2026-10-08 - School Committee

00:01All right, I'm going to open the open

00:02mic session which is designed to provide

00:03an opportunity for citizens to express

00:05their views on matters of concern to the

00:07school committee. The sessions are not

00:09designed to encourage debate or length

00:10exchange of views bar and to have the

00:11committee understand numerous points of

00:13view. The committee would appreciate

00:14speakers keeping their presentation to

00:15three minutes in order to accommodate as

00:17many people as time permits. The chair

00:19reserves the right to limit the number

00:20of speakers in the same topic to three.

00:21All speakers must be at least 18 years

00:23of age or enrolled in the high school

00:24and public schools district. And having

00:26discussed their views with a student

00:27government representative, the chair

00:28reserves the right to rule the speaker

00:29out of order if they feel that the

00:30speaker's comments are personal in

00:32nature. If a speaker's comments are

00:34directed at a school committee member or

00:35a member of school administration in

00:37attendance, that member through the

00:38chair may address the individual. We

00:41have anybody for open mic. Anyone for

00:44open mic? Last call for open mic. And we

00:48will close the open mic and move into

00:51the 15th regular meeting of the school

00:54committee. Roll call, please.

00:56>> Member Castanos,

00:57>> present.

00:57>> Member Gaitley,

00:58>> present.

00:58>> Member Ortiz McGrath,

01:00>> present.

01:00>> Member Pena,

01:01>> present.

01:01>> Member Satawite,

01:02>> present.

01:03>> Member Smith,

01:03>> present.

01:04>> Mayor Nicholson,

01:04>> present. [clears throat] And

01:07very excited to welcome our student

01:10member of the school committee,

01:11superintendent. Uh, deputy

01:13superintendent.

01:14>> Thank you. I would Good evening. I would

01:17like to take this opportunity to welcome

01:20Jason Mao is a senior at Frederick

01:22Douglas Collegiate Academy and he will

01:26be our representative on the school

01:27committee student representative. He is

01:29accompanied by like-minded peers

01:31striving for both their high school

01:33diploma and associates degree upon

01:35graduating. He currently ranks in the

01:38top two among his class with a 4.66

01:42GPA.

01:47and a relevant history of academic

01:49recognition through the Northshore

01:51Community College deans list. Uh since

01:54freshman year, Jason has demonstrated

01:56leadership as his former class president

01:58and council member. He has also deeply

02:01involved Lynn Public Schools music

02:02department being the drum major for the

02:04Lynn All City marching band as well as

02:07section leader of Lynn's all concert

02:10band and first percussion ensemble.

02:13Having Lynn lived in Lynn for all his

02:16life, Jason is incredibly active in the

02:18community. He is a member of the TRIO

02:20Upwardbound and Neighbor-To Neighbor

02:22Youth Engagement Team. In recent times,

02:25he was also accepted to the fellowship

02:26program located at Lynn Community Health

02:28Center. As a returning student advisory

02:31committee member, Jason was elected as

02:33chairperson by his peers. Above all,

02:36Jason has exemplified how pass

02:38passionate he is about supporting the

02:40youth solutionsoriented discussions and

02:42we welcome you as a member of the

02:44school.

02:46[applause]

02:49I would also like to take a moment to

02:51briefly introduce the other students

02:53that will be serving on the student

02:54advisory committee. From Lynn classical,

02:57we have Divine Eggbuta.

03:01From Lynn English we have Amira Mutabid.

03:05From Kasa we have Jaden Smith.

03:10And from Harold Durgen we have Anderson

03:13Lopez Palma. And from Lynn Vocational

03:17Technical Institute we have Anthony

03:18Romera Garcia. Welcome.

03:23[applause]

03:25>> Thank you so much. Welcome. We're so

03:26excited to have you. Uh for those who

03:28are able, please rise for a salute to

03:29the flag and remain standing for a

03:31moment of silence.

03:34>> To the flag of the United States of

03:36America and to the republic for which it

03:39stands, one nation under God,

03:42indivisible, with liberty and justice

03:44for all.

03:47>> To have a moment of silence in memory of

03:50Alicia Mariscali, clinical supervisor,

03:53passed away October 8th, 2026.

04:03Thank you.

04:06[clears throat]

04:08>> Next item is the minutes.

04:09>> Um motion to accept the policy

04:13subcommittee meeting on September 24th

04:152026

04:17and the 14th regular meeting on

04:19September 24th, 2026.

04:23>> Second.

04:24>> All in favor? I

04:26>> post. I have it.

04:28>> Appointments.

04:39>> I would pleased tonight to share an

04:42important update regarding our

04:43leadership team. Last year, I had the

04:46opportunity to welcome Lari Gallivan

04:48back to the Lynn Public Schools as our

04:50interim deputy superintendent.

04:53At the time, I spoke about the depth of

04:55her experience, instructional expertise,

04:58and genuine commitment to Lynn that Lori

05:00brought to the role. Tonight,

05:03Superintendent Cohen is delighted to

05:05share that following a competitive

05:07selection process, Lori was uni

05:09unanimously recommended by the interview

05:11panel to serve as our permanent deputy

05:13superintendent.

05:15Over the past year, Lori has

05:17demonstrated exactly what we hope she

05:19would bring to Lynn. She is an

05:20experienced instructional leader, a

05:22thoughtful systems thinker, and a deeply

05:25collaborative colleague. She brings

05:27tremendous knowledge to the work while

05:29remaining curious, reflective, and

05:31always willing to learn alongside of

05:33others. Perhaps most importantly, Lori

05:36understands that leadership at this

05:38level is about building the capacity of

05:40others and creating conditions for

05:43schools where students will thrive. For

05:45Lori, there is also something of a

05:47homecoming story. Her nearly three

05:49decades in public education began right

05:52here in Lynn. And I think there is

05:54something particularly meaningful about

05:56seeing that this journey come full

05:58circle. So tonight, it gives me great

06:02pleasure to officially welcome Lori

06:03Gallivan as deputy superintendent of the

06:06Lind Public Schools. [applause]

06:13Thank you very much everyone. I really

06:14look forward [clears throat] to

06:16continuing this journey and I thank Dr.

06:18Cohen and the whole team for their

06:19support. Thank you.

06:22>> Congratulations.

06:23>> You

06:25>> great. Next we have a presentation on

06:27standards for interpretation translation

06:29services in school

06:30>> where I would welcome Mr. Charlie Gallo

06:33in GMOs Sali to please step up.

06:40>> I just want to make everyone aware that

06:42Dr. Cohen is on teams and she's uh

06:45listening to our meeting while in Texas.

06:58Good evening. Thank you. Um, for the

07:00record, my name is Charlie Gallowin,

07:02public schools compliance officer. I

07:04have the pleasure of being here tonight

07:05with G Mosenelli, who is our manager of

07:08translations and interpreting. Thank

07:10you, mayor, madame vice chair, members

07:12of the school committee as a whole, and

07:13members of the administration for the

07:15opportunity to present. Um Mr. Senelli

07:18will present first where LPS currently

07:20is on the topics of document translation

07:23and oral meeting interpreting. From

07:26there um I want to share with you a uh

07:29new state regulation and forthcoming

07:31DESIE guidance which mostly confirms the

07:34good work that uh LPS has done over the

07:37years. But we do want to prepare you

07:39unfortunately um that compliance with

07:41the regulation and the forthcoming DESIE

07:44guidance unless they are changed will

07:46result in significant increased costs

07:48for districts [snorts] especially Lynn.

07:51And we want to prepare you that

07:52compliance with that regulation and with

07:55the forthcoming guidance will result in

07:57a significant slowdown of document

08:00translation services that will impact

08:02only families with non-English-speaking

08:06and have students with disabilities. So

08:09the these are equity issues that impact

08:11special education timeline compliance

08:14and based on very recent information

08:16from DESIE, we felt it was necessary to

08:18make you aware of them and appreciate

08:20the opportunity to do so. I'll turn to

08:22Mr. Sinelli first.

08:24>> Thank you Charlie and good evening

08:26everyone. Um thank you for having us

08:28here tonight.

08:30So, I just wanted to kind of frame

08:33tonight's presentation on interpretation

08:35and translations um with a statistic

08:38that I think defines the reality of our

08:41families here at Limp Public Schools.

08:44So, only 25% of LPS families identify

08:47English as their first language. So when

08:5175% of families identify a language

08:53other than English as their first

08:55language, it means that language access

08:58can't be and isn't an afterthought. So

09:01it requires an intentional approach and

09:04is fundamental to basic district

09:06operations, family engagement, student

09:09success, and equity.

09:12So there are currently over 60 languages

09:15uh represented in the district. The top

09:17five are Spanish, English, Haitian

09:21Creole, Kami, and Portuguese in that

09:23order. And to support these different

09:26linguistic backgrounds, last year we

09:28provided interpreters for over 5,200

09:31meetings.

09:35So, language access is a legally uh

09:37protected civil right under federal law.

09:40In 2015, the US Department of Justice

09:43and US Department of Ed issued joint

09:45guidance clarifying school districts

09:47legal obligations under title six of the

09:49civil rights act. It's a much longer

09:52document, but these two questions are

09:54the most relevant to our discussion

09:55here. The core mandate is clear though

09:59which school says that schools must

10:01communicate information to limited

10:02English proficient parents in a language

10:04they understand. So this applies to all

10:07communications for example special

10:09education discipline report cards and

10:12school activities um that are called to

10:14the attention of parents who are

10:16proficient in English. And equally

10:19important is the explicit prohibition of

10:22asking students, siblings, friends or

10:25untrained school staff to translate or

10:27interpret. um using a child to interpret

10:30an IEP meeting or a disciplinary matter

10:32is a direct violation of uh civil rights

10:35guidance. We're legally and ethically

10:37required to provide qualified and

10:39competent professionals.

10:43So, language access directly underpins

10:45the district improvement plan and our

10:47core values of equity and belonging. Dr.

10:50Cohen's welcome message from earlier

10:52this year uh sets the foundation for

10:55this work emphasizing our partnership

10:57with families and there are two

10:59strategic priorities that are especially

11:01relevant to the work that we do. Um

11:03those are highlighted in red here. Uh

11:05the first one being strengthening the

11:07instructional core through culturally

11:09and linguistically responsive teaching

11:11and learning and cultivating safe,

11:13welcoming and and inclusive schools

11:15where every student experiences a strong

11:17sense of belonging.

11:19So we take this work very seriously and

11:23we feel that it's required to be able to

11:26achieve our strategic priorities.

11:30So to meet the scale of our community's

11:33needs um our district operate operates a

11:36pretty comprehensive request system. Um

11:39the online interpreting request system

11:41up here on the left side processed over

11:435,000 requests this past school year and

11:46we expect over 6,000 requests this

11:49current school year um for various types

11:51of meetings ranging from parent teacher

11:53conferences 504 IEP discipline hearings

11:56and other district-wide events. And the

11:58form on the right is our written

12:00translations request form. Um, and for

12:03written documents, we have human

12:04translators that use computerass

12:06assisted translation tools, which are

12:08also referred to as CAT tools, um, to

12:11translate tens of thousands of pages per

12:14year. I want to mention also here that

12:17there's another separate system for

12:19certain special education and 504

12:21documents that utilizes machine

12:23translation through Ed Plan, but I'll

12:26get to that in just a little bit.

12:30So having interpreters is only half the

12:33equation. Uh training educators on how

12:35to use and collaborate with interpreters

12:37is essential. The compliance department

12:40conducts annual trainings for district

12:42educators and administrative staff

12:44across schools and departments. And the

12:47trainings emphasize both the legal

12:49necessity of language access and the

12:51practical skills that are needed to

12:53conduct effective meetings with

12:54interpreters. So, for many

12:56non-English-speaking uh caregivers, an

12:59IEP meeting or a parent teacher

13:00conference might be the only opportunity

13:02they have to meet face-toface uh with

13:05school personnel all year. So, we want

13:07every one of those interactions to be as

13:10respectful, effective, and collaborative

13:12as possible.

