now
[1:19:45] we're looking uh to stop construction
[1:19:47] sometime in 2030.
[1:19:49] Can you say that again in the in the
[1:19:51] microphone? Thank you.
[1:19:52] Sorry. I think right now a high level um
[1:19:54] schedule based upon where we're at with
[1:19:56] the MSBA process is looking to stop
[1:19:59] construction sometime in 2030 with
[1:20:01] completion sometime in 2033.
[1:20:08] Thank you.
[1:20:11] You okay?
[1:20:16] question.
[1:20:17] I don't have a question. I just have
[1:20:18] like a reminder, not a reminder, but uh
[1:20:21] just to continue to keep in mind uh the
[1:20:24] engagement part of students and families
[1:20:27] in uh the broader Madison Park community
[1:20:30] through the facility period so they can
[1:20:33] be part of the bigger picture and they
[1:20:35] know what's going on and how is this
[1:20:38] progressing for them.
[1:20:40] Thank you so much for that. I think
[1:20:41] we're entering the phase like the
[1:20:42] feasibility phase which is like the
[1:20:44] exciting part for a lot of um community
[1:20:47] engagement. The community gets to
[1:20:49] influence like the design and stuff like
[1:20:51] that like what the future of Madison
[1:20:53] Park is going to look like. So a lot of
[1:20:55] engagement during this phase.
[1:20:59] I have a question. Is there a
[1:21:01] comprehensive list of all of the
[1:21:04] potential programs that chapter 74 would
[1:21:08] have irregardless of the ones that we've
[1:21:10] chosen? But is there comprehensive list?
[1:21:13] My question being is that the size of
[1:21:16] our district um all of our programs
[1:21:19] don't just happen at Madison Park. Other
[1:21:22] high schools have some programming as
[1:21:25] well. How do we begin to look at that as
[1:21:27] a complete district in terms of where
[1:21:30] are the opportunities? So if a student
[1:21:32] couldn't get a specific program at
[1:21:35] Madison Park, are there other places in
[1:21:38] the district
[1:21:39] because of logistics, etc. that they
[1:21:43] could get it and are there things that
[1:21:46] we don't take advantage of? I I just
[1:21:48] have a question. We are a seapport city
[1:21:52] and do we have any programs that deal
[1:21:54] with the seapport or you know those kind
[1:21:58] of things?
[1:21:59] Um that's great great questions. Um
[1:22:02] there is a list of all potential chapter
[1:22:05] 74 programs on the DESIE website. They
[1:22:08] are sorted by industry cluster. I think
[1:22:11] we have a very broad portfolio. We have
[1:22:14] 32 CTE chapter 74 CTE programs across
[1:22:18] five schools. Um so we you know beyond
[1:22:21] the 21 at Madison there are another 11
[1:22:23] that are spread out in the other four
[1:22:25] schools which are English high school,
[1:22:27] BAA, BGA
[1:22:30] um and EMK. Um the answer to your second
[1:22:34] question I think one one industry that
[1:22:37] we don't cover um there is a state um
[1:22:40] Norfolk Aggie school that covers
[1:22:41] agriculture. it's simply an issue of
[1:22:43] land um and space. Um so I think that's
[1:22:46] you know that is an a program that some
[1:22:49] students look for and we don't offer
[1:22:51] that but I would say if you look across
[1:22:53] the industry cluster we industry
[1:22:56] clusters on the DESI website we are in
[1:22:58] all of the industry clusters but not
[1:23:00] necessarily every potential program. I
[1:23:02] think what will be interesting to watch
[1:23:04] given the timeline is how the state will
[1:23:08] um put forward new standards in the IT
[1:23:11] you know in the IT um the information
[1:23:13] technology industry cluster and how we
[1:23:15] will respond. So that's an area that we
[1:23:17] will obviously be watching over the next
[1:23:19] several years. Will there be a program
[1:23:20] in AI or new technologies that the state
[1:23:23] will um develop standards for and allow
[1:23:26] us to open up a chapter 74 program.
[1:23:30] Okay.
[1:23:30] Thank you very much. I think so.
[1:23:33] Oh, and you asked about the Seapport and
[1:23:35] I I just want to share that you're going
[1:23:37] to hear about the Bloomberg grant later,
[1:23:38] but you know, we are looking at
[1:23:41] um programming within the programs at
[1:23:44] Madison to address um issues of clean
[1:23:47] energy, to address issues of climate
[1:23:49] resilience. So it might not be a new
[1:23:51] program but we are looking you know to
[1:23:53] to trends that are you know happening in
[1:23:56] our climate and and um new energy
[1:23:58] technologies and and um carbon neutral
[1:24:01] buildings. So we're modernizing the
[1:24:03] programs that we have so that students
[1:24:05] have transferable skills as the needs of
[1:24:07] industry change.
[1:24:09] Thank you.
[1:24:10] I I have one I know got three different
[1:24:13] questions going here. One, two, three.
[1:24:16] Okay. So I just I I just want to um I I
[1:24:20] talked about you know like keeping the
[1:24:21] engagement part but also thinking about
[1:24:24] the kids that already have they are part
[1:24:27] of the program and uh some of the
[1:24:30] programs that are being sitting and uh
[1:24:34] we letting those kids know
[1:24:36] what is going on and you know they'll be
[1:24:38] okay.
[1:24:40] Yes. So when a program is sunset, the
[1:24:42] students that are currently in the
[1:24:44] program continue in the program and they
[1:24:46] are allowed to graduate. There just
[1:24:48] aren't new 9th graders coming in. Um in
[1:24:51] the two examples um that the chief
[1:24:53] presented around merging programs.
[1:24:56] Students that are put in those programs,
[1:24:58] for example, culinary and hospitality
[1:24:59] will be learning the standards in both
[1:25:01] of those clusters. Um and the same with
[1:25:03] design and visual and graphic
[1:25:05] communications. So whichever program
[1:25:07] they came from, they're actually going
[1:25:09] to get a more expansive um introduction
[1:25:12] to those two fields through the merge
[1:25:14] program.
[1:25:17] Thank you.
[1:25:18] Thank you for the presentation. This is
[1:25:20] why I should go first because vice chair
[1:25:24] stole my questions and suggestions. But
[1:25:27] anyway,
[1:25:29] just just to confirm and for for the
[1:25:32] benefit of the public because the first
[1:25:34] time I saw this list of new proposed
[1:25:37] programs, my reaction was
[1:25:40] with technology changing by the
[1:25:42] [clears throat] minute and AI and
[1:25:44] everything like how can we know what is
[1:25:47] going to be needed? What technology do
[1:25:48] we have to be preparing our students in
[1:25:50] eight or 10 years from now? So just to
[1:25:53] clarify, we're talking about a
[1:25:55] provisional approval of this list,
[1:25:58] correct?
[1:26:00] Yes, that is correct.
[1:26:01] Great. And then in terms of enrollment
[1:26:04] capacity, I understood that the new
[1:26:07] school will be able to serve 1,800
[1:26:10] students. Is that correct?
[1:26:12] Yes, that's the number that we're
[1:26:13] studying with Desi.
[1:26:14] How many are we serving now?
[1:26:16] MSBA. Sorry. Um
[1:26:19] Madison Park has between around 1,200.
[1:26:23] It goes between 1100 and 1200.
[1:26:27] Yeah.
[1:26:28] Great.
[1:26:29] But it does not have a seventh and
[1:26:31] eighth grade. So I think that's it's
[1:26:33] both the expansion of the 9 to2. Right.
[1:26:35] I think the other thing member Palter is
[1:26:37] that on the chapter 74 side we are bound
[1:26:40] even when technology changes we are
[1:26:42] bound to what the state is adopting and
[1:26:45] considering chapter 74. And sometimes
[1:26:47] there isn't as fast of a process there
[1:26:50] to change the actual chapter 74
[1:26:53] programming as we want to. So like
[1:26:56] robotics is a good example where it took
[1:26:58] a while for that to become a chapter 74.
[1:27:02] Thank you.
[1:27:03] Y
[1:27:06] have a question.
[1:27:07] No, you're good.
[1:27:09] All right. Thank you. Um and I we will
[1:27:11] be taking action on this later in the
[1:27:13] meeting.
[1:27:13] Yeah. Thank you.
[1:27:14] Thank you.
[1:27:15] Great.
[1:27:16] We will now move on to general public
[1:27:18] comment. Miss Parvox.
[1:27:22] Thank you, chair.
[1:27:26] The public comment period is an
[1:27:28] opportunity for individuals to address
[1:27:29] the school committee on school related
[1:27:31] issues. Questions on specific school
[1:27:33] matters are referred to the
[1:27:34] superintendent. Questions on policy
[1:27:37] matters may be discussed by the
[1:27:38] committee later. The meeting will
[1:27:40] feature two public comment periods with
[1:27:42] the first comment period limited to 1
[1:27:44] hour. After one hour, anyone who hasn't
[1:27:47] testified will have the opportunity to
[1:27:49] do so at the end of the meeting. We have
[1:27:51] 14 speakers this evening. Each person
[1:27:54] will have three minutes to speak and I
[1:27:56] will remind you when you have 30 seconds
[1:27:58] remaining. Please feel free to email
[1:28:00] your comments for distribution to the
[1:28:02] committee. Speakers may not reassign
[1:28:04] their times to others. The time that an
[1:28:07] interpreter uses for English
[1:28:08] interpretation will not be deducted from
[1:28:10] a speaker's allotted time. Please direct
[1:28:13] your comments to the chair and refrain
[1:28:15] from addressing individual school
[1:28:16] committee members or district staff.
[1:28:19] Please note the comments of any public
[1:28:21] speaker do not represent the Boston
[1:28:24] public schools or the Boston school
[1:28:25] committee. Please state your name,
[1:28:27] affiliation, and where you live before
[1:28:29] you begin. For speakers on Zoom, please
[1:28:32] be ready to unmute and turn on your
[1:28:33] camera when called. To support
[1:28:36] interpretation, please speak slowly and
[1:28:38] clearly. Our first group of speakers is
[1:28:43] Peter Papadopoulos,
[1:28:45] Jerasimo Papadopoulos, Thomas Fan,
[1:28:48] Christina Nicolides, and Rosan Tang.
[1:28:51] Peter Papadopus
[1:28:54] is coming.
[1:29:06] Hello. Uh, my name is Charles
[1:29:08] Papadopoulos. I'm currently an 11th
[1:29:10] grader in Boston Latin School and I'd
[1:29:12] like to uh begin my presentation. Azy.
[1:29:17] Aziz is the official designation for
[1:29:19] someone who entered BLS in 9th grade. I
[1:29:22] am a busy. Uh that means my math
[1:29:25] tracking should be behind. Uh I should
[1:29:28] be slower. If you enter in 9th grade,
[1:29:30] you enter into algebra. But thankfully
[1:29:33] the math department recognized that I
[1:29:35] should accelerate and move me to algebra
[1:29:37] 2. That is where the rest of my ninth
[1:29:40] grade peers were two years ago.
[1:29:42] They were not buses. Most of those
[1:29:44] people in algebra 2, I might note. Uh
[1:29:47] now I'm trying to skip up to calculus. I
[1:29:49] self-studied it in the summer and I'm
[1:29:51] preparing to give KIPP examinations to
[1:29:53] prove my readiness for that in
[1:29:55] pre-calculus.
[1:29:57] Unfortunately, the math department has
[1:29:59] stopped granting requests to accelerate,
[1:30:02] leaving students on unequal footing
[1:30:04] throughout the grade.
[1:30:06] There's a student in my grade whom they
[1:30:07] granted permission to skip to calculus
[1:30:09] in 10th grade, but in 11th grade they
[1:30:12] are no longer letting anyone skip. I
[1:30:15] feel like the policy prevents equity
[1:30:17] within the grade because of that. Some
[1:30:20] people are in a higher math class than
[1:30:22] others whilst at the same time there are
[1:30:25] people in a lower math class who have
[1:30:27] the ability for a higher one.
[1:30:30] I also observed that there are very few
[1:30:31] beeys those who enter 9th grade within
[1:30:34] the multivariable calculus course
[1:30:38] um because um it's not official but the
[1:30:41] way I feel it the school tracking system
[1:30:44] is slightly set up to leave bezes a
[1:30:47] little further behind unfortunately. So,
[1:30:49] I'm registering for the AP calculus exam
[1:30:52] at the end of the school year, and I
[1:30:54] will study and try to get a good score,
[1:30:57] but I I think it would be really kind of
[1:30:59] the school to place me in that class to
[1:31:01] help me get that score because of their
[1:31:04] excellent uh support system in teaching.
[1:31:06] You may be wondering why am I addressing
[1:31:09] a school board for this? It's because I
[1:31:12] have repeatedly inquired into this
[1:31:14] matter internally.
[1:31:16] discussions have reached uh the
[1:31:18] principal but unfortunately I feel like
[1:31:21] they have not fell on the most receptive
[1:31:23] ears. This is why I'm here to address uh
[1:31:27] what I feel is a core inequality at the
[1:31:30] school. Our school provides a zoom
[1:31:32] course for pre-calculus. This is an
[1:31:34] online course so there are no space
[1:31:36] constraints. It's not a physical
[1:31:37] classroom. That's not the problem.
[1:31:39] Seconds.
[1:31:40] The course is supposed to catch up beeys
[1:31:42] who wish to take calculus. The
[1:31:44] prerequisites are only algebra 2 and
[1:31:45] geometry classes which I have already
[1:31:47] taken by last year. Asking to enter this
[1:31:50] course, I was denied despite meeting the
[1:31:52] prerequisites simply because I was not
[1:31:54] in the 11th grade at the time. The way I
[1:31:56] understand that they only interesting in
[1:31:58] having this catchup to bring you to the
[1:32:00] their baseline but not to follow your
[1:32:02] further ambitions. And I feel like
[1:32:06] um thank you for your time.
[1:32:09] Thank you.
[1:32:12] Was that Peter Papadopoulos who came
[1:32:14] out? Yeah.
[1:32:17] Okay. So, Jerasimus Papadopoulos.
[1:32:19] Oh, that was me.
[1:32:20] Okay. That's what I thought. So, Peter
[1:32:23] Papadopus then
[1:32:26] it's going to take
[1:32:58] Uh good afternoon. My name is Peter
[1:33:00] Papadopoulos and I come also come from
[1:33:03] Boston Latin School.
[1:33:05] I finished a mathematics course on art
[1:33:07] of problem solving, an internationally
[1:33:09] renowned pro platform where students go
[1:33:12] even to the international mathematic
[1:33:13] olympiad. I'm seeking to enter geometry.
[1:33:16] I studied algebra and believe I have the
[1:33:18] necessary skills to pass such an
[1:33:20] assessment. I accelerated in 8th grade
[1:33:22] before even high school and my request
[1:33:24] was nonetheless denied. I asked this
[1:33:27] year again prepared and more qualified.
[1:33:30] But despite this, my request was not
[1:33:31] heard. The math department didn't even
[1:33:34] allow me to take an exam to prove my
[1:33:36] readiness. They simply denied my
[1:33:38] request. My mother sent a formal request
[1:33:40] as a school required through the
[1:33:42] official channels and my mom was not
[1:33:44] motiv not notified that I wasn't allowed
[1:33:46] to take the exam. I'm passionate about
[1:33:49] math because I want to be a mathematics
[1:33:51] major or an engineering major and I most
[1:33:53] appreciate how math stems from a small
[1:33:55] collection of axioms to build an
[1:33:57] infinitely beautiful language. I wish I
[1:34:00] explore this deeper and reach
[1:34:01] multivariable calculus in the 12th grade
[1:34:04] but by denying me to accelerate to
[1:34:05] geometry pens. There are people in my
[1:34:08] grade who have already taken geometry.
[1:34:10] The math department permits this.
[1:34:12] However, they were allowed last year.
[1:34:14] Suddenly, the math department has
[1:34:15] stopped allowing people to accelerate to
[1:34:17] the level that they should be at. I
[1:34:19] believe this is harmful since it creates
[1:34:21] an inequality in the math tracking where
[1:34:23] some people are above others in my own
[1:34:25] grade. But we are not allowed to catch
[1:34:27] up to them because the decisions have
[1:34:29] long been crystallized. The reason I'm
[1:34:31] speaking here is because I feel it is
[1:34:32] the only place where my voice.
[1:34:36] The reason I'm speaking here is because
[1:34:38] I feel it is the only place where my
[1:34:39] voice has been heard. Boston Latin
[1:34:41] School already had issues with equity
[1:34:43] within their exam process. But I think
[1:34:46] these concerns and equity go further
[1:34:47] than just the exam. I believe they are
[1:34:49] also within the structure of the school
[1:34:51] itself.
[1:34:52] Thank you.
[1:34:53] Thank you very much.
