Seeing the presence of everyone Calling this meeting to order at 632 of the Amherst Pellum regional school committee The first item on our agenda is approval of the minutes of May 8th Take a look through them Obviously a motion would be in order whenever someone wants to make it I move to accept the minutes of Tuesday May 8th There's second It's been moved and seconded are there edits realize it's long Seeing none all those improve in favor of proving the minutes of May 8th signify by raising your hand Is there a nays? abstentions one abstention, so it carries. I think we're at present seven zero one Minutes are approved. We're going to move next into announcements and public comments During the last meeting which people probably are aware of I ended up reading at the very beginning of the meeting statement of our policy on the announcement and public comment period and in which public comments are Welcome as a reminder of it, and I'm not quoting from it. It's not sitting here in front of me But the the general gist of it was that a it is not a period in which the school committee Is debating with the public it's something in which we welcome The public's comments look forward to hearing what you have to say and will either Incorporate that feedback in an item during the meeting if it's something on the agenda and if it's something that's not on the agenda It'll be considered for a future agenda in which the committee can discuss it in public The second thing is The comments are limited to three minutes in most meetings in the past I've been fairly strict about that in the last meeting I made the observation that I wasn't because there's a lot of people who wanted to speak I wasn't going to be sort of Ruthless about gathering the three-minute mark. So I'm going to maintain that Approach this time, but I will tell you that most people came in around three minutes and 15 seconds or three minutes and 20 or so So it wasn't anything people were it was really an opportunity to get people to allow the finish their thoughts as opposed to an open-ended session So if it goes on too long, obviously, I'll Gable it and then the third comment was that for both members of the school committee When we're discussing items as well as all for the also for the public if you look at our policy You'll note that it says that that our discussions or deliberations including the public comment period is discussing the policies and decisions of the school district and not individual Personnel or comments that would go to The character judgment about those character about those individuals. That's something which Is both I think an appropriate ethic ethical policy of the committee, but is also something that for the committee Something we take very seriously, so Well, I'll end up just I just want to forewarn everyone I did this the same thing last time that I'll end up Gavilling out those comments and just as a comment since people who are here last time are here I made the same observation last time that there's a peculiarity about the way our policy is written is that there was actually nothing preventing people from praising the work of administrators or staff or teachers the actual language of the policy has to do with Disparaging them so I As I said last time although I think there's a common sense to that. I also in a way apologize to the public for that Seemingly uneven thing. That's why I think in a perfect world everyone would be keeping their comments to Policy and management as opposed to individuals Anyways, I want to say that up front just because I want to be able to make sure that whatever facilitation I'm doing is done fairly and And further I guess just as another observation You know the chair is the servant of the committee So although this may seem obvious And at times since I'm at the center point of the table with a gavel it may seem like I'm directing a show but the reality is I only and of course we're gonna have a reorganization next meeting So this is potentially my last meeting is chair. I I only exist for the pleasure of and the functionality of the committee itself The work and decisions we do we do together and are always made together The framing of the decision has done something that is a power of the chair That I do typically in concert with the superintendent's input But in fact even there if you've been following our meetings for the last year You'll notice that there's a copious amount of time in the back end of the session Usually when we're talking about your room in which the committee actually has a lot of input to what's on the agenda If I've ever violated that spirit I apologize to the committee and don't wish to do so again But I'm just saying that even though the comments are directed to the chair The reality is I'm the servant of the group not Any more of a leader than anyone else here So with that oh Yes, sir, sir. I'm like I think that'd be great. I just didn't happen to have it in front of me. That's why I was paraphrasing On the website So the section is most relevant speakers may offer comments and opinions about the school operations and programs that concern them But in public session the committee will not hear personal complaints about school personnel Nor against any member of the school community either by name or by reference to physician under most circumstances Administrative channels are the proper means for disposition of legitimate complaints involving staff members, so It doesn't say it here, but on school committee accepts complaints Of this nature via email also occasionally in person, but this policy expressly prohibits them in a particular venue That's true That's very true. Hopefully that I think what I did a reason you know, it's a wonderful. Glad you read it I think I did a reasonable job of characterizing at that Okay, and so also the other thing I'd point out is that sometimes when we have our public comment period After it's done the room empties out and I realize you're all very busy and it's even Wonderful that you heard it regardless of what you say regardless of what you're saying to Potentially critique programs and policies or otherwise I think it's wonderful. You're here and contributing your voice But I'd also point out that if you look since I think some of you are probably going to be interested in this topic If you look at item one after our subcommittee updates superintendent updates and chairs report We do have an item on licensure and hiring process the middle school principal search in the search process committee that process oriented group that Assistant superintendent Cunningham described so I would bring that up only because I think there are in fact going to be even answers or Responses whether they're directly to an individual or really more importantly Indirectly, you know dressing the substance of an issue that are going to come up later in agenda And so I would actually welcome people staying that we would all welcome people staying if they like to hear through those sections if they so wish So with that Announcements and public comments is open. If you have a public comment, please come up to the microphone Identify yourself by name and as I mentioned before you have three minutes to speak I need 10 minutes Well We don't have 10 minutes. Um, I guess I have to ask the committee whether They're interested in suspending our rules. This is a statement from more than one person This is a statement of from people that can't Be here I'm still just following my own our own rules Mr. Nomey my feelings that our past precedent has been it's it's a generous three minutes And so you've not gabbled at 301 310 even four 10 seems a little excessive There are many issues that represent many people When I spoke, um, two months ago or the two meetings ago I was being gabbled and interrupted and last meeting no one was interrupted or gabbled No one went any further than four minutes last time though. Um, I was timing everyone I feel like I'm putting the committee on the spot Uh, well, yeah, I mean our general rule is is three minutes and I we are generous with that three minutes. I think, um And there are other ways certainly, um, if you have sure I'll use other ways information to send us. We're, you know, clearly. I have not been responded to but sure Sure, we'll do that. Uh, that is also true. Okay, um, please Other yeah, yeah, yes, they could um, they should come up and do though, but please continue or please if you'd like Thank you I am Chrissy Harman and I'm here to pick up where I left off two school committee meetings ago In which I addressed the discrimination of an african-american principal during the arms hiring process It turns out in Amherst the problem of unlicensed administrators Leading our schools is not new. It is systematic deep seated and it's led by white male privilege I'm here to address this pervasive practice Of hiring unlicensed individuals to administrative positions in the Amherst public schools Now the only thing I can agree with on the teachers who discredited their own profession and service to repairing another Person's ego last school committee meeting was this repeated request for transparency The request I agree with um You just did it right there. You were just criticizing and and characterizing and disparaging the teachers who came and spoke last time I'm I'm just saying it did you were you were characterizing As opposed to saying you disagreed with the position on licensure. Okay, so can I continue? Please? Thanks It was my choice To block the waiver of the previous principal I blocked her getting a waiver A hardship waiver from desi the reason why? Because to get a hardship waiver a superintendent has to prove to desi That there is a hiring hardship that has taken place which there was not So into invent this hardship the superintendent has to create public had to create public suspicion About a principal of color who was well known in the district To the point that people who knew he had applied for arms the arms principal position began asking him What did you do? Have you ever been arrested or something? What is it that we don't know? The superintendent made disparaging remarks to keep people that he unilaterally I'm saying things that people want me to say it's important that people in the community hear what I have to say So I would just remind the chair And I guess the public as well that this section that I read without interpretation does not talk about Defamation is not talk about rudeness. It's Will not hear personal complaints about school personnel or against any member of the school community either by name or by reference to position So that would include very polite very rational very Fact-based complaints about a teacher or superintendent or an assistant superintendent And that's we have other venues for those I follow those other venues and I've not received the response Correct I actually think almost everything we're talking about tonight in item one under licensing hiring process search process And principal search is in fact directly responsive to what you were doing to us So I'd actually completely disagree with what you said I'm just I'm not saying we can't hear you. I'm just saying Continually interrupted Well, that's the problem is I mean the problem is mr. Demling is actually correct that you're you're here the problem is I'm saying things that people don't want to hear Excuse me point of order. Mr. Chair. I'm not sure we should be engaging in a debate But this is an opportunity for So if we can just maintain comments that are factual that are not Spursions against any person in the committee and that we're not engaging back and forth I think maybe we can hear this public comment. Sure. Sure. I agree Thank you. Okay. I'm just going to reclaim my time. Sure The superintendent made these disparaging remarks to keep people that he unilaterally decided were quote-unquote not the right fit Out of what he perceives to be his establishment No different than a starbucks manager who creates suspicion of two african-american males in order to justify a call to police To remove them from their establishment because they were not the right fit As we were all engaging last two last school committee meeting enough Pity party slash goodbye lamenting over the fact that the laws are so inconvenient That massachusetts laws should not apply to amherst Even though they are there to create conditions for equitable hiring and to predict the civil rights of students I was at home Reading through piles of documentation That showed that the specific case that was brought up was just one card In a house of cards Of a pervasive practice of hiring unlicensed unqualified educators to administration positions This was done in one of two ways Either having them work and never once reporting their licensure to desi Or two applying for hardship waivers by saying that there was only one applicant and then having these individuals work under principles with an initial license If that's not a system that set up for discrimination, I don't know what is I wrote out this list of individuals and sent it to the school committee The day after the last school committee meeting and again, I reiterated this process reflects cronyism conflict of interest And is a process that is primed to discriminate against highly qualified administrators From obtaining positions Unless one white man decides they are not the right fit for his establishment I wanted to know Why does it say over and over again that there's only one applicant? This was in many cases not true It certainly saves a superintendent a hassle of having to discredit candidates over and over There were individuals in the district who had applied for some of these positions Now applying for a hardship waiver for an unlicensed individual To be employed over and over and over as is the case When you have so many highly qualified experienced administrators, some of whom happen to be of color Is like applying for welfare and SNAP over and over and over Repeatedly holding back all your bank statements behind your back That show you actually have a $200,000 a year job There is no hardship that exists in this district to attract qualified administrators And by the way, it's just simply a massachusetts requirement If anyone wants to argue that they can drive down to boston To desi to talk about how special amherst is and why the law should not apply to them So 24 hours after this last school committee meeting and I sent this list to the school committee and administrators The next day The superintendent reappointed these individuals Behavior that reflects that I was right in my initial remarks to the school committee back in april That this was a hiring system of cronyism that the superintendent had set up and it was set up to discriminate I never had any response from the school committee or the superintendent Sorry, point of order Accept a memoradum Sorry, I gotta take a point of order. It's actually part of rebel's reservoir Point of order. So expressing a complaint about the school personnel by name or reference to position is strictly prohibited in public comment I'm talking about a practice. Mr. Chair that it's a fine line. This is a practice presenting facts that raise concern And characterizing something as a cronyism establishment by a white man Right, but I think that there is a judgment line that needs to be enforced. Right. I'm talking about a practice I think if you Could help the committee because I'm actually I'm trying to help you get through your statement You want me to help you manage? No, you're not you're bad the bad practice. That's exactly I'm not gonna like sugarcoat it for you I know that's what you need. No, let me just finish We'll just continue and then he'll keep complaining and I'll have to keep gathering Mr. Chair Would it be possible for us