2026-10-07 - School Committee

00:03Good evening.

00:06Today's Wednesday, October 7th, and I'm

00:08calling this meeting of the Lauren this

00:09meeting of the Lawrence School Committee

00:11to order. This meeting was properly

00:13posted in accordance to the requirements

00:15of the Massachusetts General Law. This

00:18meeting is hybrid. We are in person here

00:21at the South Lawrence East at 165

00:23Crawford Street, Lawrence, Mass 01843,

00:27and is accessible via the live stream of

00:29the Lawrence um on the Lawrence um

00:31public schools YouTube page. At this

00:33time, I invite the secretary to call the

00:35role.

00:37>> Dr. Quinn Gonell,

00:39>> present.

00:40>> Noted as present. Michael Armano,

00:43>> present.

00:44>> Noted as present. Jonathan Guzman,

00:47>> present. noted as present. Don Bertoino

00:51present. Noted as present. Jesus

00:54>> present.

00:55>> Noted as present. Vice Chair Jessica

00:57Ramirez.

00:58>> Present.

00:59>> Noted as present. Mayor Brian Dea

01:03noted as absent. Quorum established.

01:07>> Thank you. If you can at this time, I

01:10invite you all to stand for the pledge

01:11of allegiance.

01:17I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

01:20United States of America and to the

01:22republic.

01:44I will now move on uh over to public

01:46participation. Do we did we have a sign

01:49in signup sheet?

01:52The podium

02:22Thank you, Johnny. Okay.

02:43Okay, so first we have Bailey.

03:04Hi. Hi. So, please address the body as a

03:07whole and you do have uh two and a half

03:09minutes to speak. Okay. Um my name is

03:11Bailey McVey. I work at the Oliver

03:13Elementary School and um Lawrence public

03:16school staff deserve safe, accessible,

03:18free

03:19parking at work. We do not earn more

03:21than our colleagues across the district.

03:22Yet, we are expected to pay just to park

03:24at our jobs. And that is a pay cut based

03:26on which school we work in. How is that

03:28equitable? I can only truly speak for

03:30the Oliver, but when many of us started

03:32working at the school, we had a parking

03:33lot as we were at St. Mary's. But now we

03:36face daily parking costs, tickets, and

03:38damage to our vehicles. At my school

03:40alone, staff has staff cars have been

03:42broken into, crashed into, and

03:43sideswiped. Mirrors have been knocked

03:44off. These out-ofpocket costs keep

03:46growing, and we truly have no choice in

03:48the matter. We were never asked if we

03:49were willing to pay for parking. That

03:51was simply assumed. And we were not

03:53asked for input or solutions. We weren't

03:55really told it would be an issue. Yet,

03:57we are the ones that are expected to pay

03:58for it. And the proposed discounted

04:00parking agreement still does not resolve

04:01the inequity. I will gladly pay the

04:04actual cost of a sticker identifying my

04:06car as a staff vehicle, but only the

04:08cost of the sticker. I will not pay $180

04:10or $250 to park at my job when

04:12colleagues elsewhere in the district

04:13park for free. Charging us less than the

04:15daily rate for a school year does not

04:16make it equitable. Meter payment does

04:19not begin until 8 a.m. when we are 30

04:21minutes into our workday. Staff should

04:23not have to worry about parking payments

04:24when they are studentf facing. And this

04:26means we are also forced to pay on our

04:27phones, which adds a 35 cent charge. We

04:30can only pay for three hours at a time.

04:32So go ahead and multiply that 35 cent

04:34charge three more times. We have been

04:36told to arrive earlier to find better

04:37parking, but arriving earlier does not

04:39create more spaces. It simply moves the

04:41same problem to earlier in the morning.

04:43We cannot enter the building until 7

04:44a.m. So, some staff arrive early and sit

04:46in their cars for up to a half an hour.

04:48That is valuable time that they could be

04:49using to prepare lessons for students.

04:52This stress places this places staff,

04:55sorry, the stress this places on staff

04:57is unnecessary. Our focus should be on

04:59teaching, supporting students, and

05:00improving outcomes. Instead, we have

05:01spent so much of our time fighting a

05:03problem that should have been accounted

05:04for when the school was built. If

05:05adequate staff parking could not be

05:07funded as part of that project, why are

05:09individual employees now expected to eat

05:11that cost? The hardest pill to swallow

05:13is that we have to fight for something

05:14that is so basic. We are asking for what

05:16so many educators across the country

05:18take for granted, a safe place to park

05:20at work without paying out of pocket. We

05:22need the committee, superintendent,

05:24district, and city to work together to

05:26make free, safe, accessible parking a

05:28reality for Lawrence public school

05:29staff. We need an actual plan and a date

05:31that we can count on. We have spent

05:33enough time fighting for something that

05:34should have been provided from the

05:35start. Thank you.

05:37>> Thank you, Britney.

05:43We thank you. We now have Kim Barry.

05:59>> Name and record. Uh name and address for

06:01the record, please.

06:02>> Sure. Kimberly Barry, one Canal Street.

06:06Good evening, Receiver. Woo.

06:08Superintendent Carrerero, Mayor Deena,

06:10and school committee members. I'm here

06:13today as president of the Lawrence

06:14Teachers Union to address three critical

06:17concerns affecting our educators and our

06:20district. First, many of our teachers

06:22are facing these unreasonable financial

06:24burdens due to parking costs, which many

06:27of them pay over $1,000 annually in

06:30fines and meters. This is an

06:32unsustainable hardship and we are

06:35formally requesting that those in charge

06:37implement free parking for staff as a

06:39necessary step to support the educators

06:42who dedicate their careers to our city.

06:46Secondly, we must address the unilateral

06:48changes to the advanced educator

06:50program. the role. Our union presented a

06:54proposal to the superintendent last

06:55month regarding this position and yet

06:58the district has begun implementing

06:59changes before a formal agreement has

07:02been reached. This circumvents our

07:05established labor management process and

07:07it violates our contract.

07:10specifically requiring advanced

07:12educators to perform mentorship duties

07:15which were previously compensated

07:17without proper designation or agreement.

07:21Imposing this is unacceptable.

07:25We expect the district to halt these

07:27changes immediately and engage in good

07:29faith bargaining with our union.

07:32Ultimately, the lack of consistent

07:34accountability for some aggressive

07:36student behavior is really driving a

07:38crisis of safety right now for our

07:40schools. Addressing these safety

07:42concerns, uh, as we did in the spring,

07:45um, they're arising really rapidly here

07:47as we start this new school year and we

07:50need like a fundamental re-evaluation of

07:53how schools are managing these

07:54behaviors.

07:56um we have like students with unruly

07:58contact conduct and we need to ensure

08:02that the safety for teachers and

08:04students if we're going to have positive

08:06student outcomes for uh for students

08:09more positive student outcomes. So, uh,

08:12we'd like to talk more about safety

08:14issues, then some of the policies that

08:16the district would like to implement

08:18because we find with without the safety,

08:20then the policies and the curriculum,

08:23everything's going out the window

08:24because the teachers are just, you know,

08:26out straight trying to keep the school

08:29from uh, you know, falling apart.

08:32Students need safety to learn. The core

08:34of the issue lies in increasing

08:36frequency of the incidences that we're

08:38finding out about. There's physical and

08:41verbal um altercations. There's uh many

08:44schools reporting a pattern of

08:46disciplinary meas measures that are

08:47either ineffective or entirely absent.

08:51So u this leaves the educators feeling

08:53vulnerable and unsupported and we're

08:55trying to retain staff and get an

08:58environment where students feel safe and

09:00are able to learn. So it compromises the

09:04physical safety and also the learning

09:06environment obviously. So it prevents

09:08meaning meaningful learning from taking

09:10place. So we do strongly encourage you

09:13to address these issues as soon as

09:14possible. Thank you. Thank you.

09:23Before I close public participation, is

09:25there any other anyone else in the

09:27public that wishes to speak that did not

09:29sign up?

09:33Come forward.

09:41Can I get a name and an address for the

09:43record? Um, Michaela Carvalo. Can I use

09:47the school as an address? Bruce school.

09:51Okay. Thank you. Um, did not plan on

09:54speaking, but I'm finding myself

09:55increasingly frustrated with the lack of

09:57support we're getting from the district.

10:00Teachers are purchasing pencils, paper,

10:03markers, crayons, folders, things we use

10:05every day. And the fact that that's

10:09happening is truly absurd. Especially

10:10when we have teachers at other schools

10:12that are also now paying for parking.

10:14How is that feasible? I don't I'm not

10:16just I'm just not sure how we're

10:17allowing that. Every day we go to school

10:20and we have 24 to 25 students in front

10:21of us. I teach fourth grade. I have five

10:24students that still don't know letters

10:25and numbers. We're starting at like such

10:30we're finding access points for these

10:31kids because we're good at our jobs.

10:33We're finding areas where they can

10:35succeed, but we are truly killing

10:39ourselves here. And we are feeling

10:42unsupported, not necessarily by our

10:44administrators. I happen to really

10:46appreciate the administrators that we

10:47have at our school, but we are feeling

10:49unsupported by the officials that we

10:52have elected within our city. We feel

10:54that teachers are not heard. We feel

10:56that teachers are not getting what they

10:58need in order for our students to

10:59succeed. I was born in Lawrence. I was

11:01raised in Lawrence for the first seven

11:02years of my life. We did move. And then

11:05when I became a teacher and educator, I

11:07got my masters and I want to come back

11:08to the city that I love and appreciate

11:10so much. I'm teaching here. I'm working

11:13here. I live in the city and I'm proud

11:16of where I am. this city could be so

11:19much better and we could provide so much

11:21more to our students if we gave our

11:24educators what they need in order to

11:26succeed. Thank you.

11:29Thank you for your time.

11:33So, I will close public participation at

11:36this time. Um, I do want to thank

11:40everyone for being here and those of you

11:41that spoke. I do want to make a note

11:43that um I appreciate the committee as a

11:47whole appreciates the um emails that

11:49we've received and the feedback

11:50regarding the parking situation. Um

11:53there's been communication between the

11:55district, city and um myself and this

11:59will be an item that we will bring

12:00forward to the November meeting for

12:02discussion and update. So this will be

12:04discussed in November and I look forward

12:06to seeing you guys then. Thank you.

12:11At this time, I will move over um on to

12:14approval of minutes from August 26th and

12:17September 8th. Do I have a motion for um

12:20to approve?

12:22>> Motion to approve. Um can we take them

12:24separate?

12:28It looks like you're looking for a

12:29motion for both or can we take them

12:30separate?

12:31>> You want to take You want to approve

12:32separately?

12:33>> Yeah, that'd be great. uh for uh a

12:35motion to approve uh meeting minutes for

12:38August 26 uh 2026.

12:42>> Can I get a second?

12:44>> Second.

12:46>> All those in favor say I.

12:48>> I. Eyes have it.

12:50>> I

12:51>> meeting minutes from approval for

12:54September 8th. Um I would like to do a

12:58motion to approve

13:00uh what amendments

13:03uh for the September 8, 2026.

13:08Uh the minutes do not say who we

13:11nominated to mask as a delegate which I

13:15think was you vice chair. Okay. uh and

13:19it does not reflect the opinion of the

13:22legal committee member Armano regarding

13:25the attorney's position which is an

13:26important factor to consider in the

13:29understanding of the circumstances

13:30surrounding the matters involving our

13:33attorney and receiver rule on the rules

13:36of the school committee particularly

13:38I'm sorry quote and where the member

13:41says because we retain powers as a

13:44school committee and the receiver

13:46clearly has the ability to make policies

13:49for the district. Period. The powers

13:52that we retain. Period. It seems like we

13:55will need to have some sort of

13:58incidental power to make a guess policy

14:02to selfgovernance.

14:04End quote. I think

14:07uh requesting

14:09um administrative assistance to support

14:12reflecting the members comments will be

14:17appreciated.

14:26So there's a motion to approve with

14:28additional comments um noted for minutes

14:32on September 8th. Um, minutes

14:37>> second.

14:42>> Secretary. Um, all those in favor,

14:44please say I.

14:45>> I.

14:46>> I.

14:46>> I.

14:47>> I.

14:48>> Motion carries. So, if we can just get

14:50that information over to the secretary

14:52to add.

14:57>> Thank you.

15:02Okay. So at this time we I would like to

15:06um

15:06>> chair or vice chair

15:08>> um may I make a request that we actually

15:10vote to amend the agenda so that the

15:13superintendent's report comes before the

15:16receivers's report. I think the order

15:18and flow of the agenda would work better

15:19that way.

15:20>> Can I get a motion to amend?

15:22>> Motion.

15:23>> Can I get a second?

15:24>> Second.

15:24>> All those in favor say I. I have it. So

15:28we're moving on to accountability and

15:29data presentation by the superintendent.

15:32the superintendent report.

15:34>> Sorry, under the superintendent report,

15:36madam. Uh,

15:37>> correct,

15:37>> vice chair.

15:38>> Yes.

15:38>> Under the superintendent's report, it

15:40also includes uh uh any updates that we

15:43normally have at the end. So, I

15:45appreciate you uh bringing it to the

15:47forefront because oftentimes that

15:49wonderful good things that are happening

15:50around the district, we we seem to be a

15:53little bit too tired to take it at the

15:54end. Uh if I can turn your attention

15:57yeah to our our October activity. Uh

16:01those three young lads aren't just our

16:03students. Uh by the time those are in

16:06high school, they're going to be

16:07professional musicians because I've seen

16:09them before perform already in in some

16:12of our school. Um

16:15nevertheless, uh we started our campaign

16:18for attendance awareness and I know that

16:20we discussed attendance. Um, one of the

16:23nice things uh that uh I wanted to show

16:25you is that a short little clip for a

16:28quick minute uh one of our attendance

16:30awareness motivation at one of our

16:32schools and what they've done. Uh could

16:35you go ahead and turn on Suzanne?

16:39>> This is first thing in the morning.

16:41>> I'm Jess Cunningham, the principal of

16:42the Bruce School and welcome to our

16:45surprise attendance day throughout this

16:48whole year. We are going to have

16:50surprise attendance for students

16:53who have no idea that we're supporting

16:55them. We're showing up and having strong

16:58attendance.

17:03>> Attendance is so important to us because

17:05every day truly counts and matters. So,

17:08we really want students coming here

17:09every day eager to learn so we can

17:11really work towards all of their goals.

17:16It's important to come to school because

17:20you can learn new things.

17:22>> Attendance is so important. We want you

17:24to come and learn and love school

17:26because we love that you're here.

17:28>> It's so important to go to school

17:30because you can learn things and you can

17:33do like every job that you want you can

17:36do it.

17:42So, our attendance awareness actually is

17:45expanded thanks to Miss Burgles. Uh,

17:48forget the picture on the far left on

17:51the top. Uh, but down on the bottom is

17:53Jessica Andor, the executive director of

17:56uh, Community Works. Um, down on the

17:59bottom, more interesting, those are two

18:00business leaders. And what we would like

18:02to try to do is uh, put those videos up,

18:05you know, in all of their businesses and

18:08uh, bodegas. So in the morning kids can

18:10hear and parents can hear and we'll put

18:12them up all over our billboards that we

18:14have within our schools. We feel that if

18:16we have a constant message to the

18:18community that they know uh attendance

18:20is important, we feel we can have uh

18:22several upticks in terms of our

18:24attendance for this year. So I want to

18:26congratulate uh Miss Burgles and her

18:28crew who who came up with this activity

18:30and are spreading the news in our

18:32district of how wonderful and how

18:34important attendance is. And I thought

18:36that that was excellent. Imagine coming

18:38to work and you have a cheerleaders

18:39there and kids shouting out to you.

18:42Thanks for coming in. So, we wanted to

18:44share that with you. Also around LPS,

18:47you know that this month was um Hispanic

18:50Heritage Month and they've been

18:52celebrating that around. Last week we

18:55had our first um family resource center

18:58uh partnership uh celebration at the

19:01family uh resource center. very well

19:04attended by a lot of our nonprofits that

19:07we've learned that will be partnering

19:08with us uh that can also provide

19:11feedback to us uh members of the school

19:13committee regarding um engagement. Uh

19:16the following uh slide is our family

19:19engagement English language learner

19:21parent advisory. We had our Duvals

19:23council there on the right hand side and

19:26we also had approximately 250 ELLL

19:30parents. Um, our ELLL uh subcommittees

19:34are really growing and they're really

19:35eager to be involved with our school.

19:38Um, the following day was uh a student

19:41shadow day um that we uh hosted. Um, I

19:46don't know who put that together, but it

19:48was wonderful. We have administrators

19:50that go out and are uh shadowing

19:53students for the day. Is that the clip

19:55that we have there also on the left hand

19:57side? Could you please play it quickly?

20:03>> This is Ethan. Ethan's in the third

20:05grade and I'm spending the day with him

20:07here at the Giltt Elementary to learn

20:09more about what his experience is like

20:11in Lawrence public schools. I am here at

20:14the Oliver Middle today stu uh shadowing

20:16a sixth grade student. So we're doing

20:19the student shadow initiative to really

20:22understand what it means to be a middle

20:24school student in Lawrence public

20:26schools.

20:26>> The curriculum and instruction team is

20:28at Gilmet today at the Oliver Middle

20:30School and at Unito so that we have a

20:32better understanding of what the student

20:34experience is like in Lawrence public

20:36schools. We are really excited to put

20:38ourselves in the shoes of our students

20:40and really see the days of fun and

20:43learning here in our lawn schools.

20:49Um, your next picture. Thank you.

20:51Congratulations to uh the 11 schools

20:54that have hit 80% or more of uh

20:57breakfast participation. Each one of

20:59them earned from the EOS foundation a

21:02$500 gift certificate for paying

21:04attention

21:05to both breakfast and nutritious

21:07breakfast. Um our district now is up at

21:10about 80% or more of all of our schools

21:13uh participating and I think that's a

21:15wonderful thing that we have um our

21:18students actually eating breakfast

21:20healthy breakfast when they come into

21:21school in the morning. So,

21:22congratulations to Karen Non, our

21:25nutritional staff, and all of our staff

21:27that serve our kids both breakfast and

21:29lunch. Uh, Lance are happening around

21:31the district. If you notice on that

21:34particular picture on the left, our kids

21:36are starting to learn this year whenever

21:37they're doing presentations. It's not

21:39just verbally presenting. uh the staff

21:41is working with them about their writing

21:43skills and being able to articulate that

21:46in writing as they're presenting around

21:48whenever they have any competitions in

21:50the school or around the district. On

21:52your left hand side uh I'll pay I'll let

21:56you know that over

21:58120 schools uh participated. These are

22:02colleges that came and visited for our

22:04schools to recruit our kids. uh they

22:07visit with their parents oftentimes and

22:09they get a chance to talk to schools and

22:11what they have to offer in helping them

22:14uh make their uh their decisions. That

22:16part of part of that aside from our

22:18guidance department is our gear up folks

22:21that do a fabulous tremendous jobs with

22:23our kids helping them orientate them as

22:25to uh what options they have after high

22:28school. Um around the school fall,

22:32obviously major sports that our kids are

22:34participating in our cheerleading

22:36squads, soccer, football, track, uh and

22:40whatever else uh meets their needs as to

22:43what they want to be involved in. Um

22:45soon they'll be switching over from our

22:47fall sports obviously to our winter

22:50sports. Um,

22:52last but not least, things that are

22:54coming up, uh, our virtual coffees, uh,

22:58that I usually host, that one is, uh,

23:00virtually and that usually gets about

23:01100 parents to come in. Um, those that

23:04can't make it with us for Tuvos. And on

23:06your right hand side, Abbott open house.

23:08Uh, soon they'll be putting out

23:10applications. Remember that this year we

23:12will be expanding Abbott to also have a

23:16lottery for incoming seventh graders.

23:20So, seventh grade uh will be one grade

23:23that that expands along with your

23:26expansion in the high school. Now, we're

23:28up to uh 700 students and we max out at

23:32800 high school students. And at the end

23:35of the following year, we will max out

23:37at 100 seventh graders and 100 eighth

23:40grade students, bringing our total

23:42enrollment to Abbott to 1,000. I know

23:45that that's tough to believe, but that's

23:47what's happening over at um our North

23:50Common complex. Uh and that's working

23:52wonderfully. Parents obviously know uh

23:55they know that from an equity standpoint

23:57is a uh lottery system and it's based on

24:01grades, attendance, um and attitude. Um

24:05all sixth graders are invited to

24:07participate if they beat those

24:09criterias. it goes into the lottery and

24:11they uh select them sometime around

24:14December. So we uh and that's actually

24:17open to the public and we do it online.

24:20Okay. So everyone knows um that's my

24:23report regarding um what's been

24:26happening around the district this

24:27October. Things are getting a little bit

24:29more and more uh busy. Obviously we al

24:33also going into the holiday season. Um,

24:36regarding the student the student

24:38representative, I've met with the uh

24:40headmaster. Um, we don't know what's

24:42going on, but there's a hot and heavy

24:44heated debate going on at the high

24:46school. We had tons of students at the

24:49junior and senior year wanting to

24:52participate in becoming a student

24:54representative. So they had to get

24:56through that process where they elect

24:58their five members like a school board

25:01and from within those five members is

25:04where then they elect the student

25:06representative. So I hope to be able to

25:08introduce our newest uh student

25:10representative at our next meeting. He's

25:12a he or she is a non voting member but

25:16does represent the uh the the high

25:18school for the most part and uh he or

25:21she would be engaged with conversations

25:23with us. So we look forward to uh

25:25welcoming them. Okay. Um now our annual

25:29data presentation. I'm going to ask Dr.

25:31Oh, she's up there already.

25:33>> Before we continue, can secretary, can

25:34you call the role for the chair, please?

25:37>> Questions.

25:38>> Chair Brian DeAna.

25:42>> Present.

25:44>> Present.

25:44>> Noted as present.

25:46>> Thank you. Before we continue, uh, is

25:49any member have questions regarding the

25:51presentation, the updates from the

25:53school district?

25:55>> Um, through you, madam chair, um, vice

25:58chair, I I think, uh, amazing to be

26:00doing this work um, and presented

26:03through this time. So, kudos to you for

26:05moving this up on the agenda like that

26:07our families are able to see this work.

26:10Um, just key things that I saw

26:12throughout this entire process. I think

26:15we need to be more mindful when we're

26:17hosting events. Um if they're gear for

26:20families. So if if it's during our work

26:25day, that's the same time that they're

26:28working. So just be more mindful about

26:30that like that we get as much as

26:33participation as we can from the

26:34district. Sometimes I even dare to say

26:36that perhaps we need to do these events

26:38on Saturdays and Sundays to see how is

26:40the attendance. uh when it comes to

26:43engagement um for family engagements

26:46like ELPAC, I think the district really

26:48needs to adopt and look at what ELPAC is

26:51doing and getting all these parents in

26:54the space uh that care deeply about the

26:58work that is happening. Um I think when

27:01we look at what happens in Elpac and

27:03then on your cafeto or your Dubos

27:06console, there's a difference, right? So

27:08clearly they're doing something. and

27:09they have the secret sauce of getting

27:11parents in the space and I hope that you

27:14know the district utilizes those sort of

27:17um same processes in order to get get

27:20parents into the room. Thank you.

27:26>> Thank you.

27:30>> Sorry.

27:31>> Give me a second. We have another

27:33question.

27:34>> One more question. Uh when it comes to

27:37the It looks like Uh just to confirm for

27:40the Abbott Academy,

27:42we're going to continue to do the

27:44lottery and that's a that's a district

27:47decision. This is not a mass general

27:50law. This is not something that we need

27:52to abide by. It looks like this is a

27:54policy that was internally adopted to do

27:56a lottery rather than application base

27:58by base cases.