13:15Um this is just an example of what was

13:17presented um in this particular training

13:20this past year. It just demonstrates uh

13:23the importance of speaking in the first

13:25person to ensure clarity and minimize

13:27confusion about speaking directly to the

13:30parent and not the interpreter. Um this

13:32is something that's considered industry

13:34be best practice and was actually part

13:37of our collaboration with DESIE over the

13:39years to have this be standard practice

13:41statewide.

13:44So, as you can see in this chart, uh,

13:48demand for interpretation is growing

13:50significantly. Um, like I said, last

13:52year we had over 5,200 special education

13:55and other meetings. And that number has

13:58been growing consistently for the past

14:00decade or so, um, at a rate of about 15

14:03to 30% increase every year. and

14:06interpreters are provided through a

14:08combination of our highly trained LPS

14:10Spanish interpreters as well

14:12[clears throat] as vetted agency

14:13personnel. Um, I would like to take a

14:16moment to thank the school committee uh

14:18for acknowledging this need and

14:20providing funding that has allowed us to

14:22keep up with this increase in demand and

14:25we've been able to leverage the

14:26resources that we have uh to do so. Um,

14:29and as far as why this demand is

14:31increasing, um, primarily a combination

14:34of two factors. The first is we've seen

14:36a steady 2 to 3% increase in families

14:39who identify Spanish as their first

14:41language with a corresponding decrease

14:44in English. And then number two is

14:46increased awareness among staff um due

14:49to the training programs we've run to

14:51ensure that staff request official

14:52interpreting or interpreters uh rather

14:55than relying on informal workarounds.

14:57And we've come a long way in this

14:59regard.

15:02So all that information about

15:04interpreting statistics is relevant

15:06because um nearly every interpreted

15:10meeting generates written documents

15:12either before or after the meeting. So

15:14those can be IEP forms, progress

15:17reports, evaluations, and like I

15:20mentioned before, all of those documents

15:22must be translated for parents.

15:24So, we've been keeping up with

15:26advancements in document translation

15:27technology and there have been

15:29significant improvements.

15:32We strongly believe in timeline equity.

15:34Um, non-English-speaking families should

15:37receive their children's educational

15:39reports, notices, and other documents as

15:42quickly as possible. Um,

15:44English-speaking families get their

15:46documents in most cases as soon as

15:48they're written.

15:49um technology allows us to bridge that

15:53gap. So during the 202526

15:57school year um over 26,000 special

16:00education and 504 documents totaling

16:04over 140,000 pages were translated via

16:07ed plan which is the district's special

16:10education 504 management software which

16:13has its own built-in machine translation

16:15system. Um, these are not translations

16:18that are submitted on the request forms

16:20that I showed you earlier. This is a

16:22completely separate system that relies

16:23on machine outputs. And in fact, some

16:26districts rely only on this technology.

16:29But at LPS, we've established a human

16:31spotchecking system just to review and

16:33ensure quality.

16:36There have been other machine

16:37translation systems that we've tested

16:39that were simply not good enough. So,

16:41we've stopped using them.

16:44Um, so before I pass this off to

16:45Charlie, I just wanted to mention too

16:47that historically LPS has collaborated

16:50with DESIE in regards to language

16:52access, specifically over the past seven

16:54or so years. Um, specifically in regard

16:58to oral interpretation standards and

17:00we're very excited to see those um being

17:03implemented in regulation at the state

17:05level. However, regarding written

17:08translations, DESIE introduced

17:10regulations without prior collaboration

17:12or consultation. So, while we fully

17:15support highquality standards, we're

17:18advocating for DESIE to partner with

17:19districts and other stakeholders

17:22um to create practical and sustainable

17:25regulations for document translation

17:27that maintain highquality work, but that

17:31also and just as importantly take into

17:33account budgetary constraints and also

17:36ensures a quick turnaround time for

17:38families. Um, so with that, I'll pass it

17:40over to Charlie who's going to explain

17:42some of the upcoming regulations.

17:44>> Thank you.

17:48>> Thank you once again. Um, effective in

17:50August 2025, there was an amendment to a

17:53statute by the legislature, Mass General

17:56Laws, Chapter 69, Section 1B. And what

17:59it was was a directive to Bessie.

18:01Bessie, for those watching, is the state

18:04school committee essentially. And so

18:06this statute directed Bessie to issue

18:09regulations. Those regulations uh had to

18:12include uh the topic of bilingualism,

18:15the topic of knowledge in language and

18:17specialized terms or concept, the topic

18:19of training for interpreters and

18:21translators, the ethics of tra of

18:23interpreting and translating and the me

18:25need to maintain confidentiality. All

18:28things uh that you can see from my

18:29colleagues presentation that we've taken

18:31very seriously and and frankly gone

18:33above and beyond over the years. Um in

18:37terms of the regulation process, Desi

18:39writes proposed regulations for Bessie

18:42to adopt similar to um sometimes you see

18:44us before policy subcommittee uh

18:46proposing policies for for your

18:48consideration. Same thing here. The

18:51regulations that Desi wrote for Bessie

18:55um mostly validate the work that we've

18:58done in Lynn. Um although they do exceed

19:02the minimum requirements of the

19:04legislation um they mostly validate the

19:07work we do. Um but we do want to point

19:09out that one particular subp paragraph

19:11significantly exceeds the requirements

19:13of the statute that is 603 code of

19:16Massachusetts regulations 57.05

19:20parentheses 3. I'll put the language on

19:23the screen and just read for you the

19:25first sentence of this provision, which

19:27is really what we wanted to bring to

19:29your attention. Machine translation may

19:31be used to translate a document so long

19:34as the translation is reviewed and

19:36edited as needed by a school translator

19:39before the document is provided to a

19:42parent or legal guardian with limited

19:45English proficiency.

19:48Machine translation is not defined under

19:50the regulation. um they don't get into

19:52the specifics of whether every document

19:54would need to be reviewed in the

19:57regulation itself. And so what happened

20:00is um when DESIE put their proposed

20:04regulations out for public comment, the

20:06largest volume of comment and concern

20:08came in on this exact provision. I've

20:11shared in your materials a link to the

20:13public comment if you want to pull it up

20:14and see. um but basically from districts

20:17like ours that use or partially use um

20:19computer assisted technologies.

20:22Nonetheless, despite that um at the

20:25Bessie meeting on June 23rd, the

20:27regulation was adopted verbatim um with

20:31the language that you see there with one

20:33clarifying sentence which is that humans

20:35do not need to review very routine

20:38non-specific uh communications. a human

20:41does not need to review that it is

20:42popsicle day at cis elementary school

20:45for example but an IEP or or 504 would

20:49need to actually review according to the

20:52regulation. Um there was a lot of

20:54discussion at that Bessie meeting um 45

20:57minutes of it in fact talking about

20:59costs talking about slowdowns talking

21:01about um what machine translation even

21:04means because it's undefined in the

21:06regulation. The commissioner shared um

21:09some hopeful commentary uh stated on the

21:12record, this is not intended in any way

21:14to create a significant financial burden

21:16to our districts and I will make sure

21:18the guidance is adjusted. Um the vice

21:21chair of Bessie though questioned how

21:24guidance could be issued that is

21:26contrary to the regulation and

21:28unfortunately um that is the approach

21:30that Desi is taking. We've been meeting

21:32with Desi um Mr. personal and I uh over

21:36the past couple of months and on

21:37September 15th, we're told under no

21:39uncertain terms that they will be

21:41issuing guidance soon. They said as soon

21:43as the end of September, although we're

21:45beyond that and it hasn't issued, that

21:47will interpret that paragraph as

21:49reviewing as requiring a human being to

21:52review each and every computer assisted

21:55document. Um they were also clear that

22:00that review needs to happen before the

22:02document is given to the family and they

22:05were also clear that there will be

22:06absolutely no funding to assist

22:08districts with this requirement. Uh so

22:11getting that news we thought at this

22:13point we needed to bring that to your

22:14attention. [snorts] Um this requirement

22:18does go above and beyond the statutory

22:20mandate. It will result in a in

22:23significant increased costs for

22:25districts and and equity concerns for

22:27non-English-speaking families who have

22:29students on IEPs. Um, those are the

22:32families that will feel a slowdown.

22:34Those are the families who will have

22:35their special education compliance uh

22:38timelines impacted. And additionally, in

22:42thinking about it practically, you know,

22:44things like special education progress

22:46reports go out statewide at the same

22:48time everywhere. And so there's going to

22:50be a shortage of human translators, we

22:53would predict, uh, to review them all

22:55statewide. It won't just affect Lynn.

22:57Uh, each district will feel an impact

23:00and the impact will be unique. Um, but

23:02Lynn is the fourth largest district by

23:04student population in the Commonwealth.

23:05And Mr. Senelli shared with you earlier

23:08that 75% of students have a first

23:10language other than English. Chelsea and

23:13Ravier are the only two districts that

23:15in the Commonwealth that surpass that on

23:17a percentage basis, but in terms of raw

23:19number basis, we we would be sort of

23:21number one in that category. [snorts] Um

23:24we are aware of no service that

23:26proofreads computer assisted technology

23:29documents. So what we think is that if

23:33if this regulation is required um

23:35through Desi guidance or not changed by

23:38Bessie, we think that that means those

23:40documents

23:421404 40,000 pages um would simply have

23:45to be human translated. The cost of

23:48doing that supposing our numbers stay

23:50the same will be about 4 million a year.

23:53And I'm not here to advocate by any

23:56stretch of the imagination that that how

23:58that's paid for, but just to put it into

24:00terms, if we take average salaries,

24:03that's about 46 average teacher

24:05salaries, just to put it in those terms.

24:07Um, so

24:10we wanted you to know that the

24:12regulation comes into effect on

24:14September 1st. Two things could

24:16potentially happen to change that. One

24:18would be that the guidance could change,

24:21but the guidance would have to be much

24:23more liberal um in requiring perhaps

24:26spot checking checking as one approach.

24:28That's what we do in Lynn. Um or another

24:32great idea would be for DESIE to simply

24:34approve platforms and so districts would

24:37know which platforms that they could

24:39use. Uh again, we do that here. Um but

24:42those things would require DESIE to

24:44interpret the regulation more liberally.

24:46Another thing that could happen is that

24:48Bessie could vote before September to

24:52actually change the regulation and just

24:54simply leave it to guidance. Um, that is

24:57what was argued for at the Bessie

24:59meeting by some folks. But given the

25:03lack of funding, given the lack of

25:04statutory requirements, given the

25:06rapidly improving technology that does

25:08exist nowadays, uh we wanted you to be

25:11aware um that we are working with uh

25:14start have started working with members

25:15of the delegation. Um there's a Bessie

25:19meeting in Everett on November 17th.

25:21Superintendent Cohen, uh us uh Dr. Kala

25:25and Rep. Reed were planning to attend

25:27that. Um, if the school committee is

25:29interested in um, advocacy, certainly

25:33welcome you sharing this information

25:34with your networks. Um, welcome you

25:37reaching out to us individually. Um,

25:40school committee could certainly

25:42consider if they wanted to or if you

25:44wanted to talk about, you know, doing a

25:45letter or something, an open meeting

25:47directing us to draft a letter. Um, and

25:50I appreciate also that you you may need

25:51to process this all as well. Um, but

25:54that's the information that we have. If

25:56you have questions, feedback, um we are

25:58happy to to um do those and unlike most

26:01other evenings, I do not have a vote to

26:03ask you for tonight. [clears throat]

26:05>> Thank you.

26:06>> Great. Uh member Smith, member Casianos.

26:10>> Well, thank you both very much for that

26:11very thorough presentation and the

26:13understanding of the context. I have a a

26:15few questions. First is just for a

26:17little more context in terms of exactly

26:19what is translated and what is impacted

26:21by this. Is it only correspondence

26:23between students or between uh parents

26:26and and uh the schools or does that

26:28include when a a student immigrates and

26:31they have a birth certificate or other

26:33or health forms that we need to

26:34translate? Would the also deal with

26:37that?

