Boston School Committee Meeting 10-14-2026
2026-10-14

[1:09] Good evening and welcome to this meeting
[1:12] of the Boston school meeting. I'm Chair
[1:15] Robinson Jerry Robinson.
[1:17] I'm chairperson. Excuse me. I'm not
[1:20] meeting. I'm chairperson Jerry Robinson.
[1:22] We'll begin with the pledge of
[1:24] allegiance. I don't think it's working.
[1:26] I don't think they are.
[1:31] I pledge algiance to the flag of the
[1:34] United States of America and to the
[1:37] republic for which it stands. One nation
[1:40] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[1:43] justice for all.
[1:54] I want to welcome everyone who is
[1:56] joining us tonight in person on Boston
[1:59] City TV and on Zoom. I'm going to ask
[2:03] everyone here in the chamber to please
[2:06] turn off the volume on your laptops or
[2:09] other devices so it does not interfere
[2:11] with the audio for tonight's meeting.
[2:14] Thank you for your cooperation.
[2:16] Tonight's meeting documents are posted
[2:18] on the committee's web page,
[2:20] bostonschools.org/schoolcommittee,
[2:24] under the October 14th meeting link. For
[2:28] those joining us in person, you can
[2:30] access the meeting documents by scanning
[2:33] the QR code that's posted by the doors.
[2:36] The meeting documents have been
[2:38] translated into all of the major BPS
[2:41] languages. Any translations that are not
[2:44] ready prior to the start of the meeting
[2:47] will be posted as soon as they are
[2:48] finalized.
[2:50] The meeting will be rebroadcast on
[2:52] Boston City TV and posted on the school
[2:55] committee's web page and on YouTube.
[3:00] The committee is pleased to offer live
[3:02] simultaneous interpretation virtually in
[3:05] Spanish, Haitian, Creole, Cverian,
[3:09] Cantonese, C Mandarin, Vietnamese, and
[3:12] American Sign Language. The Zoom
[3:15] interpretation feature has been
[3:18] activated.
[3:19] Zoom participants should click the globe
[3:22] icon at the bottom of your screen to
[3:25] select your language preference. I'd
[3:27] like to remind everyone to speak at a
[3:29] slower pace to assist our interpreters.
[3:34] We will begin with the approval of
[3:36] minutes. I will now entertain a motion
[3:38] to approve the minutes of the September
[3:41] 16th meeting. Is there a motion?
[3:44] So move.
[3:45] Thank you. Is there a second?
[3:46] Second.
[3:47] Is there any discussion or objection to
[3:49] the motion?
[3:51] Is there any objection to approving the
[3:53] motion by unanimous consent? Hearing
[3:57] none, the minutes are approved. We'll
[4:00] now move on to the superintendence
[4:02] report. I present to you our
[4:04] superintendent, Mary Skipper.
[4:06] Uh, good evening, chair. Oh, it is
[4:08] working. Okay.
[4:09] Good evening and good evening to school
[4:11] committee members as well as to the
[4:13] public that's joining us here tonight
[4:15] and virtually. I'd like to begin tonight
[4:17] with a brief update on the district's
[4:19] proposed cell phone policy. School
[4:22] committee members are in receipt of a
[4:24] memo which previews the proposed
[4:26] personal electronic device use policy
[4:30] for all BPS students in grades pre
[4:32] kindergarten through grade 12. The
[4:35] researchbased policy is our preliminary
[4:38] recommendation for a bell-to-bell ban on
[4:41] all personal devices including cell
[4:44] phones, tablets, smartwatches, Bluetooth
[4:48] devices, and personal computers.
[4:51] The purpose of the memo is to give
[4:52] members and the public a preview of the
[4:56] proposed policy ahead of its formal
[4:58] submission to the school committee for
[5:01] consideration and action in January of
[5:04] 2027.
[5:06] This will allow the members to review
[5:07] the policy, understand how it aligns
[5:10] with state guidance, and provide
[5:12] feedback to the district team. We are
[5:15] currently working to create
[5:17] implementation guidance that will
[5:19] provide schools with a menu of
[5:21] implementation choices so that they can
[5:23] select the method that's right for their
[5:25] school community.
[5:28] Over much of the past year, the district
[5:30] has engaged in robust conversations with
[5:33] students, educators, and parents to
[5:36] understand their perspectives and
[5:38] experiences regarding personal devices
[5:41] in schools. Among these conversations,
[5:45] we've met with members of Associad
[5:47] Latina and the Boston Student Advisory
[5:50] Council, which we call BSAC. I want to
[5:52] take a me a moment to thank executive
[5:55] director Alex Oliver de Dilla for her
[5:59] leadership on this issue and the
[6:01] students from Associated Latina and BSAC
[6:04] who helped shape this policy.
[6:07] We plan to continue stakeholder
[6:09] engagement over the next few months as
[6:11] we finalize the policy. Our goal is for
[6:14] the policy to be in place for the first
[6:17] day of the 2027 2028 school year. A
[6:21] survey will be available in the near
[6:23] future where the public can contribute
[6:25] their thoughts and help guide our
[6:27] implementation.
[6:28] The memo is publicly available with
[6:31] tonight's meeting materials on the
[6:33] school committee's website at
[6:34] bostonschools.org/ org/schoolcommittee.
[6:39] I would also like to provide an update
[6:42] on the Office of Inspector General's
[6:44] report that was released in August
[6:47] covering procurement practices that
[6:49] outlined internal control failures,
[6:52] improper workarounds, and gaps in
[6:54] oversight.
[6:56] As I mentioned in the last meeting, we
[6:58] welcome independent oversight because it
[7:00] makes our district stronger.
[7:03] While the more than $857,000
[7:06] identified in non-compliant spending
[7:09] represents a small fraction of our 1.635
[7:13] billion operating budget, falling short
[7:16] of the highest standard of fiscal
[7:19] stewardship is completely unacceptable.
[7:22] In a letter I sent to the inspector
[7:24] general on Friday, October 9th, I
[7:26] highlighted past reforms that had been
[7:28] underway since 2023, like strict limits
[7:32] on soul source procurement, digitizing
[7:35] facil uh facilities work orders through
[7:38] asset essentials, that's our management
[7:40] tool, mandating procurement and conflict
[7:43] of interest trainings for our staff and
[7:46] engaging an external auditor for an
[7:48] internal procurement audit of our
[7:50] functions.
[7:52] We also took the OIG's recommendation to
[7:55] immediately institute a 10-day pause
[7:58] which was effective August 31st to
[8:00] September 18th on all payments and audit
[8:04] audit all invoices.
[8:06] During this pause, BPS central office
[8:09] finance teams thoroughly reviewed 95
[8:12] pending invoices across all impacted
[8:15] departments
[8:17] as recommended by both the inspector
[8:19] general and the finance commission. We
[8:22] are completing a comprehensive plan to
[8:24] realign all district procurement and
[8:27] accounts payable functions under the
[8:29] chief financial offices office.
[8:33] Centralized purchasing removes isolated
[8:36] department workflows, establishes a
[8:39] single point of fiscal accountability,
[8:42] unifies compliance, and ensures strict
[8:46] fiscal controls across the entire
[8:48] district.
[8:49] I want to reassure this committee, our
[8:52] families, and our schools that we're
[8:54] going to continue to fix these
[8:56] historical vulnerabilities
[8:59] through central leadership, automated
[9:01] controls, and direct accountability
[9:04] under the CFO. We are ensuring that the
[9:06] BPS operates with the operational
[9:09] integrity our students and taxpayers
[9:11] deserve.
[9:13] This memo will also be publicly
[9:15] available with tonight's meeting
[9:16] materials on the school committee's
[9:18] website. again, bostonschools.orgschool
[9:22] committee.
[9:24] I also just want to say on
[9:26] transportation that we're regularly
[9:28] reviewing all of the worst performing
[9:32] routes and at this point still trying
[9:35] direct interventions to improve them.
[9:38] We're also um you know making daily
[9:42] route changes that we need to do to
[9:44] accommodate new students to the district
[9:47] or students that require rerouting
[9:49] because of address changes or IEP
[9:51] changes. Performance so far in October
[9:54] is averaging 90% in the AM and 85% in
[9:58] the PM with uh 0.05 uncovered trips. to
[10:04] give you comparison to last year. Last
[10:07] year we were at this time uh through
[10:09] from September through this point of
[10:11] time 84% in the AM 82% in the PM and we
[10:16] had.14 uncovered trips. So you can see
[10:19] that the transportation department
[10:21] continues to make substantial
[10:23] improvements year-over-year. Most
[10:25] importantly, for a parent that's facing
[10:28] a route that's disruptive, but because
[10:30] it's one of those ones that is
[10:32] continually late, the transportation
[10:34] department is constantly working to
[10:36] reroute those buses. Uh, and so I know
[10:40] Dan does it, uh, Dan Rosenard does it so
[10:42] that it's a Wednesday implementation.
[10:44] So, uh, every Wednesday they're sending
[10:46] those new routes out. I wanted to share,
[10:50] uh, many of the bright spots, uh, as we
[10:52] started the school year and continued.
[10:54] Uh first of all, um last month I joined
[10:57] the Red Sox Foundation at the Blackstone
[11:00] Elementary School. Uh Principal Shepac
[11:02] is here in the South End to celebrate
[11:05] $125,000
[11:06] in improvements to the school's
[11:08] gymnasium and schoolyard, which now
[11:10] includes a newly painted baseball
[11:12] diamond and the Green Monster inspired
[11:15] wall and stairs.
[11:17] Thank you to
[11:20] Thank you to Linda Henry, Fenway Sports
[11:23] Group partner, and the Red Sox
[11:24] Foundation board member and the entire
[11:26] Red Sox organization for their continued
[11:28] support of BPS. Uh we had member Palano
[11:32] Garcia who was there. Um longtime
[11:34] supporter of Blackstone School. Um
[11:37] again, uh Principal Shepac and assistant
[11:40] principal Felix Carabalo was also there
[11:42] making sure that the event was fantastic
[11:44] and a great experience for students.
[11:47] students participated in a play ball
[11:49] clinic that was led by the Red Sox
[11:51] Foundation staff. As you can see from
[11:53] this photo, I dusted off my glove and I
[11:56] had a chance to put my own skills to
[11:58] work. Um, it's always just a really
[12:01] great occasion to be able to have fun
[12:03] with the kids and Wall-E as usual
[12:05] stopped by and was a big success with
[12:07] the kids. Uh, so thank you to the Red
[12:09] Sox Foundation. October also marks
[12:13] several important and notable occasions
[12:15] in our BPS calendar. Uh on October we
[12:18] first uh kicked off National Principles
[12:20] Month when we recognized the outstanding
[12:23] BPS principles and heads of school who
[12:26] support and develop children's academics
[12:28] and social, emotional, and physical
[12:30] well-being by creating welcoming
[12:32] learning environments for all students
[12:34] and families. uh pictured here, a
[12:37] district's newest principles who took on
[12:39] the role of school leader in school year
[12:41] 2026 2027. Um we're thrilled to just
[12:45] have them. They're such a talented uh
[12:46] cohort. Uh Katie Beagano of the Otis
[12:49] Elementary, Kiki Michella of the Elliot
[12:52] K to8 Innovation School, Holly uh
[12:56] McParlton who's uh also at the Elliot
[12:59] Kaid in uh Innovation School. Dr. Darius
[13:02] Green at the Matah Hunt Elementary. We
[13:04] were with him today um doing a
[13:06] celebration of community hub schools at
[13:09] the Matah Hunt. McKenzie Powers at the
[13:11] Bradley Elementary, Deian Cesaro who's
[13:14] at the Tinen Elementary, Jacquellyn
[13:17] Carolyn at the uh Lion Elementary that
[13:20] we had a nice visit the first day of
[13:22] school. Uh and Amelia Massu Tastor who's
[13:25] at the Holland Elementary. Our
[13:27] principles and heads of school work
[13:28] incredibly hard to ensure that every
[13:31] student is academically challenged while
[13:34] also feeling seen, included, and safe at
[13:37] school. So, please join me in thanking
[13:39] our school leaders for their dedication
[13:41] to our school communities this month and
[13:43] all year.
[13:45] September 15th marked the beginning of
[13:48] National Hispanic Heritage Month, which
[13:50] continues through October 15th. During
[13:52] this month, we honor the contributions
[13:54] and achievements of members of our
[13:56] Latina, Latino, and Latin X communities
[13:59] throughout the district. Last month,
[14:01] Otis Elementary students enjoyed a very
[14:04] special visit with five Boston Red Sox
[14:06] players who stopped by the school to
[14:08] celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with
[14:10] the community. We're again grateful to
[14:13] our Red Sox for making this visit
[14:15] happen. and we appreciate the players
[14:17] for helping our students celebrate
[14:19] Hispanic Heritage and the richness,
[14:21] pride, and joy of our school community.
[14:24] Uh, also pictured here is the 6th annual
[14:27] Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at
[14:29] the O'Brien School of Math and Science,
[14:32] which featured music, dancing, and guest
[14:34] speakers. I want to thank city councelor
[14:36] Enrique Pebbin for being part of this
[14:38] special event. The Otis and the O'Brien
[14:41] are just two of the schools that held
[14:43] and continue to hold special
[14:45] celebrations recognizing Hispanic
[14:47] Heritage Month. As BPS continues to
[14:50] implement inclusive education across the
[14:52] district, National Learning Disabilities
[14:54] Awareness Month uh is is this month. Uh
[14:58] this gives us an opportunity to
[14:59] recognize the perseverance and
[15:01] achievement of our neurode divergent
[15:03] students while raising awareness about
[15:06] the importance of advocacy and
[15:08] resources. This month we pause to shout
[15:11] out our schools for their success in
[15:13] putting that model into practice. The
[15:15] Conley Elementary School in Roslandale,
[15:17] which is pictured here, is a great
[15:19] example of a BPS school that has created
[15:22] a culture of inclusion, belonging, and
[15:25] empathy by involving the entire school
[15:27] community. You can learn more about
[15:29] Conley's journey at bostonschools.org.
[15:33] Special thanks to our entire BPS Office
[15:35] of Specialized Services and all of our
[15:38] educators and staff who work tirelessly
[15:40] to make sure that all of our students
[15:42] feel welcomed and supported. On October
[15:45] 2nd, we honored the hard work of our
[15:47] school's unsung heroes on school
[15:50] custodian appreciation day. Often
[15:53] working behind the scenes, our
[15:54] custodians ensure that our schools are
[15:56] clean and healthy. I participate in a
[15:59] very special event at the Boston Arts
[16:01] Academy recognizing the work of school
[16:04] custodians, including Andy Allen, who's
[16:06] holding up the Allen jersey, uh, who was
[16:09] honored with the Unsung Hero Award. Andy
[16:13] formed a friendship with a colleague,
[16:15] geometry teacher Tom Thermodor.
[16:18] Upon learning that Tom's younger brother
[16:20] was in critical need of a kidney
[16:22] transplant, Andrew made the remarkable
[16:25] decision to step forward as a donor.
[16:27] Through a paired kidney donation
[16:29] program, Andrew ultimately donated his
[16:31] kidney to a stranger, enabling Tom's
[16:34] brother to receive a lifesaving
[16:36] transplant.
[16:38] Andrew's selfless act not only saved a
[16:40] life, but it also reflects the
[16:42] compassion, courage, and humanity that
[16:44] defined the Boston public schools
[16:45] community. And it was incredibly sweet
[16:47] to see the custodians uh at Boston Arts
[16:52] Academy and how close they were like a
[16:54] family and how much the staff the staff
[16:57] really showed up to the event after
[16:58] school um to really honor all of the
[17:01] custodians, but to really honor Andy um
[17:04] for for what he did. Uh October is also
[17:08] the 20th anniversary of college and
[17:10] career month in the Boston public
[17:11] schools. This is a time when we launched
[17:14] the post-secary planning process as a
[17:16] shared responsibility. Pictured here are
[17:19] staff from around BPS who participated
[17:21] in BPS's annual college and career pride
[17:24] day representing the alma mad part of an
[17:28] effort to share multiple post-secondary
[17:31] paths with students across Boston. And
[17:33] you'll actually see school committee has
[17:36] uh in front of each of us the college or
[17:38] university that we attended. There's a a
[17:40] sign. Um this year 25 student
[17:44] ambassadors will spread the word about
[17:46] events in their schools and on social
[17:48] media. Students can also take the PSAT
[17:51] and the SAT for free during the school
[17:54] day at their own schools. Other
[17:56] opportunities include college tours,
[17:58] fairs, uh FASA and MAFA support, career
[18:02] exploration and training programs. We
[18:05] also launched the BPS college and career
[18:07] hub which is a new online resource that
[18:09] brings these resources together in one
[18:12] place yearround. You can find this at
[18:14] bostonchools.org/careermonth.
[18:19] I want to thank the Boston Foundation
[18:21] and Success Boston Completion Initiative
[18:23] for providing the resources for the
[18:25] College and Career Month initiative.
[18:27] They've certainly been tremendous
[18:29] supporters for the past 20 years. Um,
[18:32] many thanks to the BPS Office of
[18:34] College, Career, and Life Readiness for
[18:37] the campaign. I could go on and on with
[18:39] more bright spots um because it really
[18:42] has been a wonderful start to the school
[18:43] year and a very busy month and a half.
[18:46] So, uh, cheer, I'll turn it back to you.
[18:48] Thank you, Superintendent. I'll now open
[18:50] the floor for questions and discussion.
[18:53] I'd like to remind my colleagues about
[18:54] our agreed upon norm that we each have
[18:57] five minutes per member per round, not
[18:59] including district response. Please make
[19:02] sure your questions are on topics
[19:04] related to the items in the
[19:05] superintendent report. Other topics not
[19:08] related to the superintendent report can
[19:10] be raised during new business later in
[19:12] the meeting. BPS staff, please keep your
[19:15] responses brief and speak slowly to
[19:18] support our interpreters. Thank you.
[19:24] Thank you, Madame Chair. Um, thank you,
[19:26] superintendent, for the report. I want
[19:28] to talk to about the transportation
[19:30] issues. Too many parents contact to me
[19:34] about the transportation.
[19:36] Um I appreciate that when you say the
[19:40] BPS know the transportation issues. is
[19:44] important for me for too many parent to
[19:48] use depend the transportation
[19:52] waiting for transportation for go to to
[19:55] work and when the transportation is
[19:58] delayed is delay the parents the teacher
[20:03] is is big problem because I know um uh
[20:09] too many family use transportation and
[20:12] then part of My job
[20:15] a school committee is
[20:18] um try in this meeting that
[20:20] preoccupation the family and the teacher
[20:23] too because the teacher say when the the
[20:26] transportation or coming on time
[20:29] by my day is not on time. the the
[20:35] students need a staying time for more
[20:38] morning meeting the teacher for
[20:40] breakfast the students it all esod delay
[20:45] then my question is about the issues I
[20:50] know you say that try the better
[20:53] solution for that but it's important the
[20:55] family know what the district right now
[20:58] say or try about that
[21:01] yeah yeah no I think it's a really
[21:03] important point. Um, memo Palanka
[21:04] Garcia, I think what we're looking for
[21:07] is two things. We're looking to make
[21:08] sure overall transportation it continues
[21:11] to improve, which I think we're seeing.
[21:14] We were specifically looking at the
[21:16] start of the school year to have far
[21:18] fewer uncovered routes because what we
[21:21] find is that that there's one thing when
[21:23] the bus is late but when the bus doesn't
[21:25] come at all then a parent has to figure
[21:28] out how to get the child to school
[21:30] either to get to school or to get from
[21:33] school. So we really have worked very
[21:35] closely with transdev to ensure far
[21:38] fewer uncovered routes and I think we've
[21:41] been successful on those two sides. The
[21:43] other layer to this is when uh the bus
[21:46] is late for a reason. And that can
[21:49] range, right? Like it can range because
[21:51] of the traffic, the weather. It can also
[21:54] be that when we plan the route, a
[21:56] student, there's too many stops on it
[21:59] and we have to reroute that. Or it can
[22:02] also be new students join because we're
[22:05] constantly taking new kids in and they
[22:08] have to be routed. Or a student changes
[22:10] schools and they have to be rerouted.
[22:12] And so the routes are very fluid and the
[22:14] team is constantly looking at the routes
[22:17] that are regularly late. And so that is
[22:20] the work they do Wednesday to Wednesday
[22:22] where they make the change and it takes
[22:24] them that week for that next set of
[22:26] changes to go in. Uh and they they do
[22:29] they tend to have dates that are bigger
[22:31] updates. Uh and the one that they just
[22:34] did will go into effect for Wednesday.
[22:37] So, we should see some relief on uh the
[22:40] routes that uh are late more often than
[22:44] we would ever want. Um I think part of
[22:47] the GPS is to try to keep parents
[22:51] informed on the bus and like where the
[22:53] bus is. Uh but we all know that there's
[22:56] going to be situational things. Drivers
[22:58] get sick, they they call in, we have to
[23:01] get a coverage driver um particularly in
[23:04] the afternoons. So any of those things
[23:06] can make the the buses run later than we
[23:09] want. The main thing is communicating
[23:11] with the parents so that they know
[23:13] what's happening and then us trying to
[23:15] work when we see it be a pattern. So I
[23:18] think that is the commitment. Um I will
[23:21] uh we'll talk with Dan and try to get
[23:23] from uh Dan Rosenard uh the number of
[23:26] what they call problematic routes and
[23:28] try to show how we're reducing those as
[23:30] well. But we definitely know we want
[23:33] every bus to run on time. That is the
[23:34] goal. Um and so anytime it doesn't, our
[23:37] transportation department takes it
[23:39] really personally to try to make it
[23:40] better either through the rerouting or
[23:42] through the work with the contract.
[23:44] Yeah. Thank you so much.
[23:45] Absolutely.
[23:52] Let me see if anybody else has any
[23:54] responses.
[23:56] Go ahead.
[23:56] Um
[23:57] thank you, Superintendent. Just um for
[23:59] clarity on the cell phone policy, um the
[24:04] actual policy itself would come before
[24:06] us formally in the new calendar year for
[24:09] a vote. There may be some modifications
[24:12] to the policy in light of the engagement
[24:15] that's happening between now and then.
[24:17] And then I also think I heard you say
[24:19] kind of the devil's in the details. So
[24:21] there would be more implementation
[24:23] guidance that comes with that policy
[24:26] when we see it again.
[24:28] Great. Yes. Um, appreciate both both of
[24:30] those clarifications. Uh, so, uh, we we
[24:34] wanted to get it before all of you and
[24:36] the public so that they can see the work
[24:38] we've done over the last year. There's
[24:40] been a tremendous amount of outreach and
[24:42] feedback. Um, Denise, Rory, BSAC, uh,
[24:45] and other uh, advocacy groups have been
[24:49] um, part of that conversation, parents,
[24:51] staff. So I think what you see in what
[24:54] we're recommending is something that has
[24:56] a lot of agreement. But with any policy
[24:58] there will be critique or there will be
[25:00] things that people suggest. Uh we will
[25:03] continue to keep open um from now until
[25:06] January when we bring it before you more
[25:08] formally. Um we'll continue to seek
[25:11] feedback and then what we bring to you
[25:13] in January will reflect that. Uh in
[25:16] terms of the implementation, we are now
[25:18] in that process. Many many of our
[25:20] schools already have some form of ban
[25:23] with the cell phones.
[25:24] Um, sometimes they're using pouches,
[25:28] sometimes they're using shoe holders,
[25:30] sometimes they um are having the
[25:33] students just keep it in their backpack
[25:34] and out of sight. Uh, so it really
[25:37] ranges and I think what we want to get
[25:39] to is flexibility for the schools, but
[25:42] also a menu of two or three ways to
[25:46] implement the policy. And that's what we
[25:48] will also be giving to you at the time
[25:50] that we put the policy forward to you
[25:52] for vote because midyear implementation
[25:56] of any policy um is often difficult. We
[26:00] will not start the policy formally if it
[26:03] passes in school committee until the
[26:05] next school year. So it'll begin in
[26:08] September on the first day. That also
[26:11] allows schools that even if they're very
[26:13] seasoned and some of our schools,
[26:14] particularly high schools, have been
[26:16] doing a phone policy for a while now.
[26:18] However, we have found that smart
[26:20] watches are also very distractive. Um we
[26:24] found there's other devices that
[26:26] students carry on them uh that are
[26:28] distract and distracting and so the even
[26:31] for those schools the idea of taking and
[26:35] keeping a watch or other kinds of
[26:37] personal devices is an extra layer to
[26:40] what they're currently doing. So that's
[26:42] why we want to wait to fully implement
[26:44] until the beginning of next year.
[26:47] Um I think with you're saying that some
[26:50] uh schools already have components in
[26:52] place. It might be helpful when it comes
[26:54] before us in January to hear about some
[26:57] schools that are implementing some of
[26:58] the models that you recommend and what
[27:00] some of the the challenges and you know
[27:03] successes have been with that just to
[27:05] give a little bit of line of sight into
[27:07] the operations which can be um really
[27:09] challenging. Um uh thank you for the
[27:13] update um on the IGR report. Just a
[27:15] question around um moving everything
[27:18] under the CFO. Does that change staffing
[27:22] levels um in either of the offices
[27:26] affected by that shift?
[27:27] I think that's something we're looking
[27:29] at right now. Um you know, it's a big
[27:31] undertaking. Uh previously, you know,
[27:34] transportation, food service, um and uh
[27:38] facilities all had a separate process.
[27:40] Uh this is something we've recognized
[27:42] and I think rightly so. the OIG report
[27:45] pointed out, Fincom pointed it out and
[27:47] so it's, you know, we agree it's time to
[27:49] move on it, but we do need to be
[27:50] thoughtful in the planning of it. So,
[27:52] it's early to say what implication it
[27:54] would have. Um, other than that, we will
[27:56] come up with a timeline and plan for how
[27:59] to be able to take those under one
[28:00] umbrella within uh the uh the CFO. And
[28:04] when will that next update um should we
[28:07] expect quarterly updates to some of that
[28:09] future planning or what will the the
[28:11] cadence be uh in terms of um how we get
[28:14] updates from this point?
