Good evening everyone, my name is Paul Schlich when I'm president pro tem or chairperson pro tem of the school committee for the purposes of an organizational meeting we begin with Policy BEL which requires the reading of a land acknowledgement at the beginning of the Organizational meeting We acknowledge that the town of Arlington is located on the ancestral lands of the Massachusetts tribe the tribe of indigenous peoples from whom the colony province and Commonwealth have taken their names We pay our respects to the ancestral bloodline of a Massachusetts tribe and their descendants who still inhabit historic, Massachusetts territories today our business of the day is to elect officers the first Item of business is to elect a chair for the 2023-24 session mr. Thielman I nominate dr. Curcie Allison amped to be our chair. We have a second Okay, motion by mr. Thielman seconded by mr. Cardin under policy there are no other nominations as no no other people have put forth their name All in favor of dr. Allison ampey is being chair of the Arlington school committee for the 2022-23-24 school year say aye aye opposed Hearing none. It's a unanimous vote nomination election for the office of vice chair for the 2023-24 school year school committee here dr. Allison ampey Thank you second second by ms. Morgan Motioned by dr. Allison ampey seconded by ms.  Gittleson Second second by dr. Allison ampey motion by ms. Gittleson second by dr. Allison ampey For Liz exton to be the secretary for the 2023-24 School committee year all in favor say aye opposed Hearing none, that's a unanimous unanimous vote congratulations Vote to approve committee and liaison assignments a previous version in the book Or in novice included the liaisons from the school department, which isn't necessary. So there's a new version With just the names of the school committee members I'm looking for a motion to approve to move motion by mr. Thielman second by dr. Allison ampey Any debate debate or discussion? Hearing none all in favor Opposed that is the unanimous vote Next motion will be to vote on the authorization of the chair and alternate to sign the payroll warrant which would be the The warrant committee I'm looking for a motion So moved by mr. Thielman second by dr. Allison ampey all in favor. Yes. I all opposed That is the unanimous vote before I Go to the last item of business I just want to be able to take this opportunity is being a very temporary chair of this committee to make a remark I want to thank the voters of our Lincoln for returning me to the seat on the Arlington school committee I want to congratulate Liz exton an excellent colleague who did a great job as the previous chair of the school committee I also want to congratulate Laura giddelson who demonstrated that she has a dedicated and thoughtful candidate Will be an excellent excellent addition to our team. I also want to express my appreciation to Jill Krasewski I can't begin to count the number of people who told me they wanted to vote for all four candidates and We came to know Jill is a very impressive educational leader. I hope she'll find her way to this table sometime in the future our next item of business is to Is the Acknowledgement of standards and norms for the early con school committee, which is done by policy BD a dash Which we will vote on and then have everybody signed to acknowledge motion by Mr. Thielman second by dr. Allison ampey to Acknowledge the norms and standards all in favor Yes. Yes. I opposed that's the unanimous vote The Administrative secretary to the school committee will pass around a copy of the policy for everyone to sign Having concluded the business of the organizational meeting. I'm looking for a motion to adjourn So moved motion by mr. Thielman second by dr. Allison ampey all in favor Opposed congratulations. It's yours now. The this meeting is adjourned Regular meeting of the Arlington school committee on Thursday April 13th 2023 We are back in our school committee room before we begin I want to make a few comments First, thank you to my colleagues for their support and electing me chair Because we have a new member today welcome miss gillson It has made me look back 13 years though when Judson Pierce and I were first elected Miss gillson is joining the committee that is so different from the one that mr. Pierce and I joined 2010 the total years of experience on the entire committee was 15 years With most of this held in one person mr. Thielman Five members had two or less years of experience each Miss gillson Unlike myself is joining a committee with a combined total of 65 years of experience members have stood for reelection Again and again and the community has affirmed their ability to do the job that school committee has charged to do Well, mr. Filming does still hold the most experience He is no longer an outlier One of the benefits of this amount of experience is that members have become more knowledgeable about how a school committee does its One of the main ways the school committee gets things done is through policy We have a policy manual which used to be a big six-inch thick book and now lives in an electronically searchable database Our policies create the rules which we must follow They also create the guidelines for our staff our students in our community Sometimes our policies are in conflict with each other or they aren't clear when this happens We do the best we can and also take steps to remedy the issue The hearing that was to be held today under policy ijr reconsideration of materials Was scheduled because a challenge issued about part of the health care health and human development curriculum It was part of the process required required by ijr that was developed by the superintendent with input from school committee members The hearing itself underwent multiple changes of venue and process in an attempt to provide the most appropriate And safe event for the many people who wish to express their views Then the complaint was withdrawn The hearing was therefore cancelled because there was no longer a defining reason for its existence I am very aware and saddened that some of arlington's lgbtqa Ia plus students staff and even community members who are not parents nor students themselves felt threatened by this process I am also aware That members of the greater Greater community are confused as to why the hearing was not held and have questioned about what will happen moving forward What I don't know yet is exactly how we will go forward because we as a school committee have not yet had a chance to discuss this together But this is a priority for us Another thing that many years experience on the school committee brings is a clear understanding that none of us can act alone We have power and influence only as a group Open meeting laws to mean that we cannot do the messy work behind the screen but behind the scenes Presenting to the public only the polished product But rather that we must do our sausage making in full view And it can be very very messy I have faith that we as a group will figure out our path forward A path that affirms the vision of the arlington public schools to be an equitable educational community Where all learners feel a sense of belonging Experience growth and joy and are empowered to shape their own features and contribute to a better world Thank you We now move to public comment Before I begin I would like to review sections of our policy b e b h which governs public comment During the public comment segment of regular meetings of the committee Individuals or group representatives may address the committee on items of school business The length of public participation will normally be no more than 20 minutes, but may be extended by the chair Speakers must identify themselves by name and address and will be allowed up to three minutes to present their material This chairperson may reduce speaking time if needed and or may Meet extension of this time limit Inappropriate or improper conduct and remarks including use of obscenity or abusive language will not be tolerated Defamatory or abusive remarks are always out of order If a speaker persists in improper conduct or remarks, the chairperson may May terminate that individual's privilege of address All remarks will be addressed through the chairperson of the meeting Speakers may offer such objective criticisms of the school operations and programs as concern them But in public session the committee will not hear personal complaints about school personnel Nor about any member Of the school community except for the school committee or the superintendent in their Capacity is the operational leader of the garlandton public schools Under most circumstances Administrative channels are the proper means of disposition of legitimate complaints involving staff members The public is reminding that the school committee does not hold jurisdiction over the performance of school personnel other than the superintendent So we have three people sign up for comment today Um, mr. Kaplan We need to come up to the mic, please Hi, i'm mark kaplan 11 palmer street garlandton Town meeting member for precinct nine So i first learned of this proposed change to the Health curriculum for fourth and fifth graders Just the other day and i was quite disturbed by it Not that kids Shouldn't get that kind of education but that you're taking an anti science stand um opposing Established fact that there are two genders and two sexes for humans And pretending that there are more um With the exception of rare A genetic and