26:38>> More the former. So, it's the documents

26:40that the district puts out and schools

26:42put out to families and and with an eye

26:45towards documents that are

26:46individualized. Um, so mostly that's

26:50going to be special education documents

26:52and and u Mr. Sinelli shared the numbers

26:54on those.

26:56>> Thank you. That that sort of leads to my

26:58next question is the last three words of

27:00the paragraph uh any any specialized

27:03terminology though documents that don't

27:06include any specialized terminology

27:08don't need to be reviewed by human. Is

27:10there any

27:12definition? Is there any case law as to

27:14what counts as specialized terminology?

27:17We we would take that to mean mostly um

27:20special education 504 disciplinary type

27:24documents as opposed to the more

27:27ordinary communications that that go out

27:29to you know let us know that um you know

27:33at at Connory Elementary School everyone

27:35should wear purple on Thursday those

27:37kinds of things

27:38>> right absolutely I mean again my

27:41question would be

27:43but where's that line because in between

27:44I can think of report cards I I mean

27:46there there's they're not necessarily,

27:48you know, physical education a math b

27:50are those is that specialized

27:52terminology and there's been no guidance

27:54from Desi or any of their attorneys on

27:57what that could

28:00no but we do and and I'll um maybe if

28:03wants to speak a little bit about how we

28:04do our translations now on report cards

28:07and things.

28:08>> Yeah. So like report cards or certain

28:10types of progress reports are mostly

28:12forms that we update year to year that

28:15teachers put in their information

28:17directly. Um they might not necessarily

28:19be individual reports per student. Um

28:24this the documents that would really be

28:26a heavy lift are the ones that are like

28:28IEPs or longer documents that include a

28:31lot of information that can't be um just

28:34used as a form with a template.

28:39Understood. Thank you. I I appreciate

28:41that. As for ed plan itself, it's I

28:44assume it's been found to be fairly

28:47successful. Has have the spot checks

28:49gone well in terms of we're not finding

28:51many issues in our experience.

28:54>> Yes. Oh, so we've tried um a lot of

28:57different systems. Um and generally the

29:01benefit that that system has is that it

29:03kind of cuts the formatting out. So it's

29:06the the reports are done directly within

29:08ed plan which um if there are issues

29:10with machine translation it's been a lot

29:12of times with formatting charts tables

29:15or just line breaks from one page to

29:18another which throws off the meaning of

29:20of the document or or that paragraph.

29:23Um, we have found a few mistakes like

29:26sometimes there are issues with maybe

29:28some staff names that are or proper

29:29nouns that are translated when they

29:31shouldn't have been, but generally the

29:34message um is passed on we would say um

29:37pretty effectively and accurately. Um

29:41there are always going to be mistakes. I

29:43don't think you can ever uh replace a a

29:45human proof read of a machine

29:46translation document but generally the

29:48one that we've been using within Edplan

29:50has been good and the ones that we have

29:52tried that haven't been we just stopped

29:54using.

29:55>> Thank you very much. Does does Edplan

29:57use artificial intelligence in its

29:59translation?

30:03>> I don't know what their definition of AI

30:04would be for machine translation but I

30:06know that they use the common APIs that

30:08are accessible. So I don't know exactly

30:10which one it is.

30:12a few years ago they mentioned that it

30:13was possibly Google um but there are

30:15other APIs like Microsoft that do the

30:17same thing. Yeah,

30:18>> Microsoft

30:18>> makes sense. Thank you. I I just you

30:22know I I appreciate all of this again. I

30:24mean it does feel like this is

30:26completely an unfunded mandate. I don't

30:28expect you to comment on that but this

30:30this seems like a completely uh you know

30:32unacceptable guidance from Desessie in

30:34terms of you know I'm thrilled that uh

30:37LPS and Rep. Reed are taking the lead on

30:38this. Thank you again for coming

30:40tonight. Are there any other partners we

30:43can rely on? Is MASC involved in this?

30:45Is that an avenue we might be able to

30:47take the lead on?

30:48>> So, we Thank you um very much, Member

30:50Smith. Uh we wanted to start locally, of

30:54course. Um so, I will tell you that when

30:57the regulation was voted on in June,

31:00there was uh there was a letter signed

31:03by our delegation, all members of our

31:06all members of our delegation. and it

31:07was led by um by Senator Kiteon's

31:09office, but all members of our

31:11delegation uh signed that letter to urge

31:14some rethinking of this. Um we were

31:16surprised given the feedback and and the

31:19letter and things that it actually

31:20passed, but that's what happened. And

31:22then fast forward to September when we

31:25found out what the interpretation would

31:27be. So, we wanted to start here. Um

31:30we've simultaneously reached out uh

31:32again to the legislature. Uh Rep. Reed

31:35has stepped up in terms of attending the

31:37next Bessie meeting uh with us. We have

31:40also set a meeting in uh I think it's in

31:44a week or a week and a half or so with

31:46the full delegation with Superintendent

31:48Cohen to talk through um and we're

31:52hopeful that you could reach out to your

31:53own networks if you're so inclined uh or

31:56you know a blessing to reach out to mask

31:58mass th those entities but just wanted

32:01you to be aware of the moving parts. Um

32:03but we have all and several of us have

32:05started beginning to reach out to to

32:08networks like that.

32:09>> Great. Thank you very much. Thank you to

32:10the delegation as well for being on top

32:12of this and and I hope that we are able

32:15to get through to Desi and and make sure

32:16that this uh you know what's coming down

32:19from the top uh is is able to be stopped

32:21for districts for the sake of districts

32:23like ours. Thank you very much.

32:25>> Thank you.

32:26>> Thank you. [clears throat]

32:27>> Member Castianos, member Kaitley,

32:29>> Attorney Gallo and team. Thank you so

32:32much for bringing this to our attention.

32:33Um it's very alerting. It's very

32:35concerning that this is happening. Um I

32:38do um appreciate the the steps that are

32:43being taken to to advocate and and lobby

32:46this. Um it's unfortunate. Uh the impact

32:49is going to be far greater than um

32:53the fact that the the just it's

32:56unbelievable. It's unprecedented. Is

32:58there a way to expedite I guess the

33:01letter for us because I know co-signing

33:03a letter. Is there Can we get that? Do

33:04we request that tonight or do we I like

33:07to move forward on that?

33:08>> Yeah, I mean I think um we could we

33:12could do it any number of ways, but

33:13maybe it would make sense for us to take

33:15a motion tonight to to direct Attorney

33:18Gall to draft a letter and that way we

33:19could vote it at the next meeting um and

33:22then he would have it in time for that

33:23that presentation.

33:24>> Excellent. So, I'm I'll make a motion to

33:27um to have a drafted letter um to

33:31support um our advocacy and an

33:33initiative to combat this uh directive

33:36from Desi.

33:38>> I'll second.

33:39>> All right. There's a motion made and

33:41seconded. We we have people still in the

33:43queue, so I'll let the discussion

33:44continue and the vote, but that that

33:46motion's on the table. Okay.

33:47>> All right. Member Gaitley and then

33:48member Ortiz McGrath.

33:50>> [clears throat]

33:50>> Well, thank you very thank you very much

33:52for your red flag here. It just is

33:55really concerning to see that

33:59a group of people that aren't really

34:02familiar with Lynn to see the growth.

34:05You know, I remember being on that

34:07interview committee with you and you

34:09stressing how much we need interpreters

34:12and and what a great job you have done

34:15in that department. 5,000 is an awful

34:18lot. And um I think that you know like

34:24when we were having problems with um

34:30opening charter schools, we all stood up

34:33and went and stood before Desi and

34:37Bessie, I mean, and let them know the

34:40impact it would make on our students.

34:43And to say and to read and and to be so

34:46careless

34:49that it's going to affect

34:52the

34:54L's in our district and their parents in

34:57our districts and sit back and think

35:00that's not a problem and then how it's

35:03going to trickle down and affect our

35:06teachers. It's just

35:10I'm there on the 17th just let me know

35:12the time. Um and also I am in part of

35:17the DEI subcommittee and I think this is

35:20something we really need to work on and

35:23to push because we can't allow this to

35:26happen. We didn't allow the charter

35:28schools come in and take more students

35:30because we we can't afford to do that.

35:33We are we're finally getting our

35:35footing. Our district is finally moving

35:38ahead

35:39and we fell back during co Yeah.

35:44>> And I just don't want to see this.

35:46Gammo, you worked too hard. We worked We

35:49worked too hard on this committee to

35:52move you from where we were to where we

35:55are now. And to have some outside

36:00agency,

36:03come in not even knowing what they're

36:05going to what it is they're doing. So,

36:08I'm there on the 17th writing me down.

36:10And I don't know how I'll get there, but

36:12I'm going. [laughter]

36:13And anybody of any of my colleagues that

36:16want to join me, come on, let's do it.

36:18>> We're not sitting down for this. And

36:20thank you for the red flag.

36:23>> Thank you. Thank you. Me McGrath.

36:26>> Um so I want to thank you both for

36:28bringing this to our attention. Um I

36:30have so many emotions right now um

36:32regarding this and really frustrated um

36:35that the department of ed has made a

36:37decision without one consulting the

36:40district or getting to better understand

36:42the needs of our students and our

36:44families. Um this is going to create

36:46some significant gaps um some further

36:48disparities in regards to access. um

36:51just looking at the you know top five

36:53languages right if there is an

36:55expectation that there's going to be

36:58human translators that are going to read

37:00these materials now we have to guarantee

37:03that we have folks that speak these

37:05languages to do that work um and that is

37:09going to be extremely extremely

37:10difficult um I agree with member Gaitley

37:13I am the you know the chair for the DEI

37:17subcommittee um we absolutely need to do

37:20something. Um, you know, I support the

37:22motion that member Castiano mentioned,

37:24uh, regarding a letter. Um, but Desi

37:27needs to do better and they need to do

37:29better by our students. Um, our suburban

37:32districts aren't going to struggle. It

37:34is our urban communities that are going

37:36to continue to have these gaps. Um, and

37:38I'm actually I am so furious right now

37:42um, in regards to this. And it really is

37:44unfortunate for someone who had to

37:46translate for her mother and that is a

37:49civil rights violation. We are putting

37:52our students in positions um to go back

37:55to that because we're going to have no

37:58way else of doing it. Um and that's not

38:00fair to our students or our families.

38:02So, thank you both. Um and I'm sorry

38:04that this is happening right now.

38:10>> Great. Thank you. Um and thank you for

38:11the for the presentation. Um I just

38:13wanted to add that you know I I assume

38:17that

38:19Desi's sort of stated intention here is

38:22around language access and

38:25you know we're a community I think that

38:28has

38:30really prioritized language access. Uh

38:33and absolutely in the in the schools in

38:36in in in on the in the city uh as a as a

38:39community, you know, we're we're a

38:41multilingual community and very proud of

38:45it and very dedicated to making that

38:47work for people. So, it's it's so

38:50frustrating that that is

38:53being jeopardized in this way. Um and so

38:56I appreciate your advocacy around it.

38:58Um, and uh, we'll call the role, please.

39:06>> Member Castanos,

39:07>> yes.

39:08>> Member Gaitley,

39:09>> yes.

39:09>> Member Ortiz McGrath,

39:10>> yes.

39:11>> Member Pena,

39:12>> yes.

39:12>> Member Sadawite,

39:13>> yes.

39:13>> Member Smith,

39:14>> yes.

39:14>> Mayor Nicholson,

39:15>> yes. Thank you. Thank you very much for

39:19the support.

39:21[clears throat] Next, we have beginning

39:23of the year data presentation. I'd like

39:25to invite Deb Culus to please step

39:27forward and share her presentation.

39:35[snorts]

39:47Okay,

39:54>> good evening everyone. Thank you for

39:55having me this evening. My name is Deb

39:57Culis. I am the assistant director of

40:00data and assessment for curriculum and

40:02instruction and I appreciate the

40:04opportunity to present our data story

40:06tonight.

40:08I'd like to start off with our agenda.

40:10To begin, we are going to show you how

40:12district executive leadership approached

40:15the new state and district testing data.