[1:34:56] Next speaker is Thomas Fan.
[1:35:12] Prep
[1:35:18] Calculus is an exam accepted by 2,900
[1:35:21] colleges within the United States of
[1:35:23] America. It measures completion of
[1:35:25] calculus 1 and I passed it with a 78 out
[1:35:28] of 80. I'm currently taking calculus 3
[1:35:31] at Bunker Hill Community College.
[1:35:35] I am current
[1:35:37] Just continue. Keep talking.
[1:35:38] Yeah, just keep talking. I am currently
[1:35:41] taking calculus 3 at Bunker Hill
[1:35:43] Community College, an institution that
[1:35:45] is accredited by the New England
[1:35:47] Commission of Higher Education. They
[1:35:49] also accredited Harvard and Yale. Yet,
[1:35:52] when I asked to accelerate within the
[1:35:54] math department, I am denied.
[1:35:58] Based on this, I feel like I am not
[1:36:01] being denied based on merit, but by an
[1:36:04] institutional wall. There already is
[1:36:06] someone in our grade taking
[1:36:07] multivariable calculus within Boston
[1:36:09] Latin School. I'm a beey, meaning I
[1:36:12] entered in 9th grade, not seventh like
[1:36:14] the rest of the people. I believe this
[1:36:18] disadvantages me because it meant that I
[1:36:20] was automatically set to be placed in
[1:36:22] algebra 1 in 9th grade by default.
[1:36:25] Thankfully, back then they allowed me to
[1:36:27] accelerate to the baseline of which all
[1:36:29] sixes start as. I am asking to
[1:36:33] accelerate in 11th grade from
[1:36:34] pre-calculus to calculus
[1:36:38] but they are not allowing me. The
[1:36:40] department let people of my grade
[1:36:41] accelerate in the math track in the past
[1:36:44] but they are no longer allowing that
[1:36:46] which makes me feel unequally
[1:36:49] treated since I believe I have the same
[1:36:51] abilities for math yet am not given the
[1:36:54] same opportunities in terms of what
[1:36:56] classes I take. Boston Latin School has
[1:36:58] already faced other concerns over equity
[1:37:02] and we believe that they are not over.
[1:37:06] But I hope that the school considers
[1:37:07] moving past that era and makes more
[1:37:10] progress in helping everyone regardless
[1:37:13] of if they came to BLS in 9th grade or
[1:37:16] 7th grade. Despite of all this, I will
[1:37:19] take the AP calculus exam at the end of
[1:37:21] the school year. And I simply hope that
[1:37:23] the school will provide me support and
[1:37:25] allow me to formally take the class so I
[1:37:28] have less trouble over passing that exam
[1:37:31] since it is diff uh is a difficult one.
[1:37:34] BLS is known for its rigorous approach
[1:37:37] and I may need some help with it which I
[1:37:39] feel that BLS will adequately provide.
[1:37:43] DZs by default have less AP slots
[1:37:46] because they have to take other
[1:37:48] requirements.
[1:37:48] 30 seconds. So, I feel that allowing me
[1:37:51] to take calculus would be a fair
[1:37:53] compensation and would level the footing
[1:37:55] in terms of GPA.
[1:37:58] Thank you.
[1:37:59] Thank you,
[1:38:01] Christina Nicolites.
[1:38:09] Rosantang.
[1:38:31] I served on the exam school admissions
[1:38:34] task force in 2021.
[1:38:37] We all saw the recent Boston Globe
[1:38:39] article sharing the good news that black
[1:38:42] enrollment at BLS has increased each
[1:38:45] year and approached the district's black
[1:38:47] enrollment in the school year 26.
[1:38:50] However, a closer look at exam school
[1:38:53] invitation rates for school year 27 by
[1:38:57] race tells a different story. Last fall,
[1:39:00] BPS leadership stated that they don't
[1:39:03] want exam schools to take up valuable
[1:39:05] airtime
[1:39:06] that should be devoted to improving
[1:39:08] other schools. So, they enacted a policy
[1:39:11] which simulations showed would be
[1:39:13] regressive and pledged to leave that
[1:39:16] policy alone for three years. I want to
[1:39:19] acknowledge that two of you voted
[1:39:21] against this harmful policy.
[1:39:24] In line with this intention, BPS has
[1:39:27] quietly posted the school year 27
[1:39:30] invitation rates. I don't know when. Did
[1:39:33] you see and discuss them? They show
[1:39:36] retrograde admissions policy changes
[1:39:41] led to Boston Latin School black and
[1:39:43] Latina invitation rates declining an
[1:39:46] amount equal to the amount that white
[1:39:49] invitation rates increased.
[1:39:52] For this year, students with
[1:39:53] disabilities were invited to exam
[1:39:56] schools at 1/3 and multilingual learners
[1:39:59] at 1/ half the rate of school year 23,
[1:40:02] despite constituting 23 and 35% of
[1:40:06] district enrollment, respectively.
[1:40:09] According to simulations, the most
[1:40:11] concerning policy change last year was
[1:40:14] the addition of a citywide top 20% round
[1:40:17] of invitations. Yet the BPS report does
[1:40:21] not provide disagregation of who the top
[1:40:25] 20% of invitees are by race,
[1:40:28] neighborhood, etc. It does report that
[1:40:31] almost half of them live in the highest
[1:40:35] of four socioeconomic tiers. The mere
[1:40:38] existence of exam schools structures
[1:40:41] inequity throughout all of BPS. So, we
[1:40:45] should be talking about the equity
[1:40:47] impact of changed admissions policies.
[1:40:50] Invitation rates likely foreshadow
[1:40:53] enrollment rates. So, we should be
[1:40:56] concerned about a widening opportunity
[1:40:58] gap in the near future. Questions that I
[1:41:01] hope you all ask
[1:41:03] seconds.
[1:41:04] Who was invited in the citywide top 20%
[1:41:07] round? For example, what was the
[1:41:10] breakdown of this year's citywide round
[1:41:12] by race, socioeconomic status, etc.? How
[1:41:16] do changes in invitation rates affect
[1:41:18] changes in enrollment rates?
[1:41:21] Why continue implementing an emissions
[1:41:24] policy that simulations and now evidence
[1:41:27] prove unjust? Thank you.
[1:41:30] Thank you.
[1:41:32] Our next group of speakers are Travis
[1:41:35] Marshall, John Mud, Audrey Martinez,
[1:41:38] Madapakan, Yaken Santos, and Robert
[1:41:41] Jenkins.
[1:41:52] Good evening. My name is Travis
[1:41:54] Marshall. I live in Roslandale. I'm the
[1:41:57] proud parent of students at the English
[1:41:58] High School and New Mission High School.
[1:42:01] I'm also a member of Quality Schools for
[1:42:04] Every Student Quest, a grassroots group
[1:42:07] of parents in the district.
[1:42:10] It's the start of a new school year, but
[1:42:14] in the coming weeks, you will already
[1:42:15] begin to tackle the budget for next
[1:42:18] year.
[1:42:19] One facet of school finance that Quest
[1:42:23] hopes you consider is the role of
[1:42:25] private fundraising in the Boston public
[1:42:27] schools.
[1:42:29] Quest parents reported on the 2018
[1:42:32] Ernstston Young audit of individual
[1:42:34] school accounts, the first and only time
[1:42:37] there has been a district-wide snapshot
[1:42:39] of the role that philanthropy plays in
[1:42:42] the schools.
[1:42:44] We updated this data from IRS90 forms
[1:42:48] annually and last year we were able to
[1:42:50] recreate a wider picture using BEDF's
[1:42:54] accounting of the schools for which it
[1:42:56] provides fiscal sponsorship.
[1:43:00] This is important data. However, it
[1:43:02] should not be for a group of working
[1:43:05] parents to cobble together.
[1:43:08] The superintendent circular FIN21
[1:43:11] on BPS recognized 501c3 organizations
[1:43:15] states that all taxexempt school
[1:43:17] organizations need a strong rationale
[1:43:20] for the need of a separate independent
[1:43:22] 501c3
[1:43:24] and must update BPS on current details
[1:43:28] including board structure status and
[1:43:31] operating revenue each year.
[1:43:34] To our knowledge, this is not happening.
[1:43:38] Despite the recent reimagining school
[1:43:40] funding project recommendation to
[1:43:42] collect and make available all revenue
[1:43:45] information by school, inclusive of
[1:43:47] philanthropy, fundraising, and other
[1:43:50] private sources.
[1:43:53] Quest continues to recommend that BPS
[1:43:55] create a dashboard that is updated
[1:43:58] annually for all funding sources so that
[1:44:01] the funding of our public schools
[1:44:03] remains transparent to stakeholders and
[1:44:06] taxpayers.
[1:44:08] We invite BPS staff and families to join
[1:44:10] us on September 22nd at 2 p.m. for a
[1:44:13] city council hearing on this matter.
[1:44:17] Thank you very much.
[1:44:18] Thank you. Next speaker is John Mud.
[1:44:32] Good evening. Welcome back to the new
[1:44:34] school year. For those who don't know
[1:44:36] it, my name is John Mud. I'm a resident
[1:44:38] of Cambridge and a longtime education
[1:44:40] advocate in Boston. An urgent priority
[1:44:44] for BPS and the school committee is
[1:44:46] determining when the strategic
[1:44:48] implementation plan will be presented. I
[1:44:52] hope you agree.
[1:44:54] It was promised for this fall at the
[1:44:56] time when the committee passed the new
[1:44:58] opportunity and achievement gap policy.
[1:45:01] Such a strategic implementation plan
[1:45:04] should include annual smart goals and a
[1:45:07] statement of the changes in education
[1:45:09] programs explaining how BPS plans to
[1:45:13] reach these goals. If there is any hope
[1:45:15] of seeing real improvement for students,
[1:45:18] smart goals for disagregated groups must
[1:45:21] be set by BPS for student outcomes and
[1:45:24] the reduction of proficiency and
[1:45:26] achievement gaps on MCCAST, for teacher
[1:45:29] diversity, for the expansion of
[1:45:31] bilingual education programs and
[1:45:34] bilingual teachers, and for equitable
[1:45:36] literacy. Will such a full strategic
[1:45:39] plan be presented to the school
[1:45:41] committee at its October 14th meeting or
[1:45:44] at its November 18th meeting? The school
[1:45:47] committee needs to see set a date. There
[1:45:50] must be a plan by then for BPS to
[1:45:53] incorporate new strategies in planning
[1:45:56] for the next school year 202728 budget
[1:46:00] and for BPS to submit necessary
[1:46:02] proposals to the state in time for
[1:46:05] implementation in the fall of 2027. The
[1:46:08] school committee will need to decide
[1:46:10] whether it will insist on real change.
[1:46:13] Simply setting smart goals without
[1:46:15] spelling out the so-called logic of
[1:46:18] action about how P BPS will reach these
[1:46:21] goals will likely be empty rhetoric, the
[1:46:24] proverbial lipstick on the pig. Current
[1:46:27] approaches are failing. More of the same
[1:46:31] will not accelerate needed improvement.
[1:46:34] I want to be respectful, but a road map
[1:46:37] is not an implementation plan. Even
[1:46:40] [clears throat] my car road map gives me
[1:46:42] the mileage and the routes I need to get
[1:46:45] to my destination. The road map that was
[1:46:48] posted online has no smart goals and no
[1:46:51] explanation of the program changes to
[1:46:54] reach these goals. Please ask the
[1:46:57] superintendent to produce such a
[1:47:00] strategic implementation plan before you
[1:47:03] proceed further. Thank you. Our next
[1:47:07] speaker is Audrey Martinez for the
[1:47:10] Pakam.
[1:47:23] Good evening everyone. Thank you for
[1:47:25] your time and listening. Um, I'm here
[1:47:28] tonight because I am extremely consider
[1:47:32] concerned about um the system for uh
[1:47:38] IEPs and that it's too complicated um
[1:47:42] even for myself, a former teacher, um a
[1:47:47] a parent and someone that has been a
[1:47:50] researcher in education for over 20
[1:47:53] years and also my colleagues with
[1:47:55] doctoral degrees um have had many
[1:47:58] challenges trying to navigate um the
[1:48:01] individualized education plan. Um last
[1:48:05] week I was trying to help my friend
[1:48:07] complete a consent form for additional
[1:48:11] evaluations,
[1:48:12] but we were really confused because it
[1:48:15] didn't include any of the assessments
[1:48:17] that we knew her child needed because
[1:48:20] they are bilingual. Um, and I know as a
[1:48:25] multilingual person that if I am
[1:48:27] assessed in the wrong language, you will
[1:48:29] not know as much as you won't be able to
[1:48:32] know what I actually know. And so we
[1:48:35] were trying to figure out how to how to
[1:48:38] put this into the form because there was
[1:48:40] very very little space and all of the
[1:48:43] things listed had nothing to do with
[1:48:45] what we were concerned about. So we
[1:48:49] almost rejected it and I later
[1:48:54] thanks to my dog [laughter]
[1:48:56] learned that we would have been in
[1:48:58] jeopardy. And let me explain my dog. My
[1:49:01] dog is an angel. And last Sunday uh I
[1:49:05] took him for his regular walk, but he
[1:49:07] refused to walk where I wanted to take
[1:49:09] him. And so instead we went to the park.
[1:49:13] And thanks to me going to the park with
[1:49:15] him, I ran into a neighbor who shared
[1:49:19] with me that her daughter was finally
[1:49:21] going to go to a school that was going
[1:49:23] to help her because she won a lawsuit
[1:49:27] against BPS
[1:49:29] because her daughter had went
[1:49:31] undiagnosed for several years with
[1:49:34] autism.
[1:49:36] And because of that, she connected me
[1:49:38] with an advocate who then I finally
[1:49:42] talked to yesterday and it saved us from
[1:49:46] jeopardizing the whole IEP process. Um,
[1:49:52] and I, you know, we've been working on
[1:49:55] this for about three months.
[1:49:57] And I I don't think it's fair that, you
[1:50:01] know, even if I have high levels of
[1:50:04] education and I was a teacher before
[1:50:06] that I don't understand these things.
[1:50:09] And so I really want to advocate that
[1:50:13] our city should be offering free just
[1:50:17] like they offer free legal immigration
[1:50:19] clinics, we should also have free legal
[1:50:22] clinics for indivi for families that
[1:50:25] have IEPs.
[1:50:26] Thank you. Your time is up.
[1:50:30] Please send your testim written
[1:50:31] testimony.
[1:50:32] Yes.
[1:50:34] Jacqueline Santos.
[1:50:40] No, Robert Jenkins.
[1:50:59] Good evening, Chairperson Robertson.
[1:51:01] Good evening, Superintendent Skipper. My
[1:51:03] name is Robert Jenkins, president of the
[1:51:06] Madison Park Alumni Association
[1:51:08] Incorporated. So, I picked a good night
[1:51:10] to come. Uh, be very brief. Uh, a year
[1:51:13] ago, I was uh diagnosed with stage three
[1:51:17] prostate cancer. As of today, I am
[1:51:21] cancer free after going through
[1:51:24] uh after going through the MRI, biopsy,
[1:51:29] PET scan, and I just two weeks ago
[1:51:33] uh spent 4 months of radiation 5 days a
[1:51:37] week. So, uh I am fully healthy and
[1:51:40] back, you know, as I always been.
[1:51:47] I want to thank everyone. Uh it was a
[1:51:50] team effort from all of my doctors, but
[1:51:53] uh one of the reasons why I'm here
[1:51:54] tonight is please vote for Madison Park
[1:51:58] moving on. It's been a long process. The
[1:52:01] Madison Park Alumni Association has been
[1:52:03] involved ever since when we started this
[1:52:07] entire process and then it was a ro
[1:52:09] there was some it was a roadblock or I
[1:52:12] should say a bump in the road where we
[1:52:14] had to file for the MSBA which the
[1:52:17] mayor's office did. Some people didn't
[1:52:19] like it, but you know, like I said, I'm
[1:52:21] class of 1978
[1:52:23] and I came into that building in 77, so
[1:52:27] there's a lot of stake for uh uh the
[1:52:29] alumni association. We have we have
[1:52:32] space in the building. We're there every
[1:52:33] day. We were there for the freshman
[1:52:35] orientation week. Uh got to teach uh you
[1:52:38] know uh history of Madison. We turned 50
[1:52:41] last year as you see my commemorative
[1:52:44] shirt there. Uh, also on top of that, we
[1:52:47] were there for the first day of school,
[1:52:49] which we have been. I've been associate
[1:52:51] with my alma mada ever since 2013.
