This program is brought to you by Cable Franchise V's and generous donations from viewers like you great, so Being a presence of the Cormom when they call to order this meeting of the regional school committee at 632 p.m. On Tuesday, November 17th, and we'll start with a real-call attendance When I call your name, please state that you're present. Mr. Demling Demling present Mr. Herrington Herrington present Miss Lord Lord present Miss Seager Seager present Miss Spitzer Spitzer present Miss Dancer stancer present McDonald present And now I'll call to order the meeting of the Amherst school committee at 633 p.m. And And we'll also do real-call attendance. Mr. Demling don't present Mr. Herrington Herrington present Miss Lord Lord present Miss Spitzer Spitzer present and McDonald present and For those watching at home, we do have competing events this evening and so some of our other attendees will be joining us momentarily Our first order of business is to approve our minutes from November The agenda states November 4th and 10th, but I believe we have just November 10th in our packet So tonight we'll just approve November 10th And I had one correction on item number two And it should read Ms. McDonald called the Amherst school committee to order Not region Miss Dancer You need it under the superintendent's update. There was another item. Um, dr. Morris reported on the staff, let's see the curriculum day survey survey And um, there were 180 responses with an average of 4.5 out of five Are there any other mr. Herrington and then miss Seager? Yeah, so section eight under subsection d There there are a couple things here. Um So says mr. Herrington described that there's a meeting posted on the website that describes metrics You just leave it that there was a There's a meeting posted on the website and then the There's the part of dr. Morris clarified That the moa states that the district in jail and the c defines a quorum and states that the subcommittee cannot have dial That should just be myself and mr. Sullivan Are a constitutive quorum And I think that's yeah, that's that's all I had there Miss Seager I believe I actually attended this meeting though I arrived late Yes I had another correction on um, I also on item eight, but um Item a under section eight um That says so far we have a moratorium on incaps And we're focusing on doing more. I think we were talking that we are Looking at advocacy on that, but I'm going to look to my colleagues to see if they have a better They don't believe that that's what We talked about it because we were talking about advocacy for budget funding Yeah, that's right. We definitely would not have said we already have a moratorium on cast because we don't And I think It wouldn't be under the budget section either if even if we had mentioned it. I don't think I think if I recall it was probably a comment talking about advocacy in general And what things are currently in the works and what things already have some momentum And I think I may have mentioned that um That senator cummerford the mta and some other groups that were in the mcat and M. A. S. C. Had some initiatives for mcast moratorium So I mean, it's perhaps it would be accurate to say so far there's consideration for a moratorium on mcast And Yeah, we're focusing on doing more That sounds good. That sounds correct any other edits Seeing none. Um, I will move that the region Approved they approve the minutes from november 10th with as amended their second Lord second Move by mcdonald second by lord Uh, we'll take a roll call vote. Mr. Demlin. Demlin. Mr. Harrington I'm gonna Miss lord lord. I miss seager Seager I sorry It's okay. Miss spitzer Spitzer I Miss dancer Chancellor I Mcdonald I The motion passes unanimously I'll also move that uh The amherst school committee approved the minutes as amended Take a roll call. Uh, is there a second? Second Uh, moved by mcdonald second by spitzer Um, mr. Demlin Demlin I Mr. Harrington Sir, good night. Miss lord lord. I Miss spitzer Spitzer I And mcdonald I the motion passes unanimously Now, um, we'll go to our next order of business is public comment. Um, we have a document as well as a one voice recording so play the voice recording As I pull up the document extremely important for these kids to work that play, which is of course, uh, be able to participate and have a season In a way that's 100 percent remote learning and they're away from their peers And it's uh, not every sports will even do more harm. I feel they do need to be out there Missing school has been enough and to take sports away from them I think it would be extremely bad idea for these kids I think they take the proper precautions be safe be smart. They're not distancing as much as possible I think that the season could go on and uh All everyone involved will have a enjoyable winter sports season I really hope that they are able to do this and work out and give these kids Some sort of resemblance to their Normal lifestyle care, but uh, well Are folks able to see this document? My computer seems to have frozen up I don't know if I'm frozen, but um, I'm not able to scroll right now Um, I could probably see if I could bring these up for you, Alison I don't know if that'd be helpful Yeah, that might be I'm still getting a spinning wheel Oh, I'm scrolling now. Would you like me to go back? Either way, if you, I mean as long as you have it up, then um, if you have another trouble, I'll be ready It's odd because the uh documents on my right on my hard drive It's not on anything so for Folks watching at home that um this document The complete document is posted on the website already On the agendas page of the regional school committee Um on arts.org so our next order of business is um the superintendent's update So I'll turn it over to you. Dr. Morris. Sure. Thank you So I want to start with a sort of odd one, but just uh, I saw in the newspaper I think it's worth noting that um someone named patch here who I don't know is stepping down on the pioneer school committee for the first time She's been on for 44 years And so it's not our districts, but we're at a school committee meeting and you all know Better than me and anyone else what it's like to be a school member And I just I saw 44 and I said that person deserves acknowledgement even outside her district because that's that's quite an accomplishment. So, um Yeah, just wanted to note that I'll get back to the amherst stuff, but I just uh, I couldn't get over the 44 um and that number so Maybe one of you will be on 43 years from now uh, let's see It's quite a standard to set but um uh related to this uh our district um quite a few things to go over. I know we met last week, but um Uh today started miss cunningham and I are doing some professional development with our am sand partners our minority student achievement network partners Um, it was outstanding. Um, so it's called the reckoning seminar series is by being facilitated by dr Darnisa amante jackson who is the president co-founder of the disruptive equity education project And it's really supporting district leaders as they uh, I'll read it because I think it's her words as they create and strengthen strategic district level road maps to advance diversity equity inclusion and belonging based initiatives You know, uh, probably at another meeting maybe miss cunningham and I will will do more than just the byline and talk about some of the work You know, we're learning about and how it's involving uh the work in the district, but you know really thinking about what Would how do district leaders? Um, frankly, how do they lead? Uh, how do they um start having uncomfortable conversations? Beyond just the diversity piece, but really to the inclusion and belonging piece for all students for all staff and She's outstanding presenter, you know It was three hours today on zoom with no breaks which sounds horrible and you know, everyone was riveted myself included Um, so there's four sessions of that. Um, but I think over time, you know, miss cunningham and I can bring back some of the things Excuse me. We're working on um, and so just wanted to share that started today Um, good news. So, uh, all of you have, uh, virtually met obed multiple times. These are wonderful He's only got two weeks for this left this semester ends, but um, that's the amherst college Intern and it's been such a really symbiotic relationship between district staff and obed that We are working. I think I mentioned this, but this is getting more formalized that we'll we'll be starting a summer internship project with amherst college So that more of their students who are interested in education education studies will be able to get a experience with the district and And it's great because they just actually last week two weeks ago. I guess Had an education studies major approved. So that's a big shift In an institution that doesn't add majors frequently That this is many years of of work of the faculty and staff to Establish that interdisciplinary major. So really happy to be partnering with our local one of our local higher education institutions And again, there's more o-beds in the world. We're happy. Our doors will stay open He's been a wonderful resource for us, but we appreciate amherst college students and staff to uh, who are working on working Happy to work with us Last night, we had a great session with uh, Courtney and sarah from the bright program Not our program, but at the bright, um, the larger clinic they provided Interactive session around the stress that's coming as winter is Coming soon and they gave examples. It was a lot of question and answers They did about 10 or 15 minute spiel But the rest of it was all interactive with folks in their community And we got some nice feedback both last night as well as this morning The youtube link we'll put in the newsletter because it stays live, you know, it was recorded And we know some people, you know last night we took some feedback and did it in the evening Because we got some some feedback that the daytime ones were harder for families Actually, our attendance were lower in the evening So we may have to rethink that uh, there's no good time necessarily for everyone But a lot of people we got feedback watched it. Um this morning and shared how useful it was. I Frankly as a parent as an educator, I found their work really inspirational useful as well So we'll we'll make sure that gets shared out with everybody Um, but obed actually and and favoritey were were helpful and working on getting that organized as sasha for bro And debbie was more than we're as well um So, uh, we have surveyed families who have left the district. Um in the last year, um We're still hoping to get more responses. We have about 70 little shade less than 70 responses Uh, which is about a third, uh of the overall responses a little bit more and uh, so far in the responses Uh, kind of three even categories about a third of those families left the area They moved for jobs or family whatever reason a third of the families left for a different school because they were planning to do that anyway at about a third of them left because They really were concerned about the lack of in person or the questions about in person learning Um, and finding another place to do that. Um, some really good feedback on that In terms of whether students plan to come back particularly not so much the families who moved but the families who made other choices and still living in the area It's pretty even split 50 50 When that data set becomes mature like we get all Do a reminder We'll be happy to share that with the committee and the and the community but really good some good information some good data in there Um, but I just want to let people know that you know out of the people who left it's about 50 50 People who are you know sort of planning are likely to come back or people who are Unlikely or not planning to come back More soon, but I just I know that was a topic that we talked about here There's a lot of interest in so I wanted to give the interim update on that Uh tomorrow morning the bright and early mr. Harrington and I will be there at 7 30 for the next meeting of the building committee And that meeting will be the election of chair and vice chair of that building committee We'll do some broad updates on the maintenance plan that was submitted By the district where we are with the enrollment Request that we've made and waiting for them as we get back to us So not as much to share I don't know if it'll be a barn burner tomorrow. Mr. Harrington. It may be a pretty low key early morning meeting Uh, but I think things will start picking up once we get the enrollment uh report and Extended the enrollment letter back from msba. That'll sort of set the next The wheels in motion about probably a quicker pace. Anything I'm missing on that one mr. Harrington Nope Sounds good You know my last one. Oh, I've got two more. Excuse me Uh, also an msan one is that tomorrow msan knowing that all that many districts, excuse me at all, but many districts are in virtual They started a year long virtual learning opportunity for our districts districts youth equity leaders There's no conference this year like there typically is One of the nice things is they're they're making separate groups from middle school and high school students So our faculty and staff and leadership at the building level as well Dr. Gavara are working on that and the meetings start tomorrow and they're called the msan intersectional social justice collaborative for middle Middle and high school students So really in this time where you know the conference, which is always the highlight of the msan year for the students isn't possible It's really nice that they found their msan is finding ways for students to connect You know be it in a virtual context, but much better than not connecting at all The last one Which i'm going to go back in my email and make sure I read correctly. We applied Last month for something the state um desi Is involved with which is called phase one of the abbot fix now k-12 testing program And essentially uh, and i'll share more on this, you know by email i can follow up in the meeting There's uh quite a few documents But it is not intended to be asymptomatic testing. Um, but it does provide free testing for anyone who's in school Who has any symptoms of covet? Um, and they list what symptoms are there? It is a rapid antigen test. So if there is Concerns about it, you know, they they encourage people to follow up with a PCR test, but this is really good news. We'll have this active as students, you know, hopefully re-enter the school building and We're fortunate many many districts applied and thanks to dr. Brady and others for putting an application that got us in the first round of Of their testing protocol. We did put in a particular language about Our intensive needs population who may not be able to communicate their how they're feeling Inaccurate ways and whether we could use that a little more flexibly with a population that may not be able to Tell adults or their peers how they're feeling that if there are some symptoms That are noticed and so we have some follow-up work with desi To talk through that. I think later this week that at the beginning of next week Just about but our application was really centered around not just the typical use but looking at our intensive needs populations and how we might Best service them given the sometimes limitations and communication that some of our students have So really good news. Thanks again, dr. Brady and others who worked on that and Um, I think that is my update for this evening okay And we have comments or questions from the committee for the superintendent miss pitzer Sorry, so can I just follow up um to clarify about the testing program? What's the um So this is great news. So thank