28:00>> Yes, that is correct. And one of the

28:02things that we had a challenge with uh

28:05school committee member Guzman is that

28:07we have had a lot of families that were

28:11eligible based on the application

28:13process to go into Abbott. Um but they

28:16couldn't go into Abbott. So as uh we

28:20discussed some of the strategies that we

28:22would put in place, one of them that we

28:25felt that we needed to address was

28:26equity on giving any and every student

28:29in our district the opportunity to apply

28:32and have an equal chance to be able to

28:35uh attend ABIT. So when we put the

28:38lottery in place, I think even the

28:40parents that their children weren't

28:42selected for the first uh hund slots and

28:45then there was a um a wait list put

28:49together. Through that weight list, I

28:51think families felt comfortable also

28:53because they knew their number and if a

28:55child went somewhere or left the

28:57district, they immediately would go to

28:59the um wait list and the next child

29:02that's in line, that's who they selected

29:04to put them into the school. Um it's

29:07worked out now uh for I believe this is

29:10the second year we'll have the lottery

29:12and uh we haven't had any complaints. Um

29:15so that same process we also use now I

29:18mean we got a thousand sixth graders

29:21rising seventh graders. How do you

29:24select

29:25who is the hundred that would go into

29:28seventh grade? So what we put out and

29:30work with the principles and families is

29:33there are three criteria. And you don't

29:35have to be a straight A student. You

29:37just have to be a student that's passing

29:39A, B, and depending on what the C is. It

29:41can't be on your your core subjects. Uh,

29:44good attendance. Good attendance means

29:4690% or over. And no behavior problems.

29:50Those are the only three criterias. If

29:52you meet those criterias, it goes into

29:54the lottery. And it's a blind lottery so

29:57that and it's a an an open public

29:59lottery so that everyone knows who gets

30:01selected. it's it's not chosen by

30:03students name. It's uh each student is

30:06given a number to protect the students

30:08confidentiality. So that's the process

30:11that we've put in place and I think

30:12families are happy that at least

30:14everyone has a fair share or a fair

30:16shot. By the way, last year all the

30:18students that were in the in the uh

30:20weight list that went through the

30:21lottery eventually made it in because

30:25remember what happens is that kids

30:27choose all of the schools that they want

30:30to be able to go in and then they make a

30:32choice. So oftent times a lot of our

30:35kids that have opted to go into the

30:38lottery at Abbott go to other schools

30:41because they're either given

30:42scholarships for sports, academics, or

30:45what have you. So that drains the number

30:48of students that we have. So then we go

30:49to the weight list and we pluck them one

30:51at a time and parents see that that the

30:54numbers go down because they they keep

30:56an eye on the on their students number.

30:57So every student got in.

30:59>> So there's still criteria.

31:01>> Yes, that they all went through the

31:03lottery in the criteria.

31:06>> Could I ask a quick followup? So that

31:08the students that got in that were

31:10eighth those were eighth graders getting

31:11in. How many students were there that

31:14applied?

31:15>> 100.

31:15>> They got in and yes

31:17>> into the ninth. But how many applied?

31:19>> Oo. Um, Victor, where are you? Out.

31:22You're out there. I know. Staff need how

31:24many students applied to Abbe last year?

31:36>> Please. So I I thought there was like

31:39250 and you guys accepted 200.

31:43>> I think that's what it was.

31:46>> It's a little bit better. So in terms of

31:48the numbers, 435,

31:51350 made the criteria. So let's just be

31:53clear when it comes to the lottery

31:54system, you need to meet that criteria

31:57in order for you to be accepted at Avat

32:00Lawrence since it's our exam school. So

32:01that procedure has not changed. Now when

32:04it comes to acceptance right the ideal

32:07number for us we were aiming at 200

32:09right when it comes down to the 200

32:13number right there were some kids who

32:15were invited to Abbott they accepted

32:18there were some that declined they went

32:19to as superintendent said to either a

32:21private school or a charter school uh

32:25that created to space for additional

32:28students who were part of a wait list

32:30and then we as we in um share the

32:34process in terms of the lottery and the

32:36weight list. Uh everyone knew what the

32:39weight list number was, but again these

32:41were all students that qualified and um

32:45uh abide by that criteria.

32:47>> Um I just wanted to inject madam uh vice

32:50chair I stand corrected. Yes, there were

32:52200 students, but ultimately when the

32:55seventh graders come in now, then they

32:58go to eighth grade,

32:59>> those eighth graders automatically go to

33:02ninth grade. There's hundred of them. So

33:05now the uh lottery will be only for 100

33:09ninth graders because you have the

33:11eighth graders coming in to ninth and

33:13that's where you make up your 200

33:15students. and and and we did that

33:17purposely. So if a rising seventh grader

33:21didn't make it for whatever ra reason,

33:24but he or she is interested in Abbott,

33:27he or she has those next two years,

33:30seventh and eighth grade to bring up

33:32their grades to take care of whatever

33:34issues they have and then they can apply

33:35for the lottery again.

33:38>> Just sorry the So this year we've

33:42accepted applications already for from

33:44sixth graders. Uh I don't think we have

33:47yet. Have we missed?

33:48>> We have not started the process. So what

33:49we're going to do is uh we're going to

33:52put a lot of information out there for

33:54families to talk about the process that

33:57criteria particularly where because this

33:59is a new concept for our families. So

34:01that communication is going to be

34:02rolling out literally by Friday in order

34:05for families to be knowledgeable in

34:07terms of one the timeline when the

34:09process starts the criteria and then the

34:12seats that will be available. The whole

34:15idea to behind the 7 through 12 concept

34:17is we tend to lose a lot of students who

34:20are either private schools um or charter

34:23schools and we want to be able to retain

34:25a lot of student a lot more students

34:26within our district.

34:29>> Thank you

34:32madame vice chair. Um can we get an

34:35explanation either I don't know in

34:37writing or something what was the

34:39criteria

34:40um prior of the lottery and is it

34:43different to the criteria that we

34:45utilize today

34:48if maybe you have that answer now if not

34:50like follow up.

34:51>> No absolutely um so we got rid of the

34:55common exam that was used by exam

34:57schools because we knew that it excluded

34:59a lot of multilingual learners. uh we

35:02focused on in terms of assessment map

35:06grades there's also an interview process

35:08and teacher recommendation process and

35:11then there is the attendance component

35:14>> wait are you saying that those those are

35:17are part of the process or were they

35:19removed from the process

35:21>> those continue to be part of the process

35:23we didn't change any component of the

35:25criteria except for the piece

35:28particularly for seventh grader that

35:29we're asking incoming coming uh seventh

35:33graders to have at least a two-year

35:34residency component, which is no. But

35:38when it comes to the actual criteria for

35:40admissions, it remains the same.

35:43>> Thank you.

35:47>> Thank you. I think we can move on.

35:50>> Thank you,

35:53>> Dr. Peter. I'm going to just start one

35:55minute. Sorry, but please get ready. Um

35:58so I just want to um superintendent I

36:01know this is your portion of the agenda

36:02but I do want to just frame the

36:03presentation because then one will come

36:05after it for the school committee. Um

36:07and so I just do want to you know start

36:08by setting some expectations um and

36:10framing for the discussion. So thank you

36:13all for participating in the training

36:15that happened a few weeks ago where we

36:16did a deeper dive on the accountability

36:18system. Tonight Dr. Katarius is going to

36:21walk through um and engage in a deeper

36:23dive of LPS's 2026 MCCAST and

36:26accountability data and then it's going

36:28to transition to the quarter 1 report

36:30which is going to provide you all with

36:32an update on how the district is um

36:35setting goals and associated initiatives

36:37to address the results. So I wanted you

36:39to be able to see the flow of the

36:41presentations. Um but tonight I do want

36:44you to reflect um on and use the

36:47training that you've been engaging on

36:48with um effective schools and Hinto in

36:50particular and and be reminded of your

36:53role as school committee members with

36:54respect to the guard rails. That

36:56effective school committee should spend

36:57at least half their time monitoring

36:59goals and progress toward those goals.

37:01And so in the spirit of those

37:02guardrails, tonight's job is to assess

37:05how much the students are learning, not

37:06to micromanage the district, and that

37:08the data should be helping the school

37:10committee answer whether or not the

37:11students are making progress towards

37:13those goals. And choosing the strategy

37:15or directing staff is not part of

37:17tonight's work, although you're going to

37:18hear a lot about that. Um, so please ask

37:21questions throughout both presentations.

37:24Um, and if there's more information that

37:26we don't have readily available tonight,

37:28we will make a commitment to come back

37:29to you with additional information.

37:33Thank you.

37:35>> Good evening. It's nice to see all of

37:37you again. Um, we're going to share I

37:40believe you did get a copy of the

37:42presentation

37:44um beforehand. So, we are going to go

37:46through it. Please, if you have

37:48questions, we can stop and ask questions

37:51along the way. Um but I will go through

37:54it fairly quickly just because you have

37:57had an opportunity to review it. Um so

38:01the first we just wanted to give a

38:02snapshot of our district

38:05for 2526.

38:07Our enrollment we're looking at 26

38:10schools. Uh our enrollment was 12,955

38:15serving prek to 12. I think really

38:17what's interesting on this chart is if

38:21we look at our selected populations

38:25um 91.9%

38:27are high needs. High needs are

38:29considered students who are English

38:31learners, lowincome and students with

38:33disabilities. They fit within those

38:36three categories.

38:38We have 43% of our students are English

38:40learners. first language not English is

38:4472.5%.

38:46You can see our low income and our

38:48students with disabilities 21.5. In

38:51nearly every one of those categories

38:53were well higher than the state average

38:57in those selected populations.

39:01Just a refresher to what you all went

39:03through with um Erica Gonzalez

39:07last month. These are the accountability

39:10indicators. So, we discuss, we look at

39:12achievement, student growth, both of

39:15those are MCCASTs.

39:17There's high school completion rates

39:19such as four-year graduation

39:22um and re-engagement of students. Our

39:25annual dropout rate. Uh English language

39:29proficiency, that's the access test that

39:31students take every January, and they

39:34have certain goals that they need to

39:37meet based on that. And then there's

39:39those additional indicators of chronic

39:41absenteeism and at the high school that

39:43advance coursework. So if we jump into

39:46the data, so now we know what those

39:48different measures are. This is the

39:50district's accountability results for

39:52non- high school students, grades 3 to

39:558. And there are four of those main

39:57indicators. There's the achievement on

39:59MCCAST in ELA, math, and science.

40:03There's the growth statistic from MCCAST

40:07for ELA and math. There's no growth for

40:10science because they don't take science

40:12every year. It's only grades 5, 8, and

40:1510. And then there's the chronic

40:18absenteeism and our English language

40:21proficiency.

40:23So the state sets a target for the

40:27district

40:28and then monitors our progress towards

40:32that target. So on this chart you can

40:34see the desi target for 2026 for ELA

40:39scale score was 479.6.

40:43We scored a 477.1.

40:46That was the average ELA.

40:49You can see the previous year we had at

40:51a 477.2.

40:53So we went down 0.1 which DESIE

40:56considers no change. So we remained

40:58relatively flat there. You can see the

41:01same things for math and for science.

41:06Um as we look at our growth uh we set

41:10the target at 50 for our growth and we

41:14met that target in ELA but we're just

41:16below in math. our English language

41:19proficiency which Maria Gutierris Ray

41:23will be sharing with you after my

41:25presentation. Um we've seen significant

41:27increases over the last three years from

41:3131.4%

41:32in 2024 to 39.4%.

41:36Our target was 41 and at the district in

41:39grades 3 through eight we were at 43.3.

41:42So we met our target. And then on our

41:45chronic absenteeism,

41:47uh you can see um in 2024 we were at

41:5022.2, we had went to 16.5, so had a

41:54significant drop. That's great news. The

41:58flip side is that the lower you are,

42:01then your target gets set on your

42:03lowest. So, um our target was set at

42:0615.5 and we did see a slight increase

42:10this year to 18.7. So we we didn't meet

42:14our target and actually declined on that

42:16target.

42:18Our results for high school similar we

42:21can look all of the achievement the

42:23growth. This is where we add those high

42:26school completion. So the four-year

42:28graduation rate we saw that improvement.

42:32We're always a year behind when we look

42:35at this um because we um there might be

42:39summer graduates, there might be other

42:40things. And so we're kind of we tend to

42:42be a year behind when they're looking at

42:44the accountability for this, but

42:46four-year graduation rate went from 74

42:48to 82.2%.

42:50So we met that target. What that means

42:53is that our next target is based on that

42:5682.2%.

42:58So it is going to be much higher target

43:01um for next year or for this school

43:03year. Our extended engagement rate uh

43:06was 79 was excuse me the target was

43:0980.8. 8 we were at 79.9 but that was an

43:13improvement below target or from the

43:16previous year and the dropout rate um

43:19decreased significantly and we exceeded

43:22our target in that similar to the grades

43:253 to 8 our English language proficiency

43:28so students meeting their target on the

43:30axis we continue to see increases from

43:349.8% 8% to 12.9

43:37up to 15.7 for the high school students.

43:40So, we met our target in that. And then

43:43those additional indicators of chronic

43:44absenteeism. Um we had a pretty

43:48significant decline like 3 through 8

43:50from 24 to 25

43:53goal was set at 31 and then we saw just

43:55a slight uptick. Um so we we earned a

43:59rating of declined on that. And then

44:01similar with our coursework um we had

44:0577.5%

44:06the target was set at 80 we came in this

44:09year at 69.4 before. So we also got that

44:12rating of declined on that.

44:16Unlike the district and this is one of

44:19the things that um Miss Gonzalez had

44:22shared with you is that schools get two

44:25kind of accountability pieces. There's a

44:28norm referenced which is that percentile

44:31rank. So our schools are compared to all

44:34other schools across Massachusetts.

44:37And then they also get a criterion

44:40referenced rating which is how well did

44:44they do in meeting their own goals. So

44:47one is what's your data look like

44:49compared to everybody and then what's

44:51your data look like compared to yourself

44:54and what kind of progress did you make?

44:56And so this chart shares that

44:58information. So we can see the schools

45:01are listed on the left. It has their

45:04last three years of ranking. Um,

45:09oh, it didn't change. Sorry. Um, it

45:12should say final rank, not preliminary

45:14in there for 2026.

45:17So, those first three are our norm

45:20referenced.

45:22the state identifies anybody below the

45:2510th at the 10th percentile or below is

45:29automatically identified as a school in

45:31need of assistance or or intervention.

45:35So that is our goal always to have all

45:38of our schools move out of that.

45:40Unfortunately, we saw a lot of schools

45:42this year had a decline in their in

45:45their ranking compared to the previous

45:48year. Um but we did see some highlights.

45:51the Arlington Middle, the Frost Middle,

45:55the South Lawrence East Elementary, and

45:57the Tarbox all increased their overall

46:01ranking compared to the previous year.

46:04In addition, um we saw a good majority

46:09of our schools were making substantial

46:11progress towards their own goals. And so

46:14again, highlight the Arlington Middle at

46:1764%. They had the highest percent

46:20meeting um their own. So

46:24their data was making progress towards

46:26the targets set for that school

46:28specifically.

46:29And then you can see the classification

46:31and how many schools we have now in

46:34requiring assistance and those not

46:36requiring assistance.

46:41In addition, that was for sort of all

46:44students. Desie also wants us to look at

46:47and and see how are we doing for

46:50different subgroups. If you remember the

46:53first slide where we looked at our you

46:55know we have 84% of our students

46:58lowinccome or we have 21.5% of our

47:01students with disabilities. How are

47:03those subgroups doing towards meeting

47:06their targets meeting their goals? And

47:08that's what this does. So um on the left

47:11hand side is the different subgroups

47:15identified. You can see the first three

47:18are the districts overall, our non- high

47:22school which is grades 3 through 8 and

47:24then our high school data. And then you

47:26see each school is listed there. And

47:29really what you're looking for here is

47:32where am I seeing a lot of greens?

47:34Greens mean that we're making

47:36substantial progress towards our

47:38targets.

47:39um yellow, we're making some moderate

47:42progress, could still improve. And then

47:44we sort of look at those reds. Um we do

47:47have some blues here, which is great.

47:49We're seeing some progress. Uh but um

47:53we're also seeing areas such as our

47:56students with disabilities where there's

47:58a lot of red across the bottom where

48:00we're maybe not doing as well at meeting

48:04the targets for those students.

48:09our chronic absenteeism.

48:11Um, this is really important for the

48:15understanding about how chronic

48:17absenteeism is actually calculated as

48:19well. It's defined as missing 10% or

48:23more of enrolled school days. So a

48:27student could come midy year and they

48:30might only be enrolled in our district

48:32for like 80 days and then whatever they

48:36miss, it's calculated by that 80 days.

48:39And so we know if they're here 180 days,

48:42which is a full school year, if they

48:45miss 18 days, they would be chronically

48:48absent. That's 10%.

48:50But I could have a student who's here 20

48:52days and if they miss two days they also

48:56become chronically absent. Right? So it

48:59is a membership part of that. We can see

49:03over the last five years, if you look at

49:05the blue line, that's our Lawrence

49:07public schools. We saw a significant

49:10improvement in students coming to school

49:13from 2022 until 2025 where we were

49:17almost at the state average. We had a

49:20little blip up this year. The state

49:22continued their downward trend in grades

49:243 through 8. Excuse me, that non- high

49:27school would be 1 through eight. our

49:29chronic absenteeism rates at the high

49:31school. You can see similar um we

49:33started high in 2022. Um and then it's

49:37it's declined with a slight uptip again

49:40here um in this last school year.

49:45>> Any questions around the accountability

49:46or should I just move keep moving on to

49:48MCCAST?

49:50>> Can you please repeat the uh madam chair

49:54do I have to ask right now for to speak?

49:58Thank you, Madam Chair. Madame Vice

50:00Chair, um can you please repeat the

50:03rankings? Is that the rankings in um is

50:06that against the state or against uh

50:09other schools, similar schools? I forget

50:12what you've mentioned.

50:13>> It's against all schools in the state.

50:16So, if I'm an elementary school or I'm a

50:19middle school or I have elementary and

50:20middle, I'm compared to all elementary

50:23middle schools in the state. Um, so it

50:26would say which score which school

50:28scored the highest they would be at the

50:3099th percentile and which school scored

50:33the lowest they would be at the first

50:35percentile.

50:36>> Thank you.

50:40>> Um, as we go into our MCCAST results, I

50:42think you saw some of these previously.

50:45Um, we're adding um, so we are looking

50:48at I jumped ahead too, sorry. um three

50:52years of our English language arts

50:54MCCAST data. This particular data is by

50:57grade level and it's the percent of

51:00students meeting or exceeding

51:02expectations on MCCAST.

51:05So the black line with those numbers is

51:08the state average. So for instance, I

51:11can look at 8th grade. 42% of students

51:15across the state are meeting or

51:18exceeding in Lawrence. our eighth

51:20graders, we had 22% last year, 21% the

51:24year before, 21% the year before. So,

51:28we've remained in that particular eighth

51:30grade were pretty stable in that.

51:33Typically, you're going to look for a 3%

51:36increase or decrease for it to be

51:39meaningful or significant. And so, we

51:42saw that in our grade four where we had

51:44a a fairly significant going from 16% to

51:4813%.

51:49But in fifth grade, we went up from 12

51:52to 14. So, we can sort of see um in

51:55general, we're staying relatively flat

51:59um in terms of our overall achievement

52:01on the MCCAST ELA.

52:04This is looking at so that that graph

52:07was at the top end. This graph is those

52:11students who are in not meeting. So our

52:14goal is we want to move as many kids

52:16into meeting or exceeding while also

52:19moving students out of the not meeting

52:21category. And similarly you can look at

52:24the the black line is the state. Um and

52:28then you can see where our average is in

52:31terms of the percent of students. We can

52:34see in sixth grade we did see a

52:36significant jump up in the percent this

52:38year of students in that not meeting.

52:41Um, and we saw the same in fourth grade.

52:45Everybody else remained relatively

52:46stable.

52:49This is looking at, so that's the

52:52percent. This is actually looking at

52:54that average scale score. So we showed

52:57you the district average scale score

52:59back in the accountability. This is by

53:02each school. So this is for grades 3

53:05through eight. The state, you can see

53:07the average scale score is 493.

53:10As a district, our average scale score

53:13is 477. And then you can see how each

53:16school within our district. If you look

53:18along the bottom, you'll see what those

53:21categories relate to. So 440 to 470 is

53:25con considered not meeting expectations.

53:29470 to 500 is partially meeting.

53:33At 500 is where we identify students who

53:36are starting to meet expectations. And

53:39then above 530, they're exceeding

53:41expectations.

53:46Here's for our grade 10. We can see the

53:49state was at 497,

53:52Lawrence High School was at 475, and

53:54that was also our district.

53:59In math, the data looks the same in

54:03terms of the percent of students scoring

54:07at or excuse me, meeting or exceeding

54:09expectations across the different grade

54:12levels. Remember, you're looking for

54:14that 3% increase or decrease as a

54:17meaningful. So, we saw some some

54:20positives and negatives in our math

54:22data. And then the black line again is

54:25the state average.

54:30percent of students not meeting

54:32expectations.

54:34Um, I would say one of the things I sort

54:37of noticed with this is we have fewer

54:40students in the not meeting in math than

54:43we did see previously in the ELA data.

54:49And then we can see here again the

54:51results by school on that average scale

54:53score. The state was at 495. our

54:56district is at 479.

54:59You can see both of those are within

55:00that partially meeting expectations

55:02range

55:06and then our 10th grade

55:10science. We only test in three grades,

55:12grades five, 8, and 10. We did see a a

55:17significant increase in the percent of

55:19students meeting or exceeding in our

55:20eighth grade science. And then you can

55:23also see um the state average there as

55:26well. And then civic oops sorry this is

55:30the not meeting expectations

55:32for science.

55:36Our average scale score for grades five

55:39through five and eight. Again pretty

55:42similar results. It's pretty consistent

55:44both at the state level and the district

55:47level in ter in terms of that average

55:49scale score across subjects.

55:53our 10th grade.

55:57And then this is our civics. So, civics

56:00has only been around for two years. Um,

56:03and we've had pretty consistent scores

56:05the last two years. Only our grade

56:07eight. So, um, if you're sort of

56:10following along, grade 8 has four MCCAST

56:13tests that they take. They have all of

56:16them, ELA, math, science, and civics.

56:19Um, so this is the percent meeting or

56:21exceeding. This is the percent not

56:23meeting. Again, it was really consistent

56:25across the two years. And then we can

56:28see the results by schools. Um, the

56:31state again sort of right at that 494,

56:34we were at 480. And then most of our

56:36schools hovered around us pretty

56:38similar, all within sort of that

56:40partially meeting expectations as the

56:43average.

56:45And actually, nobody's going to do that.

56:47And so that is our MCCAST and

56:49accountability. Happy to answer any

56:51questions.

56:57>> Madam vice chair

56:59>> committee um you have the floor.

57:02>> Thank you.

57:03uh question for me uh from me is uh I

57:07know that in the past the state has

57:08provided a more granular uh data

57:11pertaining to exactly what skills the

57:14students are showing or demonstrating

57:17the most need in or what areas have we

57:21received that information yet?

57:22>> We have. Yeah. And we um we are working

57:25with schools now because it varies by

57:28school, it varies by grade. And so we're

57:30doing a lot of t time with our teachers

57:33in reviewing that information and

57:36looking at historically are we seeing

57:39similar deficits from year to year and

57:43so how do we address that?

57:46>> Um thank you. I guess the I would have

57:50more questions. I guess I can refer them

57:52to the superintendent about more

57:54specifics around the work that's

57:56happening in the schools. Thank you.

57:58>> Welcome. Any

58:01other member with questions?

58:08>> Um, Madam Chair, through you.

58:11Um, I think I want to just

58:15What's your name again?

58:17>> Lynn. You can call me Lynn. Yeah,

58:19>> thank you for being here tonight. I

58:21think I when we look into the page of

58:23the 2026 accountability progress towards

58:25target

58:27what this is telling me is that uh

58:29lowest performing students subgroup

58:32is at 56% and they're doing better than

58:36the overall average all students. Is

58:40that what I'm seeing here?

58:41>> Yeah, we we are doing a good job for

58:45that lowest performing group. Now

58:48remember that group is identified by

58:50DESIE as your lowest 25%. So it could be

58:55and so each school has its own students

58:57that are identified and there's some

58:59criteria. So they need to have been in

59:01the school two years. They can't be

59:04students um who are English learners not

59:06taking the assessment. So they do

59:09identify who those lowest group would

59:11be. So in a you know a school that has a

59:14hundred students it's going to be

59:16identifying 25 students and that's who

59:18they look at and say where are they now

59:22what was their score and then they set a

59:24target for them. So their target could

59:27be much lower than the overall target

59:31because it's based on their baseline

59:33where they were and what how much

59:35progress are they making towards their

59:37own their target.