to just get that statement maybe emailed to us? Oh, I think I've emailed it before many times This is for the public I'm in public comments to speak to the public the people who are not here to speak single mothers Children of of low socio socioeconomic backgrounds children of color The people who are adversely affected by hiring so many unlicensed administrators. I was going to get to that part With the admonition that was stated a moment ago about referencing individuals I'm speaking about a practice then If you can try to talk about the practice of that referencing the individuals If you're able to please continue So should I give them a code game? Do you want me to We're at water. Mr. Chair. Yes. I don't think that the committee should continue to engage in back and forth discussions Even though they don't interrupt me. I'm not trying to get engaged in back and forth discussions So we're at four minutes I mean, I've I've stopped it and started it again I'm sorry. I'm making you all feel very uncomfortable I'm actually not sorry The reason that was this was given this documentation signed by the superintendent, which repeatedly state that only one applicant Had applied was to create a hardship Now the explanation that was given from the administration Superintendent's office was that there was an error In the application software now desi wants to know as well Why is this repeated process this practice this process that i'm speaking to not the individual but the practice so desi asked Can I have your school spring logs and the response is that there's an application software filtering error This was a phrasing So they're speaking about school spring, which is the application software that's used to hire Qualified licensed candidates And this is a third-party website that's trafficked by thousands of educators So this bizarre glitch it miraculously filtered out the exact unlicensed candidates that the superintendent already wanted to hire So what i'm describing here is systematic institutional racism and what that looks like in 2018 Where one white person one white man is literally and figuratively figuring filtering out Who he believes can fit into that establishment You're you're now if you can I think you talked earlier, but you're handing it over to someone to complete the state to continue the statement Uh No, actually Yeah, i'm gene charoluck from leverage and i just want to stop my statement by saying i've been living in town for 30 years I have a mixed-race family of raised many kids and we have experienced and been harmed by the institutional racism in this town for 30 years Oh, okay. I'm yielding. No, I don't want to What I just described Is where one white man is literally and figuratively filtering out who he believes fits into this establishment Some people might say I don't care how he did it. Well, those are the ones who are benefiting from it Some people say well, why is licensure so important? Well, one it's a law and two in the absence of following it The hiring power falls into the hands of a few white men who get to decide where we all fit into their establishment I know amour sees itself as doing right in the terms of multiculturalism I mean, I already can picture next week a group of teachers are going to come in with their artifacts And they're going to talk about how who is this imposter woman who's blown up our spot with their multicultural artifacts I'm not talking about multicultural lessons. I'm not talking about activities or fairs or buffets I'm talking not even about teacher licensure. We're talking about administration licensure And the idea Of a superintendent in the building principles of multiculturalism and the hiring of administrators is very questionable When I said to my african-american educator colleagues many who are Talking to me on the phone calling me advising me. We're having conference calls Many of whom are watching this What would a white male have to gain by putting a few educators of color in the district? None who really have any formal administrative training By an accredited licensure program and in this capacity of administration to offer services to students What would they have to gain from an endorse? And learn as you go model for administration This was my question to my african-american educator colleagues from my white lens I said, but you know, there are some principles of color One educator of color said to me. He's also a race analyst He began to explain to me what's called convergence theory It's central in what he said is critical race theory That white men put people of color where it suits them and he described to me What this particular hiring practice speaks to he said in amherst Yes, there are educators of color, but with no administration experience who were recruited to be in subjugated positions to white administrators He said this kind of practice actually makes a perfunctory or symbolic effort To achieve multiculturalism and administrative staff By recruiting a small number of people from underrepresented groups in order to give the appearance of racial equality within a workforce And that it results in what he described as the tokenism Which actually helps to maintain the underpinning of structural and institutional racism by keeping educators of color in an encapsulated role As this is a quid pro quo practice of hiring that directly undermines these individuals social justice lens The impact as a result Is that students of color and children of low sES continue to be overrepresented in this in discipline And this is only what's reported to desi because we know that not all the disciplines being reported to desi while keeping out highly qualified educators of color who are licensed And if who working in the full capacity of their experience and their credentials and their education Present a perceived threat to a white man Further evidence of this is that here we had a highly qualified african-american principal and a highly qualified latina Principal with multiple licenses and years of on-the-job experience and he says they aren't the right fit You're coming up at the second you're coming up on the four minutes again So this is I think at this point we've been here More than 10 minutes. I don't know if you can wrap up please Hmm This speaks to a system To keep out highly qualified educators of color As they are seen as a perceived threat Who may operate in the who when operating in the full force of their credentials education experience and integrity as pertains to social justice Multiculturalism in the amherst public schools This educator that I was speaking with said in this context Is a buzzword used by white liberals to imply that there's no power differential in the school system This is white male paternalistic governing Due to the level of deflection that has occurred as I repeatedly have tried to address this in the past month I reiterate The only and sole focus of this entire dialogue has been on the pattern of appointed administrators discretionary hiring for two years And how it sits how it suits or fits with one man's personal image or agenda So let's talk about the effects on students I got it. I got it. I got a rule that I got a rule that out of the data shows that latino and african-american students Have been suspended as a rate of 3.5 times their europe european american peers How is the 22 percent of the population speaks for 90 percent of school suspensions? latino and african-american children with lower socioeconomic backgrounds Such as children of single moms children with special ed services Children on 504s are all being overrepresented in school suspensions and disciplines and discipline District data and it's only what is reported shows that These children who are marginalized who are economically disadvantaged and you have a disability are the object of these unqualified principles Now I am a single mother of three children I have been raising my three children by myself for six years in this town And I don't see any single mothers at these meetings I know their sons Are the ones who are being targeted by unfair harassing prince discipline of these unqualified administrators and my son has When I tell educators and parents of color my stories. They'll say yeah, and your son is white We deal with it every day That's what they say because who are we? To say to complain to say these things. We haven't lived here for 25 years We don't show up to school events in a Subaru. So who is this intruder to blow up our spot? We need for you to wrap this up I submitted this list of unlicensed and unwavered individuals to the school committee And it resulted in the superintendent calling in these individuals and reappointing them to the positions that they're actually licensed for Still no mention of this has been made I am here as a PSA that during 2016. There were three illegally employed administrators at arms in 2017 Wanted Wildwood offering discipline and sped services And wanted to talk or farm from 2014 to 2018 Move to recess public has a right to know That they can have their special education services reviewed by raising any disciplines such as suspensions or expulsion should be overturned and taken off One opposed abstention No abstentions Let's see all here So seeing the presence of a quorum of the committee again, I'll call this meeting back to order We are still in the announcement in public comment period as mentioned We've gone over the ground rules a million times, but three minutes Please come feel free to come forward to the microphone Obviously the same rules that would have been described ad nauseam before will are still apply, but we welcome your comments Please come forward three minutes time Please just come on up to the microphone and introduce yourself, please My name is Brian Scully and uh, I'm not very good at public speaking. So I'll only take about a minute This isn't the only the second time in 65 years. I've spoken to a group like this um This discrimination complaint by a search committee member was filed when dr. Morris did not agree with the two finalists the search committee presented him Instead he opted to attempt to continue with the current interim principal Who has been doing an excellent job while dr. Morris extends the search for a new permanent principal I appreciate that dr. Morris is trying to find the right person to protect and educate our kids Any form of discrimination is wrong Everyone should have a fair and equal chance to apply for any job and be considered for that job And seeking diversity is good because it brings talents and life experiences From all cultures into our school system But diversity should not be used as some sort of a scorecard This is not a game It's real life and it's real lives that are going to be affected by this hiring decision our children's lives As a parent of a student who will be entering the middle school in two years I only want the best teachers and the best administrators for all the kids I don't care about their ethnicity or their color or religion or anything except their ability to do the job well If dr. Morris had wanted to extend the search for a new principal And the finalists happened to have been two middle-aged white men Would this complaint still have been filed? I doubt it In fact, I am betting that the same people who filed that complaint would be applauding him for not taking the easy road And settling for a principal that is less than our kids deserve Dr. Morris is trying to make the right decisions and I trust that he is not racially biased or discriminates against minorities Based on his record And I can't help but notice that in some communities dr. Morris himself might be considered a minority We finally have a school superintendent who is focused on our children and not on politics or public relations His focus is exactly where it ought to be on the well-being of our kids. Thank you Hello I stand before you dr. Trevor armandaptiste not the previous chair, but um Two chairs ago I come um as always defined as a public servant Always, um, um proud to contribute my civic responsibility and I want to applaud Cindy who was up here speaking Chrissy, I'm sorry Chrissy was up here Doing the same thing and applaud you sir for coming into the same thing. This is what it's supposed to be For years, we've had these kind of discussions about What is good for the district and they've always come to the conclusion It was good for the district is when people come together and Conclude deliberate and debate something and so the problem and I want to again point out shouldn't be Obscured by side debates I said before um to dr. Morris kudos for him taking responsibility There is no debate about whether or not it should be a person of color or not The debate is about rather not dr. Morris should be responsive to the community And we've always I shouldn't say always I should say in my experience that has always been a debate About how much autonomy a superintendent has to just do what a superintendent wants willing nearly without being responsible to you Elected officials without being responsible to anybody that comes up here now Whether it's discrimination Whether it's any other reason anybody can come up with a reason why they want their Administrator the superintendent to be responsive and I'm not talking about Mike in particular anybody can come up with a reason. They want the superintendent to respond I don't think this is a particularly illegitimate reason and more importantly when it comes to Uh matters of legality It is incumbent upon you guys to ensure That despite what a superintendent's intentions are if they are not legal you must give them the credence that that deserves Um, dr. Morris is not now. I'm talking personally about dr. Morris. He's not new To um, um disposition. He's not new to this arena. Dr. Morris has been here for years and admittedly and respectfully Has decided to take this heat Let's not cool it off by saying the heat is something other than what it is The heat is not about rather not, um, we should have black people and not black people or rather not We should have, um, um, um Patty boatie or not patty boatie and please forgive me mr. Demling. I don't mean to To um, um dissuade anybody and I hope I'm not the issue is has always been and still remains unfortunately To what extent a superintendent is willing to bend to to the people's will I think personally that it's been a long road to get to the point where we can have a cross section of the community Get together and say what they want to happen and that can't be thrown out short shrift Whatever the fallout of that is you will start to see as we've seen in the past a whole bunch of um, um side arguments We should be laser focused on just that point the superintendent being responsive to what the community needs And I think that's represented by a search committee and the new stuff. Thank you for my time About you Next I'll just come on forward whoever wants to speak come on forward.  