[D. Decision on Elementary Reading Program Pilot , Ms. Heather Kutcher, Executive Director of Curriculum, Instruction,and Assessment, Mr. Andrew Renzulli, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, Ms. Kristine Scarry,Supervisor of English/Language Arts, Mr. Gideon Twigg, Curriculum Specialist, Ms. Victoria Jones, Literacy TeacherSpecialist, and Mr. Phil Snyder, Supervisor of Accountability]

ON ELEMENTARY READING PROGRAM PILOT MS CULTURE AND TEAM.

GOOD EVENING, LORD PRESIDENT OR VICE PRESIDENT SEWELL, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD SUPERINTENDENT BOSTON. I'M HERE THIS EVENING WITH A TEAM TO SHARE THE RECOMMENDATION FOR THE READING CURRICULUM PROGRAM TO PILOT AND IDENTIFIED ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS NEXT YEAR. WITH ME IN PERSON THIS EVENING IS AND EVEN ZOLI, DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT.

SNYDER, OUR SUPERVISOR OF ACCOUNTABILITY. AND GETTING IN TWIG OR ELEMENTARY CURRICULUM SPECIALIST IN THE READING ENGLISH AND LANGUAGE ARTS DEPARTMENT. OUR SUPERVISOR OF READING ENGLISH AND LANGUAGE ARTS. MRS CHRIS SCARY IS JOINING US REMOTELY. HER SON IS GRADUATING FROM SALISBURY UNIVERSITY, SO SHE'S TRAVELED DOWN TO WACO MUKO MUKO COUNTY FOR THAT MILESTONE. NOT MANY THINGS WOULD PREVENT MRS SCARY FOR FROM PARTICIPATING IN THIS MEETING AND RECOMMENDATION, BUT HER CHILD'S COLLEGE GRADUATION IS CERTAINLY ON THAT SHORT LIST . SO SHE IS REMOTE WITH US TODAY AND CAN HELP US ADDRESS ANY QUESTIONS THAT THE BOARD MAY HAVE. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO RECOGNIZE MRS VICTORIA JONES, WHO IS INTEGRAL TO THE PROCESS AND PRESENTATION THAT WE ARE GIVING TONIGHT, AND SHE'S ALSO JOINING US REMOTELY TO ADDRESS ANY QUESTIONS. MRS. JONES IS R K THROUGH TO LITERACY SPECIALIST IN THE READING, ENGLISH AND LANGUAGE OUT OF OFFICE. SO FOR SOME SOME CONTEXT AND SOME BACKGROUND PERFECT COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS WENT THROUGH RIGOROUS CURRICULUM SELECTION PROCESS DURING THE 2018 19 SCHOOL YEAR, AND THEN YOU HAVE STUDY AND READING WAS THE RECOMMENDED PROGRAM AND THEN THE 2019 SCHOOL YEAR, EIGHT SCHOOLS IMPLEMENTED THIS PROGRAM AND GRADES KINDERGARTEN THROUGH FIFTH. THAT FOLLOWING SCHOOL YEAR AID, ADDITIONAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS CAME ON BOARD WITH THE REMAINING SCHOOLS, IMPLEMENTING THE UNITS OF STUDY AND READING BEGINNING IN THE 21 22 SCHOOL YEAR.

[00:25:09]

AS WITH MANY OTHERS, WE'VE BEEN KEEPING A VERY CLOSE EYE ON THE NATIONAL AND LOCAL QUESTIONS RAISED ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE UNITS OF STUDY PROGRAM AND PROMOTING LITERACY SKILLS IN ALL LEARNERS. SO WE ARE TAKING THIS TIME AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PILOT A DIFFERENT READING PROGRAM AND SELECTED ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN ORDER TO ANALYZE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND IDENTIFY THE MOST EFFECTIVE CURRICULAR PROGRAMMING TO SUPPORT ALL CHILDREN'S LITERACY SKILLS. TO START THE PROCESS OF IDENTIFYING A NEW CURRICULAR PROGRAM. THE READING ENGLISH AND LANGUAGE ARTS OFFICE BEGAN THE REVIEW OF PROGRAMS USING MULTIPLE DATA POINTS, WHICH WILL HEAR ABOUT TONIGHT. THEY ALSO ESTABLISHED A TIMELINE THAT WOULD ALLOW FOR A THOROUGH PROCESS INVOLVING MANY STAKEHOLDERS AND STILL ALLOWING THE DISTRICT TO CONTRACT WITH THE PUBLISHER AHEAD OF THIS COMING SCHOOL YEAR. MR TWIG WILL GO INTO MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE INITIAL STEPS THAT LEAD TO THE RECOMMENDATION THAT WE ARE BRINGING BEFORE YOU TONIGHT. UM SO AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS WAS THE TIMELINE THAT WAS FOLLOWED TO SET THIS PROCESS INTO MOTION. AND SO IT BEGAN WITH GOING TO THE GENERAL CURRICULUM COMMITTEE AND GETTING PERMISSION TO FORM AN AD HOC COMMITTEE. SO PULLING MEMBERS OUT OF GCC TO CONSIDER, UM, WHICH READING PROGRAMS WE REALLY SHOULD TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT UM, AND SO THAT'S THE PROCESS . I WANTED TO WALK YOU THROUGH FIRST, SO YOU CAN SEE ON THE NEXT SLIDE. THIS WAS THE MEMBERSHIP ON THE GCC AD HOC, UM AS MISS CULTURE, SAID, WE WANTED A BROAD REPRESENTATION, AND SO WE HAD FORD MEMBER WE HAD THE PRESIDENT OF THE TEACHERS UNION , AS WELL AS TEACHERS AND, UM PEOPLE FROM VARIOUS OFFICES SO THAT WE COULD REALLY GET A GOOD CROSS SECTION OF VIEWPOINTS. UM WE BEGAN THAT SELECTION MEETING AS A GROUP AND REALLY THINKING ABOUT WHAT IS OUR VISION FOR READERS AND WRITERS IN HCPS, SO THAT WE WENT INTO THE PROCESS KIND OF ON THE SAME PAGE WITH WHAT WE HOPED AND SO THE EVERYTHING THAT WE THOUGHT THROUGH WAS, WHAT DO WE BELIEVE IN SO YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY, WE KNEW PUBLISHERS WERE GOING TO COME IN. THEY'RE OBVIOUSLY GOING TO TELL YOU THE BEST THINGS ABOUT THEIR PROGRAM, BUT KIND OF LIKE WHEN YOU'RE CAR SHOPPING. YOU WANT TO GO IN KNOWING WHAT YOU'RE REALLY LOOKING FOR, SO YOU DON'T GET KIND OF DISTRACTED BY BELLS AND WHISTLES. AND SO AS A COMMITTEE, WE CAME UP WITH THESE THINGS THAT WE WERE REALLY LOOKING FOR IN A PROGRAM. AND THEN, UM MR SNYDER IS GOING TO WALK YOU THROUGH WHAT HAPPENED AFTER WE KIND OF MET AS A WHOLE GROUP AND HOW WE WHEEDLED IT DOWN TO THE PROGRAMS THAT MEANT FOR REVIEW. THANK YOU, MR TWEED. GOOD EVENING BOARD MEMBERS. IT'S AN HONOR TO BE HERE TONIGHT TO SHARE OUR PROCESS, SO WE DID GO THROUGH A RIGOROUS PROGRAMMATIC REVIEW OF THE CURRICULUM THAT IS OUT THERE. AND SO WE STARTED WITH ED REPORTS MSD AMERICAN STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT WE HAVE A PROGRAM THAT IS COMPLETELY IN COMPLIANCE WITH THAT REPORTS THAT MEETS ALL THE EXPECTATIONS . AND SO WE STARTED WITH THE SEARCH OF LOOKING AT IT REPORTS AND WHAT PROGRAMS ARE OUT THERE, AS YOU ARE AWARE OF PROGRAMS ARE CONSTANTLY CHANGING, BEING REVISED ADDED BEING DELETED, AND SO WE NEED TO HAVE THE LATEST INFORMATION AND THE DATA FROM ANY REPORTS. THE REALTOR OFFICE REACHED OUT TO COUNTERPARTS ACROSS MARYLAND. AND TO SEE WHAT PROGRAMS ARE IN OPERATION IN EACH OF OUR 24 DISTRICTS, AND THAT INFORMATION WAS COMPILED IN SOME FOLLOW UP WAS DONE TO STILL HAVE SOME CLARIFYING QUESTIONS.

AND THE OFFICE OF ACCOUNTABILITY COMPELLED SOME DATA REGARDING OUR ASSESSMENTS, AND NOT ONLY ARE CAP STATE ASSESSMENTS AS WELL AS LOCAL DATA, JUST TO SEE HOW OUR COUNTY'S DOING THE FINAL PIECE THAT I WANT TO SAY ABOUT THAT. IS THAT EVERY OTHER ALLEY A IN MARYLAND, PRETTY MUCH IS IN THE SAME BOAT THAT WE ARE. THEY ARE LOOKING FOR PROGRAMS LIKE WE ARE. THERE IS NOT ONE PROGRAM THAT RISES TO THE TOP AS FAR AS THE NUMBER OF PER NUMBER OF DISTRICTS THAT ARE USING A PROGRAM, SO WE FOUND THAT VERY INTERESTING. UM AND FINALLY, WE TOOK ALL THAT DATA AND INFORMATION CALCULATE INTO A RANKING OF PROGRAMS, AND I'M SURE THAT A LITTLE BIT IN A MINUTE HERE. SO THESE ARE ALL THE PROGRAMS THE FIRST COMMITTEE AND IT WAS A 14 COMMITTEE AD HOC COMMITTEE OF GCC AND THOSE 14 MEMBERS WERE VERY COME FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS AND ALL MEMBERS AGAIN OF GCC, AND WE OBVIOUSLY NEEDED TO HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE EXAMPLE.

HERE ARE THE ONES THAT ARE NOT REVIEWED BY REPORTS OR PARTIALLY MEETS AND IT WAS DECIDED THAT WE ULTIMATELY NEED TO MOVE FORWARD WITH PROGRAMS THAT MEET EXPECTATIONS IN BOTH THE ALIGNMENT AND USABILITY. AND I ALSO LISTED THERE. HOW MANY ELEAZAR PLANNING TO USE THIS PROGRAM IN THE 23 24 SCHOOL YEAR. AND YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE PROGRAMS THERE. FOR EXAMPLE EIGHT FOUNDATIONS THAT'S AN INTERVENTION PROGRAM, NOT NECESSARILY ACCORD PROGRAM. SO THE HIGHEST ONE THERE WAS. THE PROGRAM ACTUALLY MET A COUPLE THAT WERE IN FORCE. FOR COUNTIES

[00:30:01]

AND AGAIN. SOME OF THOSE DECISIONS WERE NOT FINALIZED BY THIS OTHER COUNTIES. SO WE HAD A NARROW IT DOWN. WE KNOW WE CAN'T LOOK AT AND MEET WITH EVERY SINGLE PUBLISHER ON THAT LIST.