gestational abnormalities There really there's just two genders um So and and the thing is that this has grown into a huge internet fad of You know enormous proportions with a multiple gender thing and all kind of Ideologies and identities And it's worse than tide pods And it's dangerous to kids So if somebody has some sort of dysphoria um You know asking everybody to pretend that that's normal and fine is doing a disservice to these people Who are experiencing it? They should have Some sort of sanity and reality check And and guidance and this and and and not have everybody go along with it But it's a normal thing for kids to want to develop an identity And they're identify their tribe and this has always been the case maybe in the 60s Some kids grew long hair But you know when they went through that And it was over they can just cut their hair and go on with life Um later on we had the whole goth thing and that was that was okay When you run out of mascara hang up your doc martins and resume a normal life um you don't have to uh Fight and and against society as much anymore um So it's a need for kids to go through this but In this case for getting home on therapy and surgery These are long asked black long lasting consequences for kids I need you to stick to Things that relate to the schools, please. Oh, well, this is the curriculum and I need you to stick to things that relate to the schools, please Are you going to adopt this curriculum? I need you to relate Things that relate to the curriculum, please to the schools. Yeah, so Okay, I think Mr. Cappelline your time is finished. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Please please embrace science Um, mr. Corcoran, uh is remote Can you hear me? Yes Okay, now. Can you see me? Excellent. Uh, good evening. My name is brian corcoran um My son is a third grader and hearty. My daughter is a first grader hearty. We all live 47 effort street um What a terrible look for our community the last couple weeks of then My wife and I moved to arlington nine and a half years ago with eyes wide open The process that concluded yesterday with a brief email began in january with an email to fourth and fifth grade parents Since receiving that email from a friend there has been only one thing That has genuinely surprised you That in 2001 the fifth grade curriculum in APS Was approximately the same curriculum that I received as a fifth grader in the mid 80s So in two years the APS curriculum has changed from something similar to 1985 pow town in connecticut to the gender unicorn Okay with fourth graders added into the mix Okay, and that is by any measure a substantive change the curriculum APS's own policy requires school committee approval in this case and that clearly did not happen Substantive changes also trigger notification requirements to parents Okay, it could be argued that those notification requirements were met by the letter of the policy But you couldn't argue if the spirit of that policy Has been achieved since january My personal overarching objection to APS curriculum and culture is the obsession with identity We have what appears to be an increasing youth mental health crisis And we continue to encourage APS students to look ever further inward And then we tell them that if others do not see them in precisely the same way that these that they see themselves That harm has been done I will never understand why adults would encourage children to adopt this approach that tramples all over one's agency And I'll continue to believe that this obsession with identity is strongly correlated with the state of youth mental health The rainbow commission's facebook page reads government agency I hope that elected and administrative town officials will join me in criticizing the approach to advocacy That the commission took in the last two weeks The commission's published testimony is emotionally dysregulated If the state of the student population described in their testimony is accurate the town would do well to find stable mentors for them This has been a failure of leadership And it's unfortunate that it occurred for such an important issue and for an issue that's three minutes. Thank you Thanks very much. Thank you Okay, and our speaker Ms. Orfanos Okay, first I would like to acknowledge that this is a highly controversial topic That being said This school committee is indeed obligated to hear all sides Unfortunately intimidation and fear is being used to silence debate Name an address for the record and when you said that can you give name an address for the record? I'm sorry. I forgot my name is michelle orfanos. I don't want to give my address for fear of retaliation, which is happening You know resident of the town. Yes. Okay. Yeah So as I was saying unfortunately intimidation of fear Is being used to silence debate? Open debate should not be threatening. It's a conversation. We should be able to have this Conversation about the children which are our most precious asset I'm curious if this committee weighs in That these very tactics were involved with the removal of the challenge I'm curious if any one of the school committee members have reached out to that parent I'm also curious why the change in the teaching from the great body shot Which included factual biology to explain puberty changes of boys and girls They switched to a presentation where the terms boy and girl are not to be spoken The terms boy and girl are not to be spoken During human growth and development discussing puberty Instead boy and girl is to be replaced with Person with vulva person with vagina person with penis How is this appropriate for fourth graders? If we are to rely on a cartoon unicorn to explain these gender identity Terms perhaps Indeed it's inappropriate and the children are too young My understanding is that the Stratton school the kids were read a transgendered book in kindergarten Where one of the little characters Identified as cisgendered or Some other gender this is kindergarten My understanding that there is 350 cities and towns that had the opportunity to adopt this curriculum My question is why did Arlington decide to be one of only 10? To go forward with this I really hope that the school committee listens to all sides of this I really really encourage you to have an open debate and discussion before you make these decisions That clearly citizens Parents Are maybe opposed to I know I am Thank you. Thank you This sends public comment The next item is our AHS student representatives Moe and Amy So today actually was our second round of our inclusion and diversity workshops, which Went great at least the one I I was leading one and it was really a group of people and we had some nice conversations Um this past weekend there was the AHS battle the bands was the first time we did it in our own auditorium. It was it was great Really fun AP exams are coming up and we are organizing like a group like study session Providing resources for people to help study The red cross club is also doing a dodgeball tournament And we were doing a food drive this week for Arlington eats And sports in general are doing good and everyone's having a good time. I was excited for break. I'm watching you to break How many AP exams are the two of you taking? I'm taking three. I'm taking two Good luck Ace it and I also want to acknowledge our AEA representative is Fernandez. Thank you I can't hear you. Yeah, I'm I'm trying. Sorry I have the mic Can someone tell ask Sean because there's things that can be done with the mic in in here Yeah, but still there's things there's things he can do for yeah Okay, we do have a speaker in the room. Yeah Okay There's no amplified audio on this microphone in the room It used to be Yeah, because it's the zoom. Oh the zoom.  Okay, and you can tell me when to advance. Okay Ah, yes, um, so Thank you, miss brazzuzi for being here and for presenting Along with miss dingman. I appreciate your presence We did sort of ask them to come and join us and give this presentation Not sure if they were going to and then now they're going to and so we're very grateful for you very quickly coming together to give us an update on English learner education, which has been undergoing a lot of updates and expansions Recently because we have a lot of wonderful new students with us And so I'm glad that you could be here to present some updates on all that you've been up to recently And I'll hand it off to you. Let me know when you want me to advance aside. Okay. Good evening everyone. Um, Dr. Homan, thank you. Dr. McNeil Mr. Spiegel miss elmer and honorable school committee chair members. Thank you for allowing me to come and provide some Great things that are happening in the ell department currently and I have my colleague. I'm carlo brazzazi the director of ell and I have my colleague This is dingman choose our ell teacher at the hearty school So if there are any questions after the presentation on anything with curriculum We have an expert here as well as she's going to share something exciting that she has begun in the arlington schools So we're really fortunate in arlington public schools because we have a truly culturally and with in linguistically diverse group of students Our languages are from 35 to 45 35 to 40 different cultures and languages represented in arlington It's a desirable community for a lot of families to come in and we have had growth within the years So the agenda for this evening. I'm trying to keep it Not short but as short, you know to give to give as much as information as I can within a