59:39>> Okay. So it makes makes sense what I'm

59:41seeing here. Yeah.

59:42>> Um and then the other piece is sort of

59:44seeing our students with disability on

59:46the 16% overall and then when we look at

59:49middle schools on 9%. Um

59:54I feel like that's really alarming to

59:56see. We at least for me I I see tons of

59:59discussions for parents when it comes to

1:00:02our students with disability in the

1:00:03district. Um I I just hope that

1:00:08we as a district figure out what can we

1:00:11do dramatically to change that. Um and I

1:00:14know we have a I believe we have a new

1:00:16assistant superintendent

1:00:18um that is charged welcome uh with this

1:00:22and I think when we look at the ley and

1:00:26the Oliver and the work I think it's the

1:00:28ley that has an entire floor dedicated

1:00:30for students with disability. Um, I just

1:00:33hope that we can see this turn around as

1:00:36as quick as we can.

1:00:43>> Madame vice chair, thank you. Uh I know

1:00:48I think we talked about this in one of

1:00:49the workshops before but having in our

1:00:53district we have high mobility we have a

1:00:55transient population and that might work

1:00:58in different places not just our general

1:01:00students but within subgroups too and I

1:01:04guess one of the challenges I'm just

1:01:05looking at some of these numbers here

1:01:07the grade 8 2026

1:01:11ELA math science grade 8 was 22 2229 19

1:01:16then to grade 10 dropped to 15, 12 and

1:01:1910. Quite a big drop and I'm I'm

1:01:22thinking back to that conversation that

1:01:24we had about again the mobility and the

1:01:26transient nature especially at that time

1:01:29frame for a lot of our students lives. I

1:01:32I just want to see if I'm on the right

1:01:33track here. Can I assume that maybe

1:01:37there was other pathways to other high

1:01:38schools during that time and maybe

1:01:41perhaps we lost some students that um

1:01:43are out of the numbers now? That's my

1:01:46first question. The second part is

1:01:50would it make sense to really dig into

1:01:53that transient and mobility number to

1:01:57see what these numbers really are? even

1:02:00with um my colle colleague was talking

1:02:02about a a certain population of our

1:02:05students, disabled students, what does

1:02:08that look like? Are they the same

1:02:10students? Is anything changing? I feel

1:02:12like that's an important number that

1:02:14needs to be in our data and I'm

1:02:16wondering if that's something that

1:02:17you've done in the past or something

1:02:18that we can expect in the future.

1:02:21>> Yeah, we um we do definitely look at

1:02:24cohorts and so it this is not cohort

1:02:27data. This is like one eighth grade

1:02:29compared to the next year's eighth grade

1:02:31compared to the next year's eighth grade

1:02:33versus looking at kids who were in fifth

1:02:36grade and then are in sixth grade in our

1:02:38seventh grade, 8th grade. How are they

1:02:41doing from year to year to year is

1:02:43something that we are looking at and

1:02:44that we can we could provide you with

1:02:47that information. I think in terms of I

1:02:50think anytime you have students from

1:02:53that transition from eighth grade to

1:02:54high school, they have lots of options.

1:02:57And so I do think that's one of the

1:03:00reasons that I I don't want to speak for

1:03:02the high school or the superintendent,

1:03:03but um to to build our Abbott Lawrence

1:03:08Academy, right, going down to get kids

1:03:10so that they want to stay here and go to

1:03:13high school here. Um to have that as a

1:03:16pathway. Um, the other thing I do just

1:03:18want to note that both the

1:03:21accountability and the MCCAST data we

1:03:23only get if the student has been with us

1:03:26all year. So, um, if a student was not

1:03:30here as of October 1st, um, they don't

1:03:33count in this particular data. This data

1:03:36is only for students that we educated

1:03:38for the full school year.

1:03:42>> Thank you. I appreciate it.

1:03:45Any

1:03:47other member with questions?

1:03:53>> I think Maria is gonna do has a

1:03:56presentation for the um

1:03:59>> Sorry, I do have another question real

1:04:00quick. Um do you know if um I was the

1:04:04vice chair had any other questions? Uh

1:04:07do you know I guess when I'm looking at

1:04:09percentages for our chronic students

1:04:12chronic students um as students in the

1:04:15district that the decline 1.1 do you

1:04:19know what is that number is that three

1:04:22students five or is that just in general

1:04:24throughout the entire district?

1:04:27>> Um

1:04:28is that for the non- high school or for

1:04:30the high school?

1:04:31>> High school.

1:04:33Sorry.

1:04:34>> Right. So, um, it's based on grades 9

1:04:37through 12

1:04:39>> and there's about, where's Victor?

1:04:423500ish

1:04:44students.

1:04:46>> Yeah. So, um, a 1% would be 30.

1:04:53>> So, 1% of

1:04:54>> 1% would be

1:04:55>> would be 35 kids, right? Yeah, I was

1:04:58thinking 10%, but 1%.

1:05:00>> Okay. And I guess when you look at the

1:05:022026 accountability results by school

1:05:04and the district,

1:05:07um

1:05:10I think it would be great to to hear

1:05:13what type of interventions the receiver

1:05:15is doing within the district. Uh when it

1:05:18comes to like particular schools that

1:05:20are just declining like the Oliver

1:05:22Middle School,

1:05:25um the Bartam Elementary, Spark Academy,

1:05:31I like the change year after year is

1:05:34really dramatic. Um

1:05:38it'll be great just to analyze like what

1:05:40is going on and what practices

1:05:44stopped perhaps

1:05:46that is being part of this decline.

1:05:50Um, it doesn't look like

1:05:53like when you look at the spark,

1:05:57it's not requiring assistant, but it's

1:06:00still declining. And I I just hope that

1:06:02we're not like because they're not

1:06:04needing assistance that we're like

1:06:05dropping the ball and not putting

1:06:07resources and capacity on it because

1:06:11they're not

1:06:12the student population that needs the

1:06:14most support at the moment. Um, I just

1:06:17hope we're not we're not dropping the

1:06:18ball.

1:06:19Thank you.

1:06:29>> Are we ready to go to the next topic?

1:06:31>> Oh, yeah. Actually, no. We have our

1:06:33access presentation. Sorry. Go ahead. No

1:06:34worries. Good evening, um, everyone. My

1:06:37name is Maria Gutierrez. I'm the senior

1:06:39director of multilingual learners. Um, I

1:06:42believe I'm not sure you have a copy.

1:06:43Oh, you do have a copy. That's

1:06:45excellent. Great. Um, so I just wanted

1:06:48to add some more information about our

1:06:50accountability results for um, progress

1:06:54towards attaining English proficiency as

1:06:56measured by the access test. Um, I just

1:07:00wanted to mention that I came here, I

1:07:03think it was in May, to share

1:07:05preliminary results and so you're going

1:07:07to see a similar presentation tonight

1:07:09but with the updated final results that

1:07:11just came out a few weeks ago.

1:07:15Um so um AIDA access is an annual

1:07:20English language proficiency assessment

1:07:22that all students designated as English

1:07:24learners um need to take every year. It

1:07:27measures English language skills in four

1:07:29domains: reading, writing, listening,

1:07:31and speaking. Um we tested students this

1:07:34year from January 5th through February

1:07:3627th and over 5,000 students in the

1:07:39district um took the test. So, access uh

1:07:43report scores in a scale from 1 to six

1:07:46where one would be um very beginning

1:07:49proficiency and six would be near native

1:07:52proficiency. And so you can see here our

1:07:56um averages in per domain uh for the

1:08:00district. So in 2026 we see that our

1:08:04areas of strength are listening uh with

1:08:07an average score of 3.8 and reading with

1:08:10an average score of three. and our uh

1:08:12lowest areas will be those productive

1:08:14domains of speaking and writing. We

1:08:18don't particularly expect any changes on

1:08:21this from year to year because the L

1:08:23population is dynamic. So our students

1:08:25progress in their proficiency, they exit

1:08:27the program and we welcome new students

1:08:31um who are just entering the country and

1:08:33starting at one. Um but this gives us

1:08:35information about what areas we need to

1:08:38focus on which in this case is speaking

1:08:40and writing.

1:08:43So for our accountability results um we

1:08:46study one indicator um in um this

1:08:49category and this is whether students

1:08:52are meeting their individual

1:08:54progress benchmark. So unlike the

1:08:58MCCAST, there is no set score that a

1:09:01student in a specific grade level needs

1:09:04to achieve. Instead, because the

1:09:06students can come as a newcomer in grade

1:09:091 or in grade 11. So they can start at

1:09:12the beginning at any point. Um instead

1:09:15we look at their individual growth. So

1:09:18after a student first takes access, Desi

1:09:21calculates an individual target for the

1:09:24following um test administration. This

1:09:27is calculated considering how long the

1:09:29student has been in the country uh what

1:09:31their previous uh score was and other

1:09:34students who are have a similar profile

1:09:37etc.

1:09:39um if the student reaches the score or

1:09:41higher they're considered to have made

1:09:43progress and if they do not then uh they

1:09:46did not make progress. It's a binary. It

1:09:49does not take into account improvement

1:09:52below the target.

1:09:55Um Desi also sets a percentage target

1:09:58for each school and for the district of

1:10:01how many students have met their

1:10:03individual target and this is part of

1:10:05the accountability system. So here we

1:10:08can see how we did as a district in

1:10:10grades uh non- high school which would

1:10:13be grades uh 1 through eight.

1:10:15Kindergartners don't have targets yet.

1:10:18Um

1:10:20um 43.3%

1:10:23of the students um met their targets.

1:10:26Our um district target was 41%. So we

1:10:30met it because more students did than um

1:10:33was our target um at the high school

1:10:36level. Similarly, 15.7% of students met

1:10:39their target and our uh Desi set target

1:10:42was 14.2%. So, we also met our

1:10:45accountability target here.

1:10:52If we look by school and we'll have a

1:10:53more detailed list in just a moment, we

1:10:55can see uh 5% of our schools exceeded

1:10:58their target. This is one school. um 60%

1:11:02of our schools met their target uh which

1:11:04is considered to be plus or minus three

1:11:06percentage points from their target. 10%

1:11:10of our schools improved but stayed below

1:11:12their target. 20% had no change um which

1:11:17is considered

1:11:19the same or declined by less than three

1:11:22points and 5% again one school um

1:11:26actually declined.

1:11:29So last year in 2025 um over half of our

1:11:33schools exceeded their target and we

1:11:36celebrated that a lot and we were really

1:11:38proud of them. Um but you know this year

1:11:42we really have to focus on the fact that

1:11:44um a large percentage of our students

1:11:47met their target and that is sustainable

1:11:49growth. So um we have to really be happy

1:11:53that schools are progressing um towards

1:11:56their target in a sustainable way. Here

1:11:59we can see the comparison of 2025 and

1:12:022026.

1:12:07And here it's very small, but you can

1:12:09see the actual school by school

1:12:11accountability results. So, as you can

1:12:13see, uh we had one school that declined

1:12:16by 5.2 percentage points. all the other

1:12:19schools that declined as labeled in the

1:12:21red numbers. Um the um the decrease was

1:12:26small enough that it's considered to be

1:12:28no change um just because of statistical

1:12:31significance.

1:12:37Some highlights um the Gilmet Elementary

1:12:40School um is our one school that

1:12:42exceeded their target. Their results

1:12:45increased by 21.2 2 percentage points

1:12:48from 2025 to 2026 and um they exceeded

1:12:53their target by more than 15 percentage

1:12:56points. So they did a really nice job at

1:12:58the Gilmet Elementary.

1:13:01Um another highlight is the Hennessy. So

1:13:04the Hennessy school does not actually

1:13:06have an accountability target because

1:13:07they're a preK through two school. Um

1:13:10but I think it's worth noting that 65.8%

1:13:138% of their students who have a target

1:13:16actually meet it and that's our highest

1:13:18percentage in the entire district.

1:13:22Um, another highlight is the Lehey

1:13:25Middle School. They had the most growth

1:13:27at the secondary level this year.

1:13:34And then I wanted to show the results

1:13:36over time. So um this particular

1:13:39accountability indicator began in 2017.

1:13:43So as you can see here we have data from

1:13:45all all year since the beginning of the

1:13:48um of this target or sorry of this um

1:13:51accountability indicator. And so um 2017

1:13:56which was the first one um was unusually

1:13:59high both in our district and at the

1:14:01state level. Um not sure what happened

1:14:04there, but uh from 2018 on you can see

1:14:07that we had some years of growth

1:14:09particularly at the non- high school

1:14:12level. Then we had um the pandemic dip.

1:14:16Um and since then you can see um pretty

1:14:21consistent growth both at the non- high

1:14:24school and at the high school levels for

1:14:26the district.

1:14:31So we use access data or this

1:14:33accountability data in many ways. Um for

1:14:36example, these scores um inform whether

1:14:39a student can attend the newcomer

1:14:41program at LHS for example, if they're

1:14:44enrolled in mainstream classes. Um they

1:14:47also inform if students are going to be

1:14:50enrolled in rooms with ESL co-teers or

1:14:53if they're going to receive ESL um as

1:14:56one of their classes. um school teams

1:14:58use this information to make decisions

1:15:00about small groupoup instruction um

1:15:03language focus areas um specific

1:15:06supports that the students may need to

1:15:08succeed right as their English develops

1:15:11um they have better access to ELA math

1:15:14science curriculum etc. Um, we use the

1:15:18use this information in the department

1:15:20of multilingual learners to make

1:15:21decisions about resource allocation. And

1:15:24so I wanted to highlight some focus

1:15:26areas for the department this year is

1:15:29really improving uh tier one shelter

1:15:31English instruction meaning um you know

1:15:34math teachers, science teachers, social

1:15:36studies teachers uh increasing their

1:15:38ability to teach students who are not

1:15:40yet proficient in English um in a you

1:15:44know high quality rigorous way. uh and

1:15:46we're doing this in particular through

1:15:48our investment in the quality teaching

1:15:50for English learners uh professional

1:15:52development framework. Uh we're also

1:15:55investing in the implementation of

1:15:56highquality ESL curriculum which is now

1:15:59present in all schools. So now that it's

1:16:01there, we want to make sure that our

1:16:02teachers um know how to use it um and

1:16:06that they're using it well so that the

1:16:07students can take advantage of that. Um,

1:16:10and then we also uh want to ensure that

1:16:13all of our ESL teachers are

1:16:15appropriately licensed and all of our

1:16:17content and home room teachers are

1:16:18appropriately endorsed to teach English

1:16:20learners. So that has been um a push. Uh

1:16:24this um slide from May said 50 teachers

1:16:28in the pipeline. We've already had over

1:16:3130 teachers who finished their program

1:16:33and got their license um since the the

1:16:36spring. Um, so that's it for um, access

1:16:41accountability results and I will be

1:16:42happy to answer any questions.

1:16:44>> So I just want to clarify we did not

1:16:46have those slide decks so we were all

1:16:48really trying to

1:16:50>> I went fast. Sorry about that.

1:16:52>> U, so I'll open up opening it up to

1:16:55members if they there's any questions.

1:17:04Um madame vice chair um through you

1:17:12know I wrote a question here. I was

1:17:14going to say like what are you seeing

1:17:15that is working and then you show me the

1:17:172025 versus 2026

1:17:20and instantly opened my mouth and was

1:17:22like what happened? um seeing that

1:17:25decline or exceeding

1:17:28to meet target and then you saw so like

1:17:32the consistencies of growth since co so

1:17:34I get that after seeing that then I was

1:17:36like okay there's definitely something

1:17:38going on throughout year after year that

1:17:42we're seeing something happening. Um

1:17:50yeah, I

1:17:52I guess overall

1:17:55you're fairly new in this position,

1:17:57right, to the district overall. Um, is

1:18:01there any type of best practices that

1:18:04you have undertaken in other districts

1:18:06that you think you're looking forward to

1:18:08implementing in order to support this

1:18:12to support our our our individual

1:18:15schools to at least get them to meet the

1:18:17target?

1:18:19>> Um, so actually I'm homegrown. This is

1:18:22my 10th year in the district.

1:18:24>> Um, I was an ESL teacher at the Lawrence

1:18:26High. Um and uh I used to teach 9th

1:18:29grade and then I went to central office

1:18:31to the ML department um under the

1:18:34mentorship of the previous director um

1:18:36when she retired I transitioned into

1:18:39this role. This is my second year in the

1:18:41role.

1:18:43>> Um so yeah I mean there's many factors

1:18:47that uh can influence how well students

1:18:50do on on access and just generally how

1:18:52well they they learn English. Um, one

1:18:55aspect of that is ESL. So the in fact,

1:18:59you know, having appropriately licensed,

1:19:00highly qualified ESL educators. Um,

1:19:03having access to high quality

1:19:05instructional materials and curriculum

1:19:07for ESL. Um, those are things that we

1:19:10have struggled with in the past that we

1:19:13are working to address. Um, and like I

1:19:15said, now we have um, HQIM in every

1:19:18school in the district. Um, and um, I

1:19:22don't have the exact numbers, but I'm

1:19:24happy to share them. But we started last

1:19:26year with about 50% of our ESL teachers

1:19:29uh, not properly licensed, and now we

1:19:31are at about 25%.

1:19:33So, significant improvement there, and

1:19:36we're continuing to work to reduce that

1:19:38number to zero um, hopefully in the very

1:19:41near future. Um, but it's not just ESL.

1:19:46So everyone shares responsibility for

1:19:49English learner success and for English

1:19:51language acquisition. All teachers are

1:19:54language teachers. And so I think that

1:19:56this message uh over time has really um

1:20:01been highlighted and reinforced in

1:20:03schools so that when students are in

1:20:05math class for example we're not just

1:20:07learning math but we're also learning to

1:20:10talk about math describe what we are

1:20:12doing ask questions inquire etc. And so

1:20:16math teachers have been really stepping

1:20:18up to ensure that students are speaking

1:20:20about math and writing about math all

1:20:23day every day. Um, so through things

1:20:26like, you know, the requirement for the

1:20:28SEI endorsement. So that started in

1:20:302011. It's now been 15 years. It takes

1:20:32time for people to to learn things and

1:20:35to put things into practice and to

1:20:37improve and uh their their practice and

1:20:39increase their capacity. And so we're I

1:20:41think starting to see some of the fruits

1:20:43of that. Um similarly our investment in

1:20:46professional development for all

1:20:48teachers around providing access to

1:20:51English learners to grade level

1:20:53curriculum and content uh and to

1:20:55increase the the productive domain so

1:20:58speaking and writing more than just

1:21:01listening and reading.

1:21:04Uh vice chair a followup quick followup

1:21:07um

1:21:10the particular program to do the 50

1:21:12teachers and in that particular pipeline

1:21:14uh those resources are coming directly

1:21:16from the district or this is something

1:21:17that

1:21:19they get enroll and they do on

1:21:20themselves.

1:21:22>> So we've had a number of different

1:21:24avenues to do this. Um so teachers can

1:21:30decide to pursue their own education and

1:21:32there are some benefits uh tuition

1:21:34reimbursement benefits uh for that. Um

1:21:37we um a part of it is even like learning

1:21:41what programs exist. So there's not a

1:21:43lot of teacher preparation programs for

1:21:45ESL out there. So often it's more about

1:21:48sharing information and encouraging

1:21:49teachers to to to join one of the few

1:21:52that exist and then guide them through

1:21:55what are the requirements for lensure.

1:21:58Um how do I prepare for the teacher

1:21:59tests like all of these things and then

1:22:01there are those like financial benefits

1:22:04uh like the tuition reimbursement for

1:22:05them to pursue on their own. Um in

1:22:08addition to that we've also pursued a

1:22:10number of different like grant

1:22:11opportunities etc to directly partner

1:22:14with um institutions of higher education

1:22:17to sponsor um employees of the district

1:22:20to go and do this. So whether they are

1:22:22people who are already working as ESL

1:22:24teachers that are not appropriately

1:22:26licensed so we you know enroll them so

1:22:28that they can get their license but we

1:22:30also want to cultivate um other folks

1:22:33who want to become teachers. So

1:22:34paraprofessionals who have their

1:22:35bachelor's degree and are thinking about

1:22:38um becoming teachers in the future, we

1:22:40tap into those in particular when they

1:22:43are people who are from Lawrence who are

1:22:46very committed to the community who

1:22:47maybe were English learners themselves

1:22:50um and um have a lot of passion for

1:22:53these students group

1:22:55>> and and I asked that particular question

1:22:56because you also mentioned that this

1:22:58sort of endorsement has been happening

1:23:00since 2011, right? and knowing the

1:23:04district that is facing through one of

1:23:06the indicators for chap for chapter 691k

1:23:09is the the teacher retention right and

1:23:12um understanding how many teachers

1:23:16started their process in 2011 and

1:23:19they're still in the district or have

1:23:20left the district or have done the

1:23:22endorsement and we have invested on them

1:23:24and now they're not in the district. So

1:23:26like how do you see that? whether you

1:23:28see that constant um opportunity and

1:23:32where we're investing on teachers to get

1:23:33this endorsement and then they're still

1:23:34in the district or they're not like

1:23:37>> Yep. Um so the and there's two things

1:23:40here. One is an a teaching license to be

1:23:44a teacher of English as a second

1:23:45language. So that's a full license the

1:23:48same way that you would have an

1:23:49elementary license or a math license or

1:23:52whatever any other content. Um, that's

1:23:55one thing. And then the SEI endorsement

1:23:58is like an add-on to your regular

1:24:00teaching license to kind of say, you

1:24:03know, you've proven that you have

1:24:04attended professional development about

1:24:07how to teach English learners. So, if I

1:24:10am a math teacher and I have English

1:24:12learners in my class, which in Lawrence

1:24:14is every math teacher, um, you are

1:24:17required to obtain this endorsement

1:24:19within one year um of of teaching. So

1:24:23the endorsement um it's it's a class

1:24:25like it's not a very arduous uh thing to

1:24:29pursue. We actually offer the class free

1:24:32of charge at least twice a year,

1:24:34sometimes more than that to make sure

1:24:36that any newly hired educators we catch

1:24:39right at the beginning of the year. We

1:24:41do the course, they obtain the

1:24:42endorsement and they're ready to go as

1:24:45soon as possible. The endorsement piece

1:24:47is easy. It cost us relatively very

1:24:50little because we teach it ourselves. Um

1:24:54the license is more challenging because

1:24:57um it's just a specialty like any others

1:25:00and so it's not super popular even

1:25:03though I don't really understand why

1:25:04anyone would not want to teach ESL. It's

1:25:07a lovely content. Um but so it's just

1:25:09not as many people not as many teacher

1:25:11preparation programs. So a lot of

1:25:13colleges that offer teacher preparation

1:25:15don't have that as a specialty. Um, so

1:25:18for example, if you go to UMass Lowel,

1:25:20it's not an option. Um, and so it just

1:25:23becomes more challenging in that way.

1:25:25The there's the MTEL barrier. Um, a lot

1:25:28of people who want to be uh ESL teachers

1:25:32um are English learners themselves. And

1:25:34so sometimes these tests can present a

1:25:37struggle uh for people who are

1:25:39passionate and oftentimes highly

1:25:41qualified. But um all of this red tape

1:25:45keeps them from obtaining the proper

1:25:47certification. So we work with colleges

1:25:49to support them through all of those

1:25:51things. And oftent times through

1:25:53mentorship uh in the district they they

1:25:56overcome all of that and they're usually

1:25:59very committed. So the vast majority of

1:26:01folks that we put through these programs

1:26:03do stay in the district because they

1:26:05feel that we invested in them that we

1:26:08believe in them and that we support them

1:26:10and they want to now give back.

1:26:15If we can put the slides back up, I want

1:26:17to just do make a quick comparison to

1:26:19what we have here. And then

1:26:24so just looking at the param and even

1:26:27looking at some of the accountability

1:26:29data and seeing the decline of the

1:26:30parth, I suspect that we're looking

1:26:33we're we're honing into like what the

1:26:35shifts are there.

1:26:39Question.

1:26:39>> Oh um so we are looking into it. Um

1:26:44there's many things that could be

1:26:46impacting this. Um things like for

1:26:50example they've had a vacancy for a

1:26:52little while. Um so that could have an

1:26:54impact on that. Um

1:26:58there's also the possibility that um the

1:27:02student population in the neighborhood

1:27:05may be changing and um the school just

1:27:08hasn't had time to like catch up just

1:27:10yet. uh because it takes time for people

1:27:13to like you know learn new tricks of the

1:27:16craft when the there are shifts in the

1:27:18demographics.