AND SO THE GREAT DISCUSSION WAS WE GOT IT DOWN TO EIGHT PRESENTED TO THE COMMITTEE AND, UM, WE WENT FORWARD WITH THESE A TEAR. WE WANTED TO GET THAT DOWN TO ABOUT FIVE PROGRAMS TO MEET WITH PUBLISHERS AND HOW WE GOT THERE. WE'LL TALK ON THE NEXT SLIDE. UM, AND THIS SIDE HERE INDICATES THE FORMULA THAT THE OFFICE OF ACCOUNTABILITY USED TO GENERATE OUR DATA, SO WE LOOKED AT THEIR HEAD REPORTS RATINGS. OBVIOUSLY MEET EXPECTATIONS IS GOING TO GET MORE POINTS THAN NOT MEETING EXPECTATIONS. EVERY MEMBER ON THE COMMITTEE INTERPRET. EXCUSE ME. ADMITTED THEIR INTEREST IN LOOKING AT PROGRAMS AND SO THEY WERE RANKED FROM A LOW INTEREST TO HOW YOU'RE INTERESTED IN AMERICA SCALE. WE LOOKED AT HOW MANY ALLEYWAYS WERE USING THOSE PROGRAMS ACROSS OUR STATE, AND THEN WE LOOKED AT THE DATA THERE . AND THE REASON YOU MAY SEE IS WHY IS THE DATA ONLY 5% 1? THE ASSESSMENT IS NEW. AND TO THE ASSESSMENTS THAT ARE USED ACROSS THE STATE ARE VERY DIVERSE. AS FAR AS OUR ONLY SCREENER. WE USE DOUBLES AND WE'VE TALKED ABOUT AND SHARE DATA WITH DOUBLES BEFORE OTHER STATES OR THE SYSTEMS MAY NOT USE THAT. AND THERE'S A WHOLE LOT OF OTHER COMPLEXITY FACTORS AROUND THAT. SO GOING FORWARD. THE COMMITTEE VOTED IN THE DATA WAS IN AND WE HAD SIX PROGRAMS. WE WERE LOOKING AT FIVE. HOWEVER, THE THIS, UH TWO PROGRAMS WERE AT VERY CLOSE TO THE BOTTOM. 19 AND 19.2 THAT WAS BENCHMARK ADVANCE AND THAT WAS IMAGINE LEARNING AND AGAIN. THAT WAS JUST FROM OUR MEETINGS AND THE 14 COMMITTEE MEMBERS DOING SOME HOMEWORK ON THEIR OWN, LOOKING AT IT REPORTS AND LOOKING AT THE PUBLISHER'S WEBSITES. SO WE DECIDED IT WOULD BE BEST INTEREST TO TAKE SIX PUBLISHERS MOVING THEM FORWARD TO THE NEXT ROUND. AND THAT ARE THESE ARE THE SIX PUBLISHERS LISTED HERE.

AND SO ONCE WE KNEW WHICH PROGRAMS WERE GOING TO BE FULLY REVIEWED, WE REACHED OUT TO EACH OF THE PUBLISHERS TO SET UP A TIME FOR THEM TO COME AND MEET WITH OUR COMMITTEE. AND ON THE NEXT SIDE, YOU'LL SEE WE HAD A LARGE COMMITTEE. IT WAS NEARLY 50 INDIVIDUALS WITHIN OUR SYSTEM . UM AND I THINK ONE THING TO NOTE IS THAT MANY OF THE PUBLISHERS CAME IN AND WERE LIKE WOW. THIS IS A VERY BIG GROUP. SOMETIMES WE PRESENT 23 PEOPLE OR 10 PEOPLE TO MAKE THIS DECISION FOR A COUNTY. SO MANY OF THEM ACTUALLY APPLAUDED US FOR INCLUDING SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE DECISION ON THE NEXT SLIDE. I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO JUST RECOGNIZE THOSE TEACHERS WHO STEPPED OUT OF THEIR CLASSROOM FOR THREE DAYS, WROTE SOME PLANS TO BE A PART OF THIS, AND YOU CAN SEE THAT WHILE SOME DISTRICTS MAYBE ONLY HAVE 10 PEOPLE ON THEIR SELECTION COMMITTEE, WE HAD 8 TO 9 PEOPLE PER GRADE LEVEL. AND AT EACH GRADE LEVEL HALF OF THOSE, UM PEOPLE WERE CLASSROOM TEACHERS. THERE ARE SOME EXCEPTIONS IN 3RD AND 5TH GRADE. A LOT OF THAT WAS DUE TO M CAP TESTING GOING ON, WHICH MADE IT HARD TO PULL TEACHERS OUT OF THOSE CLASSROOMS. BUT IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO US THAT WE HAD A LARGE TEACHER REPRESENTATIVES, UM, ON THIS SELECTION COMMITTEE BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONES WORKING WITH STUDENTS EVERY SINGLE DAY. WE ALSO WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE HAD DIVERSITY AS FAR AS HAVING PRINCIPALS, ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS READING SPECIALIST SPECIAL EDUCATORS SO THEY COULD REALLY LOOK THROUGH THAT LENS OF HOW WILL THIS PERSON GRAHAM, MEET OUR STUDENTS WHO NEED ADDITIONAL SUPPORT. AS WELL AS GIFTED AND TALENTED TEACHERS TO SEE HOW HOW WILL THIS PROGRAM BE ABLE TO ALSO ACCELERATE STUDENT PROGRESS? AND SO ONCE WE HAD OUR COMMITTEE IN PLACE? UM WE HAD THREE DAYS OF MEETINGS, ONE FULL DAY AND TWO HALF DAYS TO JUST HEAR FROM THE PUBLISHERS THEMSELVES. AND SO EACH PUBLISHER HAD 90 MINUTES TO PRESENT TO THE GROUP AND ANSWER QUESTIONS. WHICH AGAIN MANY OF THE PUBLISHERS APPLAUDED HAVING 90 MINUTES. THEY SAID THAT MANY TIMES THEY ONLY HAVE 30 MINUTES TO PRESENT WHICH PRETTY MUCH EVERYBODY IN OUR COMMITTEE FELT LIKE, HOW WOULD YOU MAKE SUCH A BIG DECISION WITH ONLY 30 MINUTES OF INFORMATION? SO AFTER THE 90 MINUTE PRESENTATION, GRADE LEVEL TEAMS MET AND DISCUSSED THE PROGRAM, THEY WERE ABLE TO LOOK AT SAMPLERS AND OTHER MATERIALS THAT PUBLISHERS BROUGHT WITH THEM FOR US TO BE ABLE TO LOOK THROUGH. AND WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WHAT WE SAW AS THE POSITIVES AND THE DRAWBACKS FOR EACH PROGRAM AND THEN ON THE NEXT SIDE, YOU'LL SEE THAT EACH MEMBER INDIVIDUALLY FILLED OUT A CURRICULUM VETTING RUBRIC. WE USED THE RUBRIC THAT IS SUGGESTED BY MSD FOR CURRICULUM VETTING. HOWEVER WE DID MAKE ONE CHANGE IN THE CURRENT MSD VETTING RUBRIC. THERE IS NO CRITERIA FOR ALIGNMENT TO SCIENCE OF READING PRACTICES, AND SO WE DID ADD AN ENTIRE CATEGORY FOR SCIENCE OF READING PRACTICES TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PROGRAM THAT WE WERE PICKING DID HAVE A STRONG FINAL, LOGICAL AND ANEMIC AWARENESS COMPONENT THAT IT DID HAVE A SYSTEMIC AND SEQUENCED PHONICS INSTRUCTION THAT IT DID USE OROGRAPHIC MAPPING TO TEACH HIGH FREQUENCY WORDS. AND THAT IT DID USE DAKOTA BLE TEXT FOR STUDENTS TO BE ABLE TO APPLY THOSE PHONICS SKILLS IN CONTINUOUS TAXES THEY'RE READING, SO WE FELT THAT THAT WAS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT HEARING PUBLIC COMMENT AND HEARING OTHER CONCERNS THAT HAVE BEEN EXPRESSED THAT WE REALLY

[00:35:03]

DID PUT THAT FRONT AND CENTER IN OUR CONSIDERATION OF THE NEW PROGRAM. AND SO ONCE EVERYBODY UNDERSTOOD THE RUBRIC OUR VENDORS CAME. YOU CAN SEE. THIS IS ONE JUST EXAMPLE OF WHAT VENDORS KIND OF BROUGHT WITH THEM FOR EACH GRADE LEVEL. TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT. WE BEGAN DIGGING INTO THE PROGRAMS. UM AND SO YOU CAN SEE, THIS IS JUST EXAMPLES OF TEACHERS TALKING ABOUT, UM, THE PROGRAMS LOOKING THROUGH THE MATERIALS THAT PEOPLE HAD BOUGHT. YOU'LL SEE MORE OF THAT. ON THE NEXT SLIDE. YOU CAN SEE MEMBERS FILLING OUT THE INDIVIDUAL RUBRICS AND HAVING ADDITIONAL CONVERSATIONS , AND SO WE'LL HOLD ON THAT SIDE FOR JUST A SECOND. SO WE HAD THE FULL DAY AND TWO HALF DAYS TO LOOK AT PROGRAMS. THEN WE CAME BACK AND HAD AN ADDITIONAL HALF DAY JUST TO DEBRIEF AND START KIND OF WIGGLING THROUGH SO AGAIN. IF YOU'LL EXCUSE MY CAR BUYING ANALOGY, I MAY HAVE TEST DRIVEN SIX. BUT NOW IT'S KIND OF TIME TO THINK LIKE, WHAT ARE MY TOP TWO OR THREE AND SO IN ORDER TO DO THAT EACH GRADE LEVEL MET AND YOU'LL SEE ON THE NEXT SLIDE EACH GRADE LEVEL INDIVIDUALLY RANKED THE SIX PROGRAMS FROM NUMBER ONE THE PROGRAM. THEY'RE MOST INTERESTED IN TO NUMBER SIX. THE PROGRAM THEY FELT WOULD BE THE LEAST. STRONGEST FIT FOR OUR STUDENTS, AND SO YOU'LL NOTICE AS YOU LOOK ACROSS KINDERGARTEN 1ST AND 2ND GRADE, YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THE PROGRAMS IN THE TOP THREE ARE THE SAME JUST IN DIFFERENT ORDER, AND THE PROGRAMS THAT ARE 45 AND SIX ARE ALSO THE SAME, JUST IN A DIFFERENT ORDER. AND SO ONCE WE HAD LOOKED AT THOSE UM, IT WAS DECIDED THAT WE WOULDN'T REALLY CONTINUE ON CONSIDERING THE THREE PROGRAMS THAT WERE IN THE BOTTOM THREE FOR EVERY SINGLE GRADE LEVEL BECAUSE AT THAT POINT CONSENSUS, IT'S KIND OF BEEN REACHED. SO WE BEGAN OUR CONVERSATION ABOUT THE THREE PROGRAMS INTO READING WONDERS AND BENCHMARK ADVANCE AND SO IN ORDER TO DO THIS, INSTEAD OF MEETING IN GRADE LEVELS, WE FORMED CROSS GRADE LEVEL TEAMS. SO A MEMBER OF THE KINDERGARTEN TEAM, THE FIRST GRADE TEAM, THE SECOND GRADE, 3RD, 4TH AND 5TH GRADE TEAM, ONE MEMBER WOULD FORM TOGETHER SO THAT WE COULD HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT YES, I LOOKED AT IT THROUGH A THIRD GRADE LENS. BUT WHAT DID YOU THINK FOR MY KINDERGARTEN LENS ABOUT THIS PROGRAM SO WE REALLY COULD GET SOME DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS AND A MORE HOLISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROGRAM. UM AFTER THOSE CONVERSATIONS, WE ALSO WERE ABLE TO HEAR FROM YOU. ON THE NEXT SIDE. YOU'LL SEE THE OFFICE OF INNOVATIVE LEARNING AND INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY, UM , HEADED BY MARTHA BARWICK. SHE ACTUALLY MET WITH EACH PUBLISHER INDIVIDUALLY AND WAS ABLE TO ASK THEM ABOUT HOW WELL WILL THIS PROGRAM INTEGRATE WITH CANVAS? UM AND THEN BRIANNA QUINN, WHO WORKS IN THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND REALLY FOCUSES ON ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY. WAS ABLE TO TALK WITH EACH PROGRAM ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAD THE ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED BY MARYLAND STATE LAW BECAUSE WE DEFINITELY KNEW WE WANTED A PROGRAM THAT MET STATE LAW AND THAT DID ALLOW ALL OF OUR STUDENTS ACCESS TO THE CURRICULUM. SO AFTER HEARING ALL OF THAT INFORMATION TEACHERS WERE GIVEN THREE POST IT NOTES. THEY WERE GIVEN A PINK POSTED A YELLOW AND BLUE POST IT AND ASKED TO RANK THE PROGRAMS. THE PINK POST. IT WAS TEACHERS NUMBER ONE CHOICE. THE YELLOW POST. IT WAS FOR A TEACHER'S SECOND CHOICE AND THE BLUE POST . IT WAS FOR A THIRD PLACE.