you for everybody who applied um it's For exclusively for students or is it would it also cover staff and and teachers in the buildings as well? Yeah, it would be it's for students and staff. Yes That's okay, and I it was my fault. It's been a long day. Um, and then um, what's the How how much I guess like what's the capacity like how how quickly I mean? I guess it would always depend on community transition, but i'm just curious like We expect this will last for the entire whenever we get kids in schools Will it last for an entire um school year or is it something where we might? Need to reapply. I'm just curious about that Yeah, so um on the first one It's it's a rapid test. So it'll come back pretty quickly. Um, and you know, I'm trying to look at their information This all came in like today. So, um, I'm really just getting caught up. And of course is um a plethora of documents Uh for that But you know, I think given our current status, I don't I don't believe that we'll have um So many students in or so many staff in uh anytime soon. Um, that I think we're worried about supply Um, and I think for them, uh, you know, because it's not being used as a broad um asymptomatic test Um, the sense I got from the language is they're not so worried about supply At this point, um, if it was, you know, everybody being tested three times a week or every day or something I think that would be a different scenario But I'm happy after the meeting to send all the information including f aqs and and all that to the full committee Maybe it came in yesterday, but um, you know, much like miss spitzer. It's been a busy day. Not a bad way But um, um, but yeah, no, this is it's good news and and we're we're excited to be chosen And we're excited because I think the state was interested because it was a little bit different take on the standard application When we're talking about, um students, um, you know, I think I my mistake I should have said staff and students but I was talking specifically our application talked about students who may not be able to communicate How they're feeling and being able to use it more often with students Who may not be able to share some of the symptoms Orly any other comments. I'm not seeing any right now Okay, okay And so we'll move on to the next item which is um chairs update um And what I was going to talk about but I think we can we can circle back to it when we get to our future Again, the planning was just a clarification on some questions that have arisen since the Meeting on friday of the jlmsc We talked about it just now in our in our agenda minutes Review, but just to clarify that some of Remind folks of the conversation that we had last week The jlmsc is not a subcommittee of the regional school committee. Um, the As mr. Harrington noted in his edits to the to the minutes Mr. Harrington and mr. Sullivan do form a subcommittee and so they They are obliged by open meeting law to post their meetings and make them public And that's also sort of applies to quorum um, so I think that point of clarification is um, this may be helpful for folks to understand The the meeting that that um that we have last week And I think when we get to future agenda planning, um, we can talk again about that Are there any questions comments? Mr. Denley Just a somewhat related note. Um, so on on november 2nd We we sent a second request to the apa executive board Asking them if they would talk to us about changing the moa. Have we so that's 15 days ago now Have we had a response to that request yet? I have not received any response Thank you And uh, welcome miss kenny Um, and and I also uh, as I noted, uh, there's some conflicting meetings So mr. Sullivan will also be joining later after those shoots for a school committee concludes Um, so we'll move on to next item which is school committee announcements Uh, does anybody have announcements mr. Harrington? Yeah, I'll just Jump off of uh, kind of what you were saying. He took away one of my bullet points, but so I just kind of wanted to Let everyone know that that I I met last thursday the 12th with uh, the apa representation to the jlmsc and we kind of Talked about some of their concerns And so I just kind of wanted to Bring those back to Us here at the school committee and then so one of the one of the concerns that that was brought up was Was the uh the idea of meetings being held publicly and the fact that there are staff That might be more reluctant to bring issues forth if they Thought that you know, they were going to be doing that in a public manner And so so that's that's a matter that we have to figure out procedurally. I think there are some solutions I'm confident that there are some solutions to that and uh So then the other the other issue is that they weren't idea open to the idea of a non-district Person being part of the uh Of a labor management committee And they'd be more accepting of the uh public health official in an advisory role They also wanted the superintendent to be present because of his ability to make decisions and to provide the broadest swath of information to the committee um They also wanted As i'm doing tonight these these matters to be brought to the school committee before meeting again And then the the major area of agreement that we had was that the scope and the purpose of the jlmsc is not As a decision-making body but an advisory committee and so so hopefully at Some point either tomorrow or thursday but before 4 p.m. On friday we can we can meet and kind of Come to an agreement As as to how we can best Meet and do the work and keep it going forward So that's basically all I have on that so far So it's helpful. Thank you um is lord Tomorrow at 6 p.m. There will be a school equity task force meeting. Thank you Mr. Demlin So on on the jlmsc situation um so Mr. Harrington I shared that that There was some concerns expressed about um the membership that that the district Has chosen to to represent the district. I just wondering like is is there anything in the moa that says The district can choose its own representatives or the district's representatives have to be approved um, I'm just I'm sort of wondering about what the Required parameters as dictated by the the agreement are in that respect Did you want to respond mr. Harrington right? Yeah, um I I kind of scoured the moa for language language that that would limit Who we could have involved and there really isn't anything that limits who the district could have as a member nor nor is there anything that limits who the apa can have as as members If anyone else could could refute that but That's that's what I read I see um some thumbs up coming from our uh team that was on the negotiations team Okay, any other questions or announcements? Seeing none We'll move on now to our um new and continuing business And our first item is um discussion on Advocacy for the MCAS moratorium um And i'm not sure that that's actually the the best phrasing for that That's my fault for how it's phrased on the on the agenda, but um There as as mr. Demling alluded to when we were reviewing the minutes or minutes from the last meeting um the mass association of school committees um at their annual convening or delegate meeting um approved a resolution regarding the MCAS um And I I actually don't have a copy of that in front of me But among the items of regarding the MCAS was a moratorium for This year and upcoming two more years So three years of a moratorium as well as I think it was a waiving of requirements for Requirement for high school graduation this year um there's also a bill being proposed um I think in the state senate or the state legislature Regarding MCAS and I see mr. Demling nodding so maybe mr. Demling can speak to that bill, but that's um What we want to discuss tonight is whether we as a committee want to weigh in on any of those resolutions as a committee Or show support for any of those Mr. Demling did you do you have that? Yeah, so so the bill that you're talking about is um Is is currently being considered at the senate uh it's uh proposed by by senator cummerford And I'm just reading off her website here. Um, the little blurb Summary is that the bill has two main aims Imposes a four-year moratorium on the administration of the MCAS And on using any standardized tests to make high-stakes decisions about students educators schools and districts The bill also mandates the desi request the necessary federal waiver And two establishes a statewide commission and local task forces to pilot alternative approaches and reassess the state's approach To goal setting and evaluation um, so that that differs from the Resolution that was recently passed at the MASC delegate assembly slightly um the the MASC resolution um Calls for a waiver of the graduation requirement for this year um a moratorium for three years Um, I think I think that's it um So the other sort of piece here is that there's a federal doctor morris could probably speak to the law a little more clearly than I could There's a federal requirement For for for for some level of standardized testing um The that that we we we can't control Unless unless the federal government actually Issues a waiver right so there's So that's that that's one thing that could happen is that the federal government either now or after january 21st Could issue a federal waiver In addition, even if Even if we the federal government doesn't issue a federal waiver and and we have to do a standardized test we could um Advocate at the state level for for waiving the graduation requirement So that kind of takes the high stakes. It takes most of the high stakes stress out of it, right? It's still stressful obviously to sit down there with a standardized test um that you want to do well on it's supposed to be the summary of your um of your Your knowledge and ability and whatever um, but but taking that out of the Requirement for graduation is is what the push is this year and I think it's really two things, right? One is obviously it's coven time and so um for students that missed Regular learning this past spring and are missing what would be regular in-person learning now um, I think the basic idea is that it's it's not fair to ask someone to To do that in a high stakes way. Um, I think there's also Um, and and you you heard this in that second part of the the cummerford bill um, you know, there's been a push for a long time to reform Standardized testing and how do we evaluate student achievement and keep track of that? while being In compliance with the federal law and so I think there are some groups um statewide that are sort of looking at this as an opportunity to kind of expand the moratorium on MCAS and And reevaluate the whole notion of standardized testing Um, so there's a lot of ways to go um, you know a little a lot of angles to take small or large but that's that's kind of the the um That's kind of the setup Can you come to miss seager? I was reading uh on the masc list serve about MCAS scores being linked to scholarships. I don't really know anything about it. Um And it's and my kids are young enough that the only MCAS had taken are in the younger grades where it's not such high stakes um, but I don't know if anyone knows about that and um In general for the older students for the scholarship um It I mean and there's also like this high stakes part That mr. Deming was talking about and like reducing that but it still feels pretty awful to maybe have them in the first place because then you have teachers prepping for and students Working towards that and everyone has a different model across the state right now. So there's just this huge Unequalness like how do how can you possibly compare the students this year, which I think is you know, the whole point of why we're talking about this in the first place so I think I'm um restating this somewhat obvious, but Uh, certainly back. Does anybody know about these scholarships and would we be doing our students a disservice by advocating for not holding it and I don't know. I'm sort of questioning this as I say My thoughts are a little bit unorganized in this area, but Mr Did you have your hand up mr. Deming? Yeah, so it's called the Adams scholarship. I think it's the Abigail Adams scholarship. Um, but basically it's a state level scholarship that um, is based on It's either it's either taking the mcast or it's an mcast score I don't know the actual rules, but basically the the concern that has been expressed on the on the listserv there Uh, is that if you don't offer the mcast then you are You're denying eligibility to this scholarship. Um It's obviously an open discussion. I think the The comments that I've read have said that well if we ever got into a situation where statewide There was you know a temporary moratorium on the mcast There's nothing that would prevent the state from changing the requirements for that for that scholarship. Um I think I think maybe the The it would it would get if you started to do something. I don't even know if you could do this I don't even know if we could act on our own And say we're not going to have a graduation level requirement Just an amorous pelham and the rest of the state can do its own thing Dr. Morris could probably speak on that but I I do believe this requires a state level Uh change we can't just on our own school committee decide. No, but it's not a graduation requirement requires a state level Thing is that true dr? Yeah, so in massachusetts it's currently based on regulations um Unless they change or were waived as as being discussed. Um We were it's a competency determination, right? So if you don't pass mcast, there's there's another pathway, but it's it's you can um You get you get noted notification that you you finished high school But it's not a it's not a diploma in the same way and so that's I think the piece that Is probably garnering the most um In my opinion rightfully garnering the most attention and energy is we've we've got now a year and a half We'll have a year and a half of really different Experiences, um, and that's not district specific. I mean every district is unique every kid is unique, but um, so how would one make sense of The stakes of a single test determining Something in the middle of a pandemic. So, you know, you could you could see where my Leaning's lie on that one But I think that's getting more attention than perhaps some of the other elements because I think it's on the minds of many Secondary school families and students. Sorry. Oh Stay quiet now miss lord Um, I also I want to acknowledge that for the most part The seniors that graduated most of them have already taken the mcast. So it won't affect the Students that are going to be entering college in 2020. I mean 21 So there's still time to figure out the Abigail Adams scholarship Dr morris. Yeah, sorry. I know miss spitzer hand up. I think just you may remember last year I think we talked about it here that um, the state did allow for Some degree of flexibility with course completion For students who's interrupt education was interrupted. We did have um, at least one success and maybe two Doing that Through passing courses and you know, these are students who had not passed the mcast. They were 12th grade students um And trying to find an alternate pathway so that they could work towards graduation while taking the mcast wasn't A viable option for them. So I think miss lord is correct. But I also there is a You know our graduate or pass rate is very high at emerson regional high school Thanks to work with faculty staff students and families And then there is there is a population of students every year that Don't pass in the first time or the first couple times and so that's A separate issue is the population of of students another issue is it all cascades So if you have 10th grade students this year should be the typical time those tests