You have three minutes up to three minutes. I should say My name is Sanji Johnson. I understand I'm a member of the community and I just wanted to Uh, not necessarily speak to this particular issue that was raised this evening But just to the issue of the great discomfort I felt uh sitting where I was and having um A member of the community Interrupted in the way that she was And I believe that it was a little Hostile and aggressive and I'm concerned about that because We have been struggling for years in this district To have these open conversations about our perceived um Interpretation of how the district handles itself For the benefit of all of our students now as a person of color I can tell you um in standing in my skin and from my particular perspective that There has been several instances of Inequity and unfairness silencing that has happened in this district And I would like to call our attention to that that we be a little bit more Open to hearing The views of others even when those views conflict with our own And that we be a little bit more respectful Of the voices of people it is not easy to stand before you It is not easy as a community member to face Uh ostracism and hostility from other community members who disagree with your point But I would I would ask That the the the the committee as you have been elected to serve That you do that That you listen Respectfully that you hear the voices of the people who are Disproportionately affected by policies Wittingly or unwittingly That that that are negative for certain for certain sectors of our community And I would I would implore us please to be um More open and I wouldn't even say tolerant because Uh, tolerance suggests that some people have power and others don't and that you tolerate I am saying that if we are all saying that we have a voice in this community that we acted And that we allow those who are whose views may differ from our own That they get an opportunity to say what it is that they once said And that those complaints that those concerns that are voiced That we feel that you hear us And that you have the will to actually do something about Those issues that are of concern So i'm imploring you all again And charging you as a member of the public President obama said the greatest responsibility that we could have in a community Is that of citizen and as a citizen of this town I am imploring those who have been elected to serve all of us To please give a vote give Give an ear give an ear To the to the issues of salients that come up for people of color For people who are poorer for people who feel they don't have a voice For people who are too nervous to come and stand before you please hear them Please hear them Thank you very much Welcome other public comments if you haven't again just come to the microphone identify yourself and speak Good evening My name is Irene LaRouche And i'm a social studies curriculum leader at amherst mill school. I've been at amherst mill school since 2003 um You've heard tonight that the district has um had struggles I believe these are struggles that are worth continuing and I believe that they are struggles towards a positive end In the last 30 years we've made groundbreaking commitments and found ways to be ahead of the curve In becoming a multicultural school district and working towards social justice. It's imperfect But we are progressing and I want to commit that um to the record The reason why our district has stood differently in western messachusetts is because the school committee the administration and teachers and families Work together for goals that they set Amherst educators are more than teachers They're part of a group of leaders in the field. We're not just concerned about our students in classes We care about the institution all of the students all of the families the community and society We care about the goals of diversity and we would like to seek solutions with you with all of you I believe part of the solution is greater awareness Of the work that we do at amherst regional mill school I'm so pleased that the school equity task force is interested in learning about what is being taught To broaden and deepen the learning of students about race class and other equity issues And I appreciated during cunningham And the school equity task force reaching out to arhs and erica alshola to learn about related coursework at the high school The middle school is also happy to share with you the work that we are doing In addition to the many examples of diversity and equity work Under the leadership of dr. Patty bodie that were described in the letter from middle school staff I can share that this week A snapshot is the seventh grade socialist teachers are engaged in our unit on diversity Which dovetails with the science department study of genetics Students learning both science and social studies that race is a social construct and not based in biological differences This is the kind of work that makes us different It is imperfect and we have these conversations with our students so that we can keep moving forward The interdisciplinary studies that have been happening that I just described have been happening for years in this school I share them as one more example of the work we do It is a snapshot a glimpse into our school the rich and meaningful learning that takes place every day That continues our work of developing cultural competency and working towards social justice We are committed to canoeing this work. We want to continue this work, but we need your help In maintaining leadership that supports it and us leadership like we have now We would like legal and ethical Leadership that moves us forward I'm hopeful to continue to carry on and sharing this good news with you. Thank you very much There are other public comment. If there's anyone else, please come forward Again identify yourself here three minutes My name is Patrick Sullivan. I'm one of the eighth grade science teachers at the middle school and I um, I don't I don't really feel up to as up to speed as Probably everybody here is about The debate that's gone on and the discussion and the issues So I just I first want to admire everyone in the room and everyone who's spoken or hadn't spoken everyone here tonight for I guarantee everyone probably comes here with with best intentions for what's What's best for the kids in our in our classrooms and the kids in our homes and no matter What everyone's feeling right now or what people are are saying. I just I really admire people for coming out for that So my my perspective really only only comes from um And I know I'm not alone in the room in this but I I've worked in A handful of schools. Um, I attended a occasional agricultural high school um I was I was able to work in springfield mastery sits for your holy oak For a little while. I've been teaching in greenfield for almost a decade before Um, I interviewed with dr. Bodie And so I've I've seen a lot of you know a few different kinds of schools and I've had You know dozens of colleagues and um I just I I just want to encourage the district to exhaust all possibilities to Allow the current administration at the middle school to continue its work because I've I've never been a part of a group of individuals that has such energy um And passion and self-reflection and expertise um that they They want to further the lives of every every kid in that school and I I'm there every day. I see it. I It's a phenomenal environment to be around and so I That's the only thing I can really speak to is I I think it's a profoundly powerful Beginning at that school with the current administration and I think the town and the children the kids that go there would be Benefitted massively if this this Administration we're able to keep its momentum that's that's getting started. So I just want to encourage the district to do everything it can to Legally keep that going. Thank you Hi, it's following up with what Patrick was able to share. Um, I'm Tiffany tibodeau I'm a math teacher at the middle school and a Resident of Amherst, um, and I want to thank you first of all for listening to staff concerns. Um as middle school To talk about middle school leadership in particular. Um, especially at the may 8th school committee meeting My colleagues and I left feeling valued and feeling hurt about the the things we shared and our concerns going forward in the process Today we return hopefully To learn from you about the steps that you're you've taken in the interim and the steps that you will continue to take And we're here again to just offer our support in partnership with a central office and the school committee and the community to Look at ways in which we can Build a strong leadership at the middle school and continue the momentum as Patrick shared We care very much about this and we want to work with the community in order to make the process meaningful and For this to be successful. We understand that it really does have to be a partnership We also understand the requirements set forth by Massachusetts and by desi And that we do need to have a license principle in July in place in july 1st So we're not disregarding that fact, but we also want to consider That there are creative ways for us to Come up with a solution that is legal and is ethical That allows the middle school to retain leadership that will continue moving us in a positive direction So we would like to sort of put forth the idea that As a group we can work together and we have some possible Suggestions and ideas of past practices and things going forward that may work That I would like to just submit to the public record And we're sure that you guys have ideas as well that we're looking forward to hearing I think it's also important for us to share that As a school we understand that it's a work in progress as a district I know that we understand it's a work in progress We know that it's not a perfect system yet But I think every single person in this room every single person in our district are working really hard To make sure that we're putting forth the best Possible education that students can have and I don't want to discredit that And I know that that it seems like The the community feel might be that we have a disagreement about that But I think it's very clear that even though we don't all agree on the solution to get there Uh, we do have that same interest in mind and I think it's important for us to keep coming back to What's good for the students? Regardless if it's a solution that makes us entirely happy Please bring it forward Right before you start I should just say um, I want to make sure every I want to make sure that everyone is it wants to make a comment can but we're also Um Just by dint of reality. We're we're probably we're around 10 minutes away from Just doing an hour of the opening period of the meeting and there's a lot of the stuff on the agenda Including the fact that we again for those people who've raised the lumber of the topics that have been raised tonight One of our first items is in fact to talk more about that So I want to try to move it along soon, but if there are a couple more people in my comments I'm happy to do it. I wasn't trying to stop you. I just you said that before me and you've had to gavel me I noticed I noticed you saw me. So my name is melissa shiro and um, I don't have anything prepared, but I I just I want to thank the teachers and the educators and You know in here because I think that something that gets lost oftentimes is just that Um education is a profession and and by that I'm not saying I'm not talking about licensure when I say that I'm saying that there's a lot of experience and research and Um sort of skill that goes into that. I'm a former teacher as well So There are a lot of schools and districts you wouldn't want to work in others. You would want to work in and that's because of Much more than the color of the superintendent skin, right? So I think that in general in the us Public education is really like a status quo machine. You know the same people are being Over-disciplined and not served and there's this academic gap. That's really about a resource gap and an opportunity gap And so what was so refreshing coming to amherst not long ago was really meeting mike and being shocked at how sort of quietly radical I thought his his uh Ideas were and is put in the policies he put forward and the integration You know the real integration as opposed to sort of diverse schools real integration and the preschool and the whole thing He was trying to do um, I was I Was really wowed and surprised and waiting for it to not be true and I've said this before, you know, so I just think that when um, it's sort of a Obviously he can't speak about You know what happens in that committee or why he didn't want um, and I haven't heard any disparaging I'd love to know, you know those those supposed rumors. I have not heard anything Um, but it sort of ends up being You know Him against people complaining And I don't think we're taking to into account his record like you need to take into account His record. He's shown us time and time and time again that he's an equity guy that he's questioning You don't have that experience. Okay. Well, I I have that I have that experience and um I I think we also have to realize that Sure, I'm a member of the community. You're a member of the community and we Our points of view are valid, but um, it's also true that there's a lot of that sort of research What's really going on in the schools? Um, who's a better manager all of that stuff? So it does come down to Having faith to some extent Um, because we weren't in the room, you know, and I just want to say that I um I've been pleasantly surprised by Mike Morris and um, that's why in this moment I Continue to support him because I I I think he went in there um with you know, all of this experience and uh This will he's shown me that he has the will to make things better here and to um to counter bias and to counter inequity so um Yeah, again, it's a little bit emotional. I want to um apologize to uh The teachers again and educators. I did say I want to thank you, but I just think Your voices aren't loud enough sometimes And I want to elevate them very joining me cage resident of Amherst parent of two children in the school district one at the high school and one at rocker farm I um Echo the call to um that we require ethical and Legal leadership I would like the school district to do an audit of our hiring practices an audit of people who are principals and assistant principals and to require that we know Their license numbers If their names cannot are not obviously the legal names that are found in desi I think The district is um monitoring that has always monitored that And so I think the problem in my own research Has been Endemic and it's been institutional. It's been systemic. It's you know over long periods of time Way before Our current super in a tent superintendent took his position um And I understand culture and culture and tradition We it repeats itself until someone like Chrissy Harmon, you know blows the whistle blows the cover and We are left to um Reconsider and think about what we've been doing in the past and has it been legal has it been ethical Have we been transparent? Um, can we be do a better job? You know holding people accountable That are in charge of of this information and these decisions Of hiring and who gets appointed and the process and and you know You can google that our district has policies in place around hiring different positions Um And that desi also has um state requirements and whatever process we engage in um I believe that we do need the voice of the state to let us know if that's in line if we're in compliance And and I I think that's what we all want. Um, I think we don't want the district held responsible or liable for decisions made From and by people um that haven't Satisfied the state's requirements to be in those positions. I do know of a student who was expelled and I also want data accuracy reported to Um desi I would like to know why that one student's um expulsion was not reported To the department of elementary and secondary education at least it's not recorded and um on the website I I believe that um When I hear concerns from parents that an administrator Didn't Didn't know what a 504 plan was, you know, I get concerned I think back of all the incidences we've had and it makes me question and you know, why Certain decisions were made Or allowed to happen and To conclude, um There's a lot of doubt out there in the community about leadership and Do everything that's in your power To restore confidence in the district and to rectify And