CHOICE, BASICALLY SO YOU CAN SEE HOW THE INITIAL UM, FEEDBACK. WE'RE THINKING KIND OF WENT, THERE WERE DEFINITELY MORE PINK POST. ITS FOR BENCHMARK ADVANCE , HOWEVER, LIKE ANY GOOD I SHOULD JUST GO BACK ONE SIDE. SORRY UM, LIKE ANY GOOD CAR PURCHASE. YOU WANT TO SLEEP ON IT? SO, UM, AND THERE WAS STILL SOME ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS WE HAVE FOR PUBLISHERS, WHO ARE AVAILABLE VIA EMAIL AND COULD SEND RESPONSES BACK SO MEMBERS HAD THREE ADDITIONAL DAYS TO JUST LOOK THROUGH ANY LAST INFORMATION, CONSIDER ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM PUBLISHERS. AND THEY WERE SENT AN INDIVIDUAL SURVEY WHERE THEY COULD VOTE ON THEIR FINAL CHOICE BETWEEN ALL SIX OF THE PROGRAMS . AND SO MR SNYDER IS GOING TO KIND OF TALK TO YOU ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE RUBRICS AND THAT FINAL VOTING. UM ALL OF THAT. WE PUT THE INTO OUR MEDIAN XXL SHEET. AND SO WHAT IT CAME OUT IS THAT WE HAD THE RUBRICS WERE ALL CALCULATED AND BENCHMARKING BANDS WAS RANKED IN THE TOP 4516 POINTS, AND THAT IS A COMBINATION OF EVERY SINGLE MEMBERS VOTE BASED UPON THE RUBRIC, MR TWIG EXPLAINED EARLIER. AND YOU CAN SEE THAT AGAIN. A TOP THREE ARE VERY MUCH IN LINE WITH THE OTHER THREE PROGRAMS THAT WERE DONE AT DIFFERENT TIMES DURING THE PROCESS. AND THEN FINALLY, THE FINAL VOTE CAME DOWN TO AFTER MUCH THOUGHT AFTER PROBABLY CLOSE TO A WEEK FOR THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO INDIVIDUALLY GO BACK INTO LOOKING THROUGH THEIR NOTES, INDUCE AN ADDITIONAL HOMEWORK.

IT CAME DOWN AS WHAT IS YOUR ONE CHOICE? YOU HAVE ONE CHOICE OUT OF THE SIX. WHAT IS YOUR ONE CHOICE TO MOVE FORWARD? AND 44 VOTING MEMBERS AND 25. VOTED SO THE MAJORITY WAS ABOUT 60 57% FOR BENCHMARK ADVANCE AND MR TWIG. TO ME. SO, UM, OF COURSE WE'VE SAID THIS IS THE PROGRAM PICKED. SO OF COURSE. NOW YOU PROBABLY WANT TO KNOW. SO TELL ME A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THIS

[00:40:02]

PROGRAM, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE HOPING TO DO IN THIS NEXT SECTION OF THE PRESENTATION. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE APPRECIATE ABOUT BENCHMARK IT VANCE IS THAT IT DID MEET AND GREAT GREEN ON ED REPORTS AND ALL CATEGORIES, SO THAT WOULD BE BOTH. UM ALIGNMENT, WHICH IS HOW WELL IT KIND OF TEACHES THE STANDARDS BUT ALSO USABILITY AND YOU CAN SEE ON THE SLIDE.

USABILITY REFERS TO HOW EASY IS THIS PROGRAM FOR TEACHERS TO USE LIKE ARE ALL THE MATERIALS RATED A TEACHER'S FINGERTIPS THAT THEY'D BE ABLE TO FIND WHAT THEY NEED QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY. UM THE OTHER THING THAT'S REALLY NICE ABOUT BENCHMARK ADVANCE IS THAT IT ALSO WAS GREEN ON ALL OF WHAT THEY CALL THEIR GATEWAYS, SO IT WAS GREEN ON TEXT, QUALITY AND COMPLEXITY. IT WAS GREEN ON BETTER BUILDING KNOWLEDGE AND AGAIN, ALSO ON USABILITY. UM. AND AGAIN, YOU CAN SEE THEY WERE CERTAINLY ALL GREEN, BUT THEY ALSO RECEIVED IN 2022 THEY RECEIVED FROM TECHNOLOGY AND LEARNING. THEY WERE A PRIMARY EDUCATION AWARD EXCELLENCE WINNER. UM AND THEY ALSO RECEIVED THE EXCELLENCE AND EQUITY WARD. SO THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED ON A NATIONAL LEVEL. UM BOTH FOR ITS USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN A RESPONSIBLE WAY, AND IT'S UM ITS ABILITY TO REPRESENT ALL OF OUR STUDENTS. UM IN CONVERSATION AS TEACHERS WERE DEBRIEFING THE PROGRAM. WE FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO CAPTURE WHAT TEACHERS FELT WERE POSITIVES OR THINGS THAT THEY APPRECIATED ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND TO JUST HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THESE FOR YOU. TEACHERS DID APPRECIATE THAT. THERE WAS A FOCUS ON CLOSE READING AND THE USE OF TEXT EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT STUDENT THINKING. TEACHERS ALSO APPRECIATED THAT, UM THERE WERE A RANGE OF MATERIALS AVAILABLE.

SO FOR INSTANCE, THERE KNOWLEDGE BUILDING LIBRARY SETS. THEY MAY HAVE A BOOK. BUT THEN THEY HAVE THAT SAME BOOK WRITTEN A LEVEL GRADE LEVEL BELOW AND A GREAT LEVEL ABOVE SO THAT STUDENTS AT VARIOUS LEVELS CAN STILL ACCESS THAT INFORMATION, ESPECIALLY EDUCATORS AND ALSO OUR SUPERVISOR FOR L. L STUDENTS APPRECIATED THAT IN THE TEACHER'S GUIDE, THE SUGGESTIONS FOR THOSE STUDENTS WERE ACTUALLY SPECIFIC TO THE STORY AND MANY OTHER PROGRAMS. THE SUGGESTION MIGHT BE USED VISUALS. BUT IT DIDN'T REALLY GIVE ANY SPECIFICS FOR WHAT VISUALS YOU MIGHT USE OR HOW YOU MIGHT USE THEM AND IN BENCHMARK, IT ACTUALLY HAS, LIKE LIGHT SCAFFOLD, MEDIUM SCAFFOLDING AND HIGH SCAFFOLDING SO THAT YOU CAN REALLY MATCH STUDENT NEED, BUT IT'S RIGHT THERE FOR TEACHERS AND SPECIAL EDUCATORS TO BE ABLE TO USE SOMETHING ELSE THAT TEACHERS APPRECIATED WAS THAT IT IS ALIGNED WITH SCIENCE OF READING PRACTICES. UM BOTH AT ITS SEQUENTIAL AND SYSTEMATIC BUT ALSO THAT IT DOES USE TO QUOTABLE TEXT. UM AND WE SAW PRACTICES LIKE ELKIN AND BOXES THAT WE WOULD HOPE TO SEE. THE OTHER THING THAT TEACHERS APPRECIATED WAS. THIS IS WHAT'S CALLED A KNOWLEDGE BUILDING CURRICULUM, AND SO. TO EXPLAIN THAT WHAT HAPPENS IS IN EACH GRADE LEVEL. THEIR FIRST UNIT IS ROUGHLY THREE WEEKS, AND THAT UNIT IS CALLED THE ROUTINES UNIT . SO IT'S REALLY GETTING KIDS UP AND RUNNING UNDERSTANDING THE ROUTINES, REVIEWING SOME OF THE SKILLS FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR, AND THEN STUDENTS LAUNCHED INTO 10 UNITS THAT ARE EACH THREE WEEKS IN DURATION, AND SO, FOR INSTANCE, YOU CAN SEE UNIT ONE IS LIFE SCIENCE AND WHAT THAT MEANS IS IN EVERY GRADE LEVEL. THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE A UNIT WHERE ALL THE TEXTS ARE CENTERED ON LIFE SCIENCE SO THAT IN KINDERGARTEN, I BUILD BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE VOCABULARY IN FIRST GRADE, I CAN BUILD ADDITIONAL VOCABULARY AND ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THAT TOPIC. KNOWING THAT BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT CAN HELP STUDENTS BETTER COMPREHEND TEXT AND SO THEY DO THAT ACROSS ALL CONTENT AREAS.