certain time minute Is I'd like to provide a brief overview of the ell program Talk a little bit about our successes that we've had this past school year in years past Where are where are our growth opportunities that we're still working on? Some of our priorities that we're going forward in the next school year And then I will leave it up to discussion if any of you have any questions at all for us So everything that we do in our ell department Always follows the strategic initiative in the plan of the arlington public schools So we are following along with our planning teaching Everything we do with the vision and mission statement that we have providing equitable educational community For all learners. We want all our students to feel a sense of belonging Experience growth and joy as well as putting the whole child at the center Going on our ell vision and mission. I'm not going to read the whole slide you have that But it it complements the arlington public schools vision and mission Where we want to accomplish language and content development through a culturally and linguistically safe equitable learning environment In in the town in the schools in our department It is our belief that speaking more than one language is a valuable asset and is a resource that our ells students bring to our classrooms We also talk about our i'm not going to read the whole guiding principles But we want to make we always provide our program builds on the students backgrounds and what students bring to our classroom So simultaneously why they are learning english proficiency and content We also want to make sure that they have self-confidence in their learning In addition to their academic development el learners need support from all educational staff in arlington Adapting to us cultural linguistical and school social norms So who are our ell learners we have this diverse population, which is tremendous in our schools Some interesting data that I wanted to share with all of you is that our enrollment is growing And we have about uh currently 295 els District-wide this is just two days ago with the data and we are considered a mid-incident school district in massachusetts We our ell is uh five percent of the total enrollment and that's including the 295 active els And then our formerly our fells our former english learners. We have about 175 We actually monitor our our formerly english learners our fells for four years El instruction is offered at all of our 10 schools I'm currently working with the preschool coordinator to see how we can get at least A part-time position in the preschool. I think there is some point two somewhere. We're trying to figure that out It's trying to find somebody to actually want to teach that for Point two our main language backgrounds that we Have most of our learners speaking our chinese Haitian creole japanese portuguese and spanish We have more united states born english learners Then students that are born outside of the united states That was it's interesting and I did mention that um our former english learners are monitored for years so even though they're not Having direct support services in the schools. We they are still english language learners and need supports and we monitor them and Due to the growth and enrollment We have been able to have a great team currently and we're up to 18 professional staff members working in our el program So this is kind of hard to read But I wanted to everything that we do in our schools is about children And I wanted to provide a snippet of a writing sample from one of our english language learners It's not a current student. It's a past student, but I want to read what they wrote about learning english How do I learn english? I learn english reading books in english in the library I read two books english. I rent one book and I read when I go to the library I put the book on his place. I rent one book. I read all the books of the library When I read one book I now I now know english and I talk more english and the school and the teachers say jazelle you learn me english So because we do everything about our learners I wanted to make sure that there was a sample of writing of amazing writing from one of our english language learners actually a newcomer in past years So what we do in our el department? We have we situate and everything is targeted toward the wita english language development standards. These have been revised in 2020 The framework in the addition The big ideas of the wita el d framework are um, you can do the next Yep, the big ideas in this framework that were that is provided to us from the state in desi Is equity or opportunity of access? Collaboration among all the stakeholders With our el's integration of the content and language And then the functional approach to language development. So that is our model that we work within our elementary middle and high schools and when we look further into what um the Key understandings are for our el curriculum and instruction The I just gave three bullet points vocabulary is is integral to language development There's an essential role of oral language development in the development of academic english And then a lot of our language and content learning activities are within the four domains of reading writing speaking and listening We use the through the key uses of academic language that wita has designed our um narrate argue inform and explain So all our planning surrounds the wita el d as well as the state's standards in the core content This visual this visual is just showing you um That our el d our el curriculum aligned with the standards of wita along with the core content strands So the big the big thing that i'd like to share with all of you is last year We were in a el tier focus monitoring year last spring uh 2021 right 2022 sorry losing We had to complete an arlington public school self assessment of all the criteria that desi would come in to evaluate In the fall the office of language acquisition came into arlington And we had to provide records student records as well as um educator interviews. We were evaluated on 12 criteria And then in the winter We had a final report and then right now i'm working on the uh tiered focus monitoring continuous improvement monitoring plan the sim And so we did really great and i'm really proud of arlington. They're just two Um criterion that we were partially implemented. We didn't have full implementation. So we're a little bit out of compliance Um and I put them on a slide area one was the parent involvement The el e seven It is we provided all the documentation that is asked for districts about getting parent involvement All the outreach we have done we've uploaded. We gave them everything they asked But they still cited us because we don't have an l pack. We don't have an english learner parent advisory council like we have with the c-pack parents It's not that we haven't tried to get this it has been really challenging a lot of parents are interested But then nobody commits to wanting to be an officer and having bylaws But we did recently just have a um school open house at gibbs and it looks Optimistic there are three families want to follow up with me and to begin this work. So Hopefully we'll get out of the non-compliance and then the other area of um a non-compliance or partial implementation was the licensure requirements The state identified. I think it was seven educators So we had a 96 percent rate which was I thought was phenomenal that everybody is sei endorsed But the state still cited us because there were like seven um educators that did not have endorsement As well as two administrators Some of that I worked with the hr department was that the teachers didn't actually go into the elar and apply for the endorsement And then some of that is that um, there's a plan for these teachers to get Their endorsement through sei m tell taking a test or taking a course So we're on that. It's just that that is going to take a little bit longer for licensure So i'm going to actually um just put this over here because hannah will be talking in a minute, but um One of our a lot of our great successes through the leadership of dr. Homan and dr. McNeil and all my colleagues in the administrative team when we had budget season We had partnerships of what what we needed for student support. So we were able to hire new team members at bishops This past year a teacher started in september at pierce the teacher literally just started a couple of weeks ago At arlington high school is like back in the spring winter of 2022 and at audison middle school We had a teacher again added To the team just like a month or so ago. So that's a huge success that our department is growing Um a really a big success. I'm really proud about um as well as the afghan refugee grant support to schools I work with julie dunn through desi writing a grant for our afghani students that are um Mostly at thompson. I think we have about eight or nine at thompson So we're able to provide after school tutoring reading and math Some pd for teachers and a lot of instructional materials for the gen ed classroom And then a huge success that has been i'm really excited about is this family welcome center Finally, it's taking about 10 years to finally get this off the ground and having a new uh colleague Being the director of communications and working with family engagement And then uh through uh dr. Homan and dr. McNeil's leadership We were able to provide district-wide pd three courses for educators to get your