40:18We will begin with the district's

40:20accountability highlights, followed by

40:22district MCCAST and access results. Then

40:26we will shine the spotlight on how some

40:28of our schools performed. We will then

40:30turn to the fall benchmark data, which

40:32tells us where our students are starting

40:34this year.

40:36The final and most important part of

40:38this presentation is the district's

40:40response to the data, sharing our

40:42priorities and what we are planning to

40:44do to improve student outcomes.

40:48Our purpose tonight is to share where

40:50the district and our schools stand, what

40:53this fall's assessments are telling us,

40:55and what we are doing next.

40:58By the end of this presentation, we hope

41:00that committee members will have a clear

41:02understanding of three things. First,

41:05how the district and our schools

41:07performed on the 2026 state testing and

41:10in state accountability.

41:12Second, provide a snapshot of what this

41:15fall's benchmark data shows about where

41:18our students are starting this year.

41:21Third, the district's priorities and the

41:23plans we have in place to improve

41:26student outcomes.

41:28Tonight's presentation follows the same

41:31process our administrators used with

41:34their team to review data. We start by

41:37describing what we see before explaining

41:40it. Then we look at why it's happening,

41:42what's working, what's getting in the

41:44way. Finally, we focus on what we're

41:47going to do about it. This is our story

41:50from data to action. I'll begin with

41:54accountability highlights for the

41:56district. Accountability

42:00looks beyond test scores. This year, the

42:03district classified as not requiring

42:06assistance or intervention, and the

42:08reason is moderate progress towards our

42:10targets. Our annual score rose eight

42:13points from 42 to 50%.

42:17Our biggest gain came from our high

42:20schools, which more than doubled their

42:21share of possible points from 21% to 48%

42:25with better achievement, dropout rate,

42:27and student engagement.

42:29Chronic absenteeism also improved at

42:31every level, and grades three through

42:33eight earned full points on that

42:34measure. There are two results though

42:37that we need to be mindful of. In grades

42:40three through eight, our score slipped

42:42and because of this decline, earned no

42:44points. Our four-year graduation rate

42:47fell 6.8 points to 75.6% and earned no

42:51points. For current and former English

42:53learners, the graduation rate is 55.7%.

43:01Now, let's look at at school

43:03accountability. Lynn has 29 schools in

43:06Desi's accountability report. Five of

43:09them don't receive a rating, which

43:10leaves 24 rated schools. Of those 24

43:14rated schools, 13 require assistance or

43:17intervention.

43:18The other 11 schools do not. 10 of our

43:22schools are at or below the 10th

43:24percentile, meaning they are among the

43:27lowest performing 10% of similar schools

43:29in the state. [clears throat]

43:32The next slide shows how three groups

43:35are progressing towards the de the

43:36targets that DESI sets for them. the

43:39district overall, current and former

43:41English learners and students with

43:43disabilities.

43:46Current and former English learners fell

43:48the most from 44 to 40% and students

43:51with disabilities failed from 28 to 26%.

43:54They remain the lowest scoring group.

43:57For both groups, the story is similar.

43:59High school improved while grades 3

44:01through 8 declined.

44:04All three groups remain well below the

44:0625th the 70 the 75% threshold and the

44:09grades three through eight results tell

44:11us where to focus. That is why our

44:14district added explicit language about

44:16students with disabilities to the

44:18improvement plan goals and why supports

44:20for English learners and students with

44:22disabilities in the elementary and

44:23middle grades are important are an

44:25important part of our work.

44:28Next, we'll look at o an overview of

44:31statewide MCCAST results.

44:37Before we look at Lynn, as I said, let's

44:39have statewide the statewide picture for

44:42context.

44:43Statewide ELA declined in both grade

44:46bands this year, down two points in

44:48grades 3 through 8 and down six points

44:50in grade 10. Math held essentially

44:53steady with no change in grades 3

44:55through eight and a one point dip in

44:57grade 10. For English learners and

44:59students with disabilities, achievement

45:01statewide does remain very low. These

45:05statewide results give us a reference

45:07point as we turn to Lynn's results.

45:09Next,

45:14if we unpack our district 2026 state

45:17testing data, we can see that in ELA,

45:2116% of our students in grades 3 through

45:243 through 8 met or exceeded

45:26expectations, down one point from last

45:29year. In grade 10, 23% met or exceeded

45:33expectations, and that's down five

45:34points.

45:36ELA did decline across the state this

45:38year and our declines were slightly

45:40smaller than the states in both grade

45:42bands,

45:44but we recognize that a small decline is

45:47still a decline and grade 10 ELA is an

45:49area we are focused on.

45:52In math, 14% of students in grades 3

45:55through 8 met or exceeded expectations,

45:58and that does match a statewide trend.

46:01In grade 10, 17% met or exceeded

46:04expectations up one point. The state did

46:08decline by one point. While some of our

46:11trends compare favorably within the

46:12states, we want to be clear about our

46:14bigger picture. Our achievement remains

46:17low remains well below the state

46:20average. Closing the gap is a focus that

46:23will of our work and we will share more

46:25about that.

46:28For English learners, results are

46:30between zero and 4% meeting or

46:33exceeding, and all four measures dipped

46:35by a point.

46:37For students with disabilities, results

46:39are between two and 6% and none of the

46:41four measures declined.

46:43Keep in mind, these are small

46:45percentages. A onepoint change could

46:47indicate a small number of students.

46:51If we take a look at MCCAST science

46:53data,

46:55MCCAST in science is tested in grades 5,

46:588, and 10, and our science results

47:01declined in every grade this year.

47:03Science is an area we will be examining

47:06closely as part of our root cause

47:07analysis work this year.

47:13If we now take a look at our access

47:15testing and how our English learners are

47:18growing in English as measured by the

47:19WETA access test. This chart shows the

47:23percentage of English learners who met

47:24their annual English language growth

47:26target. Progress improved in every grade

47:30band both for all English learners and

47:32for English learners with disabilities.

47:35The largest gains were in grades 6

47:37through 8. In high school, English

47:39learners with disabilities doubled their

47:41progress rate. However, more than half,

47:44pardon me, more than half of our K to5

47:46English learners met their growth

47:48targets.

47:53The next slide shows the percent of

47:55English learners who reached English

47:57proficiency, meaning they met the

47:59state's criteria to exit English learner

48:02status. Proficiency rose in every grade

48:05band for both groups.

48:08This year, our new elevation progress

48:10monitoring will help teachers track

48:12language growth between access

48:15administration and adjust instruction

48:18sooner.

48:21In this next section, we will break down

48:23results by grades with Lynn and the

48:25state side by side.

48:29First, let's take a look at MCCAST ELA

48:33again with a Lindverse state comparison

48:35by grade. Two grades stand out. Grade

48:39six is of big concern, down six points

48:42from 19 to 13%.

48:46Grade seven is the opposite story, up

48:49five points to 20% while the state

48:51declined.

48:52Grade three did rise one point matching

48:55the state. And in grade 10, our

48:56fivepoint decline was slightly smaller

48:58than the states.

49:01Next, we can take a look at math.

49:05In grade 8, the state improved four

49:07points while Lind decline, leaving 11%

49:10of our eighth graders meeting or

49:12exceeding expectations.

49:14Compared to this state, that is our

49:16widest gap. There are bright spots,

49:18though. Grades four and seven each rose

49:21two points and grade 10 also rose by one

49:23point. The state declined there. Grades

49:26three and five fell each fell two points

49:29which we'll walk we'll watch closely

49:31through our fall diagnostic data.

49:35Now let's take a look at student sub uh

49:37student group analysis

49:39and we'll focus on students with

49:41disabilities and English learners.

49:44First, for our students with

49:45disabilities, Lynn held steady on three

49:47measures and gained one point in grade

49:4910 math, while the state declined on

49:52three of the four. Achievement for this

49:55group is still very low, which is why

49:56the district again has added explicit

49:59language about students with

50:00disabilities to our improvement plan

50:03goals.

50:06In the next slide, we'll look at our

50:07English learners comparing Linst the

50:10state. English learners trail the state

50:12by only one to four points on every

50:15measure.

50:16EL achievement is low across

50:18Massachusetts, not just in Lynn. Our

50:21challenges scale. Current English

50:23learners make up about 42% of our tested

50:26students in grades 3 through 8. And

50:29that's compared to about 12% statewide.

50:32And again, that is why English language

50:34development and access to grade level

50:37content are central to the work this

50:39year.

50:41>> [snorts]

50:44>> Now, let's highlight some school

50:46performances.

50:48We recognize that there are challenges

50:50that we face, but alongside these

50:52challenges, there are real bright spots

50:54in this in the schools this year. Eight

50:58schools improved their accountability

51:00percentile.

51:02Lynn Classical High School rose to the

51:0411th percentile and moved which moved it

51:07out of assistance status and out of the

51:09lowest 10 the lowest 10 percentile 10%

51:13statewide pardon me. Lincoln Thompson

51:16was also named a school of recognition

51:18by DESIE one of 56 schools across the

51:22state recognized this year for strong

51:24growth or achievement.

51:27These schools show us what is possible

51:28in Lynn and they are places we can learn

51:31from as we plan our next steps. Part of

51:34the work this year is understanding

51:36what's working in these schools and

51:38share how share these practices across

51:40the district.

51:44We're now going to take a look at a a

51:46brief look at the initial data from our

51:48fall benchmark.

51:51Beginning of the year fall assessment

51:53administration ended

51:55on October 2nd.

51:58This part of the presentation is meant

52:00to be an overview and more in-depth

52:02analysis including subgroup data and

52:04grade comparisons will be conducted and

52:06the results will be provided to the

52:08school committee in the near future.

52:11If we turn to the next slide, this is

52:13where our students are starting this

52:15year. This fall was our first

52:18administration of the LL levelup

52:21diagnostic. These results are our

52:24baseline.

52:25Participation was strong for a new

52:27assessment. 90% of students completed

52:30the math diagnostic and 88% completed

52:33ELA. And because it's a new assessment,

52:36there's no prior year Il data to compare

52:39to. The diagnostic compares each

52:42student's level with their grade. Green

52:44shows on or above grade level. Yellow

52:46shows below, red shows far below, and

52:49the gray bar here indicates students

52:51students who did not complete the

52:52diagnostic yet. This picture is

52:55consistent with what we saw on MCCAST.

52:57Most of our students are starting the

52:58year below where we want them to be. The

53:01difference is that this data arrives at

53:03the start of the school year while

53:05there's time to act on it. That's what

53:08makes different. Every student who

53:11completes this diagnostic now has an

53:13individualized action plan with specific

53:16skills they need next. Our teachers will

53:19use this data to target instruction and

53:22identify who needs intervention and

53:24track progress through data cycles. The

53:26winter benchmark will give us our first

53:28look at growth from this baseline.

53:33Next is

53:38Next is our early literacy screening.

53:41Every student in kindergarten through

53:42grade three is screened with Dibble's

53:448th edition through McLass, which

53:46measures the foundational reading skills

53:48that predict later reading success. This

53:51literacy law requires the kind of

53:54screening in grades K through three.

53:56Again, tonight is not the deep dive.

53:59This is a snapshot of where our K to3

54:01students are starting the year. Our next

54:04steps in response to this data are to

54:06identify students in the lowest 20 25th

54:09percentile across kindergarten through

54:11grade three and begin progress

54:13monitoring cycles for those students

54:16tracked through branching minds.

54:18Springboard tutoring continues funded

54:21through prism. This is smallroup

54:23highdosese literacy support in these

54:25grades.

54:27Families of students who are

54:28significantly significantly below

54:30benchmark are notified as the law

54:32requires.

54:34Again, we will return to school

54:35committee in the near future with a

54:37fuller analysis of our early literacy

54:39data, including student group results

54:41and our next steps needed for support.

54:46Students in our dual language program

54:48are assessed with Renaissance Star. Star

54:50early literacy is our early literacy

54:53screener and star reading. Like the

54:55Dibbles results, this data is meant to

54:57provide a snapshot of where these

55:00students are starting the year.