SO FOR INSTANCE, IN SCIENCE, THERE'S LIFE SCIENCE, EARTH SCIENCE, UM, AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES. THERE'S A UNIT ON CITIZENSHIP AND GOVERNMENT. THERE'S A UNIT ON HISTORY. AND THEN THERE ARE TRADITIONAL ENGLISH BASED UNITS ON CHARACTER AND ON THEME. UM AND SO WHAT'S INTERESTING IS, FOR INSTANCE, IN THE LIFE SCIENCE UNITS, UM EACH UNIT IS CENTERED ON KIND OF A CENTERING QUESTION. AND SO, FOR INSTANCE, IN KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS MIGHT CONSIDER THE QUESTION. WHY DO LIVING THINGS HAVE NEEDS BUT IN SECOND GRADE, THEY'RE GOING TO LOOK AT A QUESTION. HOW DO LIVING THINGS GET WHAT THEY NEED TO SURVIVE? AND BY FIFTH GRADE, REALLY PUTTING EVERYTHING THEY LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH FOURTH GRADE TOGETHER TO ANSWER THE QUESTION. HOW DO WE DECIDE WHICH RESOURCES TO DEVELOP? SO YOU CAN SEE THE LEVEL OF THINKING IS REALLY HAVING TO INCREASE AND GET MORE ABSTRACT PER GRADE LEVEL. AND SO OUR TEACHERS APPRECIATED THAT ABILITY TO BUILD KNOWLEDGE ACROSS GRADE LEVELS WITH THIS IN THE PURCHASE OF THE PROGRAM. UM WE GET EVERYTHING THAT WE WOULD NEED, UM SO TEACHERS WILL GET ALL OF THE RESOURCES. THAT BENCHMARK SHOWED. THIS INCLUDES THE TEACHER'S GUIDE. IT INCLUDES THE INTERVENTION RESOURCE IS ALL OF THE PHONICS, RESOURCES AND MATERIALS. IT INCLUDES SMALL GROUP TEXT THAT ACTUALLY HAVE LESSONS WRITTEN OUT FOR TEACHERS. SO UM, FOR EXAMPLE, IN A PRIMARY GRADE, THEY MIGHT HAVE THIS BOOK WHO'S IN THE TREE FOR THE LIFE SCIENCE UNIT. BUT IT COMES WITH AN ACCOMPANYING LESSON PLANS FOR TEACHERS. BUT THEN AT THE INTERMEDIATE GRADE,

[00:45:02]

YOU CAN SEE THE TEXT INCREASES. SO IT'S OPINIONS ABOUT ROBOT BEES. THIS IS FROM THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIT. AND THE LESSON PLAN IS THERE FOR TEACHERS RIGHT WITH THE BOOK. UM YOU CAN SEE IT HAS DECOTA BALS THAT WOULD BE USED IN THE CLASSROOM THAT COME WITH THE PROGRAM. BUT IT ALSO COMES WITH PACKETS OF SMALLER DAKOTA BALS THAT STUDENTS CAN USE FOR PRACTICE IN THE CLASSROOM, BUT ALSO CAN BE SENT HOME SO THAT PARENTS AND FAMILIES CAN ALSO SUPPORT THEIR READERS AT HOME. AND SO THOSE RESOURCES ARE ALL INCLUDED, AS WELL AS THE MAGAZINES THAT STUDENTS USE FOR EACH UNIT. SO ENERGY UNIT STUDENTS WOULD GET A MAGAZINE.

THIS IS FOR KINDERGARTEN. UM AND THE MAGAZINE HAS AND THIS IS FOR FIFTH GRADE THIRD GRADE. I'M SORRY, HAS ALL OF THE TEXT IN IT WITH ROOM FOR KIDS TO ANNOTATE TO BE ABLE TO MARK UP THE TEXT AND THEN WHAT'S REALLY NICE IS AT THE END OF THREE WEEKS. UM ON THE BACK IS A MENU OF ACTIVITIES THAT FAMILIES CAN DO AT HOME TO SUPPORT THEIR CHILD'S LEARNING. SO AT THE END OF THE THREE WEEKS THIS GOES HOME. AND FAMILIES CAN KIND OF, YOU KNOW, SEE WHAT THEIR CHILD'S BEEN LEARNING BUT ALSO HAVE ACTIVITIES TO EXTEND THAT AS WELL. SO THAT'S SOMETHING TEACHERS APPRECIATED AND FELT THAT STUDENTS WOULD KIND OF LIKE GETTING A LITTLE MAGAZINE EVERY SO OFTEN WOULD KIND OF BE EXCITING FOR THEM. UM THE OTHER THING. IT DOES INCLUDE THEIR ASSESSMENT PACKAGE. UM, AND IT DOES INCLUDE ALL DIGITAL RESOURCES, SO EVERYTHING THAT'S HERE IN PRINT IS ALSO AVAILABLE DIGITALLY AND DOES FULLY INTEGRATE WITH OUR CANVAS. SO THAT WILL BE SEAMLESS. UM, WHAT I FOUND VERY, UM THAT WOULD BE SUPPORTIVE IS THAT YOU CAN ACCESS IT IF YOU HAVE A STRONG WIFI CONNECTION. BUT HOWEVER, YOU CAN ALSO DOWNLOAD THOSE RESOURCES. ONTO YOUR COMPUTER, SO THAT FOR PEOPLE IN OUR COUNTY WHO MAYBE DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO HIGH SPEED INTERNET LIKE I KNOW, CERTAINLY UP AROUND NORRISVILLE . SOMETIMES YOU CANNOT GET THAT IT'S NOT AVAILABLE OR FOR FAMILIES WHO MAYBE DO NOT HAVE THE FINANCIAL RESOURCES AT THE MOMENT THAT THEIR STUDENT WILL BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD THESE RESOURCES TO STILL HAVE ACCESS TO THEM AT HOME ON THEIR HCPS ISSUED DEVICE. SO FROM AN EQUITY LENS. THAT'S ALSO REALLY SOMETHING THAT WE APPRECIATED ABOUT THIS PROGRAM. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BOARD? I WILL NOW SHARE WITH YOU SOME PRELIMINARY FIGURES TO GIVE EVERYONE A SENSE OF WHAT THIS PILOT WILL GENERALLY COST HARFORD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS. I KNOW THAT THIS INFORMATION IS ALL PRE NEGOTIATION AND PRIOR TO US, KNOWING EXACTLY HOW MANY SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS WILL BE INVOLVED IN THIS PILOT. WHILE WE HAVE 13 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS THAT HAVE EXPRESSED INITIAL INTEREST IN PILOTING, WE DO EXPECT SOME SHIFTING NOW THAT WE ARE FURTHER ALONG INTO THE PROCESS OF IDENTIFYING THE FINAL PILOT PROGRAM RECOMMENDATION. THIS PROGRAM IS MARKETED BASED ON THE TIME BASED SUBSCRIPTIONS ON THE SCREEN. YOU CAN SEE THAT WE HAVE GENERAL PRICING INFORMATION FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS THAT ARE FOR ONE YEAR VERSUS SIX YEARS. LIKE MOST PRODUCTS, YOU REALIZE THE COST SAVINGS GIVEN A LONGER COMMITMENT THAT ONE IS WILLING TO MAKE. GREAT SCAN ONE FOR A SIX YEAR SUBSCRIPTION. THIS PROGRAM WILL COST $4500 PER TEACHER. AND THIS IS A ONE TIME FEE FOR THE ENTIRE SIX YEARS, WHICH INCLUDES ACCESS TO THE COMPANY'S ONLINE PLATFORM AND CONSUMABLE MATERIALS THAT MR TWIG JUST SHARED WITH YOU. CONTRAST THAT WITH A ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION FOR CAN ONE AT A COST OF $3800. FOR GRADES TWO THROUGH FIVE. THE COST FOR A SIX YEAR SUBSCRIPTION IS $5400 PER TEACHER VERSUS 43 50 FOR ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION PER TEACHER. SO YOU CAN SEE THEN THAT THE SIX YEAR SUBSCRIPTION IS A MORE COST OF COST EFFECTIVE SOLUTION EVEN IF THIS PROGRAM PILOT WORK TO LAST FOR ONLY TWO YEARS. AGAIN FINAL COSTS WILL OBVIOUSLY DEPEND ON THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SCHOOLS, TEACHERS AND STUDENTS THAT ARE INVOLVED. AND THIS SLIDE YOU MENTIONED EARLIER THAT WE HAVE 13 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS THAT EXPRESSED EARLY INTEREST IN PILOTING A NEW PROGRAM. GIVEN THAT WE MAY EXPERIENCE SOME SHIFT IN THAT INTEREST ON THIS SLIDE IS A GENERAL COST ESTIMATE BASED ON 11 AND NINE AND 13 SCHOOLS PARTICIPATING. FOR NINE SCHOOLS. THE COST WOULD BE $1.2 MILLION, AND FOR 13 SCHOOLS, THE COST WOULD BE $1.7 MILLION. THIS DOLLAR AMOUNT REFLECTS ALL MATERIALS AND CURRICULUM ACCESS AGAIN FOR A TOTAL OF SIX YEARS. ON THIS SIDE, YOU CAN SEE THE COST DIFFERENTIAL FOR THE SAME NUMBER OF SCHOOLS BUT ONLY GIVEN A ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION. IN TERMS OF A FUNDING SOURCE. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE BULK OF THE FUNDS TO COVER THE COST OF THIS PILOT PROGRAM WOULD COME FROM OUR TARGETED SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTIONAL GRANT AND THE REMAINING FROM OUR OPERATING BUDGET. THE C I. A DIVISION HAS BEEN WORKING WITH THE BUDGET OFFICE TO IDENTIFY THESE FUNDING SOURCES AND WILL LATER BE PROVIDING GREATER DETAIL ON THAT BREAKDOWN. IN TERMS OF OUR NEXT STEPS WERE HERE THIS EVENING TO SEEK APPROVAL FOR MOVING FORWARD WITH THE BENCHMARK ADVANCED AS A PILOT ACROSS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED FOR NEXT YEAR. IF THIS PROGRAM IS APPROVED, WILL MEET WITH THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES INTERESTED IN PILOTING TO SHARE MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE PROGRAM SO THEY CAN MAKE THEIR FINAL COMMITMENT ONCE THEY HAVE REVIEWED AND DECIDED TO COMMIT, WE WILL BE ABLE TO SECURE A DETAILED COST PROPOSAL FROM BENCHMARK TO BRING BACK HAVING THE INFORMATION ON OUR SCHOOLS

[00:50:05]

AND THE SUPPORT OF THE PUBLISHER CAN PROVIDE, WILL ALSO ALLOW US TO CREATE A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN TO SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS NEW PROGRAM. AS YOU HAVE HEARD FROM CONTENT, SUPERVISORS AND ALL AREAS THIS YEAR SUPPORTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CURRICULUM INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT IS A KEY PIECE OF THE WORK OF THIS OFFICE. THE READING ENGLISH AND LANGUAGE ARTS OFFICE WILL PROVIDE SUPPORT TO NOT ONLY THE TEACHERS WHO ARE IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAM, BUT ALSO THEIR ADMINISTRATORS, SO THEY WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT AT THE SCHOOL LEVEL WITHIN THEIR DAY TO DAY CLASSROOM VISITS AND THEIR ONGOING SCHOOL BASED MEETINGS.