sei pdps this past year And then i'm going to leave it to hannah to just discuss a teeny bit about this in an aging bridge project Sure. Hi everyone. Um the bridge project is a collaboration that started. We're in pilot year number one at hearty school So this is working with a high school student currently a 10th grade student Who used to go to hearty and she wanted to give back By providing tutoring services Through the high school she can receive graduate credit for that Not graduate credit. That's what I do. She can get credit towards community service So she loved it. She did two rounds of it two years in a row And then her idea this year was to expand and find other bilingual friends My part was to help connect families who are current el students at hearty school And help her match them with tutors at the high school level who are bilingual So that's been a great success. It's pilot year one. It's been going well And my hope is to extend out to all the other schools next year Thank you hannah And then um, I don't want to call them challenges I want to see call them growth opportunities that we have going on for el in going forward The biggest challenge and will not challenge the growth is we want to get this l pack To bridge and collaborate with our parents and families Um, and obviously for compliance purposes another big area of growth is tier one instruction So we need to continue the partnerships with general education and el So, um, we can utilize those sei strategies We've seen then when um an el teacher and a gen ed teacher are able to co-plan together the growth and With newcomers and slice students students with interrupt education is is immense growth Um a major growth opportunity, and I think this is across the district is elementary scheduling is always a challenge uh, particularly when When a child or a student elementary is pulled in so many different directions, we don't want to fragment their schedule So that's a challenge Professional development sei and weda. I'm looking forward to see if we can as a district Uh provide more weda opportunities where teachers plan with language objectives and content objectives Being more strategic about our academic language use within our lessons And then I know that this is also a conversation at the district level about structured time together Yes, we have our common planning time and our plc times But we're trying to see if there's more to create more opportunities of k through 12 team alignment At times the el team is pulled in different directions because of these important district initiatives But we don't always have a time to meet together as a team to align all of our work And then moving forward some sample, uh priorities are obviously compliance is at top of the list LPAC is number one And sei endorsement of educators the family welcome center I look forward to partnering with whoever that person is And creating this welcoming environment for our families that it's much needed And then um through the amazing district initiatives and the leadership of dr. Holman and dr. McNeill Um, I'm excited about this deeper learning Um initiative that's going on and I I was thinking okay, so what do we do in el with this? So my question is like next year with my team What does deeper learning look like an el in student support classes? And how can we document that to show everybody so we all learn from each other? And then a big one is the new el a curriculum. I don't know what's going to be chosen But i'm excited that a lot of those um finalists have el specific strategies in embedded in their curriculum That are target speaking and comprehension And then um, I leave it up if there anybody has any questions and I believe dr. Holman that was 12 minutes Um, I hold the sei endorsement Excellent So uh, and I worked in a district where uh, where English learners were sort of our bread and butter So I probably have a little deeper level of inquiry that that that folks would Normally come at at a school committee meeting Because this is sort of what i've done in my career And I don't so understand that I won't expect To put you on a spot tonight, but sort of if you don't have the answer off the top of your head I'm more than happy to get a follow-up um First question. I think is pretty easy. Are you finding it challenging to hire teachers with el licensure for el positions? We've been fortunate that our hiring process has been like earlier than other districts. So we've been getting Um, excellent candidates as well as we're getting duly licensed Educators that have been in the tier want, you know, gen ed classroom that want to make the jump to to el And we actually have some internal candidates. We don't have any open positions currently But we have some internal candidates that are looking to make the jump from gen ed into el I like that answer The the thing that districts hang up at Traditionally in terms of advancement through the five levels is getting from three to four Do we have a distribution? I'd like to see at some point a distribution of how many students are at each level and most Most specifically How long it takes for students to make a transition up a level because the thing that is It's really difficult to go from three to four I don't have that right now But I do have that data and I will share it with dr. Homan to get it out to you because we Dr. McNeil has asked me about breakdowns of proficiency levels when we had hiring. So I do have that information And and I'm also curious as to you've recited the five languages My sense in looking at the district is that the distribution is different both in terms of elementary schools and both by level so that My impression of the district is we have a far greater number of japanese speakers in the elementary level And other languages moving up towards high school. Is that the case that is the correct? Correct. I think I skipped the the data bullet But we at at the elementary is our largest numbers of little learners and we have around 235 little learners and japanese is the Most prominent language in that group and as you go to secondary level There are different languages come into play chinese is a big one in the secondary But japanese is huge and the Children born in the united states who are coming in to our el program. I guess many of those are coming from Say, Puerto Rico or There is a large Students with that speak spanish backgrounds But we actually had it was like it was odd to me because I speak fluent italian We had an italian little learner so they grew up bilingual and then they're el they get designated as el But most of those ones are spanish speakers So they have so they're speaking another language at home. They do have english skills But they they're not up to academic levels Correct because they're they're not true like bilingual going in and out of bilingual They're true leading support and what we're finding with those little learners and that's that's the trajectory that you are asking for Is that they exit out a little quicker? From what I understand this we have an excellent program in this district and Every time you've come before us I've been impressed with the commitment of Your you and your staff in terms of providing an excellent education for second language learners And that I know that there are many families who choose arlington because of the reputation of the district in terms of welcoming and instructing them Thank you very much. Um, we we It's not me. It's my team. I have an amazing team of educators that make my job Clearly very easy Don't want to say that because I don't want to lose my job But um, they're amazing and what I can share about ELL in arlington is that the teacher at the building They do everything the assessments the compliance all of it Yeah, I've been a principal in an elementary school with With a boatload of English learners and I've seen how when it's done well Uh, it works wonders. It's a beautiful thing. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Thelman. Thank you Thanks very much. It's a great presentation. It's also good to kind of reflect on how much this group of This population that comes to our town enriches and makes the town a better place So thank you for your work and leadership. I just have a few questions. Um Could you just explain Um, a couple things i'm curious about how long the students Stay in the ELL program and how many students would you say that start with us as the ll students and stay for you know from Elementary school all the way through. Well, that's a complex question. I know it is only because um, it's individual variations So you might have children or students and Hannah you can jump in as well We might you might have students that have a strong literacy background in their l1 That will transition out completely like one or two three years maybe max, but then you might have some learners that um Have interrupted education and come from um, maybe some Don't have high literacy in their family. So they might take longer Sometimes five six years Do we have long-term ELLs within the Arlington public schools? We do that have started at an elementary point that are still receiving services in Middle and high school that is a concern We don't have a large number in Arlington, but we do have some of those learners. Yeah. Yeah, and I I recognize that each case Is different You know, I uh, I don't have mr. Slickens experience with I interfere I run I work for an organization that interfaces with a lot of ELL programs in New Hampshire and Massachusetts