[1:52:55] I've been a school site school parent
[1:52:57] council member. Uh, as well uh we we
[1:53:00] started in 2013, but we were sanctioned
[1:53:03] in 2016 when I became president under
[1:53:06] the secretary of state's office. Beedf
[1:53:08] is our fiscal uh sponsor. So we have a
[1:53:11] lot of ties into the school but we
[1:53:14] definitely need to move forward. One of
[1:53:16] the main goals I am also involved in the
[1:53:20] Shard Taylor MSBA process working very
[1:53:23] closely with Dell and her team. We have
[1:53:26] a community meeting coming up uh on the
[1:53:29] 24th
[1:53:31] at the Madapan um Madapan Library. We
[1:53:34] did a presentation a few weeks ago which
[1:53:37] I'm working on the aspect of it. But
[1:53:39] what most another most important thing
[1:53:40] is our athletics. Oh, wait a minute. I
[1:53:43] got to make a quick shout out to the
[1:53:44] community engagement community
[1:53:46] advancement team. They put on one heck
[1:53:49] of a show last Friday in which I
[1:53:51] volunteer. People see me around the
[1:53:53] building. But also too, we have to get
[1:53:56] more partners involved and help Chief
[1:53:58] Corey McCarthy out on regarding uh
[1:54:02] athletics and student supports.
[1:54:04] Thank you, Mr. Jenkins.
[1:54:06] We will now transition to Zoom um public
[1:54:10] comment. Uh please raise your virtual
[1:54:13] hand when I call your name. Our next
[1:54:16] group of speakers are Judith Baker, Asia
[1:54:20] Jackson, Rebecca,
[1:54:22] [snorts]
[1:54:23] and Christina Norris.
[1:54:25] Judith Baker.
[1:54:37] Please unmute and turn on your camera.
[1:54:42] I'm trying to turn it on and having some
[1:54:44] problem, but I will do my best here.
[1:54:53] Thank you very much. Uh my name is
[1:54:55] Judith Baker. I'm a longtime BPS
[1:54:57] teacher, now retired. uh spent most of
[1:55:00] my years at Madison Park. Have been
[1:55:02] involved as a Madison Park advocate uh
[1:55:06] since uh 200.
[1:55:08] We can't hear you.
[1:55:09] You can't?
[1:55:10] Yeah. Now we
[1:55:11] Now we can.
[1:55:12] It's fine.
[1:55:13] Okay. Now you can.
[1:55:15] Yes. Now we can stop.
[1:55:17] Thank you. Uh my name is Judith Baker. I
[1:55:20] taught for many many years at Madison
[1:55:21] Park. And then in um [clears throat]
[1:55:25] 2012 with Mel King and Dennis Wilson, we
[1:55:28] started the Friends of Madison Park and
[1:55:30] have been very active as advocates since
[1:55:32] then. We have submitted a written
[1:55:35] testimony to all of the members. So I
[1:55:38] won't read it here since you all have
[1:55:40] it. The written testimony uh states some
[1:55:44] of our really very very important needs
[1:55:47] this year and our needs going forward if
[1:55:50] we're going to be successful. Obviously,
[1:55:52] technical education, high skills
[1:55:54] education is a huge benefit to the
[1:55:58] students who who enroll in chapter 74
[1:56:00] programs. And Boston has been very very
[1:56:04] slow to build a really state-of-the-art
[1:56:07] uh set of programs since the original
[1:56:09] Humphrey Center was first built. We
[1:56:11] desperately need your help. We have the
[1:56:15] possibility of creating life-changing
[1:56:19] skill programs and enrolling uh hund
[1:56:23] actually actually 1,800 students in
[1:56:26] them. But only if the state comes
[1:56:28] through. If the state doesn't come
[1:56:29] through, we still have to do it. So
[1:56:32] these next seven years are incredibly
[1:56:34] important. And in our testimony, we have
[1:56:37] listed some of the needs that have gone
[1:56:39] unmet. We have certainly worked very
[1:56:42] hard with superintendent with Dell
[1:56:45] Sandis with um with uh Brett Dickens. We
[1:56:51] are very serious about getting these
[1:56:53] skills for kids. You have to understand
[1:56:56] that there are needs going unmet that
[1:56:58] are very important needs and we can't we
[1:57:01] just can't do our job without your
[1:57:03] attention. So, I'm only here to draw
[1:57:06] your attention to that written
[1:57:07] testimony. I hope all the members of the
[1:57:10] school committee will read it very
[1:57:11] carefully and then come back and help us
[1:57:14] with these matters. We're of course
[1:57:16] we're very excited if the state does
[1:57:18] help us build a new building. But you've
[1:57:20] got to understand that's 7 8 n years
[1:57:22] down the road. We had thought we were
[1:57:24] going to start uh shovels in the in the
[1:57:27] ground in 2025.
[1:57:29] That didn't happen. Our kids can't wait
[1:57:32] till 2034 for programs. We have to have
[1:57:35] those programs now. we have to have
[1:57:37] seventh and eighth grade now. And uh I
[1:57:40] hope that you will respond very
[1:57:43] seriously to the points that we raised.
[1:57:45] Thank you very much. I really appreciate
[1:57:47] the chance to speak to you tonight.
[1:57:50] Thank you very much. Our next speaker is
[1:57:53] not in the meeting. Asia Jackson is not
[1:57:56] in the meeting. So we will continue with
[1:57:58] Rebecca Otopuk.
[1:58:01] I'll stop.
[1:58:09] Good evening. I'm here today talking
[1:58:11] about
[1:58:12] the Boston public school transportation
[1:58:15] department. I thought this being a new
[1:58:18] school year, it would be a new leaf. For
[1:58:20] three years, we have had issues on the
[1:58:22] school buses. Yesterday, my 5-year-old
[1:58:26] and my 7-year-old got on the bus at 8:26
[1:58:29] a.m. Their school opened at 8:10 a.m.
[1:58:34] My daughter called me on the wa on her
[1:58:37] smartwatch at 9:14
[1:58:40] that they were scared and they didn't
[1:58:42] know where their bus was. I called the
[1:58:44] bus company. They said that they were
[1:58:47] dropped off at school at 8:45. I called
[1:58:51] the school who told me that they were
[1:58:53] not there and they didn't know where the
[1:58:55] bus was.
[1:58:58] I tracked my daughter from her watch and
[1:59:00] we stayed on the phone with her and two
[1:59:03] brave girls on that bus held up signs
[1:59:06] asking for help from the outside
[1:59:08] community that they were in danger with
[1:59:10] this bus driver.
[1:59:14] I have not heard a single response from
[1:59:17] transportation. I've asked for two days
[1:59:18] for supervisors to call me back. While
[1:59:21] on the phone with my daughter, the bus
[1:59:23] was pulled over by Boston police C11
[1:59:28] district in Dorchester.
[1:59:31] The cop had to redirect the bus driver
[1:59:33] on how to get to school. I want some
[1:59:36] accountability held for the bus drivers.
[1:59:39] Last year, my daughter was lost. She got
[1:59:42] hurt on the bus and ended up in the
[1:59:43] emergency room. And I've heard nothing.
[1:59:47] There's no change and there's got to be
[1:59:49] some kind of change. I've reached out to
[1:59:51] trans staff. I've reached out to the
[1:59:54] superintendent's office. I've reached
[1:59:56] out to the helpline to 311 and I have
[2:00:00] gone unheard. I've even reached out to
[2:00:02] the news. Thank you for your time.
[2:00:06] Thank you very much. Our fin our last
[2:00:10] speaker is Christina Norris.
[2:00:17] Christina Norris.
[2:00:22] I'm just trying to get my camera on.
[2:00:27] Hi,
[2:00:29] good evening. My name is Christina
[2:00:31] Norris. I am a Boston parent of four and
[2:00:34] three of my children are BPS students.
[2:00:38] Given the history of BPS transportation
[2:00:40] and my family's experience since we
[2:00:42] moved here, I imagine this probably
[2:00:44] won't be the last time we meet like
[2:00:46] this. On the first day of school, BPS
[2:00:49] reported that 61% of morning buses were
[2:00:51] on time. But what about the other 39%.
[2:00:55] Let me tell you what that looks like. It
[2:00:57] looks like my daughter standing on a
[2:00:58] sidewalk waiting for a bus that never
[2:01:01] showed up. It looks like parents
[2:01:02] refreshing an app, watching ETAs change,
[2:01:05] sitting on hold with transportation, and
[2:01:07] having no idea where the bus is or when
[2:01:10] their child will arrive. Yesterday, my
[2:01:12] children were part of that 39%.
[2:01:15] 13 children on a bus where the system
[2:01:18] marked them as dropped off at 8:44 a.m.
[2:01:21] They were still on the bus. We didn't
[2:01:24] even know there was a problem until our
[2:01:25] children contacted us. Once a child is
[2:01:28] marked dropped off, the app no longer
[2:01:30] provides live tracking. Thankfully,
[2:01:32] another parent and I had GPS on our
[2:01:34] children's phones. We were able to
[2:01:36] locate them and give the school their
[2:01:38] actual location. The school couldn't
[2:01:40] locate them through its own system
[2:01:42] because the system said they were
[2:01:43] already there. They were picked up at
[2:01:46] 8:24 and didn't arrive until 10:12. The
[2:01:49] bus hit a sign with children on board.
[2:01:52] The children signaled other drivers for
[2:01:54] help.
[2:01:56] The police responded and when I called
[2:01:58] afterwards I was told that no police
[2:02:00] report had been filed. That is what the
[2:02:02] other 39% can look like. And I know that
[2:02:05] we are not the only family. Parents have
[2:02:07] been telling you about these problems
[2:02:09] for years. I have filed multiple
[2:02:11] complaints myself. You have the
[2:02:12] complaints. You have the data. You had
[2:02:15] an independent investigation in 2025
[2:02:17] after a 5-year-old child was killed by a
[2:02:20] BPS bus. And that investigation
[2:02:23] identified serious problems. Yet here we
[2:02:25] are in 2026. I want to recognize Miss
[2:02:28] Carrie and Mr. Rockoff at Mason because
[2:02:30] they have done more to advocate for
[2:02:32] these children than I have personally
[2:02:34] seen transportation do. They should not
[2:02:36] have to do transportation's job and
[2:02:38] neither should we. Parents should not
[2:02:40] have to help track the buses, refresh
[2:02:42] apps, sit on hold, or use their
[2:02:44] children's phones to figure out where
[2:02:46] they are. That is your job. You have the
[2:02:49] complaints. You have the data. You have
[2:02:50] the investigation. you know. So, I want
[2:02:53] to ask you, what are you going to do
[2:02:56] after you know, not eventually, not
[2:02:59] after another complaint, not after
[2:03:01] another investigation, and god forbid,
[2:03:04] another tragedy. What do you do now?
[2:03:06] Because I'm going to keep asking, I'm
[2:03:08] going to keep documenting. And given the
[2:03:10] history, I feel like we will be having
[2:03:11] this conversation again. I would much
[2:03:13] rather be wrong about that. These are
[2:03:15] our children. We should not have to do
[2:03:17] your job to get them safely to school.
[2:03:19] You know there's a problem. Now show us
[2:03:21] what you do after you know. Thank you.
[2:03:24] Thank you very much chair. That
[2:03:27] concludes public comment.
[2:03:28] Thank you Miss Parex and thank you to
[2:03:30] those of you who spoke this evening and
[2:03:32] shared your perspectives. Your testimony
[2:03:34] is extremely important to us. Our first
[2:03:37] two action items this evening are the
[2:03:39] grants for approval totaling $5,27,984
[2:03:46] and the inind donations with a total
[2:03:48] estimated value of $750.
[2:03:52] Now I'd like to turn it over to the
[2:03:53] superintendent for any final comments.
[2:03:56] Great. Thank you, chair. So uh as uh
[2:03:58] chair just said, we're asking
[2:04:00] committee's approval for 10 grants
[2:04:03] totaling a little over 5 million. The
[2:04:05] largest of these is a $3.5 million grant
[2:04:08] from Bloomberg Career Grant that serves
[2:04:11] 600 students in workforce development
[2:04:13] programs. The purpose of this grant is
[2:04:16] to provide a skilled trades workforce
[2:04:18] development and apprenticeship readiness
[2:04:20] program at Madison Park Vocational High
[2:04:23] School during a three-year period. This
[2:04:26] amount represents year one of a $12
[2:04:28] million grant received by the city of
[2:04:31] Boston that will provide opportunities
[2:04:33] for Madison Park students as well as
[2:04:35] students throughout BPS in an afterchool
[2:04:38] vocation by Madison program. This will
[2:04:42] also include career exploration,
[2:04:44] pre-apprenticeship training, industry
[2:04:46] partnerships, and student support
[2:04:48] services. The remaining nearly 1.5
[2:04:51] million is in different buckets. the
[2:04:54] Commonwealth Preschool Partnership
[2:04:56] Initiative. This is a new competitive
[2:04:58] grant totaling 465,000
[2:05:01] intended to serve 175 students and 20
[2:05:05] teachers in early childhood programs.
[2:05:08] The grant will support local
[2:05:10] coordination and investment in access to
[2:05:13] highquality preschool for three and four
[2:05:15] year olds. The FY27 Massachusetts offers
[2:05:19] rebates for electric vehicles or more EV
[2:05:23] truck rebate increase. This is a
[2:05:25] continuing rebate that's totaling nearly
[2:05:28] $420,000
[2:05:29] intending to serve 46,000 students
[2:05:32] districtwide. This grant is a rebate for
[2:05:35] the purchase of electric school buses.
[2:05:38] The Commonwealth Corporation Round 11
[2:05:40] Career Technical Initiatives Grant is a
[2:05:43] new competitive grant [clears throat]
[2:05:45] totaling $300,000
[2:05:47] in the 2620
[2:05:49] to the 26 2028 school years. And this is
[2:05:53] intended to serve 30 students in adult
[2:05:56] education programs and will address the
[2:05:58] persistent need for skilled labor in
[2:06:01] construction, trades, and manufacturing.
[2:06:05] There's also one the Boston Foundation
[2:06:07] which is early college consortium with
[2:06:09] Roxbury Community College year 2
[2:06:12] funding. Um this is continuing
[2:06:15] competitive grant totaling $100,000 for
[2:06:18] this school year serving 200 students in
[2:06:20] early college programs. This grant will
[2:06:23] strengthen the development of BPS's
[2:06:25] first consortium-based
[2:06:27] early college program in partnership
[2:06:29] with RCC or Roxbury Community College
[2:06:33] and position the model for designation
[2:06:35] with DESIE. There's also the Mass
[2:06:37] Cultural Council Creative Experiences
[2:06:40] Grant, which is a continuing competitive
[2:06:42] grant, also for $100,000 this school
[2:06:45] year, intended to serve more than 600
[2:06:48] students at 20 BPS schools, and will
[2:06:51] support creative experiences for
[2:06:53] students districtwide,
[2:06:55] such as woodworking classes, music
[2:06:58] classes, dance classes, uh, etc. There's
[2:07:02] a $45,000 mass life science center,
[2:07:05] elementary and secondary education
[2:07:06] grant, biotechnology,
[2:07:09] micro:bits grant, which will is intended
[2:07:11] to serve 2500 students and 22 teachers
[2:07:15] at East Boston High School and 11
[2:07:18] elementary schools in the East Boston
[2:07:20] and Charlestown neighborhoods. The
[2:07:22] purpose of this grant is to support the
[2:07:24] expansion of STEM education and
[2:07:27] biotechnology and life sciences and data
[2:07:30] science.
[2:07:31] Uh, the Cutter Foundation International
[2:07:35] Arabic Language Bridge Grant is a
[2:07:37] continuing competitive grant totaling
[2:07:39] just over $33,000 intended to serve 102
[2:07:43] students at Brighton High School. Is a
[2:07:46] $30,000 English for New Bostononians
[2:07:49] grant, which is a continuing competitive
[2:07:51] grant that will serve 25 students in ed
[2:07:53] adult education programs this school
[2:07:55] year. And last, the Massachusetts 21st
[2:07:59] Century Community Learning Centers
[2:08:01] Program Continuation Grant from DESIE.
[2:08:04] This is an increase. It's a continuing
[2:08:06] competitive grant totaling an additional
[2:08:09] $1,000 this school year intended to
[2:08:11] serve 1,500 students and 29 teachers at
[2:08:15] the Dr. Holland Tech uh Al Holland
[2:08:17] Technical High School, Jaziah Quinsey
[2:08:19] Elementary, and Yumana Academy. Uh there
[2:08:22] are also several inind donations before
[2:08:25] you. Again, this is for school committee
[2:08:28] meeting. So there's just lots of these
[2:08:30] grants fortunately and in kind
[2:08:32] donations. Uh there's one inind donation
[2:08:35] for three- ring binders to the
[2:08:37] Department of Early Childhood from the
[2:08:40] Boston Children's Hospital valued at
[2:08:42] $750.