[28:16] Yeah, it's great. So I think uh Dr.
[28:18] Deina might have a better sense since
[28:20] he's helping to spearhead.
[28:23] Sure.
[28:25] Good evening everyone. Uh so the
[28:27] planning has been underway uh and we're
[28:29] really looking at a dynamic where we
[28:31] have to keep in mind that there are
[28:33] direct oversight responsibilities that
[28:35] currently exist and how we shift those
[28:37] to under the CFO's office is going to
[28:40] need to be a fine orchestrated uh
[28:43] situation because we also have the
[28:44] day-to-day operations that we have to
[28:46] consider. So we have to balance the
[28:48] oversight from the CFO's office with the
[28:49] day-to-day operations of the department.
[28:51] So that's the conversations that
[28:52] happening now. We're looking at
[28:54] workflows, making sure the CFO's office
[28:55] is clearly understanding uh the
[28:57] dynamics, the staffing levels, the
[28:59] responsibilities, and what's going on
[29:01] currently so that we can figure out the
[29:03] right balance of how that actually
[29:04] happens in play. So until we do that, um
[29:07] our plan is to have an update in a
[29:09] couple weeks and then from there engage
[29:11] the staff more fully and then plan that
[29:13] out and bring recommendations to
[29:14] superintendent.
[29:15] Yeah, I would say it's reasonable that
[29:16] in the January meetings that we could
[29:19] provide an update to school committee. I
[29:20] think at that point we will have been
[29:22] able to look at the breath of it.
[29:23] That's right.
[29:24] Thank you. Um and just um building off
[29:28] of member Palano Garcia's um questions
[29:31] around transportation, I think we must
[29:34] have a quarter one um update on
[29:37] transportation coming
[29:40] soon or next meeting. uh and wondering
[29:42] if that like problematic route piece
[29:45] could be outlined in a little more
[29:47] detail um to speak to what you were
[29:49] describing.
[29:50] Yeah, absolutely. I believe it's the
[29:51] next school committee meeting that we'll
[29:53] be presenting or at least giving you in
[29:55] memo form. Yes.
[29:56] Thank you.
[29:58] And Andy Allen is amazing.
[30:00] I know, right?
[30:02] Mr. TR, do you have anything?
[30:04] I'll let you go first.
[30:07] Yes.
[30:08] Oh, I see.
[30:09] Okay.
[30:12] Uh yes, I not not not so much as a
[30:16] question but some concerns regarding the
[30:19] uh the OIG report.
[30:28] The according to your memo the
[30:30] procurement procurement reform commenced
[30:34] in 200
[30:37] in 2023.
[30:40] We are now in 2026
[30:43] and the report comes out
[30:47] uh sometimes um
[30:52] around that time as well.
[30:55] um these the the uh improvement
[31:01] have been implemented for the last 3
[31:04] years.
[31:06] So I
[31:08] gather that um I have two questions but
[31:11] you know I gather that the
[31:14] the uh improvements are
[31:18] going to meet the the the expectation of
[31:20] the OIG.
[31:22] Uh correct that is that is the goal
[31:25] right we looked um very much at the
[31:27] recommendations uh we also intend to
[31:30] have on ongoing dialogue around it um I
[31:33] think what we had in the BPS was
[31:36] historical practice of decades and uh in
[31:39] 2023
[31:41] um the team uh we began to implement
[31:46] many of the reforms some of them take
[31:48] longer to implement because it's a big
[31:50] system Um, however, I think rightly so,
[31:54] as the OIG report indicated, there were
[31:57] still holes in our processes. And so,
[32:00] that is what we're attempting to shore
[32:02] up. I think our recommendation to fold
[32:05] under one umbrella uh within underneath
[32:08] the CFO is what we see as probably the
[32:11] most important significant step we can
[32:14] take because it will in essence uh
[32:17] ensure that many of the holes we found
[32:20] uh won't happen as they have. when you
[32:22] have three branches all doing their own
[32:25] form of procurement oversight uh you we
[32:29] just allow an opening for uh people to
[32:33] do things differently and it's harder to
[32:35] track it so I think that particular
[32:38] recommendation is going to be difficult
[32:40] to implement for sure which is why in
[32:43] the past it never has been
[32:45] um like many things right but um but we
[32:47] see it as really necessary
[32:49] okay
[32:50] yeah
[32:51] Another minor question I I guess the
[32:55] competitive bidding process the
[32:57] procurement
[33:00] I'm quite sure that that we are
[33:02] following with we are complying with the
[33:05] MWBE procedure.
[33:09] Yes. So I think um I think the field in
[33:12] particular has gone through a lot of
[33:15] this training and change over the last
[33:16] several years
[33:18] uh where we had a historic habit of
[33:21] schools themselves entering into
[33:23] procurement and contract. Uh and what
[33:26] and by doing that when you had three or
[33:28] four schools enter with the same vendor
[33:30] we would all of a sudden go above the
[33:32] threshold of what we were supposed to.
[33:35] And so we have since over the last two
[33:38] years done a lot of work with our
[33:39] partner organizations and with our field
[33:42] with our schools to explain why we
[33:44] cannot do that any longer
[33:46] and so we have done a lot of shing up on
[33:48] that
[33:49] but I do think that's an area that we
[33:51] continue to need to do training and
[33:53] oversight to ensure it doesn't happen.
[33:55] Right. So just just a a a little request
[33:59] um
[34:01] regarding the competitive uh procurement
[34:04] process.
[34:05] You mentioned that uh we are right now
[34:09] as have always been complying with the
[34:11] MWBE requirement.
[34:14] May I uh ask for uh a breakdown on
[34:21] the vendors uh MW MWB status because
[34:29] I like to see
[34:33] minorities
[34:34] uh
[34:36] uh biders especially the linguistic
[34:39] minority uh biders
[34:43] uh are included Ed, I
[34:46] have
[34:49] somehow believed that uh that has been
[34:53] pretty much remiss for the last few
[34:55] years.
[34:58] So, I might have to ask David to maybe
[35:00] or Mike to be able to respond to that.
[35:04] Okay. Okay.
[35:04] About what we're able to provide and
[35:06] not.
[35:13] Yes. Um, thank you. We can certainly um
[35:18] provide information about the suppliers
[35:20] we're currently contracting with and
[35:22] their status. Um, this is all
[35:25] self-reported. They have to register
[35:27] with the city officially. Um, so we
[35:30] could certainly say uh who has
[35:32] registered with the city. um as a
[35:35] certified business. I will say for every
[35:38] procurement we do, we go through the
[35:40] city's equitable procurement process. So
[35:43] before we enter into any contracts,
[35:46] there are two databases we use to
[35:48] identify potential MWBE uh businesses
[35:52] that might be available um for
[35:54] procurement. There is a city database
[35:56] and a state database. And so that way we
[35:58] can ensure that as part of our
[36:00] advertisement for contracts that we're
[36:02] reaching out to businesses
[36:04] um of all uh statuses to be able to
[36:08] support support the work. Um ultimately
[36:11] we are not able to uh
[36:14] we have to follow the procurement law in
[36:17] terms of the order of uh selecting the
[36:19] biders. But um what we're trying to do
[36:23] as much as possible is ensure that uh
[36:26] those biders have a fair shake at the
[36:28] contracts. They know about the
[36:29] contracts. They're aware of the
[36:31] opportunities and we're working to get
[36:33] more with the city to get more biders
[36:35] registered um in the city system. So we
[36:38] can work with them.
[36:40] Just uh one recommendation.
[36:44] So regarding the uh registration of uh
[36:48] linguistic minority biders
[36:51] and companies that are serving you know
[36:53] that are owned by minority
[36:57] um and people with disability.
[37:01] I would suggest that um your office or
[37:05] whichever office that is uh
[37:09] uh responsible for all these uh
[37:11] procurement process
[37:13] um somehow reach out to them encouraging
[37:16] them to
[37:19] register. As a matter of fact,
[37:23] many of them don't even know the process
[37:26] and many of them are not very aware that
[37:29] there is a there is a pro procurement
[37:33] process available with the city and um
[37:37] they are not
[37:40] for
[37:42] they are not informed. So if there is a
[37:46] way to outreach uh to them, that would
[37:49] be great.
[37:50] Yeah, for sure. Uh we work closely with
[37:52] the city's office of supplier diversity,
[37:54] so I can reach out to them and we can
[37:56] talk about ways to do that.
[37:58] Thank you.
[38:04] You have a shout out, too. All right.
[38:06] So, we have some shout outs. So, we'll
[38:07] shout and then we'll shout some more.
[38:13] Um, thank you chair, superintendent, and
[38:16] all school committee members and members
[38:18] of the public. This past month, I had
[38:21] the opportunity to visit three schools
[38:23] and each finding pockets of greatness,
[38:26] real teaching and learning happening
[38:28] every day in Boston public school. every
[38:31] school, our scholars, educator, par
[38:34] educators, family liaison and leaders in
[38:38] front office says were excited to answer
[38:41] my questions.
[38:43] Um I don't know I don't know if you
[38:45] remember that you said to ask about what
[38:48] gap are they working on.
[38:50] Okay,
[38:51] so I did.
[38:54] So they were happy to answer but they
[38:56] were listen they were eager to ask and
[38:59] listen to feedback. They wanted to know
[39:01] how to keep meeting high expectations
[39:04] and to build the structures that support
[39:07] learning for every students.
[39:10] I visit the Oliver Wendell Home
[39:12] Innovation School um grades kinder prek
[39:16] to sixth grade where I had the
[39:18] opportunity to visit two inclusion math
[39:20] classrooms where students were working
[39:22] on fractions and diagrams turning and
[39:25] talking to discuss their thinking with
[39:27] their partners and then sharing their
[39:30] answer with the larger group. This was a
[39:32] real mathematician discourse look and
[39:35] sound like homes. You are some great
[39:38] mathematicians in the making.
[39:41] Next, I went to the Henry Grew
[39:43] Elementary School, grade prek to sixth
[39:46] grade in the kinder and K2 inclusion
[39:50] classroom where scholars and educators
[39:53] working side by side to make sure every
[39:56] friend was engaged in the task at hand.
[39:59] Talking about support, everybody was
[40:01] supported and everybody was included in
[40:04] the teaching and learning. Also visited
[40:07] a math classroom where students were
[40:08] working in small group discussing volume
[40:12] of a complex shape which I don't know
[40:13] what that was but then practicing and
[40:16] explaining their thinking to their peers
[40:19] and then to the whole class. Uh and
[40:22] let's talk about the librarian in the
[40:24] library. When I think about access to
[40:27] all, this is the library to visit. They
[40:30] have a book vending machine. I don't
[40:32] know if you've seen it. Yes, it's
[40:34] excellent. You put you you find your
[40:37] book, you put money, you or whatever
[40:39] they give them, tokens, and they can
[40:41] find their books and books that read out
[40:43] loud. The library supports, engages, and
[40:46] promotes reading for all scholars. Thank
[40:49] you for making reading joyful. And
[40:52] finally, my last visit. Well, I have one
[40:55] last today. My last visit was to the Dr.
[40:58] Katherine Ellison Rosa Park Early
[41:00] Education School. I was honored to be
[41:03] invited to celebrate Hispanic Heritage
[41:06] Leader Day. Thank you for thinking of
[41:08] me. I was impressed with from the moment
[41:10] I walked in the welcome, the educators,
[41:13] the para educators and family as the
[41:16] school leader walked us through the
[41:19] school data growth on priority one
[41:22] action plan. the math fluence every
[41:24] song. He say he had to do it because he
[41:26] needed somebody to listen to it and and
[41:30] for K through three um growth and
[41:33] keeping and keep being the best. It was
[41:36] a h aha moment for me. You um I had the
[41:39] the um the opportunity to visit uh a
[41:42] kinder classroom inclusion. you they
[41:45] fill my heart with the happiness when
[41:47] they let me join friends with their
[41:49] learning centers working on their motor
[41:52] skills. So I wanted to thank all the
[41:56] scholars for opening their doors and all
[41:58] their hard work work they are doing
[42:01] every day for all our scholars and
[42:03] student. Thank you. And today I was
[42:06] invited by the central office here to
[42:08] celebrate the Spanish heritage month.
[42:11] great food, karaoke,
[42:14] uh, dancing and a special cake from
[42:17] Dominican.
[42:19] So, we everybody had to taste that. So,
[42:21] thank you for inviting me.
[42:22] That's great.
[42:24] Thank you.
[42:27] Thank you so much. I just wanted to do a
[42:29] shout out to the principal of my family
[42:34] Alma M school, the Sarah Greenwood,
[42:36] principal Antonelli Mahia, who was
[42:39] recently recognized
[42:42] uh among a group of Latino and Latina
[42:44] leaders in the state of Massachusetts in
[42:47] company of people like our secretary of
[42:50] education and and our commissioner of
[42:52] education. Um Antonelli is doing a great
[42:56] job. He has an A team at the Sarah
[42:58] Greenwood and clearly the man is
[43:01] brilliant. You can see his resume is
[43:03] full of uh leadership position and a
[43:06] very impressive formal education. But he
[43:09] came here two decades ago as a teenager
[43:12] with no English.
[43:14] So he is a proof of what is possible.
[43:17] Uh but he will be the first one to tell
[43:19] you if you ask that opportunity is not
[43:22] enough. Like even if we close the
[43:24] opportunity gap, he will say we need
[43:26] investment on our student re things like
[43:29] you know summer jobs, pay internships,
[43:32] the things that we need to level the
[43:35] playing field in order for our student
[43:38] to be able to really
[43:41] reach all their potential. Um so thank
[43:43] you so much to um Principal Mahia and to
[43:46] the entire team at the Sarah
[43:47] Green.
[43:49] Thank you.
[43:51] Great. Great.
[43:54] So, if there is nothing else, um I'll
[43:57] now entertain a motion to receive the
[43:59] superintendence report. Is there a
[44:01] motion?
[44:01] So moved.
[44:02] Thank you. Is there a second?
[44:03] Second.
[44:04] Is there any discussion or objection to
[44:06] the motion? Is there any objection to
[44:08] approving the motion by unanimous
[44:10] consent? Hearing none, the
[44:12] superintendent's report is approved.
[44:15] We'll begin with one report before
[44:17] moving on to public comment. This item
[44:20] will be brought forward for a vote later
[44:22] during the action item portion of the
[44:24] meeting. This report is a tenative
[44:27] collective bargaining agreement between
[44:29] local union 1952
[44:32] painters and allied trade district
[44:34] council number 35 representing
[44:37] custodians and the Boston school
[44:39] committee effective September 1, 2026
[44:43] through August 31st, 2027. Let's aim to
[44:47] keep the presentation within five
[44:49] minutes. Superintendent Skipper will
[44:51] share introductory remarks.
[44:53] Great. Thank you. And uh for our
[44:55] committee to introduce uh BPS legal
[44:57] adviser, Mike Ryan. Uh we're very happy
[45:00] to have Mike in this position. Uh he's
[45:02] also served on the bargaining team uh
[45:05] while in his previous role of labor
[45:07] counsel. Uh tonight he's going to
[45:09] present the tenative agreement with
[45:10] local union 1952 painters and allied
[45:13] trades district council number 35. our
[45:16] school custodians on behalf of the
[45:18] district's bargaining team. The tenative
[45:20] agreement includes a year 1 base wage
[45:23] increase of 2% plus $800 spread across
[45:26] employees paychecks and added to the
[45:29] base salary effectively. Uh he will also
[45:32] explain our request to the Boston City
[45:33] Council for a supplemental appropriation
[45:36] for FY27 of 787,000
[45:40] approximately. Uh this tenative
[45:42] agreement is consistent with our other
[45:43] collective bargaining units and tonight
[45:45] we ask the committee to approve the
[45:47] tenative agreement which will happen
[45:48] later in tonight's meeting. So at this
[45:50] point I'll turn it over to Mike.
[45:53] Thank you superintendent. Um good
[45:55] evening and thank you to Chair Roberts
[45:56] and to the rest of the committee
[45:57] members. As the superintendent
[45:59] introduced myself, I'm now the legal
[46:02] adviser, but I was actually um able to
[46:06] participate on the negotiating team for
[46:08] this this collective bargaining or this
[46:10] tenative agreement that I'm presenting
[46:12] tonight. Um we have reached the
[46:15] agreement with our union partners at
[46:16] local union uh number 1952, painters and
[46:20] allied trades district council number
[46:23] 35. there are custodians union and we
[46:26] recommend that you vote in favor of this
[46:28] agreement. Uh the district has built a
[46:31] very strong relationship with this with
[46:33] the custodians over the years and we
[46:36] appreciate all the work that their
[46:37] bargaining team did and to all the
[46:40] members for all the work that they do
[46:41] for us every day. The custodians
[46:44] represent approximately 410 full-time
[46:46] employees and 65 part-time employees who
[46:50] oversee custodial services,
[46:52] groundskeeping at our schools, and other
[46:54] operational services. Um, as the
[46:58] superintendent told you, we had uh
[47:00] custodian appreciation day last week.
[47:03] Um, they literally do all the dirty work
[47:05] at the school to keep it clean, a safe
[47:07] environment for our children and our our
[47:09] students to to learn.
[47:12] Uh, the parties reached a tenative
[47:13] agreement with the union on a one-year
[47:15] wageonly contract from September 1st,
[47:18] 2026 to a August 31st, 2027.
[47:23] the financial package.
[47:28] Uh the financial package um of the 2%
[47:32] plus the $800 that's going to be spread
[47:35] across every paycheck carries a one-year
[47:38] cost of $787,51
[47:41] for fiscal year uh 27. And that's what
[47:45] we'll be asking for the supplemental
[47:47] appropriation um with the uh city
[47:50] council. Um the annualized number would
[47:54] be in FY28 if no other agreements
[47:56] reached would be $934,269.
[48:01] Um I want to thank uh our partners in
[48:03] the city finance team. I want to thank
[48:06] uh the superintendent and thank our
[48:08] union partners um and thank all the
[48:11] school committee members. And we ask
[48:13] that you vote in favor of this tenative
[48:15] agreement and supplemental
[48:16] appropriation.
[48:17] Great. Thank you.
[48:19] And I'll open it up to questions and
[48:21] comments from the committee.
[48:24] Anyone?
[48:26] Just if you can explain mostly for the
[48:29] benefit of the public one more time, how
[48:32] is it that we do have money to uh pay
[48:35] those races to our staff?
[48:39] So this is the actual this money was the
[48:43] uh city package that we have. It's
[48:46] across all the different city unions.
[48:47] this was what was um you know agreed to
[48:51] by the city. Um I think David Bloom
[48:54] might have a more information on that.
[48:57] So um the city keeps funds for these
[49:01] types of contract um increases in a in a
[49:06] collective bargaining reserve that they
[49:08] keep at the city. We work closely with
[49:10] them. Um, so if you were to approve uh
[49:14] this uh supplemental appropriation
[49:16] request, it would then go to the city
[49:18] council uh who would effectively
[49:21] transfer funds from that reserve to our
[49:24] appropriation to support this work. Um,
[49:27] as um like I said, this is consistent
[49:32] with uh the raises we've been giving to
[49:34] other members of other unions across the
[49:36] city.
[49:39] Thank you. Uh, I asked because my city
[49:42] councelor Weber is in is in the
[49:44] audience. So, thank you in advance,
[49:45] counselor.
[49:48] Great. Just I just had one.
[49:51] Go ahead. One. Oh, sorry.
[49:53] No, no, you go ahead.
[49:54] Oh, apologies for me.
[49:55] Just a question. This um goes through
[49:58] just through this existing school year,
[50:01] 2627, correct?
[50:03] Yes. So, will the the custodians
[50:05] actually work full year? So, they would
[50:08] be working over the summer. So this
[50:09] would go all the way until August of
[50:11] August 31st, 2027.
[50:14] And what does that um imply or suggest
[50:17] for uh what comes next for bargaining in
[50:21] subsequent years?
[50:23] So you know, our work never stops. We're
[50:25] always um in conversation with our union
[50:28] partners. So I mean I think the
[50:31] bargaining will start, you know,
[50:33] tomorrow. you know, we we'll be ready
[50:35] for next uh the next session and next
[50:37] negotiations.
[50:40] You okay?
[50:42] Yeah.
[50:43] Uh no thing. I I just this is just my
[50:47] shout out to to you and to your your
[50:50] your team. I do uh appreciate the fact
[50:54] that you add
[50:56] $800
[50:59] to spread ac all paycheck for custodian
[51:02] given the fact that 2% increase is not a
[51:05] heck of a lot. That $800 added into the
[51:08] base salary will help in the long run
[51:12] and that deserve a shout out. Thank you.
[51:15] Well,
[51:15] thank you. I appreciate your shout out.
[51:22] All right. Thank you. And um we'll vote
[51:24] on this later in the evening.
[51:26] All right. Thank you.
[51:27] Okay. We will now move on to general
[51:30] public comment. Miss Prax.
[51:32] Thank you, Chair.
[51:35] The public comment period is an
[51:37] opportunity for individuals to address
[51:39] the school committee on school related
[51:40] issues. Questions about specific school
[51:43] matters would be referred to the
[51:44] superintendent and BPS staff. Policy
[51:47] questions may be discussed by the
[51:49] committee at a later time. We have two
[51:52] public comment periods. The first is
[51:54] limited to one hour. Anyone who has not
[51:56] spoken by then will have the opportunity
[51:58] to do so at the end of the meeting. We
[52:01] have eight speakers this evening. Each
[52:03] person has three minutes to speak and I
[52:05] will remind you when you have 30 seconds
[52:07] remaining. Speakers may not reassign
[52:10] their time to others. The time that an
[52:12] interpreter uses for English
[52:13] interpretation will not be deducted from
[52:15] a speaker's allotted time. You may also
[52:18] email comments for distribution to the
[52:20] committee. Please direct your comments
[52:22] to the chair and refrain from addressing
[52:24] individual school committee members or
[52:26] district staff. Please note the comments
[52:29] of any public speaker do not represent
[52:31] the Boston public schools or the Boston
[52:33] school committee. Please start with your
[52:36] name, affiliation, and where you live.
[52:38] Zoom speakers, please be ready to unmute
[52:40] and turn on your camera when called. To
[52:43] support interpretation, please speak
[52:44] slowly and clearly. We will start with
[52:47] our in-person speakers.
[52:51] Our first group is councelor Ben Weber,
[52:54] Gada Alib, John Mud, Dedra Manning, and
[52:59] Muhammad Burhan. Councelor Weber,
[53:03] could I just ask it? It is uh very hard
[53:06] to hear. It sounds like the microphones
[53:09] are set lower. I have a loud voice. So,
[53:11] hi.
[53:12] So, either uh just make sure to speak
[53:14] close and maybe in the meantime we can
[53:17] adjust it up a little bit.
[53:20] Okay. Thank you very much. Uh and member
[53:23] Peralta, uh the CFO got that question
[53:26] right. Uh there's a collective
[53:27] bargaining reserve that, uh you know,
[53:29] the city council, if we approve the
[53:31] appropriation, the money comes out of
[53:32] there. we don't have to take it from
[53:34] somewhere else. Um,
[53:37] okay. And, uh, so good evening. Um, as
[53:41] the chair of the, uh, city council's
[53:43] Ways and Means Committee and as a BPS
[53:45] parent, uh, you know, I'm continuing our
[53:48] practice on the city council seeking to
[53:50] get involved in the BPS budget process
[53:52] early. And I'll be chairing our first
[53:54] fiscal year 28 BPS budget hearing on
[53:57] Thursday, November 19th at 2 p.m. at
[54:00] city hall. I hope we can collaborate
[54:02] while the budget is still on the drawing
[54:04] board and I urge the members of of this
[54:06] committee to either attend the hearing,
[54:08] watch it afterward, or reach out to me
[54:10] if you have any questions. Uh based on
[54:13] my conversations with Chair Robinson,
[54:15] you know, I think we both agree that the
[54:17] school committee and the city council
[54:18] should work to complement each other.
[54:21] The school committee uh you know I
[54:23] believe uh should put its expertise to
[54:26] good use by focusing on issues around
[54:28] learning making sure every BPS dollar
[54:30] goes directly toward classroom models
[54:32] that serve our students highquality
[54:34] curriculum and strong classroom
[54:36] staffing. The city council meanwhile
[54:38] should focus on broader systems
[54:40] surrounding students families and
[54:42] families ensuring the broader city uh
[54:45] budget builds a stable foundation
[54:47] students need outside of school.
[54:49] Classroom investments are undermined if
[54:51] a student's basic needs aren't met. For
[54:54] example, we recently held a hearing on
[54:55] the city council about the impacts of
[54:57] homelessness on BPS students. Studies
[55:00] have shown that students who have even a
[55:01] single episode of homelessness by the
[55:03] age of nine, can lead to measurably
[55:06] lower uh achievement levels at 15, even
[55:09] when compared to other students from
[55:12] lowincome families who have not
[55:13] experienced homelessness.
[55:16] We have around 5,000 kids in BPS every
[55:19] year that experience homelessness. So,
[55:21] it seems obvious that addressing this
[55:22] issue outside the classroom is one way
[55:25] we can help families, not only families,
[55:28] but help kids in the classroom. That's
[55:30] why I've pushed so hard for and my
[55:32] council colleagues have supported the
[55:34] access to council pilot program, which
[55:36] provides an attorney to families with
[55:37] kids in school who receive an eviction
[55:39] notice. It's become apparent, however,
[55:42] that while we have set up a program with
[55:43] $450,000,
[55:45] not all families even know the program
[55:47] exists. We have uh already helped dozens
[55:50] of families, but we can help many more
[55:51] once we establish
[55:53] seconds
[55:53] a pipeline. I'm hoping you can help us
[55:56] improve notice of the program to
[55:58] families who can then work with BPS
[56:00] family liaison and homeless homeless uh
[56:03] liaison who can then connect them to
[56:06] legal services we have waiting for them
[56:07] at Greater Boston Legal Services. I look
[56:10] forward to working closely with all of
[56:11] you starting this November so we can
[56:14] align our shared goals and secure the
[56:16] future our students deserve. Thank you
[56:18] very much.
[56:19] Thank you very much. Our next speaker is
[56:22] GAhatim.