55:03Again, a deeper analysis including

55:05student group data for our dual language

55:07students will be provided.

55:10And in this last part of the

55:12presentation and as I mentioned earlier,

55:14the most important part is the district

55:16response. Where do we go from here?

55:20First, instruction.

55:23Everything starts with the LPS vision in

55:25the instructional core. The relationship

55:27between the teacher, the student, and

55:29the content in every classroom.

55:32This year, our professional development

55:34arc is aligned with monthly PLC's

55:37focused on the instructional core. So,

55:40what teachers learn connects directly

55:42what is happening in classrooms.

55:44Second, accountable data cycles. We are

55:48defining clear recurring cycles for how

55:51schools and districts use data. Learn

55:53from the evidence, launch targeted

55:56adjustments, and lead by monitoring.

56:00Lead by monitoring whether they are

56:02working. To support this, we have begun

56:04a new multi-year partnership with which

56:07replaces I Ready as our diagnostic. As I

56:10mentioned before, Il is standardsbased

56:12and individualized.

56:14Each student's results point to grade

56:16level skills they need. We are also

56:19supporting schools with data cycles and

56:21data review protocols to ensure that we

56:24respond to the data and make changes

56:26that will improve student outcomes.

56:30Third, timely targeted intervention.

56:33Our multi-tered system of supports is

56:35now in place for students K through 12

56:38through branching minds. This will give

56:41teams one system to plan, track and

56:43monitor interventions

56:46for our youngest readers. As I said,

56:47Springboard provides small groupoup

56:49highdose literacy tutoring in K through

56:51three funded through Prism, the state's

56:54partnership for reading success grant.

56:56We also extend learning time beyond the

56:58school day and year through our

57:00afterchool and vacationmies.

57:04This year, we continue to review our

57:06district improvement plan in response to

57:08the data. Our plan is not a static

57:11document. The goal is not to start over

57:14each time new data arrives, but to use

57:16this new evidence to make better

57:18decisions. When the 2026 MCCAST and

57:21accountability accountability results

57:23came in, our executive leadership team

57:26worked through this learn process using

57:29four questions. What does the new

57:31evidence tell us? How does it change

57:34what we believe the problem is? How does

57:37it change what we are doing about the

57:39problem? And what will we examine in six

57:42weeks to know whether our adjustments

57:43are working?

57:45That process led to targeted

57:47refinements.

57:48For example, the data showed that

57:50students with disabilities remain the

57:52student group with the greatest

57:53disparities. So, we added explicit

57:55language to our district goals to keep

57:58that focus front and center. Our school

58:01teams are now applying this same process

58:03to their own school improvement plan and

58:07we have identified the evidence we will

58:09monitor at our next checkpoint.

58:11Adjusting the plan is evidence of

58:13learning and this cycle of review is how

58:16we will keep our work focused on what

58:18our students need.

58:22This year the district adopted two

58:25district-wide tools to support the work

58:27we are engaged in. The first is

58:30a new multi-year partnership. And as I

58:33mentioned, replaces I Ready as our

58:35diagnostic.

58:37What is different is that is

58:39standardsbased and individualized.

58:42Each student's diagnostic result points

58:44to the specific grade level skills they

58:47need and that becomes an indivi

58:49individualized learning plan.

58:52The second is branching minds, our

58:54system for MTSS or multi-tered systems

58:57of support. that is in place for all

59:00students from K through 12. Branching

59:03Minds gives teams one place to plan,

59:07track, and monitor interventions so we

59:10can see what supports each student is

59:12receiving and whether they are working.

59:15It's built to support the intervention

59:17cycles so supports can be adjusted as

59:19each data cycle shows what our students

59:22need.

59:25To bring it all together, we've looked

59:27at where we stand. There is real

59:30progress to build on. We've also shared

59:33what we are doing in response,

59:35strengthening the instructional core,

59:37building accountable data cycles, and

59:40providing timely targeted interventions,

59:43and supporting learners so that we can

59:45change the outcomes for all learners

59:47across the district. We've also shared

59:50what comes next and we look forward to

59:52updating the committee as the new data

59:54comes in throughout the year. Thank you

59:56for your time tonight and we welcome any

59:58questions.

1:00:04>> I wish I had a bottle of water to have

1:00:06out today [laughter] because this was a

1:00:08very lengthy lengthy presentation but

1:00:11you did an excellent job and

1:00:12>> it was a lot that this is paired down.

1:00:15>> Oh, look. You [laughter] got one.

1:00:16>> Oh, thank you.

1:00:17So, um, one of the things that I want to

1:00:20bring out to the administration and and

1:00:23to you as you're collecting your data, I

1:00:25would like to just take a look at the

1:00:27dual language program and the early

1:00:30literacy screening dibbles

1:00:348th edition K to three

1:00:37>> and and I'm looking at the numbers of

1:00:40students that are being tested and I'm

1:00:43looking at the typical growth

1:00:46And I'm saying that when you have

1:00:48smaller numbers of students, and I know

1:00:51this from my own experience in the

1:00:53classroom, if I have a class of 25,

1:00:56that's that's doable. And I can probably

1:00:59reach every student for every standard

1:01:01in science, and I am a little

1:01:02disappointed about science scores. Um,

1:01:07but if I have 32 in a class, I cannot.

1:01:10And it's something that's glaring to me

1:01:13and has been glaring at me for a long

1:01:16time. I cannot reach every single

1:01:19student every single day. If I'm a high

1:01:22school teacher and I have five classes,

1:01:25I cannot reach them if I have all those

1:01:28students in front of me and I'm trying

1:01:30to feed them information in biology are

1:01:33in physics. It's too difficult. So, we

1:01:36really need to not only focus where

1:01:38we're going, but we need to focus on how

1:01:40do we reduce those numbers in the class

1:01:42size. And that's all I have to say, but

1:01:44thank you for your presentation. Thank

1:01:46you for all your work and effort. I

1:01:48appreciate it. But it's always been

1:01:50glaring to me. I don't know if you've

1:01:52noticed it in the class or any of you

1:01:54have noticed it. It's so much so much

1:01:57growth you can get even with students

1:01:59that are like

1:02:02grades behind. they come in your class

1:02:04and you know that if I can just do use

1:02:07baby steps

1:02:09>> and get them to get on board with what

1:02:13they need to know to move forward

1:02:15>> and once you do that then they go giant

1:02:18leaps and it's like amazing to me and I

1:02:20just love that love watching that. I was

1:02:23hoping that project-based learning would

1:02:25do that but thank you.

1:02:26>> Yeah, you're welcome. Thank you. And I

1:02:28do recognize that as a former classroom

1:02:30teacher. I've been in the district 29

1:02:33years. Um,

1:02:36when you have large class sizes, you

1:02:38know, years ago at Ford, we were high

1:02:4120s, almost 30s, and it was a struggle,

1:02:44like you said, to get to every student

1:02:46and make sure you met their needs. And

1:02:47you do see the difference. I mean, class

1:02:49size is something that our teachers are

1:02:51struggling with every day in addition to

1:02:53so many other factors and we have to

1:02:54make sure that we make decisions that

1:02:56can support all of that.

1:02:58>> Thank you,

1:02:59>> member.

1:03:00Thank you so much for the robust um

1:03:03presentation. I really appreciated all

1:03:05the the the logistics of what goes into

1:03:08our operations, especially with the data

1:03:10pieces. Um I wanted to highlight our

1:03:13school bright spots. Um I know nine

1:03:17years ago or my first year on a as as a

1:03:19school community member, I got to go to

1:03:20New York with the Lynn teachers union.

1:03:23um and I and and the link classical um

1:03:26faculty and leadership and I remember,

1:03:29you know, turnaround. I remember the

1:03:31conversations that were being uh held in

1:03:34New York and the concerns and the

1:03:36seriousness that that team um they they

1:03:39were so driven um to to to care and help

1:03:44our students and to see them exit

1:03:46assistance. um principal principal Dunn

1:03:49and all all of them at that school have

1:03:51done a fa a fabulous job. I'm hoping

1:03:54that um we can learn and extra extract

1:03:58right and see like like what and it

1:04:00looks like we're going to be learning

1:04:02from them as well on how that occurred.

1:04:05Um and and I'm sure the other schools as

1:04:08well who um have improved percentiles

1:04:11and school recognitions. Um

1:04:13and and I'm also curious too to see like

1:04:15what are they doing like how like where

1:04:17are the the needs across the district?

1:04:20How can we collaborate um develop a a

1:04:24system that can provide consistent

1:04:28equitable results across the board and

1:04:32address that? Obviously, we we're

1:04:33hearing tonight earlier today about some

1:04:36of the concerns with translation

1:04:38services and I know there's there's

1:04:40difficult spots there, but I think

1:04:41there's also there's there's strategy to

1:04:44be discussed and I like to see um make

1:04:47sure that and I'm sure the leadership

1:04:49folks here are going to be really honing

1:04:51in on what strategies we're going to be

1:04:53utilizing from um these exceptional um

1:04:56screw bright spots. Um,

1:05:00I think my last I guess comment would be

1:05:04around

1:05:06the,

1:05:09you know, I just going to I'll leave it

1:05:11at that. Thank you.

1:05:12>> Thank you.

1:05:14>> Thank you, member McGrath. Member Smith.

1:05:17>> Um, thank you for your presentation. Um

1:05:20so you know I have definitely you know

1:05:22some some concerns when I look at the

1:05:25you know multilingual learner uh

1:05:27graduation rate at 55%

1:05:30um and then we look at our you know

1:05:33four-year graduation rate um which has

1:05:36dropped down to 6.8 right 6.8 eight

1:05:39points um you know and and I know we're

1:05:42using branch and minds and we're doing

1:05:44this level of MTSS tiered related

1:05:46supports um you know I think you know

1:05:50just like membergate I think about the

1:05:52classroom piece right the number of

1:05:53students within those spaces how do we

1:05:56not only support with providing

1:05:58assessments but how do we support with

1:06:00strong professional development to allow

1:06:02teachers to be able to differentiate

1:06:04instruction within those spaces be able

1:06:06to create those learning opportunities

1:06:07whether it's through PBL or other areas.

1:06:10Um but I do worry about the you know

1:06:13starting at grade nine in the

1:06:15foundational level. um if we are seeing

1:06:17such a significant you know drop I do

1:06:20worry about continuous drop um with our

1:06:23graduation rate and making sure that

1:06:25we're really focusing and honing in on

1:06:26our early warning indicators um and

1:06:29looking at that level of prevention and

1:06:31support that needs to take place um

1:06:33because we need to look at the whole

1:06:34child right and I think um when we see

1:06:38levels of disengagement or we see you

1:06:40know other areas that impact our

1:06:42students right that's why we see chronic

1:06:43absenteeism um you know we service an

1:06:47immigrant community. Um we, you know, um

1:06:51I'd love to believe that, you know, we

1:06:52are a trauma-informed community and that

1:06:54we're providing those services. Um, and

1:06:56it's my hope that with that work beyond

1:06:59just focusing on the academics and the

1:07:00assessments that we are looking at the

1:07:02whole child um because if our students

1:07:05aren't engaged um or if they don't feel

1:07:08a sense of belonging or if they don't

1:07:09feel connected through the classroom

1:07:11materials and that level of work um

1:07:14we're not going to be able to

1:07:15successfully achieve this data. Um you

1:07:18know so those are some thoughts that I

1:07:19think about. I know it's a lot of hard I

1:07:21know it's hard work. Um it is not easy

1:07:23work. Um you know and I know everybody's

1:07:25working collectively um hard to make

1:07:27sure um that our students are getting

1:07:29what they need. Um you know so I look

1:07:32forward to having these continuous

1:07:33conversations. Um thank you for the

1:07:35thoughtful presentation um and for

1:07:38really setting up this data that's you

1:07:39know very easy to read um and to follow

1:07:43and it's nice to be able to see that

1:07:44level of projection as well of where the

1:07:46district wants to go. So thank you.