[2:08:44] Um and we have uh Chief Bloom who is
[2:08:47] here. Uh don't see Marcela, but Chief
[2:08:50] Bloom. Oh, Marcela's here. Uh, Marcela
[2:08:53] Mahisha is here who's the director of
[2:08:55] federal and state grants, programs, and
[2:08:57] compliance. So, if there's any questions
[2:08:59] from the committee, both are here. We
[2:09:02] would ask for full consideration and
[2:09:03] acceptance with a favorable vote for
[2:09:05] these resources for our students in
[2:09:07] schools.
[2:09:09] Thank you, Superintendent. I'll now open
[2:09:11] it up to questions and comments from the
[2:09:12] committee.
[2:09:18] Nope, I think we're all good.
[2:09:21] All right. So, um, thank you all. We
[2:09:23] have a member with a conflict of
[2:09:25] interest for one of the grants this
[2:09:26] evening. So, we will separate the grants
[2:09:29] into two votes. If there's no further
[2:09:31] discussion, I will now entertain a
[2:09:33] motion to approve the English for New
[2:09:35] Bostononians grant totaling $30,000 as
[2:09:39] presented. Is there a motion? So, move.
[2:09:41] Is there a second?
[2:09:43] Is there any discussion or objection to
[2:09:45] the motion? Miss Pravic, will you please
[2:09:47] call the role?
[2:09:48] Thank you, Dr. Alkins Mr. Peralta
[2:09:52] abstain
[2:09:53] Miss Palanka Garcia
[2:09:54] yes
[2:09:55] Miss Torres
[2:09:56] yes
[2:09:56] Mr. Tran.
[2:09:57] Yes.
[2:09:58] Miss Garrett.
[2:09:59] Yes.
[2:10:00] Miss Robinson.
[2:10:00] Yes.
[2:10:01] The grants are approved.
[2:10:04] It's okay.
[2:10:06] Um, thank you. If there's no further
[2:10:08] discussion, I will now entertain a
[2:10:10] motion to approve the remaining grants
[2:10:12] totaling $4,997,000
[2:10:17] 9984
[2:10:18] as presented. Is there a motion? So
[2:10:20] move.
[2:10:21] Is there a second?
[2:10:22] Second.
[2:10:22] Thank you. Is there any discussion or
[2:10:24] objection to the motion? Is there any
[2:10:26] objection to approving the grant by
[2:10:28] unanimous consent?
[2:10:30] Hearing none, the grants are approved.
[2:10:33] We will continue with the inind
[2:10:34] donation. There's no further discussion.
[2:10:37] I will now entertain a motion to approve
[2:10:39] the inind donation as presented. Is
[2:10:42] there a motion?
[2:10:43] So moved.
[2:10:44] Thank you. Is there a second?
[2:10:45] Second.
[2:10:45] Is there any discussion or objection to
[2:10:47] the motion? Is there any objection to
[2:10:49] approving the grant by unanimous um
[2:10:52] consent? hearing none, the ink kind
[2:10:54] donation is approved.
[2:10:57] Our third action item this evening is
[2:10:59] the payment of membership dues to the
[2:11:01] Massachusetts Association of School
[2:11:03] Committees, also known as MASK, with
[2:11:06] school year 2627
[2:11:08] in the amount of $8,795.
[2:11:12] Mask provides a wide range of programs
[2:11:15] and services including professional
[2:11:17] development workshops and educational
[2:11:19] advocacy support. I will now open it up
[2:11:22] to the committee for any um questions or
[2:11:25] comments.
[2:11:28] Okay.
[2:11:28] Um just a just a note um I had had a
[2:11:32] question originally um looking at this
[2:11:35] payment around how fast the rate was
[2:11:38] increasing of annual payments and I'm
[2:11:40] seeing that the rate is actually level
[2:11:42] to the previous year. So I just
[2:11:44] [clears throat] wanted to make a note of
[2:11:45] that.
[2:11:45] Yes. Thank you.
[2:11:48] All right. If there are no further
[2:11:49] questions, I'll now entertain the motion
[2:11:52] to approve the payment of annual
[2:11:54] membership dues to mask in the amount of
[2:11:57] $8,795
[2:11:59] as presented. Is there a motion?
[2:12:02] So, you and a second. Thank you. Is
[2:12:04] there any discussion or objection to the
[2:12:06] motion? Is there any objection to
[2:12:09] approving the motion by unanimous
[2:12:10] consent? Hearing none, the motion is
[2:12:13] approved. Our last vote is the MSBA
[2:12:17] Madison Park Technical Vocational High
[2:12:20] School chapter 74 programming that was
[2:12:23] presented earlier tonight. If there are
[2:12:25] no further questions, I will entertain a
[2:12:27] motion as presented. Is there a motion?
[2:12:31] Second.
[2:12:32] Is there any discussion or objection to
[2:12:34] the motion? Miss Pavix, will you please
[2:12:36] call the role?
[2:12:37] Thank you, Dr. Alkins. Mr. Peralta,
[2:12:40] yes. Miss Panco Garcia,
[2:12:43] yes.
[2:12:44] Miss Torres,
[2:12:45] yes.
[2:12:46] Mr. Tran,
[2:12:47] yes.
[2:12:47] Miss Garrett,
[2:12:48] yes.
[2:12:49] Miss Robinson,
[2:12:50] yes.
[2:12:51] The motion is approved unanimously.
[2:12:53] Great. Thank you.
[2:12:57] We're going to transition to reports. If
[2:12:58] you need to take a break, you can. Okay.
[2:13:02] All right. Go ahead. Our first report is
[2:13:04] the Horus men charter governing update
[2:13:07] for the Dudley Street Neighborhood
[2:13:09] Charter Schools Memorandum of
[2:13:10] Understanding. A
[2:13:13] let's aim to keep the presentation
[2:13:15] within five minutes. Now, I'd like to
[2:13:17] turn it over to the superintendent for
[2:13:19] introductory comments.
[2:13:21] Uh wonderful. In a few minutes,
[2:13:22] assistant superintendent of autonomous
[2:13:24] schools, new assistant superintendent of
[2:13:26] autonomous schools, Dr. Erveo will
[2:13:29] present theouou for the Dudley Street
[2:13:32] Neighborhood Charter School. I think
[2:13:33] you'll recognize Ervey as the longtime
[2:13:36] leader of the Lions Elementary and High
[2:13:39] School and we're very happy that he has
[2:13:41] joined us in this new capacity. Uh so as
[2:13:44] a reminder, the Horus man in district
[2:13:46] charter schools are independent public
[2:13:49] schools that operate under five-year
[2:13:51] charters granted by the Commonwealth
[2:13:53] Board of Education and Secondary
[2:13:55] Education.
[2:13:57] Each of the Horus man charter schools
[2:13:59] must operate under a memorandum of
[2:14:01] understanding with BPS or what we say an
[2:14:04] MOUA.
[2:14:05] Thisoua aligns with Horus man schools
[2:14:08] that have come before the school
[2:14:10] committee with some provisions that are
[2:14:13] specific to the Dudley Street
[2:14:14] Neighborhood Charter School. Dr. No is
[2:14:18] here to walk you through those
[2:14:19] provisions. In June, this body voted to
[2:14:23] approve the Dudley Street neighborhood
[2:14:24] charter school renewal application.
[2:14:27] However, this document was not ready at
[2:14:29] the time that that was presented. So, we
[2:14:32] are asking this school committee to vote
[2:14:34] in favor of theoua
[2:14:37] at a future school committee meeting. I
[2:14:40] will now turn it over I will now turn
[2:14:43] the meeting over to Dr. No.
[2:14:46] Thank you, Superintendent Skipper. Good
[2:14:49] evening madame chair, vice chair and
[2:14:53] members of the school committee. My name
[2:14:57] is Anu and I am the assistant
[2:15:01] superintendent of autonomous schools.
[2:15:05] As Superintendent skipper mentioned, I
[2:15:09] support our Horus main schools,
[2:15:12] innovation schools, and pilot schools in
[2:15:16] leveraging their unique autonomies to
[2:15:20] drive innovation and improve student
[2:15:23] outcome.
[2:15:25] And as such, I look forward to
[2:15:27] partnering with this committee as we
[2:15:30] renew our horsemanus
[2:15:34] and advance strategic planning for our
[2:15:38] innovation schools. So tonight,
[2:15:45] so tonight I am presenting one
[2:15:48] governance document for your
[2:15:51] consideration
[2:15:53] which is the MOUA
[2:15:56] for Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter
[2:15:58] School.
[2:16:00] As as a reminder, uh the MOUA serves as
[2:16:04] the primary governing agreement between
[2:16:08] BPS and a Horrisman charter. It defines
[2:16:13] uh operational responsibilities,
[2:16:16] budget allocations,
[2:16:18] staffing protocols,
[2:16:21] facilities,
[2:16:22] academic support for students with
[2:16:25] disabilities
[2:16:27] and English language learners. Uh what
[2:16:31] you have here on the left side
[2:16:35] uh all of the agreements that we have
[2:16:39] with the charter schools and on the left
[2:16:43] side the part that is bolded are the
[2:16:47] areas where uh the re the revision has
[2:16:51] had substantial uh improvement
[2:16:55] and on the left on the right side it is
[2:16:59] the implication of these uh revision.
[2:17:04] And so
[2:17:06] uh first there will be uh three
[2:17:11] substantive
[2:17:13] uh updates to these to this MOU A.
[2:17:18] Number one is that it aligns with
[2:17:21] previous
[2:17:23] for and BDA that were voted by this body
[2:17:29] and it aligns by transitioning specific
[2:17:34] uh
[2:17:36] operational services such as BPS legals
[2:17:40] and compliance from a nondiscretionary
[2:17:44] to a discretionary purpose.
[2:17:47] Secondly, in doing so or as a result of
[2:17:51] this shift,
[2:17:52] purvey, could you try using the other
[2:17:54] mic? It's just I don't know what is
[2:17:56] going on
[2:17:58] if that one is better.
[2:18:00] Hello. And so in doing so, that
[2:18:05] still doing it.
[2:18:07] And
[2:18:09] in doing so, as a result of these these
[2:18:12] shifts, there will be uh an an increase
[2:18:17] in demification provision that will uh
[2:18:21] protect BPS when Dudley will assume
[2:18:26] additional responsibilities
[2:18:29] those who were put in bold.
[2:18:32] Thirdly, and that is really specific to
[2:18:36] Dudley Dudley Street. Uh this agreement
[2:18:39] is reiterating uh the district
[2:18:42] commitment to collaborate with the
[2:18:44] school to establish a pathway K12 to the
[2:18:48] Dearborn STEM Academy. And so tonight,
[2:18:52] uh, we request your review of the Dudley
[2:18:55] Streetou
[2:18:57] and your all consideration for approval
[2:19:00] at the later school committee. Thank
[2:19:03] you.
[2:19:05] Great.
[2:19:07] I'll now open it up to any questions
[2:19:09] from the
[2:19:13] Garrett.
[2:19:15] Thank you, Dr. Ano. I just had a
[2:19:17] question about the K12 pathway and just
[2:19:20] clarifying the definition of K12
[2:19:23] pathway. Um that it's not implying that
[2:19:26] the school would become a K12. You're
[2:19:29] saying that there's a commitment to have
[2:19:30] a defined pathway from Dudley Street
[2:19:36] through K12.
[2:19:37] That is correct. that will be um a
[2:19:40] defined pathway from Dudley Street to
[2:19:42] the Dearborn Academy making it a
[2:19:44] continuum K12
[2:19:46] and right now there is a gap between the
[2:19:52] end of Dudley Street and the beginning
[2:19:54] of Dearbornne with
[2:19:56] Dudley Street terminating or ending it
[2:19:59] in fifth grade and Dearborn beginning in
[2:20:03] seventh. So is part of the commitment um
[2:20:06] figuring out the right um series of
[2:20:09] schools or some advised pathway in the
[2:20:14] interim before Dearbornne starts.
[2:20:16] Yes, that that is what the the intent
[2:20:18] is.
[2:20:21] This is a historical um partnership with
[2:20:25] Boston Plan for Excellence uh that
[2:20:28] oversaw Dudley uh and um for a period of
[2:20:34] time was the receiver for the
[2:20:36] Dearbornne.
[2:20:37] uh the Dearbornne has exited receiverhip
[2:20:40] and so the partnership with Dearbornne
[2:20:42] is no longer the same although they you
[2:20:45] know they they still work to support um
[2:20:47] but the Dudley is very much intact and
[2:20:50] the spirit of this was always that
[2:20:52] students would continue uh in early
[2:20:55] college preparation along the pathway as
[2:20:58] well as CT or you know any other kind of
[2:21:00] career connective activities. Uh the
[2:21:03] Dearborn stopped taking a sixth grade
[2:21:06] class two years ago as part of a grade
[2:21:09] change. Dudley right now physically
[2:21:12] doesn't have the space to expand beyond
[2:21:14] fifth. One of the things we can look at,
[2:21:17] you know, are options around are there
[2:21:19] other feeders uh that they could feed to
[2:21:22] for the sixth grade uh for either the
[2:21:25] sixth, the sixth, seventh, and eighth
[2:21:27] with the intent to then transfer into
[2:21:29] the Dearborn at either the seventh grade
[2:21:31] or the 9th. Right. So, I think that will
[2:21:33] be something we'll continue in spirit to
[2:21:35] work with Dudley on. Um, and when
[2:21:39] they're working with their kids, uh,
[2:21:41] that it is always with the intent that
[2:21:43] they'd love to see them continue on with
[2:21:45] Dearbornne. U, but if not Dearbornne,
[2:21:47] there are other schools for sure at the
[2:21:49] high school level that they can continue
[2:21:51] to work on some of the career and uh,
[2:21:54] early college uh, preparation and
[2:21:57] continue. But there isn't an obligation
[2:22:00] here at this point for us to find and
[2:22:03] solve that problem. In spirit, we agree
[2:22:05] and want to solve that problem because
[2:22:07] we think Dudley is a very good school.
[2:22:10] Thank you. Any more questions?
[2:22:15] Nothing else. Thank you. And we will
[2:22:17] take a vote on this at a later meeting.
[2:22:19] Thank you very much.
[2:22:22] Okay. Our last report tonight is forward
[2:22:24] together the 20 26 to 2031 strategic
[2:22:28] roadmap for Boston public schools. Let's
[2:22:31] aim to keep the presentation within 20
[2:22:34] minutes. And I'd like to remind our
[2:22:36] presenters to please speak at a slower
[2:22:38] pace to assist our interpreters.
[2:22:41] Superintendent, I invite you to give
[2:22:43] introductory remarks.
[2:22:44] Wonderful. Thank you, chair. Um, so this
[2:22:46] evening we're presenting the next step
[2:22:48] in laying the groundwork for the next 5
[2:22:50] years forward together. The 2026 31
[2:22:54] strategic roadmap for Boston public
[2:22:56] schools is the latest update to our
[2:22:57] planning to build on the foundation we
[2:23:00] have created in the BPS. Shortly you
[2:23:03] will hear from Dr. Colin Rose, senior
[2:23:05] adviser for strategy and opportunity
[2:23:07] gaps, Monica Hogan, chief of data
[2:23:10] information and systems improvement.
[2:23:12] they will be um headlining the
[2:23:14] presentation tonight. Uh also uh our
[2:23:17] deputies Dr. Simone Wright, deputy
[2:23:20] superintendent of academics, Dr. Anna
[2:23:21] Tavvaris, deputy superintendent of
[2:23:23] family and community advancement, and
[2:23:26] Dr. Samuel Deina, senior deputy
[2:23:29] superintendent of operations are also
[2:23:32] here to support and answer questions
[2:23:33] relative to their uh particular areas if
[2:23:36] there were any. Um, with the opportunity
[2:23:38] and achievement gap policy as our north
[2:23:40] star, we have developed the strategic
[2:23:42] roadmap to guide our mission into the
[2:23:44] next decade. The strategic roadmap is
[2:23:47] our blueprint, our outline of the
[2:23:49] actions we will prioritize to ensure
[2:23:51] student success. We have developed
[2:23:54] clear, actionable steps that were
[2:23:56] informed by our vision for every
[2:23:57] student. Creating rigorous and
[2:23:59] culturally affirming learning
[2:24:01] experiences with a supportive network of
[2:24:04] caring adults and providing wellness and
[2:24:06] enrichment opportunities in physical
[2:24:08] spaces that support learning. In
[2:24:11] tonight's presentation, you will hear
[2:24:12] more about the intersection of the OAG
[2:24:14] policy, the strategic plan, and the
[2:24:17] district success measures we have put in
[2:24:19] place to monitor pro to progress monitor
[2:24:22] and hold ourselves accountable.