[56:32] Good evening madame chair,
[56:34] superintendent skipper and members of
[56:35] the school committee. My name is Ga
[56:37] Alcatib. I am here as the legally
[56:40] authorized representative for my son
[56:42] Omar Ramadan, a recent Jaziah Quincy
[56:44] upper school graduate. Omar publicly
[56:46] praised his teachers at the state of the
[56:49] school's address because he truly loved
[56:51] them and loved the school community.
[56:52] This matter is not a failure of our
[56:54] classroom teachers. This is a failure of
[56:57] a leadership. Behind closed doors, this
[57:00] administration committed a documented
[57:02] pattern of negligence. failing to submit
[57:05] my son's accommodation for three SATs
[57:09] and PS his PSAT. Furthermore, despite
[57:12] notice of his overseas program timeline
[57:15] since June 24th, they left his ACT
[57:18] portal undocumented for 27 days this
[57:21] summer, missing critical deadlines. They
[57:23] then claimed they have never done the
[57:25] ACT and don't know how it works. A
[57:28] student should never pay the price
[57:29] because administrators failed to
[57:31] navigate a portal required to secure
[57:34] their accommodation. When I filed a
[57:36] compliance grievance on September 1st,
[57:38] they chose active retaliation. On
[57:41] September 16, the principal confirmed in
[57:44] a written email that he explicitly
[57:46] instructed the guidance counselor to
[57:48] freeze my son's recommendation letter
[57:50] for his program in Jordan that already
[57:52] started on September 2nd until receiving
[57:55] permission from the BPS legal office. To
[57:58] deliberately place a student in fear of
[58:01] losing enrollment by withholding
[58:03] credentials is an act of pure
[58:05] retaliation designated to conflict to
[58:08] inflict maximum harm. A student leader
[58:12] honored by the mayor for his civic
[58:14] engagement and storytelling here on this
[58:16] stage cannot have his story silenced
[58:19] behind closed doors by an abusive
[58:21] administration.
[58:23] Madame Chair, you famously stated,
[58:25] "Student outcomes don't change until
[58:27] adult behaviors do." Does BPS have an
[58:31] official policy that allows a head of
[58:33] school to freeze a student's credential
[58:35] standard credentials just because their
[58:37] family asked for civil rights
[58:39] compliance? Superintendent Skipper was
[58:41] explicit explicitly
[58:44] um CCD on both my September 1st and
[58:46] September 18th notices. I am handing
[58:51] this committee formal accountability and
[58:53] record release statement. I call upon
[58:56] chair Robinson to immediately instruct
[58:58] the superintendent cabinet to overrule
[59:00] this act of retaliation and execute an
[59:03] immediate
[59:05] release of Omar recommendations letter
[59:08] and order the unrestricted release of
[59:10] his legally mandated IB Proctor
[59:13] log logs and porter records. Tonight I
[59:17] insist on a formal letter for his
[59:19] academic transition notorized from the
[59:22] superintendent office establishing full
[59:24] accountability for all violation
[59:26] included those in addressed in my
[59:28] September formal grievance. Thank you.
[59:31] Thank you.
[59:36] Our next speaker is John Mud.
[59:58] Good evening. My name is John Mud. I'm a
[1:00:00] resident of Cambridge and a longtime
[1:00:02] education advocate in Boston.
[1:00:05] Overall, there is not much good news in
[1:00:08] the BPS MCCAST 2026 data on the percent
[1:00:12] of subgroups of students achieving state
[1:00:16] grade level content standards. The
[1:00:19] pattern continues a decline in MCAST
[1:00:22] MCCAST scores and increases in
[1:00:25] achievement gaps both since before COVID
[1:00:29] and during the last year. The only
[1:00:32] exceptions seem to be a small recovery
[1:00:34] in white scores for grades 3 to 8 in ELA
[1:00:38] and math and a reduction in achievement
[1:00:40] gaps in 10th grade which is entirely the
[1:00:43] result of a dramatic reduction in white
[1:00:45] scores. While black, Latino,
[1:00:48] multilingual learner scores continue
[1:00:50] their decline.
[1:00:52] The passing proficiency rates for
[1:00:54] marginalized groups remains
[1:00:58] much too small.
[1:01:01] The simple chart which I think is in
[1:01:04] front of you for MCCAST results for
[1:01:06] grades 3 to 8 in reading illustrate this
[1:01:10] pretty clearly. For whites, 65%
[1:01:14] meet or exceed the MCCAST standards.
[1:01:16] That means they pass. For black
[1:01:18] students, only 18% pass. A 14 percentage
[1:01:23] point difference with whites. Similarly
[1:01:26] for Latino students, 18% pass, 47%
[1:01:32] difference with whites. And for English
[1:01:35] learners, it's astounding. Only 4% meet
[1:01:39] or exceed their MCCAST standards while
[1:01:43] that leaves a gap of 61 percentage
[1:01:46] points with whites. This pattern is
[1:01:50] repeated in every measure in the MCRAST
[1:01:53] 2026 results. What are the lessons?
[1:01:57] The implementation of current
[1:01:58] educational strategies is not producing
[1:02:01] adequate student outcomes according to
[1:02:04] MCCAST. Whatever that strategy,
[1:02:08] whether it's inclusion, equitable
[1:02:10] literacy, highquality instructional
[1:02:13] materials, or highquality educational
[1:02:15] experience.
[1:02:17] What will BPS do to change in order to
[1:02:20] improve these educational outcomes for
[1:02:22] kids? We don't know. We are waiting to
[1:02:26] see what the strategic implementation
[1:02:29] plan proposes for smart goals and what
[1:02:32] changes in education strategies will
[1:02:35] help students reach these goals.
[1:02:39] Given the state data, for BPS to say, as
[1:02:42] was reported in the press, the latest
[1:02:46] state data shows steady progress is
[1:02:48] simply not true. To deny reality does
[1:02:52] not change reality. I urgently plead
[1:02:54] let's face the facts together and do
[1:02:58] something together to benefit all our
[1:03:00] students. Thank you.
[1:03:02] Thank you.
[1:03:05] Our next speaker is Ste Manning.
[1:03:24] Good evening. My name is Dear Dra
[1:03:25] Manning. I'm a single parent of two
[1:03:27] public school children and uh we live in
[1:03:30] Dorchester. Um there's been quite a bit
[1:03:32] mentioned about problems with BPS buses
[1:03:36] over the years. I completely agree. The
[1:03:38] most important issue is the loss of
[1:03:40] academic instruction and idle time after
[1:03:42] school due to late buses. My daughter's
[1:03:46] younger friends are impacted. One boy
[1:03:48] who attends the Laya Frederick is late
[1:03:50] almost every day. But today I wanted to
[1:03:53] tell you about a different problem with
[1:03:55] buses and that relates to buses for
[1:03:57] students who participate in athletics.
[1:04:00] On September 9th of the first game of my
[1:04:03] daughter's soccer season, uh the bus did
[1:04:05] not show up. Parents put miners in
[1:04:09] multiple Ubers so that they would not
[1:04:11] miss the game. at a swim meet in
[1:04:14] Duxbury, I like to say Deluxeberry,
[1:04:16] Massachusetts on September 9th, the
[1:04:19] first meet of the season. Um, sorry, the
[1:04:22] second meet of the season. Um, the team
[1:04:24] arrived 1 hour late. There was only one
[1:04:27] heat per event possible because another
[1:04:30] event was scheduled at the facility at
[1:04:32] 6:00 p.m., depriving both teams of
[1:04:34] opportunities to compete. The bus not
[1:04:36] only left late, but the driver was lost.
[1:04:39] Parents were tracking their children,
[1:04:40] watching them drive um all over the
[1:04:42] Southshore. Last year, a bus taking the
[1:04:46] swim team to Denim never showed up. The
[1:04:48] coach called the Urseline coach who
[1:04:50] called Zarian, which sent a bus to
[1:04:52] Boston to pick up the team. Kind of
[1:04:54] crazy, I think. With 1.7 billion spent
[1:04:58] on busing annually, BPS should provide
[1:05:00] good service to BPS students. BPS
[1:05:03] athletes have not had access to a diving
[1:05:05] board this season. and swim teams give
[1:05:07] away all 13 diving points at the
[1:05:09] beginning of all swim meets because BPS
[1:05:12] athletes cannot practice, making it
[1:05:14] difficult or impossible to compete. The
[1:05:16] issue is similar to BPS track athletes
[1:05:19] who train in hallways because they don't
[1:05:22] have access to athletic facilities. I
[1:05:24] understand that funds have been raised
[1:05:26] to purchase a diving board, but BPS
[1:05:28] won't provide the funds for the
[1:05:29] installation at Madison Park.
[1:05:32] Mismanaging and underfunding services
[1:05:33] that directly impe impact students are a
[1:05:36] big factor in the district's declining
[1:05:38] enrollment. My 12-year-old, who wants to
[1:05:40] be a kindergarten teacher, is so sad
[1:05:42] that our three-year-old neighbor is
[1:05:44] moving to Marshfield. His father is a
[1:05:46] city employee, a lifelong resident who
[1:05:48] is a graduate of BLA. They are leaving
[1:05:50] just like other members of our
[1:05:52] community, primarily because the
[1:05:53] district schools are not wellrun.
[1:05:55] 30 seconds. I'd like to end my time with
[1:05:58] you by saying how wonderful it was to
[1:06:00] read the Globe article on the heroic
[1:06:02] efforts of Mr. John Mud. School
[1:06:04] committee members, please act on his
[1:06:06] suggestions to help the most vulnerable
[1:06:08] members of our community. Listening is
[1:06:11] not enough. Implementing his
[1:06:13] recommendations is your duty. Thank you.
[1:06:16] Thank you. Our next speaker is Muhammad
[1:06:18] Burhan.
[1:06:32] Dear school committee, good evening. I
[1:06:35] am Burhan, a Dorchester resident and
[1:06:37] founder and executive director of
[1:06:39] intersectional innovation and impact
[1:06:41] labs, a social enterprise addressing
[1:06:43] interconnected social, digital, and
[1:06:45] climate challenges.
[1:06:47] I'm here to support a comprehensive
[1:06:50] personal finance graduation requirement
[1:06:52] for Boston public school. But first, let
[1:06:55] me start with a quick story. I became
[1:06:58] financially independent in my teenage
[1:07:00] years. I grew up in Pakistan. I remember
[1:07:03] when applying for my SATs,
[1:07:06] I did not know what a credit card was.
[1:07:08] Neither did my parents. It was a process
[1:07:10] for me to just get a credit card to pay
[1:07:13] for SATs.
[1:07:16] Now I also came to United State as a
[1:07:19] teenage scholar in 2017 and I arrived to
[1:07:22] Boston in 2021 with two suitcases and
[1:07:24] built a life here including a husband
[1:07:28] who lives in Boston and is a K12
[1:07:30] teacher. Throughout my life I had to
[1:07:33] teach myself financial skills often
[1:07:36] through difficult experiences and then
[1:07:38] share that knowledge with my family and
[1:07:40] my communities that I work with in
[1:07:42] Boston. communities that are deeply
[1:07:45] underrepresented in many ways. In a city
[1:07:48] where roughly 28% of our population is
[1:07:51] foreignb born, accessible financial
[1:07:53] education should be essential.
[1:07:57] Students deserve a chance to not just
[1:08:00] understand their paycheck, but navigate
[1:08:02] banking, credit, recognize predatory
[1:08:04] lending, and evaluate college costs
[1:08:07] before facing consequential financial
[1:08:11] decisions.
[1:08:13] Massachusetts recently received an F in
[1:08:16] 2026 national financial literacy report
[1:08:19] card, but Boston has an opportunity to
[1:08:21] lead. On September 16, the city council
[1:08:24] unanimously endorsed a graduation
[1:08:26] requirement through a resolution led by
[1:08:29] councelor Flynn, Santana, and Mahia. So
[1:08:32] my question to you all is what barriers
[1:08:36] stands between that support and
[1:08:38] implementation and how can we help
[1:08:39] address them during national economic
[1:08:43] education month which is this month. I
[1:08:46] urge you to schedule this proposal for a
[1:08:48] future agenda. invite us and our
[1:08:51] coalition
[1:08:53] and work with BPS on an implementation
[1:08:55] plan with a timeline, funding, teacher
[1:08:58] trainings, and access for multilingual
[1:09:01] learners and students with disabilities.
[1:09:03] 30 seconds.
[1:09:04] Please involve students, families, and
[1:09:06] educators in shaping that plan. Thank
[1:09:08] you.
[1:09:10] Thank you.
[1:09:13] We will now transition to public
[1:09:16] testimony on Zoom. Our first speaker is
[1:09:19] councelor Julia Mahia.
[1:09:25] Please accept the prompt.
[1:09:31] Hi. Can you guys hear?
[1:09:34] Can you hear me?
[1:09:35] Yes.
[1:09:37] Would you be able to turn on the Oh,
[1:09:38] there's
[1:09:39] I don't have a light. I'm I'm I'm at a
[1:09:42] Yes, sir. It's your light.
[1:09:43] Yes, please. You're on.
[1:09:44] Oh my god.
[1:09:47] Good evening um school committee. I am
[1:09:50] Boston city council at large.
[1:09:54] You're muted first and foremost
[1:09:57] muted
[1:09:58] now we can hear you.
[1:10:00] I was I'm starting over my three minutes
[1:10:02] start now. I'm city council at large and
[1:10:06] I'm the chair of education um the
[1:10:08] committee on city council. First and
[1:10:10] foremost, I'd like to thank the
[1:10:11] administration for their presence um and
[1:10:14] thoughtful responses at yesterday's
[1:10:16] follow-up hearing on docket 0276 on
[1:10:20] transparency and accountability in
[1:10:22] service provisions and spending for
[1:10:25] English learners. I also wanted to thank
[1:10:27] the Multilingual Learners Alliance's
[1:10:30] hard work in holding BPS to the highest
[1:10:32] standards and ensuring that we are doing
[1:10:35] all that we can to make sure that our
[1:10:38] students can thrive. We first held this
[1:10:40] hearing um docket back in March and uh
[1:10:44] passed a resolution over the summer
[1:10:46] affirming the city's commitment to
[1:10:48] supporting our most vulnerable learners
[1:10:50] and creating a comprehensive
[1:10:52] district-wide plan. And yet MCCAST
[1:10:55] scores show that only 1% of 10th graders
[1:10:59] eels are meeting expectations. This
[1:11:02] directly contradicts our commitment to
[1:11:04] supporting our highest need students. We
[1:11:07] need to increase equitable access to
[1:11:10] multilingual education and a
[1:11:12] comprehensive plan would mean every
[1:11:14] multilingual learner would have access
[1:11:17] to the same curricular resources and
[1:11:19] support regarding um regardless of the
[1:11:22] school that they attended. As discussed
[1:11:24] at the hearing um yesterday, we made a
[1:11:27] commitment to work well and the
[1:11:29] administration did say yes that they
[1:11:31] were going to work alongside the council
[1:11:34] community, the alliance and educators
[1:11:37] and parents to develop a citywide plan
[1:11:40] that is centered in community. So, I
[1:11:43] want to thank the administration for
[1:11:45] showing up and understanding that this
[1:11:47] moment is calling for true collaborative
[1:11:49] work um and not contradicting and always
[1:11:53] in conflict with each other. So I look
[1:11:54] forward to facilitating that alongside
[1:11:57] the school committee and other
[1:11:59] stakeholders to ensure that our budget
[1:12:02] reflects the comm the committing the
[1:12:05] commitments of to helping our most
[1:12:07] vulnerable learners and that it's really
[1:12:09] vital v vital for parents, advocates,
[1:12:12] and educators and district leaders to
[1:12:14] work in partnership to support our
[1:12:16] students. And if the public would like
[1:12:18] more information about yesterday's
[1:12:20] hearing, uh, please, uh, get in touch
[1:12:22] with the Multilingual Learners Alliance
[1:12:24] and please reach out to our office at
[1:12:26] julia.meia
[1:12:29] boston.gov. Thank you so very much for
[1:12:31] the time and I appreciate the
[1:12:33] opportunity. Thank you.
[1:12:34] Thank you very much.
[1:12:36] Our next speaker is Alexandra Oliver
[1:12:39] Davila followed by Rebecca Ostapuk.
[1:12:44] Alexandra Oliver Dala Davila.
[1:12:59] Hello.
[1:13:00] Sorry. Yes. Sorry. Can you hear me?
[1:13:02] Yes, we can hear you.
[1:13:04] Thank you. Sorry about that. Um, good
[1:13:06] evening school committee members and
[1:13:08] Superintendent Skipper. My name is
[1:13:09] Alexandra Oliver Davila. I am a resident
[1:13:12] of Rosundale and I'm also the executive
[1:13:14] director of Soci Latina. Um I want to
[1:13:18] start off first by thanking the district
[1:13:20] for supporting a bell-to-bell policy and
[1:13:24] creating a distraction-free school day.
[1:13:26] This is going to go a long way towards
[1:13:28] building community, helping students
[1:13:30] connect with one another, reducing
[1:13:33] conflict, increasing well-being, and
[1:13:35] improving focus. As we have asked
[1:13:37] before, we urge that phones be off and
[1:13:40] away from the body, which is the
[1:13:42] recognized best practice, and that
[1:13:45] consequences be supportive rather rather
[1:13:47] than punitive. And finally, a policy is
[1:13:50] only as strong as the culture behind it.
[1:13:53] This is only going to work if it's
[1:13:54] consistent and um there's accountability
[1:13:57] across every school classroom and with
[1:14:00] adults um modeling healthy device use
[1:14:02] themselves. I also want to thank all of
[1:14:04] the young people from Sociad Latina and
[1:14:06] the staff who've been advocating for
[1:14:08] this for many many years and also um
[1:14:11] counselors Pep and Weber and Santana um
[1:14:14] and Mahia who also helped to advocate
[1:14:16] and promote our the work that we were
[1:14:18] doing around this. Um I am here to
[1:14:20] propose a technology advisory committee
[1:14:23] a standing body with formal recommending
[1:14:26] recommending authority not an informal
[1:14:29] feedback group. The TAC would include
[1:14:31] parents and caregivers alongside
[1:14:33] students, educators, and administrators
[1:14:35] with disability and IEP representation
[1:14:38] built in. It would meet quarterly and
[1:14:40] report publicly to the school committee.
[1:14:43] Its scope would cover device policies,
[1:14:46] social media, classroom, screen use, AI
[1:14:48] tools, emerging technologies, and
[1:14:50] community education. A core function
[1:14:52] would be transparency, regular reporting
[1:14:55] on how devices are actually used during
[1:14:57] the school day across all grades. The
[1:14:59] TAC would also work proactively building
[1:15:02] shared community norms and helping
[1:15:03] families with emerging issues before
[1:15:05] they become a crisis. One principle
[1:15:08] should guide all of this work that
[1:15:10] technology companies are not our
[1:15:12] partners in education. They are vendors
[1:15:14] selling a product and their interests
[1:15:16] are not the same as those that we have
[1:15:18] for our students. Most importantly, the
[1:15:20] TAC would develop and vote on policy
[1:15:22] proposals that come before this body for
[1:15:24] action. We're asking for a real seat at
[1:15:27] the table as technology in our schools
[1:15:29] changes rapidly. I'm also asking the
[1:15:33] district to pause student facing AI in
[1:15:35] our schools.
[1:15:37] Uh we've seen this before. Social media
[1:15:39] was introduced with promises of
[1:15:41] connection and we later learned about
[1:15:43] their harm. And we know that uh New York
[1:15:46] City, the largest school system in the
[1:15:48] country, has just put a one-year
[1:15:49] moratorum on student facing generative
[1:15:52] AI and high school students are learning
[1:15:54] to think critically and there's only
[1:15:56] limited pilots. So if New York can do
[1:15:58] that and put student safety and human
[1:16:00] instruction first, then we can too. So
[1:16:03] if we're asking for the same for a pause
[1:16:05] to AI for a year, thank you so much.
[1:16:07] Thank you very much. Our next speaker is
[1:16:11] Rebecca Ostepshuk.
[1:16:21] Please unmute and turn on your camera.
[1:16:23] Thank you.
[1:16:25] Um, hi. My kids have been with BPS for
[1:16:28] four years. Transportation has lost my
[1:16:31] kids on multiple occasions. They haven't
[1:16:34] followed doortodoor correctly, had
[1:16:36] bullying issues that they let go
[1:16:39] unresolved, and bus monitors and bus
[1:16:41] driver issues with following safety and
[1:16:44] driving protocol. My two boys at the
[1:16:46] beginning of the year had what I would
[1:16:49] call a rare gem for transportation. A
[1:16:51] bus driver that this wasn't just a job
[1:16:54] for him, but actually cared for the kids
[1:16:56] and what he did. The kids every morning
[1:16:59] were greeted with a cheerful hello and
[1:17:01] reassured that they would never be late
[1:17:03] to school while he was their driver. He
[1:17:05] set the bar high and he kept that
[1:17:07] promise to my boys. Unfortunately, their
[1:17:10] bus driver's last day was this past
[1:17:12] Friday, October 9th. On Tuesday, the bus
[1:17:15] showed no bus on the Zoom app. I called
[1:17:17] the bus company and they said that the
[1:17:19] bus driver was just getting in and
[1:17:21] leaving the yard. 30 minutes later, the
[1:17:23] bus was still there. I called and was
[1:17:25] told that the bus was having mechanical
[1:17:27] issues, but they fixed it and sent it on
[1:17:30] the way. They didn't fix it. They put a
[1:17:32] band-aid on the problem and the bus
[1:17:34] broke down before it reached the first
[1:17:36] stop. We waited 2 hours for their bus.
[1:17:39] And when the bus driver arrived, it
[1:17:41] wasn't a cheerful hello. There wasn't
[1:17:43] any kind of greeting. Before my kids got
[1:17:45] on the bus, I asked if he was going to
[1:17:47] Troder, which he told me no. And the bus
[1:17:49] monitor had to correct him and said yes,
[1:17:52] he was going to Troder. That day, my two
[1:17:54] sons on IEPs missed half the day because
[1:17:57] of the bus. Today, my sons went out at
[1:18:00] 6:30 and their bus never came to pick
[1:18:02] them up. I called transportation where
[1:18:05] the bus driver tried to say that he
[1:18:07] drove by and we weren't out. However, we
[1:18:09] were outside since 6:30 a.m. and we saw
[1:18:11] him drive down the hill two streets away
[1:18:14] from us, never once, in other words,
[1:18:16] stepping foot on our street. I asked for
[1:18:18] them to turn around and service our door
[1:18:20] to door stop. The new bus driver refused
[1:18:23] to come back. I asked for a replacement
[1:18:26] bus which never showed. I asked for two
[1:18:29] days for supervisors to call back which
[1:18:31] they haven't. Last time the only way I
[1:18:33] received any call back was coming to the
[1:18:35] school committee meeting. So I am back
[1:18:37] again asking for not only the bus
[1:18:39] drivers but the bus company and BPS to
[1:18:42] be held to some accountability for the
[1:18:45] unsafe buses, no show buses, and the bus
[1:18:47] delays to and from school. I have
[1:18:49] experienced repercussions at my job and
[1:18:52] loss of wages due to no show buses and
[1:18:54] buses arriving late both the morning and
[1:18:56] afternoon buses. And I am not the only
[1:18:59] parent. So today I'm coming here as a
[1:19:01] last resort for the ongoing bus issues
[1:19:02] to be heard and changes to be made to
[1:19:05] receive a call back from a supervisor at
[1:19:07] BPS Transportation and hoping that BPS
[1:19:09] will start to think about using a
[1:19:11] different bus company to get our kids to
[1:19:13] and from school safely and on time.
[1:19:15] Thank you.
[1:19:17] Thank you very much.
[1:19:19] Chair, that concludes public comment.
[1:19:20] Yeah.
[1:19:21] Thank you, Miss PraVox, and thank you to
[1:19:23] those of you who spoke this evening and
[1:19:26] shared your perspectives. Your
[1:19:28] testimonies and feedback are very
[1:19:29] important to us. I want the community to
[1:19:32] know that when parents and community
[1:19:34] members come forward and testify about
[1:19:37] specific issues, BPS staff follows up
[1:19:40] with them. This often happens the same
[1:19:42] night with those that are here in
[1:19:44] person. So you are being heard and we
[1:19:46] take your concerns seriously. Thank you.
[1:19:50] Our first two action items this evening
[1:19:52] are the grants for approval totaling
[1:19:55] 82,289,934
[1:20:01] and the inind donations with a total
[1:20:03] estimated value of $21,78.99.
[1:20:09] Now I'd like to turn it over to the
[1:20:10] superintendent for any final comments.
[1:20:12] Wonderful. Thank you, chair. So tonight
[1:20:14] there are 13 grants for your
[1:20:15] consideration totaling uh more than $82
[1:20:18] million. The largest group are the
[1:20:20] federal entitlement grants for this
[1:20:22] school year. Uh and next which includes
[1:20:26] just over $40 million in title one
[1:20:28] funding for districts and public schools
[1:20:31] with high percentages of children from
[1:20:33] lowincome families serving more than
[1:20:35] 41,000 students and 4,000 teachers
[1:20:38] districtwide. There's also more than 2.6
[1:20:41] 6 million in title 2 funding to provide
[1:20:44] supplemental resources to support
[1:20:46] systems of support for excellent
[1:20:48] teaching and leading districtwide.
[1:20:50] There's nearly 2.2 million of title 3
[1:20:53] funding to support our approximately
[1:20:55] 14,900 multilingual learners and 1,000
[1:20:59] bilingual education teachers
[1:21:01] districtwide and nearly 3 million in
[1:21:04] title 4 funding supporting wellness and
[1:21:06] technology programs districtwide.
[1:21:09] The next largest grant is the more than
[1:21:12] $32 million Commonwealth Special
[1:21:14] Education Reimbursement Program. We call
[1:21:17] this circuit breaker. This is
[1:21:19] reimbursing the cost serving 489
[1:21:22] students with disabilities. The
[1:21:24] remaining approximately 2.2 million will
[1:21:27] support a combination of things. College
[1:21:29] and career readiness, health and
[1:21:31] wellness, special education, food,
[1:21:33] nutritional services, facilities, and
[1:21:36] three transformation schools. the Ellis
[1:21:39] Elementary Higginson Lewis K to8 and
[1:21:42] Young Achievers.