1:07:48>> Thank you. And just I'm just going to

1:07:50jump in because that that I understand

1:07:51the superintendent asked to be able to

1:07:53respond to that. Yeah,

1:07:54>> I'm not sure how this will work.

1:07:57>> We can hear you.

1:07:58>> I'm not sure if this will work or not.

1:08:00>> Yeah, we can hear you. We can hear you.

1:08:01>> Oh, terrific. Okay, great. Well, thank

1:08:03you so much. First, I just want to uh

1:08:05congratulate Lori Gallerin for being our

1:08:08official deputy and I want to thank um

1:08:11Charlie and GMO for terrific

1:08:14presentation and Deb as well. I wanted

1:08:17to comment on member Castayano's uh

1:08:20point around how important it is to

1:08:23share practices and cross-pollinate

1:08:26different ideas. And last year we

1:08:29anticipated that we would probably have

1:08:32a difficult year with our summitive

1:08:34assessment given all of the transitions

1:08:36that occurred. And so we began our

1:08:39planning for these improvement cycles

1:08:41for this year. And so now every month

1:08:45that we come together, all directors and

1:08:48all principles meet together as one big

1:08:52district instructional leadership team.

1:08:55And then we move into during the course

1:08:57of the entire day, we move into small

1:09:01DIP and SIP teams that have a few

1:09:05principles and a few directors mixed in

1:09:08and we do the work around the

1:09:11instructional core. So we are entirely

1:09:14focused on leveraging our strengths just

1:09:18as member castaniano said. Similarly in

1:09:22regard to um me Dr. Ortiz McGrath's

1:09:27points I feel exactly the same way. We

1:09:31are extremely concerned about that drop

1:09:33in graduation rate and the and the uh

1:09:36disparities that we see for our

1:09:38multilingual learners with our uh

1:09:41dropout rates and graduation rates. And

1:09:44similarly, what we need to be focusing

1:09:47on is how we create the classrooms and

1:09:53the classroom environment where students

1:09:56see themselves as the scholars and the

1:09:59intellectual

1:10:00thinkers that they are. That is

1:10:03represented in our portrait of a

1:10:05graduate. And so we've created a system

1:10:09that is entirely focused on profess on

1:10:13the job professional learning where our

1:10:16CITs and our department heads come down.

1:10:18There's a vertical alignment on how we

1:10:22can best meet the needs of our students.

1:10:24And when I say needs, I mean their

1:10:27entire cultural identity, their

1:10:30linguistic strengths and assets so that

1:10:34the students find themselves in the

1:10:37instruction and it is truly meaningful

1:10:40to them. So I we this is concerning data

1:10:45and as Miss Coulis said we will continue

1:10:48to disagregate it and dive into it and

1:10:51create the uh the different subgroups

1:10:54and sub um sub teams that that will be

1:10:58doing that work carrying on with the

1:11:01interventions. But the instructional

1:11:03core is truly the avenue through which

1:11:08we will be able to move these scores and

1:11:10and I have to tell you across the

1:11:12district it has been so wellreceived.

1:11:15People are ready to launch and we truly

1:11:18believe that and I want to thank the

1:11:20committee for your um for your passion

1:11:24and your commitment to our students uh

1:11:26growth and futures.

1:11:29Miss did you I jumped in there. Welcome

1:11:32to the super. You're good. Okay.

1:11:35>> I was just going to say um I recognize

1:11:38what you're talking about. We have to

1:11:40look at the whole student. And I think

1:11:42as as this year develops and we share

1:11:44more of our data story and what's

1:11:46happening at these checkpoints, you

1:11:48know, within this new partnership with

1:11:50branching minds, it is not just academic

1:11:52data that's there. So there are early

1:11:54warning indicators for social emotional

1:11:57um attendance. So we're able to utilize

1:12:00the information that's there to get the

1:12:02whole picture. And so that's something

1:12:03that we're this is the first year of

1:12:05this journey that we're learning so that

1:12:06we can best make the decisions for these

1:12:09kids.

1:12:10>> Great. Uh member Smith and then uh

1:12:13member M.

1:12:16>> First member M.

1:12:21>> Um yeah, so first of all, that

1:12:24presentation was amazing. Um I'm a very

1:12:26big numbers guy. So all the statistics

1:12:28was very helpful in terms of

1:12:30understanding uh what we need to work on

1:12:33for the students in Lynn. And being a

1:12:35student myself um it's very surprising

1:12:38to see these numbers. Definitely. Um one

1:12:42thing that I wrote in my notes was it

1:12:44was something that you mentioned about

1:12:46students with disability and the

1:12:48disparities that they are facing. And

1:12:50this kind of ties back into like the

1:12:52conversation with English learners and

1:12:54students with disabilities and um like

1:12:57member Ortiz McGrath mentioned um

1:13:00looking at the student as a whole. I

1:13:02think it's very important to also

1:13:03consider and you mentioned this too like

1:13:05social uh emotional like circumstances

1:13:08that may affect uh students performance.

1:13:11But I also believe that environment is

1:13:14also something that we should take great

1:13:16consideration of especially with um

1:13:18today's climate and also with all the

1:13:20changes that we are making. Um of course

1:13:22we have you know uh the therapy group

1:13:26that we have at Frederick Douglas

1:13:27upstairs um they're on the third floor

1:13:29and you know I ju just based off of that

1:13:33experience just walking down and seeing

1:13:34that environment for them. Um, as much

1:13:37as we as much as I am grateful to hear

1:13:40that we are moving to EXL and using a

1:13:43more like individualized

1:13:46um I guess program or you know

1:13:49organization that can help with um

1:13:52improvement in assessors throughout the

1:13:54year. Um I also believe that is it is a

1:13:57very environment and the support that we

1:14:01have in person is also important which I

1:14:04I think is has been reiterated many

1:14:06times by other members. So but o overall

1:14:09though this was a very um wonderful

1:14:11presentation and it's great to know this

1:14:14as a student um and to you know see what

1:14:19I guess the youth can do for for each

1:14:22other. Yeah. But thank you. Thank you

1:14:24for that. May I comment briefly? As a

1:14:28student, I'm sure you've engaged with

1:14:29all the other platforms, right? Are you

1:14:31ready? And this is a big mindset shift

1:14:33for our teachers and our students. Even

1:14:35just within this first administration of

1:14:38the diagnostic, it looked very

1:14:40different. You know, for so many years,

1:14:42we were used to one thing and to switch

1:14:44to that and that's just one component of

1:14:46what this platform is offering on the

1:14:49instructional side of things. what it

1:14:52has in place for us, the direct links to

1:14:54our HQIM, the state standards. It's

1:14:57helping the instruction as well. So,

1:14:59it's not we're not requiring minutes and

1:15:03saying you must be on. We recognize

1:15:04there are challenges with technology.

1:15:07We're looking at it as a tool for to

1:15:10support teachers as well when they're

1:15:13drilling into the standards and trying

1:15:14to plan lessons. So there's a lot to

1:15:17unpack with it and we're learning as we

1:15:18start this journey and we we don't want

1:15:20it to be that students are

1:15:25on a computer when there should be

1:15:27facetime with the teacher

1:15:29>> and that's that's the key message too

1:15:31for that.

1:15:32>> Thank you.

1:15:33>> Thank you.

1:15:35>> Thank you so much for the presentation.

1:15:36And I think the the numbers represent

1:15:39[clears throat]

1:15:40a lot of hard work from a lot of

1:15:41students and and taking these tests and

1:15:43doing the the learning and the families

1:15:44supporting them and of course our

1:15:46educators. Uh so thank you to all them

1:15:48and and thank to everyone rolling this

1:15:50up and presenting. We really appreciate

1:15:51it.

1:15:51>> Thank you. Thank you very much.

1:15:53>> Thank you.

1:15:55>> Next we have after school programming

1:15:57school year 27.

1:16:00>> Yes.

1:16:01>> Good evening Mayor, members of the

1:16:03school committee, colleagues and

1:16:05families. A question was raised about

1:16:08the discontinuation of Project Yes, a

1:16:11longstanding after-school program at

1:16:13Thood Marshall Middle School. And I am

1:16:15here to provide the committee with an

1:16:17update on that. Tonight,

1:16:20we want to provide some context

1:16:22regarding changes in our entitlement

1:16:24funding, share participation data for

1:16:27Project Yes, and explain how those

1:16:29limited resources are now being used to

1:16:33support middle school students and

1:16:34families.

1:16:38When entitlement grant funding was

1:16:40released this summer, the final grant

1:16:42allocation for Lynn was lowered by more

1:16:45than a quarter of a million dollars.

1:16:48This created an immediate gap between

1:16:50available resources and planned

1:16:52expenditures.

1:16:54This required our administration to

1:16:56review grant funding programming and m

1:16:59make resource allocation decisions

1:17:02within the available funding while

1:17:04remaining aligned to our priorities and

1:17:07obligations specifically staffing FTEES.

1:17:12This included services that were being

1:17:13offered at the middle school. In

1:17:16addition, title one was not the only

1:17:18grant that came in below expectations.

1:17:21There were changes relative to the sped

1:17:23240 funding as well as the remaining

1:17:26entitlement grants. When all these

1:17:29factors were combined, all our existing

1:17:32grant commitments required a review.

1:17:35As we reviewed our grant-f funded

1:17:38commitments against the available

1:17:40resources, we looked at participation,

1:17:42attendance,

1:17:44staffing, expenditures, and the students

1:17:46being served. We also looked beyond

1:17:49participation and cost. We asked what

1:17:52evidence was available to help us

1:17:54understand program in impact. Our

1:17:57metrics included attendance, staffing

1:17:59ratios, but we struggled to clearly uh

1:18:02define student outcome measures.

1:18:06As part of a broader review,

1:18:08administration examined Project Yes and

1:18:10Breed Allstars using the same decision

1:18:13parameters applied across programs. The

1:18:16leadership team at Breed understood that

1:18:19Allstars was no longer a viable program

1:18:22given declining student participation.

1:18:25The Project YES data showed varied

1:18:28participation during the school year,

1:18:30declining engagement over the course of

1:18:33the sessions, and relatively high staff

1:18:36costs in relation to the number of

1:18:38participating students. Summer

1:18:41participation had also declined. These

1:18:44were important considerations in a year

1:18:46where available resources could not

1:18:48support every existing commitment.

1:18:52The decision to discontinue project yes

1:18:54was not a decision to step away from

1:18:56afterchool programming of our middle

1:18:58school students or enrichment. We

1:19:01continue to invest in opportunities for

1:19:04students and families at the middle

1:19:05school level. Available resources are

1:19:08now supporting the middle school hub

1:19:11expansion of Dreammore

1:19:14school-based extracurricular

1:19:15opportunities and family engagement

1:19:17efforts. The middle school hub is a new

1:19:21centralized space designed to support

1:19:23middle school students with academic

1:19:25resources, social emotional learning and

1:19:28enrichment activities during extended

1:19:30learning hours.

1:19:32Exploring expansion for dream more makes

1:19:35sense right now giving the success of

1:19:38the existing program which you learned

1:19:39about at the last meeting. Thood

1:19:42Marshall extracurricular activities

1:19:45um afterchool programming providing

1:19:47students with engaging activities,

1:19:49skilluing opportunities and p positive

1:19:52engagement options.

1:19:54And as you know, we are heavily focused

1:19:56on expanding our family engagement

1:19:58efforts by way of our new partnership

1:20:01director. We are committed to

1:20:02strengthening initiatives to connect

1:20:04families with resources, support

1:20:07services, and community partnerships to

1:20:10ensure comprehensive student support. We

1:20:13appreciate the question that was raised

1:20:15and the opportunity to provide this

1:20:17update. As with all of our programming

1:20:20administration, we will continue to

1:20:22monitor participation, need,

1:20:25effectiveness, and available resources

1:20:27as we plan for the future. We're happy

1:20:30to answer any questions about the

1:20:31information um provided here tonight.

1:20:34And I also have a statement that I'd

1:20:35like to read from Dr. Cohen.

1:20:38>> Want to do a question?