SO THE PROCESS THAT WE'VE GONE THROUGH BRINGS US TO OUR REQUEST FOR TONIGHT THAT THE BENCHMARK ADVANCED PROGRAM IS APPROVED FOR PILOT STATUS FOR IDENTIFIED ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN THE 23 24 SCHOOL YEAR. WE TAKE ANY QUESTIONS? WHAT I'M GONNA DO IS JUST GO AROUND AND LET EVERYONE ASK WHATEVER QUESTIONS. THEY MIGHT HAVE SOME, MRS ALVAREZ, I'M GOING TO START WITH YOU. YES SO YOU SAID THAT THERE'S 13 SCHOOLS THAT HAVE, UM EXPRESSED INTEREST IN. AND USING THE PILOT PROGRAM. UM AND SO THAT WOULD. SO DO YOU. CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT, UM, WHO IS INTERESTED AND THE REASONS THAT THEY'RE INTERESTED IN THREE REASONS WHY THE OTHER SCHOOLS ARE NOT SURE, MISS ALVAREZ. UM. SO WHEN WE INITIALLY UM, LET THE DISTRICT KNOW THAT WE WERE INTERESTED IN HAVING A PILOT TO BE ABLE TO COMPARE DATA ACROSS CURRICULAR PROGRAMS. WE HAD SCHOOLS THAT LOOKED AT THEIR OWN DATA. THEY TALKED WITH THEIR TEACHERS. THEY ALSO TALKED WITH THEIR COMMUNITIES TO SEE IF THERE WOULD BE SUPPORT FOR EITHER REMAINING WITH THE CURRENT UNITS OF STUDY CURRICULUM OR TRYING A DIFFERENT CURRICULAR PROGRAM. AND SO PRINCIPLES TALKING WITH THEIR STAFF. WE ALSO ENCOURAGE THEM TO SPEAK WITH THEIR P T. A S. THEY MADE THAT DECISION THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO TRY SOMETHING. WE UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS A BIG COMMITMENT TO HAVE AN ENTIRE SCHOOL PILOT PROGRAM AND BE INVOLVED IN THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SOMETHING ENTIRELY NEW, SO PRINCIPLES THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT TO GET BUY IN FROM THEIR STAFF AND THEIR COMMUNITY. SO THEY USE THEIR LITERACY DATA FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES AND JUST TEACHERS INTEREST THEIR TEACHERS KIND OF THOUGHTS ON UNITS OF STUDY TO MAKE THOSE DECISIONS. AND SO NOW, MOST OF THEM HAVE SAID THEY WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT IS THAT WOULD BE PILOTED TO MAKE THAT FINAL DECISION AND MAKE SURE IT IS A GOOD FIT FOR THEIR STAFF AND FOR THEIR STUDENTS. AND THE SCHOOLS THAT WOULD PILOT IT. THEY WOULD, UM THEY BUT THE ENTIRE GRADE LEVEL WITH WOULD PARTICIPATE, OR IS IT WOULD IT BE JUST UM, SPECIFIC CLASSES. SO IN ORDER TO GET ROBUST DATA, WE ARE HAVING THE ENTIRE SCHOOL K THROUGH FIVE. SO ALL TEACHERS K THROUGH FIVE IN EACH SCHOOL WOULD PILOT THIS PROGRAM. OKAY THANK YOU. IT LOOKS LIKE YOU AND I APPRECIATE ALL THE EFFORTS THAT THE STAFF AND ALL OF THE SCHOOLS WENT THROUGH IN, UM AND SELECTING THIS AND, UH, THE ROBUST, UM, ANALYSIS THAT YOU DID, UM VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THAT. THANK YOU. MRS BRUCE YES. COUNT. WHAT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ARE YOU GOING TO USE TO MAKE THE DECISION ON THE SCHOOL'S WHO'S GOING TO MAKE THAT DECISION? TWO SCHOOLS ARE OPTING IN TO PILOT THIS PROGRAM . SO OF THOSE 13. WE ARE WAITING FOR THEM TO SEE THE PROGRAM. BUT WE ARE PLEASED THAT THE SCHOOLS ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL THE DISTRICTS ACROSS THE SYSTEM. THERE'S A VARIETY IN SIZE FROM VERY SMALL, MEDIUM AND LARGE.

THERE'S A VARIETY AND THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE STUDENT POPULATION. SO UM, BASED ON THE 13 WHO ARE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN THE FEEDBACK THAT WE RECEIVED ALONG THE WAY? WE FEEL CONFIDENT THAT WE WOULD HAVE A GREAT REPRESENTATION ACROSS THE COUNTY WITH DIFFERENT DATA, DIFFERENT STUDENT POPULATION SO WE COULD GET A GOOD SENSE OF THE, UM VALIDITY OF THIS PROGRAM AND HELPING STUDENTS. SO YEAH, YOU SAID 13 IS INVOLVED IN THE PILOT . OUT OF WHAT POPULATION. I MAY HAVE MISSED THAT. SO WE HAVE 35 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS OF 34 COMPREHENSIVE, SO 13 OF THOSE 34. SO YOU HAVE 13 34. SUPPOSED 15 STEP UP TO THE PLATE. WHERE? HOW ARE YOU GONNA MAKE THAT CUT? 13 IS JUST WHO'S EXPRESSED INTEREST, SO THAT'S WHAT WE'VE BROUGHT FEEL. IN CONVERSATIONS WITH THE SUPERINTENDENT. WE COULD EXPAND THAT IF WE HAD A GREAT INTEREST AND THE OPERATING BUDGET SUPPORTED THAT. YEAH, BUT I GUESS, WHITE MAN, IF I WOULD LOOK AT THE 13 THAT YOU HAVE

[00:55:08]

WHAT'S THE CROSS SECTION OF WHERE THE REPRESENTATION IS GOING TO BE? IS MY QUESTION THE 13 WHEN WE LOOK ACROSS THOSE SCHOOLS REALLY DO REPRESENT LIKE THIS CULTURE, SAID SCHOOLS THAT HAVE TWO GRADE LEVELS PER OR TWO CLASSROOMS PER GRADE LEVEL, AS AS LARGEST SCHOOLS THAT HAPPENED EIGHT GREAT LEVELS, SO DEFINITELY SCHOOL SIZE, BUT THEN IT ALSO IS A TRUE CROSS SECTION OF LIKE NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST OF OUR COUNTY, SO THAT IT ALMOST SEEMS LIKE YOU COULD PAIR SISTER SCHOOLS UP AND BE LIKE, OH, THESE TWO SCHOOLS ARE SIMILAR IN DEMOGRAPHICS, LOCATION AND SIZE.

ONE IS DOING UNITS OF STUDY. ONE IS DOING BENCHMARK SO THAT IT IS REALLY COMPARABLE DATA VERSUS LIKE I UNDERSTAND YOUR CONCERN IF THEY'RE ALL CLUSTERED IN ONE REGION. THEN HOW DO WE REALLY COMPARE THAT WHEN WE'RE MAKING A DECISION FOR AN ENTIRE COUNTY AND I GUESS WHAT? I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE SEEN THOSE 13 THAT YOU ALREADY HAVE AT THAT WOULD AT LEAST GIVE US GIVE ME MORE INFORMATION IN REGARDS TO THAT. THE OTHER QUESTION I HAD. I'M ON THIS PROCESS FOR DETERMINING THE TOP SIX PROGRAMS. I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY. MM CAT. EARLY SCREENING RESULTS WAS GIVEN SUCH A LOW PERCENTAGE, SO I'LL ADDRESS THAT. THE M CAP ASSESSMENT WAS BRAND NEW IN 2022 . IF YOU RECALL EITHER PRESENTATIONS THAT THE ASSESSMENT WAS IN ITS FIRST YEAR UNDER A NEW VENDOR BY DIFFERENT ITEMS IN DIFFERENT ITEM TYPES. THERE IS NOT ANY CONSISTENT PROGRAM OUT THERE IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND, SO IT MAKES IT VERY DIFFICULT. UM THE OTHER THING THAT HAS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IS POVERTY LEVEL. WE HAVE DIFFERENT POVERTY LEVELS AND VERY DIFFERENT, DIVERSE COUNTIES. AND SO THAT'S ANOTHER LAYER TO THE PIECE, SO GIVEN THAT WE CERTAINLY LOOKED AT THE DATA, IT WAS CERTAINLY A BIG DISCUSSION. BUT ULTIMATELY WE WANTED TO BASE OUR DECISION ON ED REPORTS AND THE COMMITTEE THEMSELVES. THOSE WE HAD THE LARGEST WEIGHTS IF WE HAD THIS PROCESS, AND THREE YEARS FROM NOW, I WOULD DEFINITELY CHANGE THAT AND MAKE IT HIGHER. BUT WE JUST HAVE VERY LITTLE DATA. UM, DUE TO COVID. WE STILL HAD A HUGE CHRONIC ABSENTEE RATE LAST YEAR, AND THAT'S ALSO IMPACTS. OBVIOUSLY IF YOU'RE ABSENT, THAT'S GOING TO IMPACT THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. SO IT WAS A LOT OF DECISIONS. LOT OF REASONS WHY THEY WENT TO THAT GREAT QUESTION. SORRY. OH MISS BRUCE TO JUST ADD ON A DIFFERENT LAYER WHEN MISCARRY REACHED OUT TO ALL OF THE OTHER SUPERVISORS ACROSS COUNTY HONESTLY, WHAT WE WERE HOPING FOR WAS THAT MANY COUNTIES WOULD SAY WE'VE DONE THIS PROCESS AND WE ALL CAME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION THAT THIS IS THE GREAT PROGRAM FOR KIDS. WHAT WE FOUND WAS THAT ALMOST EVERY COUNTY IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND IS IN THE SAME PROCESS. WE ARE IN WHERE THEY WOULD WRITE BACK AND SAY, WELL, WE CURRENTLY USE THIS, BUT WE'RE PILOTING THIS ONE, AND WE WANT TO SEE FOR NEXT YEAR SO THAT ALSO MADE IT HARD TO LOOK AT THEIR M CAP DATA BECAUSE THEIR CAP DATA MIGHT HAVE BEEN USING THEIR OLD PROGRAM, EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE ALSO LOOKING TO PILOT A NEW PROGRAM AS WELL. SO FOR INSTANCE, IF THEY WERE PILOTING INTO READING THEIR M CAP SCORE WOULDN'T TELL US WHETHER INTO READING WAS GOOD BECAUSE THEY MIGHT HAVE ONLY HAD FIVE SCHOOLS PILOTING IT. BUT IF WE LOOKED AT THE M CAP DATA, IT REPRESENTED THEIR ENTIRE COUNTY IF THAT MAKES SENSE AND CLARIFIES A LITTLE BIT MORE. FROM THAT ANGLE. THE OTHER QUESTION I HAD LOOKED AT, UM REVIEW SELECTION GENERAL CURRICULUM AD HOC COMMITTEE MEMBERS. CAN YOU TELL ME IF THERE ARE ANY MINORITIES REPRESENTED ON THAT COMMITTEE? OTHER THAN POLICY STANDS. AND NOT, AND I JUST WANT TO CROSS SECTION OF MINORITIES. I JUST I CAN'T TELL FROM THIS. IF YOU DON'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION, CAN YOU PROVIDE IT TO ME? BECAUSE I THINK WE NEED TO HAVE REPRESENTATION. AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT, THEN WE NEED TO HELP YOU. THANK YOU. ABSOLUTELY. SO, MISS BRUCE. I CAN SAY THAT ON THE LARGE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE THAT WAS A CONSIDERATION THAT OUR OFFICE MADE AS WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DID HAVE VARIOUS REPRESENTATION SO THAT ALL COMMUNITIES WERE REPRESENTED IN THE TEXTBOOK SELECTION PROCESS. UM, IN THE GCC, YOU WOULD BE CORRECT. AND IN THAT LARGE GROUP, WHAT WAS THE PERCENTAGE? I CAN LOOK THROUGH THE NAMES IF YOU GIVE ME A MINUTE AND COME UP WITH THE NUMBER FOR YOU, OKAY? GREAT. I DON'T WANT TO HOLD IT UP. YOU CAN GO ON TO MELISSA. THAT'S MY ONLY QUESTION. YOU CAN GET BACK TO ME AT THE END. THIS IS HAN. THANK YOU, UM, ARE ALL OF THE MATERIALS PROVIDED AT ONE TIME OR THEY DELIVERED MONTHLY LIKE, HOW DOES THAT WORK? UM, BECAUSE I MEAN, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE INFORMATION THAT WE NEED AHEAD OF TIME AND IF FOR SOME REASON THERE'S ISSUES JUST TEACHERS WOULD RECEIVE YEARLY SO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR,

[01:00:01]