to be you know come in front of the the truth that will eventually come out, right? Perhaps the superintendent can address in his remarks whether the department of elementary and secondary education Are requiring us to provide information of all of our waivers that we've put in in the past If they're you know, what other areas are they looking at with respect to hiring? And um, how we can you know proceed to do better and to be legal and to be ethical in the future. Thank you very much So, um with oh, okay This may be the last comment. Let's see if we have any ideas. I'm a resident. I'll keep it very brief Just want to encourage the school committee to not treat these matters of Licensure and being in compliance with the law For our district in a cavalier manner These are this should be baseline. This should be just expected Within our district that these things comply or at least that the proper Procedures are in place waivers. What have you? That that and on a timely basis. I don't think we would allow this the citizens The taxpayers would allow this in in our fire department I don't think we would allow this in our police department for Employees to not be in compliance with their jobs with the duties and the requirements of their jobs Or any other facet of of this town? I think least of all then we should Have a cavalier attitude toward these matters in in regards to our schools I do recall once meeting with a previous school superintendent and Telling me that the number one reason there wasn't greater diversity greater ethnic racial gender or whatever sorts of diversity In our district was because of issues of licensure particularly the mtl Sat down with her sat down with two other people from her administration And that was the the critical issue of why we couldn't why we didn't have more Was because of mtl and licensure. And so here we are and we find that we can Skirt these protocol we can skirt these matters We can we can disregard a search committees that that do due diligence to try and produce Candidates with licensure and we just treat this as just like it doesn't matter We we we want things the way we want things. Well, no, we don't live in a bubble There are rules there are regulations And if it's if it's fine for these things to be applied for why we don't have a more diverse faculty Then I think it needs to be fine at the administrative level as well and all across the board This just should be baseline to be doing these things properly And I hope that you as our elected officials will pay Serious attention to this and do your jobs. Thank you I'm suit tippant. I'm a school adjustment counselor I'm not going to say my whole thing But I want to say one quick thing that I think is important for the community to know Three people have lost their jobs because of this licensure issue all women Two people of color All very qualified and well-loved Proven administrators, so let's be clear about who's losing their jobs here So So I think Okay My name is Mikko Conner. I teach at the middle school. I'm also an officer in the Apa First of all, I want to thank you all for the hard work that you do times it can be Seem like there's not much pleasure in it, but thank you I Have worked with Mike Morris And under him and sat across the table for him And I truly believe that he has the best interest of the children of this district at heart And I felt it was um A disservice to his person That he was characterized as a racist here at this meeting And I would like any such inferred or overt statements that have been in the record To be scratched from the record Because of his record as a public servant and because of his decency as a human being so thank you So I'm going to close the public comment section And sorry No, anyways, I'm just closing the public comment section section. Um, are there any announcements from the committee before we proceed? They obviously have a packed agenda. Mr. Sullivan I'd just like to say thank you to mr. LaRouche and any of the other teachers and staff that helped and assisted with those Middle schoolers that went to the Amherstown meeting and spoke about the Paris climate change agreement. So thank you Which passed unanimously Which passed unanimously by time meeting Which was cool Very cool Okay, so with that announcements are going to be closed and are there any subcommittee updates? I know exactly. I also get to do is transition out the person who always spoke on subcommittees But I'll take that as an opportunity to move on also since we can catch up time a little bit Superintendent's update I know we're behind schedule, so I'll try to be brief See what you need to say. I mean we're here. Sure. I'll start with the good news I want to start by thanking Amherst education foundation For the next school year Sorry that are offering 29 000 dollars in grants and for those of you who don't know how AEF works Teachers and staff from across the district can apply for grants So the ones I'll mention are the regional ones. So norm price who's here actually So I want to acknowledge him science teacher here at the middle school or at the middle school I should say I had a grant for coding and robotics really exciting I'm really excited about this and really connects back to In my opinion sabbatical that price had so there is a school committee connection that I try to find But but congratulations to mr. Price and to our students will get Incredibly neat experience 10 000 dollars for restorative justice GW McRaven who works at the high school is the shorted She's a longer title, but she works under sort of justice Program there and they've already started recruiting a diverse students body to participate with her in that and Little shy of seven thousand dollars for the high school light board To mr. Beck told that you've met a couple times Well needed for the performing arts department. So thank you to AEF and thank you to the Great many teachers the I know that AEF feels the worst part of their job is picking who doesn't get the grants because they had More than twice the number of applications as they were able to fund this year So I just want to publicly thank them again In the last two weeks. So last friday was the black scholars rising event On the friday before was Latino achievement night. There were multiple hundreds of people at each event I know some school members came as well. So thank you I've neglected to acknowledge mr. Demling when I was up there last friday because I didn't see him because There's a lot of people there But I think more importantly just how important it is for the students in terms of having an affinity group celebration Incredibly valued and the highlight for me last friday was seeing the high school graduating seniors put their stoles on that were Given and talk about a person their lives that got them to that place and I think Really interesting split logically, I guess perhaps but between parents and staff and sometimes both So sometimes it was someone's father and a guidance counselor or it was a you know, reading teacher and A mother and sometimes one or the other, but it's incredibly touching And I've known some of those students since because I've worked in the district while since they were literally in kindergarten so on a very personal level it Very profound to see 13 years later what that looks like And I know one of the middle school staff members was there and was saying wow You know, they leave us in eighth grade and now they're like little adults, you know And and I think that's certainly what they were able to speak to I think another unique part that I'll mention in addition To some of the student performance for us standing, but they had eighth grade student middle school students talked to rising Sixth grade right is the seventh graders about what it's like in the middle school And two graduating senior seniors talking to the middle school students about what it's like So it was really powerful And and thank you to all the folks who organize those events I'm going to skip ahead Beyond what's typed This saturday the high school Um team that participates in the s. School's Mets wits will be in the semifinals So if you want to pure home saturday at seven o'clock worth watching and cheering on our our students And I think the team jaguar thing mr. Sullivan already spoke about in terms of Acknowledging the students who came to emmerstown meeting. Oh, I'm sorry. I had one more which is I want to you know I know we did this via email, but Celebrate that um talb siddique who's been an employee of the district the last 12 years was appointed as the assistant principal at the high school Last thursday he was cutting him for the date of when that was announced In the last couple school days it was uh, I apologize She's right. I'm sure um was announced, but uh, we're we're thrilled and and you know, mr. Jackson Let an interview process and and that recommendation came to me and drew happy to uh appoint mr. Siddique to the role So good luck to him and congratulations to high school to have him coming over. He's currently the middle school dean I think we've had um presentations on Robotics or norm prices park and I know mr. Brack told us come here And I just was going to comment that we had a At a sc tf meeting. I was fortunate enough to be at the other day Um along with anesthesia Our dania's um dw mccraven was there and was going over a lot of her work and um actually given us a preview of the good fortune of the of the grant and what we discussed doing at some point Probably even in the fall actually Is is is engaging the school committee? um On a presentation because I thought that I mean I think we both thought it was very powerful work and it would be Valuable for the committee to engage and maybe even Uh do a circle or something like that. So I think you've done right am I right about that? You are it's incredibly powerful That is a superintendent update. I'm looking for yes How your experience with the restorative justice program was yeah, absolutely very cool Um, so we can look forward to that hopefully at some point soon Yeah, any other questions or comments from the committee for the superintendent as update Seeing none, um, I think everything that the chair was doing is already embedded in the rest of the agenda So there's no reason for me to do a report now. We're just going to keep keep going And we don't I assume no one needs a recess or anything like that No good So the entire section is called licensure hiring, but it's broken down into um subtopics A licensure hiring process middle school principal search the search committee process or search process committee rather excuse me and My understanding is uh, superintendent cunningham is going to be um Offering the presentation or leading the discussion. Are correct? Yes, wonderful No, I'm just waiting for it to come up a little better Okay, so there have been many questions about search process waivers and licensure so Thank you So I just put the three topics that were on the um agenda for today In the overview because I'm going to touch on three, but I'm going to stop After each one so that if the school committee has a question you can ask me the question and then I'll move on to the next part so when I started back in July of 2017 which was like 10 months ago I looked and did basically a audit of what was going on And I developed some goals. These are not all of the goals, but you know I talked about or looked at how to hire retain and develop highly qualified staff here in our district And most importantly I looked at our licenses and our waivers so I created an uh entry plan and some of my early action steps included the audit that I mentioned and Through this audit we saw that they or I saw that there were people who needed waivers people who um Just needed help getting licensure So I requested waivers for many individuals 11 Of those waivers were granted by desi And then I also met with the principals during admin week And I spoke to them about the waiver process So a couple of those slides that you'll see in this presentation will be the exact slides that the principals saw back in August during admin week I spoke to them about how desi What desi looks for when you are requesting waivers And told them that since they're the ones who are in their building doing most of these hiring and searches I wanted them to come up with the answers to the things that desi was asking And these are still ongoing and active conversations that i'm having with our administrators as to Not as to first looking for people who are licensed As opposed to saying hey, I hired this person and now they need a waiver So once again when I started I spoke to the administrators and I said look for the most qualified All right, I I had felt At the time when I did my audit that um and and they laughed when I said this But I said it was like oh and you get a waiver you get a waiver and you get a waiver And that was not going to continue to happen while I was here so you know um I explained to them that whoever was serving under a waiver that their position would have to be reposted And that they would have to show six progress points So that they can um if they are going for a second year worth of a waiver So for six progress points it could include taking a full mtel and passing it That's like two points if they only pass one portion then it's one point So if it's like common lit Communication and literacy and they pass the whole thing. That's two points if they only pass the literacy And not the other part. That's one point Also taking a college course could be considered points towards the the progress points that desi required And I also explained to them that It's kind of a disservice for teachers to work under waivers because they're not getting any time towards professional teacher status So these were the things that I explained to the administrators that desi needed them to answer So if they did a search And they decided to hire someone who was not licensed I needed them to explain to desi all of these points because desi says The lack of experience Is not a skill knowledge or ability deficit So they want to know why are you hiring a person who is not licensed? Over and requesting a waiver over a licensed person I also spoke to the educators who were on a waiver Or who needed a waiver Every educator who needed a waiver met with me So Let me back up for a second and say that I also spoke to many of the administrators who were only on initial licenses And urged them to go and get professional licenses So I did do that with the administrators and then I sat down with every individual who was on a waiver or needed a waiver Or was working in the district and needed a license We created a plan of action. This is back in august. We created a plan of action I um didn't just look and say well, you know, according to desi guidelines. This is what you need I called desi specifically with the meepid number of each individual and I sat with them And I said this is what desi says at times. I was on the phone with desi with the individuals in my office I offered them an opportunity to work with a mentor I offered them opportunities to work as a cohort or and work with me Monthly with individual meetings I also expressed to them what the six progress points would look like and how they can attain these progress points And I let them know Without a doubt that their position would be reposted And that they were not earning Um professional teacher status while they were on this waiver So I know there were also questions about what information is on the desi site And um So there's the public lookup portion where you can look and you can find the licenses and and what um People are licensed under The percentage of staff members who are licensed the profess of a percentage of persons of color who are working