were taken You know last year's kids didn't do it. So is the test going to be different? How is the test going to attribute the fact that there certainly is learning loss that occurred in the last Eight months and so I think there's a lot of unanswered questions for me about How this would actually function as is if it had a high stakes element to it Miss fit sir Thanks. Um, so I guess one question that I have I'll just start off by saying I think I'm generally in favor of us Showing support for at least one or if not more of the um Proposals that um mr. Demling shared with us. Um And there's one other reason that I'm wondering So again, my kids haven't taken these tests yet. They're too young But I'm assuming this is something that would be really hard to do Virtually or in in a remote learning environment um and If that's true, it seems like we would really want to That's just another reason in support of potentially doing it But I'd love to know more about whether or not that's true Dr. Morris Yeah, this is actually something that I was going to bring up on the upcoming When we get to the agenda item talk about topics for upcoming meetings is More sooner than MCAS or the stakes are somewhat lower is the access testing for ELL students. That's in January We got an email from the state to indicate the access test should be taken this year regardless and they should be done in person They don't have the capacity to do that Uh not in person and so we responded well that may not be an option for us In january and frankly, I may not be optioned from other districts in january too And so we were still waiting or apply But because that one to mr. Demling's point occurs before january 21st It seems perhaps unlikely that um, we'd see a change and I don't know if that's federal policy It's one of the things we're trying to look up, but um I have not heard of a plan for how Tests could be administered remotely. I know some colleges Um universities have developed software that you know To do that that has like um and not to be weird about it But like a big brother feature where there's like a camera on or something like that um, but uh in my conversations that the commissioner has a superintendents Um, it has not been and probably rightfully so been at the forefront of what we're talking about Um, but I think now that we're into mid-november and Thanksgiving is around the corner We are getting into the period where we need to we would need to actively plan for any one of the scenarios that might emerge So sorry long-winded, but the access one in january is acutely on our mind because that's two months out Mr. Demling, could you um remind us what the four I wrote down four components to the bill That's um on deck. Um, could you remind us what they were? I was trying to scribble Yeah, sure for the camera for a billion. Yes, sorry So it says the bill I'm just reading. Um, hey, I can put the link in the chat if you want. Um So the bill has two main aims imposes a four-year moratorium on the administration Of the MCAS test and on using any standardized tests to make high-stakes decisions about students educators schools and districts. This is important too because um This is me talking about the bill Because we've been talking about the student experience here, but um, there's also a broad discussion, right about how teacher evaluations should occur and be structured and What degree standardized testing should play a role in that? school schools and districts also get rated by the state And and MCAS tests play a role in that as well. So this is about This bill is about suspending all of that. Um, bill also mandates the desi request the necessary federal waiver So asking that the we get the federal Thing um and number two establishes a statewide commission and local task forces to pilot alternative Approaches and reassess the state's approach to goal-setting and evaluation That's the that's the cummer for bill And I I'll I'll just say too for my my two cents, you know, I'm generally in favor of at the very least a moratorium on um, my MCAS is a graduation requirement for for this year and for next year And for the um, the uh, what was it the sophomores who took who missed taking it? In the spring, I'm not beginning that year. Um, I think that's pretty straightforward. I mean In terms of like fairness, um, I I do think Um, I you know, I'm also generally in favor of of taking a pause and reevaluating how we do assessments Um, I I do just personally having followed this discussion for a number of years I do find it a little polarized little Too reductionist when we talk about standardized tests. I don't I'll just say publicly I don't think standardized testing is pure evil Um one way or another. I I think it can definitely be implemented irresponsibly and effectively, but um, you know, broadly speaking, we have a responsibility as a district right to make sure that we're um That we're not that we're not um Uh, leaving kids behind, you know, for lack of a better word that, you know, and we have to and if we are doing um If we're not reaching certain groups, uh as well as others then we need to correct that and and there really is no way to just qualitatively walk through the building and Absorb that through osmosis other than through some sort of quantitative assessment And so of course the question is how do you do that in a responsible way that respects Student well-being and is age appropriate and is equitable and that's a really interesting discussion, but I do think it's it's less um It is I should say it's more complicated than just, you know MCAS bad and we need to just, you know, not do standardized tests So all that being that doesn't stop me from saying we should we should have moratorium on MCAS I think we should given the pandemic but um But it is interesting once you get into once you broach this discussion It it does quickly become non non simplistic just just my two cents I um, I would echo and sort of plus one um Much of what you just said mr. Demling because I I agree um A moratorium or at least a waiver of the requirement for that as as graduation seems like the most fair and equitable approach given this tremendously unique Disruptive couple years that we're having um, so I I'm all in favor of supporting that um and I also agree that given sort of all the you know, the challenges and issues as all the ones that you've just described From equity fairness, etc from from the way that MCAS might be administered that it's a great initiative to Pilot and investigate and explore developing new approaches to that What I really worry about is is having that is is missing that data for us to be able to measure engage How we are doing in in educating our students on a sort of on a quantitative basis as you said short of going into buildings um And knowing that what we're really striving for particularly everybody is but particularly in our district. We talk about looking for um Our education gaps and and sort of education deficits and how do we track that and how we're doing and and improving in that area And I don't know how we do that without quantitative data assessment data and I would also add though in theory I The idea of a moratorium during a pandemic makes sense on the surface to me at the same time Part of me thinks like of all the times that we really need to know what how much we need to make up This is the time that I feel like we really would need the data to know how far behind we've fallen given Given the disruptions of these years So I'm I'm actually really hesitant to sort of sign on to a full-scale moratorium on it beyond sort of the moratorium of of it as a graduation requirement or Any of the I like that wording in the bill of that any high stakes use of the data is is really helpful Because It's really difficult to hold folks accountable in a pandemic right now in that way What are um, so I just spoke a long time. What are other folks thoughts anybody who hasn't spoken? miss dancer I guess I would just say I really appreciate the the Um comments your thoughts about it peter and you allison also, you know or perhaps things that that I wouldn't have thought of myself and it does um it does speak to some You know that it's not just one way or the other You know because what I've seen Which is not nearly as much as you've observed is that it is kind of a either or you know We either do it or we don't do it and I think your comments are very helpful for me and I'm going to Look at the mafc information or two Um to understand more about it. So thank you Does anybody else want to add on I'm hearing um a general interest in in some sort of advocacy and support on at least on pieces of this um, and I guess the question is is What how many of those pieces do we want to do we want to as a committee include? So I would I would suggest that a next step would be to draft a resolution if that's something that we wanted to do I'm guessing it was a long day for everybody. Everybody is pretty quiet Okay, we can um we can come back to that when we talk about agenda planning about that Okay So when we move on to the um next item of Business which is our distance learning attendance update Um and that presentation is in our packets And for folks watching at home just as a reminder the packet is I believe posted on the on the agenda's web page So if there is difficulty viewing it online, you you can grab it there and the presentation is included in there So i'll turn it over to you dr. Morse Thank you. So i'm two weeks ago. I sort of foreshadowed That there were some discrepancies in attendance data And so that had come back in two weeks when we the administrative team had more time to think about it hear from staff hear from Families and hear from students and more time to ask more questions about the data. So what I'd like to tonight is just walk through it was As a piece of context under the first slide says context, but i'll i'll start even before it the administrative team Started this work looking at attendance in the first month of school seen as research would suggest That's a predictor of attendance throughout the school year. Um, so we started that work early When we got the student feedback Responses from the middle school high school students We noticed a trend of responses that was not demographically consistent with our student population We then went back in to see the attendance data and try to triangulate the those data sources And then we kept on digging and digging and digging so the administrative teams met more or less every day every other day The last two weeks on this topic. Um, I have oodles and oodles of google docs and Slide decks that we just were filled in as we followed data protocols And so um, this is uh eight more slides after the the front slide But uh, it's really summarizing a tremendous amount of work and effort that building principles system principles and others Central office staff have done because this this is a really important topic Um, so I just I think the narrative is important that it wasn't just data that was thrown together I also want to thank uh kong chen who works in our is department who Often people work in is or you know behind the scenes quite literally In what they're doing and uh as we've done our data protocols She's gotten literally dozens of data questions Which is part of our protocols from the ministry She keeps on digging in deeper digging in deeper and finding more and more data To share with administrators that often are specific to their building So um, oh I didn't share my screen yet Oh, sorry about that Hopefully folks can see that um, and so You know again offering a bit more context I want to start by saying this isn't a new conversation since last spring. We've had staff members teachers para educators Tell us that they were concerned about some of the attendance Patterns they were seeing they were concerned about who was showing up for class and who was not Um, so again, this is not a new issue But we now have much better data to track and a much more robust distance learning approach So it is a new conversation that way But it's really part of a much longer conversation about how do we make sure that our students are access and distance learning And a full access to the curriculum So, you know, I'm not going to read this slide, but I think that first loaded point is really important This is not uh, none of this should be read as a critique of of families of students of staff Everyone's doing the best they can An incredibly difficult situation This is really about understanding What's happening and figuring out what we can do as a district to improve the experience and improve the outcomes In particular the outcomes Of some of some students in our district Talking other districts nothing in this slide deck feels unique. Um, you know, some of this has been publicly reported Some of this is just conversations with other districts. I was on a msan conference calls. I mentioned today Similar districts across the country are seeing these similar trends. So Uh, that doesn't mean it's okay. It doesn't mean we're going to be satisfied or I'm satisfied with the data But it also is important to note that many staff are are innovating and recognizing this challenge Uh and coming up with new strategies that are proving to be effective So it is a work in progress, but we do want to have an honest conversation tonight Uh, you know, I think after I referenced it last time, frankly, there were some staff members who who uh, Community members weren't that pleased with me uh about disclosing it for me There's two reasons I think this needs to come to school committee and the public one I think it's a matter of public concern if we have demographic differences and something as important as attendance Uh, I think that should be talked about in a public setting Uh, the second is I think ethically morally we feel like our job is educators to make sure every student is reached Every student's engaged and every student's learning and and right now we have some evidence that is concerning on that front as it relates to distance learning um, you know, just to read some data on absenteeism and I won't read all of it, but um You know talking about longitude and research Achievement in reading and math Is hindered for students who are chronically absent as early as kindergartens This isn't just thinking about high school students and credits that they need for graduation Uh chronic absence in elementary schools is linked to an increased likelihood of dropout Even if attendance improves over the time in other words students with poor attendance in elementary school Even if their improvements attendance approved later are still more likely to drop out of high school Low-income students are more vulnerable research indicates that the negative consequences for chronic absenteeism In kindergartners is 75 larger than the impact of absenteeism and higher income classmates In other words, if we we know that we have an opportunity gap right now in educational debt So this is even more important for some of our students And the students that we feel like are the most underserved in our district Uh middle high school not surprisingly effects of chronic absenteeism compounds by sixth grade even along with gpa It's a top predictor of dropout. So all that data is just suggesting that Um, we can't teach students well if they're not in our classes, right seems obvious and that there's long-term impacts Uh of attendance challenges for students Um, I think it's also worth noting. We're not looking looking at this issue from a disciplinary disciplinary approach This is not, you know, we I think last spring we heard some terrible examples that made the media On districts that were rushing To dole out pretty serious consequences on family and students for attendance challenges