[1:21:44] There's also before you uh in two in
[1:21:46] kind donations. The first donation is
[1:21:48] from Kingsington investments for an
[1:21:51] outdoor storage shed, tables, stools,
[1:21:55] and a greenhouse kit and inind labor for
[1:21:58] the Higginson K2 inclusion school worth
[1:22:00] nearly $21,000.
[1:22:02] The second donation is $250 in office
[1:22:06] supplies to succeed Boston from the
[1:22:08] Bostonbased IE partners private equity
[1:22:11] firm. Uh we would ask for the
[1:22:14] committee's granting or acceptance of
[1:22:16] these grants affirmative approval um and
[1:22:19] vote in favor of tonight's grants
[1:22:21] package. I also know that uh Chief Bloom
[1:22:23] is here where there be any questions.
[1:22:26] Great
[1:22:28] questions.
[1:22:31] Thank you madam chair. Um I want to ask
[1:22:34] you about the title one title three
[1:22:37] money federal money you suppose that
[1:22:39] title three used for multilingual
[1:22:43] student part that the money used for
[1:22:45] multilingual students.
[1:22:47] I need to know the last fiscal year what
[1:22:51] is the result? How many school use that
[1:22:54] money for multilingual student? What is
[1:22:57] the result the the last fiscal year
[1:23:01] compared
[1:23:02] this year the money how how how much?
[1:23:08] So um
[1:23:11] thank you for that question. I would say
[1:23:15] um each of our schools is required to
[1:23:17] prepare a plan for the use of that
[1:23:20] funding and then at the end of the year
[1:23:23] we go through sort of a review and
[1:23:25] checklist with them. Um we can we can
[1:23:28] send you all of those plans um and or
[1:23:32] and give you a summary of them. The
[1:23:35] amount of funding for title one is down
[1:23:38] slightly for the current year. So most
[1:23:40] schools that amount is down slightly in
[1:23:43] accordance with the amount of federal
[1:23:44] funding we're receiving. Um
[1:23:48] but the vast majority of that money is
[1:23:50] spent in the first year of the grant and
[1:23:53] any money that isn't spent in f the
[1:23:55] first year is spent on additional summer
[1:23:58] programming for multilingual learners um
[1:24:00] in the second year.
[1:24:03] Thank you. Um
[1:24:06] uh I understand your point. You say I
[1:24:09] pass the information but I think my
[1:24:12] follow my question again is so far what
[1:24:16] happened with the money for the h for
[1:24:19] the multilingual student what is the
[1:24:21] result you say the result how many
[1:24:25] school use how many school not use the
[1:24:28] money what is the result for this
[1:24:32] particular student
[1:24:35] today you can share with the the
[1:24:38] community, with the family.
[1:24:41] So, we can certainly for every
[1:24:43] individual school, we could give you
[1:24:45] information on their allocation,
[1:24:48] uh what types of supports they um bought
[1:24:51] and the amount that they ended up fully
[1:24:53] spending and any amount that was
[1:24:55] unspent. Um the thing we don't
[1:24:58] necessarily have is the connection to
[1:25:00] each individual student in the school um
[1:25:03] and the outcome of that program, but I
[1:25:06] think we can tell you a little bit more
[1:25:07] about what those specific programs are
[1:25:09] at each school. Um so Marcela and I and
[1:25:12] her team will work together um to give
[1:25:15] you sort of a summary of each school's
[1:25:18] programming.
[1:25:19] Yes, please. It's important for the
[1:25:22] family involved to the family because
[1:25:24] the mo the federal money is supposed for
[1:25:27] that when the family say part that they
[1:25:30] make a decision in the school is
[1:25:32] important because sometime the the
[1:25:34] student needed tutoring.
[1:25:36] Right.
[1:25:36] Is supposed to use that money for
[1:25:38] tutoring. Right.
[1:25:39] Right. For help the title one for
[1:25:42] example help the um student loan income.
[1:25:47] Yes.
[1:25:47] And support.
[1:25:49] Yes. It's important the information the
[1:25:53] family uh collect.
[1:25:56] Yes,
[1:25:57] I think that there's I think two things
[1:25:59] that member Polano Garcia has been very
[1:26:01] consistently asking for year to year if
[1:26:03] I remember. Uh so one is to make sure
[1:26:06] that uh on the title three dollars that
[1:26:09] it's being directed appropriately to our
[1:26:10] multilingual learners. And so I think
[1:26:13] having the schools be able to give
[1:26:15] examples of the kinds of programs that
[1:26:16] they're doing specifically for our
[1:26:19] multilingual learners. I think the
[1:26:20] second is that there was one year I want
[1:26:23] to say it was like three years ago where
[1:26:25] there was um a cons an an amount of
[1:26:28] unspent money uh by a certain portion of
[1:26:31] schools and we ended up funding the
[1:26:34] summer programming for multilingual
[1:26:36] learners specifically for that. And so I
[1:26:38] think that's the other piece like I
[1:26:41] think member Palano Garcia also wants us
[1:26:43] to make sure we're educating the schools
[1:26:46] to use the money because that's what
[1:26:47] it's there for. Right.
[1:26:48] That's that's a a a great point. And I
[1:26:50] think the other thing um that uh Marcel
[1:26:54] is working on. I won't make her give you
[1:26:55] all the details now because I know she
[1:26:57] doesn't want uh to to talk you through
[1:26:59] all of it publicly, but her team's doing
[1:27:01] some great work working in collaboration
[1:27:03] with the Office of Family and Community
[1:27:05] Advancement on the education we're
[1:27:08] providing to families about what's
[1:27:10] available in the Title One programs for
[1:27:13] their schools. Um there's actually some
[1:27:15] specific guidance she's worked
[1:27:17] collaboratively with that team to
[1:27:19] provide to all schools in the district.
[1:27:22] Um it's very exciting work that they're
[1:27:24] doing, Marcela and her team are doing
[1:27:25] this year.
[1:27:27] Thank you.
[1:27:28] And title three is managed centrally a
[1:27:31] different than title one. So for title
[1:27:34] one is what David was um referring that
[1:27:37] the schools create the plan and then we
[1:27:40] follow up through the year and we make
[1:27:41] sure that um they spend um 100% of their
[1:27:45] their allocation and if they don't then
[1:27:48] we
[1:27:49] use it in the second year. I I will say
[1:27:51] the other thing that Marcela and her
[1:27:54] team have been working on is uh having
[1:27:56] improved goals and outcomes in the um
[1:28:01] for each of the grants. So if you look
[1:28:03] at tonight's package for you for title
[1:28:05] three, there are some more specific
[1:28:08] goals for that spending for multilingual
[1:28:10] learners listed than we've had in prior
[1:28:12] years. And at the end of the year next
[1:28:15] fall, we'll be able to come back to you
[1:28:17] and talk to you a little bit more about
[1:28:18] the results for those outcomes.
[1:28:20] Thank you.
[1:28:27] I just briefly want to say thank you. I
[1:28:29] mean the public probably cannot see this
[1:28:31] but we did receive a bunch of
[1:28:33] information about each of these grant is
[1:28:36] um unfortunately that for personal
[1:28:40] reasons member um Stephen Arin is not
[1:28:43] here but he will be very happy. I know
[1:28:45] he's been asking for this for for a long
[1:28:48] time. So thank you so much. it. We
[1:28:50] definitely have a better understanding
[1:28:51] of what we are voting when we approve
[1:28:53] these grants. Thank you.
[1:28:55] Thank you. And definitely a shout out to
[1:28:57] member Alkins for his partnership in
[1:28:59] helping to design some of this paperwork
[1:29:01] so we so we did it right.
[1:29:08] Same question around the uh how the
[1:29:10] money is used. How do you know that they
[1:29:12] are using? because I see smart goals
[1:29:14] usually smart go have a measurement
[1:29:16] piece there and how do that's how does
[1:29:19] it come back so we'll know that they are
[1:29:23] using the money for what they say
[1:29:25] have it
[1:29:26] so um this fall we're launching our
[1:29:30] redesigned ground grant outcomes
[1:29:32] reporting process um where we'll be
[1:29:36] reporting back on those specific
[1:29:38] outcomes unfortunately this fall's
[1:29:41] report is the last year's goals, which
[1:29:43] are still the old format of goals, so
[1:29:46] they're a little bit less specific than
[1:29:48] what the committee's been looking for.
[1:29:50] But with these specific smart goals that
[1:29:53] Marcela and her team have developed this
[1:29:55] year, um we are going to be in a really
[1:29:58] good place next year to come back and
[1:29:59] say, you know, um if just looking at
[1:30:03] title, what was this? Title four.
[1:30:06] Um, we have an inc a proposal for an
[1:30:09] increased percentage of students who are
[1:30:11] participating in at least two career
[1:30:13] exploration activities within their my
[1:30:15] cap from 55% to 68%. We'll be able to
[1:30:18] come back and tell you did we hit that
[1:30:21] 68% goal um using this funding for next
[1:30:24] year.
[1:30:28] Thank you.
[1:30:31] uh just for my uh education
[1:30:37] cross funding
[1:30:40] given the concern of the OIG
[1:30:43] let's I this is just an assumption
[1:30:48] say you have a big amount of money for
[1:30:53] of grant for curriculum and instruction
[1:30:57] um curriculum and instruction uction
[1:31:02] and then you also have money for
[1:31:04] bilingual
[1:31:06] uh English language acquisition. Let me
[1:31:09] just give you a a scenario that I had
[1:31:14] encountered way back when I worked for
[1:31:15] this school committee. I mean for for
[1:31:17] the Boston school way back when title 7
[1:31:20] was not the title one.
[1:31:23] say if uh
[1:31:26] in in developing
[1:31:31] uh what's the word again um high quality
[1:31:35] uh curriculum
[1:31:37] high quality uh education curriculum
[1:31:41] that is used for
[1:31:43] uh the the standard uh classroom
[1:31:48] and then there are
[1:31:52] bilingual students, linguistic minority
[1:31:55] students who are now
[1:31:59] in a sense immersed into those schools.
[1:32:03] um
[1:32:05] the curriculum development uh budget
[1:32:10] from uh title one
[1:32:13] uh from title three.
[1:32:16] Can it be somehow infused into into
[1:32:21] title one for
[1:32:25] a better curriculum that would fit the
[1:32:29] needs of the linguistic minority zones?
[1:32:32] That's one that's that's a question. The
[1:32:34] second question is given the fact that O
[1:32:36] a
[1:32:38] has identified problematic issues
[1:32:43] with
[1:32:46] these kind of um transactions.
[1:32:50] Uh I know that back then that is a
[1:32:53] process that is allowable. I don't know
[1:32:55] what now whether it is allowable or not,
[1:32:58] permissible or not but uh but if if it
[1:33:04] is if it is that's great and and there
[1:33:06] there of course are safeguards to ensure
[1:33:10] that whatever the cross funding you know
[1:33:14] gear forward toward helping students are
[1:33:18] in line with the compliance requirement.
[1:33:21] So um certainly there are possibilities
[1:33:24] there. We work closely with DESIE to
[1:33:27] ensure um that any crowfunding we're
[1:33:30] doing is allowable. Um most of the time
[1:33:34] though, we actually don't require
[1:33:37] specialized crossf funding to be able to
[1:33:39] accomplish what you're suggesting. So
[1:33:42] for Title 3 funding, for example, um if
[1:33:45] we're supporting curriculum initiatives,
[1:33:47] even if they're in the general education
[1:33:49] setting or a sheltered immersion
[1:33:51] setting, um we can still use Title 3
[1:33:54] funding for that without crossf funding
[1:33:58] um as long as it's still in support of
[1:34:00] multilingual um education. So and
[1:34:03] multilingual learners. So, uh, we work
[1:34:05] closely as we're developing the grant
[1:34:07] budgets with our colleagues at the
[1:34:09] Department of Elementary and Secondary
[1:34:10] Education to ensure that everything's
[1:34:13] allowable and if cross funding is
[1:34:15] required, there is a mechanism for us to
[1:34:17] do that.
[1:34:18] Thank you.
[1:34:23] Anything else?
[1:34:27] Just a question. When will we be getting
[1:34:29] our updated report on the grant
[1:34:32] outcomes?
[1:34:34] Um, I think it's I I'm not uh totally
[1:34:38] sure with the agenda um for the next few
[1:34:41] meetings, but it it's in in the fall in
[1:34:44] this fall,
[1:34:45] right? I also think it's what we talked
[1:34:47] about was embedding it as part of
[1:34:49] presentations like depending on what
[1:34:51] something was being funded. So if we for
[1:34:54] instance um you know if we're if we're
[1:34:57] talking about uh chronic absenteeism and
[1:35:00] student support you know we can refer to
[1:35:02] the grants that are supporting that. I
[1:35:04] think Marcela's tool I've caught a
[1:35:06] glimpse of it. Um, it's really
[1:35:08] impressive because I do think it'll
[1:35:10] allow us to be able to better report to
[1:35:13] you the individual like as we file um
[1:35:17] with the grantee with the grtors when we
[1:35:19] file those reports. We'll be able to
[1:35:21] link those so that you can see that
[1:35:24] because we're constantly updating the
[1:35:25] grtors on all of these grants including
[1:35:28] the title grants and so we'll be able to
[1:35:30] link to that and that will just make it
[1:35:32] much easier for you guys to be able to
[1:35:34] track the outcome.
[1:35:36] Great. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. So,
[1:35:38] if there are no further questions, I'll
[1:35:40] entertain a motion to approve the grants
[1:35:42] as presented. Is there a motion?
[1:35:45] So, move.
[1:35:45] Thank you. Is there a second?
[1:35:46] Second.
[1:35:47] Is there any discussion or objection to
[1:35:49] the motion? Is there any objection to
[1:35:51] approving the grants by unanimous
[1:35:53] consent? Hearing none, the grants are
[1:35:56] approved. We'll now continue with the
[1:35:59] inind donations. If there's no further
[1:36:01] discussion, I'll now entertain a motion
[1:36:03] to approve the inind donation as
[1:36:06] presented. Is there a motion?
[1:36:08] Thank you. Is there a second?
[1:36:10] Second.
[1:36:10] Thank you. Is there any discussion
[1:36:11] objection to the motion? Is there any
[1:36:14] objection to approving the grants by
[1:36:15] unanimous consent?
[1:36:18] Hearing none, the inind donations are
[1:36:20] approved. Thank you.
[1:36:26] Okay. Our third action item this evening
[1:36:28] is the approval of the Horus man charter
[1:36:31] governing update for the Dudley Street
[1:36:33] Neighborhood Charter School,
[1:36:35] specifically the memorandum of
[1:36:37] understanding a that was presented at
[1:36:39] the September 16th meeting. I would like
[1:36:42] to turn it over to the superintendent
[1:36:44] for any final comments before opening it
[1:36:46] up to the committee for any questions or
[1:36:48] comments.
[1:36:49] Great. Thank you, Chair. So tonight
[1:36:50] we're asking the school committee to
[1:36:52] vote to approve the Dudley Street
[1:36:54] Neighborhood Charter School MOUA.
[1:36:57] At the last school committee meeting on
[1:36:58] September 14th, uh you heard assistant
[1:37:00] superintendent of autonomous schools,
[1:37:02] Dr. Irv Ano, who presented on the MOA on
[1:37:06] the MOOA for the Dudley Street
[1:37:08] Neighborhood Charter School. As a
[1:37:10] reminder, Horus man indistrict charter
[1:37:13] schools are independent public schools
[1:37:15] that operate under five-year charters
[1:37:17] granted by the Commonwealth Board of
[1:37:19] Elementary and Secondary Education. Each
[1:37:22] of the Horus man charter schools must
[1:37:25] operate under a memorandum of
[1:37:26] understanding with us, which we call
[1:37:30] MOUA.
[1:37:31] The MOUA aligns with Horus man schools
[1:37:34] that have come before the school
[1:37:36] committee with some provisions that are
[1:37:38] specific to the Dudley Street
[1:37:40] Neighborhood Charter School, including
[1:37:42] the district's commitment to collaborate
[1:37:45] with the school to establish a K12
[1:37:48] academic pathway to Dearborn STEM
[1:37:50] Academy. Uh Irvy is here to answer any
[1:37:53] additional questions where you to have
[1:37:55] them. But again, we would ask for a
[1:37:57] favorable vote.
[1:38:00] Okay. Anyone have any questions,
[1:38:03] concerns?
[1:38:05] Yeah.
[1:38:05] I just have one quick question that
[1:38:07] bridges um this vote and our next
[1:38:10] presentation on accountability uh in
[1:38:12] light of Horus man charters. Just can
[1:38:14] you clarify uh how they factor into our
[1:38:18] accountability data?
[1:38:20] Yeah. So, they currently don't um they
[1:38:22] are literally standalone LEAs. Uh nor do
[1:38:25] they count toward our enrollment.
[1:38:27] However, there was a change of law which
[1:38:30] will uh enable beginning July 1st for
[1:38:32] them to count both in accountability and
[1:38:34] enrollment formally for the district. We
[1:38:37] are the only ones that have horse mans
[1:38:40] in the state.
[1:38:41] The only district in the state
[1:38:42] the only district in the state that has
[1:38:43] horse mans.
[1:38:46] Thank you.
[1:38:48] My understanding is that the W Street
[1:38:50] Neighborhood Charter School is a school
[1:38:52] of recognition. So congratulations
[1:38:56] and what are what are you doing there?
[1:38:59] How are you getting those results?
[1:39:01] So Irv is assistant superintendent uh
[1:39:04] for the autonomous schools in general.
[1:39:06] Um the principal isn't here for the
[1:39:10] Dudley um K uh K invite them to come.
[1:39:14] Correct. Yeah. But they are an
[1:39:16] outstanding school and um very you know
[1:39:19] we're very supportive of them much like
[1:39:21] the rest of our horse mans. We work
[1:39:22] exceptionally close with them. They're
[1:39:24] part of our fabric, which is why now
[1:39:26] they formally will count in enrollment
[1:39:28] and accountability. Um, but I think if
[1:39:30] you were to go in there, uh, you would
[1:39:33] find it's, uh, it's a small school, but
[1:39:35] it's very intimate. Uh, teacher, the
[1:39:37] educators know each of the kids, the
[1:39:39] principal knows the kids, they use their
[1:39:42] autonomies, uh, in ways with the
[1:39:44] curriculum, uh, but also with, uh,
[1:39:47] schedule to be able to maximize resource
[1:39:49] to schedule. Um they're just a very high
[1:39:52] functioning school.
[1:39:54] Thank you.
[1:39:55] And jump in. I know you're you're new to
[1:39:58] to the to the role, but if you want to
[1:40:00] add anything.
[1:40:01] No. Uh what what I wanted to say is you
[1:40:04] you said it so well. Uh Superintendent
[1:40:06] Skip Skipper. uh I I think the smallness
[1:40:11] of the school that is geared to change
[1:40:14] or create the conditions so that every
[1:40:16] student is able to maximize their
[1:40:18] learning is the key of their success.
[1:40:21] Thank you.
[1:40:24] Anyone else?
[1:40:27] Okay. If there are no further questions,
[1:40:29] I will entertain a motion to approve the
[1:40:31] least neighborhood charter schools
[1:40:33] memorandum of understanding a as
[1:40:35] presented. Is there a motion?
[1:40:38] So moved.
[1:40:38] Thank you. Is there a second?
[1:40:40] Second.
[1:40:41] Thank you. Is there any discussion or
[1:40:42] objection to the motion? Miss Pavix,
[1:40:44] will you please call the role?
[1:40:46] Thank you, Chair. Dr. Alkins, Mr.
[1:40:48] Peralta,
[1:40:49] yes.
[1:40:50] Miss Palanka Garcia,
[1:40:51] yes.
[1:40:52] Miss Torres,
[1:40:54] yes.
[1:40:55] Mr. Tran,
[1:40:56] yes.
[1:40:57] Miss Garrett,
[1:40:58] yes.
[1:40:58] Miss Robinson,
[1:40:59] yes.
[1:41:00] The motion is approved.
[1:41:01] Thank you.
[1:41:05] Right. Our next one. Okay. Our next vote
[1:41:09] is the tenative collective bargaining
[1:41:11] agreement local union 1952 painters and
[1:41:14] allied trades dis district council
[1:41:17] number 35 representing custodians and
[1:41:19] the Boston school committee effective
[1:41:21] September 1st, 2026 through August 31st,
[1:41:25] 2027. That was presented earlier
[1:41:28] tonight. If there are no further
[1:41:29] questions, I will entertain a motion as
[1:41:32] presented. Is there a motion? So moved.
[1:41:35] Thank you. Is there a second?
[1:41:36] Second.
[1:41:37] Is there any discussion or objection to
[1:41:39] the motion?
[1:41:41] Miss Prax, will you please call the
[1:41:42] role?
[1:41:42] Thank you, Chair. Dr. Alkins, Mr.
[1:41:44] Peralta,
[1:41:45] yes.
[1:41:46] Miss Panco Garcia,
[1:41:47] yes.
[1:41:48] Miss Torres,
[1:41:49] yes.
[1:41:49] Mr. Tran,
[1:41:50] yes.
[1:41:51] Miss Garrett,
[1:41:52] yes.
[1:41:52] Miss Robinson,
[1:41:53] yes.
[1:41:54] The motion is approved.
[1:41:55] All right. Thank you. Our last vote
[1:41:57] tonight is the fiscal year 27
[1:41:59] supplemental appropriation request
[1:42:02] totalingly $787,5001
[1:42:06] to support the collective bargaining
[1:42:08] agreement between local union number
[1:42:10] 1952 painters and allied trade district
[1:42:13] council number 35 custodians and the
[1:42:16] school committee of the city of Boston
[1:42:18] that was presented earlier tonight. If
[1:42:20] there are no further questions I will
[1:42:22] entertain a motion as presented. Is
[1:42:25] there a motion? So moved.
[1:42:26] Thank you. Is there a second?
[1:42:28] Second.
[1:42:28] Is there any discussion or objection to
[1:42:30] the motion?
[1:42:31] Miss Pavix, will you please call the
[1:42:33] role?
[1:42:33] Thank you, Chair. Dr. Alkins. Mr.
[1:42:35] Peralta.
[1:42:36] Yes.
[1:42:37] Miss Palanka Garcia.
[1:42:38] Yes.
[1:42:38] Miss Torres,
[1:42:39] yes.
[1:42:40] Mr. Tran,
[1:42:41] yes.
[1:42:41] Miss Garrett,
[1:42:42] yes.
[1:42:42] Miss Robinson,
[1:42:44] yes.
[1:42:45] The motion's approved.
[1:42:46] Thanks. Um, we will be shortly
[1:42:48] transitioning to our report, but we're
[1:42:50] going to give everyone a quick fivem
[1:42:52] minute break. So,
[1:42:53] thanks. Y
[1:42:57] Five minutes.
[1:42:58] Five minutes. Quick.
[1:42:59] Yes.
[1:52:43] Yeah, that was terrible.
[1:52:47] Our only report this evening is the 2026
[1:52:50] state assessment and accountability
[1:52:53] results. Now I'd like to turn it over to
[1:52:55] the superintendent for introductory
[1:52:57] comments.
[1:52:58] Wonderful. Thank you.
[1:53:02] Uh on September 22nd, the Department of
[1:53:04] Elementary and Secondary Education or
[1:53:07] what we call DESIE released the 2026
[1:53:10] accountability results and MCCAST data
[1:53:13] for schools and districts across the
[1:53:14] state. As a reminder, students in grades
[1:53:17] 3 through 8 and grade 10 took the MCCAST
[1:53:20] in the spring of 2026 in ELA, math,
[1:53:24] science, and civics. Also, a reminder
[1:53:27] that the MCCAST is no longer a
[1:53:29] graduation requirement.
[1:53:31] I'll keep my comments brief because
[1:53:33] tonight's presentation is long um but
[1:53:35] thorough. Um shortly, I'll turn it over
[1:53:37] to the team. Deputy Superintendent of
[1:53:39] Academics, Dr. Simone Wright, chief of
[1:53:42] data information and systems
[1:53:43] improvement, Monica Hogan, Andrew
[1:53:46] Rollins, the executive director of
[1:53:47] school and district transformation, and
[1:53:50] Courtney Sheff, the principal of
[1:53:51] Blackstone Elementary School. Uh we also
[1:53:54] have um one of our leaders is under the
[1:53:57] weather. So we have the regional school
[1:53:59] soup, Christine Landry, um of uh region
[1:54:03] 4, who will represent the Raphael
[1:54:04] Hernandez School. Um each of them will
[1:54:07] discuss school's growth and achievement.
[1:54:10] The team will also provide aggregated
[1:54:12] and disagregated data updates on three
[1:54:14] of the proposed success measures, grades
[1:54:16] 3 to six, 3 to8 MCCAST achievement for
[1:54:20] ELA and math, progress in English
[1:54:23] language proficiency for multilingual
[1:54:25] learners, and chronic absenteeism.
[1:54:28] Although the success measures have not
[1:54:29] been approved by the school committee
[1:54:31] yet, this is the first set of measures
[1:54:33] that will be used as a baseline going
[1:54:35] forward. These results reflect progress
[1:54:37] across the district while reminding us
[1:54:39] that we cannot shift our focus from the
[1:54:42] goal of improving student academic
[1:54:43] performance and accelerating learning
[1:54:46] for specific student groups. I'm proud
[1:54:49] that we met our target for four-year
[1:54:51] cohort graduation rate and are
[1:54:53] continuing to reduce chronic absenteeism
[1:54:56] while exceeding our targets for students
[1:54:58] completing advanced coursework before
[1:55:00] graduation and dropout. At the same
[1:55:02] time, we recognize the need to improve
[1:55:05] proficiency levels across the district
[1:55:07] and ensure each student is prepared for
[1:55:09] success beyond the classroom. We will
[1:55:12] continue to invest in resources that
[1:55:14] support instructional improvements,
[1:55:16] expanding access to advanced and
[1:55:18] rigorous academic programs, and creating
[1:55:20] more learning opportunities to move this
[1:55:22] work forward. At this point, I will turn
[1:55:24] it over to Dr. Wright.