[2:24:25] Uh I want to thank the school committee
[2:24:26] for your thankful in for your thoughtful
[2:24:28] input uh frankly as well as so many uh
[2:24:32] in the district and community as this
[2:24:34] has been a pretty extensive uh process.
[2:24:37] I also want to thank Dr. Rose very much
[2:24:39] one for coming back and two for leading
[2:24:42] charge on this work. Uh to Chief Hogan,
[2:24:45] same thing. Um the members of the OG
[2:24:48] task force, the BPS academics team under
[2:24:50] the leadership of Dr. Wright and thank
[2:24:53] you for coming from Denver, Dr. Wright
[2:24:55] and the members of the school committee
[2:24:57] for getting us to this point. So at this
[2:24:59] point, I will uh turn this over to Dr.
[2:25:02] Rose.
[2:25:04] Good evening, school committee members.
[2:25:06] Uh we are here to update um our final
[2:25:11] version of the focus areas, objectives,
[2:25:16] and key actions for forward together,
[2:25:18] the 2026 through31 strategic roadmap for
[2:25:22] the Boston public schools. This is a
[2:25:25] culmination of many months of
[2:25:26] engagement. Uh I was before you last
[2:25:29] April where I outlined our engagement
[2:25:32] and presented a draft road map. In the
[2:25:35] interim, I along with my colleague
[2:25:37] Tamika Eswick Buckmeer worked with
[2:25:40] chiefs and deputy superintendents to
[2:25:41] refine the road map and I now bring it
[2:25:44] before this body for your consideration.
[2:25:46] U Dr. Deina, Dr. Diverz uh and Dr.
[2:25:50] Wright will be available for questions
[2:25:51] tonight as ultimately the work of
[2:25:53] implementation falls under their
[2:25:55] leadership. In addition, after much
[2:25:58] collaboration between school committee
[2:26:00] um and the district, especially Dr.
[2:26:02] Right. And Monica Hogan, we are
[2:26:04] presenting a list of district success
[2:26:06] measures. These measures will help
[2:26:09] monitor the progress of the district
[2:26:12] over the five years of the roadmap.
[2:26:18] As discussed in April, our opportunity
[2:26:21] achievement gap policy is the northstar
[2:26:23] for the district.
[2:26:25] And as you're well aware, our community
[2:26:27] came together during many engagements
[2:26:29] through the long-term facilities
[2:26:31] planning process to outline the tangible
[2:26:33] components to ensure that vision.
[2:26:36] This is called the highquality student
[2:26:38] experience, and it includes rigorous and
[2:26:41] culturally affirming learning
[2:26:42] experiences,
[2:26:44] wellness and enrichment opportunities,
[2:26:47] a supportive network of caring adults,
[2:26:50] and physical spaces that foster
[2:26:51] learning.
[2:26:53] As stated in the OAG vision, we believe
[2:26:56] that all students, no matter their
[2:26:58] background, can attain excellence and
[2:27:01] that their outcomes are a direct result
[2:27:03] of the opportunities that they are
[2:27:05] afforded.
[2:27:06] Delivering on our mission means that we
[2:27:08] must directly and systematically address
[2:27:12] the opportunity gaps in the high-quality
[2:27:14] student experience that lead to gaps in
[2:27:16] student proficiency,
[2:27:18] especially for those groups who have
[2:27:19] been historically underserved or missed
[2:27:21] by our district.
[2:27:28] These are our focus areas for the
[2:27:30] strategic roadmap which include
[2:27:33] highquality instruction and student
[2:27:34] supports,
[2:27:36] positive school climate and highquality
[2:27:39] programming and facilities.
[2:27:42] We will also focus on enabling
[2:27:44] conditions which are those
[2:27:46] organizational dispositions,
[2:27:49] mindsets,
[2:27:50] structures needed to execute including
[2:27:53] equity centered culture and practice,
[2:27:56] systems alignment and partnership
[2:27:59] and resource alignment and improvement.
[2:28:02] In the next few slides, I will discuss
[2:28:04] these areas and conditions.
[2:28:07] A detailed outline of these focus areas
[2:28:09] with objectives and key actions have
[2:28:11] been provided to the committee. As a
[2:28:14] reminder from last April's presentation,
[2:28:16] these focus areas and enabling
[2:28:18] conditions are meant to crosswalk with
[2:28:20] the major objectives in the OAG policy.
[2:28:24] So ultimately implementing this plan and
[2:28:26] implementing the policy are one and the
[2:28:28] same.
[2:28:29] We took great care to provide that
[2:28:31] crosswalk as foundational framing when
[2:28:34] creating this roadmap with our
[2:28:35] stakeholders. Our
[2:28:42] first focus area is highquality
[2:28:44] instruction and student supports.
[2:28:47] This is aimed at improving the core
[2:28:49] classroom experience for all of our
[2:28:51] students and especially those who have
[2:28:52] been historically marginalized to
[2:28:55] improve academic performance.
[2:28:58] There are two core objectives. One,
[2:29:01] scale good teaching.
[2:29:03] A few key actions under this would be to
[2:29:05] outline a professional development plan
[2:29:08] that emphasizes strong teaching
[2:29:10] practices for the diverse learners that
[2:29:12] we have in Boston as well as ensuring
[2:29:15] that the teachers have the curriculum to
[2:29:16] do that.
[2:29:18] Second, uh there's an objective to
[2:29:21] provide strong student supports to keep
[2:29:24] students on track and intervene and
[2:29:26] accelerate when they do fall behind.
[2:29:29] An example of an action under this uh we
[2:29:31] will need to continue to better equip
[2:29:33] teachers and staff with impactful inter
[2:29:36] interventions that actually meet our
[2:29:38] students needs.
[2:29:44] Our second focus area deals with the
[2:29:46] general environment in our schools.
[2:29:49] We want to make sure that students are
[2:29:51] both attending and feel connected to
[2:29:53] school.
[2:29:54] Intuition tells us and evidence shows
[2:29:57] that students who are in school and feel
[2:29:59] connected achieve at significantly
[2:30:01] higher levels.
[2:30:04] Objective here uh include one ensuring
[2:30:07] students generally have a strong sense
[2:30:09] of belonging and safety in our schools.
[2:30:13] Right? And an example action would be to
[2:30:14] ensure strong structure structures for
[2:30:17] relationship building and utilizing
[2:30:20] student feedback.
[2:30:22] Second uh surrounds attendance as a
[2:30:25] whole.
[2:30:26] We know that having an environment that
[2:30:28] f fosters a sense of belonging uh
[2:30:30] creates the conditions where students
[2:30:32] and families want to come to school, but
[2:30:34] there's still often other barriers that
[2:30:36] keep them from coming. Uh and we must
[2:30:39] attend to those. An example of a key
[2:30:41] action to better would be to better
[2:30:43] coordinate our attendance supports at
[2:30:46] the district level to streamline
[2:30:47] resources for staff on the ground and
[2:30:49] families so that we can anticipate and
[2:30:52] address those barriers quicker.
[2:31:00] The last focus area is highquality
[2:31:02] programming and facilities.
[2:31:05] We need to continue to build the
[2:31:07] educational spaces and programming that
[2:31:10] respects student and family aspirations
[2:31:13] and supports the goal of high
[2:31:14] achievement in the district.
[2:31:17] Here we have three objectives.
[2:31:19] One to ensure we are moving towards 21st
[2:31:22] century education spaces. This is all
[2:31:25] that work that surrounds both new
[2:31:27] buildings and renovations.
[2:31:30] Second is to expand access to
[2:31:31] programming programming that will set uh
[2:31:34] students up for career, college, and
[2:31:37] life. Um that includes making sure
[2:31:40] students have access to things like
[2:31:41] mass, bilingual education, career and
[2:31:44] technical education, advanced placement,
[2:31:47] dual enrollment, and other experiences
[2:31:49] that one would need uh to progress
[2:31:51] towards their chosen life path.
[2:31:55] Third and finally, given the move to
[2:31:58] move towards more modern facilities, it
[2:32:01] is unavoidable that there will continue
[2:32:03] to be some disruption for families.
[2:32:06] We must ensure that a school at when a
[2:32:08] school community is uprooted, that
[2:32:10] families and students are well cared for
[2:32:13] and end up in schools that better
[2:32:15] support the high quality student
[2:32:16] experience, which is the reason for the
[2:32:18] long uh term facilities planning process
[2:32:21] in the first place.
[2:32:30] In order to be best positioned to
[2:32:32] achieve those objectives I outlined, we
[2:32:35] also must attend to general disp uh
[2:32:37] dispositions,
[2:32:39] mindsets, and structures that allow us
[2:32:41] to work efficiently, effectively, and
[2:32:44] equitably. We call these enabling
[2:32:46] conditions.
[2:32:48] Many of these are explicitly identified
[2:32:50] in the OEG policy as key systemic inputs
[2:32:55] in order to move our system forward
[2:32:57] without leaving certain student groups
[2:32:59] behind.
[2:33:01] The first enabling condition is ensuring
[2:33:03] an equity centered district culture.
[2:33:07] This focuses on the ability of staff to
[2:33:09] work across difference with a special
[2:33:11] focus on what is needed to serve those
[2:33:13] who have historically been underserved
[2:33:15] in our system.
[2:33:18] Part of this work is to ensure our
[2:33:19] staff, especially our teaching staff,
[2:33:22] continues to better reflect our students
[2:33:24] and their families.
[2:33:26] The second condition is to continuously
[2:33:28] focus on strengthening our collaboration
[2:33:32] with families and communities.
[2:33:34] Families and communities come with a
[2:33:36] great amount of cultural wealth that
[2:33:38] when leveraged can have great impacts on
[2:33:40] student learning. On the flip side,
[2:33:44] students are at home and in the
[2:33:45] community more than they are actually in
[2:33:47] our schools. So, being uh better able to
[2:33:50] share our practices with families and
[2:33:52] communities will strengthen our district
[2:33:54] uh our work as a district.
[2:33:57] Finally, we will need to ensure that our
[2:34:00] resources are aligned to execute the
[2:34:01] strategic roadmap including our budget,
[2:34:04] person power, time, and attention.
[2:34:08] We also need to have the data and the
[2:34:10] data systems to be able to continuously
[2:34:14] improve, helping us do more of what
[2:34:17] works and less of what doesn't.
[2:34:25] Finally, to monitor the impact of the
[2:34:28] strategic road map, we will use key
[2:34:30] measures informed by the OG policy,
[2:34:33] including the district success measures
[2:34:35] that are being presented tonight.
[2:34:38] District success measures reflect many
[2:34:40] of the outcome measures identified by
[2:34:42] the OAG policy and will be used by
[2:34:45] school committee to hold us accountable.
[2:34:48] These will eventually be rounded out by
[2:34:50] some internal and external measures that
[2:34:52] help us track implementation of our
[2:34:54] strategies. For example,
[2:34:57] although not a district success measure,
[2:34:59] teacher diversity will be a key input
[2:35:02] uh measure that will be publicly
[2:35:04] presented and monitored.
[2:35:06] And in line with the language of the OEG
[2:35:08] policy, measures will be disagregated by
[2:35:10] race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status,
[2:35:14] and for multilingual learners and
[2:35:15] students with disability.
[2:35:18] I want to leave my portion of the
[2:35:20] presentation with a quick history
[2:35:21] lesson. I'm getting old enough to do
[2:35:24] some district history. Uh
[2:35:27] the official framing of opportunity
[2:35:29] achievement gaps came in to the district
[2:35:31] around 2016 version of the OG policy. I
[2:35:34] was part of that. Um, prior to it was
[2:35:37] framed as the achievement gap and
[2:35:39] justifiably so. Um, you know, ultimately
[2:35:44] if what we do does not uh close
[2:35:46] proficiency gaps for students then we
[2:35:49] haven't done our job.
[2:35:51] But the addition of the word opportunity
[2:35:54] was intentional and the intention was
[2:35:57] very clear. We are responsible for the
[2:35:59] conditions that foster achievement. The
[2:36:02] onus is on the adults.
[2:36:04] We believe in the brilliance of all of
[2:36:06] our kids, but we must create the
[2:36:08] conditions for that brilliance to take
[2:36:10] root. The implementation of the
[2:36:12] strategic roadmap really is about
[2:36:14] providing those equitable opportunities
[2:36:16] for students to achieve.
[2:36:18] I want to drive that connection home as
[2:36:20] we move towards a discussion of the
[2:36:22] achievement measures and other outcomes,
[2:36:25] which again, and rightfully so, is how
[2:36:27] we will uh judge our success. Before
[2:36:30] that, I turn it over to Mon Monica
[2:36:32] Hogan, chief of data, information, and
[2:36:34] systems improvement.
[2:36:39] Thanks, Dr. Rose.
[2:36:43] So, as we considered what data to
[2:36:46] identify as our district success
[2:36:47] measures, um we followed three guiding
[2:36:50] principles.
[2:36:51] first that any measures we chose as a
[2:36:54] district success measure would have ways
[2:36:56] for us to progress monitor internally
[2:36:59] throughout the year.
[2:37:01] Second, alignment and external validity.
[2:37:04] It was important to us to not create a
[2:37:07] brand new framework that would conflict
[2:37:09] with existing measures and instead
[2:37:11] ensure alignment with things like the
[2:37:13] quality school framework and the state
[2:37:15] accountability system.
[2:37:17] And third, we only considered data
[2:37:19] points that would be able to be
[2:37:21] disagregated um by the major student
[2:37:23] groups that Dr. Rose listed.
[2:37:30] So this slide outlines the proposed
[2:37:32] success measures. They are divided into
[2:37:35] two categories, student achievement and
[2:37:37] culture and climate. The student
[2:37:39] achievement measures are organized to
[2:37:41] reflect a child's journey through BPS
[2:37:44] from early literacy through to
[2:37:45] graduation.
[2:37:47] The culture and climate measures include
[2:37:50] chronic absenteeism,
[2:37:52] student perspective on sense of
[2:37:53] belonging and safety, as well as family
[2:37:56] climate survey indicators. You'll notice
[2:37:59] a few measures have two asterisks after
[2:38:01] them. These are currently under
[2:38:03] development, and we'll have more
[2:38:04] information at a later meeting.
[2:38:09] Uh the next slide outlines the cadence
[2:38:12] that these district success measures
[2:38:14] will be made available. um based on
[2:38:16] timing throughout the year of when data
[2:38:18] is available to us. Um you'll see this
[2:38:22] is sort of the timing that
[2:38:25] is when we are able to present some of
[2:38:28] these things publicly. Some of which you
[2:38:30] will hear about at our next meeting in
[2:38:32] October.
[2:38:36] And in terms of next steps from here, um
[2:38:38] there will be a vote at a future
[2:38:40] meeting. Um, the district is currently
[2:38:42] in the process of creating five-year
[2:38:44] targets for these district success
[2:38:46] measures that we just talked about and
[2:38:48] we will share those later this fall as
[2:38:50] well. I will turn it back to you, Madam
[2:38:52] Chair, for questions.
[2:38:54] Thank you. Um, and I'll open it up to
[2:38:57] the committee for questions.
[2:39:05] If you guys don't want to take a crack,
[2:39:06] I'll take a crack at it first. Go
[2:39:08] ahead.
[2:39:10] Good boy.
[2:39:10] Okay, Mr. Tran, you want to begin?
[2:39:12] Did you want to begin?
[2:39:13] Yeah, sure.
[2:39:14] Go ahead.
[2:39:15] Yes.
[2:39:17] Hi, how are you? Thank you for a very
[2:39:20] thorough road map
[2:39:22] for OAG.
[2:39:26] So, there are four times according to uh
[2:39:29] your road map,
[2:39:33] there are four times throughout the
[2:39:35] academic year that you're going to
[2:39:36] report to us on the progress
[2:39:40] October, December, April and August
[2:39:44] with disagregated uh data
[2:39:49] and in that would include the percentage
[2:39:53] of achievement
[2:39:55] per per group.
[2:39:57] Yeah. So in the October category um
[2:40:01] that's where the main achievement
[2:40:03] measures are. So that is when we get
[2:40:05] MCCAST data. Um, so the MCCAST
[2:40:07] achievement measure is the percentage of
[2:40:09] students in grades three through eight
[2:40:11] meeting or exceeding expectations in ELA
[2:40:14] and math. Um, there's also the access
[2:40:17] measure for our multilingual learners
[2:40:19] related to making progress in learning
[2:40:22] English. Um and then there is a high
[2:40:25] school achievement measure that we have
[2:40:26] listed as under development as the state
[2:40:28] graduation council um makes final
[2:40:31] determinations about what the future of
[2:40:34] end of course assessments will be for
[2:40:36] our high school students. So we are
[2:40:38] awaiting further information about what
[2:40:40] that measure will look like in the
[2:40:42] future but wanted to include it here.
[2:40:45] Okay.
[2:40:47] the proposed success measures.