1:20:39>> Yeah, why don't you do the statement,

1:20:40please?

1:20:40>> Oh, statement first. Okay.

1:20:41>> Thank you.

1:20:43>> I appreciate Deputy Superintendent Loof

1:20:45providing tonight's presentation and I

1:20:47hope it provided helpful context

1:20:49regarding the funding and programming

1:20:51decisions that were made concerning

1:20:52after school programs. As you heard this

1:20:55evening, when we learned that our final

1:20:57entitlement grant allocations were lower

1:20:59than anticipated, we were required to

1:21:01review the programs and positions

1:21:03supported by those grants and make some

1:21:05difficult resource allocation decisions.

1:21:07I do want to acknowledge that in

1:21:09hindsight, we should have been more

1:21:11proactive in communicating the

1:21:13discontinuation of project yes to key

1:21:15stakeholders. While advanced

1:21:17communication would not have changed the

1:21:20administrative decision which was based

1:21:21on the funding constraints and program

1:21:24cost factors shared this evening, it

1:21:26would have provided those most directly

1:21:29impacted with appropriate notice and a

1:21:31clearer understanding of the change.

1:21:33That is something I take responsibility

1:21:35for and something we will do better

1:21:37moving forward. I appreciate the

1:21:39questions that were raised and the

1:21:41opportunity that provided us to clarify

1:21:43both the circumstances surrounding that

1:21:45this decision and our continued

1:21:48commitment to providing meaningful

1:21:50enrichment opportunities for our middle

1:21:52school students. Thank you.

1:21:57I I really appreciated that statement

1:21:58because I think I was going to lead off

1:22:00with the fact that we found out probably

1:22:03the same time as the public uh on social

1:22:05media and I really it was really a tough

1:22:09difficult period as we were going

1:22:11through a lot of turmoil in the city

1:22:13with our youth and to have a program of

1:22:1620 years project yes was really a a

1:22:20really impactful program that has

1:22:22changed so many lives for for the

1:22:25better. There were a lot of alumni who

1:22:26reached out. There were people that were

1:22:28really impacted by the loss of uh

1:22:31project Yes. And we were able to feel

1:22:33that as a committee. I can imagine

1:22:35everyone um the from the mayor to to

1:22:38every member here probably felt a phone

1:22:40call, a message, a email um some form of

1:22:43of grief um because these are these are

1:22:47again these are programs that are really

1:22:50rooted in the community. So to to not be

1:22:53part of that discussion um and I know

1:22:56there was a lot of fast pivots you guys

1:22:58had to make really swift decisions. Um,

1:23:02I do just please, you know, I I plea to

1:23:05the administration and and leadership to

1:23:07to please include the school committee

1:23:09and decision-m just as as we're going to

1:23:13be the ones I'm the one getting these

1:23:15phone calls and trying to figure out um

1:23:18what's going on and it's really vital.

1:23:21Um I also you know I in in in in in

1:23:25another scope of I guess this situation

1:23:29um how can we support programs like

1:23:32project yes and I think a lot of

1:23:34programs like project after school

1:23:36programs across the country the

1:23:38commonwealth they're failing they're

1:23:40failing these these these shifts in

1:23:42funding sources um we have a amazing

1:23:46grant writing um leadership team we have

1:23:49folks that really pro provide expertise

1:23:51and support in prospecting certain

1:23:53grants and I know I I spoke with

1:23:56leadership from project yes I've spoke

1:23:58with leadership around the grant piece

1:24:00already and and I really feel like we

1:24:03should at least make those attempts to

1:24:05restore project yes we do everything

1:24:07that we can to figure out a game plan to

1:24:10to connect with other resources that

1:24:12we've identified already and to push

1:24:14forward because I I do really would like

1:24:18to see project yes and I and and and

1:24:20have a conversation around not full

1:24:22programming but half shell or even that

1:24:24to get rid of that program or

1:24:27discontinue it at at a whole at that

1:24:29rate was just I'm still grieving and

1:24:31processing it. I'm still and this is

1:24:33just me speaking from um just my my

1:24:37perspective um because I I I I have had

1:24:40many children too that I know family

1:24:43members go through that program that

1:24:45really you know it changed their lives

1:24:47and it definitely makes a difference.

1:24:49So, but um I appreciate us having this

1:24:51conversation openly. I think it's very

1:24:53important to try to be as transparent as

1:24:56possible during these times. Um these

1:24:58are very very trying times and very

1:25:00traumatic times. So to have programs

1:25:03like that um impacted um I think it's

1:25:06important to have these conversations

1:25:07that are difficult. So thank you.

1:25:10>> Thank you member Gay. Um, I was just

1:25:13wondering, I agree with member

1:25:15Castleanos on that because I I did

1:25:18receive messages, but if the numbers of

1:25:21students went down, then you wouldn't

1:25:24have to have as much staff. Then you

1:25:26wouldn't have to have as much money. Was

1:25:28there any way that we could have we

1:25:31could have notified the person in charge

1:25:33of project? Yes. And say, "Your numbers

1:25:36are down. You can't have 20, you know,

1:25:39people working. you can only have five

1:25:43and and then they take it from there if

1:25:46they could get that money for just those

1:25:48few. I'm just asking because it was so

1:25:52surprising to hear about it and like it

1:25:55just makes common sense to me. Less

1:25:58students, less staff, less money. Um any

1:26:02way we could accommodate that? We I did

1:26:05meet with the um director last week um

1:26:08and he did apply for external funding uh

1:26:11a grant. So we're looking forward to

1:26:14potentially hearing back within a week

1:26:16or two to see if he received um

1:26:19something from the United Way.

1:26:20>> Oh

1:26:20>> yeah.

1:26:22Member Smith and meth.

1:26:24>> Thank you so much for the update.

1:26:27>> You know fully I want to echo my my

1:26:29colleagues comments. You know I really

1:26:30appreciate what what what you both said.

1:26:34uh fully understanding that when the

1:26:35money's not there, the money's not there

1:26:36and that it was no one's fault that this

1:26:38happened. It's stuff going on way above

1:26:41all of our heads.

1:26:43>> Yeah.

1:26:44>> I I I have a question about the

1:26:45procedure. I'm a procedure guy, lawyer.

1:26:48>> Um I I'm just I'm curious about, you

1:26:51know, once a year we get our big book,

1:26:53and I've only done this once, so if I

1:26:55say something wrong, please correct me.

1:26:56We got our big book and we have it seems

1:26:59like pretty much line item control over

1:27:01it and it all has to go through and be

1:27:03approved by this committee.

1:27:06>> When something like this happens and

1:27:08something doesn't come in as much as we

1:27:10think or there's an unexpected cost

1:27:13somewhere else, it seems like that

1:27:16process couldn't happen. And so I'm not

1:27:19asking that we approve every single,

1:27:22you know, cartridge of toner in every

1:27:24building in the district, but what is

1:27:27the procedural mechanism that happened

1:27:30here? And how do we sort of

1:27:34how [clears throat] do we let that

1:27:35happen without, you know, giving up the

1:27:37the power that the school committee does

1:27:39have? Because you can ask Mary Nicholson

1:27:41and Superintendent Cohen and especially

1:27:43Mary Jules. I've learned a lot about

1:27:45what this role isn't, which is very

1:27:47important.

1:27:48>> [laughter]

1:27:49>> But but there are I've also learned

1:27:51legitimately what this role is.

1:27:53>> And so for us to be, you know, part of

1:27:55that process is is really important.

1:27:58>> So I'd like to take a stab at this if I

1:28:00can help a little bit. But um all of the

1:28:02line items that you see on the budget

1:28:04that have the grant listed on the side,

1:28:07title one, 240, that's all contingent

1:28:10upon when that grant comes through,

1:28:12which we never find out until we don't

1:28:14even have the approval yet for FY27. It

1:28:17was in by September 1st, but Desessie's

1:28:20wheels are moving slowly. So, we go back

1:28:22and forth and we reanswer questions for

1:28:25them about everything that we've put in

1:28:26the grants. And due to the increase last

1:28:29year in the salary incremental changes

1:28:32for everybody that already existed in

1:28:33Title One.

1:28:35On top of that, when their salary goes

1:28:38up, so does the amount of MTRS that we

1:28:40pay towards their salary. That also goes

1:28:42comes out of our title one allocation.

1:28:44So, as all those numbers went up, what

1:28:47was reduced was the amount of money we

1:28:49could put into extra programming like

1:28:52Project Yes. Um, yeah. And not something

1:28:55that we even now don't technically have

1:28:59the total number on, but we had to make

1:29:02decisions based on what we could project

1:29:04we were going to have based on the

1:29:06numbers that came in during the summer.

1:29:09>> Yeah. And just to add to that, it's a

1:29:11great question. Um the

1:29:15we're the in the budget book, the school

1:29:18committee, we're we're voting on on on

1:29:20the budget and then for transparency

1:29:22sake so we all know like what's

1:29:24happening in the district. The budget

1:29:25book also puts in everything that's

1:29:27going to get paid for by grants, but

1:29:29that's not that's not what we're voting

1:29:30on because it's it's outside of the

1:29:32budget and it's coming from these these

1:29:36these um grant programs. And so I think

1:29:39that's the distinction in terms of the

1:29:42um the role of the school committee. I

1:29:45will also say and so that that's like a

1:29:47uh like a scope question in terms of the

1:29:50school committee and the and that what

1:29:52what's considered the budget. There's

1:29:54also just a a budgeting

1:29:56uh issue which is it's not what's

1:29:59happening here because this is with the

1:30:00grants but just generally I think for

1:30:01for our purposes the those numbers that

1:30:04we get in the budget book they're

1:30:06they're projections um and they're

1:30:10they're you know Mr. does a great job

1:30:13breaking down my school and and we see

1:30:15all that, but we're using averages of

1:30:18teacher salaries. So, there's so much

1:30:20that changed during the year there. You

1:30:22have uh newer teachers and more senior

1:30:25teachers that are making different

1:30:26amounts of money. People leave, people

1:30:28come, people go. Uh and so there's

1:30:32there's a lot that's changing throughout

1:30:33the year. And then on top of that, um

1:30:38there's like these these big buckets of

1:30:40items that aren't there's no way to

1:30:43predict with certainty in advance, like

1:30:45you know, health insurance, whatever

1:30:46that are on the city side. And so the

1:30:49the the the numbers that we approve in,

1:30:53you know, April of the of the year prior

1:30:57to the budget taking effect is like the

1:31:00beginning of a process that is the

1:31:01budget that doesn't really end until

1:31:03well after the fiscal year is completed.

1:31:05when we kind of tie everything back and

1:31:06we get the final number about what was

1:31:08net school spending and so on so forth.

1:31:10So there there is a lot of back and

1:31:12forth in those numbers.

1:31:16>> I we had uh me McGrath member Pñena and

1:31:19then

1:31:21>> thank you. Um first I want to thank Dr.

1:31:24Cohen um for their her statement. Um I

1:31:27think we all needed to hear that. Um

1:31:30like many of my colleagues, we all got

1:31:32calls um and messages um from members

1:31:36that were very upset within our

1:31:37community. Um and I echo um member

1:31:40Castiano's um thoughts as well. Um I

1:31:43have a lot of kind of thoughts in

1:31:46regards to um Project Yes. and just um

1:31:49in general our programs that are grant-f

1:31:52funded. Um I always worry about

1:31:54long-term sustainability when it comes

1:31:57to grants. we know that grants go away.