We are consistently trying to Have a supportive approach and not a disciplinary approach as it relates to student attendance You know, and this is this is a journey for us that, you know, we even you know We have a district improvement plan at the regional level that that highlights in elementary school element ones that highlight the opportunity gaps as a critical component of our district and If attendance is so highly correlated with achievement, we need to take this topic really seriously Um, I I want to also be clear. It's not on the slide, but I just want to say it out loud Because I know we're working not just in Amherst, but everywhere in a politicized environment This is not something that I'm suggesting Should be used to whether an moa should be revisited or whether right I don't have a political goal in here. This is about kids It's about how do we take care of kids? Particularly those who are historically underserved in our district Uh, because we're concerned about the trends we're seeing so I can't control what anyone else does with data, right? I I've learned that I don't know if it's the hard way, but I've learned that In my time in this role in this community at the same time I want to be really clear that there's no political end except how do we help kids Be successful and how do we promote them to have the the best outcomes possible In our district So I know it's an awkward thing to sort of talk about but I want to talk about it clearly here because I think it is a critical component that Um, that I heard is like, you know, is there an ulterior motive? There's no ulterior motive. The motive is We collectively have to figure out how to reach Um, some of our students in a different way than we are right now And that's it. Sorry. There's a long-winded context piece But I thought it was just important because anytime you present that again once I start presenting it, you know The train moves and uh before I got to the station. I thought I'd share those pieces So, um Here's some summary points because once you do right, there's a lot in the data, but um The overall student attendance rate is pretty similar to last year's when we were in person. We have Mr. Sullivan. How you doing? Um When we when we compared it, we tried to compare apples to apples So we compared the same dates which were mid-september to early november You know, because attendance patterns change once you get to winter for a whole host of reasons You know people get sick more often as mr. Sullivan knows the roads can be a little tricky In some of our towns that may have influence uh on attendance So we did an apples to apples comparison from fall of 19 to fall of 20 um, the one caveat I'd have that the attendance is similar is that It's uh, it sounds kind of hokey, but it's actually pretty hard to cut class once you're in the school Right, it takes a lot of effort. Uh, the way we're calculating attendance is students who are present in their home room Are present the beginning of the day and we've received anecdotal reports from many teachers that Uh, that doesn't necessarily describe someone uh, a student's full day's attendance That they may be in at the beginning of a class period from middle school high school They may not stay online for the whole class period. So I think the one caveat I'd have is that um when students are in school We have we have a really good sense of that We are trying to change our data systems. I'll talk about later to capture a little bit more of that But I did want to say They're pretty similar. So the concern is really about the distribution of absences More than it is the total number So, you know, very bluntly, I'll read this that um absences of students identifying as latino latina Black african-american english language learners and students qualifying for subsidized lunch are disproportionately high higher than they've been in the past Students identifying as male also have a disproportionate share of absences. It's not quite at the same Um Statistical significance and that's why I made it its own bulleted point. Um But but it's also true We have recently seen signs of improvement based on staff actions I want to thank staff for all of their work But the gaps are still present and we still need more actions to and we need to take more actions because if we don't do anything Uh, we would accept the data to not change and that's not acceptable in my opinion Any questions before I dig in on some of the quantitative numbers and quantitative data? Not seeing any Keep going so two data sets. Uh, we had probably 40 sheets of excel files that kong put together for us. I'm only going to share two To not overwhelm they they often tell the same story They may be more localized to a school and the principles all have access to that But what you see on the left is 2019 The percent of the top line is you know, uh, the tenants look slightly better this year So 4.7 percent absences last year is about five at five percent So not a huge difference, but again with the caveat I mentioned before The concerning piece is really looking at the percent of the population the percent of the absences So I'll look at like free free lunch for instance So students who qualify for the free lunch program Last year were 34.6 percent of the student population. They approximated about 44 of the absences So there was already a distinction there The challenge here is that number not much of a change in the percent of the population But we're now up to 62 percent roughly of the absences are attributed to students who qualify for free lunch So it's been nearing twice A disproportionality that's twice the percentage of their role there That population of students in the general population Also concerning or you can look down. I'm not going to read all the numbers African-American students black African-American which last year That subgroup had better attendance than the mean And this year does not And even though the relative numbers are low the change is is to me pretty significant over six weeks span As I mentioned ELL students and hispanic latino students also are over-represented in the absences in pretty dramatically Different ways than they were in the fall So this this is a huge cause of concern for us. This is, you know, any time we're looking at our systems We consistently try to look at who's benefiting from what we're doing And this is telling us that not all of our students are benefiting and particularly that the trends that we're seeing Our trends that we would not want to see Historically underserved populations in our district We're not being successful. There's some success stories in there So I don't want to kind of dismiss them particularly special education So kudos to folks working on that because that's taken a tremendous amount of effort And I think I'll I'll I'll get to my hypothesis as to why that number looks better this year A little later in that presentation So I have one more data set that I'd like to present But I want to pause and see if there's either comments or questions on the one that is up in front of the screen now Mr. Demling and then miss that sir. Yeah, I mean the two things that strike me about this Chart one is that we're not talking about a couple percentage percentages here in one or two groups I mean for 33.7 of the population being free lunch and then representing 61.9 of the absences is is extreme so it's the it's the magnitude of the Of the How unbalanced it is is is striking the other thing that's striking to me is other than special education This is every single achievement gap subgroup every single historically underserved subgroup every Every subgroup of students and families who are underserved in society Other than special education in this chart Um are disproportionately missing missing class. Um, so yeah, I look forward to the next slides But those those the two things that really are striking to to me in this Miss spitzer So, um, this is more kind of a getting in the weeds a little bit. I'm trying to figure out Whether I'm reading this right so the absence rate is the 4.7 and the 4.9 number So there's a classroom of 20 kids on a given day We'd expect about one kid to be absent and that was true in 2019 and 2020 So do you have the absence rates for these? Subpopulations And and are you seeing the same trend? I guess at the absence Rate because I think it's interesting. I mean, this is clearly showing that there there's there's a Problem. I'm just trying to understand. Are we seeing such big gaps as well in in the rate of absence for these subgroups? and maybe you don't have that data, but Different way to present the same data right because this is showing the disproportionality and and so it's that's stemming from the higher rates of abstinence among those subgroups But I guess it would be possible that you could still have and this is again Just thinking in the midst is that you could still have a lower So if our if our overall absence rate is actually lower than last year Potentially you could still have lower than last year's absence rates for some of these groups and still have this disproportionality That would be problematic But I'm just wondering is if we're seeing as well as this trend Like are we seeing rates that have gone up considerably as well as this kind of disproportionality among who's actually Having it is Yeah, sorry No, no, I can give a really brief answer to this one. I know sometimes I give long-winded answers the answers Yes, we're seeing the same, you know increase in rates as well Yeah, and I'll get to that on the next slide. I think that'll become a little bit more clear Are there any other questions on this slide? Yeah, I think before I go to the next slide, you know in the workshop today The facilitator used the quote that I'll read From James Baldwin, which is not everything that is faced can be changed But nothing could be changed until it's faced And so I just I thought that was a really good quote and I told her probably going to use it today Because I do think this is uncomfortable to look at And it's still really important to look at and sometimes that uncomfortability It brings about the changes that benefit kids and that's you know I just want to note the that it's it's awkward for me to talk about and I've been living in this data for a couple weeks But for people who are seeing it for the first time or crossing the first time I just I want to note that it's it's not it's not easy It's not fun to look at and it's not consistent with you know, what we want to be in the district And that's why we're talking about So the other data set I put in the slide deck shows Greater than five absences from the time periods that you see from the first day of distance learning Through the sixth And so this is looking at similar kinds of You know structures. I added a couple more demographic pieces to it But it's trying to see, you know I don't really love the term, but you know, what would be considered chronic absences, you know, so for The first, you know, six weeks of school or whatever worked out to be there having five absences is missing, you know Basically once a week Thereabouts and so that's about 20 percent, you know, I think the actual number ended up being I think we calculated it was like 17.8 percent or more Absence rate and so you see the same trends emerge. I think Kong put some green colors for demographic groups that Are faring are having fewer As a proportion fewer chronic absence Students who are who are who are displaying chronic absences And then read to show where that's increased and it's following the same trends So it's not really new data But I think one of the things when we get to what we're going to do about it Is trying to see where are there students who, you know, may have been sick for a couple days We know that even in a virtual environment, you know, things happen There was a power outage day and Steve, I think there was another day This was a Monday. There were shoots very high. It was out For a little bit So we want to be realistic to know that there are things that happen when we get over five then that's when You know, the easy easy to explain absences like I didn't have power that day That sort of falls falls apart a little bit And unfortunately, we're seeing the same trends as we saw again I mentioned earlier that we were seeing a bit of a trend with Female students and male students as well. That wasn't addressed on the earlier slide And I know it's a lot of data Again, we've got I mean, I think Kong has literally gotten 40 40 sheets of excel files Some of that gets to identifiable levels when we get to the school specific And so I thought it was better to share the district specific But the schools all have their own specific and they actually have the students Who the students are attach to this in terms of the greater than five absences list In terms of interventions and supports that can be offered But you know, we wanted to look at this to see To cross-reference it with the first data set and and you know, sort of unfortunately a cross-referenced All too well when we compared this year's data to last year's data Any questions on this one? I know this one has like additional It's a little harder to talk about but it you know The short story is it's showing the same trends are true from the earlier slide on the chronic absence rate as well as the more routine one Miss dancer This is maybe obvious, but I but I wanted to ask so Students could fall into more than one of these groups Yep. Yeah, so there's we looked at that and and one of our current aspects of work is looking at You know what we would say is comorbidity. So if you happen to be I'll give you a real example that we dug in on Hispanic Latino students Regardless of income so in other words in both students who receive subsidized lunch and students who don't Had higher rates of absences than The mean But there was a there was a difference between students in that ethnic subgroup Who also qualified for free or reduced lunch? So we are able to get in that details again for this particular presentation It started getting the end size on some of those the number of students started getting just felt uncomfortable for a public presentation But on a principal level what you're suggesting is absolutely where they're digging in to trying to look at What are the trends? How do we get to the individual student characteristics? But I think what we learn looking at that is that both things are true that it's like many things So socioeconomic class has had an influence But even cut across that race ethnicity as a unique variable like, you know with other things You know, uh, had a very had Was a definite difference regardless of socioeconomics So both things can be true, right? There could become morbidity and it still matters Regardless of the income and the same thing for special ed or you know, a whole number of other Because it's not just race ethnicity. It includes other demographic groups as well So our mansivicaries was much shorter and more direct. So I'll get better this point is the state allowing some leeway in terms of when you are required or requested to report this to higher agencies In terms of chronic attendance So I will answer that question very carefully to say that we are taking a We are doing our absolute Most you take a non disciplinary non reporting approach Given the pandemic given the challenges that students are facing. We'll talk about those in a second To so we are trying to avoid going down roads that you suggest And we're not so worried about The other part of what would happen to us, right? If we have real concerns about neglect or abuse You know, we are mandated every staff member here is a mandated reporter and we do what we are We fulfill that duty We are taking that into account heavily as it relates to