and Manchester and Lowell and Bedford and other cities And you know, one of the things I have observed is that When there is an active Adult education program in a district. It's actually a way to capture adults for on The the idea the adult CPAP the ELL CPAC whatever it's supposed to be the LPAC LPAC. That's the word. Yeah. Thank you. So um I don't know to the extent that that's what I've observed that these districts that have adult Have a basic education for adults esol classes for adults. They're the ones that have some success creating LPACs So I will share with you. Thank you for that. Um, Heather Smith that couldn't attend this evening She's kind of plays a family liaison. She's actually the teacher at Gibbs school. Yes ELL teacher She just compiled a survey of our families I can share that with dr. Homan to share with all of you And the survey was exactly that that they would love to have some adult education classes for English learners Um, so we can be strategic in looking at our title III budget and how we can do that We don't receive a lot of funding and most of the title III budget funding goes to our SCI newcomer program at the bishop school in the summer But that was one and then I will share that our families This is why I'm excited about the family welcome center and the new person that's going to be the field engaging They also mentioned to us that they feel isolated when they're coming into the town of Arlington So that is something that where we really want to do more outreach on We have great translations in past years. We didn't have anything translated. So With dr. Homan and dr. McNeil and the revising revamping and making sure we're reaching out to everybody I'm seeing that Better in Arlington. Yeah, I will tell you that years of working with immigrant populations The the place where people find the most camaraderie is in a class setting So if there's any way for us to create any adult education class doesn't always have to be English So that's the preferred one That's the best way to bring community together and then out of that you can you know comply with the state I will agree and then I just want to mention quickly. I don't want to infringe upon your time But um, we're also making partnerships with teresa marzilli at the town of Arlington for the language access program I believe april 30th. There's going to be something in the town with outreach for families We will be there as well. Heather smith making sure that the language access for everyone in the town Um Is critical for our families as well as making those partnerships with the town of Arlington in our schools That our teachers share this in our newsletters. Um, there are Free english classes that go on in the libraries as well as through Arlington Education. Yeah, so we share that whenever it changes. So it's like a seasonal shift So parents are aware if they are reading our newsletters Thank you Um, my my experience with el was I the one I was thinking of I have one of miss digman's students on my soccer team and we started in uh, september with basically No english and a lot of hand gestures and and and last night we had practice and A question was asked and he raised his hand and just Like the whole thing and we all just were just like our mouths hand open. So The work that you're doing is um, magical and amazing and it has implications for Our students far beyond the walls of our schools. So thank you so much. It's really important I I bet you do Before this year Thank you Also, great coaching has gotten me to improve his english too. Let's come on. No, no, no, no. No, thank you Thank you. Uh, yes. Thank you for the presentation. It would be helpful. Um, in addition to the data that uh, Mr. Suckman asked for To see the number of el students that we've had Over the last like five years or so, uh, doctor homo mentioned that we've seen an increase recently But it would be nice to have a picture of of that I will do that. I will get that to you. Dr. McNeil is my data person And he's always pushing data on all of us. So I'll get that trajectory of the five years. That would be great. And, um, Uh, you know el students are part of one of the focal groups and strategic plan So you're gonna be on the hot seat for the next five years um in improving, uh You know the the targets there looking at the state data. It looks like we we have wonderful sgp for mcass Grades three to eight for el students, but for el a we're only slightly above the state average So maybe I don't know if that's something that you've been focusing on or you think you might need to focus on that in grades three Three to eight. Yeah That is on a list of of things and challenges to do on. Yeah, it depends on like the the older levels We made smaller increments the younger ones. We made bigger strides Can I SGPA and SGP is what I work with dr. McNeil and dr. Yeah, I just want to comment that the um el members of the uh el team We're instrumental in helping us really think about and understand why we needed to move towards re examination of our elementary literacy core curriculum Um, so I've spoken with numerous members of this team about the ways in which these curricula are designed for language acquisition In a way that the one we currently have absolutely is not so I just want to thank you all for the advocacy you've done And we're hopeful that that will have a big impact on those outcomes Thank you very much. Um Is there more questions? Oh I could talk about el all night But I was just going to um say that I am really pleased to hear that there um You have highlighted the fact that the new el a curriculum and the work that you will do to collaborate On that as I agree that I think that that will have a big impact On students and the other thing I just wanted to highlight Um, is you're mentioning about the need to collaborate with other With with with teachers and other disciplines and other content areas because that that's also going to have a big impact As mr. Cardin mentioned on our on that on our focal group And achieving our goals on the strategic plan It is a major impact as well as I will share another piece of data with the team with everyone About having two professional teachers in a building the impact to our access scores And the issue of inequity at schools that only had one el teacher So we've made great growth in arlington with adding, you know kudos to dr Coleman and dr. McNeil and the budget in getting in The needs of of schools and students looking at the high needs at the schools Because at one teacher at one building teaching k through five It's our k our k little ones didn't get as much instruction And i'll just add that having two people in a building who can collaborate with one another and share The same discipline is also going to have a big impact We're getting there so we we still have areas of growth, but i'm really proud of the team the team is amazing And um, we love what we do and the advocacy is amazing. Um, I think that's why i'm here This is my 11th year in arlington public schools Just a very brief comment if i may madam chair I i'm really intrigued by mr. Thielman's suggestion When i was running the preschool in lull we had a dedicated Class for the parents in that preschool So that if you had a yell child in the preschool A parent was in the class so that there was just this wonderful support structure And if if we have the population to do it I think that was grant funded, but we should definitely think about doing something Where we're bringing them all together So get it done and let us know If i could be of any help, please reach out to me or anyone in our team We'd be more than happy to you know discuss anything further, but thank you very much. Thank you Thank you, hannah hannah came along. Thank you Thank you Next on our agenda is policy ijr reconsideration of instructional resources Um, I brought that up so that we can discuss it Mr. Thielman Thank you, madam chair I play an augmented reality game called ingress sort of an adult version of pokemon go I mentioned this only because a message came across the game chat informing everyone who lives in our linkedin to attend a hearing on this curriculum challenge When we last reviewed our policy manual We made some changes to align our policies with prevailing laws and regulations in the process File ij dash r was retained in our policy book with the language quote When a problem concerning instructional material in a school arises The disposition of the problem will be made in a reasonable period of time using district adopted procedures File ij refers us back to file kec public complaints about the curriculum or instructional materials However, the committee no longer has this policy in the manual The closest policy and the one most commonly referenced in other district is file ke Public complaints as policy directs complaints to the school administration for study impossible solution Without proper reference in the policy manual We find ourselves looking at past practice in which the policy under file kec was used to challenge an element of our kindergarten curriculum Given the climate created by this complaint I believe we need to clarify our policies and provide direction as to how a challenge should be handled Regardless of the merits of a challenge members of the school community have a right to bring forth a request to review Curriculum materials in a manner that is safe and respectful Opening the challenge to an immediate public hearing outside of any other context or discussion is a