in our district and every other district in the state of Massachusetts And you can find information from previous years You can do any kind of comparisons that you want and you can even get lost on the website Just if you're a data person and just keep clicking buttons or you know tabs You'll get lost because there's so much information on that site So here's a sample of some of the things that you can find on the desi site Yeah So I know one of the questions Posed previously was what is our percentage of staff who are licensed? I only pulled up the percentage at the regional level since this is a regional meeting And the percent of our teachers in our district at the regional level compared to our state is a little higher Right. It's not a hundred percent, but we're working towards it And when we look at our surrounding districts because you know, you might say, okay Well, where does that fit with um, let's say north hampton or greenfield or holy oak? So I look back north hampton is 99.8 percent Grandby Hadley south Hadley belcher town there at 100 percent Greenfield is at 97 percent and holy oak is at 90 percent. So just to let you know where we fit within our area Also as um was brought out Sometimes you may go on that public license lookup because you want to find out if a certain person has a license or not And your result might come up where it says your search return no results So that could happen for many reasons Either the name may not be entered correctly Like someone may get married and now uses their maiden their their married name And you've only known them under their maiden name. So you're putting in the maiden name and it's different So you won't get an answer um, the other thing to note Is the license effective date So desi licenses such as your professional license your initial license and such usually lasts for five years But that doesn't include any gaps in employment So if you were licensed through desi in 2012 and it's on the public lookup site And you didn't start working under that license till 2014. You still have time Right because there were two years that you didn't work under that license So you add that two years and so the public would not know That you have two additional years outside of what you see on the site and also It's the educator's responsibility not hr not the district to maintain their license And submit a renewal application in a timely fashion Another point is just that in private school or substitute teaching that also um wouldn't work towards time Under your license. So if you're a sub or you're working in a private school that time does not count towards the five years So just a quick recap when I started back in july 1st 2017 I did do an audit and reviewed the status of everyone's license and spoke to individuals about their license and how they can move to the next step And i'm working on getting our district to 100 like some of those surrounding towns And i'm going to continue with the trainings for administrators, especially now that we have the search process committee And we're you know creating some protocols for our district It's going to be great the things that we're doing in that and we're going to continue With training our administrators on that new process And working towards like I said that hundred percent. So with this being said, are there any questions? Mr. Minino I did listen to your slide presentation But i'm still unclear as to how a teacher gets a license. Did they take a test? There are lots of different ways so they can go to the university and take courses and then through the university get licensed Like um some of our parents like we talked about the parapath ways um, they're they're just other ways um through We have arts university and we have training programs that the district has always had in place Where they helped to train people to become licensed educators, especially under um Let's say if we find that there we have a need for special education licenses We might do a program or a cohort to get these special education licenses There's been Go ahead Is the license perpetual or finite? five years There'll be five years there's a renewal. Thank you. Sorry. I was going to ask for other questions. Sorry the other questions from the committee Mr. Demlin um, I just want to thank you for that very detailed presentation. I was not aware that You were so on top of this from the very beginning. Um, I really really appreciate that this was Astutely on your radar from the very beginning That you met with every individual on a waiver that you were in such close contact with desi um Gives me even more confidence that you have here high on the beholland that you brought your expertise That we that we knew you had your past experience for our district. Um, um, I guess uh, I guess just one question is um You know as we as we work towards the the goal of 100 percent, um Do you see any any additional things that you mentioned arts university and working with every individual any additional things? I mean, it sounds like Um, you've had a level of attention to this since july, but maybe Wasn't there in the past. Um, so I was wondering going forward if there's you know, a lot of plans there are for to get there So yes to that and um One person one speaker um during public comment did talk about the m-tels and the struggle to pass that So we have been working with mount holio to help some of our Educators not just the paris who are in the program But all of our educators who are in need of that Especially those who are on the waiver to be able to take the course in our building We have it at the middle school and they're taking the courses there There's a teacher there who who does it after school and um, we do help pay for one until Testing period and so, you know, knowing that that's a struggle for many and a barrier for many we are working through that Um, there are other ways, you know, it just depends on whatever the individual needs So I I don't like to speak in generalities. So that's why I sit with everyone and work with them with a plan So going forth. I will still sit individually and create a plan Thank you Ms. Cunningham, I just want to say thank you Also for putting together this presentation And as I mentioned during our last school committee meeting on this topic, um You know, you and I had sat down during the summer when you first started and you shared with me a lot of this information And I think I probably didn't state it strongly enough. Um, so I will today how much I appreciate the Professionalism that you have brought to this position and how closely you have paid attention to the detail With all of this with licensure understanding how important it is for our district to maintain Both the you know, state level regulation, but also what our community has asked of you and it has asked of our school committee And that is what I uh was stating at the last meeting. I think that is incredibly Um Important to have someone like you in that role because I think you came in With an eye towards understanding that maybe a system that was not fully 100 that you could get it there And I also appreciate the fact that has come through with this presentation in particular But also I think just from my conversations that I've had with you The great sensitivity that you have brought to this understanding that You know, these are people's jobs. Many of them are very well loved in their schools Um, and that you have provided pathways of support for them to ensure that they are able to get the licenses that they need As opposed to just a hard-nosed approach, which I definitely appreciate having gotten to know a lot of these educators myself and some of these administrators um, but I think providing pathways of support and ensuring that We bring them along as opposed to just you know, sort of shoving them aside if they're not getting where they need to be as soon As they can so I really appreciate in particular the description of the six points of you know Of a process that you would describe there before And just the different ways that the district has been supporting all of those licensure Pathways, so thank you. Thank you I would also just like to really thank you for explaining this especially as somebody who's new to this role I had a lot to learn about licensing licensure and have been learning And I'd also just like to point out. I think this really shows How proactive you've been in addressing this issue and that it's not purely a reaction to what's been going on in the community and I think So much has been going on that it's sometimes difficult to To see how we've actually been or at least the district's been paying attention to this issue And so I just really appreciate the time you spent kind of clarifying the timing of this and the steps that we've been taking To try to get up to that 100 cool. Thanks. So thank you Yeah, so I think my my the comments I've had I echo what was said before that I really appreciate the depth and I also appreciate the time you've taken walking through the different steps and since I tend to be fairly plain spoken I'm probably going to echo some things that mr. Johnny has said but not say them as eloquently as she did that You know in my mind There are a couple of Positions that are are broadly taken I think in the community at this point And I'm not talking about any individual but I'm so I'm sort of simplifying positions and One of them I think might be the notion that A concern over this question of licensure and waiver To the extent that it's becoming more visible now in terms of how it's being administered is Sort of coming late and fast and immediate on the one hand And and I think echoing something that was said before there's no question that for Anyone to put regardless of what the career decisions are making of where they've been right now It's going to create a lot of deep feeling in the community There's just simply no question about that And I think the other General position in the community Broadly speaking would be that There hasn't been enough concern about the question of of how we balance the different qualities that we're looking for In individuals and how that relates to adherence to state law and regulation around licensure And one of the things I really appreciate That I think gives an enormous amount of clarity to that overall discussion in public understanding Is that since last summer very least That a you have in fact done Anything excellent professional and whom I to say but I guess since I'm sitting here to the school committee I guess I have a right to say this Excellent professional work Diagnostically, but also that you had a plan of action That Was intended to do two things one to I think improve and Remediate practice the extent that it needed to pay and then two also in this echo something Is it only said ensure that the people who were in place Were both appropriately licensed or waived and then supported In their career pathways, and I think that's exactly what we want to do But I also just think that by articulating Three things one that timeline and and the different steps But also two that you're also not talking about a static goal So for anyone in the public Who's looking at this and is trying to understand what the district is doing right now Um It can be clearly stated. You said you want to have If we can get there as soon as we can get there 100 of our staff, which would mean administration and teachers Fully licensed And then obviously on top of that Anyone looking at hiring would add a number of other qualities we'd look for and our staff above that and I think that's So I don't I don't know at the moment that you're looking for A particular endorsement from the committee to this direction So without a vote, I'm not going to say it But I think you can telegraph my opinion that I think it's it's probably a good thing and and more importantly that the That there's a level of stability of direction and leadership that if we look at this I just I think it's important because I actually don't want anyone If we need to change course We change course if we need to admit mistakes We should always make admit mistakes where there's learning to be done. We should do it and then even share it But also I think it's it's an important thing that where we are in fact on a pathway Which is developmental and appropriate? We should articulate it because I I think one of the most important things What one of the more important values anyone would want Who's either working in the district or sending their kids to the district would be to know that there is in fact that adherence and fidelity to practice best practice and the law But also an environment that is stable, nurturative and professional And I think that's what you were describing a moment ago and I appreciate it I don't know. I don't know whether it's necessary.  I do awesome that I'll stop I should I should have summed like the point that the flags are waving and the violins were rising or something like that But I never know when to do that. So Ms. Kasansky. I just had two follow-up questions from your presentation It sounds like after your review there were probably some changes That the district wanted to make to ensure Hiring going forward would be more compliant With licensure and I'm just wondering if that also involved clarifying roles and responsibilities during the hiring process for who's checking Um for licensure status and following up prior to Hiring the individual or offering a position So so as mentioned, it is an ongoing conversation. It is an ongoing It is ongoing work that we are doing and We started I think the last time I mentioned that even just changing our job description to say we're looking for licensed candidates was a first step and now I've sent to Most and still working on getting it to all administrators that public look-up site So that prior to them inviting someone for an interview they can look to see what that person has And so yes, and it's an ongoing work that we're doing. Thank you So I have another question or I have a question. I guess it was mine earlier. That wasn't really a question It was more just a long statement Um so Is there anything That we did when we were applying For waivers last summer That could have been improved upon or anything you'd like to discuss around that process? Well, we can So there is a question as to um the waiver Requests saying that there was only one candidate and I do have to own that error in some aspects Because coming becoming new to this system. I'm also new to school spring where I'm coming from we didn't use school spring So I was adept with another platform And the person who trained me showed me you go into if you can I don't know if we can move it over or what But when you go into school spring and you look at the job postings you can go back to the job That's that you're looking for to see who who applied And this was the screen I had gotten for some of them And so in the site it says title and all of that and then it tells you the name. So this tells me who Has applied and so I saw one and I'm like, oh, that's interesting only one person applied for this particular position And so when I requested some of the waivers It did just say that this person was the only applicant, but then I was um Months later when I received some additional training Then I was told to go into the activity log that you see at the side. Yes Right down in the bottom, right? So I was able to go into the activity log So I did get some school spring training so that I can understand this platform a whole lot better So that when I do any kind of reporting which I don't plan to for any waivers going forward That I can do the reporting accurately. Okay. Thank you Just one question. You mentioned something about Training administrators to use the platform