attendance and really coming from a problem solving approach and not Relying on external agencies Unless we feel like there's real neglect happening Mr. Spitzer, I'm just wondering because the grade level isn't indicated here and I'd imagine It may differ so that I could imagine younger students who can't be left at home alone or Who can't navigate remote learning might be more likely to have Um absences. Are we seeing any trends across age groups and they can't get into like specific? Yeah, no, but yeah, I can answer that So we're actually seeing there's not huge differences, but the the most elevated The worst attendance numbers are at the middle school My personal hypothesis about that is that for many families is the They are the youngest students who many families feel comfortable leaving alone You know, we don't have situations where first graders are left alone They may not have a parent or caregiver. The caregiver may be an older sibling But I think that in my opinion that contributes to a slightly elevated Challenge as it relates to attendance So that that's sort of you know in terms of trends everybody's more or less in the same ballpark But the middle school is definitely seeing a slightly elevated number, but I attribute it and and I also really wonder about the developmental piece As well, but just anecdotally There are more families who are feeling comfortable from a maturity perspective that they can leave a middle school or home alone for some amount of time And then, you know These are students who are 12 13 and 14 and we're helping them try to make the best decisions They can as they go through a piano lesson. So I don't have hard data on that. That's anecdotal Conjecture, but I think it's informed conjecture But yeah, we have looked at the grade level specific Numbers and we have that we have that available Not seeing other questions So the next slide Summarizes feedback that was completed. I really want to thank mark de guvara Who is the director of the family center? She provided focus groups and individual conversations with family met with families with students Who are struggling with attendance? She she plays a large role in supporting schools and then taking on a larger role at district at a district level As it relates to challenges of attendance and supporting families So this these are direct comments we did our own root cause analysis as a leadership team and actually and we hadn't seen this document when we started and It was interesting comparing them But I actually put more stock in what families and students are saying than someone like I would say So I don't want to read the slides, but I think there's some familiar themes for families We have many families who caregivers need to work Looking nationally. There's a huge disparity Racial racial ethnic disparity on caregivers who have to go into the office who can't work remotely and and folks who can We don't have that data locally, but there's sort of no reason why that wouldn't might not be true here as well And so we wondered if that would have an impact Some caretakers can afford hiring, you know, someone to be with their children other families can't And again, the responsibility falls to older children You know, one of the anecdotes that came was an eighth grader who's struggling with attendance Who has a fourth grader and a first grader that they're they have responsibility for and so I can think of myself as an eighth grader struggling enough with What I was trying to do in school in person, let alone having two younger siblings to try to help with that And so that's a hard problem to solve It's a really challenging one for that family and we're trying to work with them as best we can You know the multiple schools and different schedules and we'll talk about that a little later in terms of What what we're trying to how we're trying to think about that and support that And by different schools they're talking about we're talking about different levels So for instance the middle school schedule and the elementary schedule doesn't doesn't completely line up. That's what we're referencing That it's it's hard to support children's learning for caregivers for a whole host of reasons Families even for families who can work from home That's a challenge and and some caregivers express that they don't have an academic or educational background sufficient to support some of their children based on the courses they're taking And many other factors We heard a lot about this in the summer actually I think I've Yeah, I did talk about this in the summer that Depending on the the size of the home that families have and maybe multiple students working close together We did purchase the headphones and give those out And that helps some but If you have multiple siblings you multiple children or multiple siblings You know that they're there's some distractibility of being close to someone else Even if they're theoretically trying to do something else on the screen and so that's coming up a lot And also that children there are siblings who are not yet school aged You You know can be distracting on the student side What we heard is that motivations Challenge and being home all the time is a real challenge. We heard about that last night from the bright presentation as well That some students are reporting that online school is just not engaging. They missed the interpersonal contact Contact they have classes sometimes it feels like all they're doing is homework because it is a lot of independent work that students are doing And just the email load we all you know you as school members in my role I think we all collectively struggle with the email load and students are Receiving many notifications and and I think people are working on good systems for that But that's also a challenge. So this is coming directly from some of our families who are struggling and I just again appreciate that We're getting that group of folks opinions thoughts and experiences really into the conversation Any questions before I talk about what steps we have taken and what steps we plan to take Okay No question. Oh miss Kenny so I Really appreciate all of that outreach um Dr. Gavara did For this and I would also venture that I mean I know in my household that the things that these families are struggling with Even kids who are able to attend and and participate um More are still struggling with lots of these same things. So I think these are fairly universal feelings You know some definitely worse for others. I'm not trying to take away any of that, but I think these are You know wider spread too Thank you miss Kenny. Okay Okay, so I mentioned earlier that staff have taken some strong steps that we've seen some improvements in the data um, you know, I think The first one's the most important one that building relationships has been critical We knew going into this year was going to be really challenging to build relationships starting the year in a virtual context and for The vast majority of our students. That's all they've had this year And so, you know, I think the key phrase that we keep hearing is non email communication That emails are fine. There's nothing bad with them. But in terms of building that relationship Um, that's been really critical and that individualized approach um, you know The the conversation can't be What's wrong with your attendance, right? That that's actually the last thing that we want to be asking It's how can we support you giving for staff members who have been able to break down some of those barriers for families To feel comfortable to talk about the stresses they're facing. That seems like that's been an incredibly successful strategy Individuals schedules.  Um, so that people can point and click very easily Again, personalized check-in check outs. We need a day end of day Providing ongoing tech support for families. Um We have two distance learning centers. Um that are happening They've been going on for the last month or so marks meadow, which is the wildwood aftercare program And lscc daycare programs. They're both operating in our building the building. I'm in now at the middle school Um, and I know for particularly for the marks meadow program that has students from wildwood Attending I know from hearing from nick and alison the leaders of wildwood That's been they've had students who are struggling with attendance in the moments They got into a distance learning center the attendance problems seem to really resolve so many thanks to our partners marks meadow and lscc For that work, but that's been a huge resource for families. Um, and for students that have helped Case management approaches. So what we mean by case management is is having a consistent Uh person who's connecting with families Who's trying to support them? Um, and kind of a holistic approach about some of the challenges they're facing and someone who chalks the data and stays with The student and the family over time We have had some in-person support for intensive special needs students that's been In homes and that's also been something that has improved Some of the attendance and I think I referenced that earlier the special ed attendance does look look better and appreciate some of That's not only about intensive special needs, but I know that that has been hugely beneficial for intensive needs population who we've heard from many families And I think peter spoke to this last week in terms of what he heard from c-pack. Um It it has made a difference. Maybe not optimal, but it has made a difference to have the in-person support in the homes Um So I'll pause And see if there are questions or comments before we talk about the future action steps that we're we're developing Ms. Stanser and then mr. Deming um, can you Talk about what the distance learning centers are Sure, um, if dr. Kovar was here she'd do a better job than me her and dwayne chamble deserve a lot of the credit because they're Really critical to working with our outside providers, but essentially It's their spaces where students Have their chromebooks. Um, they have wi-fi access because they're in the middle school And there's an adult, um, or there are adults present You know super by support make sure all the health and safety regulations are being followed in terms of distancing in terms of Washing hands and sanitizing But they're essentially daycare centers that we've been able to provide start providing Through the help of our partners so that students aren't home doing it. They're doing it with adult support In in a setting that's not at the home And what we found is again for certain families that's been critical In terms of alleviating some of the barriers towards their students actively engaging and attending distance learning And it's not unique to here. I mean, it's happening if you google it. It's many many places Are partnering with things like ymca's Other community organization united way some places for us. It was our existing partnership with our aftercare providers That we were able to build in but they're doing a phenomenal job and I love going to see them because I seen kids in school Is that it is the follow-up miss dancer? Um, is there any thought about doing a similar kind of thing for students? older students So at the current time It's limited to k to eight We started at an elementary level, but um, the state I think I got this right If not after where she's probably watching will text me and that'll be good and I'll correct myself But I believe the state loosened some of the requirements. Um, so typically programs that were typically k to six In terms of their licensure from the state. They were given additional flexibility So there's a little bit of additional flexibility that way But these are these are relatively small programs at the moment this moment in time You know and they got approved for a certain number of students when we weren't sure if when students were coming back and we had a plan for You know at this point many students being back in the district So, um, I think when we talk about future next steps, I can speak to that a little more specifically about you know What we might be thinking about Mr. Denly Yeah, so um comment a question. So when I look at all these This bulleted list of interventions. I see staffing staffing staffing staffing staffing, you know, we talk about individualized outreach Individualized schedules personal check-ins casement. You need people to do that Right and a couple weeks ago. We just had a pretty sobering intro to our town finances where we were told that Right now we're penciled in for level funding Which means we're going to cut staffing services for FY 22. If I mean, I'll just put that out there. That's that's the That's the general what happens if you if you have, you know, if your costs go up and your your money stays the same You're going to cut staffing services If that's the case, we're still a long way off from finalizing the FY 22 budget But because of that and this goes to what miss spitzer has said a few times Which is, you know, we're going to need to spend more money next year. Not less And this is a prime example of that Where even if we do an amazing job this year with with with shoring up this This issue and re-engaging these students these students aren't going to start next year and just instantly You know pick up where they left off. There's going to be we're going to have to help students re-engage, you know, and um like this if these interventions are effective that it's that that need is not going to go away and I feel like um You know educating the the public and the town And the decision makers that that set the school budgets This is a very important thing to to be talking about And to say why do we need Not, you know, why do we not just level services? Why would we get extra services? But why do we are we do we certainly not want to have level funding? This is this is a prime example Why so I would just encourage you to to keep that theme in mind and consistently to it's more than just a You know one presentation every x number of months. It's a consistent theme. I mean, I'm sure you'll stay on that And I guess I had the same question about as as mist answer did but if you and if you're going to get to it on the next slide that that's fine, but um You know the way that you describe the effectiveness of the distance learning centers of how the kids come in and then the problem is Is effectively solved that's that's very intriguing and we um Like I think the seager mentioned um, the the or was it miss uh miss kenny um That these these these engagement issues aren't just Disisolated to to attendance, you know, and so the more that we can expand that opportunity for for students to to be there that that solves Or helps solve a number of problems that the parents and students are are experiencing with with the the current remote learning situation So, um, I'm very interested to see to where we can go that how how much we can expand that opportunity miss seager Yeah, I was wondering with these Distance learning centers, which yeah, I I was definitely intrigued to hear more about this Um, are the families bringing the students in or is there busing? How does that work? It's a great question. So at the current time, it's the families are bringing the students in but dr Gavara is working with our facilities department on seeing what we can do about expanding transportation access particularly to higher density areas And so we're working on that now that'll get to a you all are like great You're like little plants moving me to not a little but like moving me to the next step this is uh, but really this is looking back at what's been successful at Trying to change the data over the last few weeks Since this became more apparent as a as a real issue and and we'll get to that. I think The