Thursday night’s board meeting was a short one. There were no community comments at the beginning of the meeting, but there was some discussion between board members and the superintendent about warrants and contracts to be approved.
In the superintendent’s report Amy Rex talked about the summer programs which include MES LEAP and MMS Lifting Student Learning as well as tutoring. There is also a pilot program taking place through the AOE and Springboard Collaborative. This is a literacy program that helps teachers and parents collaborate on helping students learn to read. A committee has been formed to address school culture. The purpose of the committee “is to promote and support shared ownership of a healthy teaching and learning environment”. They will do this through shifting mindsets from individualistic to “interconnected individuals in a system.” They will also be tasked with data collection through surveys. Each school will have specific goals to work on including but not limited to systems communication, Universal Design for Learning, peer observation and equity and diversity professional training. The last of the ESSER grant money has been allocated to various positions and projects for the next school year. More support staff has been hired for next year. Amy also reported on school safety, specifically in regard to the incidents that happened at the schools during the last year. There were plusses and minuses to how they were handled and improvement plans are being worked on. Finally, staff retention is an issue and the exit form has been changed to add an option for an exit interview. Amy is also troubled that the state is requiring more positions when there are nationwide staffing shortages.
The finance report was read by Amy because Matt Grasso was not in attendance. Overall, the school is currently running under budget in the general fund and food service. Both the general fund and food service totals are 99.9% accounted for the year. However, nothing is set in stone until the audit in January.
Amy also read the report on the consolidated federal grant strategies put together by Lynne Manley. There are three titles associated with these grants. Title I concerns support for students to meet academic and social emotional goals. Title II concerns support for teachers to help students in those same goals. Title IV concerns supporting well-rounded education, school safety and access to technology. Titles I and II are mostly support staff and Title IV includes restorative practices professional learning, anti-bias education as well as AP test funding.
In the committee reports, Karen reported that the policy committee should have almost all policies reviewed by the start of the school year. The facilities committee still has not met. The strategic planning committee met to discuss what they should be doing and reporting to the board.
There were no community comments, but it was pointed out that the finance report numbers were slightly off, but that didn’t change the report itself. All of the policies in the action items were adopted. These policies included A40 Board Committees, C15 Student Conduct and Discipline, E21 Distribution of Non-school sponsored literature in Schools, F3 Fire and Emergency Preparedness Drills, F4 Access Control and Visitor Management, F40 Fundraising to Support School Programs.
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