to check on licenses if they are going to Be hiring anyone in the future You had mentioned previously that sometimes that can be tricky because of people's names change So I'm just curious, you know, how do you train For the gaps in a system that we we we use overwhelmingly, right? Like if there's you know, there's problems like that Is there a way to go around it go to desi directly if you can just describe that process? So I'll say this much with with that question Yes, I do I sent them the link so that they can go on and look up publicly But nothing is it's easier than to call the client themselves or the potential candidate themselves and say hey Do you have a license? You know and send it to me so that they can submit that license Many of the candidates or potential candidates upload their license But sometimes you just have to call them and say do you have that license if you don't find it on the public look-up site? Thank you. Are there other questions. And by the way, I just want to I guess I'll just say this out loud It's it was my intention that we To the extent we need to exhaust the subject and ask as many questions as we need to to feel To be I mean I as I said my personal opinion is I think is cunning I'm already did an exceptional job presenting everything But I'm just simply saying that if there's a sense that there are questions out there That we think we would like to have a good public answer to I'd rather do this now Then I mean I'm being brutally blunt. By the way, this is what transparency looks like. I'm being really transparent I'd rather do this now than have this on the agenda every week for the next You know every every meeting for the next six weeks so that we serially Raise questions that we don't bother answering when we're meeting So that's why I'm keeping asking if you guys have any questions. If you don't we'll obviously move on But I just want to make sure we really Have an open discussion get good answers and feel comfortable about what we're doing Sir, don't we? Okay, so in that spirit of exhaustiveness um So I guess I just had a general question for from this kind of camp So I mean so I look to you as like the expert on interpreting these license regulations and I think in the public sort of understanding of Of what has happened and and some of these subtopics relate There have been many opinions expressed On a wide variety Um of just the general issue of life in chair, and I'm sure you've heard Many many of these commentaries. I just didn't know if there was anything else lingering in the public discussion in your Public commentary over the last weeks, uh, etc But you've heard that you would just want the public to really understand about licenses or Misconceptions that you know based on your expertise and past experience you would I think is important for for the late person to know That's a good question, and I don't have an answer to that because I um No matter what I say There's always going to be another question right and so You know unless we let the public get up and ask questions again I I really wouldn't know what to anticipate More than what I I did here. So I'm hoping that this is the end Of all of this question in about that But you know I I do say to the public that they can send me an email if they have a specific question You know, I I don't mind answering emails So just um, I think in the In my spirit of continuous improvement Where and you said it was an ongoing conversation, but I'm wondering Maybe what the timeline for that might be Where do you think our next steps are in terms of improving The training improving the You know the process and sort of defining what our best practice is Um, so that that knowledge doesn't just reside with you, but that it becomes institutional knowledge about how How we want to hire people going forward or even as it also relates to the pathway program. We're going to be encouraging Those people to get licenses Ideally so that they'll be able to work at different positions that Within our district. So how we institutionalize that knowledge All right So, you know when I mentioned ongoing it it really is like I'll send out an email and say send me all the questions that you intend to ask your Your potential candidates I'll say tell me who's on your hiring committee or search committee so that I can see if The committee is reflective of who should be on a search committee Um then I Try to sit in on Many of the interview as many of the interviews as possible just to then go back and give feedback to anyone who I can you know But we also have the time in august when we have admin week and there's more like more Hours of everyone sitting there and hearing the same message at one time So I know definitely in august during admin week that'll take place But through my continual emails and and just going into the buildings and talking to people and and and just Trying to make sure that we're all on the same page But also as we get further into this conversation We're going to look at the the search process committee and they have some recommendations that are coming out That I will have to train our administrators on so, you know That's that's going to be sooner rather than later too because we're still hiring for the next year Uh anything further from the mr. Minino One year from now, I'd appreciate an update on this I'd like to update you sooner than one year from now, mr. Minino So the other bullet talked about the middle school search process um once again We had dr. Morris and I had mentioned that we sat down with the middle school and um met with them twice to Just talk about what they were looking for and let them know Where we were going as a district for um as as far as filling that position So when we met with them the second time the middle school staff asked Can they participate in how the job description is written or you know? Just give ideas or what have you on on the job description. So a survey was sent to them the next day the survey um asked about Maybe six or seven questions and it asked them. What were they looking for as far as The qualities or attributes that they would like to see in the middle school Principal and I got a backup and say that the survey didn't only go out to the staff It went out to families and just people who are connected to the middle school um We received over a hundred responses from that and that's a great response rate based on how many students and Staff are in the middle school So with that I'll say over 60 of the response came from incoming or current family members and um a little over 35 came in from the middle school staff So after that we read through the responses We then created the position and posted it it was posted on the 14th with a deadline of june 1st as the um the final date for anyone to apply we do have seven applications so far and We have a tentative timeline. So the search the search or process review committee is still working We've been really sitting there and coming up with a a plan that i'm hoping in june We can sit in front of you and explain what our new or revised hiring process will be So we've been doing the work. Um, thank you to the committee members for all their time that they've put in outside of the school day And so we have now a tentative timeline for hiring that middle school This is just a visual a chart of who replied And it was just showing um over 60 of the incoming or current parents Reply and faculty and staff was a little over 35 So here's our search timeline The position was posted We plan to send out a letter to ask people if they are interested in Joining our interview slash screening committee So that letter should be going out by this friday with a deadline of them Being able to respond by june 1st Then we will continue our work Up until june 25th when we plan to have an announcement of who is being appointed to the position Just a clarifying question. So what we're talking about here And this is for the members of the public and community that are listening is the interim principal The two-year interim not the permanent principal not the permanent the two-year interim principal Search this is the timeline for that position. Thank you This is the time for question You had a look on your face like you're ready for questions, but I was waiting for the slide that said questions Mr. Demley So thank you for that overview in that timeline. Uh, it's very helpful. Um, so two questions, um I I think you can cycle back to my second question if you want, mr. Chair So so so one thing um that I wanted just to hear your clarification from on from your words is is Specifically the the responsibilities and authority of the search committee as it relates to the hiring manager So from my perspective, this is pretty clear And that's probably because I've served on principal search committees and teacher search committees in our district before And as a member of the public school governance council, etc Um, and my understanding has always been is that the the search Committee sometimes referred to as a interview committee sometimes referred to as a hiring committee responsibility is to is to take a number of uh candidates that have been Um provided by human resources Uh interview those candidates and then recommend a slate of finalists to the hiring manager So in the case of a teacher, this would be to the building principal in the case of the medical principal It's to the the superintendent. Um, and at that point the superintendent Um, will then do a further in-depth background check and not just calling listed references But you know doing all of the due diligence things you would do an hr to really vet a finalist candidate google search uh contacting people who might um Who you might know through your own professional social networks reaching out Gouging that information and then making a determination as to whether to bring that finalists Set forward to the to the public. Um, I think part of the Um, the ajna of of how the middle school process principal search happened is is some public Misconceptions about the role and authority of that search committee. So if you could just maybe clarify that if my understanding is correct So if I'm hearing you correctly, your understanding is correct. Um, we the search committee does Make the recommendation to the superintendent and that's where our job basically ends with the new process that we're doing Um, I'm just going to like spill a little bit of the beans, but this takes place Prior to so the superintendent is in the process earlier Right because now we have him at the end of the process Making that decision. So yes because of desi does give the superintendent that authority to make that final decision He's he and we check many other districts have always kept the superintendent to the end Whereas now with some of what we're doing we're moving him further up in the process so that he can Make these decisions and meet the candidates and such and look to do the things that you were talking about earlier in the process to Less than the opportunity or the chance of a failed search Which which of course is a preview of section number three Of our presentation. Is there I mean, uh, you probably have another question. Mr. Demling Oh, I know i mrs. Gisenski had one she wanted to ask I also just going to remind me ask whatever you want. It's an open committee But also saying if we're talking about the section of literally The current middle school search So my question I think Doreen started to answer which is if you went back to the timeline slide that we're proposing Where in this new process or in the process that we're using for the interim middle school search are we Doing that check for licensure and Those things that we talked about in the first section of how do we make sure candidates are licensed before we Put a lot of effort into The finalist piece of that right so in the middle where it says week of june 4th the work begins It happens right there and it also happens the week of june 11th where it says the names are forwarded to the superintendents You said the superintendent was designed to be Involved earlier in the process according to the timeline. Does that mean before the recommendation was made to him before june 11th? Yeah So, mr. Chair, this question is about the How the previous middle school search Ask whatever you want. I was just I was just trying to point out that the third section was on process changes Um, so this is a question from Ms. Cunningham and and I understand if you can't answer this question But I just want to attempt to ask it So um So when the finalists Set is recommended to the hiring manager the hiring manager May elect to to remove candidates from that finalist pool add candidates to the finalist pool not present the entire finalist pool To the public as as was the case in this situation um, and and in this case dr. Morris has has described that that He's not going to share the reasons Because we're talking about individuals personal Employment information and it would not be fair to those candidates who apply for our district to say Well, this person applied for this job and we didn't select them as finalists Not just because they might be skeletons in a closet Right, but because that's not good for for a candidate and and that would actually discourage People from applying to our district qualify candidates if they knew that if they didn't get the position It was going to be all on the news. So I I totally understand that Um, you know and and yet from some and I don't want to characterize what percent because I think it's very difficult with The proximity bias of public comment to ascertain just what percent of the public is feeling one way or the other But you know some voices have raised the concern about about diversity and was was was Racial consideration part of the calculus and so I'm not asking you to share details But but in your position as assistant superintendent director of hr and equity, you know in your conversations Are you comfortable that the the decision-making process to not bring the finalist forward was was appropriate in those respects If you can answer if you like you are not I'll say two things. Um, thank you I I do agree that that would be a mic question answer, you know his process, but I also would say that um so people interviewed right and um, some did well some didn't right and at the end of the day for the search committee it came down to License right that that was it for the search committee. We forwarded some names and um As desi says the superintendent has whatever right to make a decision and that was what was done. So, um I think that that other part goes to mic, but I I I am okay with where we are because we're moving forward, right And many of those applicants who were not moved forward previously have An opportunity now to come again and say, you know and and be a part of this if they so choose So, you know, I don't know if dr. Morris would like to respond to that But that's that's as much as I'm able to say I um You know, it's an interesting Challenge as a matter of public process to and I I'm I would frankly caution the committee about Asking someone To defend the private contents of their head In a way that suggests and I know there's process and it was looking up things or whatever, but I think it's it's not Prudential in any way I can think of Especially because you can do that Pretty much to anyone you meet on the street about anything that you might think uh, there's if if there's an occasion to have a process in which We could deliberate Over that question then that would be the appropriate venue. I think could I ask um, maybe a a slightly different question, but I think um Is related, um, which is What are I guess it's two-part question specifically for the interim posting But I think also just in