[2:40:51] Whatever that page is, there are two uh
[2:40:54] columns.
[2:40:55] Yes.
[2:40:55] One is student achievement, the other is
[2:40:58] cultural culture and climate.
[2:41:02] Yes. Describe to me how specific
[2:41:05] are the benchmarks or are the uh the
[2:41:09] actual
[2:41:10] steps that you are implementing
[2:41:14] to define culture and climate uh
[2:41:17] success.
[2:41:19] How
[2:41:19] the are you asking about the actions we
[2:41:22] are taking or how we are measuring
[2:41:24] progress?
[2:41:25] Measuring progress. So the
[2:41:27] for me culture okay I'm Vietnamese I'm
[2:41:30] I'm from a culture how do you define
[2:41:34] culture success in in
[2:41:38] uh in a student student body
[2:41:42] I think
[2:41:42] chronic absentism student sense of
[2:41:44] belonging school safety family survey
[2:41:47] participation family survey
[2:41:51] family relationship
[2:41:53] yeah I think the category here referring
[2:41:56] to culture and climate is about the
[2:41:58] culture of the school environment that
[2:41:59] the students are in. Okay.
[2:42:01] Um so chronic absenteeism is um looking
[2:42:05] at the percentage of students who are
[2:42:07] absent more than 10% of the school year.
[2:42:10] Um student sense of belonging and school
[2:42:13] safety are both um domains on the
[2:42:15] student climate survey. And so we hear
[2:42:17] from our students um twice a year in the
[2:42:20] middle of the year and the end of the
[2:42:22] year about how they are feeling um
[2:42:25] within their school building their sense
[2:42:27] of belonging as well as how safe they
[2:42:29] are feeling. Um family survey
[2:42:32] participation. This is an annual climate
[2:42:34] survey that we give at the end of the
[2:42:36] year. Um and so we are looking at
[2:42:39] increasing the participation of our
[2:42:41] families who respond to that survey. Um,
[2:42:43] and then the the last measure, staff
[2:42:45] family relationships, is one of the ones
[2:42:46] that's under development. We are
[2:42:48] currently looking at the questions on
[2:42:50] the family climate survey to determine
[2:42:52] if the questions we are currently asking
[2:42:55] measure what we truly want to understand
[2:42:58] about the family perspective on culture
[2:43:00] and climate at their child's school. Um,
[2:43:02] and so we'll have more information as we
[2:43:05] further refine what that measure looks
[2:43:07] like. Does that answer your question
[2:43:09] to a certain extent? Yes. So in in a way
[2:43:13] whenever we re receive your report you
[2:43:16] know the the the the quarterly report we
[2:43:19] would expect to see
[2:43:22] some positive uh outcome for each of
[2:43:26] these uh success measure I hope
[2:43:29] ideally yes
[2:43:31] okay I will come back with the other
[2:43:33] questions but uh
[2:43:35] I think I I I understand the the uh
[2:43:40] uh the cement semantic behind um
[2:43:44] uh culture and and climate.
[2:43:48] Go ahead.
[2:43:49] Okay, Mr.
[2:43:50] Question. Yeah, I have a question on
[2:43:52] Thank you for the presentation.
[2:43:54] I have a question on accountability. I
[2:43:56] know that we say we, but that's a lot of
[2:43:59] people. And how do we all connect to the
[2:44:03] schools to be able to know what school
[2:44:05] is making progress and how are we
[2:44:09] measuring that?
[2:44:13] Yeah. So I think um these measures are
[2:44:15] all available to be able to be broken
[2:44:18] down by school. Um, our schools are also
[2:44:21] held accountable through the state
[2:44:22] accountability system, um, which you'll
[2:44:24] hear a more detailed report about in
[2:44:26] October after that data is, um, made
[2:44:29] publicly available.
[2:44:30] Right. The schools also have, um, CUP
[2:44:33] plans. And so on those CUP plans, for
[2:44:36] instance, um, chronic absenteeism,
[2:44:39] right, the sense of belonging, uh, some
[2:44:41] of these are coming from the CUIP,
[2:44:43] right? We have asked schools to focus on
[2:44:45] kind of three core things and we want
[2:44:48] the consistency of that. Um so while
[2:44:51] we'll be reporting up the disagregated
[2:44:54] aggregate right the disagregated rollup
[2:44:56] of that we also will be looking at how
[2:44:59] individual schools are doing right as
[2:45:01] part of what we we do like each fall uh
[2:45:04] in the cycle. And that's something uh
[2:45:06] actually all three deputies will be
[2:45:08] looking at where the particular measure
[2:45:11] falls. Right.
[2:45:12] Because that was one of my questions
[2:45:14] that do have we chosen some of the uh
[2:45:17] focus.
[2:45:17] Yeah.
[2:45:18] And say to the school these are the
[2:45:20] focus that we are working on and uh how
[2:45:24] do you measure that in your school? So
[2:45:25] you can have we can have data within the
[2:45:27] QIP.
[2:45:28] That's right. So yeah. So, so for the
[2:45:30] CQIP the sense of belonging which is the
[2:45:32] climate right the school climate that
[2:45:34] we're trying to establish um because it
[2:45:36] drives uh students coming to school and
[2:45:40] uh it is linked to academics uh the
[2:45:43] academic um measures that the uh that we
[2:45:47] have as part of the accountability um
[2:45:49] framework that is part of it uh and
[2:45:51] chronic absenteeism. So those have been
[2:45:53] the three and then we also have spoken
[2:45:56] with our school leaders about family
[2:45:58] engagement, the importance of the
[2:45:59] participation on the survey uh and the
[2:46:04] uh what the outcome is of that
[2:46:06] performance. Right? So um are we getting
[2:46:10] a good sampling of families responding
[2:46:12] to the survey and is it favorable for
[2:46:14] how families feel about that school?
[2:46:19] Thank you.
[2:46:20] Welcome.
[2:46:22] Thank you. Thank you.
[2:46:38] So I have to say that many of us that
[2:46:40] are here, we are very pleased and very
[2:46:42] happy with the proposed U plan that he
[2:46:45] have and I congratulate you for all the
[2:46:47] work you've put on that.
[2:47:07] So one of the questions that we might we
[2:47:09] have most of us is how is the
[2:47:11] implementation of this plan lead to
[2:47:15] wonderful results the implementation
[2:47:17] itself how are we going to achieve those
[2:47:20] proposed Most goals.
[2:47:34] You talk about the climate culture and
[2:47:36] the student achievement and uh the
[2:47:39] metrics of success that you have here
[2:47:41] were divided in those two particular
[2:47:44] groups.
[2:47:52] I do agree the the way you divided that
[2:47:55] information in both groups just as I
[2:47:58] just mentioned. However, my concern is
[2:48:14] so you're talking about the cultural
[2:48:16] environment and we are talking about the
[2:48:18] the families as well. And you mentioned
[2:48:20] as well that a survey was in place for
[2:48:24] this purpose.
[2:48:37] I do believe that our surveys are very
[2:48:39] important but it is very important to
[2:48:41] make sure that the families have the
[2:48:43] ability to monitor this success metrics
[2:48:46] because not not every family gets a
[2:48:49] survey or is surveyed.
[2:48:59] Is there any plan or something you have
[2:49:01] in mind for the families to be able to
[2:49:03] monitor the progress of the success
[2:49:06] metrics that you're suggesting? How can
[2:49:09] they monitor success if they don't have
[2:49:11] access to a survey?
[2:49:13] I I would suggest maybe Dr. virus, you
[2:49:15] could just speak to the work you're
[2:49:16] doing with the family liaison um the the
[2:49:20] uh family councils and the school site
[2:49:22] councils to make sure that we're
[2:49:24] engaging our families um and that they
[2:49:26] do in fact will have access to the
[2:49:28] surveys.
[2:49:30] Thank you for your question. Um school
[2:49:32] committee member Polano Garcia, we have
[2:49:34] many touch points as the superintendent
[2:49:37] has mentioned.
[2:49:39] One of them is the cadre of staff
[2:49:42] members that we have that are family
[2:49:43] liaison as you know that are positioned
[2:49:46] at almost every single one of our
[2:49:48] schools that receive professional
[2:49:50] development very specific and aligned
[2:49:54] with this strategic plan. Once it is
[2:49:56] approved by this body, uh we already
[2:49:59] have set up a calendar for the school
[2:50:03] year where the family liaison will be um
[2:50:07] not only will they receive professional
[2:50:09] development from key key
[2:50:13] team members from the different
[2:50:15] departments that are supporting this
[2:50:17] work, but also it is aligning with every
[2:50:20] single QIP at the school level, which
[2:50:22] the superintendent also mentioned The
[2:50:25] quality school plan is really important
[2:50:27] to this work as is the training of the
[2:50:29] family liaison as is also the support of
[2:50:33] the family councils at every single
[2:50:35] school as is the school site council
[2:50:37] which I know you know comes from the
[2:50:40] voted members from the family council
[2:50:42] and that um imperative need of having
[2:50:46] the connectivity not only with these you
[2:50:49] know we're we're we're speaking at this
[2:50:51] level here and we want to make sure we
[2:50:55] invite families in so that they are with
[2:50:58] us and that we have dialogue with them
[2:51:02] around what does this mean and how will
[2:51:04] this impact the learning of their
[2:51:06] children at the school level. So you're
[2:51:08] right to ask us okay this is all this
[2:51:12] this is all well and good and Dr. Rose
[2:51:14] has worked really hard with his team to
[2:51:16] get this work in front of you, but what
[2:51:18] is that going to look like when it's
[2:51:20] implemented at the school level? And
[2:51:22] that's the the work that we are excited
[2:51:25] about and ready to implement once this
[2:51:28] body decides that we can move forward.
[2:51:37] parents.
[2:51:52] It is very important that you're
[2:51:53] mentioning that there are the the side
[2:51:55] council and the families that are they
[2:51:58] they are able to act as leaison as well
[2:52:00] for the purpose of communicating the
[2:52:02] strategic plans or success measures to
[2:52:05] the parents themselves at the school
[2:52:06] level.
[2:52:13] And the other question I do have is
[2:52:15] regarding the uh publishing of data and
[2:52:18] the the calendar that is attached to it.
[2:52:35] Will you guys be present here as
[2:52:37] established in the calendar? Are you are
[2:52:40] you guys going to come here? How are we
[2:52:42] going to as members of this committee
[2:52:45] know about the the progress that this is
[2:52:47] happen? Tell me a bit a little bit about
[2:52:49] this.
[2:52:49] I know the team will and I'm going to
[2:52:51] invite my colleague Monica to come and
[2:52:52] respond.
[2:52:59] Uh thanks Dr. Tamarz. Um
[2:53:02] I think some of this is um up for
[2:53:06] conversation of how you would best like
[2:53:08] to be updated. um if that is a formal
[2:53:10] presentation each of these months, if
[2:53:12] that is a memo, if that is a dashboard,
[2:53:14] um I think that's something that we are
[2:53:17] interested in hearing what um what you
[2:53:20] would prefer and then working with the
[2:53:22] the chair and vice chair to make sure
[2:53:24] that that gets sort of put on the agenda
[2:53:26] as needed. So
[2:53:29] to be determined
[2:53:33] and I also don't want to ignore your
[2:53:34] original question around like
[2:53:36] implementation. Um clearly this isn't a
[2:53:38] detailed like implementation plan. This
[2:53:40] is like our high level roadmap. Um we'll
[2:53:43] continue to have to think about like how
[2:53:45] we present data so that folks can digest
[2:53:48] it. uh and also you know refine codify
[2:53:53] uh internally what those action steps
[2:53:56] are as uh similar to when we're creating
[2:53:59] targets and how we communicate that best
[2:54:01] uh to the public and you all to
[2:54:02] understand deeply kind of what our
[2:54:05] strategies are like Anna just helped you
[2:54:08] understand her thoughts around strategy
[2:54:10] with families but there's got to be a
[2:54:12] way to kind of communicate that out um
[2:54:15] what our key actions will be beyond like
[2:54:17] the things that you see at the top
[2:54:19] in this plan
[2:54:21] and I would just add about
[2:54:22] implementation. Good evening everyone
[2:54:24] that all of our um respective
[2:54:26] departments um have provided feedback on
[2:54:29] um this road map and this is work that
[2:54:32] we know that we're going to align to
[2:54:33] rally around continue and go deeper into
[2:54:36] in some areas. So the implementation's
[2:54:38] already started um is what I would say
[2:54:41] where our teams are aligned um the
[2:54:43] schools have the quicer plans identified
[2:54:45] and mapped out and our work now was
[2:54:47] basically to um work with all the teams
[2:54:49] to make sure there's continuity between
[2:54:51] central offices and departments making
[2:54:53] sure dayto-day we're working with
[2:54:54] schools to make sure that these um
[2:54:56] strategies and goals and initiatives
[2:54:58] that we laid out are being implemented
[2:55:00] supported from central where we need to
[2:55:03] lean in and provide more supportive
[2:55:04] schools we will need to do more work
[2:55:06] with the community and families we will
[2:55:08] where we need to rally around partners
[2:55:09] to help us move the work, we will. So, a
[2:55:11] lot of it's already started. Um, but to
[2:55:13] the point how we um present it to you,
[2:55:15] we're open for feedback and how we do
[2:55:16] that.
[2:55:18] Right. And I think I think what I really
[2:55:22] appreciate about the [clears throat]
[2:55:24] leadership with uh with Colin and Monica
[2:55:26] and the the team as well as the deputies
[2:55:30] is you can have a really nice looking
[2:55:32] strategic plan and have it do nothing.
[2:55:36] And we've had that in the past in BPS.
[2:55:39] And I think we're all committed at every
[2:55:42] level to wanting to change to the
[2:55:44] positive the experience of our kids and
[2:55:46] our families.
[2:55:48] So that is really the outcome we're
[2:55:50] looking by establishing the measures and
[2:55:53] the road map and then setting smart
[2:55:56] targets to those but drilling down
[2:55:59] throughout the organization so that this
[2:56:01] becomes the language that everyone's
[2:56:03] using.
[2:56:28] So the other question that I do have it
[2:56:30] has to do with the two vulnerable
[2:56:31] populations that we do have English
[2:56:33] language learners and special education.
[2:56:36] Considering the ambitious plans that you
[2:56:38] have as part of this road of success map
[2:56:41] that we have that strategic plan in the
[2:56:44] future, how is how is that going to
[2:56:46] align to the current budgetary
[2:56:49] restrictions that are in place provided
[2:56:52] this ambitious plans that you have at
[2:56:54] the same time?
[2:56:58] Yeah, I think that that's part of the
[2:56:59] enabling conditions. Like we have to
[2:57:01] take a look at what we want to focus in
[2:57:03] on our strategies and make sure that our
[2:57:05] budget, our people power, our attention,
[2:57:08] and our time uh is on that. And I'm
[2:57:10] going to hand it off to
[2:57:13] Simone.
[2:57:15] Uh thank you, Pal uh Member Palanka
[2:57:17] Garcia. Um, I think it's worth
[2:57:19] acknowledging, um, we we're on the
[2:57:22] journey of hyperfocusing on the
[2:57:24] performance of our students with
[2:57:26] disabilities and our multilingual
[2:57:28] learners. I think this predates me. I
[2:57:30] think a lot of the resources and the
[2:57:31] structures are in place. I think for the
[2:57:34] work of academics um, and the support of
[2:57:37] schools, it's really getting more
[2:57:40] fine-tuned around how we use various
[2:57:43] data inputs to support our students. Um,
[2:57:46] I mean that's that's really going to be
[2:57:48] the work I think to accelerate um,
[2:57:51] learning for those particular student
[2:57:53] groups. I think many of you got the
[2:57:55] opportunity to engage with the
[2:57:56] superintendent um, around the
[2:57:58] presentation she did for our school
[2:58:00] leaders um, and she made it clear. She
[2:58:03] was like, "We're closing gaps, right?"
[2:58:05] Um, and she laid it out. We our school
[2:58:08] leaders have all developed goals that
[2:58:10] are hyperfocused on the some of the
[2:58:12] student groups that you just named. Um
[2:58:15] and our our central support teams are
[2:58:18] are already I hate to say it in the
[2:58:20] streets. Um um really working alongside
[2:58:24] our school leaders um to ensure that you
[2:58:27] know those particular student groups
[2:58:29] have an excellent year.