1:27:20Um it's also possible and like I Lyn and

1:27:23I have to work on this together to see

1:27:25more years of data because if you have a

1:27:28lot of students who do really well and

1:27:31exit the program um then that may skew

1:27:36the data uh for one or two years after

1:27:39that. So, we need to look a little bit

1:27:40more deeply in that because they're

1:27:43doing relatively well. Like, they're

1:27:44still one of the highest middle schools

1:27:47overall. There's just the the decline,

1:27:50>> the 5% decline. It's what's a little

1:27:52alarming um

1:27:54>> for a school that's historically

1:27:56probably done very has done very well.

1:27:58>> Um and so I know that the vacancy that's

1:28:00an input and an output, but it's

1:28:02impacting student outcomes and that's a

1:28:04little it's concerning.

1:28:06Yes, we're like actively trying to

1:28:08figure out like can we pinpoint exactly

1:28:11why it's happening. Um they are working

1:28:14on it. They've um done changes to the

1:28:16schedule, changing changes to like how

1:28:18they're scheduling students uh how

1:28:21they're using the curriculum. So they're

1:28:22actively working on it.

1:28:26>> Any other questions for members?

1:28:28>> Just a comment.

1:28:33>> Thank you. Um, thank you for all the

1:28:35data. Just in a in the spirit of our

1:28:37capacity building, it's I think it's so

1:28:40important to connect those resources and

1:28:41funding to those focus areas that you

1:28:44pointed out, which is great. And I I

1:28:46just want to reiterate again, I guess

1:28:48this is why it's important to have

1:28:50things like the cohort information where

1:28:52we can study who's transient, who's not,

1:28:55and u what other impacts are are

1:29:00changing our baseline or changing

1:29:02preventing our baseline from hitting our

1:29:04target. Uh but it's all it's all great

1:29:07information so far. I think it would be

1:29:09great to take a deeper dive and really

1:29:11focus on those areas and see how we can

1:29:14move the needle by looking at the data.

1:29:16That's all. Thanks.

1:29:18>> Thank you,

1:29:20>> Madam Vice Chair. Go now.

1:29:23>> Thank you. So, first I just want to

1:29:25congratulate you on the growth that

1:29:26we're seeing across the district. I

1:29:27think that's amazing, especially

1:29:29following the MCCAST data. That was um

1:29:32that was very refreshing um to say the

1:29:35least. Uh my question to you or to

1:29:39anyone in the administration is has

1:29:40anyone looked at possible correlations

1:29:43between

1:29:44uh data that is not showing positive

1:29:49growth and

1:29:52uh variables such as

1:29:56teacher retention.

1:29:58Um, I'm very interested in knowing

1:30:01uh the schools, for example, the schools

1:30:03that are that are uh showing less growth

1:30:07or declines. I'd like to know

1:30:10uh how many stage five teachers are

1:30:13working in those schools. Um you

1:30:16mentioned when when we saw the

1:30:18difference in the after 2017 there was a

1:30:21sharp decline and you said you wonder

1:30:24what happened. Well, I know one thing

1:30:25that changed was that Jeff Riley was no

1:30:29longer the receiver. And I know that

1:30:32when Jeff Riley was a receiver, there

1:30:33was a brigade of tutors working at the

1:30:37high school after school. There was a

1:30:39special after school program. There was

1:30:41this the uh

1:30:44what's what was that uh that uh

1:30:48the grant that teachers received for

1:30:50working what is it? The acceleration

1:30:53academy. that there was a special name

1:30:55for the award that teachers received.

1:30:56>> Santag Santag. Yes. So, there was a big,

1:30:59you know, there was a big push to um

1:31:02incentivize teachers to receive

1:31:04additional professional development. I

1:31:06know that that requires a lot of

1:31:08funding, but I guess what I'm trying to

1:31:09get at is

1:31:11uh pointing to that shift or that

1:31:13decline. I I can point to possible

1:31:16factors that went away when uh we

1:31:20transitioned into the LE board. um or at

1:31:23least were reduced things that were

1:31:25reduced whether it were was resources or

1:31:28programs. Um and we've always had I

1:31:32think an issue with teacher turnover in

1:31:35as as far as I've been working with the

1:31:38district. Uh but I know that like when

1:31:42when those programs were in place, there

1:31:44was I think th they serve to uh

1:31:48compensate for some of the challenges

1:31:51that come up when when we have such a

1:31:53revolving door of teachers leaving the

1:31:56district or leaving the career. I know

1:31:57that first age teachers uh have a high

1:32:00rate of turnover anywhere. Uh but I

1:32:03wonder if if we've looked at that data,

1:32:06if anyone has looked at whether there

1:32:09are correlations between high teacher

1:32:12attrition and declining uh scores,

1:32:15whether it be with MCCAST, well, we're

1:32:17looking at MCCAST mostly with the

1:32:19declines or the lack of growth in some

1:32:20areas. Congratulations to the schools

1:32:22that have that did show growth, by the

1:32:24way. But I guess it's a general

1:32:26question. If we haven't looked at that

1:32:28data, if we have looked at that data,

1:32:30does it exist?

1:32:31Can we have uh as committee members, can

1:32:33we have access to it? Um and if it

1:32:36doesn't exist, what can we do to uh make

1:32:39an effort to look at that that possible

1:32:41correlation?

1:32:43>> Um so I don't know if Lynn wants to

1:32:45share a little bit about that. Uh we

1:32:47definitely have looked at, you know, a

1:32:51bunch of indicators for each goal and

1:32:53then trying to find just things that

1:32:58stick out. um it's really hard to really

1:33:03pinpoint at something and say this is

1:33:05the thing, but we've looked at um

1:33:08retention, we've looked at um veteran

1:33:11teacher or professional teacher status,

1:33:14we've looked at um attendance, we've

1:33:17looked at even the results of the

1:33:19survey, so like the staff survey, the

1:33:22family and student survey to see if we

1:33:24could find any kind of like correlation

1:33:26about what teachers report um about

1:33:29their work or students about their

1:33:31efficacy and how they feel in school and

1:33:34things like that and try to correlate it

1:33:36into um growth or decline. Um I'm not

1:33:41sure we're ready to share anything at

1:33:43the moment. Uh but we can work on on

1:33:46that for next time.

1:33:49>> Thank you.

1:33:53>> Thank you for being here today. Thank

1:33:55you so much.

1:34:08So we can move on to the receiver

1:34:10report. Receivers report.

1:34:13>> Um thank you. Uh thanks so much to our

1:34:15team for presenting that data to us. Um

1:34:18so this presentation is the first

1:34:20quarterly update for the 202627 school

1:34:23year. Um and what you'll see in this

1:34:26presentation is a direct reflection of

1:34:27the data that was just presented. Um so

1:34:30the purpose of this presentation and

1:34:31just as a reminder the quarterly updates

1:34:34um are meant to provide an update on the

1:34:36implementation of the turnaround plan.

1:34:38Um so tonight the district leadership

1:34:41team is going to be presenting one of

1:34:43the questions that I had asked for the

1:34:45um team is to again exactly the

1:34:48questions that you you were beginning to

1:34:50dive into but what are the now

1:34:51strategies and interventions that we are

1:34:54working on as a district and the

1:34:55specific goals that each of the um

1:34:58district uh departments are working on

1:35:00as it relates to the data that was just

1:35:03presented. So, the team is going to walk

1:35:05through um their goals and priorities.

1:35:08Um, and we're going to start with um Dr.

1:35:10Ken, who's going to um sort of frame um

1:35:14how we're thinking about this in the

1:35:15context of the turnaround plan, how it

1:35:17connects to what's happening at the

1:35:18district level, and then how it will

1:35:20connect to our um individual school

1:35:22goals. Um for our team presenting, we

1:35:26are already at um 7:40. So, let's um try

1:35:30to be swift in our presentation, but I

1:35:32think some of the things based on the

1:35:33school committee's um questioning is um

1:35:37Dr. Perry, if we can dive a little bit

1:35:38deeper into some of the strategies we're

1:35:40doing as it relates to MTSS because I

1:35:41think that'll get at some of the direct

1:35:43intervention and supports for the lowest

1:35:44performing student group. I think we can

1:35:46talk a bit about the retention

1:35:48strategies that we're having for staff

1:35:50um to answer questions there. And then

1:35:52as it relates to um

1:35:55uh the intensive support schools as well

1:35:57in terms of our strategies for some of

1:35:59the schools that we see that either had

1:36:00declining results or um maybe still

1:36:02struggling um are some areas that we can

1:36:04spend particular focus in.

1:36:08Take it away.

1:36:09>> Great. Thank you. And good evening

1:36:12everyone. Thank you for having us here.

1:36:14All right. So to kick off this report,

1:36:16we really want to frame this information

1:36:18in terms of the data that you just

1:36:20received. not only the bright spots.

1:36:22Show me this. Print it down.

1:36:26I like to think I'm taller than I am.

1:36:28So, thank you. Um, but looking at the

1:36:30data and how that informs how we're

1:36:32prioritizing our goals, not only for the

1:36:34next three years and our turnaround plan

1:36:36renewal, but what that means for our

1:36:38year 1, year 2, year three

1:36:39implementation benchmarks. So, that

1:36:42being said, we have this. I know that it

1:36:44looks small here. I apologize. This is

1:36:46in the school committee folder. um if

1:36:49it's not on this printout, so I

1:36:50apologize for that. Looking at the

1:36:52district direction, which is our revised

1:36:54turnaround plan, we have drafted goals

1:36:56for the next three years. This is

1:36:58looking at not just the individual

1:37:00schools or very specific things. This

1:37:02isn't a representation of everything

1:37:05that's going on inside the district. It

1:37:07really is just looking at that

1:37:08performance level from the three-year

1:37:10goal. And then, like I said, we'll go

1:37:13over tonight the annual department goals

1:37:15as this first quarter report. So you can

1:37:17see what our year one benchmarks are

1:37:19looking like to meet the proposed

1:37:21turnaround plan goals. Um these are

1:37:24newly added because we just had them

1:37:27drafted and finalized. Um I like to

1:37:30emphasize that they are drafted. The

1:37:32turnaround plan revision still needs to

1:37:33go to Desi legal team to be reviewed and

1:37:36approved. Um so these goals are drafted

1:37:38and then the hope is that we will be

1:37:40able to bring this back to the next

1:37:41meeting uh with a revised and approved

1:37:43turnaround plan. So, as you can see, the

1:37:46turnaround plan goals are the three

1:37:47years, which then um will feed into how

1:37:50we're incorporating the data, the

1:37:51performance data that you just saw into

1:37:53our department goals across the

1:37:55district. Aligning those initiatives to

1:37:57make sure that that is trickling down to

1:37:59the schools and areas of concern that

1:38:01you're identifying some trends, um some

1:38:03areas of additional resources and

1:38:05student populations that could use

1:38:07additional attention. That goes down to

1:38:10the school level implementation. And

1:38:12then ideally, this is where we're seeing

1:38:13those student outcomes improve.

1:38:17So these are our drafted 2026 through

1:38:202029 turnaround plan goals. This is what

1:38:23would be in the revised turnaround plan

1:38:24for the next three years. These are

1:38:27mostly set around our state set

1:38:29accountability targets. So not looking

1:38:31individually at school data as you saw

1:38:33in that presentation, but districtwide

1:38:36um trying to incorporate a standard and

1:38:38expectation for meeting these. We did

1:38:41focus specifically on ML students um and

1:38:45on tier one instruction aligning not

1:38:47only goals that are existing that have

1:38:49been communicated with the schools but

1:38:51also making sure that they're aligning

1:38:53with different initiatives and projects

1:38:54going on in central office. So we're

1:38:56making a more cohesive strategy of

1:38:58priorities and goals so everyone can

1:39:01explain them in the same way. Everyone

1:39:02knows what roadmap we're on and is

1:39:04working in the same direction.

1:39:06Um, I'm grateful for the attention that

1:39:08was brought up with a question on data

1:39:10with educator retention. That is

1:39:13something that is our proposed goal. If

1:39:15you see the bottom one is a three-year

1:39:17goal looking to um increase the

1:39:19percentage of educators with more than

1:39:21three years of experience. This is a

1:39:23goal that you'll see carried over

1:39:24throughout multiple departments. So, we

1:39:26have initiatives going on that are

1:39:28aligned. Um, we have one that is

1:39:31focusing on students with disabilities,

1:39:33ELA and math. ML is above that and then

1:39:36we have literacy and other academic

1:39:40goals. So um I will leave this to the

1:39:45experts to talk about their goals and

1:39:47the departments. Um but you'll see how

1:39:49these do trickle down from the

1:39:51three-year goals and that district-wide

1:39:53vision and roadmap into how the

1:39:56departments are looking to really set

1:39:58benchmarks and support the schools in

1:40:00that implementation. So we're seeing

1:40:01these student outcomes in the next three

1:40:03years. Before I hand off any questions,

1:40:06>> thank you. If this is available, it can

1:40:09be sent to us because we also don't

1:40:10>> it's not available and it was purposely

1:40:12not included in the packet because

1:40:13they're still under draft. Sorry, just

1:40:14those two slides. Um and now the rest is

1:40:17what you have. Okay.

1:40:18>> Great. So when they're finalized,

1:40:20>> yeah, it'll be presented as part of the

1:40:22turnaround plan update. Thank you.

1:40:24>> Um Madame Chair, Madame Vice Chair,

1:40:26through you. This is through uh most of

1:40:29this data comes also from the survey

1:40:31that you did over the summer, right?

1:40:34When you asked for support to get some

1:40:38family engagement. Uh what was that

1:40:41number like? How many surveys that you

1:40:44got from the community? Do you do you

1:40:46know that from the top of your head?

1:40:47>> I'm actually going to ask that we hold

1:40:48on that because that will come when we

1:40:50present the revised turnaround plan when

1:40:52we're ready for that.

1:40:54>> Okay.

1:40:55>> Dr. Perry.

1:41:02All right. Good evening. Um, I'm Jen

1:41:05Perry. I'm the assistant superintendent

1:41:06for curriculum and instruction. I'll be

1:41:08presenting the goals for my department,

1:41:10which also includes the ML department,

1:41:12and they have a goal uh that you'll see

1:41:13in your packets. Uh, the first goal is

1:41:16um really focused around MTSS. Uh, for

1:41:18the last two years, we have had um oops,

1:41:21sorry, I got to move this forward.

1:41:24Um for the last two years we've had a

1:41:26focus on MTSS and that has really been

1:41:29focused on uh professional learning

1:41:31alongside coaching in our schools with

1:41:33our principles and our MTSS teams that

1:41:35have been identified in the schools. So

1:41:37this goal by the end of this year we

1:41:40hope to have 40% of our um schools have

1:41:43a well-developed MTSS in both literacy

1:41:46and math. And that well-developed is

1:41:48based on criteria that we have worked

1:41:50collaboratively with schools to develop.

1:41:53Uh so we have an internal LPS criteria

1:41:55for success that all the principles and

1:41:57and MTSS teams are aware of. They self

1:42:00assess and they work with their coaches

1:42:03um in the beginning of the year and at

1:42:04the end of the year to determine their

1:42:06progress over the course of the year. So

1:42:08you'll see that last year was our

1:42:09baseline year where uh six of 25 so 24%

1:42:14of our schools were welldeveloped in

1:42:16only one area of MTSS either literacy,

1:42:19math or SEAL. So we're looking for that

1:42:21improvement this year through the

1:42:23ongoing professional learning that

1:42:25happened this summer and the ongoing

1:42:27coaching that happens throughout the

1:42:29course of this year uh like I said

1:42:31embedded in the schools uh on a monthly

1:42:34basis.

1:42:36The second goal is around um

1:42:39comprehensive curriculum reviews. So we

1:42:41have two ongoing uh this year. So one is

1:42:44a continuation from last year where we

1:42:47started the the literacy review for our

1:42:50uh K through2 schools. This year we have

1:42:52an elementary and a middle school team

1:42:55uh working on those curriculum reviews

1:42:57to make recommendations for the spring.

1:42:59And uh in addition, we have a math team

1:43:02that has started as well to make sure

1:43:04that our instructional materials in our

1:43:07core subject areas are high quality and

1:43:10they're meeting the needs of our

1:43:11students. So, um you'll see that both of

1:43:14those teams are up and running and we

1:43:16have representation from schools uh on

1:43:20those teams to make sure that there's a

1:43:21voice at the table for whatever

1:43:23recommendations those teams are putting

1:43:25forward in terms of uh adjustments to

1:43:27practice. uh uh purchases in some cases

1:43:31or implementation um uh adjustments or

1:43:35changes that we need to make going

1:43:36forward.

1:43:38The third goal is around our curriculum

1:43:41and instruction vision. This is

1:43:42something again that was started last

1:43:44year. We had developed a a district-wide

1:43:46curriculum and instruction vision. Um

1:43:49and we worked uh throughout our

1:43:51instructional rounds last year to make

1:43:53sure it was the right fit. So we got

1:43:54feedback from our principles uh and

1:43:57other participating participating

1:43:59members to make sure that what we were

1:44:00putting forward and sort of uh um moving

1:44:04to operationalize this year was was

1:44:06representative of our schools and and

1:44:08and took into account the school visions

1:44:11that had previously existed and still do

1:44:14exist. So we wanted to make sure that

1:44:16there was alignment there. So this goal

1:44:18is by the end of 2028 to have 70% of our

1:44:21classroom observations across the

1:44:24district. Uh we'll meet expectations on

1:44:26each of the priority guide indicators

1:44:29from the district's instructional

1:44:30vision. And so you'll see that our

1:44:32baseline data from last year uh there

1:44:34was a range between 20 to 80% of those

1:44:38indicators being identified as having uh

1:44:41met expectations. And I just want to

1:44:43also kind of rewind a little bit. guide

1:44:45is an acronym uh that is part of our

1:44:48instructional vision. It stands for

1:44:50grade level texts and tasks,

1:44:53understanding through communication,

1:44:55inclusive learning environments,

1:44:57differentiated tier one supports and

1:45:00establishing and monitoring a purpose

1:45:02for learning. So each of those

1:45:04indicators has some look fors that we

1:45:06use in our learning walks and in our

1:45:09instructional rounds. And that really uh

1:45:11is a goal for tier one uh improvement.

1:45:14And so we are using that tool

1:45:18calibrating on uh what we mean by those

1:45:21indicators uh and helping our principles

1:45:23to understand what those next moves are

1:45:25in terms of making changes uh in our

1:45:28tier one uh classrooms.

1:45:31All right.

1:45:32On the next page, so I'm gonna remember

1:45:34to do this as well. Um we have um uh

1:45:39work this year uh with Harvard uh

1:45:42graduate school uh called Pelp uh that

1:45:45Desessie is supporting us to participate

1:45:47in and the outcome of that work from

1:45:50this past summer a team of us I think

1:45:51there were eight of us that had gone to

1:45:53Harvard for an intensive week and uh we

1:45:56brought a problem of practice around

1:45:58inconsistent

1:46:00uh instructional practices in our

1:46:01literacy classrooms and how do we solve

1:46:04that? So we went through a process to

1:46:06identify a theory of action uh look at

1:46:09root causes and come up with an imple

1:46:11implementation plan. So our

1:46:13implementation plan includes um having

1:46:16five schools pilot uh making adjustments

1:46:20to practice in two areas in coaching and

1:46:22in our uh data uh practices in in our

1:46:26classroom. So our formative assessments

1:46:28that teachers are using to inform their

1:46:30instructional adjustments. uh we are

1:46:32also um piloting this community of

1:46:35practice. So those five principles are

1:46:37in collaboration with one another

1:46:39talking about what's happening in their

1:46:41schools. We re really see that

1:46:43collaboration as a key component of how

1:46:45we move the district forward in terms of

1:46:47bringing um from a grassroots sort of

1:46:50lens of change and uh practices that

1:46:54principles feel like are really

1:46:56important and can move the needle for

1:46:57our students. So that goal um says that

1:47:01the curriculum and instruction

1:47:02department will use the PELP process uh

1:47:04to strengthen literacy and instructional

1:47:06um to strengthen literacy instructional

1:47:09consistency across five identified pilot

1:47:12schools by establishing across school uh

1:47:15community of practice focused on

1:47:16developing recommendations to scale and

1:47:18refine shared instructional practices,

1:47:21coaching and data for informed

1:47:23decisionmaking.

1:47:25The next goal as I said is an ML goal.

1:47:28Um so this one really focuses on the

1:47:30schools that are uh engaged in the QTEL

1:47:34process implementing ESL HQIM and

1:47:37improving um the ESL lensure. Those

1:47:40schools 100% of them will meet progress

1:47:42toward attaining language profic

1:47:45proficiency targets and uh 20% of them

1:47:48will exceed it. So, as Maria had uh

1:47:50presented previously, our investment in

1:47:52QTEL as a professional development uh

1:47:55offering for our schools is a key

1:47:58strategy here as well as uh the

1:48:00implementation of highquality

1:48:02instructional materials in our ESL uh

1:48:05classrooms as well as our coaches that

1:48:08are at the central office supporting our

1:48:10ESL teachers to improve their

1:48:12instructional practices.

1:48:14And then finally, our last goal is

1:48:17around retention. uh we see this as a cr

1:48:19critical component of our work and and

1:48:22the shared responsibility. So by 2028 uh

1:48:25we hope to increase the uh percent of

1:48:28experienced teachers in the district

1:48:30those are the years uh four plus by 15%

1:48:34over the 2025 baseline of 47%.

1:48:38So, we have a director of mentoring and

1:48:40induction that we added to our

1:48:42department, I want to say back in

1:48:44January, December or January, uh, of

1:48:47this past school year, who has been

1:48:48working very diligently on improving our

1:48:50mentoring program and our induction

1:48:52program. And we're already seeing the

1:48:55fruits of that labor in terms of the

1:48:58impacts of of teacher satisfaction.

1:49:01We are also a part of the RTAP grant,

1:49:03which is the registered teacher

1:49:05apprentice apprenticeship program. This

1:49:07is in conjunction with the HR department

1:49:10to build our teaching workforce

1:49:13internally. And so that's a a long-term

1:49:16project, but uh with the support of a

1:49:18grant to ensure that we uh improve the

1:49:22retention of our teachers in in Lawrence

1:49:24public schools.

1:49:26So those are the CNI department goals.

1:49:30You can see also and I I won't speak

1:49:32through all of the alignment pieces, but

1:49:33we see our goals as very much aligned to

1:49:36both the district priorities as well as

1:49:39the turnaround priorities um that are

1:49:41articulated there.

1:49:45>> Any questions?

1:49:49>> Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Uh thank

1:49:52you. This is great. I love that we're

1:49:53focusing on on teacher retention and um

1:49:56recruitment. Uh and I have a question

1:49:59directed to that point. Uh and then

1:50:02maybe a followup. How are we measuring

1:50:04teacher satisfaction?

1:50:06>> So we do um and I'm not sure Lynn Lynn

1:50:09has left but um last spring we started

1:50:12to do a comprehensive um uh survey for

1:50:16uh teachers, family and students. So in

1:50:20that survey there are teacher

1:50:21satisfaction questions in it. And so we

1:50:23see from there from those baseline uh

1:50:26elements uh evidence of teacher

1:50:28satisfaction and so we will continue

1:50:31that process uh in annually in order to

1:50:34be able to measure that.

1:50:36>> Thank you. And then my and that's great.

1:50:38I'm really glad to hear that we're

1:50:39seeing growth in teacher satisfaction.

1:50:42Um and then I guess my it's my next

1:50:44question is more specific to uh the

1:50:46programming around the coaching model

1:50:49and um I I hear you uh talk about that

1:50:52there's more effort and or resources or

1:50:55investment in in coaching and and uh

1:50:58ensuring that we can retain our teachers

1:51:00and I guess my specific question is does

1:51:03that include uh the the the human

1:51:07element uh and what I mean by that is,

1:51:12you know, we're talking a lot about

1:51:13technical data. You know, we need to get

1:51:15these scores up. We need to get to work.

1:51:17We need to, you know, do all these

1:51:19things. And, uh, I wonder I think that

1:51:23schools should also be a happy place for

1:51:25people to work.

1:51:26>> Absolutely.

1:51:27>> Um, is is that factor part of the

1:51:30equation here?