[1:55:27] Thank Thank you, Superintendent. Good
[1:55:30] evening, Chair Robinson, Vice Chair
[1:55:32] Scared, and members of the Boston School
[1:55:34] Committee. I am here with leaders from
[1:55:37] across the academics team to share how
[1:55:39] BPS performed on state assessments and
[1:55:42] the accountability framework during the
[1:55:45] 2526 school year.
[1:55:48] We do want to acknowledge that there is
[1:55:50] quite a bit of summitive data available
[1:55:53] as it pertains to the student experience
[1:55:56] interconnected to the accountability
[1:55:58] framework.
[1:56:00] For the purpose of today, we will
[1:56:03] primarily focus on the data related to
[1:56:06] the proposed district success measures,
[1:56:08] district and school trends specific to
[1:56:11] the accountability framework and the
[1:56:13] performance of transformation schools.
[1:56:16] We will then close with commitments to
[1:56:19] support increased student performance
[1:56:21] across BPS.
[1:56:25] I do want to connect a few dots.
[1:56:29] Building on the presentation in
[1:56:30] September about the strategic roadmap
[1:56:33] and the district success measures. Much
[1:56:36] of the data shared today will be
[1:56:38] disagregated and fulfills the spirit of
[1:56:42] the updated opportunity and achievement
[1:56:44] gap policy. our northstar for the
[1:56:47] district.
[1:56:48] In addition, I do want to acknowledge
[1:56:50] that the data for MCCAST access and
[1:56:54] chronic absenteeism will serve as the
[1:56:58] district baseline for the five-year
[1:57:00] targets that will be shared later this
[1:57:02] fall.
[1:57:03] I will now transition the presentation
[1:57:06] to Chief Hogan to continue to frame the
[1:57:08] district success measures and share
[1:57:11] bright spots and opportunities.
[1:57:15] Thank you, Dr. Wright. Um, as you may
[1:57:18] remember, Dr. Rose and I shared this
[1:57:19] slide in September's presentation
[1:57:21] outlining the proposed success measures
[1:57:24] and the expected data release calendar.
[1:57:26] As Dr. Wright shared, tonight's
[1:57:28] presentation includes three of the four
[1:57:30] success measures listed in October,
[1:57:32] MCCAST achievement for grades three
[1:57:34] through eight, progress towards English
[1:57:36] language proficiency, and chronic
[1:57:38] absenteeism.
[1:57:40] As a reminder, the high school
[1:57:42] achievement measure included as part of
[1:57:43] the district's success measures remains
[1:57:45] under development as we await more
[1:57:47] clarity on the statewide graduation
[1:57:49] requirements.
[1:57:53] So, we'll start briefly with a slide
[1:57:55] comparing Boston's performance on the
[1:57:57] district success measures to our urban
[1:57:59] district peers within Massachusetts as
[1:58:02] well as the state overall.
[1:58:04] The set of columns in blue include the
[1:58:06] percentage of students meeting and
[1:58:07] exceeding expectations on the MCCAST for
[1:58:09] grades three through eight. In ELA,
[1:58:12] Boston's performance was stable, while
[1:58:14] peer districts and the state experienced
[1:58:16] declines.
[1:58:18] In math, Boston saw a 1 percentage point
[1:58:21] increase while most of our peers in the
[1:58:22] state had no change.
[1:58:25] The green columns include the percentage
[1:58:28] of multilingual learners who are making
[1:58:30] progress towards English language
[1:58:31] proficiency as measured by the access
[1:58:34] assessment. Boston saw an increase for
[1:58:37] 2026, but it was smaller than most of
[1:58:39] our peer districts.
[1:58:41] And the final columns in purple show the
[1:58:43] percentage of students who are
[1:58:44] chronically absent. Boston saw one of
[1:58:47] the larger declines in chronic
[1:58:48] absenteeism, which as a reminder is
[1:58:50] positive. We want to see this measure go
[1:58:52] down. Um, but we also have a higher rate
[1:58:55] of chronically absent students than our
[1:58:57] peer districts.
[1:59:00] So, we'll now transition into looking at
[1:59:02] the 2026 MCCAST results for the
[1:59:04] district. As part of the presentation,
[1:59:07] I'll go into detail on the grades 3
[1:59:09] through 8 MCCAST results in ELA and
[1:59:11] math. In the appendex of this
[1:59:13] presentation, you will find data slides
[1:59:15] for grades 10 ELA and math, high school
[1:59:18] science, grades five and eight science,
[1:59:21] and grade 8 civics. And as a reminder,
[1:59:24] data for the district in this
[1:59:26] presentation does not include results
[1:59:28] for our five Horus man charter schools
[1:59:30] as they are considered their own LEA.
[1:59:34] So we'll start tonight with grades 3
[1:59:36] through 8 ELA. Um before I get into the
[1:59:39] results, I want to take a moment to
[1:59:41] explain the data points that we talk
[1:59:43] about. For achievement, we look at
[1:59:45] scaled scores on the assessment. Scaled
[1:59:48] scores range from 440 to 560 and are
[1:59:52] grouped into four categories that we
[1:59:54] refer to as performance levels.
[1:59:56] Exceeding expectations, meeting
[1:59:58] expectations,
[2:00:00] partially meeting expectations, and not
[2:00:02] meeting expectations. A score of 500 is
[2:00:05] considered proficient and on grade
[2:00:07] level.
[2:00:10] On the left hand side of this slide, you
[2:00:13] will see the green table that includes
[2:00:15] the percentage of students meeting and
[2:00:17] exceeding expectations over the last
[2:00:19] four years, disagregated by major
[2:00:22] student groups.
[2:00:24] Compared to 2025, the percentage of
[2:00:26] students meeting or exceeding
[2:00:28] expectations was stable with all student
[2:00:30] groups seeing results between plus or
[2:00:32] minus two percentage points.
[2:00:35] The graph on the right shows the average
[2:00:38] composite scaled score by student group.
[2:00:41] The green dotted line is at 500, which
[2:00:44] is that proficiency score line. Only two
[2:00:48] student groups have an average scaled
[2:00:49] score over 500 are Asian and white
[2:00:52] students.
[2:00:57] When we look at MCCAST results, we also
[2:00:59] look at growth. Um, so the MCCAST
[2:01:01] measures growth using what is called the
[2:01:03] student growth percentile or SGP.
[2:01:06] Every student with at least two years of
[2:01:08] MCCAST results receives an individual
[2:01:10] SGP.
[2:01:12] This number compares their performance
[2:01:14] in the second year to the performance of
[2:01:16] their academic peers or in other words
[2:01:19] to students who had the same score as
[2:01:22] them the previous year.
[2:01:24] This ranking determines their percentile
[2:01:26] which is then averaged to aggregate for
[2:01:28] different groups.
[2:01:30] This calculation does not take any
[2:01:32] demographics into account. Students are
[2:01:34] compared to other students with the same
[2:01:36] score regardless of race, disability,
[2:01:39] income, or language status.
[2:01:42] Typical growth is defined as between 40
[2:01:45] and 60. So when we look at the grades 3
[2:01:48] through 8 ELA MCCAST data, average SGP
[2:01:51] for all students and across groups, we
[2:01:54] see that all groups at the district
[2:01:55] level attained an average SGP in that
[2:01:58] typical range.
[2:02:02] So, we'll now move to talk about grades
[2:02:04] three through eight math.
[2:02:10] This slide is the same format as ELA um
[2:02:13] but shows achievement data for grades 3
[2:02:14] through 8 math. When you look at the
[2:02:16] slides in the appendex, they will all
[2:02:18] also follow similar formats.
[2:02:21] Um, in math, the percentage of all
[2:02:24] students meeting or exceeding
[2:02:25] expectations increased by 1 percentage
[2:02:28] points. Um, and most student groups saw
[2:02:30] changes within plus or minus two
[2:02:33] percentage points. Um, we also saw
[2:02:35] particularly larger increases in grades
[2:02:38] six and eight in the percentage of
[2:02:39] students meeting or exceeding
[2:02:41] expectations.
[2:02:48] Um and so this is the slide looking at
[2:02:51] grades three through eight math for
[2:02:53] growth. Um so again that's the student
[2:02:55] growth percentile. Um all student groups
[2:02:58] in math again remained in the typical
[2:03:00] range of 40 to 60 and we did have three
[2:03:04] grade levels with an SGP over 50. Grades
[2:03:06] five, six and eight.
[2:03:15] So we'll now transition to talk about
[2:03:17] the 2026 Access for ELLL's assessment.
[2:03:20] This is the required assessment for all
[2:03:22] multilingual learners that is focused on
[2:03:24] English language proficiency.
[2:03:27] In 2026, WEDA, which is the organization
[2:03:30] that creates the assessment, um rolled
[2:03:32] out a new assessment to reflect the
[2:03:34] increased rigor of the 2020 WEDA English
[2:03:38] language development framework, which
[2:03:39] BPS teachers use in instruction.
[2:03:42] The 2026 results are a new baseline for
[2:03:45] measuring student growth and the
[2:03:47] proficiency levels released in 2026 were
[2:03:49] aligned to the 2025 assessment by WEDA
[2:03:53] for instructional use and for
[2:03:54] determining if students met progress
[2:03:56] targets andor if they met exit criteria.
[2:04:04] So making progress is the measure that
[2:04:06] we look at on access and that means that
[2:04:09] a student is on track to attaining
[2:04:11] English language proficiency within six
[2:04:13] years of entering a Massachusetts
[2:04:15] school. A student has made progress if
[2:04:18] they met or exceeded their individual
[2:04:20] progress target.
[2:04:22] This slide shows the longitudinal trend
[2:04:24] at the district level. Um, the
[2:04:26] percentage of students making progress
[2:04:28] has increased eight percentage points
[2:04:29] since 2023 with students in grades 1
[2:04:32] through 8 having higher rates than
[2:04:34] students in grades 9 through 12.
[2:04:41] The next slide shows disagregated data
[2:04:43] for making progress um by race and for
[2:04:46] multilingual learners with disabilities.
[2:04:49] um all students all student groups have
[2:04:51] seen an increase in this in the
[2:04:53] percentage of students making progress
[2:04:54] since 2023.
[2:05:00] We also look at meeting exit criteria on
[2:05:02] the access assessment. Um so this is
[2:05:05] defined as earning an overall composite
[2:05:07] score of 4.2 or higher and a literacy
[2:05:11] score of 3.9 or higher.
[2:05:14] Um, this slide shows disagregated data
[2:05:16] for meeting exit criteria. Um, and all
[2:05:19] student groups have seen an increase in
[2:05:21] students meeting exit criteria since
[2:05:22] 2023 as well.
[2:05:29] We'll now move into chronic absenteeism.
[2:05:32] So, as a reminder, chronic absenteeism
[2:05:34] is defined as missing 10% or more of
[2:05:36] days enrolled. A chronically absent
[2:05:38] student enrolled for the entire school
[2:05:40] year would miss 18 or more days of
[2:05:42] school.
[2:05:45] We'll start with looking at chronic
[2:05:47] absenteeism for our non non- high school
[2:05:49] grades, specifically grades 1 through 8,
[2:05:52] which is what is included in the
[2:05:54] accountability system. Um, all groups
[2:05:56] have seen a one-year and fiveyear
[2:05:58] decrease in chronic absenteeism, which
[2:06:01] again is a positive thing.
[2:06:07] And moving into high school grades, um
[2:06:09] this slide shows the same disagregated
[2:06:11] data for specifically grades 9 through
[2:06:13] 12 as part of the accountability system.
[2:06:16] Um almost all of our student groups saw
[2:06:18] a decline um in chronic absenteeism
[2:06:20] compared to last year.
[2:06:26] We know that attendance is critical for
[2:06:28] student achievement. This slide displays
[2:06:31] the difference in MCCAST scores between
[2:06:32] chronically absent students and students
[2:06:35] who are not chronically absent. The
[2:06:38] difference column shows what that gap in
[2:06:40] scores is. Um, and the gap is actually
[2:06:44] larger in math. Um, so chronically
[2:06:47] absent students do worse in math
[2:06:50] compared to their not chronically absent
[2:06:52] peers than they do in ELA.
[2:07:00] So we'll now transition to talking about
[2:07:02] the accountability system.
[2:07:08] Before I go into the accountability
[2:07:10] system results, I want to share more
[2:07:13] information about how the state
[2:07:14] accountability system works. So there
[2:07:16] are two components of the state
[2:07:18] accountability system. The first is the
[2:07:20] criterion reference component which
[2:07:22] measures a district's or school's
[2:07:24] progress relative towards their
[2:07:26] individual improvement targets.
[2:07:28] This gets reported as a target
[2:07:30] percentage.
[2:07:33] The second component is what we call the
[2:07:35] normative component which measures the
[2:07:37] performance of a school compared to
[2:07:39] other schools across the commonwealth
[2:07:41] that serve similar grades.
[2:07:43] This is reported as a percentile.
[2:07:47] All schools and districts are then
[2:07:49] placed into two broad categories, either
[2:07:51] requiring assistance or not requiring
[2:07:53] assistance. Um the spectrum at the
[2:07:56] bottom shows the groups within those
[2:07:57] categories. The five groups in blue are
[2:08:01] the not requiring assistance and the two
[2:08:03] groups in red are the requiring
[2:08:05] assistance category.
[2:08:11] So we'll start with the district's
[2:08:12] overall accountability classification.
[2:08:15] Boston was classified as not requiring
[2:08:17] assistance or intervention and making
[2:08:20] moderate progress towards targets. Our
[2:08:23] target percentage was 49%.
[2:08:26] Which is similar to previous years.
[2:08:30] The table at the bottom shows the
[2:08:31] distribution of districts by
[2:08:33] accountability classification.
[2:08:35] The orange line represents the category
[2:08:37] Boston is in with 180 other districts
[2:08:40] across the Commonwealth.
[2:08:45] Um, this slide shows the detail behind
[2:08:47] the district's target percentage. So,
[2:08:49] how did we do relative to our targets at
[2:08:52] the district level? When you look up a
[2:08:54] school or district accountability
[2:08:56] results on the DESIE website, you will
[2:08:58] see a visual that looks like this.
[2:09:02] Highlighted in green are the areas where
[2:09:03] the district met or exceeded our target
[2:09:06] and earned three or four points,
[2:09:08] respectively. This includes math growth
[2:09:11] for grades three through eight, ELA and
[2:09:13] math growth for high school, graduation
[2:09:16] and dropout rates, English language
[2:09:18] proficiency progress for non- high
[2:09:20] school grades, chronic absenteeism for
[2:09:23] all grades, and advanced coursework
[2:09:25] completion for high school students. I
[2:09:28] particularly want to highlight the
[2:09:29] advanced coursework data for this past
[2:09:31] year. The percentage of students in
[2:09:33] grades 11 and 12 completing advanced
[2:09:35] coursework increased to 74.9% in 2026,
[2:09:40] meaning that three out of four high
[2:09:41] school students participated in advanced
[2:09:43] coursework.
[2:09:46] Highlighted in red are the areas where
[2:09:48] the district's performance declined and
[2:09:50] we earned zero points in the
[2:09:51] accountability system. This includes
[2:09:54] achievement in all subjects for high
[2:09:56] school grades as well as English
[2:09:58] language proficiency progress for high
[2:10:00] school.
[2:10:01] We did not go through the slides for
[2:10:02] MCCAST high school data tonight, but it
[2:10:04] is all available in the appendix.
[2:10:07] Following the change in mass general law
[2:10:09] after the 2024 election, the MCCAST is
[2:10:12] no longer part of the graduation
[2:10:13] requirement for high school students.
[2:10:16] The declines in performance we saw in
[2:10:17] Boston are similar to statewide trends
[2:10:20] and likely reflect a change in
[2:10:21] graduation requirement rather than a
[2:10:23] decrease in proficiency.
[2:10:28] We'll now transition to talking about
[2:10:30] school level accountability data. This
[2:10:33] slide shows the number of schools in
[2:10:34] each classification category. I want to
[2:10:37] highlight the increase in the number of
[2:10:38] schools making substantial progress
[2:10:40] towards targets from 17 in 2025
[2:10:44] to 25 in 2026.
[2:10:47] These schools earned between 50 and 75%
[2:10:50] of their target percentage points.
[2:10:53] I also want to call out two schools
[2:10:55] exiting the broad comprehensive support
[2:10:57] category. This reflects the Dearborn
[2:10:59] exiting what is known as underperforming
[2:11:01] status and UPAC Academy Holland exiting
[2:11:05] what is known as chronically
[2:11:06] underperforming status. Um UP Academy
[2:11:09] Holland has now transitioned back into
[2:11:10] the district out of receiverhip as the
[2:11:12] Holland Elementary.
[2:11:18] Uh in 2026, we also had four schools
[2:11:20] named as schools of recognition. This
[2:11:22] includes Boston Latin School, the Grrew
[2:11:25] Elementary, Dudley Street Neighborhood
[2:11:27] Charter School, and the Edward M.
[2:11:29] Kennedy Academy for Health Careers.
[2:11:31] Since Dudley Street and EMK are both
[2:11:34] Horus man charter schools, their data
[2:11:35] was not included in the previous slide,
[2:11:37] but we wanted to ensure they were
[2:11:39] recognized tonight.
[2:11:44] Um, this slide displays the one-year
[2:11:46] change in accountability percentile for
[2:11:48] schools. Um, in the graph, each bar
[2:11:51] represents a school. You can see that
[2:11:54] roughly half of schools saw an increase
[2:11:56] and roughly half saw a decline.
[2:11:58] Since the percentile is a comparative
[2:12:00] measure, changes from year to year are
[2:12:02] dependent on performance of schools
[2:12:04] across the state.
[2:12:07] The bar all the way on the right
[2:12:08] represents an increase in accountability
[2:12:10] percentile of 29 points. That bar is for
[2:12:13] the Hernandez elementary school. In
[2:12:16] addition to seeing an increase in their
[2:12:17] accountability percentile, the Hernandez
[2:12:19] increased the percentage of students
[2:12:21] meeting and exceeding expectations by
[2:12:23] more than 15% compared to 2025 in both
[2:12:26] ELA and math.
[2:12:28] Um, and they also decreased their
[2:12:30] chronic absenteeism by 5.5% compared to
[2:12:33] 2025.
[2:12:34] Um so tonight we are joined by Dr.
[2:12:36] Christine Landry, region 4 school
[2:12:38] superintendent who is joining us in
[2:12:40] place of the school leader for the
[2:12:41] Hernandez who is not able to be here. Um
[2:12:44] the Hernandez is one of our dual
[2:12:45] language schools serving grades K1 to
[2:12:47] six and Dr. Landry will share a little
[2:12:49] bit more about the strategies and
[2:12:51] support that led to this growth and
[2:12:52] success.
[2:12:53] Thank you. Thank you Monica. Good
[2:12:55] evening everyone and thank you
[2:12:57] superintendent, chair, vice chair and
[2:12:59] and members of the school committee. Um
[2:13:01] it's my pleasure to be here to speak on
[2:13:03] behalf of uh Principal Costello or
[2:13:06] Danielle um to school families who are
[2:13:10] listening in um and on behalf of the
[2:13:13] Hernandez community. The Hernandez dual
[2:13:16] language school's remarkable 29 point
[2:13:18] increase in accountability
[2:13:21] is a powerful example of what happens
[2:13:23] when strong instructional leadership, a
[2:13:26] deeply committed staff and coherent
[2:13:29] systems of support come together.
[2:13:32] In speaking with Danielle about what
[2:13:34] drove this success, um, two things
[2:13:37] emerged for us that I wanted to share.
[2:13:40] So number one, at the Hernandez, dual
[2:13:42] language education isn't simply a
[2:13:45] program. Um it is a shared mission.
[2:13:49] Teachers are skilled professionals who
[2:13:51] do the complex work of planning,
[2:13:53] differentiated learning, teaching,
[2:13:56] assessing, and adjusting support for
[2:13:59] students each day in two languages.
[2:14:03] Principal Costello has built a culture
[2:14:05] that honors that expertise while
[2:14:08] intentionally growing the next
[2:14:10] generation of bilingual teachers
[2:14:14] through university partnerships and the
[2:14:16] primaris program that she started when
[2:14:20] she was the operational leader at the
[2:14:21] school many years ago.
[2:14:24] Um that trains community members to
[2:14:26] become bilingual paras. The Hernandez is
[2:14:28] developing an educator pipeline for both
[2:14:31] the Hernandez and for the broader Boston
[2:14:33] community.
[2:14:35] Today there are 14 participants in the
[2:14:38] primaris measures program and the
[2:14:41] graduates have been hired across six
[2:14:43] schools and BPS um as well as early
[2:14:46] childhood programs throughout the city.
[2:14:49] This investment brings additional
[2:14:51] skilled adults into classrooms at the
[2:14:53] Hernandez, expands opportunities for
[2:14:55] targeted student support, and broadens
[2:14:58] the broader bilingual educator workforce
[2:15:01] in the city.
[2:15:03] Secondly, the Hernandez builds systems
[2:15:06] that ensure that every student gets what
[2:15:08] they need. The Hernandez has been very
[2:15:11] intentional about strengthening its
[2:15:13] multi-tered system of support with a
[2:15:17] relentless focus on high quality tier
[2:15:19] one instruction.
[2:15:21] The team understands that reaching 80%
[2:15:24] of students through strong core
[2:15:26] instruction requires continuous
[2:15:28] improvement,
[2:15:30] careful examination of individual
[2:15:32] student data and consistent schoolwide
[2:15:35] cycles of class reviews for by each
[2:15:39] priority. So instruction
[2:15:42] um a sense of belonging through climate
[2:15:44] and culture and attendance.
[2:15:48] Importantly, intervention is additive at
[2:15:51] Hernandez. It's not a replacement for
[2:15:53] highquality core instruction and it
[2:15:55] happens in two languages. Further
[2:15:58] developing academic language and
[2:15:59] literacy in both.
[2:16:02] So the MTSS approach also extends beyond
[2:16:05] academics to attendance, culture, family
[2:16:08] engagement and to support students basic
[2:16:11] needs as well.
[2:16:13] So I believe that the broader lesson
[2:16:15] here is this uh that the Hernandez's
[2:16:17] success is not about a single strategy
[2:16:20] or a quick fix. It reflects leadership
[2:16:22] that trusts educators.
[2:16:25] It builds coherent and collective
[2:16:27] capacity and creates systems that
[2:16:29] respond to every learner through steady
[2:16:31] and consistent work. So thank you for
[2:16:34] giving me an opportunity to talk about
[2:16:35] the Hernandez success.
[2:16:39] Thank you Dr. Landry.
[2:16:43] Uh so we're now going to transition to
[2:16:45] talking about our transformation
[2:16:46] schools. Um and so I'll introduce my
[2:16:48] colleague Andrew Rollins who's the
[2:16:50] executive director of the transformation
[2:16:52] office. This next portion,
[2:17:00] good evening. Um it's been a while since
[2:17:02] I've been here in this space, so I'll
[2:17:04] start with a quick introduction or
[2:17:06] reintroduction. My name is Andrew
[2:17:08] Rollins leading the transformation team
[2:17:10] and this is my 23rd year in BPS. I
[2:17:13] served as the principal at the Mildred
[2:17:14] Avenue K to8 for eight years and at the
[2:17:16] Perry Elementary for three years prior
[2:17:19] to coming into this work this summer. At
[2:17:21] the Mildrid, we were able to come
[2:17:23] together as a team around a very clear
[2:17:25] and narrow instructional and school
[2:17:27] climate focus. And we were able to
[2:17:30] elevate from being named the lowest
[2:17:31] performing school in the state to the
[2:17:33] 24th percentile in just a matter of two
[2:17:36] years.
[2:17:37] We remained at level one at the time uh
[2:17:40] for the next six years despite a full
[2:17:43] accountability reset at one point and
[2:17:45] then working our way through co as well.
[2:17:48] We are trying to harness similar
[2:17:50] momentum in our current transformation
[2:17:53] schools and we are excited to have seen
[2:17:55] accelerated progress in a number of our
[2:17:57] schools this past year.
[2:17:59] Before we get to that, we want to first
[2:18:01] align on the term transformation.
[2:18:04] Transformation is a BPS specific term
[2:18:06] for schools that fall at the 10th
[2:18:08] percentile or below. This designation
[2:18:11] remains in place until a school has
[2:18:13] emerged at the 11th percentile or above
[2:18:15] for multiple years. We require two years
[2:18:19] of data above the 11th percentile in
[2:18:21] order to truly ensure that the school is
[2:18:24] on an upward and sustaining trajectory.
[2:18:28] Additionally, as noted at the bottom of
[2:18:30] the slide, the accountability percentile
[2:18:32] percentile is just one of the two
[2:18:34] components of the accountability system.
[2:18:36] We do see schools that do relatively
[2:18:38] well in the progress towards targets
[2:18:40] component
[2:18:42] but have not yet moved in the
[2:18:44] accountability percentile. For example,
[2:18:46] the King Elementary and Ruth Batson this
[2:18:49] year made uh had much better progress
[2:18:53] towards targets but have not seen the
[2:18:56] lever move in terms of accountability
[2:18:57] percentile yet. This is often an initial
[2:19:00] indicator that the school is turning
[2:19:02] around. They are starting to make
[2:19:03] progress in a lot of areas and have laid
[2:19:05] the foundation to continue to grow.
[2:19:10] As mentioned, we are excited to uh
[2:19:12] highlight accelerated moves amongst many
[2:19:14] of our transformation schools, including
[2:19:16] a number of schools that had been
[2:19:17] stagnant for some time. In total, 12
[2:19:21] transformation schools recorded
[2:19:23] percentiles at the 11th or above,
[2:19:26] including four that met the exit
[2:19:28] criteria for transformation to leave
[2:19:31] transformation status.
[2:19:33] The percentage of schools with increased
[2:19:35] percentiles grew in this past year while
[2:19:38] the number of schools that experienced
[2:19:39] declining percentiles shrank.
[2:19:46] Amongst the success stories, the Kenny,
[2:19:49] the Mason, Tech Boston, and Troder have
[2:19:52] met the criteria to exit transformation.