prescription for creating Misunderstanding and anxiety In order to create a reasoned and thoughtful process for any review I move that the arlington school committee suspend file ij dash r until may 25th And directs the policies and procedures subcommittee to present to the full school committee Any recommendations for amending file ij? ij r and kec Do I hear a second second? Is there further discussion about this mr. Cardin so i'm not seeing the reference to another policy in the version that's a novice There are there are other policies linked to that initial policy. That's what what i'm referencing I think the references in ij In ij Yeah, it's at the bottom And there's mention in ij r that you you would Go to other policies which We're not really coming to district adopted procedures Which would be sort of the r-dash addition to a policy manual Other discussion So wait i'm trying to so does does kec exist or no? No, oh, I don't want kec No, no It was um, it did exist it did exist my and it doesn't exist anymore. Yeah Got it there when you In 2019 there was a big revamp of the policies and it looks like that was kec Was eliminated Referring the fact that ke and the subcommittee could make recommendations under ke as well But because kec is specifically referenced in the policy book under ij We need to affirm that we don't want that policy there and remove the reference So one two questions do we have to move to suspend the rules for us to Suspend this policy with just one reading essentially we're doing this I would think with a two-thirds vote I'm viewing as a two-thirds vote would be required either way so Okay, so my my So I I think it's necessary to go look at this policy for sure I think the policies and procedures committee needs to meet and talk about this the value of Suspending the policy is So we don't uh have any so what what's the so we don't have any Challenges between now and the 25th of may so so that we can revise the policy instead of the framework Because what we have now is broken and we don't want to introduce anything into a broken system Let me oh, I'm sorry. Um, it's to be transparent with the public About what our intentions are that we are not accepting Challenges under this policy at this time. We're making it clear when we will Finish our discussion And then we will see where we're at at that point and I did uh I want to mention that I did speak with town council And he felt that this there is no legal impediment for us to suspend this. This is not a legally required policy or a legally required concept Unlike if you think if you remember the budget hearing, that's legally required. We have to do it in a certain way This policy is here because we want it on some level now in terms of wanting it We have the policy the masc gave us that many Other communities use so it's not like we made this up from whole clock And I think we've now found that in our town we would benefit from a Perhaps more nuanced approach and we need to figure out what that is the next thing So I'm looking at file ij and I'm not seeing Where that where does Where that comes into one questioning or challenging the curriculum it's just um It's just ij-r is a subsidiary you're saying kec is is cross-referenced at ij In ij ij r is Yes, a sub yeah child of ij. Yep, and kec doesn't exist. So that cross-reference shouldn't even be there Okay, you know, they should work together and instead they're like, okay Mm-hmm Does it does the we're only suspending ij r not ij Okay, so I just I don't want to do anything that runs us afoul of the um literacy path, right? Like because we kind of need to I don't know where that's coming, but I know it's coming like a freight train A good really that's a very good point Shiny shiny Okay, any mr. Harden But so what i'm saying is is that we're only talking about ij suspending ij r. Okay, but potentially one might expect An edit to ij that removes the cross-reference Yeah, I would say that would it definitely be an order and we may go beyond that just to Tighten the circle Mr. Cardin Thank you. So I am able to pull up the old kec and kec And neither of them required a hearing so that Um, so it's not like our current policies require us to have a hearing Our current policies require The district to review the complaint using procedures Which we went back to what we did last time which made sense But I don't know but we don't have to if a new complaint comes in tomorrow. We don't have to schedule a hearing so I'm not Going to support suspending the policy Um, I think it has a not a great luck to suddenly suspend a policy so I don't I don't encourage anybody to schedule a hearing if we get another complaint But I also don't think we need to suspend the policy to do that Okay Any further discussion Okay, I think no matter well I'm leaning where mr. Cardin is I I I think no matter what we do The motion I would like to see at some point is the policies and procedures subcommittee Is directed to look at policy ijr and other related policies and report back of the school committee within 30 days on its recommendations But there's another motion on the table. It was seconded. I'm not making a substitute motion or any other motion I'm just telling you what my where my Where my thinking is that I'm sorry if I didn't make it clear It's excellent my concern with not suspending it is that it says right now Um, the disposition of the problem will be made in a reasonable period of time using district adopted procedures Which we don't really have so if a challenge comes in if we don't suspend it a challenge comes in tomorrow The I the policy subcommittee does their work and comes back with a Differently district adopted procedure. I don't know. I'm just that's I'm mulling over in my head how How a challenge made tomorrow if it is still in existence is It was made under the old policy, I guess so I'm so basically If a chat if if we didn't suspend this, right I would I would argue that 30 days is still a reasonable amount of time to challenge, right but the concern is that there's like when you Make it that start like that that you're making it I mean the way that it's written right now is so big that like I mean it could kind of be anything right on some level um, so I guess I guess the crux of the question is what would If the policy wasn't suspended What would we do if a challenge came in tomorrow? It's a it's a good question because the one thing you might encounter is somebody saying well, you set up a hearing for this Last time. Why aren't you doing it again? And by suspending the policy You're you're taking the expectation that we're going to have a hearing in may Because we scheduled a hearing for this complaint in april To me to me. It's just an acknowledgement that Where we are we don't want to do what we did Again, and we want to change it and any complaint that comes in will be under a different set of guidelines There's no 30 days My motion was until may 25th. Yeah, but there's no 30 day requirement in the policy Dr. Holman, so from my sort of position in this, um Discussion one of the things i'm thinking about is our our ability to focus on Our core charge, which is the education of the students and the we you know We put significant resources and time into thinking about what a district adopted Procedure would look like when we received this challenge and then a lot of um Time has been expended over the past week making sure that we were prepared for the hearing organized for it And that was at the expense of some other things that are very it's a very busy time of year And so if we were to get another The thing i'm thinking about as you all discuss this is that the benefit to the school system of Potentially suspending this policy could be that if we were to get Another challenge tomorrow That it would provide us with the time to think about what a procedure an appropriate procedure would look like In order to address that challenge within policy that might be shifting at the same time Without needing to think about Both procedurally how to address the challenge and the challenge itself Within a reasonable period of time whatever we deem that might be which is also vague so I put that on the table Just from my vantage point as superintendent But if we suspend the policy We can't have a challenge. There's no mechanism for anybody To put forward a challenge, right? So there won't be one Tomorrow or a month if it's suspended, right because by suspending it I think that's the piece that's tricky, right? And that's I think what mr. Cardin is saying Well, I don't know what he's saying, but I mean the By suspending the policy we are also suspending the ability to challenge for 30 I don't know, you know till the 25th So I would say what this does do is it gives us a pause to Think about our recent experience Think about what our goals are for challenges for community discussions and together with the superintendent Craft A procedure that reflects best practice and is able to Contain And what can't contain issues which may have significant emotion or Conflict in them And I feel right now we don't have that ability if there's a challenge tomorrow I don't see how we would be able to shift in midstream and react In a more thoughtful manner and I think we need I would prefer that we take a pause and give ourselves the chance to Think about that and to come up with a better procedure as I'm going to support suspending the policy because I think that This opens up Room for confusion for feeling Grandfathered into the current policy while we make