1:51:32>> Because, you know, I I know that it's

1:51:34hard to talk about those things in these

1:51:36spaces, but

1:51:38>> I think in a lot of schools and a lot of

1:51:40districts the reason people don't stay

1:51:42is because of

1:51:43>> you know things like teacher morale

1:51:45community things like that support

1:51:48>> uh is that part of the conversation

1:51:50>> yeah I mean it's a complicated question

1:51:52I think uh in terms of each of the

1:51:54individual schools and how they handle

1:51:55their school culture but what I can say

1:51:57is that when we look at the difficult

1:51:59data that was presented tonight and sit

1:52:01with that what I think the coaching

1:52:03program does uh we have coaches in the K

1:52:06through8 spaces um I think more or less

1:52:09consistently two coaches per building.

1:52:10So I don't want to say that confidently

1:52:12but like that's more or less where we

1:52:13are. Um so when a teacher experiences

1:52:17the conversation around their classroom

1:52:19data or the school level data, the

1:52:21coaches are there to support and I think

1:52:23that support is really helping that

1:52:26morale and that retention so that they

1:52:27don't feel like they don't have the

1:52:30support in the school to be able to make

1:52:31the the adjustments that they might need

1:52:33to make in order to meet the the needs

1:52:35of their students. So, I think that's

1:52:37like the maybe more technical answer

1:52:40than you're looking for, but I would say

1:52:42that our um principles, knowing our

1:52:45principles and knowing how much they

1:52:46value the culture of their buildings and

1:52:49how our school quality reviews in the

1:52:51past really highlighted school um

1:52:54culture and community is a a a bright

1:52:59spot in our district. Um, I would say

1:53:02we're doing a lot of great things

1:53:03individually in different ways to make

1:53:06that happen for our teachers and for our

1:53:07students and community members, but I

1:53:09would say it's really at that school

1:53:11level basis that that's happening and

1:53:13how the principles are adjusting to the

1:53:16morale or the needs of their uh their

1:53:18educators. But I do think having those

1:53:20supportive elements in place, having

1:53:22high quality professional learning,

1:53:23having coaching, having those and having

1:53:26a mentor to be able to go to and discuss

1:53:29the things that are not as technical,

1:53:30but the frustrations, the day-to-day,

1:53:32the the how do I get through this? Um,

1:53:35all of those things as a package, I

1:53:36think really make a difference.

1:53:38>> Thank you. And then just a follow-up

1:53:40point that I want to make and the reason

1:53:42I'm bringing this up is because

1:53:43historically

1:53:44uh I just want to recognize that as as

1:53:48much as I do agree that it matters

1:53:50what's the clim the culture of the

1:53:52school I think that the culture of the

1:53:54district and the district leadership

1:53:56also plays a big role. Um I've seen

1:53:59situations where principals are under

1:54:02pressure so they start making rash

1:54:03decisions and then that affects the

1:54:05lives of the teachers and that that that

1:54:06affects you know the trickle down goes

1:54:08to the students and we lose good

1:54:09teachers sometimes or in the past we

1:54:12have

1:54:12>> and so I just want to emphasize the

1:54:14importance of having a culture across

1:54:16you at the district level as well um

1:54:19that prioritizes the needs of teachers

1:54:22um and making sure that we tried to shy

1:54:26away from making Uh

1:54:29well I don't know if others will agree

1:54:31that these were mistakes that were made

1:54:33but in the past in past administrations

1:54:36we've seen as teacher I just so you know

1:54:38I used to work in the district

1:54:40>> um we've seen uh

1:54:44a culture of fear be uh emerge as a as a

1:54:48result of kind of like these

1:54:52uh kind of slash and burn approaches to

1:54:56you know reform school reform. form or

1:54:57school improvement where it's like

1:54:59you're either you know we either improve

1:55:00these scores or people are uh for lack

1:55:03of a better word people's heads will

1:55:05roll

1:55:06>> and I just want to hope I just hope that

1:55:08we are shying away from those types of

1:55:10approaches as we look at this data and

1:55:13we try to figure out how to respond.

1:55:14>> Yeah.

1:55:15>> Thank you.

1:55:16>> Thank you. If I share, if I may, I'm I'm

1:55:19actually going to ask that the school

1:55:20committee hold on questions at this time

1:55:22so that we can have um the the rest of

1:55:25our presenters go. I think why don't

1:55:28after um Dr. O'Brien goes. So um Dr.

1:55:31Sanchez is going to go right now and

1:55:32then Dr. O'Brien will go. That sort of

1:55:34will um round out the academic supports

1:55:37as part of the update. Um and then we'll

1:55:39get into the HR, business, and finance.

1:55:42Um and maybe we can pause after um so we

1:55:45can ask some more targeted questions

1:55:47about the academic supports and then um

1:55:49go into the HR and business.

1:55:54>> Good evening.

1:55:56Um my name is Laura Sanchez and I'm the

1:55:58assistant superintendent for prekate

1:56:00school supports and supervision.

1:56:04um before you um I would like to

1:56:06definitely frame some of the work that

1:56:08I'm doing right now and ground it under

1:56:10collaboration with my peers with OSS and

1:56:14CNI and I want to ensure that I ground a

1:56:18lot of the initiatives around

1:56:20supervision building capacity and

1:56:24grounding ourselves in meaningful

1:56:26feedback. One of my goals is for by

1:56:302027,

1:56:31each K-8 school will increase the

1:56:34percentage of students meeting or

1:56:36exceeding annual growth targets in

1:56:38English language arts, math, science

1:56:41through the implementation of

1:56:43highquality tier one instruction,

1:56:45targeted intervention, data informed

1:56:48decision-making.

1:56:49Um some of the initiatives that we've

1:56:52already started with some of our

1:56:54schools, well most of our schools, um is

1:56:57utilizing our beginning of the year,

1:57:00middle of the year, and end of the year

1:57:01benchmarks, assessment benchmarks,

1:57:05supporting schools with progress

1:57:06monitoring. um looking at data,

1:57:09supporting educators with data literacy,

1:57:12and ensuring that we're looking and

1:57:14identifying students requiring

1:57:16additional support and adjust

1:57:17instruction interventions and support

1:57:21schools with their MTSS supports

1:57:23accordingly by establishing and

1:57:25monitoring consistently data cycles,

1:57:28which school teachers will review,

1:57:30analyze student performance throughout

1:57:32the year. We want to collaborate um with

1:57:35Lynn, the supervisor of assessment and

1:57:37accountability to ensure that we support

1:57:40a robust cycle of data review by using

1:57:43all our beginning, middle of the year,

1:57:44and end of the year assessment um data

1:57:47and progress monitoring. We want to

1:57:49support school leaders in utilizing CPT

1:57:52and MTSS structures to analyze student

1:57:56performance and determine instructional

1:57:57next steps. We want to assist school

1:58:00leaders in their ILTS. Um their ILTs

1:58:04consist of the principal, assistant

1:58:07principal, um dean of curriculum and

1:58:10instruction, the two coaches that are

1:58:12assigned per school and they're grounded

1:58:15in an agenda and this is how they plan

1:58:18supports for educators around the MTSS

1:58:21cycles and their own um common planning

1:58:24agendas. And we also want to ensure that

1:58:27we support and train school staff to

1:58:29utilize open architects, which is our

1:58:31new data dashboard that teachers are

1:58:33loving. By the way, um to monitor and

1:58:36review data to inform instructional

1:58:38practices. A second goal was by June of

1:58:422027, each school will reduce the

1:58:45achievement or growth gap by at least 5%

1:58:49points for its identified priority

1:58:52student group. So in the accountability

1:58:55data presentation you heard subgroup

1:58:57we're labeling it as a student group

1:59:00ensuring that academic gains are

1:59:02experienced equitably across student

1:59:04groups districtwide. The percentage of

1:59:07high need students meeting growth

1:59:09targets will increase by at least three

1:59:11percentage points from school year 2026

1:59:14baseline. How we're going to do this?

1:59:16We're going to support school leaders in

1:59:18targeted interventions for students not

1:59:20meeting growth benchmarks. develop and

1:59:24monitor school specific action plans to

1:59:26identify priority student subgroups and

1:59:29regularly review high need student

1:59:31performance implemented target supports

1:59:34and increase outcomes across K to8

1:59:36schools. We have been supporting our

1:59:39schools during their intervention

1:59:40cycles, looking our at student data and

1:59:43making intervention decisions to ensure

1:59:46that we're appropriately moving our

1:59:48student along along in progress

1:59:49monitoring and having these ongoing

1:59:52discussions.

1:59:59Okay, perfect. Um, by June of 2027,

2:00:0380% of K8 schools will demonstrate

2:00:06substantial progress on their

2:00:08Massachusetts Desi accountability

2:00:09targets. Um, the way that we're going to

2:00:12go ahead and help support schools with

2:00:14this is to ensure that we continue to

2:00:16target support and interventions for

2:00:18intensive schools through resource

2:00:20aligned professional learning and

2:00:22coaching based on student achievement,

2:00:24growth, instructional and accountability

2:00:26data. We want to ensure differentiated

2:00:28support based on each group's identified

2:00:31needs connected to existing CPT, MTSS,

2:00:35coaching, and professional learning

2:00:37structures. 90% of formal and informal

2:00:40observations will result in documented

2:00:42actionable feedback provided within the

2:00:45established time frame. Follow-up

2:00:48evidence demonstrates whether feedback

2:00:50resulted in an instructional adjustment

2:00:53or additional support. Um, we want to

2:00:56ensure that our schools review district

2:00:57and vendor learning walk findings with

2:01:00the appropriate staff. We want to ensure

2:01:02that um, evidence demonstrates that

2:01:05learning walk findings addressed through

2:01:07CPT, MTSS coaching or other professional

2:01:11learning structures. Another one of the

2:01:13goals by June 2027, all Lawrence early

2:01:17childhood centers will demonstrate

2:01:19progress toward established Dibble's

2:01:21benchmark expectations, increasing the

2:01:23percentage of students performing at or

2:01:26above benchmark in the foundational

2:01:28literacy and early reading skills from

2:01:31the beginning of the year baseline of

2:01:3413% 13.7%

2:01:37to at least 67

2:01:4067%.

2:01:41We want to lead with um ensuring that

2:01:45we're implementing continuous early

2:01:47literacy data to instruction cycles by

2:01:49using our benchmark um baselines,

2:01:52ongoing progress monitoring. Um ensuring

2:01:55that we identify student needs and

2:01:58adjust instruction accordingly and

2:02:00monitor the impact of adjustments

2:02:02through ongoing progress monitoring.

2:02:11Thank you.

2:02:21Thank you very much and good evening. My

2:02:23name is Jod O'Brien. I am the assistant

2:02:26superintendent for student support

2:02:28services and I did start in July. Uh so

2:02:33first and foremost, students with

2:02:35disabilities are general education

2:02:37students

2:02:38and as such they're included in and will

2:02:41benefit from all of the strategies that

2:02:43you've heard tonight from the other

2:02:44departments.

2:02:46The Office of Student Support Services

2:02:48has set goals that provide additional

2:02:50targeted actions for students with

2:02:51disabilities to improve outcomes.

2:02:58As you had seen the data uh earlier

2:03:00tonight, uh students with disabilities

2:03:02are performing significantly below that

2:03:05of general education students in ELA and

2:03:07math MCCAST.

2:03:09So uh the department's first goal is

2:03:13focusing on increasing the ELA and math

2:03:16skills for students with disabilities

2:03:17across all of the grade levels.

2:03:20and uh aligned initiatives or action

2:03:24steps to be able to work on that is

2:03:27increasing students with disabilities

2:03:29access to tier one core instruction that

2:03:32general education students receive

2:03:34wherever possible. So really looking at

2:03:37um the IEPs and service deliveries,

2:03:41having the IEP teams have conversations

2:03:43about how much time a student is pulled

2:03:46out of the general education class for

2:03:48special education services and what that

2:03:50impact is on missed instruction within

2:03:52the general ed class. also looking to

2:03:56provide coaching and training for

2:03:57general education and special education

2:04:00student uh teachers to effectively

2:04:02support students with disabilities in

2:04:04general education classrooms. So the

2:04:07better general education is the less

2:04:09special ed you need. But also uh there

2:04:13was a

2:04:15uh program review of the state by Tom

2:04:18Heare way back um before COVID and the

2:04:22research had shown that the more special

2:04:25education students are in the general

2:04:27education class the better their

2:04:29outcomes are. So in order to have them

2:04:32be successful, we need um we need the

2:04:36teachers to be able to have the tools in

2:04:38order to make um have uh successful

2:04:40support for them.

2:04:42Also, we are looking to do uh conduct a

2:04:46comprehensive audit of the curriculum

2:04:48and the instructional resources across

2:04:50the spe special education programs to

2:04:54increase the access to high quality

2:04:55rigorous and in rigorous instructional

2:04:58materials that support grade level

2:05:00learning. So, we're looking at what

2:05:02materials special education teachers are

2:05:05using in the special education

2:05:06classrooms and make adjustments. We've

2:05:09already started working with uh the

2:05:11office of curriculum and instruction uh

2:05:14around that uh at the elementary level

2:05:16uh foundations which is a reading

2:05:18program has been um is rolling out and

2:05:21uh special education teachers do not

2:05:25have the resources uh to be able to

2:05:27support special education students. So,

2:05:29we're working on how much of that

2:05:31material can we um provide this year and

2:05:34ensuring that we are uh adding sorry

2:05:40um you know adding that to the

2:05:42conversation is part of uh budget

2:05:44planning.

2:05:46Also looking to collaborate with our

2:05:48other departments to support the school

2:05:50leaders through uh through learning

2:05:53walks and providing feedback to adjust

2:05:55uh instructional practices. We started

2:05:57those this week.

2:05:59and looking to do uh help support

2:06:03schools in a systematic review of

2:06:05student with disability data to inform

2:06:08educational decisionmaking and to

2:06:10evaluate the effectiveness of special

2:06:12education services that students are

2:06:14receiving.

2:06:19The second goal is targeting chronic

2:06:22absenteeism. So students with

2:06:25disabilities are chronically absent at a

2:06:27higher rate than general education

2:06:29students. This is another factor that

2:06:33makes a significant contribution to

2:06:35their low achievement not only on MCCAST

2:06:37but on uh the MAP testing that we do

2:06:40throughout the year. For non- high

2:06:43school students, uh, general education

2:06:45or the whole, um, uh, aggregate is 19%

2:06:49are chronically absent compared to 26%

2:06:52of special education students at the

2:06:54non- high school level. And at the high

2:06:57school level, 35% of um, the aggregate

2:07:01is chronically absent, but 48% of our

2:07:04students with disabilities at the high

2:07:06school level are chronically absent. So

2:07:08half of our student population is

2:07:11missing 18 or more days of school.

2:07:15So the action steps for this uh we are

2:07:18looking to work uh collaborate strongly

2:07:21with um F FRC to support schools in

2:07:24improving student with disability

2:07:26attendance. Research shows that family

2:07:29engagement is one of the most effective

2:07:31strategies to improve student

2:07:33attendance.

2:07:35Additionally, beyond academics, we are

2:07:39um planning on increasing and uh

2:07:43increasing what we're already providing

2:07:45for targeted social emotional supports

2:07:47such as counseling, crisis respon,

2:07:50crisis response, and partnering with

2:07:52outside organizations for mental health

2:07:54services.

2:07:56And lastly, our third goal,

2:08:00data from other urban districts show

2:08:02that preschoolers who attend dis um

2:08:05attend district full day preschool

2:08:07programs the year before kindergarten

2:08:10demonstrate higher skills than those um

2:08:13who don't on the kindergarten fall

2:08:15assessments.

2:08:18Our district currently has six full day

2:08:20prek classrooms and 25 prek classrooms

2:08:23that offer morning and afternoon

2:08:26half-day sessions.

2:08:28Our currently our half-day se uh

2:08:30preschool classes are underenrolled due

2:08:33to most families needing a five full day

2:08:36program for their child. So the goal is

2:08:39to increase the number of fullday

2:08:41preschool classrooms available by

2:08:43evaluating the enrollment and the

2:08:45staffing at the early childhood level to

2:08:47be able to see where there's

2:08:49opportunities for us to be able to add

2:08:50more full day uh preschool classrooms

2:08:53and that will be the foundation for

2:08:55having you know having setting them up

2:08:58for success for kindergarten and then

2:09:01our literacy and you know moving

2:09:04forward.

2:09:05Thank you.

2:09:09Let's do the high school. Sorry, Victor.

2:09:12And then we'll do questions. We'll pause

2:09:14for questions.

2:09:20>> All right. Good evening everyone. Victor

2:09:21Caravajio Anderson, head of schools of

2:09:23the campus. I promised my team that I

2:09:25was going to be succinct and concise uh

2:09:29for the sake of our meeting, but at the

2:09:31same time, I think it's important to

2:09:32bring context to the conversation.

2:09:34So before I get started and we talk

2:09:36about data, I think I I do want to tell

2:09:37you a data story that will connect with

2:09:40our goals and we would add clarity in

2:09:41terms of the why. I want to address

2:09:43microando's first question in terms of

2:09:45uh attrition. Uh sixth grade 13.8th

2:09:50grade about 37.6

2:09:53in the context of the high school. What

2:09:55that means is that about a third of our

2:09:56kids that are slated to be part of the

2:10:00freshman class leave our schools.

2:10:03that either leaves to a charter school

2:10:05or a private school. So in that context

2:10:08that has an affected when it comes to

2:10:10accountability.

2:10:12There's another factor teacher retention

2:10:13and I know Dr. Grenell asked a question

2:10:15about teacher retention. Last year we

2:10:17were at 74% this year we're at 79.

2:10:21Things have improved. Part of the

2:10:23context is we got a better contract. So

2:10:26yay for the teachers. Uh but at the same

2:10:29time too there's a greater sense of

2:10:31ownership and stability. particularly

2:10:33when it comes to the high school. And so

2:10:35we have to recognize that when it comes

2:10:38to creating a stable environment

2:10:41in which teachers feel that they can

2:10:43teach and they feel supported and then

2:10:46they become equal partners when it comes

2:10:48to the work that will also equate to

2:10:51retention and then student outcomes.

2:10:54When it comes to ninth grade and tth

2:10:56grade, 56 of our teachers in 10th grade,

2:10:59okay, have three years or less within

2:11:02our district. About 52% in ninth grade.

2:11:06But what that means is that we have a

2:11:08workforce now that is staying that we're

2:11:11training. They're new, but I see a

2:11:14bright future if we're able to keep

2:11:15those teachers in order for us to train

2:11:17them in the right way, in order for us

2:11:19to give us the results that we want.

2:11:23Now I wanted to provide that context

2:11:25because at the same time there there's

2:11:27another piece that we have to take into

2:11:28account particularly at the high school

2:11:30level. Uh Desi through the voters uh had

2:11:34to change the accountability measure

2:11:35which is the MCAST. The MCAST stop being

2:11:38a graduation

2:11:40uh requirement.

2:11:41Thus across the state there is a decline

2:11:44when it comes to MCCAST. But the reality

2:11:46is that while all those factors are

2:11:48important, we still own the teaching and

2:11:51learning and we're going to do better.

2:11:53And that's just the bottom line. And so

2:11:55when it comes to the goals, I want to

2:11:56address how we're going to do better and

2:11:58why it's necessary for us to implement

2:12:00the goals that we're implementing in

2:12:02order for us to move forward as a high

2:12:05school network. Next slide, please.

2:12:11Got it here.

2:12:13All right. Perfect. So the first goal is

2:12:16around students demonstrating

2:12:18proficiency on complex reasoning

2:12:21measured by performance on summitative

2:12:23uh assessments. Uh why complex

2:12:27reasoning?

2:12:28One of the largest group that we need to

2:12:30take care of is our long-term L's

2:12:32particularly we have a large population

2:12:34of L's that continue to be longterm L's.

2:12:37The good news is across the district as

2:12:39you're seeing the data access scores

2:12:41look a lot better which means that by

2:12:43the time they become high schoolers that

2:12:45level proficiency will become higher but

2:12:48we have them in front of us. So we got

2:12:50to ensure that one classes are rigorous

2:12:53that they're standard based and at the

2:12:55same time that there's room for students

2:12:57to particularly engage in discussion and

2:12:59what we call station teaching. So we can

2:13:01differentiate and ensure that their

2:13:04needs are be being taken care of that

2:13:06they are engaged but then at the same

2:13:08time that we can support their oral

2:13:10fluency. When you look into access

2:13:11particularly at the high school level

2:13:13oral fluency is one of our lowest

2:13:15domain. So we want to ensure that on a

2:13:17daily basis students get practice

2:13:19particularly when it comes to the

2:13:20language component.

2:13:22None of that will work unless we have a

2:13:25clear system in terms of how do we go

2:13:28from having this vision to ensuring that

2:13:30the the teachers are making the moves

2:13:33that they need in their classrooms. And

2:13:35so part of the goal states 100% of

2:13:38principles are will push pretty much

2:13:41their DCIS and APs to ensure that 80% of

2:13:45their teachers at a minimum are able to

2:13:48enact that vision which is really

2:13:50engaging students in that rigorous

2:13:53discourse complex reasoning component

2:13:55that is important to them. So the way

2:13:57that we are tackling this at the high

2:13:59school is systemic. You have to

2:14:00understand that the system needs to be

2:14:03clear across all levels. And to be

2:14:05honest, there has been for years a

2:14:07culture of complacency in terms of it is

2:14:09what it is. But the reality is that we

2:14:11got to move forward in terms of all of

2:14:13us holding each other accountable in

2:14:15terms of this work from me as the head

2:14:17of schools to the principles to the

2:14:20assistant principles and DCIS to the

2:14:22teachers themselves

2:14:24owning their students and owning the

2:14:26data. So, while I shared some data in

2:14:28terms of the many factors that could

2:14:29affect our outcomes, and they're true,

2:14:31the reality is that it comes down to the

2:14:34work that we're doing directly with our

2:14:36teachers to both support them, empower

2:14:38them, but also hold them accountable.

2:14:40And that's all of our shared

2:14:41responsibility.

2:14:44How do we do that? We create clear

2:14:47professional development goals aligned

2:14:49to the data that we receive. So, we have

2:14:51clear cycles at the start of the year,

2:14:54mid year, and at the end. But the

2:14:56reality is that we use that information

2:14:58again to inform our professional

2:15:00development to support our teachers and

2:15:02then at the same time to make the right

2:15:04moves to ensure that students are

2:15:05getting the right support. Students

2:15:07should not live in a place in which

2:15:09they're stagnant with supports. They

2:15:11should be moving from receiving supports

2:15:13to not receiving supports and that's how

2:15:15we should be measuring progress and we

2:15:17should then get to the point in which we

2:15:20uh make measurable outcomes.

2:15:22Now, when it comes to MTSS, that's

2:15:26another goal. And again, with our

2:15:27colleagues, my colleagues, we have been

2:15:29doing a lot of work together. And I'm

2:15:30really appreciative of that because at

2:15:32the same time, coherence is the way that

2:15:34we're going to get this district

2:15:35forward. And so in collaboration with

2:15:37our colleagues, I think we're very clear

2:15:39that when it comes to the MTSS goal, we

2:15:42really have to get good at

2:15:44differentiating instruction, not only

2:15:46when it comes to the classroom, but also

2:15:48there is a component within the goal

2:15:50that talks about uh adult behaviors

2:15:53slash student supports. Particularly at

2:15:56the high school, we want to ensure that

2:15:58we do it right by students in terms of

2:15:59the way that we are differentiating

2:16:01instruction. But on the culture piece,

2:16:03that there are supports for both

2:16:04teachers and students in order for them

2:16:06to be supported across their high school

2:16:10experience, meaning within the

2:16:11classrooms and the hallways. Uh Mr.