[2:19:55] I'll briefly note here the Mason as the
[2:19:58] last time they exceeded the 11th
[2:20:00] percentile in back-to-back years was
[2:20:02] 2013 and 2014.
[2:20:05] Amongst our uh schools that accelerated
[2:20:08] above the 10th percentile, I'll
[2:20:10] highlight highlight the LS who elevated
[2:20:13] the above the 11th percentile this year.
[2:20:17] They had not been above the fourth
[2:20:18] percentile since 2017 and had not
[2:20:22] exceeded the 11th percentile previously
[2:20:24] since 2012 when percentiles were
[2:20:27] initiated by Desi. For the Ellis, this
[2:20:30] is truly a transformative moment,
[2:20:32] excelling to a point that they have not
[2:20:34] reached in nearly a generation.
[2:20:37] Likewise, the Blackstone ascended to
[2:20:39] their highest point since 2018. Their
[2:20:42] progress has been driven primarily by
[2:20:44] very high growth in both ELA and math.
[2:20:49] Notably, they ranked in the top 25 in
[2:20:51] the state in math growth amongst the
[2:20:53] black or African-American subgroup and
[2:20:55] top 50 in the state in math growth
[2:20:58] amongst the Hispanic subgroup.
[2:21:02] What do our ascending schools have in
[2:21:04] common in their stories of acceleration?
[2:21:08] clear, concise 90-day plans with a
[2:21:11] focused, high lever instructional
[2:21:13] strategy that is solicited by and
[2:21:15] throughout the school community. These
[2:21:18] plans elevate rigor, access, and
[2:21:20] engagement instruction. And at the same
[2:21:22] time, they strengthen professional
[2:21:24] culture. We start to see true
[2:21:26] collaboration in team meeting spaces,
[2:21:29] professional development, and beyond.
[2:21:32] These schools have been supported by
[2:21:33] effective deployment plans that
[2:21:35] strategically integrate liaison and/or
[2:21:38] transformation team supports.
[2:21:40] Finally, there is at the same time a
[2:21:42] strategic focus on building student
[2:21:44] connection, sense of belonging and
[2:21:46] attendance.
[2:21:48] The Blackstone is a school where we see
[2:21:50] many of these practices emerging and we
[2:21:52] saw accelerated outcomes this past year.
[2:21:55] In that respect, we are very fortunate
[2:21:56] to have principal Courtney Shepek from
[2:21:58] the Blackstone with us today. She's in
[2:22:01] her 13th year as principal. We started
[2:22:04] together, but she outlasted me. And
[2:22:08] third year at the Blackstone. Uh, and
[2:22:10] she's going to show share a little bit
[2:22:12] about the Blackstone story that will
[2:22:14] further illuminate what specifically is
[2:22:15] working to accelerate schools in our
[2:22:17] transformation space.
[2:22:19] Well, thank you, Director Rollins, for
[2:22:21] the introduction. Um, it's exciting to
[2:22:23] have you in this new capacity. Uh, thank
[2:22:26] you all for having me here tonight. I'm
[2:22:28] extremely grateful to lead a school in
[2:22:30] the city of Boston that I love so much.
[2:22:33] Like Andrew said, this is my 13th year
[2:22:35] as a BPS principal, my 26th year in the
[2:22:38] district. I'm also a BPS graduate and a
[2:22:41] very proud mother of a recent BPS
[2:22:43] alumni. To name it plainly, um this is
[2:22:46] my life's work. I'm always honored to
[2:22:49] shine a light at the brilliance of the
[2:22:51] Blackstone School and I will do my best
[2:22:53] today to share the action steps and
[2:22:56] highest leverage moves we made as a team
[2:22:58] to move the needle on transformation.
[2:23:01] To begin, I will name some of our recent
[2:23:03] accomplishments and celebrations.
[2:23:06] Uh we demonstrated meaningful progress
[2:23:08] and moved our accountability rating from
[2:23:10] three to eight. As director Rollins
[2:23:13] pointed out, we're at the highest
[2:23:14] accountability point since 2018, and we
[2:23:17] saw strong success in both math and ELA.
[2:23:21] We ranked in the top 25 in the state for
[2:23:23] MAP um excuse me, math growth amongst
[2:23:26] our black and African-American student
[2:23:28] groups and the top 50 in the state and
[2:23:30] MAP, I mean, math growth among the
[2:23:33] Hispanic, Latino student groups.
[2:23:36] This growth shows the collective effort
[2:23:38] to close historical achievement gaps and
[2:23:40] accelerate student learning. It also
[2:23:43] demonstrate the creation of foundational
[2:23:45] schoolwide systems to cultivate our
[2:23:48] students potential or what we call their
[2:23:50] Blackstone brilliance.
[2:23:52] Blackstone earned 93% of possible
[2:23:56] accountability points for the category
[2:23:58] of lowest performing students,
[2:24:00] demonstrating significant progress
[2:24:02] towards proficiency.
[2:24:05] We believe and we want our students to
[2:24:06] believe that we are turning the tide. A
[2:24:09] major turning point came during our
[2:24:11] second 90day cycle when we paused and
[2:24:16] revisited our quality school plan and
[2:24:19] made a deliberate decision to reset our
[2:24:21] approach. Rather than adding more
[2:24:24] initiatives, we streamlined and
[2:24:26] clarified on four high impact levers.
[2:24:30] First, we increased our consistency of
[2:24:32] instructional coaching. We laid the
[2:24:35] foundation for intentional, focused,
[2:24:38] multi-tered systems of support. And we
[2:24:41] strategically deployed our BPS
[2:24:43] instructional liaison and supports. And
[2:24:47] we created a culture of buyin so that
[2:24:49] all our educators had clear commitment.
[2:24:53] We understood that in order to create
[2:24:55] access for all students, we needed
[2:24:56] highquality instructional materials. as
[2:24:59] the instructional foundation. These
[2:25:01] included illustrative math,
[2:25:03] expeditionary learning, foundations, and
[2:25:05] BPS focused curricula. Then we supported
[2:25:09] the use of these HQIM
[2:25:11] with more intentional and coordinated
[2:25:13] adult actions.
[2:25:15] We also began using data trackers to
[2:25:18] note trends and better understand how
[2:25:21] students were performing on grade level
[2:25:23] tasks on a routine basis to progress
[2:25:26] monitor rather than wait for our
[2:25:28] summitive benchmarks.
[2:25:31] This work is ongoing. As a result,
[2:25:34] Blackstone demonstrated high growth in
[2:25:36] ELA and exceeded typical growth in
[2:25:38] mathematics.
[2:25:40] Particularly encouraging was the
[2:25:42] progress among student groups.
[2:25:44] Multilingual learners and former
[2:25:45] multilingual learners earned 84% of
[2:25:48] possible target points. Black or
[2:25:51] African-American students earned 84%.
[2:25:55] Hispanic or Latino students earned 79 of
[2:25:57] the possible points. We also saw chronic
[2:26:00] absenteeism decline from 42% to 34%, an
[2:26:05] 8 percentage point improvement.
[2:26:08] These results is reinforced with
[2:26:09] instructional strategies are targeted
[2:26:11] and consistently implemented, we can
[2:26:14] begin to close gaps to reach
[2:26:16] proficiency.
[2:26:18] One of my most important leadership
[2:26:20] lessons this past school year was
[2:26:22] embracing distributed leadership by
[2:26:25] leveraging the expertise of coaches,
[2:26:27] liaison, and teachers. I was able to
[2:26:30] increase the my touch points in
[2:26:32] classrooms, strengthen instructional
[2:26:34] monitoring and respond more effectively
[2:26:36] to the emerging needs. This experience
[2:26:39] reinforced that school leadership is not
[2:26:41] about doing everything by ourselves but
[2:26:43] about creating the conditions for others
[2:26:45] to lead effectively and leveraging our
[2:26:47] regional model. Our region 2 liaison
[2:26:50] play a huge role in our growth and
[2:26:52] outcomes. Finally, Blackstone's progress
[2:26:55] is not simply about approved
[2:26:57] accountability numbers. It is a story
[2:26:59] about what becomes possible when we
[2:27:01] align our vision, focus our resources,
[2:27:04] and build collective ownership for
[2:27:06] students success.
[2:27:07] We do recognize that we have still much
[2:27:10] more work to do to get all students to
[2:27:12] proficiency. Our next challenge is to
[2:27:15] sustain this momentum and translate this
[2:27:17] growth into lasting proficiency so that
[2:27:20] every student can demonstrate their
[2:27:22] Blackstone brilliance. So, thank you for
[2:27:24] this opportunity.
[2:27:29] I'm going to give it back to director
[2:27:31] Rollins.
[2:27:32] Thank you. Uh the Blackstone is a school
[2:27:35] that continues to receive supports
[2:27:36] directly from transformation in the form
[2:27:38] of an academic director. They have
[2:27:40] multiple transformation coaches and the
[2:27:42] school as Courtney pointed out is also
[2:27:44] supported by a strong coordinator
[2:27:46] approach at the regional level with
[2:27:47] thoughtful deployment.
[2:27:49] With this in place and a very strong
[2:27:51] school team in place, we are very
[2:27:53] excited to see where Principal Shep and
[2:27:55] the Blackstone are headed in this coming
[2:27:57] year. Thank you for sharing your
[2:27:59] experiences with us. With that, it's my
[2:28:02] pleasure to turn it back over to Dr.
[2:28:03] Wright.
[2:28:20] I just want to acknowledge Principal
[2:28:22] Sheep again. Um, this slide has a lot of
[2:28:25] information on it, but she spelled out
[2:28:27] what it is that we want to be true
[2:28:29] across every school in BPS. So, just
[2:28:32] want to acknowledge her leadership.
[2:28:35] Um yeah,
[2:28:37] thank you everyone that spoke for
[2:28:40] highlighting our bright spots and and
[2:28:43] the opportunities um as we look at this
[2:28:45] data. Um as you heard from Principal
[2:28:48] Shepik, Dr. Landry and Andrew, there are
[2:28:52] a number of instructional practices and
[2:28:54] strategic supports that are
[2:28:57] strengthening the quality of instruction
[2:28:59] in service of increased student
[2:29:01] achievement across our schools.
[2:29:05] And we still feel a sense of urgency as
[2:29:09] it pertains to increasing the percentage
[2:29:12] of students achieving at grade level
[2:29:15] both aggregated and disagregated.
[2:29:19] This slide outlines where we believe we
[2:29:23] need to go deeper um and I would say
[2:29:26] scale um as it pertains to existing
[2:29:29] instructional priorities and necessary
[2:29:32] systemic pivots to strengthen the
[2:29:35] instructional experience for our kids.
[2:29:38] In summary, we must continue to build
[2:29:42] educator capacity to utilize highquality
[2:29:45] instructional materials to prepare to
[2:29:48] facilitate rigorous and culturally
[2:29:50] affirming learning experiences.
[2:29:53] Emphasize the necessity for academic
[2:29:57] language supports across all learning
[2:29:59] spaces, especially in the content areas.
[2:30:04] These two items paired with our focus on
[2:30:07] increased progress monitoring of student
[2:30:10] learning and supporting educators to use
[2:30:13] various data inputs to inform their
[2:30:15] instructional practices and provide
[2:30:18] targeted supports to each student will
[2:30:21] continue to be the levers that we
[2:30:23] prioritize to support educators with
[2:30:26] ensuring highquality instruction happens
[2:30:29] across BPS in every classroom every
[2:30:33] single day.
[2:30:36] I do not want to minimize
[2:30:39] the necessary supports for each school
[2:30:42] community to ensure standards aligned
[2:30:45] and pedagogically sound instruction is
[2:30:48] happening every single day. Much of our
[2:30:51] efforts this year continue to build the
[2:30:55] capacity of our school leaders to be
[2:30:57] instructional leaders. Whether that is
[2:31:00] through the regional school
[2:31:01] superintendent or content focused
[2:31:03] support.
[2:31:05] Before we take questions, I do want to
[2:31:07] close with gratitude.
[2:31:09] Students and educators are working
[2:31:11] really, really hard to ensure that our
[2:31:14] students are equipped with the skills
[2:31:16] and experiences to write their success
[2:31:18] narratives.
[2:31:20] I have not been in a classroom this year
[2:31:23] where I did not see intentional effort
[2:31:26] from either a teacher, a parah or
[2:31:29] students to actively engage in learning.
[2:31:33] While we still have quite a bit of work
[2:31:35] to do, the effort and desire for BPS to
[2:31:38] be the best is there. Thank you. And we
[2:31:42] will now take your questions.
[2:31:44] Thank you.
[2:31:46] Who would like to begin?
[2:31:52] Thank you. Thank you everyone for the
[2:31:55] report.
[2:31:57] Um yes, thank you Monica.
[2:32:01] The Blaston School is the school very
[2:32:03] close my heart because um my first
[2:32:08] connection with BPS is Blaststone. My
[2:32:11] song when Aria Boston in 2015. My song
[2:32:15] is four year and
[2:32:19] the the the
[2:32:22] whole
[2:32:23] the endor when I walking in the school I
[2:32:28] receive that inspiration for myself
[2:32:32] involved in education system.
[2:32:37] Um
[2:32:39] I want to say congratulation
[2:32:41] principal the blast principal shipping.
[2:32:44] You are really really good job and you
[2:32:47] staff too.
[2:32:50] important very important too is the
[2:32:52] teachers
[2:32:54] the blaststone teacher working very hard
[2:32:58] for the school with love we involve
[2:33:04] with passion passion
[2:33:07] allar
[2:33:09] I know some teacher in blast
[2:33:12] sometime buy the material for the
[2:33:15] student for her money.
[2:33:20] No waiting for district to provide
[2:33:23] because the the teacher have a lot of
[2:33:25] love for the students.
[2:33:29] I recognize too many teacher in Blasto
[2:33:33] working very hard. Right now Blaston now
[2:33:37] is more grown up efficient is because
[2:33:42] the teacher and principal and staff is
[2:33:45] the same
[2:33:48] hard working for the better result for
[2:33:51] the students.
[2:33:54] Congratulation. Thank you for your job.
[2:33:56] I want to say Rafael Hernandez. I
[2:34:01] uh I have been to the Rafael Hernandez
[2:34:04] school before. I know the first teachers
[2:34:06] program is really really good because
[2:34:09] the parents involved in working with uh
[2:34:14] urban college some uh urban college uh
[2:34:18] working very close with the program is
[2:34:22] inspirational. So I say thank you e
[2:34:27] congratulation
[2:34:29] um thank you so much but I have a
[2:34:32] question about the income's result
[2:34:36] now is the good part I wanted the
[2:34:40] critical part
[2:34:43] I think the uh multilingual students
[2:34:48] and the result the multilingual student
[2:34:50] I want to say that these three how You
[2:34:54] learning about the result?
[2:34:57] How the district learn about the result?
[2:35:02] The multilingual students because the
[2:35:05] multilingual student
[2:35:08] year per year per year the result is
[2:35:11] very low.
[2:35:17] How you learning about it?
[2:35:34] Good evening, Chair Robinson and Vice
[2:35:37] Chair Scarret and school committee
[2:35:40] members. Um, thank you for the question.
[2:35:44] It's very important for us to be very
[2:35:46] reflective of the work that we do and um
[2:35:52] when we look at the results,
[2:35:54] we are not complacent with results. We
[2:36:00] look and we do highlight the bright
[2:36:02] spots that we have, but we're also
[2:36:04] reflective of what we can do um
[2:36:08] instructionally
[2:36:10] to help support our multilingual
[2:36:12] learners, what we can do through
[2:36:14] professional development to support our
[2:36:16] educators, what we can do communitywise
[2:36:20] to work with our families and the
[2:36:23] community. Um there's lots of
[2:36:26] conversations that we've had. Um even
[2:36:29] today I was speaking to um John Mud and
[2:36:33] um many members of my team have been
[2:36:35] going to organizations like St. Stevens
[2:36:38] and the Massachusetts Haitian um parents
[2:36:41] association uh IFC which is immigrant
[2:36:44] family services because you know we sit
[2:36:47] in offices and we make decisions and we
[2:36:50] go to classrooms and we see things but
[2:36:52] we also need to in involve the community
[2:36:56] um which we have been doing and will
[2:36:58] continue to do but in the reflection of
[2:37:01] our data we're looking to see the bright
[2:37:03] spots where can we leverage those bright
[2:37:07] spots where do we see the small gains
[2:37:08] and how do we continue to build on those
[2:37:12] gains like for example for the
[2:37:14] Blackstone uh principal sheep has gone
[2:37:17] there they have continuously be been in
[2:37:20] transformation but really leveraging
[2:37:22] those gains and those moves that
[2:37:24] principal Shepek at the Hernandez uh
[2:37:28] schools like that how how have they
[2:37:30] leveraged and how can we scale that
[2:37:32] district-wise when we look at the
[2:37:34] Margarita Munes this year they've made
[2:37:36] gains as well and so how do we look at
[2:37:39] that and leverage and build the capacity
[2:37:42] across the district in our opportunity
[2:37:45] achievement gap one of the points is
[2:37:48] really about enabling conditions how do
[2:37:51] we set conditions across the district to
[2:37:54] ensure that we have success for all of
[2:37:56] our students but particularly our
[2:37:57] multilingual learner students. Um you
[2:38:00] know we talked about equity centered
[2:38:01] cultural practices embedding that in
[2:38:04] practices for our teachers in our
[2:38:07] schools having inclusive schools
[2:38:10] shifting mindsets as well. We have a lot
[2:38:12] of work to do with mindset. Um we have
[2:38:14] brilliant students who are working
[2:38:16] really hard to get into um key schools
[2:38:19] and we have to ensure that we set the
[2:38:22] conditions when the students walk in.
[2:38:25] One of my colleagues um said something
[2:38:27] that to me was very profound and she was
[2:38:30] talking about
[2:38:32] it's about setting the conditions. It's
[2:38:34] for to create a culture of inclusion for
[2:38:37] our students. Who is learning at the
[2:38:39] school and who's not?
[2:38:43] who feels welcomed and affirmed and who
[2:38:45] doesn't,
[2:38:47] who comes to school and who does not.
[2:38:50] And those are rooted in our three
[2:38:52] priorities of really creating
[2:38:54] highquality instruction for students,
[2:38:57] safe, welcoming schools, and looking at
[2:38:59] our chronic absenteeism. And those
[2:39:02] conditions when we set them correctly
[2:39:05] and leverage moves like at the
[2:39:07] Blackstone Munes or Hernandez and scale
[2:39:11] them across the district, we will see
[2:39:14] better um outcomes for our students,
[2:39:17] stronger outcomes, I should say. There
[2:39:19] are pockets in areas where we have seen
[2:39:22] it but we can leverage it and make it
[2:39:23] scale it on a greater basis. So
[2:39:28] uh you recognize that
[2:39:33] the districtto program the program
[2:39:36] provide district is not enough right
[2:39:40] needed more support for the English
[2:39:45] students English learning student right
[2:39:48] you recognize
[2:39:50] I do recognize that we as a district
[2:39:53] need to ensure that we are centering our
[2:39:55] multi multilingual multilingual
[2:39:57] learners. But when you're saying the
[2:39:58] programs, which ones in particular are
[2:40:01] you talking about
[2:40:03] that the pro the program that this
[2:40:06] provide is the program ELLL, ESL that
[2:40:10] program you know the data about what is
[2:40:13] the result for each program? What
[2:40:16] program working the the best program
[2:40:19] working? are working. You know the
[2:40:22] result the result about the each program
[2:40:26] if it's important if you you um if you
[2:40:31] you sharing the different program what
[2:40:36] is the result the different program you
[2:40:38] know why because you see what is real
[2:40:42] situation what program working better
[2:40:45] what program know it's good
[2:40:47] results absolutely and that is part of
[2:40:49] the reflective process and so we are
[2:40:51] viewing program evaluations. And so the
[2:40:54] our department has just done we just a
[2:40:57] comprehensive program evaluation of our
[2:40:59] dual language programs went into each
[2:41:01] dual language school. We got surve
[2:41:05] survey and feedback from school leaders,
[2:41:07] from teachers, looking at student data
[2:41:11] um grade by grade looking at achievement
[2:41:14] results um where there are discrepancies
[2:41:18] in data or where we can improve
[2:41:20] ourselves. Um we're we're doing that
[2:41:22] comprehensively yearbyear. Um right now
[2:41:25] we're working on the SEI where the
[2:41:27] majority of our multilingual are and
[2:41:29] we're looking at um the data for the
[2:41:32] students receiving feedback from
[2:41:34] teachers where we need to do more
[2:41:36] intense professional development right
[2:41:38] because teachers when they feel equipped
[2:41:41] then they feel more empowered to help
[2:41:44] support the students. And so that's part
[2:41:47] of the program evaluations. We're doing
[2:41:49] extensive program evaluations
[2:41:51] um for our different programs. In
[2:41:54] addition, we're also working on a
[2:41:56] strategic plan that is aligned to the
[2:41:58] district's strategic plan that will have
[2:42:01] yearby-year outcomes and measur
[2:42:04] measurable outcomes for our students and
[2:42:06] looking at that data and then also
[2:42:08] working with the community. Um community
[2:42:10] has asked us for data grade by grade by
[2:42:13] student groups, language groups. Um that
[2:42:16] is part of the work that we're going to
[2:42:18] be doing and work that we are doing.
[2:42:20] Yeah.
[2:42:21] Yeah. I would also add because I think
[2:42:23] this is really important question um
[2:42:27] when we we think about our multilingual
[2:42:28] learners there's the language attainment
[2:42:31] and that's the access and so I think
[2:42:34] what you see on access is you see a
[2:42:37] pretty steady uh improvement for our
[2:42:40] multilingual learners with attaining
[2:42:42] English and then there's the MCCAST
[2:42:45] which is testing content for many of our
[2:42:48] many of our multilingual learners it's
[2:42:50] also testing language
[2:42:52] uh whether everybody acknowledges that
[2:42:55] or not at the state level, it's also
[2:42:57] testing language. And I think what I've
[2:43:01] seen as I go out into the classrooms and
[2:43:03] I'll use Blackstone as a good example,
[2:43:06] you know, most of the multilingual
[2:43:08] learners when you look at their
[2:43:09] accountability made terrific progress.
[2:43:12] And so it's everything from going into
[2:43:15] classrooms where there is an explicit
[2:43:17] language objective
[2:43:20] because the teacher is designing that
[2:43:22] unit and that lesson plan with a
[2:43:25] multilingual learner in mind. uh it is
[2:43:28] hiring staff that speak the languages of
[2:43:32] the students in the school and having
[2:43:35] paraprofessionals which we see at the
[2:43:37] Blackstone who are engaged supporting
[2:43:39] and scaffolding the instruction with the
[2:43:42] students. So I think it's we are
[2:43:46] learning from the schools like
[2:43:48] Blackstone and others who are doing a
[2:43:51] really good job helping to support our
[2:43:54] multilingual learners. We need to a big
[2:43:57] piece of the work of the regional
[2:43:59] network this year is to scaff is to
[2:44:01] actually like expand those best practice
[2:44:04] right so that more schools can see what
[2:44:07] Courtney's doing and what other schools
[2:44:09] that really hit it out of the park for
[2:44:11] our multilingual learners are doing.
[2:44:13] Additionally, we invested a lot the last
[2:44:15] two years in ESL curriculum because we
[2:44:18] recognized it was outdated and it was
[2:44:20] not giving our multilingual learners the
[2:44:22] supports and that's been under Joelle's
[2:44:24] leadership, right, that she came in and
[2:44:26] said, "We need to revamp this." I think
[2:44:29] the regional liaison
[2:44:32] work directly from the office with the
[2:44:36] coaches and with the school leaders and
[2:44:39] they're looking particularly at our
[2:44:41] multilingual learners. what's working,
[2:44:43] what's not, where can we take best
[2:44:45] practice. That's the conversation in the
[2:44:48] walkthroughs that's happening at levels
[2:44:50] that never happened in BPS before.
[2:44:54] Most importantly, I think the OAG policy
[2:44:58] is our northstar and the strategic plan
[2:45:02] command us
[2:45:05] to look at the data and to ask the very
[2:45:08] questions you're asking Rafa, which is
[2:45:10] how is what our strategies and
[2:45:13] implementation of them working for each
[2:45:16] group of kids that historically is not.
[2:45:20] So I'm glad you asked the question
[2:45:21] because I think our team is constantly
[2:45:23] talking about this and I think at the
[2:45:26] regional level it's making sure that all
[2:45:28] the liaons
[2:45:30] are in sync and thinking about a
[2:45:33] multilingual learner, a multilingual
[2:45:34] learner with disabilities, a student
[2:45:36] with disabilities in every single
[2:45:39] classroom in the district.
[2:45:41] I just want to add one more thing as
[2:45:43] well too is I think um well I know under
[2:45:46] Superintendent Skipper's leadership and
[2:45:49] um Dr. Wright's leadership I don't feel
[2:45:52] alone anymore. Um I do feel supported by
[2:45:55] my colleagues um working through
[2:45:59] academics, working with operations,
[2:46:02] working um with the family with AFKA, I
[2:46:05] really feel supported um so that when
[2:46:07] we're thinking and creating initiatives
[2:46:10] for multilingual learners, it's not just
[2:46:12] the ownership of our office, the office
[2:46:14] of multilingual and multicultural
[2:46:16] education. It's really an onus. The same
[2:46:19] way that we're saying to schools that
[2:46:20] you need to have ownership over your
[2:46:22] multilingual learners from this parah to
[2:46:25] this teacher to the math teacher science
[2:46:27] that we're doing that collectively from
[2:46:29] a central office and I've definitely
[2:46:32] seen that shift from me coming in to now
[2:46:36] um working collaboratively and crossf
[2:46:38] functionally.
[2:46:40] Thank you so much. Thank you.
[2:46:44] Thank you. Um, thank you for the
[2:46:46] presentation and congratulations to the
[2:46:48] Hernandez and and the Blackstone.
[2:46:51] Um, at the beginning of the
[2:46:53] presentation, you compare the Boston
[2:46:56] school district to similar um districts,
[2:47:01] including districts like Lean and
[2:47:04] Lawrence.