THEY WOULD GET ALL 10 UNITS. EVERYTHING WOULD COME ONCE AND THEN, AT THE START OF THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR, THEY WOULD GET NEW MAGAZINES BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY KIDS HAVE WRITTEN IN THESE, YOU CAN'T USE THEM AGAIN. SO EACH YEAR AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR TICKET, EVERYTHING OF EVERYTHING THEY NEED FOR THE WHOLE YEAR PERFECT. AND THEN FOR THE ASSESSMENTS THAT DOUBLES UM WE WOULD BE BE ABLE TO USE THOSE TO COMPARE THE PROGRAM THIS PILOT PROGRAM TO THE OTHER PROGRAMS THAT WE'RE USING AND DETERMINE THE PROFICIENCY RATE USING THE DEVIL'S. THAT'S THAT'S EXCELLENT , ACTUALLY AN EXCELLENT IDEA THAT WE WERE GOING TO BE DOING BECAUSE DEVILS CAN BE. IT'S VERY HOLISTIC. IN THE SENSE IT'S NOT TIED TO A PARTICULAR PROGRAM. SO THAT WILL BE ONE METRIC THAT WE HAVE ACROSS THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. WE ALSO HAVE THE READING INVENTORY ASSESSMENT AS WELL AS STUDENTS IN GRADES TWO AND ABOVE . TAKE THAT ACROSS OUR COUNTY. SO WE WILL BE USING THAT AS A MEASURE AND THERE WILL BE OF COURSE, OTHER MEASURES THAT WE THAT WE LOOK AT JUST BEYOND DATA. SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE WHEN YOU COME BACK NEXT YEAR WITH UPDATED NUMBERS, UM, WILL BE LOOKING AT THE DOUBLES AS WELL AS WHATEVER OTHER STUDIES YOU USED. CORRECT. OKAY, THANK YOU. SO DR HAROLD. THANK YOU AND THANK YOU FOR SUCH A ROBUST, UM PRESENTATION. UM YOU PAINTED A PRETTY CLEAR PICTURE FOR ME. UM, HOW WE GET TO THIS POINT TODAY, SO THANK YOU FOR THAT. MY COLLEAGUES HAVE ASKED SEVERAL OF MY QUESTIONS. UM AND YOU'VE ANSWERED TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY. THE ONLY QUESTION THAT I HAD IN ADDITION TO, UM THE OTHER THREE QUESTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN ANSWERED. UM AND I THINK MAYBE I MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS. BUT UM, YOUR BEST EDUCATED GUESS AS TO HOW MANY YEARS OF PILOT YOU WOULD LIKE, UM. TO IMPLEMENT TO ROLL OUT BEFORE YOU HAVE ENOUGH DATA TO MAKE A DECISION. THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION, RESEARCH SAYS. AT LEAST THREE YEARS MORE SO IT'S BETTER IF FIVE YEARS BUT AFTER THREE YEARS WE CAN REALLY GET A SENSE OF IS THIS PROGRAM WORKING? IS IT NOT WORKING? IS THERE SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO MEET WITH THE VENDOR ABOUT SPECIFIC TO THE PROGRAM? WE CAN DO THAT ALL EARLY ON, WE WILL HAVE A ROBUST, BECOME PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND PARTNERSHIP. I'M ASSUMING WITH THE VENDOR THAT WAY, YOU KNOW, FIRST YEAR IS GOING TO BE A LOT OF LEARNING, BUT AFTER THREE YEARS, DEFINITELY AFTER FIVE YEARS, THREE YEARS WE CAN REALLY START LOOKING AT IS IT TIME TO MAKE A DECISION. THANK YOU. AND SO, IN TERMS OF, UM COST, RIGHT? DEFINITELY. IT'S UM. IT'S A BETTER FINANCIAL DECISION TO LOOK AT THE SIX YEAR SUBSCRIPTION VERSUS YOU KNOW, INDIVIDUAL YEARS BECAUSE WE WANT AT LEAST THREE YEARS OF DATA. IS THAT RIGHT? THAT IS ACCURATE.

OKAY. THANK YOU. THAT'S ALL I HAVE YOUR WELCOME. THANK YOU, MISS PERRY. I'M LOOKING AT THE THREE GRADE LEVELS THAT WE'RE DOING. UM COULD THE 13 SCHOOLS THAT YOU'RE PILOTING? ARE THEY? BASICALLY THE SUIT SCHOOLS ARE PERFORMING. ABOUT THE SAME OR THEIR LOWER, PERFORMING HIGHER PERFORMING CROSS SECTION OF ALL OF THEM, SO I JUST WANT TO CLARIFY THE 13 SCHOOLS EXPRESSED INTEREST AND THAT WOULD BE BASED ON THIS DECISION TONIGHT. THEY'RE GOING TO CERTAINLY WANT TO SEE THE MATERIALS SPEAK WITH THE RILA OFFICE TO SAY. IS THIS A PROGRAM THAT WE NEED TO TAKE BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY TO CONSIDER SO THAT 13 MAY GO DOWN TO 10? WE MAY HAVE OTHERS THAT WE HAVE WE HAVE 13. WE MAY FOUND WHERE THE MOUTH WE MAY GO UP TO 15. SO I JUST WANT TO CLARIFY THAT NUMBER THAT IT'S NOT YET SET IN STONE BASED UPON THIS DECISION AND FURTHER CONVERSATIONS. I DON'T KNOW IF THAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION. BUT OF THE ORIGINAL 13. IT IS A CROSS SECTION OF TRADITIONALLY PERFORM HIGHER AND SOME SCHOOLS THAT TRADITIONALLY PERFORMED LOWER. SO IT IS A CROSS SECTION. SO EVEN IF WE LOST ONE OR TWO, IT WOULD STILL MAINTAIN THAT RANGE. THANK YOU, OF COURSE. DR PHILLIPS. UM I COMMEND YOU ON THE PROCESS THAT YOU UNDERTOOK TO COUNTER THIS DECISION. IT WAS QUITE EXTENSIVE, AND IT CERTAINLY APPRECIATE IT. I'M SURE BY EVERYBODY INVOLVED TO BE INVOLVED AT THAT LEVEL, SO NO ONE'S GOING TO ACCUSE YOU OF OPERATING THE VACUUM. UM I GUESS ONE ADVANTAGE OR DISADVANTAGE OF BEING AT THIS END OF THE TABLE IS THAT MOST OF THE QUESTIONS BY THE TIME WE GET HERE HAVE BEEN ASKED. SO I THANK MY COLLEAGUES FOR THINKING AHEAD. UM, JUST A COUPLE OF THINGS NUMBER ONE. STUDENTS WHO ARE IN A DIFFERENT SCHOOL THAT MAY NOT BE PARTICIPATING IN THE PILOT, AND THEY GET THEY RELOCATE MOVED DURING THE ACADEMIC YEAR OR HALFWAY. HOW ARE THEY? DO WE ANTICIPATE THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED BY COMING IN IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS PROGRAM, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, NO. UM

[01:05:01]

IT'S OBVIOUSLY GOING TO BE A DIFFERENT CURRICULUM AND A DIFFERENT APPROACH. SO THAT'S CERTAINLY CONSIDERATION. HOWEVER WE GET STUDENTS ALL THE TIME THAT ARE COMING FROM CECIL COUNTY IN OR BALTIMORE CITY UP OR, YOU KNOW, MILITARY THROUGH A PG, WHERE THEY MIGHT BE COMING FROM CALIFORNIA OR GERMANY. AND SO TEACHERS ARE PRETTY SKILLED AT KIND OF ACCLIMATING STUDENTS TO AN APPROACH AS FAR AS THE SKILLS. BOTH UNITS OF STUDY AND BENCHMARK ARE ALIGNED WITH THE MARYLAND COLLEGE AND CAREER READY STANDARDS, SO THE STANDARDS TAUGHT AT EACH GRADE LEVEL WOULD BE THE SAME APPROACH MAY BE DIFFERENT, BUT AS FAR AS WHAT SKILLS THEY WOULD HAVE LEARNED IN THE SCHOOL PREVIOUSLY OR THE PREVIOUS YEAR OF EDUCATION THOSE WOULD BE CONSISTENT ACROSS PROGRAMS OKAY ? AND JUST ONE OF THE QUESTIONS ABOUT ONE OF THE SLIDES, YOU CAN GO BACK TO THE COST ESTIMATE FOR THE 66 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION YOU HAVE UP THERE. I THINK IT WAS LIKE 2.15 MILLION, BUT YOU IN OUR SLIDE. PLUS, WHAT YOU HAD MENTIONED WAS 1.7 MILLION FOR THE 13, WHICH IS THE CORRECT FIGURE. 1.7 IS CORRECT. THAT IS A TYPE OF I APOLOGIZE. OKAY.

THANK YOU. MR RICCARDI. THANK YOU. AND THANK YOU. TELL THE BOARD MEMBERS FOR THE QUESTIONS YOU'VE ASKED. I REALLY APPRECIATE IT. I DID LOVE YOUR ANALOGY. AND PEOPLE DON'T SLEEP ON IT. SO IT'S GOOD THAT WE'RE NOT LETTING HER EMOTIONS GET INTO IT. BUT THE QUESTION I DO HAVE IS AND IT WASN'T CLEARLY ANSWER FOR ME IS DO WE HAVE A SET DETERMINATION? AND HOW WE'RE GOING TO KNOW IF THIS PROGRAM IS SUCCESSFUL OR NOW NOT. I KNOW THERE IS EXTRA EXTRA FACTORS THAT AFFECT US LIKE UNITS OF STUDY, WHERE WE HAD OUR TESTING THE CHANGED AND UM COVID, OF COURSE IMPACTED AND I DON'T THINK I THINK WE ONLY HAD HOW MANY YEARS OF INFORMATION DID WE HAVE FOR UNITS OF STUDY? THIS IS ONLY THE SECOND YEAR OF FULL IMPLEMENTATION. SO WE'VE ONLY HAD TWO YEARS OF IMPLEMENTATION TO BE EARLY TO MEASURE THE SUCCESS OF IT. BUT, UM, HOW DO IT. DO YOU HAVE THAT MAPPED OUT ON HOW WE'RE GOING TO KNOW IF THAT'S SUCCESSFUL OR NOT? I WASN'T CLEAR, SO AND THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. BECAUSE I REALLY DIDN'T COME UP WITH THAT. I KNEW SOMEBODY WAS GOING TO ASK THAT WE WILL HAVE AN EXTERNAL EVALUATOR TO LOOK AT THIS PROGRAM. AS WE'VE DONE WITH UNITS OF STUDY. WE HAVE A PROCESS THROUGH THE RFP PROCESS . WE HAVE EXTERNAL EVALUATORS. WE HAVE A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT COMMITTEES. SO WHAT IS THE MATTER OF CHOOSING THE RIGHT FIT WHO MAY HAVE EXPERIENCE PARTICULAR IN CURRICULUM IF THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED IN ENGLISH CURRICULUM, OBVIOUSLY, THAT WOULD BE A PLUS FOR THEM, SO WE WILL DO A NUMBER OF THINGS WE WILL DO SURVEYS. WE WILL DO FOCUS GROUPS. UH WE WILL LOOK AT THE DATA WE WILL DO CLASSROOM WALK THROUGHS, AS WE DO NOW, IN ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS, LRL OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS WERE IN THERE AT LEAST TWICE A YEAR FOR HALF DAY OR FULL DAY WALK THROUGHS TO COLLECT SOME DATA THERE. SO WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A ROBUST EVALUATION PROCESS. AND AS WE GET CLOSER TO THE BEGINNING OF THIS WILL CONTINUE TO AND WILL THAT BE ANNUAL? YES. THANK YOU.