2:16:15Guzman, I know you mentioned the idea of

2:16:18um you know uh creating it wasn't you

2:16:21Guzman, it was Gonell. You talked about

2:16:23teachers and retention and what

2:16:25motivates them. Uh in the context of the

2:16:28high school in the in last spring, we

2:16:31sent a survey out to the teachers. We

2:16:32asked them a very simple question, two

2:16:33questions. One, what is inhibiting you

2:16:36from fulfilling the goals that we have

2:16:38as a school? Meaning, what red tip have

2:16:40we as an administration created for the

2:16:43teachers? And then what are your

2:16:46proposals in terms of removing those

2:16:48obstacles? And teachers were very frank,

2:16:50very honest with us. They gave us some

2:16:53data that uh trust me, it wasn't like

2:16:55reading, but at the same time, it was

2:16:57honest feedback and it led us to a

2:16:59process of change in order for teachers

2:17:01to feel heard and create a true

2:17:03foundation and structure to promote

2:17:05change. We also added our teachers to

2:17:08our ILT, which is the team that makes

2:17:11these instructional moves. When teachers

2:17:13are part of this change process, that's

2:17:15what's going to allow us to be able to

2:17:16move forward as a school. So our message

2:17:20clear systems, coherence across the

2:17:22board, clarity and ownership by all

2:17:24stakeholders including principles, APS

2:17:27and teachers.

2:17:30>> Questions about the instructional goals

2:17:32before we go into the other

2:17:34accountability measures.

2:17:37>> I would say just keep going and we'll

2:17:38ask our questions when you're done.

2:17:42chronic absenteeism.

2:17:44Uh attendance for the high school has uh

2:17:47has always been a focus. If the kids do

2:17:49not make it to school, they're not going

2:17:51to be successful. Particularly when it

2:17:53comes to our SPE data, that's very

2:17:54alarming. And so, one of the things that

2:17:56we're doing is uh particularly for the

2:17:59SPE group, we have a a single committee

2:18:03that just focuses on spat students. One

2:18:06of the things that we have discovered is

2:18:07that particularly when it comes to our

2:18:09practical academics or uh students that

2:18:12are med medically fragile. Um there are

2:18:15a lot of students that are not making it

2:18:17to school

2:18:18particularly from that group. That is

2:18:21truly excessive and is a big component

2:18:22of that 40%. And so now we're working

2:18:25with our families in order to uh engage

2:18:28them in the work of one trusting the

2:18:30systems that we have in place but then

2:18:32two understanding the law and adhering

2:18:34to the law in terms of sending their

2:18:36kids to school. The other piece is

2:18:38around supports uh for all students and

2:18:41really creating programming that are

2:18:43going to motivate them. One thing is the

2:18:44teaching and learning. The other

2:18:46component is really creating purpose

2:18:48when it comes to students. So one of our

2:18:50strategies in terms of chronic

2:18:51absenteeism too is around programming.

2:18:54Um yes we have attendance teams across

2:18:57the board. Yes that's comprised of

2:18:59teachers, counselors and and other folks

2:19:02like members of the culture team. They

2:19:04collaborate. They review the data. They

2:19:06focus on students. We make phone calls.

2:19:08We make visits. But at the same time now

2:19:10again we're getting very very granular.

2:19:13My job has been to create very specific

2:19:16goals for the principles. So instead of

2:19:18saying hey it's 4%

2:19:20everyone owns the very specific

2:19:22percentage which translates into a very

2:19:24specific group of students and at a

2:19:25minimum that's their target and they

2:19:27have to deliver on those targets and

2:19:29that's reflected on their valuations. At

2:19:31the same time we have to hold everyone

2:19:33accountable when it comes to the work.

2:19:36When it comes to dropouts one of our

2:19:38goals continues to be to again re-engage

2:19:41students. We have added rise night

2:19:44school as a way to again diversify

2:19:46programming and supports. Uh that has

2:19:48really worked well when it comes down to

2:19:50re-engaging a lot of students that

2:19:52otherwise will not be able to return to

2:19:54a conventional schedule. Uh but at the

2:19:57same time again we have a dedicated

2:19:58team. Uh we review data on a bimonthly

2:20:02basis in terms of who these students

2:20:04are. We have them on a spreadsheet and

2:20:07we reach out to the families. We visit

2:20:09them. But the thing that has worked the

2:20:11most for us

2:20:13has been really widening that many of

2:20:16options for students. There is no child

2:20:17in Lawrence who wants to quit school.

2:20:20That does not exist. It's all about

2:20:22really providing options and meet them

2:20:24the students where they are in order for

2:20:25them to have access to school. And so by

2:20:28changing that framing, we have really

2:20:30been able to engage and support a lot of

2:20:33students who are seeking to return to

2:20:36the high school.

2:20:39And

2:20:41we have two more. I'm going to be quick.

2:20:43Graduation rate. We'll continue to work

2:20:45towards a graduation rate. I just want

2:20:48to be very clear in terms of the

2:20:50information presented here is the

2:20:52district information. The Lawrence High

2:20:55School information is different. What I

2:20:57mean by that, district information

2:20:59includes Ryzen, HLC, and they all part

2:21:01of us. We all own them. And so sometimes

2:21:04you're going to see flyers or

2:21:05presentations about data sets. And I

2:21:07just don't want anyone to get confused

2:21:08in terms of why do the numbers differ.

2:21:11And so what we're presenting is this is

2:21:13all of our high schools inclusive of

2:21:15Rice and HLC which are alternative

2:21:17schools. So graduation rate for example

2:21:20for the district is 82%. The goal is

2:21:2286%. The state average right now is

2:21:24about 89% across the board. When it

2:21:27comes to LHS we're at 86.7%. Just to

2:21:30give you some context. Okay. uh to do

2:21:34that work. Again, we continue to work on

2:21:36credit recovery. We have built it within

2:21:38the framework of the day. We have

2:21:40systems after school. We have systems on

2:21:43Saturday.

2:21:45All of those systems support credit

2:21:47acquisition when it comes to students.

2:21:49Okay. Advanced coursework, we continue

2:21:52to work on that. The state average is

2:21:54actually 69%. We're at 75%. So, we're

2:21:57actually above the state average when it

2:21:58comes to advanced coursework, which is

2:22:00great news for us in terms of our

2:22:03ability again to meet a goal, right? And

2:22:06not meet it, but surpass it, which is

2:22:07good news. But we want to keep going,

2:22:09right? The idea is not just to quote

2:22:11unquote meet the state average, but

2:22:13surpass it and continue to do so. So,

2:22:15when it comes down to it, we continue to

2:22:17expand on AP coursework. We continue to

2:22:19expand on our early college programming.

2:22:22uh when it comes to PLTW classes which

2:22:25are recognized by Desi as advanced

2:22:26courses, we're also advancing those in

2:22:28order again to widen the menu of option

2:22:30of options when it comes to our kids.

2:22:32Okay, and that's it for me. Any

2:22:35questions?

2:22:39>> At this time, I'll open the floor for

2:22:40questions.

2:22:42I have a

2:22:43>> committee man.

2:22:46>> I have a suggestion and a question.

2:22:49It's for something that was mentioned

2:22:51earlier on the turnaround plan

2:22:52alignment.

2:22:53>> Yes.

2:22:54>> Would it be cons consider changing the

2:22:56order of the wording to put retention

2:22:59first? You know, like because right now

2:23:01it says recruitment retention. if it

2:23:04kind of like will sends like a a message

2:23:06that we know we want to retain our

2:23:08teachers, our good quality teachers

2:23:10versus trying to recruit new ones.

2:23:12That's when I was like when I saw that I

2:23:13was like oh I highlighted that and then

2:23:16the question on speaking about retention

2:23:18and on the exit data when they exit and

2:23:22leave to another school like the

2:23:24teachers is there any data on those exit

2:23:27interviews on why they left Florence? I

2:23:29know you mentioned those two questions

2:23:30you asked but any data on the exit

2:23:32interviews themselves

2:23:34>> to to give you an overview of all the

2:23:36rationale behind everyone who leaves the

2:23:38high school realistically I'll be lying

2:23:39to you if I tell you hey I have all the

2:23:41cumulative data but from the people that

2:23:43I've spoken to most have left due to

2:23:46salaries being frank with you

2:23:49or just you know career change those are

2:23:52the latest that's what we're seeing

2:23:54prior to that it was more like hey

2:23:56instability when it comes to school

2:23:58culture and the salary component. I can

2:24:00go to Low, make an extra $10,000. I can

2:24:02go to Habo, I can make an extra 15 doing

2:24:05exactly the same job. Now, because of

2:24:07our negotiations and the new salary is a

2:24:09lot more attractive and we have been

2:24:11been able to retain folks particularly

2:24:13when it comes to um the salary

2:24:16component.

2:24:17>> Thank you.

2:24:22>> Any other members? Um I have a couple of

2:24:24questions. Committee womanino. Um, I

2:24:27think this was the student support

2:24:28piece. Um,

2:24:31we talked about or you talked about the

2:24:33uh teacher satisfaction survey. I'm

2:24:36curious to know what percentage of

2:24:37teachers take that survey. Is it 100% or

2:24:42it's is it mandatory?

2:24:44>> We ask all the teachers to answer. You

2:24:46will never get 100%. Just being frank.

2:24:48Even when it comes to our campus survey,

2:24:51um, I know last time we sent a a campus

2:24:53survey. Uh, I have my assistant head of

2:24:56schools here, Kevin. Check me. Was it

2:24:58close to like 80 to 86%.

2:25:01Satisfaction.

2:25:04>> The survey we're refer referring to is

2:25:05the Panorama survey, which is a lot of

2:25:09school districts. I don't know the exact

2:25:10number across the state who use it, but

2:25:11it is offered to all um teachers. We ask

2:25:14them to take it. Not everybody

2:25:15participates in it, but I think I don't

2:25:17know Dr. P if you have an exact number.

2:25:19number

2:25:22participation rate was but we had a

2:25:24pretty high participation rate the first

2:25:25year of implementation.

2:25:27>> Yeah.

2:25:27>> Um so we can get you the numbers though

2:25:30but I I don't have them off the top of

2:25:31my head.

2:25:32>> Okay. Yeah. I was just curious about

2:25:33that. And then I'm assuming that they're

2:25:35providing input and you're taking that

2:25:37information and actually creating a

2:25:39strategic plan for those items.

2:25:41>> And that information is um is available

2:25:44per school and districtwide. So we can

2:25:46sort of see it from both both angles and

2:25:48and schools can act on it at the school

2:25:50level and we can look at it um in terms

2:25:52of districtwide improvement as well.

2:25:54>> Okay. Thank you.

2:25:55>> Yeah.

2:26:01>> Madam Chair, um

2:26:04>> uh Hen Master, so you you mentioned that

2:26:08when you look at the data for

2:26:11graduation rates, right? You're looking

2:26:13at the district which includes

2:26:15alternative schools.

2:26:17>> Correct.

2:26:18>> Is that the same for dropout? Are you

2:26:21putting in schools in that data?

2:26:23>> Correct. So for the campus right now,

2:26:25our dropout rate is about 1.6. The state

2:26:29average is 2%. For the district is 3.6.

2:26:34Just to give you some context. Again,

2:26:35they're all our kids anyways.

2:26:39Okay.

2:26:40>> Thank you. Any

2:26:44other questions?

2:26:47>> A quick comment. Uh,

2:26:50uh, head of campus, uh, Mr. Kavajio,

2:26:54I just want to say that, uh, I know a

2:26:57lot of people who continue working with

2:26:59you at Lawrence High School. And, uh,

2:27:02just personally, I want to share that I

2:27:04know that you are all working your butts

2:27:06off. And um I think I well I appreciate

2:27:10everything that that I hear about what's

2:27:12going on and the strides that you guys

2:27:14are making there at the high school.

2:27:16>> No, I truly appreciate that. I do have

2:27:18an amazing team. That's true.

2:27:22>> Let's move to the more of the business

2:27:23items. Um so we have human resources

2:27:26here that will present um our CFO who

2:27:28will also present about um finance and

2:27:31operations.

2:27:34Oh, sorry. And family engagement. Sorry,

2:27:36Angie.

2:27:38I don't have it memorized.

2:27:55Hello everyone. Good evening. I'm

2:27:58Angelia Alva Borgos, executive director

2:28:01for the family resource center. Um given

2:28:04the data that has been presented tonight

2:28:07um we our department wrote our goals to

2:28:09address the needs response to the data.

2:28:13So our first goal um Jody had shared the

2:28:18um chronic absenteeism and how we will

2:28:21work together to work on the uh chronic

2:28:25absenteeism as well as Victor just spoke

2:28:28on it and we all know that this is a

2:28:30major focus for us. Um and so schools

2:28:33with the highest chronic absenteeism

2:28:35rates will reduce their rates by at

2:28:37least four percentage points uh from

2:28:40their established baselines as measured

2:28:42by student attendance data empower

2:28:44school and monitored monthly.

2:28:47um how we will um address this goal and

2:28:50monitor. Um so we meet myself and um our

2:28:55directors um our team my team at F FRC

2:28:59is uh three directors um Marinella

2:29:01focuses on attendance. Manus I have

2:29:05Maria Campusano um that focuses on

2:29:08family engagement.

2:29:10Um and then I have Maria Ortiz who

2:29:12focuses on enrollment. um we all go to

2:29:16the schools. We've been meeting with the

2:29:18principles and the leadership teams um

2:29:20and so we have designed um schedules for

2:29:25our attendance liaison um and they're

2:29:28part of the school meetings.

2:29:31Um so that's that first piece, school

2:29:33support through coordinated attendance

2:29:35interventions. They're already attending

2:29:37these meetings regularly. So we're there

2:29:39preventatively. We're not there after

2:29:42the fact. We're not waiting till they're

2:29:44saying, you know, it's eight absences,

2:29:47come on over. Our attendance leazison

2:29:49are already in these meetings and

2:29:52talking about, you know, the families

2:29:54that did have chronic absenteeism

2:29:57um at the end of last school year. Uh

2:30:00let's see, uh attendance team regularly

2:30:03reviews data and intervenes with

2:30:05students with persistent issues. Um so

2:30:08we also meet with the attendance

2:30:10liaison. We talk about um the specific

2:30:14cases that are coming up and that

2:30:16they've already been there for

2:30:18interventions. They've done home visits.

2:30:20They bring it to us to see how we can

2:30:22better support if we need to bring the

2:30:24family in and then we all meet with the

2:30:26family to talk about what are the

2:30:28barriers. Is there any resources that

2:30:31the family needs so that we can make

2:30:33those referrals.

2:30:35Um and then I have attendance campaign

2:30:38which our superintendent presented. um

2:30:41very excited about the attendance

2:30:43campaign. Um so most of the schools are

2:30:46also on boarding with making some videos

2:30:48and we have I mean we have judges, we

2:30:52have um the major market um also talking

2:30:56about attendance matters. So just making

2:30:58this um you know the attendance campaign

2:31:01big and making sure everyone's talking

2:31:03about it. Please share those videos if

2:31:05you've seen them. Um so uh it's just

2:31:08very exciting work and um the students

2:31:10are also um very excited about it as

2:31:13you've seen at the Bruce. Um our second

2:31:16goal is um the family resource center

2:31:19will strengthen its practices, systems

2:31:21and leadership capacity to better

2:31:23coordinate support for students and

2:31:25families with at least 80% of school

2:31:27administrators reporting in an annual

2:31:30survey that FRC supports are well

2:31:32coordinated.

2:31:34Um this is a goal that is for the

2:31:37department right so it's going to um

2:31:40mostly within our department our staff

2:31:44we need to make sure that we are aligned

2:31:46and that's what this focus is so that is

2:31:49um all of the staff are also out at the

2:31:51schools so that we are also

2:31:52communicating about what's happening at

2:31:54the schools right because there's so

2:31:56many pieces to it um and so for example

2:31:58we have monthly FRC staff meetings are

2:32:01held consistently and documented

2:32:04Um we have weekly administrative data

2:32:06review meetings. The monthly F FRC

2:32:09meetings are with all staff uh family

2:32:11engagement um as I mentioned uh new home

2:32:15u newcomer liaison enrollment

2:32:19um and attendance uh weekly

2:32:21administrative data review meetings. Um

2:32:23the directors that I had mentioned meet

2:32:25with their teams as well as I meet with

2:32:27my directors weekly to look at data and

2:32:30so that they can present anything that's

2:32:32come up.

2:32:33um zone meetings. Um zone meetings are

2:32:37each school each school has um a

2:32:40different personnel like assigned to

2:32:42them. So we have four zones. And now I

2:32:45have these meetings where if you're in

2:32:48each zone, you have a homeless liaison,

2:32:51your attendance liaison, enrollment, and

2:32:53your family engagement specialist all

2:32:55meeting at once. So then they can

2:32:57identify any families that they know

2:33:00that need support. So for example, if

2:33:02there is a family that

2:33:05um has an attendance issue, you know,

2:33:07it's constant they're always late.

2:33:09They're always late and this came up in

2:33:10a meeting and the attendance leazison is

2:33:13there. Um then they bring that to this

2:33:15meeting and they say, "Oh yeah, we've

2:33:16been talking about this family and then

2:33:18this is already kind of uh information

2:33:21for the homeless liaison to now reach

2:33:24out and do a needs assessment and see

2:33:27how we can support. a lot of these

2:33:29families maybe just don't know that we

2:33:30have a lot of these resources. So, I'm

2:33:32hoping that that will bring awareness if

2:33:35everyone's talking about these families

2:33:37and I mean in zones in our department

2:33:41um attendance, enrollment, family

2:33:44engagement and housing stability

2:33:45concerns are reviewed. As I mentioned,

2:33:47this will all be all these meetings are

2:33:49documented. We have a rolling agenda

2:33:52with um next steps. So we will review

2:33:57the data, review next steps, ensure that

2:33:59we are following up with the families

2:34:01and document action steps and follow-ups

2:34:04with supports with families needing

2:34:05additional interventions.

2:34:08Um,

2:34:10let's see here. I think I've covered it

2:34:13all. All right, any questions?

2:34:20>> Committ

2:34:21wasn't sure we was going to wait till

2:34:23the end.

2:34:24um on the attendance campaign,

2:34:27>> have you um see out like different

2:34:29influencers and different people like

2:34:32out in the community? I know we have one

2:34:33right here, Little D's here like to like

2:34:36do record videos and say, "Hey, like and

2:34:38we also have many musicians that are

2:34:41that are call home call Lawrence like to

2:34:44see if they'll do it."

2:34:45>> Absolutely. Actually, that's a great

2:34:46idea. Maybe we can get him to say

2:34:49attendance matters in one. Um, but we

2:34:52have um Los Mayo from the Los Mayo

2:34:56market right in front of F FRC. Um, they

2:34:59are in one of these videos. We have um

2:35:01Jessica Anders from Lawrence Community

2:35:03Works in one of our videos. We have

2:35:06parents from our schools also in these

2:35:08videos. Um, let's see. We have our

2:35:11superintendent in one of these videos.

2:35:14Uh I'm also in one of those videos. A

2:35:16lot of our attendance liaison, we have

2:35:19one of our judges that um supports um in

2:35:22one of these videos as well. So we have

2:35:24we've definitely reached out,

2:35:26>> but we will continue to do so.

2:35:29>> Thank you.

2:35:33>> I want to nominate definitely uh Jessica

2:35:36Ramirez, our vice chair of the school

2:35:38committee.

2:35:38>> Oh,

2:35:39>> you know, to represent the school

2:35:41committee in one of those videos.

2:35:42>> Great idea. You know, just

2:35:43>> I'm actually thinking a little bit

2:35:44beyond that. I think committee as a

2:35:46whole can do one video together either

2:35:49individually or as a body saying pieces

2:35:52of why attendance matters.

2:35:53>> Noted. I will be reaching out and

2:35:55Suzanne's right here. So now she knows

2:35:57I'll be reaching out to her too so we

2:35:58can come to you guys. Okay, great. Thank

2:36:00you. That'd be great.

2:36:03>> And I I just want to make a comment

2:36:05regarding the resources. I I do believe

2:36:07that attending the Thuvos council and

2:36:10coming to different parent forums has

2:36:12helped um deliver the message and the

2:36:15resources available, but I I I want to

2:36:18think about like other campaigns that we

2:36:19can do to ensure that parents um know

2:36:22the number, understand what resources we

2:36:25have. Um so just expanding that a little

2:36:27bit more would be beneficial. I do my

2:36:29part when I get calls or emails. um the

2:36:32number I just constantly send it out

2:36:34having folks reach out to you all but I

2:36:37think there I think we just probably

2:36:38another type of campaign to get that

2:36:40information out to parents.

2:36:41>> Thank you so much for that. Yeah, I do

2:36:43agree and I know that committee member

2:36:45Guzman had mentioned it earlier as well.

2:36:48Um we're definitely going to work on

2:36:50more outreach and connecting with Mr.

2:36:52Rondon. Um you know and and we'll we'll

2:36:55definitely try to get more outreach to

2:36:57have more parents in these events.

2:36:59>> Happy to be the messenger and support

2:37:00that as well. Thank you.

2:37:03>> Any other questions?

2:37:12>> I just want to say that our schools are

2:37:15also very committed. They have parent

2:37:17family nights coming in, ice cream

2:37:19socials, Hispanic heritage nights, and

2:37:22they're promoting attendance within all

2:37:24of those attendants. I know like the the

2:37:26Partham Elementary School had their PTO.

2:37:29They had like 200 people there. It was

2:37:31amazing. So, I just want to commend all

2:37:32of the schools. They have probably

2:37:35already had three parent nights each.

2:37:39So, we there's a lot of work going on

2:37:40within the schools as well.

2:37:42>> That's awesome. Thank you.

2:37:43>> Yes.

2:37:45>> Thank you, Laura. And our family

2:37:47engagement team is also part of these

2:37:49events. Great.

2:37:51>> We will see you tomorrow.

2:37:53>> Sounds good. Thank you. Thank you,

2:37:55everyone.

2:38:16Good evening to all. My name is

2:38:18Elizabeth Beth Gonzalez and I'm the

2:38:20executive director for human capital.

2:38:24In terms of human resources, we have

2:38:26four goals for this year. um in

2:38:28alignment with the um experienced

2:38:31teachers goal that's part of the

2:38:32turnaround plan but also in alignment

2:38:34with the district priorities of MTSS and

2:38:37tier one instruction.

2:38:39The first one for HR is we want to

2:38:42increase the percentage of experienced

2:38:43teachers in the districts

2:38:45uh which is defined as three plus years

2:38:48by a by 8% over the 2025 baseline of

2:38:5247%.

2:38:54We will do that by establishing a

2:38:57baseline uh differentiating between

2:38:59who's licensed and who's not. In

2:39:02addition to the three plus year, we want

2:39:04to know retention from first year to

2:39:05second year from second year to third

2:39:07year and beyond.

2:39:10We also want to make sure that we dig

2:39:12down take a deep dive of the data just

2:39:15to look at the location so that way we

2:39:17can emphasize our efforts uh into the

2:39:20areas that are mostly needed.

2:39:23We also are going to uh implement a new

2:39:27new employee experience survey so that

2:39:29we can collect and start monitor

2:39:31monitoring the data. Um we know that we

2:39:35have to use the data in order to inform

2:39:37decisions right that we can utilize our

2:39:40resources effectively.

2:39:43In addition to that, we want to leverage

2:39:45our pathways programs that we already

2:39:47have in place um including the potential

2:39:51for uh the ARTAP program that was

2:39:53mentioned by CNI.

2:39:56And we also want to um emphasize that

2:40:00the resources that we have for the for

2:40:03the district are going to be uh targeted

2:40:07to the teachers in order to improve this

2:40:09retention. For example, we have a number

2:40:11of teachers that we know of enter the

2:40:13district with a waiver. So, we want to

2:40:15make sure that we're using our

2:40:16professional development dollars that

2:40:18have been um aligned within the HR area

2:40:22to match them with the the cohorts that

2:40:25we have in the fall and the spring in

2:40:27order to assist us with the MTEL. This

2:40:29will give them the opportunity to uh

2:40:32participate in this program and which

2:40:34it's considered continuous progress by

2:40:37the def desi definition making them

2:40:39eligible for an additional waiver for a

2:40:43second year essentially returning to the

2:40:45districts and increasing our own

2:40:47retention.

2:40:49Um we also want to make sure that we are

2:40:51doing sort targeted recruitment

2:40:53strategies for the ML and the sped and

2:40:55those hard to field positions. So if we

2:40:57get our recruitment right from the

2:40:59beginning um and we get the people who

2:41:01are qualified uh and then work on

2:41:03retaining them um it it's going to help

2:41:06us increase our retention.