[2:47:08] with with all due respect to our sister
[2:47:13] cities of Lyn and Lawrence, they can
[2:47:15] just dream of having the per student
[2:47:19] investment that the district of Boston
[2:47:21] has.
[2:47:25] These results,
[2:47:28] we are we are a $1.7 billion system.
[2:47:32] These results needs to be better at
[2:47:35] seven eight% 7% of our multilingual
[2:47:39] learners our
[2:47:41] meeting or exceeding expectation is just
[2:47:43] not acceptable and superintendent
[2:47:46] I trust you and and I trust your team
[2:47:50] but you're not new anymore.
[2:47:52] Oh absolutely.
[2:47:53] Yeah. Like we need to start when are we
[2:47:55] going to close these gaps?
[2:47:56] Yeah. Yeah. I think for us um
[2:48:00] with a system like well first of all I
[2:48:02] think on the comparison question um
[2:48:05] member paralta the reason we do that
[2:48:08] that's like a very standard comparison
[2:48:10] that both DESI does and we do and the
[2:48:14] comparison there is really looking at
[2:48:16] populations of students served percent
[2:48:18] of multilingual percent of special
[2:48:20] education so that is just a very typical
[2:48:22] way that we sort of look and guide at
[2:48:26] who we serve and how the performance is.
[2:48:29] Certainly for us, we have said very
[2:48:32] clearly this year, all means all. We
[2:48:35] don't hold a lower standard for our
[2:48:37] multilingual learners for special
[2:48:38] education regardless of what happens in
[2:48:40] the rest of the state. I think for us um
[2:48:45] when we came in at different stages,
[2:48:49] we needed to build a foundation on which
[2:48:52] you could lay a lot of the improvement
[2:48:56] and acceleration that we are now in the
[2:48:58] process of. In a district our size, that
[2:49:02] does take time. Even though we all feel
[2:49:05] that sense of urgency, myself at the top
[2:49:10] now that we have high quality
[2:49:11] instructional materials and teachers
[2:49:13] know how to use them, which is a process
[2:49:16] in itself. And one can ask how in a $
[2:49:20] 1.5 billion budget four or five years
[2:49:23] ago was that not the case. I don't have
[2:49:26] your answer for that. But I can tell you
[2:49:28] now with a 1.7, we have high
[2:49:30] instructional quality materials in every
[2:49:32] classroom. The teachers know how to use
[2:49:34] them. There is a calibration of
[2:49:37] instructional practice classroom to
[2:49:39] classroom. We know this because when we
[2:49:42] do our rounds, we see it and we see the
[2:49:44] students doing the heavy lift that did
[2:49:46] not exist four or five years ago. There
[2:49:49] are certain elements we have to have in
[2:49:51] place that as we accelerate literacy,
[2:49:54] we accelerate it on that foundation. And
[2:49:57] I think that's a big part of what Dr.
[2:49:59] Wright has spoken to. It's certainly
[2:50:01] what you're going to hear from Joelle or
[2:50:03] you're going to hear in special
[2:50:05] education is there were pieces we that
[2:50:07] were missing that had to be put there in
[2:50:10] order to now accelerate
[2:50:12] part of the OAG and part of I mean
[2:50:16] frighteningly when you look at the
[2:50:19] history of MCCAST and the history of
[2:50:22] Boston or many districts it's been very
[2:50:25] flat and stagnant for two decades. So
[2:50:28] the same question you're asking has
[2:50:30] helped you over time. The difference now
[2:50:32] is we have that foundation. We have the
[2:50:36] people leading it correctly. We have a
[2:50:38] mission with our OAG policy and with our
[2:50:42] strategic plan that for the next 5 years
[2:50:45] looks to do that acceleration you're
[2:50:47] speaking to. So I don't think there's
[2:50:48] anyone on our team that would disagree
[2:50:50] at all that mediocrity is not what we
[2:50:54] strive for here in Boston. Right. We
[2:50:56] always assume we're going to be the
[2:50:58] best, but assumptions have not worked in
[2:51:00] the past. You actually need a concrete
[2:51:02] plan. You need training. You need to
[2:51:05] hire staff that can deliver. And you
[2:51:07] need to have everybody on the same page.
[2:51:10] And that is actually I think the hope
[2:51:12] that we now have.
[2:51:13] Thank you. What I hear you saying is
[2:51:15] that you've been putting the bases that
[2:51:18] you need.
[2:51:18] Yes.
[2:51:19] For the last three, four years.
[2:51:21] Yes.
[2:51:21] So is your commitment that these are not
[2:51:23] going to be the numbers next year? Well,
[2:51:25] actually you're going to hold us to that
[2:51:27] commitment because you are creating
[2:51:29] metrics, right? Which is the first time
[2:51:31] that we will have solid metrics to say
[2:51:34] this is the acceleration plan.
[2:51:37] Thank you.
[2:51:37] You're welcome.
[2:51:41] I'll take a crack at the whole thing.
[2:51:44] First of all,
[2:51:47] thank you.
[2:51:49] And looking at all of you,
[2:51:53] I have to say that with the collective
[2:51:56] uh experience, knowledge and
[2:51:58] intelligence of this group,
[2:52:02] um
[2:52:04] you are and commitment of course you are
[2:52:07] doing a heck of a job despite the fact
[2:52:10] that I do recognize as other members
[2:52:13] here
[2:52:15] that the uh improvement
[2:52:19] uh are
[2:52:21] are not up to the kind of expectation
[2:52:24] that that we we like to see.
[2:52:28] But at the same time, I'll I I'll I'll
[2:52:32] put aside my lens of uh perfectionism
[2:52:35] because I don't I don't think that is
[2:52:37] applicable given all these uh social
[2:52:41] factors and social uh
[2:52:44] and family uh um situations among
[2:52:49] students that contribute to all these uh
[2:52:53] issues. And I know that
[2:52:56] you all are doing a heck of a job. Uh
[2:53:01] you provide
[2:53:04] ample
[2:53:06] uh instructional u material, curriculum,
[2:53:11] uh teacher training, um
[2:53:15] everything that that that are needed to
[2:53:19] improve
[2:53:21] the student um achievement gap. I
[2:53:24] recognize that. But I at the same time I
[2:53:27] also recognize that the
[2:53:30] despite everything that we are doing the
[2:53:33] uh improvement is slowly coming. So
[2:53:38] I'm not going to hold you liable for for
[2:53:41] for this because I was a teacher 40
[2:53:43] years ago and I know it it how how it
[2:53:46] takes. I understand
[2:53:49] one one thing that comes to mind
[2:53:54] when it comes to
[2:53:57] the percentage
[2:53:59] of achievement between multilingual
[2:54:02] students, students with disability
[2:54:06] and
[2:54:07] white students
[2:54:10] and you know monolingual students.
[2:54:15] I think
[2:54:18] may result from
[2:54:22] them having taking the same exams, same
[2:54:25] tests.
[2:54:27] U not so much cultural um
[2:54:34] not so much culture was added into into
[2:54:37] into it.
[2:54:40] a student uh who is struggling with
[2:54:43] English sitting in front in front of you
[2:54:46] taking the same ELA exam as as his white
[2:54:52] counterpart.
[2:54:53] Apparently, he he or she won't do as
[2:54:56] well as we we would expect them to do. I
[2:54:59] understand that. So maybe with all these
[2:55:03] uh
[2:55:05] with all these um
[2:55:08] supports that you are providing
[2:55:10] teachers,
[2:55:12] maybe we should also take a look at the
[2:55:14] the testing system, the MCAST out of the
[2:55:17] way. and and we know that the MCCAST was
[2:55:19] was was a a a horrible horrible
[2:55:24] um technique to to to
[2:55:27] measure the the students achievement. So
[2:55:31] uh
[2:55:33] I just I just hope that now we have
[2:55:39] ample of uh
[2:55:42] uh supports for everything from teaching
[2:55:45] to curriculum uh to all these
[2:55:52] extraneous u criteria.
[2:55:56] Maybe we should also look at how the
[2:55:58] testing system is to be uh to be
[2:56:01] developed
[2:56:03] between mainstream, you know, mainstream
[2:56:06] students and students with uh given the
[2:56:09] fact that we are now inclusion
[2:56:11] and students with multilingual um
[2:56:15] learners.
[2:56:17] I uh
[2:56:20] I think that that that may help. I I
[2:56:23] don't know. But um uh you know uh
[2:56:29] the way I look at it is
[2:56:33] by providing a different means of
[2:56:38] testing
[2:56:40] students with disability and students
[2:56:42] with uh multilingual um
[2:56:47] uh ability. Maybe
[2:56:51] that would be the kind of accommodation
[2:56:54] that would bring them toward meeting the
[2:56:57] same level as their monol language
[2:57:00] students. So that that that's the only
[2:57:03] thing I can see. Hoping that next year
[2:57:06] we'll see some some more increase. Okay.
[2:57:09] Thank you.
[2:57:12] Thank you for that, Member Tran. Um we
[2:57:15] appreciate um your thoughts and
[2:57:17] reflections. Um, and I I do want to just
[2:57:20] name this. We we are working to be a
[2:57:22] system where culture, race, language,
[2:57:25] and ability are no longer predictors of
[2:57:27] performance. Um, so we received the
[2:57:29] challenge. Um, we have a lot of work to
[2:57:32] do. Um, and we will continue to to
[2:57:35] strengthen how we progress monitor
[2:57:37] student learning and we are responsive
[2:57:39] to each student.
[2:57:43] Yeah. I I just have one recommendation.
[2:57:48] So um according to slide 27 um 86
[2:57:53] schools were present. So 39 improve
[2:57:57] uh 49 decline and seven flats stay flat.
[2:58:00] You know where they are right. So, I was
[2:58:03] wondering, can we think about being
[2:58:06] proactive
[2:58:08] in catching the schools before they go
[2:58:12] either lower to the present or
[2:58:16] so we can support them before they just
[2:58:22] be there?
[2:58:23] Yeah.
[2:58:24] Where they need that extra support.
[2:58:26] Yeah. Uh, thank you for that, Member
[2:58:28] Torres. Um I do want to acknowledge um
[2:58:33] what principal sheep shared. I think she
[2:58:36] modeled our continuous improvement
[2:58:39] cycle. Um and
[2:58:42] um I I mean just to like distill down
[2:58:45] what she she shared, every school
[2:58:47] develops a quality school plan. It's
[2:58:50] grounded in three priorities. High
[2:58:51] quality instruction, culture, and
[2:58:53] climate attendance. Each of those
[2:58:55] priorities have measures with specific
[2:58:58] targets. Um there are opportunities
[2:59:00] throughout the school year where we are
[2:59:03] as a district looking at that data
[2:59:06] deeply and having the conversation led
[2:59:09] by the regional school superintendent to
[2:59:12] support continuous improvement efforts.
[2:59:15] So I just I want to articulate that
[2:59:17] broadly. Um, I think the other thing I
[2:59:21] do want to add, um, in alignment to the
[2:59:24] charge the superintendent gave our
[2:59:25] school leaders, we're pushing on
[2:59:27] proficiency. If we're focused on
[2:59:30] proficiency, students will grow and the
[2:59:32] accountability percentile will take care
[2:59:34] of itself. And I don't want to minimize
[2:59:37] the culture shift around having a
[2:59:40] conversation around who is proficient
[2:59:42] and who is not and what are we doing
[2:59:44] about it.
[2:59:47] Yeah, I would also say amen to so on
[2:59:50] slide 27 I think just one of the things
[2:59:53] to point out is different from past
[2:59:56] years the schools that saw a decline
[2:59:59] while the overall number may have been
[3:00:02] similar it was not as deep of a decline
[3:00:06] and that does matter because a school
[3:00:08] that is consistently in the bottom five
[3:00:11] or the bottom you know eight as Courtney
[3:00:14] said is very hard to turn that school
[3:00:17] around. So, what Blackstone did by going
[3:00:19] from 3 to 8 is actually fairly
[3:00:21] unprecedented. It's making those kinds
[3:00:24] of gains. Madison Park is another one
[3:00:26] I'll use as an example. Madison Park in
[3:00:29] this district before
[3:00:31] two years ago was always at the 1
[3:00:34] percentile.
[3:00:36] Always
[3:00:38] at the one
[3:00:39] at the one.
[3:00:41] And it is now made progress every year.
[3:00:44] and we no longer have a school at that
[3:00:47] one, whereas in past years we've had
[3:00:48] multiple schools in the one. Um, and I
[3:00:52] can give you other examples, but the the
[3:00:54] point is that what we're trying to do is
[3:00:57] take every school and move it in a
[3:01:01] positive direction.
[3:01:02] And sometimes that means that they don't
[3:01:05] decline as deeply as they previously
[3:01:07] had. And so that is a sign of at least
[3:01:10] turning. like schools have to turn in
[3:01:13] order to gain. Brighton High is another
[3:01:15] example um where Brighton High is
[3:01:18] consistently we just made a visit with
[3:01:19] the commissioner into the classrooms.
[3:01:21] Chair Robinson was there as well. And
[3:01:23] what we saw was language objective in
[3:01:25] every classroom,
[3:01:27] which is important. And being able to
[3:01:30] see just really good engagement by the
[3:01:33] students with the materials that were
[3:01:36] high quality, asking questions, engaging
[3:01:38] in the lesson, and doing the lifting.
[3:01:41] And that's the calibration across the
[3:01:43] district that has to happen in every
[3:01:45] classroom. When we see that, we see
[3:01:48] schools move. And so that's the work
[3:01:51] Tanya and the schools division does
[3:01:53] doing the walkthroughs going in. So if a
[3:01:56] school did go down,
[3:01:59] the QIP for that school is reflecting
[3:02:01] it. There's a reflection component that
[3:02:04] the principal and the staff are talking
[3:02:06] about as to why that happened and more
[3:02:08] importantly their plan for that next for
[3:02:11] this current year is to react to that so
[3:02:14] that they have an action plan.
[3:02:16] It's that level of just deep
[3:02:18] accountability. school to school. And
[3:02:21] for the schools that have been stagnant,
[3:02:23] which we know there's fewer of them, but
[3:02:25] the ones that we have, Tanya and her
[3:02:27] team are going in and doing additional
[3:02:30] walkthroughs to help the principal so
[3:02:32] that they can go into classrooms, see
[3:02:34] what's happening, give feedback to the
[3:02:36] to the instructors, give feedback to the
[3:02:38] teachers, uh so that the the principal
[3:02:40] isn't the only one that has to do that
[3:02:43] lift, right? and you know from your past
[3:02:45] coaching
[3:02:46] that's such like that is the incredibly
[3:02:49] important work right but now that now
[3:02:52] that we have the materials we have the
[3:02:54] training and the PD in place the next
[3:02:57] piece to this is that consistency and
[3:03:00] accountability in every classroom that's
[3:03:02] what we have to have for our kids
[3:03:04] so we're being proactive
[3:03:05] we have to be proactive
[3:03:07] that's what
[3:03:08] we have to be proactive I mean we
[3:03:11] Tanya Simone and I started with a list
[3:03:13] of schools that We know have we have to
[3:03:15] be in every how often Tanya?
[3:03:18] Every week.
[3:03:20] Every week. Because that's that's how
[3:03:24] you change the culture of a school.
[3:03:27] Giving the feedback, the observation,
[3:03:29] the tools to the teachers to do
[3:03:31] different and better.
[3:03:33] Yeah. And probably having like So those
[3:03:37] are the little pockets that I look for
[3:03:39] when I go into schools. and having um
[3:03:43] leaders visit the schools that are
[3:03:45] making progress and what is it in talk
[3:03:48] having that onetoone talk about what is
[3:03:50] it that is working
[3:03:52] that's right
[3:03:52] that is really making a difference
[3:03:54] y
[3:03:54] so they can take it back and try it
[3:03:57] exactly
[3:03:58] the best practice
[3:04:02] thank you
[3:04:06] thank you for the presentation team um I
[3:04:09] will also start with um some positive um
[3:04:12] and mirror my colleagues. Um just
[3:04:15] recognizing the uh decline in chronic
[3:04:18] absenteeism and the um full attainment
[3:04:22] of all available points in um the
[3:04:24] category of advanced coursework um that
[3:04:26] three out of four uh students uh is a
[3:04:29] real is a real metric um to celebrate.
[3:04:32] Um certainly want to recognize the two
[3:04:34] schools that presented today. Um
[3:04:38] appreciating that the types of increases
[3:04:40] that they're experiencing are truly
[3:04:43] inspirational. Um and it was just
[3:04:46] wonderful to see that those kinds of
[3:04:48] real results for students across
[3:04:50] demographic groups. Um also at the
[3:04:53] district level just um for clarity want
[3:04:56] to make sure I clarify my understanding.
[3:04:59] uh our accountability percentile was at
[3:05:02] a 49%
[3:05:03] making moderate progress toward targets.
[3:05:06] If I'm reading the slides correctly,
[3:05:08] that's one point away from substantial
[3:05:10] targets uh progress toward targets. Um
[3:05:13] so just wanted to um make sure I
[3:05:15] understood that so I can put that in the
[3:05:17] celebratory category as well. Um that
[3:05:20] said um you know sharing so many of the
[3:05:23] sentiments of my colleagues particularly
[3:05:25] member Peralta um that these proficiency
[3:05:28] gaps are are beyond sobering um and
[3:05:32] their chasms and I'm just thinking a lot
[3:05:35] about how not just with the success
[3:05:38] measures because you can't have every
[3:05:40] data point in success measures but how
[3:05:43] we can be leading with that commitment
[3:05:47] to address gaps through the ways that we
[3:05:51] share data and talk about data. Um so
[3:05:54] that that's some of my thinking that I
[3:05:56] just wanted to share today. Um one is um
[3:06:01] very much appreciating the focus on
[3:06:02] proficiency and also realizing that so
[3:06:06] many of the students in the demographic
[3:06:08] groups about which we're mo most
[3:06:10] concerned are not there. Um, and we want
[3:06:13] to make sure that we are looking at
[3:06:16] their data on their journey to get
[3:06:17] there. Um, and so I do wonder in future
[3:06:21] MCCAST presentations whether we're
[3:06:24] looking at movement out of the lowest
[3:06:27] MCCAST category into the partially
[3:06:30] meats. There wasn't anything looking at
[3:06:32] that over time in these slides. And I
[3:06:34] think that's really useful to know,
[3:06:36] especially thinking about our students
[3:06:38] with disabilities and MLS. um you know
[3:06:41] that movement is giving us a good
[3:06:43] indicator on whether we're on the
[3:06:45] journey toward proficiency. And so just
[3:06:47] curious what's happening with that um
[3:06:50] percentage year-over-year and hopefully
[3:06:51] that percentage is declining of students
[3:06:54] in the lowest category. Um, also
[3:06:57] thinking about um as uh as principal
[3:07:01] Shepik was describing at the Blackstone,
[3:07:03] she was a um there were demographic
[3:07:06] groups, specific demographic groups that
[3:07:08] made substantial progress toward their
[3:07:10] targets um and were in the top um
[3:07:13] compared to um the state. And you know,
[3:07:17] as a district, we also have demographic
[3:07:21] group targets. Um, and I think looking
[3:07:24] at whether each demographic group is
[3:07:27] making progress toward targets would be
[3:07:30] another useful addition to this
[3:07:32] presentation going forward. Um,
[3:07:35] basically Desi gives its own target for
[3:07:39] each group. Um, and you can make that
[3:07:41] same moderate progress, substantial
[3:07:43] progress, little to no progress. So it
[3:07:45] would be good to have that by all of the
[3:07:48] indicators which include high needs,
[3:07:51] students with disabilities, all racial
[3:07:53] demographics, multilingual learners,
[3:07:56] um lowinccome I believe as well. Um I am
[3:08:02] troubled
[3:08:03] about high school. I'm troubled about
[3:08:07] the trend statewide, which is definitely
[3:08:10] a trend. Um, but I'm also troubled at
[3:08:14] the resolution that our success measures
[3:08:19] will be absent
[3:08:21] a grade level indicator for the time
[3:08:25] being. Um it's just an uncomfortable
[3:08:29] state that we don't actually have a
[3:08:32] metric that we're identifying as a
[3:08:34] success measure that really suggests
[3:08:36] whether students are reading and
[3:08:39] performing math at grade level. Advanced
[3:08:42] coursework indicator is great. There is
[3:08:44] research that exposure to advanced
[3:08:46] coursework um is a very um um powerful
[3:08:51] measure in post-secary preparedness as I
[3:08:53] know we know and it's not the same thing
[3:08:56] as knowing whether folks are reading,
[3:08:59] writing, performing math at grade level.
[3:09:02] Um I know that DESIE is in the process
[3:09:05] of examining the right assessment. We've
[3:09:08] heard that there may be end of course
[3:09:10] exams. Um, but I just think in the
[3:09:14] meantime, something like map updates or
[3:09:17] something as we get high school updates,
[3:09:20] um, to have some lens into testing
[3:09:23] results would be important. Um,
[3:09:27] and
[3:09:30] I'm out of time, but I did have one more
[3:09:32] question. I'm sorry. Um, and I think Dr.
[3:09:35] Dr. Wright, you spoke to this a little
[3:09:37] bit in the um systemic reflections and
[3:09:39] commitments page, which I really
[3:09:41] appreciate. Um, as you talked about like
[3:09:44] scaling some of the positive things that
[3:09:47] we're seeing in schools. Um, and I think
[3:09:50] Principal Shep said it in terms of the
[3:09:52] highest leverage moves. Um, and I'm just
[3:09:56] wondering if
[3:09:58] maybe we could name
[3:10:00] a what like the big data informed bet is
[3:10:05] in our strategic plan. Um, that will
[3:10:08] move from kind of incremental
[3:10:10] proficiency increases to the types of
[3:10:13] significant interest uh increases that
[3:10:15] we want to see year-over-year. I feel
[3:10:17] like I'm hearing a theme of coaching as
[3:10:21] like the big strategy, but I'm just
[3:10:24] wondering from
[3:10:27] this list to what we're hearing our
[3:10:29] strong school leaders doing to the
[3:10:32] strategic roadmap like what what is the
[3:10:36] primary strategy to change outcomes?
[3:10:43] So, this might be long.
[3:10:45] That's okay. Okay.
[3:10:48] Um, so we've talked a lot about high
[3:10:51] quality instructional materials
[3:10:54] and I think what we have done well is
[3:10:56] gotten people to say yes. We've not
[3:10:59] really talked about why highquality
[3:11:01] instructional materials. What it looked
[3:11:04] like for member train to teach 40 years
[3:11:06] ago is very different than what we know
[3:11:09] about how kids learn now. And I would
[3:11:12] offer that the right high-quality
[3:11:14] instructional material is a resource to
[3:11:17] the teacher to facilitate learning
[3:11:21] grounded in researchbased practices
[3:11:23] that's at grade level. One of the things
[3:11:25] in the strat plan is around how we are
[3:11:29] evaluating the curricula that we are
[3:11:32] using and determining if it actually
[3:11:35] aligns to best practice that teachers
[3:11:38] should be leveraging to to teach our
[3:11:40] kids every single day. You know, I do
[3:11:42] want to acknowledge we've been using the
[3:11:45] same ELA curricula or iterations of it
[3:11:48] since 199 since the 1990s
[3:11:51] and Yep. Yes, I got my historian with
[3:11:55] me. Um,
[3:11:58] and I think transparently, you know,
[3:12:00] something we are exploring, I think
[3:12:03] twofold is really thinking about what is
[3:12:06] the right resource to support
[3:12:10] honestly grades K2 through six ELA
[3:12:13] instruction.
[3:12:15] Um, and that is something outlined in
[3:12:18] the strategic plan. We should never be
[3:12:21] using the same curricular frame for 30
[3:12:24] years. Um because we are learning every
[3:12:27] single day how to teach our kids better.
[3:12:30] And if we're in the business of closing
[3:12:31] disparities, we got to upgrade our
[3:12:33] practice. Um so I think that's one
[3:12:36] aspect of it, right? I think the other
[3:12:38] thing I want to acknowledge and and
[3:12:40] kudos to member Alkins, he said this
[3:12:42] last week on the call. He said people
[3:12:44] minimize the change minimize the impact
[3:12:47] of the change when it comes to the
[3:12:49] supports needed to drive a change in
[3:12:52] instructional practice. Um so you said
[3:12:54] coaching right but I think one of the
[3:12:57] the things that um Dr. Dr. Hley Mitchell
[3:12:59] is spearheading this year is actually
[3:13:02] training up our liaons around the
[3:13:04] curricular framework so that they are on
[3:13:07] the ground continuing to strengthen
[3:13:10] teacher practice grounded in
[3:13:12] researchbased practice and grade level
[3:13:14] instruction.
[3:13:15] I'm sorry which les you
[3:13:18] uh our regional coaches.
[3:13:20] So our our content regional coaches.
[3:13:22] Thank you. Um and so I think um that is
[3:13:26] also named in the Strat plan like how
[3:13:28] are we iterating on the regional
[3:13:30] supports so they do function as a
[3:13:33] mechanism of job embedded professional
[3:13:35] learning
[3:13:37] and I will just acknowledge everyone
[3:13:39] knows about the 12-hour PD but we got to
[3:13:41] revisit what that really means when we
[3:13:43] are fundamentally asking a seasoned
[3:13:46] educator to change the way they teach
[3:13:48] kids to get different results.
[3:13:51] Dr. Right. I think those examples and
[3:13:53] and I think maybe the last time that we
[3:13:55] got the strategic roadmap some of those
[3:13:57] things may not have been outlined as
[3:13:59] clearly because I think when you when
[3:14:02] you say strengthen educator capacity to
[3:14:04] leverage HQIM here you just name the
[3:14:08] through this this and this through these
[3:14:10] positions that Dr. Hedley Mitchell is
[3:14:13] shoring up to deploy here through
[3:14:17] uh collective bargaining around our
[3:14:19] woeful number of PD hours. I said it. I
[3:14:22] don't know if y'all if any do it, but
[3:14:24] through whatever it is that we're doing
[3:14:28] it just the the how I think as you
[3:14:31] articulated coming through the plan when
[3:14:34] we next see it and like the sequence of
[3:14:36] that I think would be really helpful to
[3:14:39] kind of help answer where member Peralta
[3:14:41] started tonight which is like how are we
[3:14:43] going to move from like this to really
[3:14:46] having you know Blackstone Hernandez
[3:14:49] type gains across our district. uh
[3:14:52] year-over-year. So, I really appreciate
[3:14:53] that. Thank you.