general in our best practices for hiring How are we reaching out and ensuring that we get a diverse pool of candidates? Um, because in my mind You know I think there was general agreement in the public That we want the the best teachers and staff and administrators for our students And it's important that those teachers and staff and administrators Um start to look more and more like our student body Um, and I'm confident that if we continue to provide qualified candidates To hiring managers, they will make the right choices. So what are we doing? um to make sure that we have the most diverse pool of candidates as their outreach that we're doing are we advertising in You know non-standard publications that might reach different groups of qualified candidates So Now that I am A lot more adept with school spring I know how to do the search to find people of color and I have reached out to The majority of people of color who are licensed in the state of massachusetts for principal slash assistant principal position And not only via email, but personal phone calls too, which also helped because Just to step back a second the last search did Gain a lot of people of color into that pool doing the same thing, right? So since it worked I have been making those calls. I have been reaching out. I have been using school spring and doing that back search I've also Added to some of the places that we have advertised for for for instance There's a person who works with msan and she has allowed me to advertise with her and So she's doing some reach outreach for that community I've reached out to the five colleges and And of course school spring feeds into indeed. So I am willing to hear other places that I can you know Reach out to if anyone has a suggestion, but so far those are the things that we have been doing Other questions So I guess I have another one the Again in the spirit of saying there's lots of questions and exhausted And obviously if the superintendent wants to say anything you can raise your hand and feel free to speak forward As you as you well, we used to do all the time at other meetings. So you know about that um so That what as we've heard things tonight That we're on a track to search for and identify a two-year interim With I presumably then a pathway you've mentioned in the last meeting a series of sort of You know major things that we're going to be worked on and things like that globally that you thought affected the In uh overall environment and organization of the middle school that you thought Lend itself towards having an interim. I just I guess I'm asking the question mainly because we've heard it asked is um whether you have anything to add or anything to say or Any anything it elaborates upon your thinking horrendous could be particularly the superintendent. I guess but either one of you on that current plan Because because I say this obviously because as we I say that I bring this up because again in the spirit of where we're going um We could end this meeting tonight And I think people would have learned a lot of things That are interesting and many people would consider hopeful around licensure professional development and practice They would hopefully in the next section learn some really wonderful things about search processes and how we're sort of organizing that But one of the things people are going to walk away with is an interest in saying so is so this is really the plan Right, we're going to hire a two-year interim principal at the middle school and then Other things will flow from there. And so I I wanted to put a fine point on that if that was The current thinking and obviously I just we just saw the timeline. So I'm not questioning it But I really thought there needs to be a moment for some Comment Sure Yeah, um, so I think the practical matter for many families who either have a sixth grade student currently or a seventh grade student Currently that I've continued to hear as well as from the staff lenses How to how does the middle school move forward and how do we ensure that there's high quality leadership? To support the high quality educators we have in the middle school on a day to day basis So it's not to just take away from the process pieces that are essential that Have been the thrust of the presentation so far and even will be more so in the next the third part of miss cunningham's presentation And so our focus has been to As miss cunningham described run that search process and then very soon after get the The candidate who has chosen in to really work through the summer on middle school needs inventory The strengths and challenges of the middle school and hit the ground running when we get to fall so I think the timeline works well in that The person will be hired right as there's a little more space For some of that professional development and support to come from Miss cunningham myself as well as colleagues like mr. Jackson And other folks I think the other order of business that will need to be sorted out very soon after that person's heart is What's the leadership model going to look like at the middle school more generally and I want to be explicit that that person we hire needs to be a critical player Political critical voice and how to think through that. We're looking for people with experience in middle school environments who Wouldn't just be passive listeners to the thoughts that we have but active participants in that discussion As announced earlier mr. Sadiq who's in a dean role, which is not administrative But certainly on the leadership aspect of the middle school who's heading to the high school So there's a number of vacancies that we'll have to sort out and trying to think of the best model for Leadership in the middle school will be the kind of first order of business when the person Is hired and they actually become part of the interview process to gather some thoughts about How to think through that and how to make sure staff students and families feel supported as the school year dawns on us In late august So that's really the kind of very intentional focus of hiring the right person who can bring That skill set and that set of expertise both to middle school But also more generally to think about leadership structures because that that's going to have to be sorted out pretty early in the summer Just a follow-up question as I was listening to your explanation I'm wondering We're needing to hire an interim And yet we're also looking them for them to be a very much A leader and and be able to embrace change and drive a school And I'm wondering if that will make it challenging to find somebody who wants to just have an interim position Or are we also Offering them the possibility that this is something that could be A permanent position if it works out. I'm just wondering, you know When you have those interim titles, you know, you you're not necessarily Attracting people who want to stick out for the long term and take on some of those challenges Let me just give you a break Yeah, so It's something that miss Cunningham and I spoke an awful lot about and we intentionally Didn't have in the posting that it would be the person would be precluded from applying for a permanent role After the two years for some of the reason that you suggested I also think that there's I hear the the Concern expressed but there's a there's a flip side to that which for some people They love being in one or two-year roles because they they thrive off that It's a very different perspective that one would have as opposed to looking at a more permanent Appointment and it also can sometimes attract retired people who are recently retired who want to you know, they still want to work But this is an opportunity to do something That's a little unique and different from their prior experience. So It's miss Cunningham. We said we have a number of applicants so far My vantage point has been excited about the applicants some of the applicants that we have in the pool from You know a distance. I haven't met any of them. Obviously the process hasn't gotten to that place But I don't know if you'd like to add I was just going to agree that With us putting on the job description that it is an interim role Only those who are interested in an interim role are looking to apply So it weeds out a lot of people who wanted to stay right and if it so happens that When we are Depending on whatever model we come up with if we do look for a permanent principal for that school Then we're not saying that this person can't then apply for the permanent position So I just want to make sure that the person that we are bringing into an interim position is set up for success and that the person who comes in Following their footsteps is also set up for success right so that we have You know an easy transition, I guess from that interim role into the permanent role And I guess it could go a couple of different ways where the person in the interim role is charged with You know soliciting input from the community both the parents families, you know caregivers But also from the educators in the building and you know from anyone sort of in the building um the school community and That's their primary role is is basically you know receiving information Setting up a system by which they can hear out where the priorities are, you know Find of identify perhaps, you know some of the tensions or gaps that may exist And there's always in any work environment that always exists and then Not fully cooking anything but but instead providing that information almost raw With you know a solid set of recommendations Excuse me too that that person that comes in the permanent position So that that person then can take that information And and go with it right and you know that there's not This feeling of this interim person who came in and fully cooked a plan of action and then handed it off To this other, you know the permanent position and the reason why I raised that is because you know I guess my concern too is in thinking about You know Professionals that we're bringing into these roles and also in particular I think people of color that we're bringing into these roles That we want to make sure that they're not frustrated by a system that we may have inadvertently set up to somehow Make them almost defunct as soon as they set foot in that in that role right and so I just you know, I guess it's more a thought To share with you and to share with the rest of the committee as we continue to think about this position and how it evolves If we can continue to touch base with each other to make sure that This interim position is is uh contributing in you know the long term to the success of the permanent position Whether that it's the same individual or not But that they we're cognizant of that that we may be end up You know, we may inadvertently end up setting up something that could cause that permanent person to fail right and so I just want to make sure that we're thinking about that and that we are also thinking about Involving the community throughout the entire process because I think you know the sense that I've gotten and I'm not a middle school parent But the sense that I've gotten from a lot of members in the community who are Is that even though it's just a two-year school quote unquote People care very deeply about what happens in our middle school right and rightfully so I think it's a great period of transition for students the great period transition for educators And so we want to make sure that we are creating a stable system that Connects the students from the elementary school years to their high school years and beyond And the only way we do that is by creating strong systems by which You know, we have stable leadership that can continue in that path forward So Mr. Delling Just a brief question. So My presumption is that after the interim principal is hired that that interim principal would then Conduct assistant principal searches. They have you thought through what happens with that those positions afterwards Right. So once that principal is hired then we would sit down and discuss what the leadership structure of the school would look like So, yes, that's a possibility if they choose to have an assistant principal Mr. Dinsburg well, um, I'm just I was curious because um I know that because my the church I go to is also hiring an interim Minister, so I just was drawing a parallel one of the things that we were looking at Was we were seeing the interim position as a time to use the fact that the current administrator is only going to Be there for a couple of years to use that to make some changes in the way we manage the building And I'm curious if you also are um, have any goals in mind of ways you can use the interim The nature of an interim being a short-term thing changes you'd like to see made to the middle school or like the overall structure or if there are I know if Yeah, not necessarily you just any individual So, um, I think not specifically Like not anything that I think I'm comfortable saying right now This is the change I'm looking for but I do think the lens that you Shared I think is true that having someone come in and be able to view current systems and structures and offered Feedback to how things are going and perhaps have Acknowledge things that are going well that we don't even realize are going well because it's the way things are It's the way things are done That often happens when some comes in as well as identify gaps that we may not be aware of it's Expression I often try to use is you don't know what you don't know And so sometimes someone coming in for an interim Can often identify those things that because kind of buses keep on running and kids Teachers do do great with kids Great work with kids every day. We sometimes don't see those other things and and certainly people in interim roles can sometimes offer slightly less more and bridal less and bridal and get I get the double negatives are throwing me off but feedback to how things are going and what What potentially could shift in the future. So I think it's a really valid point But I think that that is one of the benefits of the approach So we have Another section of the presentation So this one is this section is just as brief as the one prior to it so we formed the search review committee our search process review committee and Our purpose Was to review what's happening now in the district and to just look and make recommendations as to what can go better Because there's always room for improvement in any process that you have Our committee members. So I sent out an email Asking anyone who would like to join to to let me know And I received quite a bit of requests to join this committee So through a lottery system, we were able to Have people from each of the bargaining units joined so we have clerical we have secretarial Well, we have food service. We have parents. We have teachers. We have administrators. We have a representation of every every group there and we also have a Person from CPAC, which is the special ed parent advisory council. We have community members We have parents and guardians on that committee And we have been today. I guess would be our midpoint So we've met three times already and I'll say that although our work starts at 330 and ends at six A lot of times or even last week thursday, we were still there at 6 30 continuing the work because the conversations in the work As we're doing it it gets so intense Right and because they're committed to making sure that this process works well And we can have something that's lasting for our district So, you know, I really do want to thank those on that committee For the work that they're doing and the time that they have been willing to to share to to make sure this goes well so So far we created an outline and today we've been Working in