AND I THINK IN ALL OF THAT, WE'RE LOOKING FOR GROWTH. THE STUDENT GROWTH IN THE DATA SO NOT NECESSARILY. I'M ONLY COMPARING SCHOOL TO SCHOOL. BUT LOOKING AT DID THE STUDENTS IN THAT PARTICULAR GREAT GROWTH FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END OR FROM THE YEAR PRIOR. THANK YOU.

MR BLINKEN. I HAVE NO QUESTIONS . IT WAS AN EXCELLENT PRESENTATION, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT PROGRAM. THANK YOU. VICE PRESIDENT SOUL. YEAH. SO, UM SECOND YEAR. TO BE OFF HERE. THE ORCHESTRA PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND. WE CAN WE CAN OKAY. ON THE PULSE IN HIGH SCHOOL TONIGHT AT MY DAUGHTER'S ORCHESTRA CONCERT. THAT'S WHY I'M NOT UH IN PERSON AND LOOKING TO AND PARTICIPATING IN THE BOARD MEETING, BUT ALSO TRYING TO, YOU KNOW, BE PRESENT AS A DAD. UM SO I JUST WANTED TO TAKE A MINUTE HERE AND JUST THANK EVERYONE THAT WORKED HARD ON THIS AND PUTS A BREAKNECK PAY. TO EVALUATE THEM BRAND NEW READING PROGRAM WITH SO MANY PEOPLE INVOLVED, YOU KNOW THE ADMINISTRATORS THAT NEEDED TO FIND YOU KNOW, SUBS TO COVER THE CLASSROOMS. EDUCATORS HAVE STEPPED UP TO EVALUATED. UM I MEAN, ALL HAPPENED JUST OVER THE LAST TWO MONTHS, SO IT'S REALLY AMAZING THE EFFORT THAT WENT INTO THIS AND HOW THOROUGH AND ROBUST PROCESS WAS. UM I JUST WANT TO THANK EVERYONE THAT WAS INVOLVED. UM SO YOU KNOW, WE'VE WE'VE HEARD FROM YOU KNOW WHAT THE WHAT THE COMMUNITY THOUGHT, BUT I WANT I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU UM YOU KNOW BETTER, ANDY. UM AH, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT? WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE ON THE BUGGER. MR SO I'D BE HAPPY TO ADDRESS YOUR QUESTION. I CAN SAY THAT AS DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS FIRST AND FOREMOST ON MY MIND WAS THE EXTENT TO WHICH THESE PROGRAMS TRULY BUILD KNOWLEDGE ACROSS THE GREAT LEVELS. IT'S IMPORTANT THAT THESE LITERACY SKILLS NOT

[01:10:05]

BE TAUGHT IN ISOLATION, BUT TAUGHT IN CONTEXT, SO THAT AS KIDS PROCEED THROUGH THEIR READING LANGUAGE ARTS INSTRUCTION, THEY COULD SEE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN WHAT THEY'RE LEARNING. IN TERMS OF THE LITERACY, SKILL DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AS WELL AS CONTENT. SO AS MR TWIG SHARED THE NOTION THAT THE SCIENCES AS WELL AS THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, AS WELL AS TRADITIONAL LITERACY APPROACHES TO LITERACY BASED EDUCATION, OR ALL INTERSPERSED AND WEAVE TOGETHER WAS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE PROGRAM, AT LEAST FROM MY INDIVIDUAL PERSPECTIVE IN TERMS OF WHAT I WOULD LOOK FOR IN A READING PROGRAM. SO THAT WAS ONE FACTOR THAT I EXAMINED AND AS A RESULT, I WAS REALLY HAPPY TO SEE THAT THIS PARTICULAR PROGRAM AS WELL AS SOME OF THE OTHER PROGRAMS, INCLUDING THAT FORM OF KNOWLEDGE BUILDING, BUT I AS WELL COMPLETELY TRUST IN THE PROCESS AND DETERMINATIONS THAT THIS HIGHLY SKILLED GROUP OF EDUCATORS MADE IN TERMS OF THIS FINAL RECOMMENDATION AND FEEL THIS IS DIRECTLY IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE VISION AND THE FUTURE OF READING INSTRUCTION FOR HARFORD COUNTY. AND I WOULD I WOULD ECHO THAT AND JUST HEARING ABOUT THE PROCESS IN THIS PRESENTATION, I THINK, SHOWS THE INTENTIONALITY AND THE WIDE VARIETY OF STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED . SEEING IT IS ALSO QUITE QUITE SOMETHING TO THE HOLD AND WE HAVE CURRICULAR EXPERTS IN OUR READING ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS OFFICE WHO WHO STUDY THIS WHO STUDIED THIS FOR YEARS WHO KEEP REALLY CURRENT ON ALL SIDES OF THE READING ARGUMENT, AND SO BROUGHT THEIR EXPERTISE, BUT THEY REALLY TRIED TO HOLD BACK AND NOT INFLUENCE. UM THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE THEY WANTED A COMMITTEE THAT REPRESENTED PEOPLE WHO, UM, YOU KNOW, ARE DIEHARD UNITS OF STUDY FANS AND ALSO THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT THE ONES WHO REALLY QUESTION HOW EFFECTIVE THAT CURRICULUM IS, AND SO THEY REALLY CREATED AN ENVIRONMENT. WHERE THAT THE TEACHERS, THE ADMINISTRATORS, THE PEOPLE USING THIS CURRICULUM COULD DIG IN AND FIGURE OUT WHAT IS GOING TO WORK FOR THE KIDS AND SO TO SEE THAT PROCESS AND HEAR THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND GRADE LEVELS FIRST, AND THEN ACROSS GRADE LEVELS TO REALLY COME TO CONSENSUS IN A FAIRLY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME GIVES ME A GREAT DEAL OF TRUST IN THE DECISION THAT THEY MADE, THERE IS NO PERFECT CURRICULUM. IF YOU LOOK AT THIS, YOU ARE GOING TO FIND ISSUES. YOU COULD PROBABLY FIND RESEARCH THAT SHOWS WHY THIS PIECE ISN'T AS EFFECTIVE AS THIS PIECE AND ANOTHER CURRICULUM. THAT IS TRUE OF ANY CURRICULUM.

BUT THIS OFFICE THIS READING ENGLISH AND LANGUAGE OFFICE WITH MEMBERS LIKE MR TWIG, MISS BARD , MISS STELTER. MRS. SCARY MISS JONES. THEY'RE OUT SUPPORTING. WE HAVE OUR LITERACY SPECIALISTS IN THE SCHOOLS AS WELL. WHO WILL SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE TEACHERS ARE ABLE TO IMPLEMENT IT? AND THEN IT WILL BE EFFECTIVE FOR OUR STUDENTS. I THINK THAT TRUST IN THEM AND IN THE PROCESS MAKES ME KNOW THAT THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT WE CAN BRING FORWARD. THANK YOU. ANYTHING ELSE? GREAT ACTUALLY. YEAH SO I DIDN'T MEAN TO. WE WANT TO EXCLUDE MR SPEAKER. MR SNYDER AND THAT CONVERSATION. UM DO DO YOU HAVE ANY. ALRIGHT.

SORRY THAT WAS HARD TO HEAR YOU , UM I WAS BEING AN EXTERNAL PERSON EXTERNAL. IN THE SENSE.

I'M NOT TIED TO A CONTENT. I'M MORE OF A GENERALIST. UM, I WAS MATH AS A MATH TEACHER NEVER WOULD HAVE FIGURED THAT RIGHT? BUT IT WAS SUCH AN AMAZING PROCESS JUST TO HEAR THE CONVERSATIONS THAT THE TEACHERS HAD. AND THE OTHER ADMINISTRATORS WHO WERE THERE IN THE ROOM OF 44 ADULTS AND PLUS SOME OTHERS FROM CENTRAL OFFICE WHO WERE NON VOTING MEMBERS.

THEY COULD HAVE STAYED THERE TIL MIDNIGHT. AND THEY COULD HAVE STILL BEEN DISCUSSING. IT WAS JUST SO REWARDING TO SEE THE HARD WORK AND THE AMOUNT OF THOUGHT THEY PUT INTO THIS. I MEAN, I WAS TRULY AMAZED BECAUSE THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE EVER REALLY DUG IN THAT DEEPLY WITH A LARGE COMMITTEE LIKE THAT. UM SO I'M VERY MUCH SUPPORT THIS PROCESS. UM, IT WAS A DYNAMIC LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR ALL OF US. WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO TO GET THIS PROGRAM UP AND RUNNING, BUT I KNOW IT WILL BE DONE. AND I WOULD JUST ECHO WHAT WAS SAID ABOUT THIS COMMITTEE. UM THEY REALLY DID ASK A LOT OF TOUGH QUESTIONS OF THE PUBLISHERS. SOMETIMES I GET A SENSE OF THE PUBLISHER WISH THAT THEY WOULD STOP ASKING QUESTIONS BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHEN YOU'RE DOING YOUR SALES PITCH, YOU WANT TO DO YOUR WHOLE PITCH AND NOT BE INTERRUPTED BY, UM QUESTIONS. BUT I THINK TEACHERS REALLY FROM THEIR LENS REALLY WANTED TO KNOW. WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE? AND I WOULD ECHO WHAT MS CULTURE SAID, AS WELL. SIMILAR TO BUYING A CAR. I'M JUST GOING TO GO WITH IT TONIGHT. NO CARS. PERFECT RIGHT. LIKE YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THE CAR. BUT THE CUP HOLDERS ARE SMALL. AND SO ANY OF THE CURRICULUMS WE PICKED TEACHERS HAD THINGS THEY REALLY APPRECIATED ABOUT IT AND THINGS LIKE OH, I WISH THIS ONE PART WAS A LITTLE BIT BETTER. UM AND THAT'S JUST TRUE OF ANY CURRICULUM. THERE IS NO ONE CURRICULUM. EVERY CURRICULUM PUBLISHED WILL TELL YOU, THERE'S IS THE PERFECT ONE. BUT IN

[01:15:01]