Changes to improve the process. Um, and so I think This is the right the right choice to do better going forward is to suspend this policy for till May 20th Any further comment? Um All those in favor of suspending policy ij are Say I All those opposed no, no Um and any abstentions So for the minutes can we do a roll call? Um A little late Okay We'll do a roll call. Um, miss giddelson. Yes, mr. Cogden. Nope Ms. Morgan. Yes, mr. Bielman. No Staxon. Yes, yes, and I also vote yes So that passes 5 to 2 with no abstentions The policy ij are is suspended until may 25th parents especially regarding the human growth and development Curriculum still have recourse if they have concerns they can abstain I'll talk about it in my update. Oh, okay. Yep. Yeah, so I'll let you deal with the mechanics of that Please reach out to us if you have comments or concerns. Yes Okay And I move that will you refer the policy to the policy and procedures committee that was in the motion Okay, I would also ask that you look at b Okay We'll go anywhere, you know Um, okay next approval of job descriptions Okay, you have two job descriptions. I want to thank first of all the cia subcommittee for meeting on monday I was not able to attend but we received notes on three job descriptions that were discussed at cia Two of those are currently in your materials. I've pulled the third and I'll talk about that in just a second The two that are in your materials. I want to note an adjustment of To ensure that it's in accordance with the budget of the uh, the technical theater manager job description the salary range was Slightly adjusted. We had budgeted $85,000 for that role. So the salary range is $7,200,000 for that role We know that the the reason for that adjustment and it was kind of last minute Also is and the reason for that large range is because there's a large level of technical skill that somebody may bring or not So it's going to be commensurate the negotiation of that salary will be commensurate with the experience that they're bringing into the role And then there's also a communication specialist job description for your review And we made a couple of small revisions to um that one specifically the revision around the master's degree being a preferred degree for this role, again the Negotiation of that salary would be in accordance with experience that they're bringing into the position Um, and I want to note that while this is drafted without fte's attached to it It will be posted as a point set or it'd be filled as a point six position for next year Because of some restructuring that's happening at central office so The other job description that was discussed at ciaa was for uh, To a school transition and family liaison Position at the Gibbs. This is the start of what I'm hoping will be some family liaison Types of roles at our schools to help a bridge between family and community provide additional resources to families Provide access to outside events Translations interpretation etc at the disc at the direction of the principles. So it's a pilot. It's part of the esser grant It's not in your materials because I was working with at the request of the cia subcommittee Which was good guidance. Um our legal counsel our bargaining units and I got some questions that I just want to slow down on So I want to go back and take a look at that one again. Think about salary ranges. Think about Unit positions. We've talked about making those unit c positions. We've talked about um Lots of different possibilities. What's tricky about some of our unit positions is that we're hoping this will be an evening and a summer long role And that they will be able to do things like take on for example science camp And the coordination of that which would require some hours outside of what some of our bargaining units allow So I just want to have more conversations with folks internally about that one before I bring it back to you all Which is why I got pulled for now. It's probably coming back at some point. So those are the two before you for today Second Just got a question. Um, so maybe for mr. Spiegel. I'm not sure Since this is not a union position If if we decide to hire a candidate who does not have the minimum qualifications. Are we allowed to do that? Who does not have which one which one the three years Which which with the the theater manager, I think if the other experience outweighs, I mean, I think If we Just I had it up in a second ago. I think if the other experience outweighed The minimum qualifications We could consider it Okay Any more questions? Okay All those floating in favor of the two positions approving the two positions Any opposed Any abstentions? That's a unanimous vote Next is dr. Homan with the superintendent's report. Okay I don't have any pretty pictures for you this week. I'm sorry, but I do have some good news So I want to say congratulations to four odyssey middle school national history day projects By students that have advanced to the national competition in june at the university of mariland That's very exciting the titles of these brilliant projects are on the screen Everything from The rights of students with disabilities to the chinese transcontinental railroad to the manhattan project to Contraceptives and how they've changed the lives of women. So brilliant projects really so proud of our students who Created these projects and have made it to the national competition and we wish them luck Speaking of social studies. I also want to congratulate Um Gibbs teacher shayna burn She was chosen by the massachusetts council for social studies to receive the williams bratt award for excellence in teaching middle school social studies Recently and they surprised her with that announcement. I think on monday morning Over at the gibbs. So congratulations to shayna. That's very well deserved I have some updates on administrative hiring searches our bishop principal search We are currently in the process of final reference checking of finalists and the announcement is forthcoming probably tomorrow Uh also for bracket principal. We did the initial round of interviews this week We're trying some new interview approaches over uh at our bracket and at bishop Where the candidates go through three small groups. They spend an hour and a half with us sort of as a collective We get a lot more time with the candidates And they spend time with smaller groups so that they can build connections with the groups get to know the community a little bit Have some sort of slowed down conversations so that we can get to know the candidates a little bit better The feedback on this process has been resoundingly positive particularly from bracket where we made a couple of small tweaks The candidate the committee's also undergo some bias and hiring training They do this initial screening for the candidates and they had a lengthy conversation in debrief. So we have three finalists Potentially for bracket principal and I am hopeful that we'll be announcing who those finalists are tomorrow For director of community or communications and family engagement We will have our initial interviews after break and we're in the process of putting together an interview committee for that role And for director of research data and accountability initial interviews will be the first week of may Dr. McNeil is leading that search I have a few updates on the human growth and development curriculum and the challenge as everybody knows and as we were discussing That challenge was withdrawn As such the curriculum as is will stay in place for now That's not a problem at all and I want to say it stays in place and we're not considering any changes for at the moment This year's curriculum has already been implemented. So it's not that that doesn't have any impact really on what's happening right now Redacted feedback will be shared with the administration and staff. It might be summarized or quoted directly Also with the school committee families are always welcome to reach out to us with feedback comments Concerns that they have about curriculum or their child experience at any time And so I hope folks won't hesitate to reach out to myself to dr. McNeil to miss visco If they have continuing questions about the human growth and development curriculum And our next steps will be based on the feedback gathered and determined and messaged in the coming months And as we have ongoing conversations about policy as well and in collaboration with community the school committee and our health and wellness department I have uh Did briefly yeah, and the parents can um If parents want to Have their children not Oh, yes. Well as part of the regulation, of course parents are well I mean again, they've been implemented for this year But as part of the regulation for this curriculum specifically parents are Able to pull their student out and not participate in the curriculum if they so choose and they reach out to their principal in order to do that Um, is that it? Yeah For uh, we were going to have our lab executive director Pam Drard join us for today's meeting and because we weren't certain about the sort of timing of today's meeting We've asked her to instead join for a budget subcommittee meeting on the 24th where we'll be discussing the Lab collaborative agreement that came to you all And the addition of water town to the lab collaborative That also came to all of you the only other update I have on this besides that We're planning the meet and budget subcommittee on monday the 24th And hear a little bit more about the