thing I want to go back to mr. Demling's point Earlier is that, you know, our budget is frozen, you know this year except for our central purchases And so, you know, I think just to highlight You talked about next year and I just want to also just remind folks that we are really stemming purchasing this year Because of some of the challenges we're facing and how expensive it is to try to Do both, you know, what we plan for in person in terms of the amount of PPE and other things we bought And how to service students in our remote environment is kind of it. It's just the nature of it is Challenging and it's more expensive So I just wanted to note that as well since we've hinted at the next page maybe move on and see and Talk about that Sure, so This the one out of two is just that there's two two slides of future action steps So the first one is each school either defines or refines Some some schools already have some version of this That that looks at attendance and maybe it's an equity working group But has a group that meets regularly to coordinate efforts Again, identify students who are frequently absent Develop that problem-solving approach and support system for the students not a punitive piece as we've said multiple times And and really looks to identify employees or interns because some of them are doing this work Who can serve as case managers and have the family center train them on best practices? So some of this is redeploying Certain staff members or parts of their roles So that we can be more actively engaging with families at a broader level. It can't just be the counselors, right? It can't be the social workers. We have currently Counselor social workers on staff We do need a broader broader group working on this and the schools are Developing what this would look like at their specific site And I appreciate the principals They all want to put that they review data weekly and some of that's with their teams with some of that's actually collectively To to look at progress and to have accountability on the How they're doing in terms of the gaps in attendance we're seeing so that it's the progress monitoring is happening routinely And we know if the interventions are working or not and we can course correct along the way The second is to learn and share best practices So I've tasked Dr. Guevara With developing a document presentation on best practice and promoting positive attendance and building those relationships in a virtual environment That'll be shared with everybody in the district So, you know the staff members who have found ways to be successful that we're sharing this How they're doing that much more broadly. So it's not Kind of the good ideas are shared with a small group, but we want to share them with everyone One thing that we've learned and it wasn't really talked about earlier is that We sometimes have multiple schools working to support the same family and actually from the family perspective that can be overwhelming You know, so if the middle school and one of the elementary schools are both trying to support again, everyone's trying to do the best work It's it's all coming from a passionately good place at the same time If the same issues emerge, how do we as a school district or districts in this case? How do we work together so that there's a common point of contact for the families that can coordinate across that because You know, we've gotten tripped up a couple times again only through the best intentions So we want to make sure that we're we're actively coordinating our approach To support families in a in a manner that will be the most effective And we know multiple phone calls multiple emails multiple schools To an individual family may not be the most successful way and actually it cannot be positively received And I can I can understand that 100 from the family percent of point of view as I mentioned we talked about this a little bit I'm saying today I have a governing board meeting on thursday I said at the beginning and say it again It's not a justification, but we are not unique I talked to multiple districts today about this issue. They're seeing that are in remote They're seeing and they're not in new england. They're mid-atlantic states and they're seeing the same trends that we're seeing And they're they're equally concerned So, you know, it is really great to have the minority student achievement network for us to be able to collaborate with To hear about what best practices are to share what we're doing that's working well I actually shared pieces of this this presentation with some of the people I was in a breakout group with and had a really deep conversation Got some ideas Had in thought of and the shared some ideas that other people appreciated So it's really great to have a professional network of districts that Want to disaggregate their dad. I do it routinely And care about these issues in the same way that that we do here in amherst So we are exploring models We've heard from a number of families about mental health support and the challenges sometimes of Telehealth that way. So we're exploring models where students might be able to access in person mental health supports That is in the moa allowable for staff who want to perform that and we've had some repressive staff Who would like to meet with students and we're trying to think of all the best ways to do that But we know for some families and some students that they're indicating that that's a critical need I talked about the virtual learning or distance learning centers So we are starting to have discussions with providers of expanding access to their programming. That's not as easy as it seems that involves staffing Space if they want to expand we have plenty of space We've had spaces that we know what the ventilation is But for them to expand it has to be the spaces have to be visited by the state and approved by the state So it's not something that can happen overnight. It's a pretty thorough process Our facilities team has been really helpful when that process is playing out and in working with the providers To make sure the spaces are ready before the evaluators and auditors come in But it is something that certainly as we've seen it have a positive impact We're currently trying to expand it with our with the current numbers of lscc and marx meadow because they had some empty open slots Over time working with them to see if they could expand it even further Perhaps beyond the middle school but into one of the elementary schools as well We are also Looking to open a virtual learning center that's specific for our intensive needs population That's a population that Because of the disabilities the students have don't have access to a more general virtual learning or distance learning center And at the k-12 level, we know that's a population That would benefit for a whole host of reasons for receiving You know services that many students are receiving in homes We're receiving it at the at the school building and and I think we talked about this last week Actually our c-pack talked about it From a from a ventilation perspective. It is much safer For those services to be offered So that helps students access distance learning in a space where we know what the ventilation is again the ashray standard for homes is I think it was 0.35 Air changes per hour. The rooms that we're talking about are well over four So it's a very small group of students, but you know, it is sort of transitioning That so again, we don't have any in-person learning school going on I want to be really clear about that because I know that that would be A political touch point for many people. That's not what we have Going and that's not what we can have going at the same time virtual learning centers provide a different point of access and and they can offer different supports and then Relying just on families or in-home services. So We are looking to see what we can do to expand both of those and particularly looking at students who Do most benefit from those services So, you know, many thanks to our providers who are helping with that At the current time because it is a challenging Thing to open and to expand during a pandemic But it's been a great service for students and they're doing a wonderful job in terms of running those virtual learning centers So again, I can't say enough my appreciation for mark's meadow and lsc for their work We want to make sure our systems to better understand data. So one of the things that Our suggestion from staff that we were I received and others received was having different communication platforms that allow for more like Easier ways for staff members to not use their private phone but to send texts or communicate with families So we are exploring like the remind app Which is one of those You know, I think, you know to be really clear, you know without going Too heady, you know, that's a that's a technical thing. We could change, you know, we also need to do some adaptive changes To improve the data that we're seeing but, you know, we want really really smart teachers power educators are advocating that we explore different communication systems And so we really we trust their opinion on this and trying to figure out if there's any Slight way we can use cares act funds because this is not Free to do that. So working with the town on that this week actually With jerry champagne. So we are trying to look at other ways we can communicate again to try to get off email As for for many students, that's not the most effective or many families. It's not the most effective method We're also trying to explore systems understand engagement data. So, you know, all the research would say attendance is proxy for engagement That the higher level of engagement Students who are experiencing a higher level reporting a higher level of engagement They tend to attend school more often and students who are feeling disengaged from school Um tend to have more absences. So, you know, uh, many of our schools are using different systems where teachers are trying to Self report the levels of engagement They're seeing in schools at the elementary level looking at Trying to take attendance in the morning in the afternoon, not just in the morning Which is the standard practice that the state recommends and what we typically do So we are trying to understand the data a little more and see if we can refine it To get a little more at the root causes piece From a teaching and learning perspective, we got a lot of feedback As as you saw from staff members from family members on the learning schedule And so our elementary leaders and tim she and our meeting actually later this week to try to take that feedback and see You know, are there modifications or visions that can be made that would help improve attendance and you know, really by improving engagement One other piece that came out it came out in the distance learning survey I didn't talk about it earlier, but one of the key pieces was really the importance of feedback For engagement that if students are receiving routine feedback They're more likely to be engaged and more likely to be present as soon as they're completing work Especially in a virtual environment which can seem really detached if there's not active feedback that's being given You know, what we're hearing is that's contributing to students not attending And so, you know, that was part of the goa the professional development that all staff received and we have some like outstanding examples of that And we want to make sure that The the wonderful work that our staff's doing is shared And best practices are shared because we do believe that that actually is a critical component to all this And lastly, we want to monitor progress on all the action steps that it's not something like oh, yep You know, we check we did it. We want to do things and also then see the impact it's having and and the tendency is actually It's not easily quantifiable because of all the the challenges I shared within the variables But more than other things it actually is pretty easy to track certain aspects of And so that's going to be a critical component of all this And those are the action steps we've developed again. We're open to anyone who's watching this as a staff member as a community member Certainly any of you, you know, please share ideas. We don't feel like we've cornered the market On ideas. We don't we don't feel like that's actually the right paradigm to use You know, there was an email that this presentation that went out to staff members I think it got out right as the meeting was starting or a little like over an hour ago Because principles will be in school leaders will be engaging their faculty and staff On this work as well at the building level and you know, I think this data When you look at a district it's really helpful and then when you get more local to the school and and That's where it becomes more real for for most of our staff and faculty And so all the principals have access and have that data at the school level and can share that with their school-based teams So as they built out their action steps and there are some differences between schools Pelham's the most Sees the most difference in patterns But that to school committee is not here tonight. So I won't reference them too much I mean members are but the Pelham school committee isn't but you know The trends that you saw that were concerning are pretty consistent across schools You know, there's varying degrees, but there weren't huge disparities in in the embers elementary schools or the regional schools So that was a lot of me talking. I apologize, but you know, I do think this is a super important topic for us As we're in a remote environment and we you know, I think all indications that we will be for an extended period of time Um, and so I'm sorry for the long-winded nature of it, but I really didn't want to shortchange The importance of the work or what we're planning to do And that's the last slide Questions comments observations Miss spitzer Um, so thanks again for this presentation I think It's similar to a lot of social problems in that where you see You know, I think it's called the hockey stick, you know so the only the only positive thing I'm going to say is that like I think it's something where it's it's not unique as you said That we're seeing these trends and I don't think there are any trends that um You know are surprising us, but I think that what can be unique is the way we respond to them And what our district chooses to do and so I'm really happy that we've taken the first step of digging into the data trying to identify Um, the individuals who who need this additional help because it if you look at a lot of other problems it's kind of this hockey stick I said because everybody experiences You know problems with attendance or absence at some point in time But there are a few folks who need these extra resources So I think what we need to do is even given this environment of budget constraints It seems to me like it's totally logical that we do focus in and and use those resources Just support those who are having the hardest time accessing remote learning Because it is going to have potentially really long-term Issues for these kids and these families. So I just want to say, you know, thank you And and when we're looking forward in the budget I At least personally, I can't speak for anybody else on this committee But I think this totally makes sense as an area where we do want to invest and do what we can to try to close these gaps because um I don't see a end in the short term to remote learning and so as long as we are in this type of environment I think it's It's it's imperative that we do what we can to to support these kids and these families So thank you to everybody on your team who's who's working