2:41:09The second goal

2:41:14there you go the second goal is to uh

2:41:17implement and launch power school

2:41:19applicant tracking system and record

2:41:21system. Uh and we want to ensure that

2:41:23the workflows, the data, the user access

2:41:25and processes are configured, tested,

2:41:27documented and operational for live use

2:41:29with at least 95% of completion of the

2:41:32required data fields and uh 97% accuracy

2:41:36based on uh data review.

2:41:39We want to do that by uh training 100%

2:41:43of every all the system users. We want

2:41:45to centralize and standardize employee

2:41:47records and the required fields. And we

2:41:49also want to make sure that we establish

2:41:51a procedures for ongoing system

2:41:53maintenance, data validation, and

2:41:54support. With every single platform that

2:41:57you implement, no matter how much time

2:41:59you spend in testing, you're always

2:42:01going to find things that will need to

2:42:03be improved as you go along. So, we want

2:42:05to make sure that we have the procedures

2:42:07uh for ongoing system data validation

2:42:09and user support.

2:42:13The third goal uh that we have is to

2:42:16improve accuracy

2:42:18um in the in completeness and timelines

2:42:20of the HR data and reporting by

2:42:23establishing standards data standardized

2:42:25data validation and review processes and

2:42:27maintaining at least 90% 97% accuracy in

2:42:30the required employee recruitment

2:42:33staffing and workforce data. uh as a

2:42:36district HR spent uh

2:42:39quite a lot of times last school year

2:42:41cleaning our data uh in terms of

2:42:44position control numbers ensuring that

2:42:46the data it's accurate there is some a

2:42:49lot of work that still needs to be done

2:42:50there so we want to keep this as a

2:42:52priority for us we know that the

2:42:54district is using data to inform

2:42:56decisions so we want to make sure that

2:42:57the data on the HR side it's it's

2:43:00accurate

2:43:03so we want to establish a system, put a

2:43:05system in place so that make sure that

2:43:07we're on a monthly uh basis reviewing

2:43:10the quality of the data and reconciling

2:43:12any discrepancies across our HR system,

2:43:15both the current one and the one that

2:43:16we're going to be implementing.

2:43:22And uh the

2:43:25the last goal is to establish consistent

2:43:27and timely HR customer service practices

2:43:29for principles and staff by

2:43:31acknowledging increase uh within one to

2:43:34two business days and providing a

2:43:36response status update within three to

2:43:38business days when additional research

2:43:39or action is required. So in general you

2:43:43know the central office and including HR

2:43:46are there to support the school. So we

2:43:48want to make sure that our customer

2:43:50service is as best as we can um and

2:43:52putting procedures in place to ensure

2:43:54that we're responding in a timely

2:43:56manner. So putting uh implementing a

2:43:59centralized method for either tracking

2:44:00the increase and also the resolutions to

2:44:02the uh to the inquiries that we're

2:44:05receiving and also developing FAQs,

2:44:08guidance documents and other resources

2:44:11uh to improve the access to HR uh

2:44:13reducing the need for uh reach out to HR

2:44:16for

2:44:18day-to-day commonly commonly practices

2:44:20within the HR. Um and then we also want

2:44:23to uh collect feedback, continue to

2:44:24collect feedback from principles and

2:44:26staff to assess our responsiveness and

2:44:28identify opportunities for improvement.

2:44:31Um this was uh the last goal for HR

2:44:37questions now or

2:44:40thank you.

2:44:45Why don't we wait till we get the

2:44:46finance and operation updates and then

2:44:48we'll go back to the

2:44:51>> You can ask holistically.

2:44:57>> Good evening,

2:44:58>> Jason Cabrera, chief financial officer

2:45:00for Lauren public school public schools.

2:45:03Um

2:45:05uh I'll go real quick through finance

2:45:07and and operations. Uh you have these

2:45:10slides so you can follow along. I'm not

2:45:12going to read, you know, all these

2:45:15slides, but I'll talk I'll give you a

2:45:16little gist of of what it is that we are

2:45:19doing to align our finances and our

2:45:22operations to the um to our strategies

2:45:25and our turnaround plan. Uh finance,

2:45:31excuse me. Um for finance by June of

2:45:362027, the goal is simple. it is to ma

2:45:39manage a balanced budget of $318

2:45:42million. And we're going to do that by

2:45:45one making sure that we meet the needs

2:45:47of our students and also align our

2:45:50spending with the district priorities.

2:45:52That that was the goal when we started

2:45:54the year. That is the goal today. That's

2:45:56going to be the goal until the end of

2:45:57the year. Uh we're monitoring staffing

2:46:00expenditures. We're monitoring

2:46:02expenditures of goods and services. I

2:46:05have multi- a lot of meetings with the

2:46:08department's heads and the assistant

2:46:10superintendent to talk about where we're

2:46:12at uh on a weekly basis just about um so

2:46:16we are monitoring our spending and again

2:46:18making sure that the money is spent uh

2:46:20in a meaningful way. Um by June of 2027

2:46:24we want to ensure accurate uh payroll uh

2:46:27payroll being over 70% of our

2:46:29expenditures. We're putting a lot more

2:46:31attention on um you know monies that are

2:46:35being paid out, stipens, those kind of

2:46:38things and making sure one that they're

2:46:40accurate and two that we provide a

2:46:42service to to our staff uh that they can

2:46:45be uh happy with. For example, uh on pay

2:46:49weeks like this week um on Fridays

2:46:52between 2:30

2:46:542:30 and 4:00 we uh we have a virtual

2:46:57counter. So, people that may have a

2:47:00question about uh their benefits uh pay

2:47:03coming, you know, the benefit coming out

2:47:05of their paycheck or union dues or

2:47:07whatever, they can ask those questions

2:47:09and we can address them right there on

2:47:11the spot. So, the payroll team is always

2:47:14uh uh working on those Fridays and

2:47:16making sure that folks get their um

2:47:19their questions answered. I'm going to

2:47:21go through operations real quick. uh

2:47:23facilities. Um if you've been uh

2:47:26following uh city council, we were in

2:47:28front of city council um a couple of

2:47:32weeks ago. We have three major projects

2:47:34that are the priority for facilities

2:47:37this year. I have the director of

2:47:38facilities here, uh Chris Merino. Um, we

2:47:43are asking the city to uh to allocate or

2:47:49to allocate funds for for these three

2:47:52MSBA projects. We have a new roof at the

2:47:55Frost, new roof at South Lawrence East,

2:47:59and then about 858 windows at the

2:48:03Arlington School. So, we've uh we're

2:48:05working with the MSBA. We have maybe two

2:48:09meetings a week between uh the OPM, the

2:48:13project manager for that those projects

2:48:14and and the MSBA. So, we're pretty far

2:48:17along on that. So, good things to come

2:48:19here in the uh in the near future as far

2:48:21as city council goes. Uh they order a

2:48:24public hearing. So, there's going to be

2:48:26a public hearing coming up regarding

2:48:28this here for the funding of uh of those

2:48:32projects, but we already went in front

2:48:33of the um budget and finance

2:48:36subcommittee and it was it's it was

2:48:39pushed up with a favorable

2:48:41recommendation. So, more to come on

2:48:43that. Uh transportation, I want to give

2:48:45a shout out shout out to uh our we have

2:48:48our new manager of transportation who's

2:48:50doing a great job, Simona Sanchez. Uh

2:48:53transportation. Um, we have our goal is

2:48:57to make sure that all students on on an

2:48:59IEP that require transportation are

2:49:02getting reliable transportation and that

2:49:0495% of the time at the very least uh are

2:49:08on time as far as the vendor providing

2:49:10that service. Um the second one it's uh

2:49:15by the spring of 2027 and I had talked

2:49:18about this before uh in February of this

2:49:20year the office of the inspector general

2:49:23uh put out a report that talked about

2:49:25transportation for special education uh

2:49:28across the commonwealth. Uh he had about

2:49:3127 findings and about 15

2:49:35recommendations.

2:49:37uh five four of those recommendations

2:49:38are for us as a school district or

2:49:42school districts in general. Then five

2:49:44were for the legislature and five more

2:49:46were for the department of education. So

2:49:49in taking from that report we're going

2:49:52to we're going to start 18 months early

2:49:55as far as uh looking for vendors and

2:49:58starting the process of procuring

2:50:00transportation for our special education

2:50:02and our our general education uh kids.

2:50:05So, we're going to start that uh in the

2:50:07spring hopefully so we can get out there

2:50:09and be uh find the most competitive uh

2:50:13bidder and kind of uh work on the

2:50:16contracts and make them less complex

2:50:18which is another one of the

2:50:19recommendations of the office of the

2:50:20spectrum general.

2:50:22Uh safety of the we have a also a new uh

2:50:28safety director Juan Flete. He's been

2:50:30working closely with the um with the

2:50:33schools making sure that he's present uh

2:50:36there to answer their their questions.

2:50:39Uh we're doing monthly um um lockdown

2:50:43drills and also um creating and

2:50:46maintaining crisis response plans in

2:50:49every school which I believe were all

2:50:51submitted uh for this year.

2:50:55um IST uh that's uh information systems

2:50:59and technology. Um we're upgrading a lot

2:51:02of the systems that we have. Some of

2:51:04them have to do with with safety. Uh we

2:51:07are upgrading we have we've upgraded

2:51:10200 cameras in four schools in the last

2:51:14uh few months. We have about 10 more

2:51:16schools that we're going to be working

2:51:17on. So, we've put a lot of invested a

2:51:20lot of uh funds, money, time into making

2:51:23sure that our schools are safe. Every

2:51:25school has uh buzzer system. We're

2:51:28upgrading, I believe, five more schools

2:51:30here in the next in the near future. Um,

2:51:34so that's what we have as far as uh

2:51:37information technology, just

2:51:39inventorying what we have, making sure

2:51:41that our kids have uh the the

2:51:44Chromebooks that they need. We don't

2:51:46charge our kids if they break it. We

2:51:48don't charge one penny. We've never

2:51:50charged one penny for Chromebooks for

2:51:52our kids. So, we want to continue try to

2:51:54continue that and provide the kids uh

2:51:57what they need. Uh nutrition.

2:52:00Let me see here. Uh nutrition. We are

2:52:04the goal for this year is to get away

2:52:06from the precooked or the pre-made uh

2:52:10meals that just get warmed up and kind

2:52:12of do the scratch uh uh cooking that

2:52:16they do in the bigger kitchens. We are

2:52:18outfitting some of our buildings that

2:52:20may not have a kitchen outfitted with an

2:52:23actual kitchen where people can actually

2:52:24cook. We've did that at the uh tarbox.

2:52:28Uh was that the tarbox uh Marino? Yeah,

2:52:31we finished the tar box and put a

2:52:33kitchen uh where people can actually,

2:52:35you know, our staff can actually cook

2:52:36instead of giving the kids a preheated

2:52:38uh preheated meal. So, we are putting

2:52:41funds aside uh to make sure that we

2:52:44continue with with that mission. And uh

2:52:47and then superintendent uh talked

2:52:49earlier about 11 schools that met 80% uh

2:52:53of of uh breakfast participation. That's

2:52:56something that we've been talking about

2:52:57since last year and we're going to

2:52:59continue to do this year. The go the

2:53:01goal for this year says 70%. I want to

2:53:04amend the record and change that to 80%.

2:53:09Since we have 11 already getting 80% I

2:53:12think 80% is something that we can do

2:53:15across the board. Uh that is all that I

2:53:17have. Uh I'll talk real quick about

2:53:19enrollment. If I can have uh Miss Angie

2:53:22Burgos who's with the F FRC, the family

2:53:24resource center because this is her

2:53:26thing. I just want to talk about

2:53:28enrollment real quick uh from the

2:53:31financial perspective just because we

2:53:33get funded based on on enrollment. On

2:53:36the top left corner, you have uh numbers

2:53:39there for enrollment um

2:53:42and they're going down

2:53:46and that is uh how we get funded. Um,

2:53:50that's a conversation that we continue

2:53:52to have as leadership that I would love

2:53:55for you as a committee uh engage with

2:53:59the superintendent and the receiver uh

2:54:01and talk about

2:54:04what decisions are going to have to be

2:54:06made when we talk about less funding.

2:54:10Um,

2:54:11so this is what we have this for next

2:54:14for this year. We're tracking what you

2:54:17said see there about 350

2:54:21students just about that equates to

2:54:24close to a little bit above $8 million.

2:54:27So that's $8 million that we had that

2:54:30we're not going to have. Uh I'm I'm glad

2:54:32I'm happy to hear that we're doing

2:54:34things to keep sixth and seventh graders

2:54:37in the district um you know in our

2:54:40schools, but this is the reality that we

2:54:42have. uh we go through through um

2:54:46enrollment projections. Uh there is uh

2:54:50uh

2:54:52there's a couple of projections that we

2:54:54use and and next week I'll be working

2:54:56with my budget analyst to to look at

2:54:58some numbers, but there is no projection

2:55:01not only in this district but in a lot

2:55:02of districts in Massachusetts that has

2:55:05any district increasing in enrollment.

2:55:08So, as we look at next year, we also

2:55:11need to look at what's going to happen

2:55:12next year so that we can gradually

2:55:14adjust our, you know, the way that we're

2:55:16living. Um, anything about this, man?

2:55:20>> Um, I think you've covered the, um,

2:55:23overall, I mean, these are the numbers,

2:55:25uh, reported for the last, um, three

2:55:28years, right? And, um, you can look at

2:55:30the difference where we are, just to

2:55:31kind of, um, reiterate what Jason just

2:55:34said. Um so as of October 1st the 12,67

2:55:38students is what is uh is our

2:55:40enrollment. Um of course we enroll

2:55:42students daily. You know that doesn't

2:55:44mean that that's that's just the October

2:55:46that's the SIMS reporting that you have

2:55:49here but daily we are um enrolling

2:55:54students and that's so throughout the

2:55:55year that number does look different at

2:55:57the end of the year in June. Um and you

2:56:00ha you also have the attendance through

2:56:02October 2nd attendance rate of

2:56:04approximately 92.1%.

2:56:07Um and as I mentioned I mentioned

2:56:09earlier that our goal is 95% or higher.

2:56:12Um since you'll be all part of the the

2:56:14uh attendance campaign attendance

2:56:17matters every day counts. um that'll be

2:56:20that that'll be what you'll be uh

2:56:21sharing with everyone and that 95%. Um

2:56:25how important it is and also how um what

2:56:27Jason just said how we have to plan um

2:56:30for these numbers.

2:56:35>> That is that is all that we have. If

2:56:37there are any questions for any of the

2:56:39presenters,

2:56:41I'm guessing this is the

2:56:42>> Yep. for the HR and operations and

2:56:45finance and family resource.

2:56:49Madam Chair,

2:56:50>> committee man, you have the floor.

2:56:52>> Thank you. Uh my question just a quick

2:56:54question for Elizabeth. Thank you for

2:56:56your presentation. Well, all of you

2:57:01uh some of the some of the initiatives

2:57:03that you shared that you talked about or

2:57:05covered in your presentation sounded

2:57:07similar to to some of the initiatives

2:57:09put forth by the Educator Diversity Act

2:57:12that was passed in 2024. Um, are we are

2:57:15we taking advantage of those of those uh

2:57:19uh advantages from that that come from

2:57:22that bill from that law?

2:57:24>> Yes.

2:57:26>> Um, can you point to any examples? Like

2:57:28for example, I guess well the specific

2:57:29one that I'm thinking about is the

2:57:30lensure. How are we um taking advantage

2:57:34of of of the new policy set forth by

2:57:36that bill in Lawrence?

2:57:39When it comes to lenture, the last data

2:57:41we have reported for 2026, our teachers

2:57:44are uh 87%

2:57:46licensed. Our roughly data for this year

2:57:50uh we are just taking a look now.

2:57:52Obviously, we have to retain them for so

2:57:53that when we report to Desi, they

2:57:55maintain, but they're in the low 90s. Um

2:57:57I'm thinking uh 93.

2:57:59>> Okay.

2:58:00>> So, that's rough data. Uh and so we're

2:58:02now tracking those that the smaller

2:58:05percentage that are on waiver so that we

2:58:07can help them get to the MTELS to make

2:58:11continuous progress so that we can get

2:58:12them licensed.

2:58:13>> Can you share an example of what that

2:58:15help looks like or what it might might

2:58:16look like?

2:58:17>> So we have a contract with teaching and

2:58:18learning and teaching and learning uh as

2:58:20part of the contract we have a cohort

2:58:22for the fall, a cohort for the spring.

2:58:24There's 12 sessions, two hours a session

2:58:26prepping them. They have study guides

2:58:28there. Those are live sessions um that

2:58:30are performed for in preparation

2:58:32preparing them to take the MTL. We also

2:58:35we have a cohort in the fall, we have a

2:58:37cohort in the spring. Um we also have

2:58:40the self-study guys. So we have 80 slots

2:58:43so that they can do self-study

2:58:44throughout the whole year. So rather

2:58:45than doing in 12 sessions, they can do

2:58:47the whole year. And we also have a

2:58:48summer institute which is more intense

2:58:50for those that can't do it throughout

2:58:51the year because they're, you know, they

2:58:53have other things, you know, family and

2:58:55things to take care of. So then we do a

2:58:56five intense stays over the summer.

2:58:59>> Great. Uh and our last question is are

2:59:01these teachers uh being asked to to pay

2:59:04for any of these services?

2:59:05>> They do not those are free. We're we're

2:59:07that's part of our contract. So the

2:59:08district is paying for that.

2:59:10>> Great.

2:59:10>> Um and in addition to to those uh

2:59:13programs that we have already in place,

2:59:14you know, we have the the tuition

2:59:17reimbursement. So we are increasing

2:59:19awareness um intentionally to have

2:59:22utilization of those funds. the amounts

2:59:24for tuition reimbursement increased from

2:59:262000 increased to 2,500 as part of the

2:59:29last CBA with the LTU and we also added

2:59:33$750 per year for professional

2:59:36development. So those who are already

2:59:37licensed in order to keep their PDPs,

2:59:39you know, they have access now to $750

2:59:42to pay for or get reimbured for those to

2:59:45maintain their license.

2:59:47>> That sounds lovely. Thank you.

2:59:48>> You're welcome.

2:59:51>> Any other questions? I have a very quick

2:59:53question, Committee Woman Berdalina. Um,

2:59:55I'm just looking at this last page,

2:59:57enrollment by grade, and we lose a lot

2:59:59of students from 8th grade to 9th grade.

3:00:04Is there anything in place to ask um

3:00:07families? Do you plan on enrolling

3:00:11in the ninth grade?

3:00:14So, we kind of know in advance. I'm I'm

3:00:16just curious. I know we we lose them,

3:00:18but

3:00:19>> um do we have any sense as to why?

3:00:22>> Um well, we're working on um making sure

3:00:25that the counselors meet with eighth

3:00:27grade students and they usually um plan

3:00:30out where they'll be going for um 9th

3:00:33grade. And so that's some of the work

3:00:36and some of the data that we're going to

3:00:38um analyze this year. Um there are

3:00:41schools that um they don't report to us.

3:00:44Um I think Essex Aagi is one of them

3:00:46that um we're we don't get that report.

3:00:50So we have to make sure that we track um

3:00:53all of that information and we are

3:00:55working on that to ensure that we have

3:00:57um a spreadsheet and we hear back from

3:00:59all the families to see if that's um the

3:01:02case.

3:01:03>> Okay. Thank you.

3:01:04>> You're welcome.

3:01:06>> Oh, superintendent.

3:01:07>> Thank you. Um very good question uh Miss

3:01:10Berino and we've been tracking that. We

3:01:13know that we're losing our students

3:01:15mostly at kindergarten and the eighth

3:01:17grade going into ninth grade, but your

3:01:19question was about eighth grade into

3:01:21ninth grade. So that's a very

3:01:22competitive uh year for kids. You have

3:01:26the charter schools, you have the uh

3:01:30Catholic schools, religious schools, you

3:01:32have the two vocational schools, Greater

3:01:35Lawrence, and you have Essex Aggie. You

3:01:38also have whatever schools, the only one

3:01:40that I'm familiar with right now, but

3:01:42you probably have a couple of of other

3:01:44schools that are uh choice schools. And

3:01:47then within those choice schools are I

3:01:50believe uh madam uh receiva uh virtual

3:01:53schools.

3:01:54>> Yeah, we have two virtual schools with

3:01:56three now. So um as you have all these

3:01:59options and great for parents that

3:02:02raises the level of competition for us

3:02:04and that's why you have seen some of the

3:02:07wonderful pathway programs that over the

3:02:10last couple of years uh Mr. Karavaju and

3:02:13his team have developed to try to make

3:02:15sure that we create opportunities for

3:02:18our kids here and for them to stay

3:02:21within the district. and we haven't made

3:02:23the impact that we want, but we are

3:02:26starting to compete. We have kids that

3:02:28are opting instead of going and paying

3:02:30tuitions out of district coming to the

3:02:33high school because of the options. For

3:02:35example, uh students that don't make it

3:02:37into the vocational school, any of the

3:02:39vocational schools, they come to

3:02:41Lawrence High School and by the time

3:02:44they finish their freshman year, they

3:02:46can enroll into the afterdark program.

3:02:48There are there are 100 slots for

3:02:51students to go to the uh Greater

3:02:53Lawrence Technical School. Okay. Uh

3:02:56we're opening up um a health pathway uh

3:02:59which is uh with our own health clinic

3:03:02emergency room that we have at the high

3:03:04school. With that, kids will be trained

3:03:06and they'll have access to internships

3:03:08to all three hospitals, Haver, Matthuan,

3:03:11and Lawrence General Hospital. So, we're

3:03:14expanding our health pathway. you know

3:03:16about our aviation pathway, our

3:03:18engineering pathway that we we currently

3:03:21have and let's not forget uh the

3:03:23expansion of our dual of our dual

3:03:25enrollment program. Um and the nice

3:03:28thing about our dual enrollment program

3:03:30is kids are getting credits both at the

3:03:32high school level and the college level

3:03:34so they can compete and finish and get

3:03:36their degree by the time they get out of

3:03:38high school with their associates and

3:03:40their high school degree. What we got to

3:03:42do is we got to do a better job with our

3:03:44families of letting know letting them

3:03:47know that we have all of these options

3:03:49out there. So the the campaign is to

3:03:51aggressively get the message out there

3:03:54that Lawrence is on the move all of

3:03:56these offerings and get kids that that

3:03:58went through those programs that are

3:03:59successful to be those model students

3:04:01that we put out through whatever means

3:04:03that they use now to communicate. So we

3:04:06recognize that but we're not sitting

3:04:08still. Okay, that's the reason why we

3:04:11also expanded um uh Abbott Academy to uh

3:04:16800 students and if you add the seventh

3:04:18and eighth graders, a thousand students.

3:04:21Our families are attracted to our Abbott

3:04:24school. So, we expanded that to make

3:04:26sure that we have room for them.

3:04:28>> Okay.

3:04:33>> So, I think we can move on to policy

3:04:35updates.

3:04:35>> I do have this one. I do have some

3:04:39pieces here. Um I I think overall this

3:04:43is it was great to just read through

3:04:45this presentation and see the district

3:04:47put together some strategy planning and

3:04:50um goal setting and what the work looks

3:04:52like looking forward June 2027

3:04:57um for June 2028.

3:04:59Um the the biggest question that I have

3:05:02overall on this quarterly report is that

3:05:05what I thought I was going to receive

3:05:06was sort of

3:05:10what the actual performing against the

3:05:14indicators of chapter 691K

3:05:16like what is the focus the

3:05:18accountability the monitoring the

3:05:19progress about the turnaround plan those

3:05:22goals or students outcomes

3:05:25what I was thinking I was going to get

3:05:27was sort of the evaluation like what was

3:05:30supposed to happen, what actually

3:05:31happened, what evidence shows the

3:05:34success and failure, what metrics

3:05:36improve or decline,

3:05:38what corrective actions are being made,

3:05:41where goals were not met. Uh, but

3:05:43throughout all the slides, it it was

3:05:46goal setting for 2027 2028.

3:05:50Um so what measurable results have been

3:05:53achieved since the last quarterly report

3:05:55and how do you how those result compare?

3:06:00The quarterly report is on a form as

3:06:02described in chapter 69 section 1k um in

3:06:07a manner form prescribed by the

3:06:09commissioner and the department. And so

3:06:11this is the form that I have provided to

3:06:14you all. Um those updates will come

3:06:16throughout the year. The purpose of the

3:06:18presentation was to be able to provide

3:06:20the initiatives against the

3:06:22accountability and assessment data that

3:06:24um and so the progress that the district

3:06:26is making based on the accountability

3:06:27and assessment data and then the

3:06:29associated initiatives.