1:31:59Um, so I want to make sure that we all

1:32:02of our programming is set up for

1:32:05success. Um, I really want us to think

1:32:07through on how we're preparing these

1:32:09programs. Right? We just went over data

1:32:11and we know that data tells a story. I

1:32:13worry when we have a program that is

1:32:16maybe just reporting um, attendance for

1:32:19title one related purposes. How are we

1:32:21setting up programs for success so that

1:32:23it is tied to our district strategic

1:32:25plan so that they are demonstrating

1:32:27outcomes so that they are attaching

1:32:29those to cohorts of students that are

1:32:32potentially getting support beyond the

1:32:34scope of the school day um and able to

1:32:36demonstrate right um I I think of

1:32:38cohorts of students and students who may

1:32:41be struggling um academically. What are

1:32:43these programs providing? Um and are we

1:32:46able to measure that success? because in

1:32:48order to sustain these programs within

1:32:50grants, even if it's the United Way or

1:32:52other grants, they're going to want to

1:32:55see outcomes. So, if we're not equipping

1:32:58our staff to do that level of work, um

1:33:02we're setting them up for failure. Um

1:33:04you know, we can't just rely on

1:33:06narratives anymore. Um that's not where

1:33:09things are going when it comes to

1:33:10funding. So, I just want to make sure

1:33:12that all of our programs understand uh

1:33:16the district the district goals, how we

1:33:18want to measure it, and that there's

1:33:19expectations and it's equitable across

1:33:21the board. So, what we're giving one

1:33:23program is the same that we're giving

1:33:25another in terms of what they need to

1:33:27demonstrate. Um so, I think, you know, I

1:33:29have a lot of thoughts um around this,

1:33:31but I do appreciate the statement. Um,

1:33:34you know, I'm looking forward to

1:33:36potentially and my my hope is that, you

1:33:38know, Project Yes. gets that, you know,

1:33:40that United Way funding and if they do,

1:33:42um, I just want to make sure that they

1:33:44feel supported, um, with demonstrating

1:33:46that level of outcome.

1:33:49>> Could I respond? I just want to add that

1:33:52this year in particular with the focus

1:33:54on the instructional core with the

1:33:56alignment of all the district um

1:34:01with all of the departments as well as

1:34:03the schools and everyone's plans.

1:34:05Everything that everyone does has to be

1:34:08tied to their district improvement plan

1:34:10to their department improvement plan or

1:34:12their school improvement plan. And we

1:34:14have forms that we use for our title um

1:34:17allotments for extended learning time

1:34:19programs where every school that applies

1:34:21for an additional program after school

1:34:24has to identify who the target audience

1:34:26is, what their prior um data is that's

1:34:30bringing this group together and then

1:34:31how they're going to collect and show us

1:34:33that they're making progress. And what

1:34:35Mr. Mchugh and his department is doing

1:34:36is tracking where we're placing these

1:34:39funds and how much we're placing in

1:34:42different areas like extended learning

1:34:44time programs after school and which are

1:34:46approving effectiveness at the end so

1:34:49that we as a collective um district uh

1:34:52level group of our you know extended our

1:34:55ELT can look at all that data that he's

1:34:58able and he and his team are able to

1:34:59collect and say okay we're we really

1:35:02haven't been seeing real results in this

1:35:04so now what do we try with this

1:35:06particular group? And so we do we are

1:35:08collecting that that is part of the

1:35:09department goals and the school

1:35:11improvement goals. So that will be

1:35:13something I'm sure we'll be able to

1:35:14share later another time this year.

1:35:16>> Thank you.

1:35:19>> Well, just just to echo what my

1:35:20colleague said and I really support what

1:35:22member Kasan's mentioned is appreciate

1:35:24the statement, you know, and uh we were,

1:35:26you know, we like to be informed. You

1:35:28know, we all got calls and I I didn't,

1:35:30you know, we found out just just, you

1:35:33know, like everyone else.

1:35:35And uh just uh you mentioned United Way.

1:35:38Those are things thoughts that I had and

1:35:39maybe you know trying to see if we could

1:35:41partner with other nonprofits throughout

1:35:42the city that uh will come in and

1:35:44probably pick up some of the workload

1:35:46for us with after school program where

1:35:48we can partner with other things like

1:35:49the YMCA Boys and Girls Club which was

1:35:52on United Way. But thank you. I really

1:35:55appreciate the statement. Thank you.

1:35:57Thank you.

1:36:01>> Yeah. Um, it's great to hear that

1:36:03statement from Superintendent Cohen. Um,

1:36:06the one thing that I was kind of picking

1:36:10out from this conversation was the data

1:36:14review and how that uh was relative to

1:36:17the decision-m towards Project Yes. Um,

1:36:21and this also kind of ties back to the

1:36:23question that member Castanos mentioned

1:36:25about how can we support the program? Um

1:36:28I'm seeing here that the attendance and

1:36:32the engagement for project yes was um

1:36:36decreasing over time of within the 20

1:36:38years that it existed and because of

1:36:40that the finances towards staffing and

1:36:44having this project exists be became I

1:36:48wouldn't necessarily say like not worth

1:36:50it because I feel that every project is

1:36:51worth the finances but obviously it was

1:36:54doing more harm than it was good. Um,

1:36:56and just seeing the the attendance and

1:37:00the engagement um, and the conversations

1:37:04that we've been having uh, over time

1:37:06about like engagement and even

1:37:08enrollment and attendance. Um, it just

1:37:10makes me question like is the root cause

1:37:14maybe trying to get the community

1:37:16involved and not being able to get the

1:37:19word out there? Um given the fact that

1:37:21the school committee heard about the

1:37:24discontinuation around the same time as

1:37:26the public did um it brings up the

1:37:31possibility of for other programs.

1:37:34Would it ever be possible to expand on

1:37:37community engagement so that we can

1:37:39prevent this decline in engagement, this

1:37:42decline in attendance um and therefore

1:37:45making the funds towards this towards

1:37:48not just project yes but also other

1:37:49organizations um worthwhile and can

1:37:53result in um I guess like you know the

1:37:56members in it having a wonderful

1:37:59experience as

1:38:01you know a participant of the program.

1:38:04Um I personally was never in Project Gas

1:38:07while I was at Thgo Marshalls. Um but I

1:38:10knew a lot of people who were um and

1:38:13they have grown to be a part of other

1:38:15programs within their time in high

1:38:17school. Um so having these type of

1:38:20programs during middle school seems very

1:38:23I guess foundational to how youth team

1:38:27members involve themselves in the

1:38:29community. And so if we were able to get

1:38:33this type of engagement, this type of

1:38:34advertisement out, um, and not just

1:38:37bring in kids, but also like their

1:38:39parents or other people who could

1:38:41support the the project without needing

1:38:43to rely on grants, I think that could

1:38:47have been something that could have, you

1:38:49know, helped. And whether or not Project

1:38:51Yes comes back, whether or not Project

1:38:53Yes doesn't come back, I think that

1:38:55should be something that we should

1:38:56consider for other programs that could

1:38:59be at risk of the same predicament.

1:39:02>> Thank you. Thank you. Great point.

1:39:07>> Sorry.

1:39:08>> I'm sorry. I I never do this. Uh but but

1:39:12[clears throat] member Mao really uh

1:39:13brought up a really good point uh that

1:39:15got me thinking is you know the

1:39:19again understanding all this was done

1:39:22above our heads. It's no one's fault but

1:39:25sort of the the rationale given about

1:39:27attendance and engagement.

1:39:30Is there any concern that we might be

1:39:32setting a precedent here that other

1:39:34afterchool programs in the district

1:39:38are going to be on edge if they don't

1:39:41get enough students showing up after

1:39:43school? If they don't get enough

1:39:44students engaged in in what they're

1:39:46trying to do, you know, is is there a

1:39:49concern that we might be setting that

1:39:50precedent? Because

1:39:52to member Castiano's point again, you

1:39:54know, if the the amount of students that

1:39:58this program served over the years is

1:40:01incredible and the impact that it's had

1:40:03is incredible. And so I'm I'm it's

1:40:07there is a question in there, but it's

1:40:08just it's just unfortunate that it seems

1:40:10like

1:40:12due to factors largely out of their

1:40:15control, ultimately entirely out of

1:40:18their control because it's the grant

1:40:20funding that is out of all of our

1:40:22control that this project uh excuse me

1:40:25this afterchool program project yes

1:40:27would found itself on the chopping

1:40:28block. So, is there concern that we

1:40:30might be setting that that precedent and

1:40:31that suddenly,

1:40:33you know, the

1:40:35not to say the cross country team better

1:40:37start recruiting kids or something? You

1:40:39know, that's that's sort of my concern.

1:40:43>> I mean, we with the titles grant

1:40:45proposals. So, every um like member

1:40:47Ortiz was saying, every program that

1:40:50wants to run um submits a proposal. Um

1:40:53and what we typically tell like for um

1:40:56extended learning time for our school

1:40:58principles for our summer programming

1:41:001:10 ratio. That's what we're looking

1:41:02for um in programs. So um this this

1:41:08ratio was significantly under that.

1:41:11>> You know, I want to add it's no one no

1:41:13one's goal to cut anything, right? So,

1:41:16um, I think our best path forward in any

1:41:19of these cases is to try and work with

1:41:20those who are running these to try and

1:41:23bolster engagement by our student bodies

1:41:25and get the word out and work with our

1:41:28new family engagement coordinator as

1:41:30well to have a better line of

1:41:32communication to the families so that

1:41:34they understand what these programs are

1:41:35about. I think we just all have to work

1:41:37collectively as one um cohesive unit to

1:41:40try and make sure that we're fighting to

1:41:42keep these programs alive and support

1:41:44what you know what we are able to as

1:41:47long as we can, right? That's our goal

1:41:49to have all these things available for

1:41:50kids at any given moment. Um but yeah, I

1:41:53think we we've learned quickly this year

1:41:56as a team, you know, as a new team doing

1:41:58this that grant funds are not they're

1:42:02not a guarantee. And so getting out

1:42:05ahead of these things I think will help

1:42:06us in the future. But I think that's

1:42:08something we all learned.

1:42:10>> Great.

1:42:10>> Great. Thank you.

1:42:11>> Great. Well, thank you uh for the

1:42:13presentation, Dr. Cohen for the

1:42:14statement. Thank you to the committee

1:42:15for the thoughtful questions. We

1:42:17appreciate it. Next, we have uh

1:42:19communications.

1:42:21>> Thank you. So, in your packets, you have

1:42:23an enrollment report. Um and we are

1:42:27going to conclude this evening with some

1:42:29district highlights.

1:42:33We yesterday um for the fifth

1:42:36consecutive year, Brickett partnered

1:42:38Brickett Elementary School partnered

1:42:39with FedEx and Mass Department of

1:42:41Transportation Safe Routts to School to

1:42:44celebrate IWalk International Walk,

1:42:46Bike, and Roll Day to encourage walking

1:42:49to school safely. Mayor Nicholson, Chief

1:42:52Kelly, Principal Albert Benedict,

1:42:54members of the Lynn Police Department,

1:42:57Chase the Comfort Dog, who is really the

1:43:00star of the show. uh were all in

1:43:02attendance. So, it was a great great way

1:43:04to start the day.

1:43:07>> And some of our HDSA students got to

1:43:09[clears throat] excuse me take advantage

1:43:11of a learning opportunity and a visit to

1:43:13the state house where they got to meet

1:43:15with Representative Shawn Reid and

1:43:18Senator Brennan Kiteon and got to learn

1:43:20a little bit about how their local

1:43:22representatives work for them at the

1:43:24state level. So, that was a great

1:43:25opportunity for them.

1:43:27Yeah.

1:43:28>> And finally, October is principal month.

1:43:32So, here we are recognizing and

1:43:34celebrating those leaders who do it all

1:43:36day, every day, multiple hats. Um, so to

1:43:41our friends and colleagues and our

1:43:42building leaders, we say thank you.

1:43:45>> Thank you.

1:43:46>> Thank you.

1:43:46>> You

1:43:49>> Thank you. Seeing no further items on

1:43:51the agenda, and it's a motion to

1:43:52adjourn.

1:43:53>> So moved.

1:43:54>> All right. Second.

1:43:56>> All in favor? Hi.

1:43:58>> Thank you.

1:44:03[laughter]

1:44:07>> I know. Appreciate you.

1:44:14>> My brain moving.

1:44:17>> I saw it under the packet, too. I was

1:44:18like, "Oh, this is going to be good."

1:44:19What?

1:44:21>> The presentation. I was looking at it in

1:44:24advance and I'm like, "Oh my goodness.