[2:58:35] That absolutely and I and the other
[2:58:37] thing I would say is that this is like
[2:58:39] an example where we when we look at just
[2:58:42] say on the pure academic side when we
[2:58:44] look at the
[2:58:46] benchmarks that are given in state
[2:58:48] accountability they're incremental at
[2:58:51] best
[2:58:53] or particularly our students with
[2:58:54] disabilities and our multilingual
[2:58:55] learners with and without disability and
[2:58:57] so we cannot be satisfied for that. we
[2:59:00] have to move this achievement because
[2:59:04] these are our kids and they represent a
[2:59:07] large portion of our kids. So I think
[2:59:10] that is what we spent a lot of ALI
[2:59:12] talking about. It's what um our OSS uh
[2:59:16] um office of specialized services and
[2:59:18] ourme are very focused on and we see it
[2:59:22] in different sets of strategies like
[2:59:24] expanding bilingual education and access
[2:59:27] the hiring of our staff right special
[2:59:30] education inclusion and giving access to
[2:59:32] students. So, we've already begun many
[2:59:35] of the strategies, but I think this
[2:59:38] really is making it very public and
[2:59:41] accountable what our expectations are
[2:59:43] going to be and they need to be as
[2:59:45] aggressive as possible with the gaps
[2:59:48] because the gap isn't between groups.
[2:59:50] The gap is to proficiency.
[2:59:53] That is the goal. Every student doesn't
[2:59:56] matter
[2:59:57] what category a student falls under.
[2:59:59] It's every student has to be proficient.
[3:00:04] Thank you. Thank you so much.
[3:00:09] Thank you
[3:00:11] Monica and Colleen for the presentation.
[3:00:14] I see that you brought the top GANs and
[3:00:18] that sent me two messages. One is this.
[3:00:22] This is important.
[3:00:24] Yeah. That you are good-looking all. You
[3:00:26] are all good. So this is important. This
[3:00:29] this is where where you want to focus
[3:00:31] your energy this this school year and
[3:00:36] the upcoming school years until at least
[3:00:39] 20 30 31. And the other thing that this
[3:00:43] is telling me is that this is not a
[3:00:45] oneperson
[3:00:47] job.
[3:00:49] We we need everybody involved in getting
[3:00:53] this. We need the families to understand
[3:00:55] that they are important part of the
[3:00:58] success of their students and we need
[3:01:01] good schools and we need the best
[3:01:04] materials and the best strategies in our
[3:01:07] in our classrooms for our teachers and
[3:01:10] and par profofessionals. So I feel we
[3:01:13] are getting closer and closer and it's
[3:01:15] clear that we all are on the same thing.
[3:01:18] I love what you said of we just need to
[3:01:20] do more of what works and less than less
[3:01:23] than the things that are not working.
[3:01:26] Um, it sounds all great. I I need you to
[3:01:31] come back with a
[3:01:34] baseline and a target
[3:01:38] um measure of success. I'll give you an
[3:01:40] example.
[3:01:42] Part of the work that I do for English
[3:01:44] for New Bostononians is to convince
[3:01:47] local companies to open English classes
[3:01:50] for their workers, what we call
[3:01:52] workplace ESOL.
[3:01:55] My target for this fiscal year is
[3:01:57] opening 15 new of these classes.
[3:02:02] you know, when June 30 of 2027 comes, I
[3:02:06] I'll have to show Did Did we open 15 new
[3:02:11] classes for for workers? And there is
[3:02:13] obviously there is a a dollar amount
[3:02:16] attached to that that is supposed to
[3:02:17] come into English for New Bostononians
[3:02:19] or did we did we open more classes or
[3:02:23] less? Um, so that's what I need that I I
[3:02:26] need that to know like how close are we
[3:02:29] getting? I I'll give you for example
[3:02:31] right here. Bear with me. Uh focus area
[3:02:36] three high quality programming and
[3:02:38] facilities. Expand equitable access to
[3:02:42] highquality programming and facilities.
[3:02:44] Goal 3.2 expand equitable access to
[3:02:49] rigorous and culturally affirm affirming
[3:02:51] learning wellness and enrichment
[3:02:53] opportunities. Key option key action
[3:02:57] 3.21. 21 fully implement the existing
[3:03:01] expansion plans for dual language and
[3:03:05] bilingual education programs.
[3:03:07] The way I read this is there is a
[3:03:09] baseline. There is a plan that is going
[3:03:12] to be expand. How many do do we have
[3:03:15] now? And what does expansion mean? when
[3:03:20] we get to 2031,
[3:03:22] I want to know yes, we hit that mark of
[3:03:27] success because we opened this number of
[3:03:29] new classes. That's that's what I need
[3:03:32] from from you.
[3:03:33] Yeah. No, absolutely. And that's the
[3:03:35] intent. So at the the next presentation,
[3:03:37] the next piece will be the metrics and
[3:03:40] that will start with baseline as long as
[3:03:42] well as the 5-year look ahead so that
[3:03:45] you can all see where we're trying to
[3:03:47] get to the rationale of why we're trying
[3:03:49] to get there, how it positions us, and
[3:03:51] then the conversation about what are the
[3:03:54] strategies and the initiatives that
[3:03:55] we'll be employing to do that. So we're
[3:03:58] all on the same page.
[3:03:59] Thank you.
[3:04:00] You're welcome. [clears throat]
[3:04:02] Yeah.
[3:04:03] Thank you. Um,
[3:04:06] I want to pick up on member Peralta's
[3:04:09] um, great example in terms of the
[3:04:12] specificity of a measure for progress.
[3:04:15] Um, I do appreciate that there are
[3:04:19] proposed success measures here that at a
[3:04:21] future meeting would have specific 2031
[3:04:24] numeric targets as compared to current
[3:04:27] baselines with annual reporting on each
[3:04:31] of those indicators and a reflection on
[3:04:33] whether we're red, yellow, or green on
[3:04:35] those indicators. I think I'm hearing
[3:04:37] you all say that these are the topline
[3:04:40] success measures that if the plan is
[3:04:43] successful, these will be met. But I
[3:04:46] think member Peralta's example is really
[3:04:49] important because he's pointing out a
[3:04:52] key action that also needs a measure.
[3:04:55] These are the success measures for the
[3:04:58] plan. And then there are necessary
[3:05:00] implementation measures to measure the
[3:05:02] effectiveness of the action along the
[3:05:05] way which if they all are all on track
[3:05:08] will increase the odds that these big
[3:05:10] measures i.e. like the district's report
[3:05:12] card will be successful. Um so I think
[3:05:17] my my first question is just what's
[3:05:20] coming next in terms of the level of
[3:05:23] detail that we don't have today but is
[3:05:27] in progress because this plan is 2026 to
[3:05:30] 31. Um you know and as Dr. Dpina said
[3:05:33] it's underway already. Uh so what don't
[3:05:36] we have that will fill in some of the
[3:05:40] blanks of you know what my colleagues
[3:05:42] are describing that can kind of connect
[3:05:45] some of the dots. Um I think we have
[3:05:47] great agreement that there is nothing in
[3:05:49] this document that is not important that
[3:05:54] we cannot get behind that we do not
[3:05:56] support. Um, but I think a greater
[3:05:59] understanding of of what is underneath
[3:06:02] it. Uh, and when we have access to that
[3:06:06] would allow us to help support that
[3:06:09] question that you all had of what the
[3:06:11] right reporting mechanism is on it. So
[3:06:15] just a greater understanding of what's
[3:06:16] still to come.
[3:06:19] Yeah, I think you're you're talking
[3:06:21] about implement like the implementation
[3:06:24] metrics and specific strategies that go
[3:06:27] underneath these focus areas. So um I
[3:06:30] think that [clears throat] is the next
[3:06:32] uh set of work that we need to codify
[3:06:34] internally um and decide how we're going
[3:06:37] to report that out uh to you all. Um,
[3:06:40] you know, we've already had great
[3:06:41] discussions. There's been um other
[3:06:44] metrics decide uh that have have been
[3:06:46] decided. Obviously, teacher diversity
[3:06:48] isn't one of your um success measures in
[3:06:52] this, but it certainly will be something
[3:06:53] that's reported out and tracked. So I
[3:06:56] think there's a that background
[3:06:59] oag measures that we need to decide what
[3:07:02] are those things that are going to show
[3:07:04] progress towards these key actions um
[3:07:07] and have agreement
[3:07:09] um what what things we will communicate
[3:07:12] what things will be internal
[3:07:14] um but I agree this is not a full-on
[3:07:17] implementation plan with very detailed
[3:07:19] strategies it wasn't meant to be but I
[3:07:20] think that that is the next document
[3:07:22] that we need to produce
[3:07:24] I I think I think there may have been
[3:07:27] some expectation of that being more
[3:07:32] developed at this point than where we
[3:07:34] are. I just want to say that. Um
[3:07:37] and
[3:07:39] so
[3:07:41] as my question
[3:07:45] trying to decide if I have question or
[3:07:47] if I just want to make a couple of
[3:07:50] recommendations maybe that might be
[3:07:52] helpful. Um I think a potential way to
[3:07:57] help clarify the next steps of work
[3:08:00] would be to isolate the road map by year
[3:08:04] um to better understand what um kind of
[3:08:09] the subsets of these large key actions
[3:08:11] are by year. Uh we certainly I don't I
[3:08:14] think it's totally unrealistic to expect
[3:08:16] an implementation plan for four years
[3:08:19] from now. Um and so just taking the
[3:08:23] example of a um instructional key action
[3:08:27] of redefining the district-wide
[3:08:30] professional learning strategy including
[3:08:32] job job embedded coaching. Um I can
[3:08:35] imagine year one might be around
[3:08:38] something specifically related to
[3:08:40] school-based PD or but year two might be
[3:08:42] around like what does job embedded
[3:08:44] coaching mean? Are we getting new
[3:08:46] instructional coaches? Are we doing more
[3:08:48] informal feedback? So I think maybe if
[3:08:51] it were sequenced by year in terms of
[3:08:54] where the actions lived by year and then
[3:08:58] for the ones that were for the current
[3:09:00] year maybe had like the leads listed and
[3:09:03] like a few key milestones then we could
[3:09:06] align kind of our calendar and things to
[3:09:10] to that and I think it could help sort
[3:09:12] out there's so much work here so much
[3:09:15] important work um and I think there also
[3:09:17] some um key streams of work that live in
[3:09:22] here but don't appear explicitly. Um
[3:09:25] like the continued improvement of
[3:09:27] inclusion around the district or um you
[3:09:31] know what we heard from Madison Park
[3:09:34] today like this increasing um career
[3:09:37] pathways is like it's here but like
[3:09:39] that's a whole big piece of work. Um, so
[3:09:42] I'm I'm just trying to figure out how to
[3:09:44] how to drill down and also how that
[3:09:49] connection between the enabling
[3:09:50] conditions and the focus areas could um
[3:09:54] be a little easier to digest. um that
[3:09:57] maybe
[3:09:59] I don't know maybe it could be organized
[3:10:02] in a um in a different way but um
[3:10:07] I'll leave it at that for the
[3:10:08] yeah I think we have some I think
[3:10:09] there's some recommendations we're
[3:10:10] reviewing about how to streamline a bit
[3:10:13] more um the focus areas and enabling
[3:10:15] conditions I think it's the team all of
[3:10:19] this has been done by team and so I
[3:10:21] think like the next part of that process
[3:10:23] is to go back to the team and talk
[3:10:26] through what makes sense with that. So I
[3:10:29] think that is underway. I think the time
[3:10:31] sequencing is really important because
[3:10:34] it is a if you take the inclusion plan
[3:10:36] just as an example we couldn't roll out
[3:10:39] all grades in the inclusion plan in the
[3:10:41] first year it took us five years right
[3:10:43] it's taking us five years and that is
[3:10:46] the truth in much of BPS work because of
[3:10:50] the size and the volume we have so I
[3:10:53] think part of what the team's charge is
[3:10:55] is to go back and start to look at this
[3:10:57] five years and say what's the starting
[3:11:01] points? Some things could all could be
[3:11:04] started in the first year with a step.
[3:11:06] There are others that may need to build
[3:11:09] and have some other things take place in
[3:11:11] the first two years before they would
[3:11:13] begin. And so I think being able to put
[3:11:15] it with some time sequencing which also
[3:11:17] is priority um will be important.
[3:11:20] Yeah. or even the work already in prog
[3:11:22] maybe everything that's happening in the
[3:11:24] first year is work already in flight
[3:11:26] and just
[3:11:28] sharing what's happening with that for
[3:11:30] for year one and obviously other things
[3:11:32] need to be designed and and mapped out
[3:11:35] absolutely and I think even with the
[3:11:36] baselines you know like chronic
[3:11:38] absenteeism is a great example but like
[3:11:42] baseline wise we have made pro we have
[3:11:45] made our projected
[3:11:48] um
[3:11:49] measure every single year, right? Like
[3:11:52] we have made that that
[3:11:54] uh we have made our metric every year
[3:11:57] and exceeded it. So that's an example
[3:12:00] where we could actually be more bold and
[3:12:03] not necessarily go with the states flow
[3:12:06] and be more bold with that if that's
[3:12:09] looking at the data what makes sense.
[3:12:11] whereas there may be others that are
[3:12:13] moving slightly slower that we need to
[3:12:15] figure out how do we change the strategy
[3:12:17] and the approach and what what will we
[3:12:21] be able to do in year one in year two
[3:12:23] and year three so I think once we can
[3:12:26] show that I think graduation rate
[3:12:28] dropout rate there's many of there are
[3:12:31] uh some of these that we are well ahead
[3:12:36] of where we want to be but where we want
[3:12:39] to be is much more progressive
[3:12:41] than where we're being called to be. So,
[3:12:44] I think there's that conversation that
[3:12:46] the team is having and digging into um
[3:12:49] which is why Colin and Monica's
[3:12:51] partnership uh you know in this work is
[3:12:54] just so important.
[3:12:56] Yeah. And I don't want to leave the
[3:12:57] impression that those conversations
[3:12:58] haven't been going on. It's just how do
[3:13:00] we present like we have to come to
[3:13:02] agreement like how that gets presented
[3:13:04] forward and and that wasn't going to be
[3:13:06] part of like this piece.
[3:13:08] Yeah.
[3:13:09] Um I just I promise just one last
[3:13:12] request on the success measures because
[3:13:14] I do want to acknowledge um how much
[3:13:18] more specific these are than for
[3:13:20] instance in the in the previous plan
[3:13:22] which did not ever articulate the new
[3:13:24] the actual targets but just kind of left
[3:13:27] it as the way they're listed here which
[3:13:29] I know is not what we're
[3:13:30] doing um this time
[3:13:33] would just request that when um we're
[3:13:36] looking at the 2031 targets for each of
[3:13:39] these um that obviously we have the most
[3:13:42] recent baseline data. Um but you know
[3:13:44] Chief Hogan talked about how there are a
[3:13:46] couple of um data points that need to be
[3:13:50] um designed to create a new baseline for
[3:13:53] those. I think it would be helpful to
[3:13:56] have some baseline data on a related
[3:13:59] data point in the meantime. Um the
[3:14:02] panorama survey being a great example as
[3:14:05] um Dr. Tvar has talked about, you know,
[3:14:08] we have year-over-year data on a lot of
[3:14:10] things that families tell us. And I also
[3:14:13] understand that we're not necessarily
[3:14:14] asking the right question yet that gets
[3:14:16] at what we're looking for here, but we
[3:14:19] can certainly share some data on um I'm
[3:14:23] looking at member Peralta because I know
[3:14:24] we fill out these panorama surveys as
[3:14:27] parents every year and there are a lot
[3:14:28] of questions on it. So, if we can kind
[3:14:31] of get a snapshot of that. Um, I know
[3:14:33] 10th grade achievement is another
[3:14:35] challenge as MCCAST is likely temporary
[3:14:39] at this point with end of course exams
[3:14:41] coming in, but it would be helpful in
[3:14:43] the meantime to think about where are
[3:14:45] 10th graders right now understanding
[3:14:47] that the instrument might change. Um,
[3:14:49] the same with early literacy. I know
[3:14:52] that uh that's in progress, but is there
[3:14:54] something in the meantime to give us an
[3:14:56] indication of where we are? um just to
[3:14:59] help the public's understanding to
[3:15:01] member Palano Garcia's point of really
[3:15:03] just using this as an opportunity to
[3:15:06] build some collective understanding
[3:15:08] around where we're starting as a
[3:15:09] district and then where we're moving
[3:15:12] forward together.