3:06:31Mhm.

3:06:33Um so the the particular format it makes

3:06:36sense now because we're meeting you know

3:06:38but when a school committee um

3:06:40especially the city of Lawrence was not

3:06:42meeting

3:06:44regularly it it was set through a

3:06:46quarterly report and I agree with you

3:06:48that the department of education has

3:06:50done this type of formatting but again

3:06:53when it doesn't give nor the school

3:06:56committee or the public any way of

3:07:00understanding the performing that is

3:07:01happening within the district for the

3:07:03turnaround plan goals. Um, and I know

3:07:05that perhaps

3:07:09that is captured on the school year 26

3:07:13annual receiver evaluation and I don't

3:07:16know if that is something that will be

3:07:18presented to us uh by you or the

3:07:20commissioner of education

3:07:22>> that was presented to you in your June

3:07:24mailing.

3:07:29>> Thank you.

3:07:37So, I think we can move on to um policy

3:07:40updates.

3:07:42>> Great. Thank you. Um and thank you so

3:07:45much to the leadership team for

3:07:47presenting those updates and compiling

3:07:48that information. Really appreciate it.

3:07:51Um so the school committee um has

3:07:55received uh updated copies of the

3:07:57district's wellness policy which was

3:07:59updated as part of the district's um

3:08:01state required trienal assessment um of

3:08:03its local wellness policy and wellness

3:08:05practices. Um and so the summary of the

3:08:09revisions was provided in the cover memo

3:08:11to the policy updates. Um the other uh

3:08:15note is that as I mentioned at the last

3:08:17school committee meeting, we were making

3:08:19updates to the district's policy as it

3:08:21relates to the Protect Act. Those

3:08:23policies um the district has now walked

3:08:26through the procedures um and updated

3:08:29them to reflect the provisions of the

3:08:30Protect Act. They've also walked through

3:08:32the updated school committee um policy.

3:08:34And so I am letting the school committee

3:08:36know and the public know that those two

3:08:38policies are now in effect. Um, and if

3:08:40you have additional questions about

3:08:42them, Chris Markins from the district's

3:08:44leadership team can um, answer specific

3:08:46questions about the changes to the

3:08:47policies.

3:08:52>> Madam Chair,

3:08:54>> Committee Man, you have the floor.

3:08:57>> Um, so the the wellness polic I'm going

3:08:59to start with the wellness policy. It it

3:09:02talks about it conducts surveys um taste

3:09:05testing for new recipes to gather

3:09:07feedback and learn about student pre

3:09:09preference including cultural and ethic

3:09:12uh

3:09:14ethical food. Um one of the things that

3:09:16I think many of us get in this board is

3:09:19sort of the feedback from students about

3:09:22the food not being adequate or not

3:09:25reflecting or accommodating their

3:09:26cultural preference. So, how is the

3:09:28district ensuring that students feedback

3:09:30from those surveys and taste tests is

3:09:33actually being incorporated into menu

3:09:35planning, particularly with respect to

3:09:37diverse cultural background of Laurens

3:09:39students? Um, and what measures are in

3:09:43place to monitor where um cultural

3:09:46responsive menu items are being accepted

3:09:49or consumed rather than contributing to

3:09:51the food waste. And hopefully if you're

3:09:54able to also um let us know what

3:09:57limitations you have like Lawrence

3:09:59public schools through the USDA school

3:10:02meal requirement and also the

3:10:04Massachusetts universal school meal

3:10:06programs when attempting to incorporate

3:10:08uh cultural specific foods.

3:10:12>> Yeah, I don't know Chris if we have

3:10:13that. I mean I think this may deserve a

3:10:16greater nutrition update um for some of

3:10:18those specific questions but

3:10:19>> yeah I mean the the great Carol Newton

3:10:21was here earlier. She's not here now,

3:10:23unfortunately, and she could absolutely

3:10:24do much greater justice to those to to

3:10:26those questions than I

3:10:28>> questions. Yeah. Yeah. And she can

3:10:29absolutely and I think we'll be thrilled

3:10:30to follow up with you guys. I will say

3:10:32um just because I happen to know that my

3:10:33own team supports some of the work they

3:10:35do and stuff. I know that they have um

3:10:37both through the work Carol does through

3:10:39our head cooks and through East

3:10:40nutritionists, they've done um a ton of

3:10:43outreach with schools and students about

3:10:45trying to incorporate student feedback

3:10:46into food selection. Um, and just one

3:10:49example of that is a series of taste

3:10:51talk events um that they do at schools

3:10:53in which they come in and they have a

3:10:55series of menus and taste items set up

3:10:57and the students come in and they taste

3:10:58them and they then they vote and they

3:11:00select and then those things appear on

3:11:01menu items based on student feedback. I

3:11:03think the superintendent can tell you a

3:11:05little bit that uh some of the schools

3:11:06are terrified to see coming on certain

3:11:08days because the kids get a little wound

3:11:10up. They know it's going to be a fun

3:11:11day. Um those videos are usually a lot

3:11:13of fun. I think they do pretty much

3:11:15maybe our highest engagement of any

3:11:16videos that that go online. Um, so I

3:11:18know they've done a lot of work in that

3:11:20area, but I think Carol would love to

3:11:21come back and talk to you guys more

3:11:22about that.

3:11:24>> Yeah, thank thank you. Yeah, I just want

3:11:26to when I see policy and there's amazing

3:11:29opportunity here to clearly listen to

3:11:32student voices and activate um food that

3:11:36they love and want to eat and it doesn't

3:11:38end up in the trash. Um, I just wanted

3:11:41to understand a little bit more how do

3:11:43you implement that and what type of

3:11:46limitations

3:11:47you might have through the where we get

3:11:50the funding in order to feed our kids.

3:11:52Uh, which to my knowledge is still the

3:11:55we're still under the waiver of the

3:11:56USDA. Um, and I don't know if there's

3:11:59other challenges when you guys are

3:12:01trying to do this.

3:12:02>> Yeah. And I think the other thing that's

3:12:03important to note about the wellness

3:12:04policy is that the everything that you

3:12:06guys see there was again it's a

3:12:08committee, right? in meets multiple

3:12:09times throughout the year. Those minutes

3:12:11and those meetings are always available

3:12:12online, too. But it really is there's,

3:12:14you know, educators involved in that.

3:12:15There's nutritional people involved in

3:12:16that. There's, I believe, some, you

3:12:18know, teachers on every level of school

3:12:20people involved in that. So, there's

3:12:21hopefully a collective effort going into

3:12:23answering some of the questions you're

3:12:24asking. But yeah, I would I would think

3:12:25the superintendent who would love for

3:12:27care will come back here and get into

3:12:28the details with you guys on

3:12:30>> Okay. Thank you,

3:12:34Madam Chair. I have a question

3:12:36now.

3:12:38um food uh farm to school. Um this a

3:12:41program I've I've seen and observed in

3:12:43other school districts and I I think

3:12:45it's amazing. I see it listed here as a

3:12:47program that is available. Are we are we

3:12:51is this is that program going to be

3:12:53included or is that something that's up

3:12:54for

3:12:56>> Yeah, I believe so. But again, I'm I'm

3:12:57going to defer to Caroline to walk you

3:12:59through the details.

3:13:00>> Thank you. That was my only question.

3:13:04Madam Chair

3:13:06Guzman,

3:13:07>> um I guess for the civil law enforcement

3:13:09policy, we're taking these policies

3:13:11together,

3:13:12>> right? Or this

3:13:14>> I don't know what that means. What do

3:13:15you mean taking them together?

3:13:17>> Are we just discussing?

3:13:19>> Yeah, sure. Any questions you might have

3:13:20about the policy? Yep. So for the the

3:13:23particular policy I went through it and

3:13:25it was great to just see that when you

3:13:28click on the this internal protocol

3:13:31>> I guess that internal protocol

3:13:34is available to the public to see or is

3:13:36it just for we were

3:13:37>> just district employees

3:13:38>> district okay

3:13:39>> y

3:13:40>> yeah and then that policy itself um

3:13:43where it's linked when this is posted

3:13:46online would not be available

3:13:47essentially for them to

3:13:49>> it actually is right now yeah the

3:13:51policy's been posted.

3:13:52>> The policies been posted, but the

3:13:53procedures

3:13:54>> you you can see the protocols as well,

3:13:55which is encouraged as part of the act

3:13:56as well. Yeah. Like so currently you can

3:13:58see those as well and and then uh

3:14:00there's other resources and things that

3:14:02are linked in there as well. Well, and

3:14:03and those are currently available as

3:14:05well. And we're going to be

3:14:06communicating this to families.

3:14:08>> Oh, okay. Um I I think I want to I don't

3:14:11know if when I was reading through the

3:14:13protocol

3:14:15things that came up to me was what are

3:14:18the trainings that we're sort of doing

3:14:20for staff and I know there's some

3:14:22professional development listed within

3:14:24this protocol but as we're doing

3:14:26training I didn't see and maybe this is

3:14:29somewhere else like how do we ensure

3:14:31that we're protecting our staff or

3:14:35showing them that by following this

3:14:37procedure where

3:14:39this is what the district would do to

3:14:41protect you.

3:14:43>> Yeah. So, as far as the training piece

3:14:44goes, uh we're going to be doing that in

3:14:46a number of ways. The principles

3:14:48obviously, as a matter of fact, tomorrow

3:14:50we're going to be getting a very

3:14:51detailed roll out of all of this,

3:14:53exactly what it means to them, what it

3:14:54means to their staff, what it means to

3:14:56families, and how they can incorporate

3:14:58it into their their communication with

3:14:59their staff. We're also going to be

3:15:00making it been working with Tony up at

3:15:02IS&T. We're going to be making it part

3:15:03of our vector training. Uh so, all staff

3:15:06will have to review the policy. They'll

3:15:07have to review the protocols and they're

3:15:08going to have to review that additional

3:15:10piece of one-page guidance that

3:15:11highlights what you're talking about,

3:15:13which is the stuff that is most

3:15:14important to our staff members to know.

3:15:16It not only includes the basics of how

3:15:18you should interact should you choose to

3:15:20engage with a civil law enforcement

3:15:21officer who comes to the school, but it

3:15:23highlights some of your rights around

3:15:25what, you know, you do not have to

3:15:26interact if you choose not to at all

3:15:28with a civil law enforcement who comes

3:15:30to school and you can defer to your

3:15:31administrator entirely. Uh and so it

3:15:33walks them through, you know, their

3:15:34rights about communication and exactly,

3:15:37you know, their reporting requirements

3:15:39around this and emphasizing that you

3:15:40don't have to do any of that until you

3:15:42feel completely safe. And hopefully it

3:15:44creates the kind of things that you're

3:15:45talking about to establish that uh you

3:15:47know, the policy is in place to protect

3:15:50families. Yes. But it also does clearly

3:15:53establish what and the protocols clearly

3:15:55establish what staff do and do not have

3:15:56to do. And it does include also some

3:15:58language regarding if somebody is there

3:16:00making a request about staff how that

3:16:01should be in.

3:16:03>> Okay, that's good to hear. Uh I think

3:16:06the last time that this got brought up

3:16:08to our agenda, um I suggested trying to

3:16:11figure out like when it comes how can

3:16:13LPS

3:16:15work on pre-arranged guardianship for

3:16:18children in case parents are detained or

3:16:21deported by ICE. I don't know where the

3:16:24district stands on that. if FRC is is

3:16:28going to involve themselves on doing

3:16:30this sort of training and support or

3:16:32pointing out to families.

3:16:34>> Yeah, I do remember when you mentioned

3:16:35at the last meeting we' started that

3:16:37process. Um obviously what you're

3:16:39talking about strictly speaking is a

3:16:40legal process that a family has to

3:16:42engage in obviously outside the school

3:16:44system but there are a couple things

3:16:45that we can do and in fact that the the

3:16:48protect law encourages you to do and

3:16:49that the DESIE guidance which was by the

3:16:51way very good encourages you to do as

3:16:54well. Um the first thing is you can

3:16:56provide resources including emergency

3:16:57planning guides. Um we've made that you

3:16:59know that's usually attached anytime we

3:17:01share the policy or information about

3:17:02the policy that's been attached. Uh we

3:17:04worked with the FRC to create um some

3:17:06resource documents that included those

3:17:08guides which were provided by the state

3:17:09and other places. Part of that obviously

3:17:11encourages families who are vulnerable

3:17:13to uh make the arrangements that you're

3:17:15talking about. Uh the second thing that

3:17:17we're doing is um I've been working with

3:17:19Tony and with Maria Ortiz, our

3:17:21enrollment director at the F FRC to

3:17:23incorporate the question around um

3:17:26emergency guardianship into the

3:17:28enrollment process so that every family

3:17:30knows that they have the opportunity to

3:17:32share that information. So that's being

3:17:34incorporated into the step-by-step

3:17:36enrollment process that they use at the

3:17:37F FRC. And then Tony is working to

3:17:39incorporate his face into the power

3:17:41school profile so that if a family

3:17:43chooses to take advantage of that

3:17:44option, that information is in their

3:17:46power school profile and schools can

3:17:47access it.

3:17:49>> Thank you.

3:17:54>> I think we can move on. Great. Uh last

3:17:57topic for me and then we'll move to the

3:17:59chair's topic. Um so I'm glad to bring

3:18:01to the school committee updates on the

3:18:03superintendent search. Um and I do have

3:18:05one request for um the chair tonight.

3:18:07But first, as I mentioned last month, we

3:18:09do plan to post a bid um to secure a

3:18:11search firm to support the

3:18:13superintendent search. Um the focus of

3:18:15this firm will engage in a process to

3:18:17engage the community and seek their

3:18:18feedback on the qualities and skills of

3:18:20the next superintendent. And based on

3:18:23this community engagement, we're going

3:18:24to build a profile of the superintendent

3:18:26which will inform the job description

3:18:28and then the final selection process.

3:18:30and show. So what I'm sharing with you

3:18:33um is the draft scope of work for the um

3:18:38bid um for the services. I I am going to

3:18:42actually collect this back though

3:18:44because it is a competitive bid. I don't

3:18:45want this to be floating around. But I

3:18:47did want to make sure to reassure the

3:18:48committee that as part of the process it

3:18:51will be a robust um series of

3:18:53engagements with the community both in

3:18:56district, out of district, business

3:18:58leaders, etc. um to be able to inform

3:19:01the um profile that will help to um

3:19:05develop the job description and then

3:19:07support the process throughout. Um and

3:19:10so um I expect or hope that this bid um

3:19:14is posted within the next couple of

3:19:15weeks because again the um urgency for

3:19:18us is to make sure that we are getting

3:19:21the technical pieces of this process

3:19:22started so that we can um make sure that

3:19:26we are posting um you know at the right

3:19:29time for when um a typical

3:19:31superintendent search process would

3:19:32happen. um and that we're engaging in um

3:19:36interviews and the process of um

3:19:38selecting candidates um well into the

3:19:41winter um so that we can um aim for you

3:19:45know identification of our um slate of

3:19:47candidates by the spring.

3:19:49Um, so I realize that you are just

3:19:51getting this tonight and I am going to

3:19:52collect it back from you. Um, like I

3:19:54said, but I do, you know, I did just

3:19:56want to make sure that you saw this next

3:19:57stage. Um but and to support the process

3:20:01um and to make sure that we have ongoing

3:20:02commitment and engagement from the

3:20:04school committee um I'd like to request

3:20:06that the chair identify a subcommittee

3:20:08of the school committee to um engage in

3:20:11a superintendent um search subcommittee

3:20:14to support the process um to meet

3:20:16outside of the regular business meetings

3:20:19to provide input on the process to

3:20:20engage directly with the chosen vendor

3:20:23um and then to um be able to come back

3:20:26to the school committee at our monthly

3:20:27meetings to provide updates on what's

3:20:29happening in the process um to be

3:20:31informed along the way.

3:20:37>> Okay. Thank you. I I appointing

3:20:43uh team member greeneret.

3:20:48>> I do. Thank you, chair.

3:20:53>> Vice chair.

3:20:57I accept.

3:21:00>> Donna, you just said

3:21:03>> yes. Thank you.

3:21:05>> Thank you. The committee ready.

3:21:08>> So, chair, at this point, you have to

3:21:10nom um also select a chair of that

3:21:13subcommittee, correct? Because we didn't

3:21:15do that last time.

3:21:16>> Correct.

3:21:16>> And so, I want to make sure that

3:21:17>> Yes. Great. Yes.

3:21:20>> So,

3:21:23>> uh

3:21:27be a chair. Yes.

3:21:30>> Sure.

3:21:34>> Thank you.

3:21:36So again, unless there's any specific

3:21:39questions about this bid or the work of

3:21:41the subcommittee, um we do I I hope to

3:21:45engage the subcommittee um as soon as

3:21:47possible so that we can um they can

3:21:50support the um selection of the vendor,

3:21:53be able to provide updates um and meet,

3:21:55you know, more regularly um on the

3:21:57process.

3:21:59>> Have a quick question,

3:22:00>> please. if you're able to offer any

3:22:02details. I understand if you can about

3:22:03the timeline, but um specifically um I I

3:22:07am in communication with certain um

3:22:10community stakeholder groups that work

3:22:12with parents and um they're wondering uh

3:22:15if they can have an idea for when they

3:22:18will be asked to begin engaging in this

3:22:20process.

3:22:21>> Yeah, it's a great question. You know, I

3:22:23hope that we are um once the bid is

3:22:26vendor is selected and we get them on

3:22:28contract and we may have to start some

3:22:30of this work even before we have a

3:22:32vendor on board if we need to. But we

3:22:34need to identify what are the questions

3:22:36that we want to ask the community and

3:22:38who are the groups who are the

3:22:39stakeholders that we want to engage with

3:22:41and start starting to generate that list

3:22:43so that we can start engaging and having

3:22:45meetings with community members early

3:22:47into the winter. Um so I hope that the

3:22:50committee members yourselves not just

3:22:52the subcommittee but each of you

3:22:53individually and again I do hope this

3:22:55aligns with the work that you're doing

3:22:56with effective school boards so that as

3:22:58you are engaging the community for those

3:23:00for your capacity building plan that

3:23:02you're also infusing and embedding the

3:23:04questions as part of the superintendent

3:23:06search in that process so that we're

3:23:08both using everybody's time well um and

3:23:12um you know being able to engage in the

3:23:15conversation with anybody that you're

3:23:17you're engaging with um on both topics.

3:23:25>> Thank you.

3:23:27>> So, when will we initiate um our first

3:23:32gathering

3:23:33>> of the subcommittee?

3:23:34>> Correct.

3:23:35>> Um as soon as everybody's ready.

3:23:37>> Okay.

3:23:38>> Yeah.

3:23:39>> So, I'll petition members,

3:23:41>> you'll collect this back um and then

3:23:44maybe I'll let B and yourself know.

3:23:47>> Yep. That would be great.

3:23:49>> And then just to confirm, we will be

3:23:51coming back to the committee as a whole

3:23:52at some point and provide updates. Can

3:23:55we commit to some type of update?

3:23:58>> Yeah, I would anticipate that this

3:24:00should be a a regular agenda item that

3:24:02we have on our regular business meetings

3:24:04and that a combination of the

3:24:05subcommittee members and myself would be

3:24:07providing updates um at each of the um

3:24:10meetings.

3:24:13>> Okay. I think we'll have a lot to talk

3:24:15about in terms of the process.

3:24:17Great.

3:24:20Thank you.

3:24:22>> Sure. I would love to collect those

3:24:23back. Thank you.

3:24:33So, moving on um to chair report. So, at

3:24:36this time, I will ask the chair of the

3:24:38policy subcommittee to provide us an

3:24:40update with where we're at.

3:24:43>> Uh thank you, madam vice chair. So, just

3:24:45a quick rundown. Um, in case anyone's

3:24:47wondering, we did go through a pretty uh

3:24:49detailed process to look at the section

3:24:51B policies and the policy manual for

3:24:53Lawrence public schools. Uh, we went

3:24:57almost line by line with the help of

3:24:59Alicia Malin who is the representative

3:25:01from Massachusetts Association of School

3:25:04Committees, MASC. She was extremely

3:25:06helpful. um she's an expert in in

3:25:09designing policy for school committees

3:25:10across the state and she's also a school

3:25:12committee member, a very uh experienced

3:25:14school committee member herself. So, she

3:25:16was a great resource to have with us

3:25:18during that subcommittee meeting last

3:25:20week. Um just some quick highlights uh

3:25:24of what we did look at uh we we had a

3:25:26lot of focus on uh school uh officer

3:25:28duties uh appointment of subcommittees,

3:25:31appointment of the chair of the

3:25:32subcommittee, uh positions such as the

3:25:34clerk. Um we were looking at

3:25:38um some discrepancies that that we might

3:25:40need to be resolved between the policy

3:25:45uh the manual and the rules that we were

3:25:47operating with at the beginning of the

3:25:49year and also with the city charter. We

3:25:52want to make sure that we can align as

3:25:54much as possible. Uh we also looked at

3:25:57uh our procedures for agenda formatting

3:26:01uh distribution of materials, the

3:26:02timeline and um

3:26:08the posting requirement for for the

3:26:09agenda, that kind of thing. Um I think

3:26:12for in case anyone is wondering the the

3:26:14process that we're expecting now is

3:26:16going to be uh a vetting process by

3:26:20receiver Woo and our legal council to

3:26:23look at the recommendations that we

3:26:25approved or that we that well the school

3:26:28committee didn't approve but the

3:26:29subcommittee approved for uh further

3:26:32review and we're hoping that we can have

3:26:35a report of results by next month's uh

3:26:39school committee meeting.

3:26:41Um, I guess the only question I have is

3:26:44uh did did you hear from Alicia Mal and

3:26:47receiver Woo about Okay, so she said

3:26:49that she eventually would

3:26:51>> type up those uh recommendations and

3:26:54share with you and then maybe that will

3:26:56go to the legal council.

3:26:58>> Um but um that was our hope at at the

3:27:00subcommittee meeting. We were hoping

3:27:02that by November we can have a a full

3:27:04report for for the community.

3:27:06>> Great.

3:27:10I just want to

3:27:11>> great work um

3:27:13>> to you vice chair. I just want to point

3:27:14our order because um my understanding is

3:27:18that

3:27:22the subcommittee

3:27:24met figure out some recommendations.

3:27:29there's some legal conversations

3:27:30happening and then after that it will be

3:27:33released to this committee as a whole to

3:27:36finalize something to then put put it on

3:27:39the desk of the receiver. But what I

3:27:41heard is that the receiver will look at

3:27:43it before it gets to this full body.

3:27:46Is that is that the understanding or is

3:27:48that just clarification on that?

3:27:53According

3:27:55to the policy manual, there is a there

3:27:57is language around the uh the

3:28:00subcommittee this full committee would

3:28:03have to approve any official

3:28:05recommendations the full committee, but

3:28:07I'm not sure if that happens after

3:28:08you've reviewed um or not.

3:28:15I think if there are uh legal issues

3:28:17that you're working out that I would

3:28:19recommend that those legal issues be

3:28:21sorted out before they come to the

3:28:23school committee because we don't want

3:28:24to have the full board voting on

3:28:26something that is still um not adi has

3:28:30not had proper advisement by legal

3:28:32counsel. So if there's still issues with

3:28:35that regard then I would um propose to

3:28:38do wait for the legal counsel and then

3:28:41bring it to the full committee. Um, but

3:28:45I'm happy to receive recommend I'm happy

3:28:47to receive the recommendations once the

3:28:48full committee decides to put them

3:28:50forward based on the subcommittee's

3:28:52recommendations.

3:28:54So, we would vet through just to re just

3:28:57to summarize, we're going to the legal

3:29:00matters will be reviewed once those are

3:29:03solidified. It would come before this

3:29:05full committee. We would vote on those

3:29:07recommendations and then bring them

3:29:09forward to the receiver.

3:29:14Okay,

3:29:15at this point I will entertain a motion

3:29:17to adjurnn.

3:29:19>> I motion.

3:29:20>> Second.

3:29:21>> All those in favor say I.

3:29:23>> The eyes have it. Thank you.

3:29:24>> Thank you everybody.