on this and thank you for bringing it to our attention Mr. Demlin so, um, I was happy to hear the you say that the Our intensive special needs students may be able to access the virtual learning centers As well. So I I'll be interested to hear an update on that Soon because that's you know, while not strict coming from an attendance issue is obviously there is Major challenges and obstacles but with that population accessing remote learning as we've As we've noted is is the is the inhibiting factor to expanding virtual learning centers Uh, is it is it cost? Is it space? You know, if if this is successful if if our very first forays into our successful and presuming that our next ones are You know, we have we have many months to go before we hit the end of the school year Right. So what what what is going to be the inhibiting factor? Is this is something that we would even Consider going back to our our town or our member towns for additional Resources if it if it was significantly successful, um, you know, what are your long-term thoughts on that? Yeah, so space is not a problem um Really, it's making sure that the staff that there's enough high quality staffing for the distance programs distance learning centers to be able to use um, and that's their own processes. Um and um, and what they feel like they can manage within their current programming capacity Especially in a time where there are fewer students in a room I mean if you think of the old style of of aftercare Um, it just doesn't look like you know, you can't do it in kovatimes You know, it was a wonderful wonderful experience for students But as it was it was frequently a lot of students in one space or you know, or multiple spaces that were filled So it's a really big change for them as well. I just want to note that and for them to scale up um is going to take time And you know for us the transportation piece is huge You know these these programs are you know charging and some of them have subsidies That are helping uh with that But I think if you're talking about scaling up At a broader level and that would involve some financial Contribution if we want to make sure that all students at least there are many students who are struggling have access to them So we're sort of because it's a slow process because of state approval of space and their staffing The need for them to staff up It's not going to happen super quick But I think certainly something I bring back to the committee is there is this need for x resource because This is what their capacity has grown to and we have these students and and here's a financial overlay So right now it's hard to judge, but I think in coming weeks. I can come back to the committee Can I just ask a clarifying question? How many students are are attending these distance learning? distance learning centers today And you talked about sort of you know, um, it's it's expanding in the next week or so What is what does that number look like? Um, just of course grouping and then I also had a question just building on the um Mr. Demling's comments about cost Um, and you mentioned subsidies just how much of it is how much of these distance learning centers is the district actually paying for versus other So you mentioned staff at this we're not paying the staff necessarily So if you could describe a little bit about that just to scope that for us Sure, so I can't give you an exact number, but the numbers are relatively small So like marksman or aftercare used to have I think like 100 students on any given day a wildwood last year And it's you know, dramatically smaller than that at the moment Um, and same with lscc who runs the aftercare, um at quark or farm Um, so they're running the programs independently for the intensive special needs. That's not quite possible So we are supporting providers to provide um To provide that support for intensive needs populations. So that one is being supported by the district Um, because outside providers, um those two as a providers don't they're not staff that way um So there is a difference between um kind of the three providers, but at the current time really what we're We're giving is in kind space Um and support between dwayne and martha. So, but that's something the numbers I can get back to you On later this week. I know martha would have it on top of her head, but I um, sorry I was it's a really important thing in here. It just wasn't the whole presentation. So I didn't have it Ready for you tonight. My apologies. Yeah Um, miss stancer. I see your hand. Um, I just wanted to say thank you for bringing this to us And I think um, it's really good for the public to have this information I I think um for people who and hopefully Our community cares about the education of all our students It will help us have more support if they can actually see what's going on um, I look forward to updates as you work on this and I also Can't help but think that What you're learning now may help when we go back into the classroom. So Well, this is not a good thing that's happened to have you really look at this It may be a long-term thing that's going to benefit students as well Miss kenny, did you have your hand up earlier? No, okay any other questions and Not seeing any and so thank you dr. Morse that was that was Really in-depth and and really helpful information. Thank you. Yeah, so our plan will be to come back to you with Updates on both the data, but also what interventions have proven successful, right? So these future action steps we want to take them in the near future But you know, they're not they're not done today, right the remind app I mean just as a that's the easy one to talk about It's it, you know Mr. Shelly means investigated but then you know if we are able to find cares act to fund it then We then have to do it has to get set up by our staff. So these things are they're all Sort of works in progress, but it's really directly related to what, you know, we heard from students and families and staff and and others about what the root causes are and We need to do better and do better for our kids. We're going to be you know, the long lasting consequences. I'm not And I think this was referenced in multiple committee members comments tonight Are really large and so that's that's our action plan and we'll come back and keep on talking about this with you in the public Okay So, um, hopefully we'll maybe we can make up some time on some of our upcoming agenda items here The so next up we have future agenda planning And the Old draft was in our packet, but I online I added a couple items. So, um, we're not meeting next week. Um, we will enjoy a holiday break Um, and then, uh, have an regional meeting on December 1st Um, TBD whether we need to have it as a joint meeting with Amherst as well. Um, but we have the vote on the MOA for with the union AFS CME and I'm guessing that means that they The the union has approved the MOA at this point for vote on it Not yet. So we'll have to wait for an update to see if that happens before that meeting but that meeting is two weeks away We'll see yeah, um In preparation for our four towns meeting um on December 5th um, I put with big question marks whether we would be able to See that that um the presentation that we'll be seeing at the four towns meeting on on the December 1st school committee meeting um We'll have the follow-up of the winner sport sports decision Um and vote And then I threw on there. Also. Do we want to circle back with a draft resolution? on the mcass discussion and seeing head nods, okay Do we have any volunteers, uh to draft said resolution? Mr. Demling Yeah, I mean, I won't get too creative with it I'll just sort of merge the available content from the cummerford one and the mcat and the MASC one and then we'll you know pick and choose what we want That sounds great. Thank you Are there any other items? I feel like we should um have as a regular item um a jls Jlmsc update um Unless we want to just handle it within um within the school committee announcements. I'm seeing thumbs up so So That sounds good. Okay Mr. Demling and then dr. Morris. Yeah, um, based on everything you just said this is probably too much for one meeting, but um, we had some public comments, uh, since was recently about the um, the common odd days sibling policy really related to Whether we wanted to revisit that or not. Um, just wanted to get a radar for us to come back We could envision having a separate amor school committee meeting With that as well as yep the msba update. That's exactly where my head was going So whether we do that on the first or the eighth we can Look at that. Okay Dr. Morris, did you have Yeah, I was going to say the same thing about msba at that point You know, we likely will have a letter from them in terms of enrollment options. They they Have determined that we should be able to study And so it'd be good to have talk be able to talk about that so that the committee's updated You know, not just exclusively the building committee, but the school committee because that is certainly the options, you know Going back What feels like five years ago, but it wasn't uh when we built the consensus plan and like for instance six grades in the middle school Was being discussed like we we will need to reengage those Once we get our um enrollment letter from the msba Okay Miss dancer um This i'm asking this question as a member of the palimps school committee Is there going to be a meeting of the palimps school committee before the four town meeting? Dr. Morris, I would refer you to the chair of the palimps school committee who um Probably could um hazard hazard any answer on that one. Um, I will do that. Thank you. Thanks Yeah Great um So as as usual if there's if something um comes up feel free to email me in the meantime um, we have Um warrant report is our next item. Um, and I have Three that I have up. Um, so Um, miss spitzer. I don't know if you have any but I can go first I just have one vote. I have to bring it up. So okay Oops I always click on the wrong thing um Okay, um I alice mcdonald authorized by my signature to payables in the amount of 125,654 and 12 cents for a warrant dated November 6th 2020 This includes general fund expenses of 38,485 and 34 cents grant fund expenses of 14,669 and 44 cents FEMA fund of 26,642 and 37 cents CARES Act fund of 37,587 dollars and 43 cents Sped program spending of 115 dollars and 29 cents school reopening Of 6,880 dollars Vanguard of 1,274 dollars and 25 cents And I signed this on november 16th. I also Uh Authorized by my signature um payable for a warrant dated november 18th um for payroll in the amount of 673,973 dollars and 95 cents And I signed that on november 13th And I have one more I authorized uh payroll in the amount of 3,965 dollars and 1 cent Dated november 4th, and I signed that on november 13th And that is all that I have for Amherst Miss Spitzer. Yep. Um, so I uh carry spitzer authorized by my signature to payables in the amount of 30,729 and 60 cents For the warrant dated november 16th 2020. This included general fund expenses of 30,729 and 60 cents And I signed this on Sorry, november 17th 2020 and that's it Okay, um, and I don't believe we have any gifts In for tonight to review so we'll move on to um Item number 11, which is to adjourn the amherst school committee So I will move to adjourn the amherst school committee. Is there a second? second I think I heard mr. Harrington first. So he wins the with a gold star. Um, so Um, moved by mcdonald second by Harrington. There's no discussion. So we'll move to a real call vote. Mr. Demling I didn't realize we got gold stars What is this? Um, mr. Harrington Thank you Miss lord lord. I miss spitzer Spitzer I And mcdonald I the amherst school committee is adjourned Um, and seeing that we have um our guests would folks be amenable to making us quick agenda swap? And start with item number 13 Okay, great. So, uh, welcome Um, miss stewart. Um, so we'll we'll move to um, we'll we'll skip item 12 for now and come back to it after the fall sports review and winter sports discussion So I'll just cue this up. Um that um athletic director stewart's going to present uh with a review of fall that'll be brief and then a longer presentation about winter preview And so, um, we we're not asking for a vote tonight to be really clear There's there's one wrinkle. We won't ask for a vote, but there is one wrinkle in terms of timing that mr. It will talk about Um, as we go through it But I just want to appreciate all the work of coaches of miss stewart of the trainer ross of everyone who made the fall sports season Really meaningful as you'll find out there's a number of Unfortunately cancellations when we hit the red and the old map and and schools wouldn't play us and all those kind of things And yet, uh, you know, I know you've received the number of emails probably just to your school community Email account, but also the public comment But just how meaningful it was for students to be able to build that relationship to be active to be physical Given that they weren't in school Was really helpful um for their mental health So I just want to appreciate all the folks who made that happen Mr Would you like me to present the slide so that you can still see everybody because I have two screens So I can do that pretty easily. Would that be helpful for you? Um, I can actually do it because I just wanted to show them a couple comments Okay, sounds good. Okay Thanks guys for having me again I'm coming in a little bit later than normal Thanks for your flexibility. Oh, yeah, totally fine All right, so thanks again for you know voting yes to fall sports Like dr. More spoke about it was great. Um, it was actually fun. I know it was different But a lot of the student athletes the coaches And all the other supporting staff really bought into everything and adapted really well So as far as fall sports go We had 10 teams total practicing and nine out of 10 of those teams Were able to play in competitions and then we had a total of 71 games played all together And um the number of rescheduled games I should change it because today we had another one Boy soccer actually got canceled because of palmers fields So now it's at actually at 47 because girls also got postponed yesterday. Um for different reasons. So, uh, Dr. More spoke about how when we went red, um Schools went past and That's where a lot of the there was like a two-week time frame where we had to reschedule a lot of games So that was interesting But like I said before the student athletes really did a good job adapting to everything and I really appreciate all the parents and guardians Also being really flexible And right here. I just said the student athletes had fun. I'll share it real quick So I had them student athletes fill out a padlet of why it was important having fall sports this um This year, especially because due to the pandemic and I just want to read. I'll just read a couple randomly. Um I've really enjoyed doing a fall sport and I'm glad that we can still do them in spite of cova 19 It's important to me because it is a way that I can be active and go to meets And I also get to see people in person and not just on a screen It helps me stay positive because it gives me something to look forward to every day Um, and then another student athlete wrote the season was incredible because I got to see some of my favorite people And have fun outside field hockey has helped me by getting me to do something out of the house It has given me a day of structure and allowed me to focus better My teammates and coach are amazing and I look forward to practice every day So I just appreciate you guys can take time. You guys have the link right there and read some of the Comments that the student athletes had. Um, but it was it was great that picture right there Of may already right over here