[3:14:54] Just a couple of quick follow-ups, too.
[3:14:56] Um Monik, you can correct me, but um as
[3:15:00] far as the subgroups, I'm pretty sure we
[3:15:01] made moderate progress across the
[3:15:03] subgroups, but I do think that that's a
[3:15:05] good um thing to for us to include since
[3:15:09] we're committing to disagregate the
[3:15:11] data. Pretty sure we made moderate
[3:15:13] progress across each of this at least.
[3:15:15] Well,
[3:15:17] I don't know off the top of my head, but
[3:15:18] we can certainly follow up on that.
[3:15:20] Okay, I'll bet you. Um, but secondly,
[3:15:24] um, I think as far as the high school
[3:15:27] piece, you know, we can we can have
[3:15:29] conversation about MAP, but I think like
[3:15:32] we even heard I mean Sher and I talked
[3:15:34] with the group of high school kids and
[3:15:36] they were pretty forthcoming. Um, and
[3:15:38] they just acknowledged that they just
[3:15:40] didn't feel like they or their friends
[3:15:42] really took the 10th grade MCCAST
[3:15:43] seriously because it was no longer a
[3:15:46] graduation requirement. So I and I think
[3:15:48] the state has also come out to say that
[3:15:52] the way it's very hard to interpret the
[3:15:54] results because they went down across
[3:15:56] the state. So that does leave us with
[3:15:58] like a lot of limbo, right? In terms of
[3:16:01] how to ensure that our our high school
[3:16:03] students are making the progress to
[3:16:05] proficiency that we want and need them
[3:16:07] to. Um and I do think their attitude
[3:16:11] about MAP is different. And so that may
[3:16:14] be something that we could look at. But
[3:16:16] again, we're like with the with map, we
[3:16:19] want to make sure it's organic and being
[3:16:22] used for progress monitoring as opposed
[3:16:24] to public result. Um, but maybe in
[3:16:27] update there's a way to be able to
[3:16:29] accomplish that because I do agree that
[3:16:30] that
[3:16:32] just gap is problematic for the next
[3:16:35] year to two, right, until the state
[3:16:38] comes out with the end of end of course.
[3:16:41] Um I think additionally like in addition
[3:16:44] to everything Dr. right said, I think we
[3:16:48] are also just in a really important
[3:16:52] rhythm with the regional model of
[3:16:55] continuous progress monitoring, looking
[3:16:58] at the data with school leaders on a
[3:17:01] regular cadence. You know, they are now
[3:17:04] used to it, they expect it, they're
[3:17:06] looking at it. the liaison are now
[3:17:09] working content specifically in a way
[3:17:12] that they previously had not which is
[3:17:14] super important particularly as you get
[3:17:16] to that fifth grade on. Um so there's
[3:17:19] just the way that we've been able to
[3:17:21] evolve the regional model you know under
[3:17:23] Tanya's leadership I think is the is
[3:17:27] also a missing component of um marrying
[3:17:31] it to the coaching right so that we know
[3:17:33] exactly what we are coaching our
[3:17:36] principles and our leadership teams on.
[3:17:38] I also think a big move and uh I think
[3:17:43] Courtney like models this great and I
[3:17:45] think Daniellea would have as well is
[3:17:48] that no principal can do the lift
[3:17:50] themsself.
[3:17:52] It has to be a team
[3:17:54] and I think at ALI we talked about it
[3:17:57] being a team. Everybody heard the same
[3:18:00] messaging as a district. We've done that
[3:18:02] at central as well. And so when we say
[3:18:05] proficient for all it is proficient for
[3:18:07] all. And I think Courtney has activated
[3:18:10] her team to be able to do that. And
[3:18:12] that's the only way in a building like
[3:18:14] Blackstone you can get into every
[3:18:15] classroom and you can actually make sure
[3:18:17] it's happening. And I think that is
[3:18:19] something that the school leaders are
[3:18:21] doing in a really powerful way that
[3:18:23] wasn't necessarily happening before. And
[3:18:26] I also think they are um also doing a
[3:18:30] lot more communication to parents about
[3:18:33] the importance of our absenteeism
[3:18:36] because you guys saw full well when a
[3:18:39] student is chronically absent they are
[3:18:41] 20 percentage points lower on the
[3:18:44] proficiency scale. That is a gap we
[3:18:47] ourselves cannot alone close. We have to
[3:18:50] get our kids in school. So the more we
[3:18:52] can message that and the more I think we
[3:18:54] are as a parent community um and we'll
[3:18:57] continue to do that. This is the village
[3:18:59] we have to activate to finally start to
[3:19:02] close these gaps.
[3:19:05] And just to circle back, thank you,
[3:19:07] Superintendent. Um you're correct that
[3:19:11] um the demographic groups made moderate
[3:19:15] progress um toward targets with three
[3:19:18] exceptions. white students, Asian
[3:19:21] students, and multi-racial students all
[3:19:23] made substantial progress toward prog uh
[3:19:25] progress which um toward targets, which
[3:19:29] I think is really where we want to see
[3:19:31] the goal for all demographic groups. I
[3:19:34] think we want to see all all of our
[3:19:36] students making substantial progress
[3:19:38] toward targets, but we specifically need
[3:19:40] to see the students furthest behind
[3:19:42] making it. So it does feel like a good
[3:19:44] um and strong goal to um try to reach
[3:19:48] that substantial progress for um the
[3:19:50] remaining demographic groups. But you
[3:19:52] were correct that everyone um made at
[3:19:54] least moderate progress.
[3:19:55] Very so often I'm right on the data
[3:19:58] stuff and you know
[3:19:59] take my kudos on that.
[3:20:02] So I want to thank you all also for the
[3:20:05] presentation and especially thank the
[3:20:08] Blackstone Hernandez um for your reports
[3:20:11] and really for some of the things that
[3:20:15] you said that you've talked about that
[3:20:17] has made a difference and I think what
[3:20:18] you both have spoken about are the
[3:20:20] adults.
[3:20:22] Um, as I've said often here, our kids
[3:20:26] get the labels for
[3:20:28] what they do or don't do, but they can't
[3:20:31] do any better than what all of their
[3:20:33] adults are providing them with. And
[3:20:37] we've looked at this data for a decade
[3:20:40] or more, and things have not changed
[3:20:43] in spite of the billions now of dollars
[3:20:46] that this district has invested.
[3:20:51] And we still have schools who have been
[3:20:53] in the lowest 10% for more than a
[3:20:56] decade. And no child stays in a school
[3:20:59] that long. So it's really not about our
[3:21:02] kids.
[3:21:06] And so my question, and I think I've
[3:21:08] asked the same question two dozen times,
[3:21:11] at what point do we say enough is
[3:21:14] enough?
[3:21:15] Our kids deserve better. And if it's
[3:21:19] about our adults, we seem to be pouring
[3:21:21] into them highquality materials,
[3:21:25] coaching,
[3:21:26] etc., and we make minimal gains. So,
[3:21:30] what do we have to do to disrupt
[3:21:34] this situation in a place like Boston
[3:21:37] that's spending almost $2 billion a year
[3:21:42] for the kids that we have? As I said, we
[3:21:44] don't get to send a different group
[3:21:46] here. these are the children that we
[3:21:47] have. Can we educate these kids or not?
[3:21:51] And what is it going to take to do it?
[3:21:55] Yeah. I mean, I I think a lot of what I
[3:21:58] I said to vice chair I would repeat
[3:22:01] again. Um and chair, you might not like
[3:22:03] this answer,
[3:22:05] but the interaction that is most
[3:22:08] impactful that we have to strengthen is
[3:22:11] the interaction between a teacher,
[3:22:13] student, and content. Right. And you
[3:22:17] know, we acknowledge there are a lot of
[3:22:20] layers when we when it comes to the
[3:22:22] adults, right? And and you heard the
[3:22:24] school leaders, you you heard Courtney
[3:22:26] talk about some of the adaptive work and
[3:22:29] building buy in, right? Like there is
[3:22:32] there's our focus on building the
[3:22:34] capacity of school leaders to be
[3:22:35] instructional leaders, but I don't want
[3:22:37] to minimize distributive leadership,
[3:22:40] right? Getting folks all on the same
[3:22:42] page, right? I I would offer that we're
[3:22:46] still on that journey as a district. We
[3:22:48] got people to say the thing, but how do
[3:22:50] we get people to behave in a way to
[3:22:53] really bring that thing to life? Um, you
[3:22:57] know, one thing I do want to even
[3:22:58] acknowledge is the conversation around
[3:23:00] multilingual learners. Um, when someone
[3:23:02] asks, they expect to see Joelle answer
[3:23:04] the question. And the conversations that
[3:23:07] Joelle and I have had is around greater
[3:23:10] ownership
[3:23:11] around supporting our multilingual
[3:23:13] learners.
[3:23:15] Every there's a multilingual learner in
[3:23:17] almost every BPS classroom.
[3:23:19] I should be seeing academic language
[3:23:21] supports. I should be seeing adults that
[3:23:24] are leveraging a student's native
[3:23:27] language even if it is not their native
[3:23:29] language to provide scaffolds and entry
[3:23:32] points for learning. Um,
[3:23:34] so I think I I just want to acknowledge
[3:23:37] that we're we're still on a journey. And
[3:23:40] I think the other thing that's not being
[3:23:41] said is it wasn't until school year 2122
[3:23:45] that BPS put out clear instructional
[3:23:48] guidance. So I think it's it's easy to
[3:23:51] talk about the the decade, but we really
[3:23:54] didn't put a stake in the ground around
[3:23:56] how to teach students better till five
[3:23:59] years ago.
[3:24:04] I know you may not like my answer.
[3:24:07] My other question will will again be, do
[3:24:11] all of our teachers believe that the
[3:24:14] children that are sitting in front of
[3:24:15] them are capable of learning and that
[3:24:18] they are willing and able to educate
[3:24:20] them.
[3:24:21] Yeah. I I go back to something I said
[3:24:24] when when framing this slide. I've not
[3:24:26] been in a classroom this school year
[3:24:29] where I didn't see teachers working
[3:24:32] really hard.
[3:24:33] You can work hard without still having
[3:24:36] that other piece.
[3:24:37] I would offer I don't know that you
[3:24:39] would work that hard if you didn't
[3:24:41] believe your students could do it. Um so
[3:24:44] I live in the space of knowledge
[3:24:48] overwhel. Um and I do acknowledge that I
[3:24:51] have an immense amount of optimism
[3:24:53] around where we're headed as a district.
[3:24:56] Yeah, I mean I would I would just say
[3:24:58] that I think part of the work of getting
[3:25:01] everyone to row in the same direction is
[3:25:05] making sure they have what they need for
[3:25:07] resources. Making sure the mindset is
[3:25:10] correct, which is what you're talking
[3:25:12] about, the heart and the mind.
[3:25:14] Making sure that the team is the team
[3:25:17] that can lead that work with the
[3:25:18] principal, right? Not everybody has the
[3:25:22] same skill set and so you have to have
[3:25:24] the right balance of that skill set as a
[3:25:26] team which like I think with Courtney
[3:25:28] you've got a great team when I think
[3:25:30] about like your leaders I think it's
[3:25:33] principles working toward that goal and
[3:25:36] then I think with the teachers it's
[3:25:38] really being there to support them in
[3:25:40] the moments they most need it um you
[3:25:42] know where they're willing to take those
[3:25:44] risks you know new teachers really
[3:25:47] mentoring them to do the workh And for
[3:25:50] teachers that have been in the classroom
[3:25:51] for a long time, it's scary to do things
[3:25:54] differently and to use materials they've
[3:25:56] never used before. And so it's walking
[3:25:58] that journey. And I think that's what
[3:26:00] the school's division is really trying
[3:26:01] to do with the regional networks is to
[3:26:04] make sure everyone is rowing. They have
[3:26:06] the right materials and supports for the
[3:26:09] schools that need that extra piece that
[3:26:11] lift that you're talking about. The
[3:26:13] schools that it's inexcusable for a kid
[3:26:15] to be in a school multiple years that
[3:26:18] it's at the bottom.
[3:26:19] It is just not okay. And I think that's
[3:26:22] where transformation and Andy's work
[3:26:25] comes in with his team to buffer that
[3:26:27] and to support to give them that lift.
[3:26:30] And that's why when I see schools that
[3:26:32] have decades been in that low bottom
[3:26:36] side of things, see them all of a sudden
[3:26:40] moving like first one point, then two
[3:26:43] points, then three points, then four
[3:26:45] points, moving in that direction. That's
[3:26:48] telling me that the foundation is
[3:26:50] sticking and that things are starting to
[3:26:52] move. But we all want this as fast as
[3:26:55] possible. And that's where I think some
[3:26:57] of the stuff we talked about tonight we
[3:26:59] will be doing.
[3:27:01] But in addition to that,
[3:27:03] the metrics are going to be really
[3:27:04] important for us as a body to put into
[3:27:08] place because that is the guard rail for
[3:27:11] kids to say this is what the district
[3:27:13] should be reaching in the schools.
[3:27:16] that's been a missing piece in a lot of
[3:27:18] ways. So,
[3:27:22] no,
[3:27:25] it's a conversation that continues to go
[3:27:27] in a loop because my question is, you
[3:27:31] know, where does the rubber hit the
[3:27:33] road? When when do you say enough is
[3:27:35] enough? We've tried all of these things.
[3:27:38] We continue to support. We do all of
[3:27:41] these things, but year after year,
[3:27:44] how many fiveyear intervals do we need
[3:27:47] before we will actually say, "Aha, we
[3:27:50] see this moving." Because this has been
[3:27:52] five plus five for some of us with
[3:27:56] similar conversations with different um
[3:27:59] options in terms of activities. And each
[3:28:03] time we have to believe what the
[3:28:06] district is telling us is the best of
[3:28:08] what should be done that's going to help
[3:28:11] us to move the needle. And then five
[3:28:14] years later we still see and hear, well
[3:28:16] that really wasn't it. Um we're going to
[3:28:19] try this and now we're doing this and
[3:28:22] we're going to see it. And then still
[3:28:23] some kids continue to not have their
[3:28:26] needs met. So the question is when do
[3:28:28] you say
[3:28:29] it's time to eliminate something to do
[3:28:32] something drastically different? So if
[3:28:35] if you're saying this is now our drastic
[3:28:38] move
[3:28:40] in five years we're going to see
[3:28:42] something happening differently. Is that
[3:28:44] what we is that what we should be
[3:28:46] expecting? I don't get what we should be
[3:28:49] expecting because I haven't seen
[3:28:52] anything happening over the years that's
[3:28:54] showing me that all of these investments
[3:28:57] are really moving this beyond 29%.
[3:29:02] Yeah. You know, I acknowledge
[3:29:06] where we are in the trajectory of time,
[3:29:08] right? And I do want to name that in
[3:29:12] 2223
[3:29:14] we said to schools you need to use HQIM
[3:29:18] for just ELA
[3:29:22] like and I think that's important
[3:29:26] because while I gave you a five-year
[3:29:28] frame when I think about the following
[3:29:30] year and it was like HQIM in every
[3:29:32] content right and then we said inclusion
[3:29:35] and you know a lot of things that we we
[3:29:38] we needed to do. Um I think chair what
[3:29:43] the journey we're on right now is really
[3:29:46] a journey around continuing to refine
[3:29:49] practice and getting hyperfocused on
[3:29:54] frequently progress monitoring student
[3:29:56] learning. Um so I I just I think what I
[3:30:01] the things we've identified I've shared
[3:30:02] this with the superintendent. They're
[3:30:03] the right things. The question is, how
[3:30:06] do you get a lot of people to do it
[3:30:08] really well and remain focused on our
[3:30:12] students every single day? Um, and I
[3:30:16] don't know if you want to add anything
[3:30:17] cuz I was talking about curriculum.
[3:30:20] Yes. Um, I would say it's been a
[3:30:23] journey. This is my 26th year in the
[3:30:25] district. Um, and where we were was a
[3:30:29] very autonomous space where schools
[3:30:31] would adopt what they wanted to. Um and
[3:30:34] as a district person to go into schools
[3:30:36] and see varying curriculum across it was
[3:30:39] you could see 10 different things go to
[3:30:41] 10 different schools and in order to
[3:30:43] support that was not feasible um you
[3:30:46] would have to become an expert on 10
[3:30:47] different curricula um and I think
[3:30:50] setting the field in regard setting the
[3:30:52] playing level of like we are looking at
[3:30:54] researchbased grade level standards
[3:30:57] aligned to Massachusetts standards
[3:30:59] curricula in schools. Um there it was a
[3:31:02] journey in regards to the adoption. Um
[3:31:05] I'm not going to say it was like 100%
[3:31:07] off the bat. It was a journey in regards
[3:31:09] to getting schools to adopt curricula.
[3:31:12] There is also a hesitancy of looking at
[3:31:16] national curricula as an answer. As a
[3:31:19] former history teacher, I know you look
[3:31:21] at curriculara and you add curricular um
[3:31:24] supplemental resources because you're
[3:31:25] like this is not necessarily meeting the
[3:31:27] needs. We wanted to make sure it's
[3:31:28] cultural linguistically sustaining. it's
[3:31:30] meeting the needs of where we where we
[3:31:32] are in Boston, which might be different
[3:31:34] from where we're looking at different
[3:31:35] states in the union and getting that
[3:31:38] piece was important, but that was just
[3:31:40] the resource in the room. Um, it's just
[3:31:43] the fidelity. My move is like where's
[3:31:45] the integrity? We have instructional
[3:31:47] practices that are embedded in these
[3:31:49] resources. It's not just picking up the
[3:31:51] book and giving it to the student. It's
[3:31:52] about if I'm going into an IM classroom,
[3:31:55] I want to see a cool down. I want to see
[3:31:57] the synthesis happen. just to have that
[3:31:59] material and they're not going through
[3:32:00] those instructional practices is like
[3:32:03] what's the point of that? I think at
[3:32:05] this point now we have the materials in
[3:32:07] the schools. We're looking at what are
[3:32:10] the intentionality that you're doing
[3:32:12] with those instructional practices and
[3:32:14] that's really important. I just did two
[3:32:16] walkthroughs today and we're doing those
[3:32:18] walkthroughs not only with myself but
[3:32:21] also with other chiefs and we're doing
[3:32:22] those with our content liaison and our
[3:32:25] executive directors of content. We're
[3:32:27] all in those rooms together with school
[3:32:29] leaders, with our executive team, having
[3:32:31] conversations with school leaders about
[3:32:33] what we're seeing. And it's not like we
[3:32:35] just saw this, okay, we're on our way.
[3:32:36] It's that now we're having a plan of
[3:32:38] action. Where do you need us to step in?
[3:32:41] Where do we feel we need to step in and
[3:32:43] then revisit and come back to those
[3:32:45] classrooms? I would say what's really
[3:32:47] been important is that in our content
[3:32:50] we've had maybe I was a one person we
[3:32:54] had one to five people at a time in a
[3:32:56] content trying to serve the district.
[3:32:58] What was really critical is that we have
[3:33:00] liaison that can work at a content for
[3:33:03] each region not just I go to certain
[3:33:06] transformation schools my charge to the
[3:33:10] department is that you need to you're
[3:33:11] held responsible for every school in
[3:33:13] that region transformation or not exam
[3:33:16] school or not you need to know the data
[3:33:19] of each one of those schools you need to
[3:33:21] as your early education literacy coach
[3:33:24] you need to know exactly what's going on
[3:33:26] in that foundation accelerated lesson in
[3:33:29] that you fly pilot you need to know it's
[3:33:32] very critically important and then I
[3:33:34] need to see in your tracker what are you
[3:33:36] doing in those schools talk to my
[3:33:38] executive directors what's going on in
[3:33:39] those schools and then actually come
[3:33:42] back and look at the data from those
[3:33:44] curriculum embedded assessments to say
[3:33:45] what's going on not using just MAP
[3:33:48] MCCAST along the way how we're progress
[3:33:51] monitoring our students so that we can
[3:33:53] have those moves that happen not even
[3:33:56] just 90 days, but that they can happen
[3:33:58] from week to week. I think that's
[3:34:00] critically important to moving data
[3:34:02] where we've always like looked at these
[3:34:04] summitive measures of MCCAST or we've
[3:34:07] looking at MAP. We need to look
[3:34:10] critically beyond those things to look
[3:34:12] at crit curriculum embedded assessments
[3:34:14] to tell us more. Having dashboards
[3:34:17] available for our schools, schools that
[3:34:19] we've have visited, I've visited with
[3:34:20] Dr. right where they had dashboards
[3:34:23] where they're having constant
[3:34:24] conversations and um content planning
[3:34:27] teams about looking at data. Then the
[3:34:30] coaches going into the classroom,
[3:34:32] teachers are visiting each other, seeing
[3:34:34] practice, having conversations,
[3:34:36] intentionally planning based on that
[3:34:38] data. Um and that's some of the work
[3:34:40] that we're doing and also involves our
[3:34:43] content leads. My folks love my team. We
[3:34:46] haven't taught in 101 15 years. We
[3:34:49] didn't teach this curricula. We have to
[3:34:51] be able to pour into our folks who are
[3:34:53] serving our schools. So, one of the
[3:34:56] things is doing partnerships with local
[3:34:58] universities and organizations where we
[3:35:00] can train up the folks who are
[3:35:02] constantly in our schools to build their
[3:35:04] capacity to be better. Once you come
[3:35:07] into a position, sometimes it's like,
[3:35:09] oh, we're not really feed. We have to
[3:35:11] continually feed into them as well. And
[3:35:13] that's one of the things that we're also
[3:35:14] doing.
[3:35:15] Thank you so much.
[3:35:18] Okay. I'm not going to bother you
[3:35:20] anymore.
[3:35:24] Okay.
[3:35:27] So, we've got our questions.
[3:35:30] Thank you all. All right. So, that's all
[3:35:32] we have to do for tonight, but thank you
[3:35:34] so much for all of this and particularly
[3:35:37] thank you for what you've just shared.
[3:35:39] That's very, very helpful.
[3:35:41] Thank you.
[3:35:41] So, we will now return to public
[3:35:43] comment.
[3:35:44] John Mud.
[3:35:58] Uh, good evening. I I I'll try to be
[3:36:01] brief and uh not belabor the obvious.
[3:36:05] You know, I think the committee members
[3:36:07] have been very forthright tonight in
[3:36:09] recognizing that student outcomes are
[3:36:13] not improving fast enough, that
[3:36:15] achievement gaps are still unacceptable.
[3:36:18] And I just want to make raise a couple
[3:36:20] of questions and a couple of pretty
[3:36:23] small suggestions, but might be helpful.
[3:36:26] one, I I did, as you see in the paper
[3:36:28] that I gave you, look at the progress
[3:36:31] over four years of kids from grade three
[3:36:34] to grade six this year in the equitable
[3:36:38] literacy effort and using MCCAST data
[3:36:42] and there hasn't been much progress
[3:36:44] according to that analysis. So I guess
[3:36:47] that suggests the question is do we have
[3:36:50] the foundation there you know and how
[3:36:53] are we evaluating if this is if this
[3:36:56] data reveals something about the lack of
[3:36:58] progress how are we evaluating what
[3:37:01] we're really doing there and what will
[3:37:03] be different in the future
[3:37:06] secondly um I am troubled by this whole
[3:37:10] issue of the difference between
[3:37:16] a record of passing
[3:37:18] classes and what the performance shows
[3:37:22] on content tests like MCCAST. And the
[3:37:25] latest Ed Trust report on on adolescent
[3:37:29] literacy suggested a comparison between
[3:37:32] course passing and MCCAST. And I've put
[3:37:36] a little table in your handout and it's
[3:37:39] pretty frightening. uh 68% of Boston
[3:37:43] students passed courses, but only 28%
[3:37:47] passed MCCAST ELA. And you you see that
[3:37:51] that's true for every subgroup. The
[3:37:53] astounding difference is for
[3:37:55] multilingual learners. Uh it said 62%
[3:38:00] passed courses and 1% passed MCCAST. So
[3:38:06] what what are we going to really measure
[3:38:09] as uh you know progress? I mean and I
[3:38:12] think giving up the 10th grade MCCAST
[3:38:15] metric until we have something that we
[3:38:18] can all accept is very dangerous and uh
[3:38:22] really removes our accountability for
[3:38:25] the progress of the kids we say we care
[3:38:28] about. uh and I don't want to belver it
[3:38:30] more but because most of the other you
[3:38:33] know mass core other statistics show
[3:38:37] even though there may be some progress
[3:38:38] still not enough you know these
[3:38:41] alternate metrics two quick easy
[3:38:44] suggestions uh when we look at the
[3:38:47] bright spots what are the specific
[3:38:50] systemic lessons that we can glean from
[3:38:54] those bright spots that could be applied
[3:38:56] to other schools
[3:38:58] Secondly, what are the on most of these
[3:39:00] issues, what are the 10 best schools,
[3:39:03] you know, and what can we learn from
[3:39:04] them? Thank you. Sorry.
[3:39:06] Thank you.
[3:39:10] Thank you. Any new business?
[3:39:14] All right, that concludes our business
[3:39:15] for this evening. The next school
[3:39:18] committee meeting will take place in
[3:39:20] person on Wednesday, November 4th at 6
[3:39:22] PM here at the Bowling Building in
[3:39:24] Nubian Square. There's nothing further.
[3:39:27] I'll entertain a motion to adjourn the
[3:39:28] meeting. Is there a motion?
[3:39:30] So move.
[3:39:31] Thank you. Is there a second?
[3:39:32] Second.
[3:39:33] Is there any discussion or objection to
[3:39:34] the motion?
[3:39:37] Hearing none. Oh, is there any objection
[3:39:40] to approving the motion by unanimous
[3:39:42] consent?
[3:39:44] Hearing none, the meeting is adjourned.
[3:39:45] Thank you all. Have a good night.