small groups just adding the details to what the outline is and the plan for moving forward So I kind of gave you guys a sneak peek by saying that the superintendent would be added Earlier in the process, but there's so many things that So many remarkable things that the committee members have talked about and would like to see included in the search process that You know, I I I just sit back and say, okay, go ahead Write whatever it is that you want amours to start doing and you want amours to be the leader in As long as it's within the law and it's ethical, right and they have been doing that So here's on the next line a list of the community members And the the committee members. So you have some community people. You have some teachers Two from the middle school. You have just many different people initially paul wiley was facilitating Along with me this week. It's just me facilitating And the the meetings are still going very very well So any questions about that? We know we have a deadline and we are working diligently to to reach there Do you remind us what the deadline is? Thank you, so I was just wondering if you could share with the committee some of the I guess key questions that the search process committee is grappling right now Or even just a sample of some of the the questions that they're asking themselves Well, it started off with um some of the questions that were asked here Like when should we let the superintendent come in and does he have the um basic Authority to just end everything right and um some of the things that we looked at is Why aren't we as a district attracting more persons of color and retaining them? and how Are our questions and our actions in line with our missions as a district our mission and vision as a district And then what could we do better? Right always a good question asked. What could we do better and how can we get there? So I don't want to say too much because our plan was to always have this written statement So that no one says too too much and and I don't want to violate that Thank you. Yeah I look this way. Unfortunately. I look this way. You're done first I'm happy to see um So so thank you for taking this on obviously very important work. And I think I think like uh to echo your comment a few seconds ago to have a An attitude of continuous improvement and all of our processes all the time is is I think a good healthy Approach for an organization to take particularly when it comes to hiring processes You know the timing of it given that there's been such intense community opinion Both positive and negative about why certain candidates did or did not go forward with the middle school hiring process I think has created a bit I think had the potential to create a bit of um sort of overlap confusion that like that something was broken Fundamentally in our hiring process. And so I guess if you could just speak to because you know You've been on the ball since august if you spoke about on terms of licenses I'm sure you've looked at our hiring practices and and have been managing that as well Whether you in general see that our hiring process was good But we should always be continuously improving over their issues that like set off alarm bells in your mind that needed immediate fixing and I guess I'm just trying to understand where this came in response to other than the middle school Um So as one who believes in continuous improvement there this just Gave us a way to sit down and say let's form a committee and improve on whatever it is that we're doing So I wouldn't say that the previous process was broken per se, but there were places where we could do better and I'll say the timing as you mentioned of this committee and the work that we we're going to have to do in Hiring the interim is important because typically a search takes a month at most, right? And to have this search process committee come up with this plan in three weeks and then See how the plan works Right is important because then we have an opportunity then again to tweak Anything that needs to be tweaked in for the summertime because we're still continually hiring Um When I look at What was done in the middle school search? There I I I don't see where anything went wrong There are people who may disagree with that and there are tons of people who would agree with that And so um just to have someone else look into what was done We did create this committee So my my first is just to thank everybody on that committee because I know They were given a very large task with a very short time frame to people that are already very busy at the end of the school year So I just really appreciate all their time and effort to take this Very seriously and try to really make it work in the timeline that we have So I would like to thank everybody for doing that Um, and then I guess my my second comment is and I think you just answered it was What are we doing going forward? So this is step one. It sounds like we're gonna make some changes We're gonna try it. We're gonna see and have sort of a report out and if time allows In the next several meetings, you know after this and so you have time to sort of boil it down and say, okay We made some changes. I'd love to hear the pluses and minuses from that You know in a few months time when we've had a little Trial run on it and kind of where we're gonna tweak it from there And the plan with this committee is to make sure that whatever we come up with will last whether I'm in the seat or Dr. Morris is in that seat It's just something that you know Anyone can come in and say this is what we're going to do and this is how we're going to do it And it's a process that works and is correct and is represented of all voices And includes all you know all people into the the you know the candidacy and into the interviewing, right? So I'm I'm looking forward to the trial run We've already started by even the job description going out And today I was challenged by the committee to now go to a process that An interview that's going to take place very shortly and see if we can you know Throw some of our ideas into that process and you know get a a quick Micro view of whether it's working for that so that while we're still sitting as a committee We can make some tweaks and also I like this group so much that I'm going to try to convince them That after we do this process that we meet as a committee to see how we can retain people of color in the district That's Awesome Because I mean one of one of my comments is going to be that so we've learned A lot this evening and I think it's been I think it's been extremely helpful and I hope the public Both people who are here people are watching and hopefully people who watch later on Amherst media Have a chance to really absorb a lot of this information and think about it As you mentioned earlier people you accept questions if you get questions Over email that you can respond to but I think in general A couple things I've learned is one around again sort of the deliberate ongoing process around licensure professional development and the overall quality of the hiring but also just your your Unspoken I guess or implicit in what you were saying was your view of your professional responsibility To on both hiring but also all the staff in terms of how you're helping them develop as well as understanding it here The best practices as well as obviously the law which I think is fancastic We learned obviously about the search process literally that's going on now for an interim but then To me there echoes in the search process committee to some of the discussions that happened over the last year around how You and the superintendent both went out to different schools and have gone through multiple processes of engaging Getting information learning creating sort of small group almost like workshop settings with that include oftentimes staff members of the community parents Sometimes students and I'm sure often students and And use that as an as a method of So we talked about continuing to improve them But one of the questions that's often implicit that we have are on the table is well Who's doing the continuous improving right? I mean if a person could go in the I always used to say in Work I used to do that if you think that that really good public processes or work Is you sitting at your desk thinking great thoughts then you don't understand it right? It's like it there's the process is always around how you're engaging And doing sort of mutual feedback loops of learning creativity and accountability and That's what you're describing. So hearing that you're actually going to continue it and apply it to other subjects Sounds neat, but also I'm calling it out because we don't often call out the fact that This is good practice and it's one that also speaks to the values Of our district and the values of many people who come here Um in all different walks of life To learn about how we're making decisions or developing policies of district So are there other Questions or comments? Otherwise We can close this section We are closing this section Oh, sorry superintendent I was wondering if I could ask for a brief recess Um, just some Well only after I closed the section man I thought you just said I That's about to then you raised your hand All right, I'm closing that section. You have something to say, Mr. Superintendent? I was wondering if just some some staff have been here since really in the morning If we could take a brief recess and and then come back with your assent committee assents. Yes. All right. Thank you It's funny Apparently the There's almost no way I can go All right, it's like it can't get much closer than Springfield I I The Fox It's not for you to ask Midnight What time is it I mean Yeah, but somebody only estimated an hour to get us to night 30 So we are approximately two hours hour and a half behind Actually, no, we'll be we'll be an hour Yeah We may shift Shifting Because we have It was already in an email are you taking a and I didn't notice it was at the bottom of one of that I'd like to get the Okay Well, I I didn't know I I and I agree with you about by the way We need to get people here So, uh, yeah, I always have snacks in the bag of these meetings I just realized the break could go on forever. So that's why I was gaveling really emphatically And it worked. Look at that. People are back. Uh, okay, so we're back in session the the next item our agenda Was an open meeting law complaint Which was received last week The Amherst public regional school committee held on friday an executive session meeting and That we received a complaint In christine ryan Which claims that the purpose under which we did which is item three Of the purposes under mass general law for an executive session, which was litigation strategy Was not an appropriate Reason to meet and we had Consulted with our council in advance of the meeting Essentially the the purpose was to meet regarding Department of education offices civil rights Complaint that had been filed by a member of the public with desi and We were meeting under the purpose, which is essentially called liability mitigation and the Attorney since the the complainant had Proffered that they had discussed With the attorney general's office An opinion around whether it was it was legal to meet for that purpose And they had conveyed that that pert the complainant had conveyed that Opinion to us in advance of the meeting And of course in advance of the meeting we hadn't violated anything right because you haven't met yet We then went to our attorney forwarded that information and the attorney went to the attorney general's office and spoke On the record with someone there who? conveyed to us that In fact in their opinion The meeting was in fact lawful under The purposes of executive session for mass general law Precisely for the purposes of liability mitigation Related to A threatened or actual complaint in this case an actual complaint So since we have received a a open meeting law complaint The the follow-up for this would be for the committee to draft a letter of response to the complaint And it would be my recommendation to this committee that the response to that complaint Include what I just said to you only as well documented as can be Any open to discussion obviously on the topic if there is any mr. Deming Do you want to discuss and then entertain a motion or do you want or rather the reverse? I guess I'll entertain a motion Uh, I moved that the school committee authorized the chair with the assistance of council to respond to the open meeting law complaint denying the complaint For the reasons described in the may 22nd 2018 letter Provided by council Is there a second all second it's been moved in second. Is any further discussion Seeing none all those in favor of this motion is presented Signify either raising your hand It carries unanimously. Thank you very much Yes Mr. Demling could you provide that in writing? Yes, his answers So now we have uh, the most immediate items are actually votes and um Aren't you just a spectacular human being just a little being here A true public servant sir mangana This is called transportation vote by the way. Thank you Uh, so last the last school committee meeting we talked about the need to vote on an extension to the current transportation contract and review the Figures. Um, so tonight. I think the wording of the vote is in the packet It's two separate votes one to extend the contract with five star Which does the emerson pelham routes and one to extend the contract with kismascus That does the shoots very elaborate routes Um, i'm happy to answer any additional questions you may have thought of between last meeting tonight Okay, and I take it a motion if somebody would like to make a motion I'll move to extend the existing contracts with five star Transportation ink by one additional year f y 19 in accordance with the provisions of the existing contracts. Is there a second? Second it's been moved in second. Is there any further discussion and Mr. Sullivan I have a question um Which one of our bus services provides the Smith photo tech That would be five star Any further questions or So I have a complaint from the students in shootsberry about the van service to smith from shootsberry um There were six occasions this year including yesterday where the van doesn't show up And sometimes the Bus company is notified and sometimes the bus company is not notified that the van will not be Coming up the hill and so that means that those students cannot attend school because they can't get a ride And the response from smith is Tell the superintendent so Dr. Morris that one. There's an issue. There's one over here. Yes that one over there And I appreciate and I'll work to get a response to you and I'll just point out that the van piece isn't five star So that would be something we'll look into internally Okay, because the yeah the bus only the bus is five star. Yeah is good. It's getting down to the bus Okay Thank you. That's important. Uh anything further Seeing no further comments or questions The motion to extend the existing contract with five star transportation by one additional year f y 19 Contract all those in favor signify I have members in your hand It carries unanimously Anyone have anything to say on motion number two? I can recognize Susan onious Move to extend the existing contract with fm cosmetics Incorporated by one additional year f y 19 in accordance with the provisions of the existing contract. Is there a second? It's been moved and seconded any Any further comments or questions? Seeing none all those in favor all those in favor of the motion as as red please hand Carries unanimously and I guess I'd repeat something mr. Ranganus said at the beginning for the purposes of people watching at home Or in the audience we talked abou