[3:15:15] Um I'll just note on the survey results,
[3:15:17] those are all posted publicly on our
[3:15:18] website. Um and we can make sure that
[3:15:20] Miss Parvex has the link so you can get
[3:15:21] it in your next um set of materials um
[3:15:24] to peruse at your at your leisure. um
[3:15:27] the climate survey data that is public
[3:15:31] and the MCCAST will be part of the
[3:15:35] October presentation. So we'll be
[3:15:37] we'll be back in a month
[3:15:38] and we we do dis we actually disagregate
[3:15:41] quite a bit of this on a normal basis
[3:15:44] but with extra attention now right
[3:15:46] because of the commitment um but yeah
[3:15:48] there's you know there is a lot publicly
[3:15:50] available in this but I think like being
[3:15:52] able to underscore in the presentations
[3:15:55] I think this requires us all to look at
[3:15:57] it with new eyes right
[3:16:03] go ahead
[3:16:05] just a a a quick uh summary just for my
[3:16:10] understanding. I
[3:16:13] I've heard a lot and what what I hear
[3:16:16] from you is pretty much a promise that
[3:16:21] if I look at this as just an overview
[3:16:24] because to me you know whatever before
[3:16:26] me lacks specificity and
[3:16:31] and to me it is just you know a a
[3:16:34] preamble of a book. So you are going to
[3:16:38] provide us with specificity plans
[3:16:44] outlining benchmarks
[3:16:47] uh steps to take for each and every
[3:16:49] measures here right and that would be
[3:16:52] forthcoming I don't know when I hope
[3:16:54] sooner rather than later but there
[3:16:58] this is not to me
[3:17:02] a working
[3:17:05] implementable able
[3:17:08] um
[3:17:10] map it just preamble. I like to see
[3:17:14] things that are specific. Okay. You you
[3:17:17] are saying that okay by
[3:17:19] September
[3:17:21] 2031
[3:17:23] all students will be culturally all
[3:17:25] student will be you know exposed to a
[3:17:27] culturally affirming uh uh student um
[3:17:31] environment. Okay, then I'll take that.
[3:17:35] But right now whatever is in front of me
[3:17:40] lacks specificity and I need to see that
[3:17:44] to make sure that I can measure it. I
[3:17:47] can see that actually
[3:17:50] opportunity gap are closing and you're
[3:17:54] coming up with that. That's what you you
[3:17:56] mentioned that something about codifying
[3:17:59] something. So, I I'm hoping that he's
[3:18:02] coming for for
[3:18:04] Yeah, we're in the process of um
[3:18:06] determining what the 5-year overall
[3:18:08] targets for the success measures are.
[3:18:10] And I think um some of what I'm hearing
[3:18:12] in the the comments and questions is
[3:18:14] that um a more uh detailed sort of logic
[3:18:19] model of how these key actions that
[3:18:21] we've laid out will interact with and
[3:18:24] hopefully result in improvement in the
[3:18:26] success measures. So, I think Dr. Rose
[3:18:28] and I can take that feedback back and
[3:18:29] think about um what are sort of the
[3:18:31] detailed actions, the inputs and outputs
[3:18:34] that go along with those actions and
[3:18:36] then the sort of um alignment with the
[3:18:39] success measures that we believe that
[3:18:41] those actions will result in movement
[3:18:43] on. So
[3:18:45] yeah, I also I just want to level set
[3:18:47] that
[3:18:49] we are working with the timeline we had
[3:18:51] committed to which was the OAG policy
[3:18:54] rework which we did which was an
[3:18:58] incredible foundation for the strategic
[3:19:00] plan. Working with our internal teams to
[3:19:04] be able and school committee to be able
[3:19:06] to create the success measures which are
[3:19:09] the buckets that we believe are going to
[3:19:12] help move all students to the kind of
[3:19:15] education we want to provide in the BPS.
[3:19:18] The next step with teams because this is
[3:19:21] all being driven. So it is happening
[3:19:23] throughout our district is to now set
[3:19:27] metrics baseline and metrics for the
[3:19:32] five-year along with the through line of
[3:19:36] for the next five years. What will be
[3:19:38] happening each year in terms of the core
[3:19:40] actions that will help us to lead and
[3:19:44] commit to making those metrics happen.
[3:19:48] So the specificity comes in the next
[3:19:51] piece. But again, I just want to
[3:19:53] underscore we could get in the room, the
[3:19:57] six of us, and give you that tomorrow.
[3:20:00] That is not going to translate to change
[3:20:03] in the BPS. What has been missing and is
[3:20:06] key is making sure this is done through
[3:20:09] teams. And so Colin has worked endlessly
[3:20:13] with teams since in the community and
[3:20:16] then in the district for the last like
[3:20:19] good eight months. The deputies too have
[3:20:22] now been moving their teams all the way
[3:20:25] down into the schools division along
[3:20:28] with principles around these measures.
[3:20:31] So the what we're doing for the strategy
[3:20:33] to operationalize and do action, we have
[3:20:36] to make sure that those are through the
[3:20:38] BPS. And that's the reason we've been
[3:20:41] rolling this out step by step by step to
[3:20:44] you with the idea that come October, you
[3:20:47] are now going to see the total direction
[3:20:50] of where we're going, where we believe
[3:20:52] we can get in the five years, and then
[3:20:55] how we're going to get there, which is
[3:20:57] what I think you're asking for, member
[3:20:59] TR. Well, in a way, yes. Thank you. I
[3:21:02] my my concern is that OAG has been
[3:21:07] an issue with us, you know, for a time
[3:21:10] in in memorial.
[3:21:11] That's right.
[3:21:12] Even before I came to on the board, it
[3:21:14] has always been there. That's right. I
[3:21:16] came on there.
[3:21:17] That's right. Yeah. We've been
[3:21:19] I hope
[3:21:20] Well, and the Yeah. And no, and the good
[3:21:22] news is that the OAG task force when it
[3:21:25] reconstituted and put so much work into
[3:21:28] the rework of the OAG policy, I think
[3:21:31] you guys all remember the room was full
[3:21:33] with people from the OG task force
[3:21:36] saying this is our work. We believe in
[3:21:37] this work. That is what is integrated
[3:21:40] into the strategic plan. So it is a
[3:21:42] village. It has to be the community, the
[3:21:45] OG task force, us all the way down
[3:21:48] through the schools beyond us down into
[3:21:50] the schools for this to work.
[3:21:53] So that that's my biggest issue is that
[3:21:55] as I look at the list,
[3:21:57] these are there's nothing new here
[3:21:59] in terms of things that we have not
[3:22:02] talked about over many years.
[3:22:04] We have maybe set them out differently
[3:22:06] and focused. But the issue for me has
[3:22:09] been in the p I want to know what's
[3:22:11] going to be different this go round.
[3:22:13] I'll give you an example. We get the
[3:22:15] MCCAST data. Usually it's at the end of
[3:22:18] the year for the group that just went on
[3:22:20] to the next grade. We see that things
[3:22:23] have not changed. So what's different?
[3:22:25] What's different for those third graders
[3:22:27] that went to the fourth grade and didn't
[3:22:29] get something in the third grade because
[3:22:31] they didn't make proficiency? What's
[3:22:33] happening different for me the third
[3:22:35] grade teacher is I get a new group of
[3:22:37] kids. We need to hear that piece of it,
[3:22:39] not just the reporting of the data,
[3:22:41] because how do we know what's our
[3:22:43] evidence that we're actually closing
[3:22:45] gaps? What is the gap now? What is the
[3:22:48] specific gap? If I'm a third grade
[3:22:50] teacher and I take a look at the the
[3:22:54] issues of my kids,
[3:22:56] who's helping me to understand
[3:22:58] specifically
[3:23:00] what I need to do to make sure when
[3:23:02] these kids take the third grade MCCAST
[3:23:05] that they've actually got the skills and
[3:23:07] I have closed gaps between the first and
[3:23:10] second grade or whatever so that we are
[3:23:12] coming to a place that we can actually
[3:23:15] say yes, we have closed these gaps and
[3:23:18] we're going on to proficiency and
[3:23:20] excellence, but we haven't heard that
[3:23:24] yet.
[3:23:28] Thank you, chair. [laughter]
[3:23:30] Um, I will just quickly respond. Um, you
[3:23:34] know, I've had the opportunity to really
[3:23:37] get to learn BPS and learn Boston over
[3:23:39] the last eight months. And you know,
[3:23:41] soup, if you don't mind me saying this,
[3:23:44] um I [snorts] think the one thing
[3:23:46] superintendent shared with me at the
[3:23:47] onset was Simone, like I've had to lead
[3:23:50] a lot of change.
[3:23:52] And I think at times we minimize what
[3:23:55] that change means for our teachers who
[3:23:58] are engaging with our kids. And I just I
[3:24:01] think doing my own listening and
[3:24:04] learning really starting to dig into
[3:24:06] some of our data. Um I would offer that
[3:24:10] the system is at a place like when Soup
[3:24:13] talks about the foundations like we've
[3:24:16] given the teachers the curriculum,
[3:24:17] right? And I think we're we're finally
[3:24:20] at this place where we can like build
[3:24:22] efficacy and confidence about around
[3:24:25] pedagogical practice that is culturally
[3:24:28] and linguistically affirming. And I I
[3:24:31] believe that we will start to see the
[3:24:33] impact of that um with tightening up
[3:24:37] some of our resources and and how we
[3:24:39] work together.
[3:24:40] Yeah. Our speaker at ALI, I can't
[3:24:42] remember her name now,
[3:24:43] Dr. Brownie.
[3:24:44] Dr.
[3:24:46] said a critical thing to us in that
[3:24:48] meeting [snorts] and she says as a
[3:24:49] district you've got all of the the
[3:24:52] foundations everything is there but the
[3:24:56] number one thing when schools have
[3:24:58] closed gaps is the issue of do the
[3:25:01] educators believe that they can educate
[3:25:05] the kids that they have in front of
[3:25:07] them. Do they believe these kids can
[3:25:08] learn and are they giving them the level
[3:25:11] of in the types of activity that is
[3:25:15] grade level? You can have wonderful
[3:25:17] materials but but I'm not using them
[3:25:20] appropriately.
[3:25:22] Just having the materials is not going
[3:25:23] to make that child be proficient. But if
[3:25:25] I don't believe these kids can learn or
[3:25:29] if I don't believe I have the skills to
[3:25:31] teach them in the way that they could
[3:25:34] learn,
[3:25:35] then kids are being impacted by all of
[3:25:38] the adult behaviors.
[3:25:40] And just quickly responding, I'm going
[3:25:43] to draw the through line to member trans
[3:25:45] question around culture and climate,
[3:25:46] right? Um, we're two weeks into the
[3:25:49] school year and as we're walking
[3:25:51] schools, right, we're talking to
[3:25:53] students and we're essentially sussing
[3:25:56] out like, are you building
[3:25:57] relationships? Do you have a champion in
[3:25:59] this building? Right? Um, you know, for
[3:26:01] our schools, they have three priorities
[3:26:03] as superintendent said, high quality
[3:26:04] instruction, culture, and climate, and
[3:26:06] attendance. And I think it's easy to
[3:26:09] think about those things as three
[3:26:11] different things, but they are very
[3:26:13] highly interconnected. And I think what
[3:26:15] Dr. Brownie was really putting out there
[3:26:18] is you have to start with the conditions
[3:26:20] for success, the relationship building
[3:26:23] so that students are like they learn,
[3:26:26] right? Um I would agree with you. I
[3:26:28] think while curricula is definitely one
[3:26:31] of the most impactful ways to streamline
[3:26:33] educator practice, I think doing that
[3:26:36] divorce from knowing your students well,
[3:26:40] um we won't get where we want to go. And
[3:26:43] I think Sup and I feel very confident
[3:26:45] about how our educators think about our
[3:26:47] students. Like we got to spend time
[3:26:49] together on the first day. Um and one
[3:26:51] thing I will offer that's been true
[3:26:53] across many schools is that our
[3:26:55] educators do care.
[3:26:58] Yeah. I I also think we can do a better
[3:27:02] job underscoring because we are agreeing
[3:27:06] to a group of measures to really focus
[3:27:08] on that. We can actually show in some of
[3:27:11] these where we have already really
[3:27:15] worked on gap closing. Graduation rate
[3:27:17] is a great example. For the first time
[3:27:20] in over in I think in ever our black
[3:27:24] students reached the graduation rate,
[3:27:28] the average rate um as a group. I think
[3:27:31] our Latinx students made huge progress
[3:27:34] but were slightly below. That was not
[3:27:37] true 5 years ago. that was not even
[3:27:39] though the graduation rates were good
[3:27:42] the gap was there and so I think we can
[3:27:46] show that I think when we talk about
[3:27:48] advanced uh coursework you know we had
[3:27:52] historic 4,300 APs and what drove that
[3:27:56] was the access of our black and brown
[3:27:59] students taking APs and scoring a seven
[3:28:04] the equivalent like 70% of them scoring
[3:28:07] a college credit. So there are examples
[3:28:11] today in the data. K2 literacy is
[3:28:14] another one. However,
[3:28:17] we know there's gaps like we know where
[3:28:20] the gaps are. This is what we spent all
[3:28:22] of ALI focusing on, right? As I know you
[3:28:24] sat through it, right? We we we talked
[3:28:27] about this because
[3:28:29] we don't want anymore on we we don't
[3:28:32] want to say well you know our our our
[3:28:35] multilingual learners or special
[3:28:37] education students should strive to meet
[3:28:39] the level of our white students for
[3:28:42] proficiency. No, they should strive for
[3:28:44] proficiency. And that is like a
[3:28:47] different way that we are trying to
[3:28:49] measure ourselves that's very different
[3:28:52] than historically in the BPS where we
[3:28:54] set ceilings for our kids that we should
[3:28:56] never have set. And so that I think is a
[3:28:59] huge shift in the field. And I think as
[3:29:03] you go to the schools and because I know
[3:29:05] you guys all visit the schools, ask the
[3:29:07] principles what's the gaps you're trying
[3:29:10] to close
[3:29:12] and they should be able to tell you
[3:29:14] specifically in their data.
[3:29:17] Here's the two or three gaps that we
[3:29:20] have spotlighted that we believe need to
[3:29:23] be moved in our school. That's a great
[3:29:26] exercise for you guys, right? That's
[3:29:29] going to be the focus the next 3 to four
[3:29:31] years is the gap because the aggregate
[3:29:34] in moving the aggregate is great but it
[3:29:36] doesn't move it for all children. So
[3:29:39] that is why this team is so committed to
[3:29:42] the OG policy and so committed to a
[3:29:45] strategic plan that supports it.
[3:29:47] Thank you
[3:29:50] you all. We look forward to continuing
[3:29:52] this conversation always. always.
[3:29:57] Miss Farick will now return to public
[3:30:00] comment.
[3:30:02] John Mud,
[3:30:04] I don't think I need
[3:30:08] Thank you,
[3:30:09] Shard. That's it.
[3:30:10] That's it. Okay. Thank you. Any new
[3:30:13] business?
[3:30:14] Uh, yes. report on that. I want to get
[3:30:19] an update on an idea that we talked at
[3:30:23] the end of last school year when I
[3:30:28] suggested that it will be in the benefit
[3:30:30] of everybody if our high schoolers
[3:30:34] receive uh once a year communication
[3:30:37] about how many um credit they have
[3:30:42] already uh achieved and how many more
[3:30:46] they needed.
[3:30:47] in their journey to graduate from high
[3:30:50] school under the new um mask or
[3:30:53] graduation requirements.
[3:30:54] And that is coming. And so Simone, do
[3:30:57] you have the date?
[3:30:59] I do. For for seniors, the drop the
[3:31:03] deadline is October 9th.
[3:31:05] And for our juniors and our sophomores,
[3:31:08] we've asked um that that is communicated
[3:31:12] before Thanksgiving.
[3:31:14] Um I just want to acknowledge our career
[3:31:17] college life readiness team. They put
[3:31:19] together really really great resources
[3:31:22] um that's really going to help you
[3:31:24] understand like student has acrewed
[3:31:26] three English credits right um and like
[3:31:29] what that means in terms of their
[3:31:31] trajectory.
[3:31:32] Yeah,
[3:31:32] that's great. Yeah, I actually think the
[3:31:35] tracking that we're
[3:31:37] the way that we're dashboarding and
[3:31:38] tracking the mass core, I think now that
[3:31:40] the state is adopting it as a model,
[3:31:43] right, for all districts, I think we're
[3:31:45] actually going to be a leader in that
[3:31:46] area. The team's done really thoughtful
[3:31:48] work.
[3:31:49] Wonderful. Thank you. Okay,
[3:31:52] that concludes our business for this
[3:31:53] evening and our next school committee
[3:31:55] meeting will take place again here in
[3:31:58] person on Wednesday, October 14th at 6
[3:32:01] p.m. right here at the Bowling Building
[3:32:03] in Nubian Square. Um, if there's nothing
[3:32:06] further, I will entertain a motion to
[3:32:08] adjourn the meeting. Is there a motion?
[3:32:10] So moved.
[3:32:11] There a second.
[3:32:12] Second.
[3:32:12] Is there any discussion or objection to
[3:32:14] the motion? Is there any objection to
[3:32:16] approving the motion by unanimous
[3:32:18] consent? Hearing none, this meeting is
[3:32:21] adjourned. Thank you all.