agreement and discuss it Is that the other four communities? Have are have you have signed on to? the Agreement so far. So there at the moment Arlington is the only one who has not and your and the enrollments are included in your materials Thank you Um next we have the consent agenda All is all items listed with an asterisks are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the committee so requests in which event Item will be considered in its normal sequence warrant number two three two three one from April 4th 2023 1,082,086 dollars and 67 cents So moved second Okay, um all in favor Hi, any opposed Any abstentions? No, so that passes unanimously Subcommittee and liaison reports budget That's not right Okay budget mr. Cardin now I have to remember who I Yes, two minutes ago Yes, so we are meeting on the 24th at 11 probably in hybrid format to hear about the lab finances in addition to Watertown And to the extent we can to also talk about the cost of the strategic plan Just to make sure everybody is aware We you know, we've been working on the long-range planning committee To insert the costs of the strategic plan into the next override plan so An initial cost out came to 6.7 million dollars over five years If anybody cares about the numbers it's 1 million in the first year in f by 24 3.1 million in f by 25 1.7 million in f by 26 600,000 in f by 27 and down to 300,000 in f by 28 um The f by 24 number would would replace The 600,000 one time covid aid that we're getting And in f by 25 the 3.1 million would also replace the 300,000 in covid aid that currently is in the plan The other change That we agree to at long-range planning is starting in f by 25 to Reduce the special education inflation number to 6.5 percent Based on our recent history So all of that sort of went into sandy's special calculator And he came up with a number of 7 million dollars needed for an override If we do it in f by 24 in f by 24 So there was talk about long at long-range plan about doing that Things moved a little bit too fast for everybody both for us because we weren't quite ready with the details of what that 6.7 million Pays for more than half of it is actually for Comparable salaries so We needed more time they needed more time so the Select board discussed it at their last two meetings. They're meeting every week now because of a town meeting They've discussed it at their last two meetings at their meeting on monday It was agreed. They didn't take any votes, but it was agreed that We would wait till october to do an override vote But the select board would take their vote to put on the ballot in june So that everybody would know before they left for the summer That this is happening in october We were also at finance committee last night qc and i were Where they heard from sandy about these numbers And there's a plan for us to go back before The fincom votes on the override plan In end of may or early june to present more information about our strategic plan to them So that's the plan anything you want to add Yeah, um the one Um, I think the select board is going to vote the date of the override in june and then they will vote the number in August september. I'm not totally sure when okay, so Yeah, I just want to on the process so the fincom is going to meet after the date is selected But before the number is voted on by the select board is that what you're saying I didn't know the number wasn't going to be included in the select board vote I don't know that the fincom knows that either so I don't know what their their plan was as of last night Their plan was to do what they did last time right select board voted both the number and the date Yeah, and then the fincom voted That that was their plan. So if they're not if there isn't a number, I don't know how that affects their plan I'd be interested in saying no Well, I think our presentation is just to give them information because right now the only people Um on fincom who have heard about the strategic plan Or our asks are the ones who are on long range plan And the rest of them are like, well, what are you asking? You know, what is this money for? and so that's We agreed to go in and give them a presentation And I worked with the chair of the finance committee and we agreed to either late may or early june It kind of depends on what's happening with town meeting And I don't know that they were gonna they're not going to take a vote At least my understanding was not that they were going to take a vote on our plan. This was just an informational session Right, but they were they were discussing last night meeting in june after the select board beats to vote on the override So If there's no number And then that's going to make it harder for them to do that. They might not do it without a number They might wait. Yeah, they might wait. Yeah, that'd be my guess Any more Comments about that? No Okay, uh community of revolutions Thank you. Um, so we have three more chats scheduled for the rest of this Academic year april 29th may 20th and june 10th And I don't believe there is anyone signed up yet So be on the lookout for an email for me asking You to participate Curriculum instruction account assessment and accountability Ms. Morgan We met on monday to go over some job descriptions And we do not have another meeting scheduled, but I'm sure that we will have the opportunity to do that sometime soon Facilities mr. Thielman Uh, no report on facility. Sorry Facilities are no report I guess we're gonna have a meeting with the next couple of weeks Okay, high school building committee No reports since I gave you an update last week. That's enough Okay, superintendent evaluation. Yeah, I think that expired with the new uh, yeah, that's what I think we're we can just get rid of that one Any liaison reports I do I have a liaison report and an announcement Okay, um, can I do them all at once? Is that all right? Okay, uh, the wellness committee gosh, we continue to meet Continue to hammer away at that wellness policy. We're getting close. So mr. Schlickman. It'll be coming your way It is it's it's been heavily heavily edited. So that's exciting. Um I did it three. Oh, mr. Mason and I went Yesterday and had an opportunity to meet with uh, Cindy Friedman and talk about universal School lunches, which was great was very well received. Um, and I'm glad he did a great job And I'm glad that we were a part of a very, um, it was a great group. Um And then my announcement I sent, um, Dr. Hoeman a photo. Can you it is not in the it's not in the email Oh, no, what? Oh dear. All right, hold on. I'm gonna send it right now. Um, so This is worth waiting for you guys It is no, I'm ready. It's it's gonna be well. I know you have to be able to see it Maybe my All right. Okay. It's coming now. So I'll work on my announcement part of this while you work on pulling up the photo And I just let you so, um, I heard from a community member and we've all seen this as we're coming in So students in our maker space woodworking classes with, uh, teacher Nate Mule Lysen have been doing service projects around the school to contribute And to learn about design thinking and they've reached out to the school staff for requests So they're meeting needs that we have, um, especially in our, um In our our more temporary spaces where we're not in a position to invest our students are are coming in and are making things that we need So the first projects include the benches in the connector, uh, which were done by Jake Davies And I come in and out of this building and there are always kids sitting on those benches. Um, I think they're lovely Um, and they also built portable stairs in the auditorium Um, and that was done by Ryan Hurican Uh, they've made bins for food storage for Arlington Eats, which were done by a whole bunch of kids and They're all sort of busy working away on projects for identified needs in the school and the shop is just Charting things out, which is is very cool. So thank you to um to, uh, Mr. Mule Lysen, uh, thank you to dr. Jinger for getting me some info on this and Big thanks to the students who are making this happen Thank you. Um, any more ways on or ways on report, mr. Announcement announcement. Okay Um Mass association of school committees will once again hold its annual day on the hill legislative advocacy event on may 4th the more The morning program begins at 9 a.m at the umas club in boston Uh We're invited to join members for coffee and pastry at 9 a.m before the program enjoying for a lunch at the state house to 12 Which is a magnificent lunch because it is catered by Uh, the culinary programs and various vocational technical high schools um Traditionally, uh student reps have been more than welcome Uh, yes. Yes field trip field trip And uh, I think in the past. I don't know it doesn't say so here But in the past we've been able to bring student reps without charge But it's definitely a good day to to learn things about The legislature there's interaction with some of the legislative leaders that deal with education And probably the best food of any meeting you'll do this year Is it the first one in like years first one since pre-pandemic they've been online. Yeah Highly recommended the folks from lexington always go so if you want to meet your neighbors you'll probably find them here Okay, any other announcements future agenda items No, okay, uh motion to adjourn So moved second Okay, motion to adjourn read by mr. Tillman second by mr. Ekston all in favor Any opposed Any abstentions 90 man meeting madam chair pretty good