on the right our volleyball player. That was in the boston globe I don't know if any of you guys got that but it was on the front section of the sports cover So that was awesome too. We had a lot of media there because we were outdoors As far as the timeline goes, um for winter sports, we're looking at modifications from the mi coming out Uh by friday or earlier next week Hopefully we'll have a better idea of what modifications are going to be for each sport The pvic board of directors have already put out an announcement though And one big one being that the start date for winter sports has been pushed to january 4th So we would have to wait for the exception of girls. I talk you which is new I'll talk about that a little bit later, but they are we're planning on doing that on november 30th However, we do need a vote. So our student athletes who are registered. We have two It's a co-op that are registered right now from amherst regional high school They will have to wait until they are approved So more about the pvic board of directors announcement They talked about the bubble competition be continuing. Um, so this fall The bubble competition we just played against certain schools and stayed within our bubble We didn't go outside our bubble Each sport had different bubbles except for cross country and soccer They were in the same bubble and then field hockey and volleyball were in different bubbles Again start date would start later. It will end unfortunately at the same time So it is a short season which means that all the team sports basketball swimming ice hockey Will have 10 to 12 games and skiing will have five to six contest Unfortunately, that was probably one of my biggest Not complaints, but you know, just they wanted more games and they wanted more competitions But unfortunately with the limited amount of time we are limited with the number of games that we are allowed Uh spectators, they're telling us that we can follow state guideline recommendations similar to fall And then out of season coaching, um, there will be no out of season coaching during this winter season And I don't know if you guys were aware, but we didn't have spectators. Um This fall, uh, the only day we did have spectators and they all got lanyards Were senior days and each student was allowed the amount that the state recommends Uh activities allowed by risk level. So you guys will see this Slide deck is similar to what you guys saw in my first presentation this fall So these are just the activities that allow are allowed based on the risk levels of each sport level one being the least amount of Activity that students are allowed to do with one another which includes non-contact work Workouts individual skill and drills all the way up to tournaments. Um for outdoor sports only As far limitation guideline goes the risk levels for sports hasn't changed So when you saw that there was a sport that was high risk in the beginning of the fall They're still high risk now. However, they can still be played with modifications So low risk can play and participate in one two three and four and high risk of moderate risk can participate in one two and three with modifications So typically every winter season we have basketball hockey indoor track alpine nordic swim and dive um this year indoor track is going to Is not going to happen. I I will touch upon that a little bit later But unfortunately the space availability is not there And just looking forward to the future. We are still looking at football being in the floating season and any sports Possibly that we won't have in the winter. We just have to keep in mind Um other schools that possibly won't have winter sports as well. Just so we know that we could have some competition And then obviously we have spring season that will happen right after the floating season So as I said before you'll see some blanks, uh, mi modifications to be determined Which I hope I can get them to you guys by friday at the latest. Um, if not next week and um Yeah alpine skiing is low risk. So that means they can participate in levels one through four our alpine ski team currently, um They currently have all their competition at berkshire east And all their sport grind lines are right here on this link So you can click on it if you have any questions or want to review them We also have a lot of their training in the weight room as well And fortunately the weight room has come back. Um With the recommended numbers And more so that's great for the a ch. Um the air chambers per hour Um, and so we will be looking at putting them there as well as they usually are to train Basketball, um basketball is a little bit of a different story. Um As of now, we know that our courts have not met the recommended for a ch Air chambers per hour. However, uh, we're looking at modifications when I say we I've been working really closely with our director of facilities rupert and we're looking at modifications and repairs under performing under All these underperforming spaces and have some outside contractors coming in to do some improvements and modifications to these areas So, um, I know rupert's really helping me out a lot. I'm learning a lot of new things. Um, and it's great And uh basketball. Yeah, like I said high school and middle school. So we're looking at recommend, uh fixing those spaces Victoria if I could just jump in so you may remember last year at the very end Which you may or may not remember because it was so so nutty that there was Some funds set aside for capital for covet related expenses, and I'm not talking about cares act funds. Um Just capital funds. And so as we are looking at the gym Not just for athletics, but just hopefully actually for you know future use Because it is low and we couldn't run a gym class right now Um, if you know if we wanted to um, he's got rupert has two potential fixes or solutions to the challenges as miss steward described And so, uh, but I just want to be clear They are financial obligations, but they were already funded through the capital requests that were approved last spring So this would not be new funding requests and it in you know What he mentioned to me I know he's been working much more closely miss steward on this But just that it would fall below what was appropriated and what dr. Dr. Slaughter has in terms of From capital expenses that we could utilize to improve the air changes per hour on the gym Again, that's it'd be great for basketball, but it also just be great for the gym to be able to use because we don't imagine This illness or you know the virus going away that soon and so it would have multiple benefits not just for athletic But certainly more actively for athletics at the current time Sorry to jump in miss steward No worries. Um, and so for boys ice hockey We have a similar issue. Um, but we kind of solved it. Uh, unfortunately amherst college is not renting To us. Um, this winter Due to covet. So we found a rink at collins arena, which is in greenfield. Um, they're willing to rent financially, it's fine. It's looking good compared to what we also get with amherst college amherst college is very, um Linea and very nice when they're giving us their ring time, but because this is a shorter amount of time This will do just fine financially as well and our these ranks have guidelines as well that they're following and I know you guys probably already know that sports are already going on outside all these sports that are being played Um, so that's just something to keep in mind as well Girls ice hockey. So this is fun and exciting and new. Um, we have a co-op with pope francis Which includes eight different schools. Um Amherst pope northhampton frontier Hopkins chickpea to conic and pitsfield Um, so as of right now pope is the one that's in charge of this They have the most girls So they are the ones that took the lead on this co-op The start date would have to start on november 30th. Um as long as mi doesn't push it back on friday Just because there's a limited amount of teams in this uh in this area So like I said before the january 4th start date was determined by the pvic So that's our league that's here locally. So unfortunately that means our girls Hockey team would have to travel a lot more in order to have competition The only other school that's nearby in massachusetts is long meadow, which is they also have a co-op with a lot of other schools as well Um, so they would be looking at going to easter mass and I put their tentative game schedule right there And they also have a lot more Facilities that they go practice in they will practice in sear, uh, olympia. It's patrick And they would also practice at mass con training and agwam So those are four facilities that they would use for hockey Victoria, um because this isn't the only sport, although maybe it's the most acute issue Can you describe what a co-op is and how many of our sports have some level of co-op status? Yeah, so usually So it's a school So a co-op is just when someone else joins another program because we do not have enough to fill a program So we had a co-op last year with grand b. We didn't have enough kids that wanted to go play there So then now that co-op is over. However, we do host a lot of co-ops as well So I think in the public comments you may have seen some hopkins parents I think wrote in um from what I read And they are in our co-op because we didn't have enough to hold a wholesome team and the hopkins kid Kids really brought in A good amount of kids and it helped our program and it builds with numbers and hopefully more of our own student athletes We'll see how fun it is to be join the swim team and join that We also have one with our boys ice hockey team. We host it And we have palmer and hopkins joining with us for our boys hockey team too. So that is um What a co-op is so it's just an opportunity for our girls to be able to play Um girls ice hockey instead of just being on the boys team And I forgot to say I think before but ice hockey is the same as basketball So that's levels one through three. So basically basketball and ice hockey even though they're seen as high-risk sports Um, they can participate in games with modifications, which aren't out yet So indoor track, which is seen as a moderate sport. Unfortunately, there's no season this winter. Um, the rental space is not available typically we We as in the pvic rents out smith college. Um, everyone pays in uh to the pvic and they run the whole indoor track meets, uh, and Unfortunately smith is also not Renting out to anyone. So therefore indoor track has been canceled for the season Nordic skiing is also seen as a low-risk sport They participate in competition at notch view other than that they will be practicing at our high school They also use the weight room And their levels one through four so they can have tournaments as well So that's just something to keep in mind And swimming so swimming, uh, that's an area that still needs to be tested at the middle school So I know that's on rupert's to-do list before Thanksgiving. I believe as one of the areas to test So I don't know um anything about that area in particular. However, we're hoping um That comes out well, too. So they can also participate in levels one through three with modifications I could add to that one. Mr. Just the other Thing to note is right now and the pool was drained last year and never refilled. So there's some additional challenges with the pool You know, I talked to the town. I talked to actually the town manager this afternoon about that An additional challenge that i'm hearing from others as it relates to swimming and i'm not trying to play my cards about what I would recommend and and What I think you all should do but it it's a challenging sport in terms of use of locker rooms Uh, some of the other sports a little easier to imagine Not using locker rooms and so the modifications for swimming that I've heard about from other superintendents Don't just involve actually in the pool area. It involves entry and access Uh to the pool and and how that goes when it might be like zero degrees out and you've been in a cold pool swimming So I think the modifications i'm looking forward to seeing them because um, I know that it's not as much the actual swimming That many superintendents are concerned about it. It's much more everything other than The actual act of swimming. Um, and I know other places have worked it out I'm not saying it can't work But I just want to note the two variables here one the pool has no water Uh, and we'll get there testing results back and take some next steps But also kind of the nature of swimming and the nature of locker rooms. Um in terms of community spread Based on what we've seen not particular swimming but locker rooms and gyms have kind of those kind of spaces and have not been the They've been problematic spaces. So uh, those are some of the modifications I just wanted to make sure I brought in the modifications. It's not just the competition. It's actually the the whole gate and caboodle of Um from walking the building to leaving the building. What would that look like? And that that's the that's everything so I can take any questions that you guys may have Mr. Demi Yeah, I mean, I just want to say briefly. Thanks for putting this together. Um, I think the the structure Following same structures last time is really helpful for us. Um, I'm sure once those guidelines drop, uh, it'll be very It'd be a very engaging Time of active discussion and you know, just from my point of view You know when we make this decision, you know, I I rely heavily As input on on what your your take is and and what dr. Morris's take is and how your coaches are feeling um, and and obviously the the the guidelines that we get from the state in terms of like What has to happen to be safe is is one take right? It's it's what they think is safe And then we sort of have to Reality check that against how that implements in in our environment in our facilities and And with our way of doing things. Um, so, uh, yeah Um, um when we vote next time I look forward to hearing that that feedback, you know from from you and from from dr. Morris and from your coaches and And you know putting that all together, you know, obviously from the input from the students and the families, you know, we We want to we understand what a challenging year. This is we want everybody to have like A great time, right and and a fulfilling experience. Um, but you know, we want to do it safely at the same time. So Look forward to that. Thank you I would maybe this is just a clarifying question, but when we're approving and voting on this we're we're not actually Getting involved in sort of what are the requirements for gameplay or or practice? That's not what we're talking about. So the the modifications to the sport that the my AA is Is is input for us to consider But we're not going to be discussing The the merits of those those modifications beyond sort of facilities and and coaching and all the other The other things around that we can discuss because I don't think that's really within our scope Yeah, I think the only caveat I'd have is the modifications may I don't want to I'm just gonna say it so you may Collectively or individually say based on the modifications. I'm not comfortable with that sport happening Yeah, right. So that's the only caveat. I want to say like I don't want to suggest that You know, if any individual committee member feels like the modifications aren't sufficient for you to feel comfortable moving forward You certainly you should have that in your calculus in your decision making And I think maybe that's the conversation we could have next time when we have that is is much like the spectator piece In the fall, right? That was we got really clear feedback that The committee didn't want to have spectators at games with certa