REALITY THAT'S JUST NOT THE CASE. ANYTHING ELSE? THANK YOU VERY MUCH. OKAY THANK YOU. SO NOW IT'S MY TURN. SO I'M GOING TO ASK YOU A QUESTION THAT I KNOW THE ANSWER TO, BUT I KNOW SOME OTHER PEOPLE HAD ASKED THIS QUESTION, SO I WANTED TO BRING IT UP FOR THE GROUP HERE, AND THAT IS A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, WE PURCHASED SOME DECODER BOLS AND THOSE DAKOTA BALS. HOW WILL THEY BE USED NOW THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING A DIFFERENT PROGRAM? ABSOLUTELY UM, SO THE DAKOTA BALLS IN THE BENCHMARK PROGRAM THERE IS TIME FOR STUDENTS TO READ. TO APPLY THE PHONICS SKILLS THAT THEY'VE BEEN TAUGHT AND THAT CAN BE DONE USING ANY TO QUOTABLE. SO, FOR INSTANCE, IF I'M A TEACHER AND I HAVE TAUGHT, UM SORRY, JUST LIKE ALL MY PROPS HERE LIKE IF I'VE TAUGHT LONG OH, YES, I CAN USE THE BENCHMARK LONG OH DAKOTA BLE READER, BUT THE JUMPER BREEDERS THAT YOU BOUGHT ALL OF THE DAKOTA BALLS YOU BOUGHT HAVE LONG AGO DECODER BALS THAT CAN BE USED IN ADDITION TO THESE AS WELL SO STUDENTS WILL JUST HAVE MORE BOOKS TEACHERS WILL HAVE RATHER THAN JUST LIKE I ONLY HAVE THIS ONE FOR KIDS TO PRACTICE. THEY'LL ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO TAKE THE ONES THAT YOU PURCHASED AND ADD TO THE COLLECTION THAT THEY GET FROM BENCHMARKS SO THAT THEY HAVE A ROBUST COLLECTION OF QUOTABLE TEXT FOR STUDENTS TO PRACTICE THE PHONICS SKILLS. THEY'VE BEEN LEARNING, SO CERTAINLY NONE OF THOSE MATERIALS WILL NEED TO BE PUT AWAY OR NOT USED. WE WOULD, AS A REAL OFFICE WOULD STILL BE ENCOURAGING TEACHERS TO USE THOSE IN ADDITION TO THE DAKOTA BALLS THAT COME WITH BENCHMARK. THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE THAT, OF COURSE. AND THEN THE OTHER THING THAT I'D LIKE TO POINT OUT IS THE COST OF THIS PROGRAM VERSUS THE UNITS OF STUDY PROGRAM BUT ALSO LOOKING AT WHAT YOU GET FOR THE DOLLARS THAT YOU PUT INTO IT. SO UNITS OF STUDY. UM IS A MUCH CHEAPER PROGRAM WHEN WE LOOK AT, UM BENCHMARK BECAUSE IS 4500 FOR KINDERGARTEN FOR UNITS OF STUDY FOR THE COMPLETE PROGRAM. YOU WOULD NEED A READING OR WRITING AND A PHONICS KID IN EACH OF THOSE RUNS AROUND $400. SO IT'S ABOUT $1200 PER CLASSROOM. UM THE UNITS OF STUDY DOES NOT HAVE A DIGITAL ONLINE KIND OF COMPONENT. IT DOESN'T HAVE LIKE A DASHBOARD WHERE STUDENTS CAN GO TO ACCESS TEXT OR THINGS LIKE THAT AT HOME. SO THAT IS ONE THING THAT'S MISSING FROM UNITS OF STUDY THAT IF THAT'S IMPORTANT TO PEOPLE, THEN THAT'S OBVIOUSLY SOMEWHERE WHERE WE COULD SAY THAT THAT PROGRAM IS LACKING, BUT IT DEFINITELY IS CHEAPER. AND IN THAT COST IS A ONE TIME COST VERSUS THIS YEAR, WHICH WOULD BE THEIR SIX YEAR OR ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION. SO FOR A SCHOOL THAT HAS UNITS OF STUDY THE ONLY TIME THEY WOULD NEED TO BUY A NEW KID, AS IF FOR INSTANCE, MAYBE A TEACHER'S GOT DAMAGED AND THEY NEEDED TO BUY A NEW SET. BUT ONCE YOU BUY THE KIT, YOU HAVE THE KIT FOREVER THE RESOURCES THAT ARE ON THEIR PLATFORM YOU HAVE THEM FOR EVER . SO THERE'S NOT A RECURRING COSTS OTHER THAN JUST, YOU KNOW, CONTINUING TO TRY TO GROW CLASSROOM LIBRARIES FOR STUDENTS, BUT WE WOULD WANT TO PROBABLY DO THAT, REGARDLESS OF PROGRAMS SO THAT STUDENTS HAVE ACCESS AND EQUITABLE ACCESS TO BOOKS. SO NOW THAT YOU SAID ALL THAT ONE OF THE THINGS I'M EXCITED ABOUT IS THE FACT THAT STUDENTS HAVE THINGS TO TAKE HOME WITH THEM BECAUSE NOT EVERY STUDENT HAS A LIBRARY AT HOME, SO JUST BEING ABLE TO TAKE THOSE LITTLE DAKOTA BALS HOME AND THOSE MAGAZINES HOME CAN REALLY GIVE A LEG UP TO THE STUDENTS THAT MAYBE ARE NOT ECONOMICALLY ADVANTAGED. SO I DO APPRECIATE THAT. SO WE'RE AT THE END QUESTO INTERRUPT YOU, BUT I DID WANT TO GO BACK TO MS BRUCE'S QUESTION DIDN'T QUESTION SO ON THE COMMITTEE. THERE WERE FOUR MEMBERS THAT ARE OF COLOR OF 48, WHICH I DID. A QUICK MATH IS 8% OF THE COMMITTEE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE GENERAL PERCENT OF HCPS STAFF POPULATION IS. I DON'T KNOW IF WE ARE IN ALIGNMENT WITH THAT? I MEAN, CERTAINLY, THAT IS A WHOLE SEPARATE ISSUE OF TRYING TO RECRUIT MORE EDUCATORS OF COLOR. UM, ACROSS THE COUNTRY IS REALLY AN ISSUE, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT FOR OFFICE TO MAKE SURE AND MORE CONTINUE TO WORK AND MAKE SURE WE'RE GETTING BETTER REPRESENTATION. AND I GUESS THE QUESTION I WOULD HAVE HAD WAS YOU'RE SAYING OF COLOR, BUT IN THAT, ARE YOU INCLUDING OTHER YOU KNOW, HISPANICS OR WHATEVER . OR JUST YES, YES. SO THAT WOULD INCLUDE YES STUDENT WOULD INCLUDE ALL MEMBERS WHO WOULD WHO IDENTIFY AS AFRICAN AMERICAN MEMBERS WHO IDENTIFY AS HISPANIC AS WELL. THE ONE OTHER QUESTION I DID HAVE. I CAN ASK THAT, UM NEW TEACHERS COMING INTO THE SYSTEM. UM IS THIS REALLY QUITE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT THEY MAY HAVE LEARNED WHEN THEY WERE AN UNDERGRAD AND GRADUATE SCHOOL OR UNDERGRAD? I MEAN, I KNOW PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. YES.

YES I'M TRYING TO A REALLY GREAT QUESTION. UM AND I HATE TO ANSWER WITH AN IT DEPENDS IF THEY IT DOES DEPEND A LITTLE BIT, THOUGH ON WHERE THEY DID THEIR STUDENT TEACHING EXPERIENCE. SO IF, FOR INSTANCE , THEY STUDENT TAUGHT IN HARFORD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS THEY MAY HAVE, YOU KNOW, LEARNED UNITS OF STUDIES, SO THIS WOULD BE A NEW APPROACH IF THEY WERE IN A SCHOOL SYSTEM THAT USED MORE OF AN ANTHOLOGY BASIL KIND OF APPROACH THAN THIS WOULD MATCH MORE WITH THEY WERE FROM SO BECAUSE WE RECRUIT FROM EVERYWHERE WE CAN FIND, YOU KNOW

[01:20:03]

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

ALRIGHT SO IF YOU'D LIKE TO GO TO THE SLIDE WITH THE REQUEST ON IT, PLEASE SO NOW I NEED A MOTION, UM, TO APPROVE THE PILOT FOR THE BENCHMARK EDUCATION COMPANY FOR THE 23 24 SCHOOL YEAR, SO I NEED A MOTION IN A SECOND. THIS IS MELISSA AND I MOVE THAT WE UM, APPROVE THE BENCHMARK ADVANCED EDUCATION COMPANY AS THE PILOT PROGRAM FOR THE 23 24 SCHOOL YEAR. THANK YOU SECOND AND THIS IS PATRICIA RICCARDI I SECOND MR L A. WOULD YOU PLEASE DO A ROLL CALL VOTE.

MISS ALVAREZ. YES. BRUCE YES. MISS HAN? YES. DR HAROLD YES. MR PERRY. DR PHILLIPS. CARDI? YES.

MR BLINKEN? YES. VICE PRESIDENT SEWELL. YES PRESIDENT MILLER? YES. THANK YOU SO MUCH. SO WE DID THINGS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY TONIGHT. WE BUILT IN THE BREAK FOR THE MEETING. SO WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A 10 MINUTE BREAK. NOW THAT WAS PART OF THE APPROVED AGENDA, AS IS THE ADJOURNMENT WHEN WE GET TO THE END OF THE MEETING, SO PLEASE, EVERYBODY, ENJOY YOUR 10 MINUTES.E WAS ENJOYING HIS BREAK. GO AHEAD. WELL DR PHILLIPS IS GETTING

[F. Decision on Transfers between State Categories for the FY2023 Budget, Ms. Deborah Judd, Assistant Superintendent for Business Services and Mr. Eric Clark, Director of Budget]

READY TO RETURN. WHAT WILL GO AHEAD AND CALL UP. UM NEXT IS ITEM APP DECISION ON TRANSFERS BETWEEN STATE CATEGORIES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023 BUDGET SO IT WILL BE MISS DEBORAH JUDD AND MR ERIC CLARK. AND ALSO MISS HEATHER CULTURE IS GOING TO COME UP FOR THE FIRST PART OF THIS PRESENTATION. THANK YOU. WOULD YOU LIKE TO JUST WAIT A MINUTE OR I COULD GO FIND HIM. THANK YOU, MR ELO. BREAK SERIOUSLY.

COME BACK. THANK YOU BACK. YOU KNOW, WE COULDN'T START WITHOUT YOU. OKAY? THANK YOU WERE HERE THIS EVENING TO ASK FOR THE BOARD'S APPROVAL ON OUR INTER CATEGORY TRANSFERS. WE DO THIS TRANSFER ANNUALLY WHEN WE HAVE STATE CATEGORIES THAT HAVE BEEN OVER SPENT IN THIS YEAR. WE DO HAVE SEVERAL STATE CATEGORIES THAT EITHER ARE OVERSPEND CURRENTLY OR ARE PROJECTED TO BE OVER SPENT OR VERY CLOSE TO ZERO. BY THE END OF THE YEAR. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THERE'S ENOUGH SURPLUS IN THOSE CATEGORIES SO THAT WE COMPLY WITH STATE REGULATION. THE REQUEST TONIGHT WAS WAS TO TRANSFER $7,780,000 WITH BETWEEN OUR CATEGORIES. WE ARE GOING TO AMEND THAT THIS EVENING BASED ON MS CREATURES PRESENTATION, THE. COST OF THE PROGRAM FOR THE READING PILOT IS ONE POINT $7,800,000 OF THAT WILL COME FROM A GRANT. $900,000 NEEDS TO COME FROM THE OPERATING BUDGET, WHICH WE DO NOT HAVE IN THE CORRECT CATEGORY. SO WE WILL HAVE TO AMEND THIS TO INCLUDE THE $900,000 SO MR CLARK WILL WALK THROUGH THE DETAILS OF THE TRANSFER. AND THEN WHAT CAN ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE. SO AS MR JUDD SAID, THIS IS A NORMAL PROCESS. WE HAVE NOT HAD TO DO THIS IN THE PAST COUPLE OF FISCAL YEARS, SIMPLY BECAUSE OF WHAT EVERYTHING THAT WAS GOING ON. SO WE DO PROJECTIONS EACH MONTH AND WE TRYING TO PROJECT OUT WHAT EACH

[01:25:03]

STATE CATEGORY WITH IS GOING TO BE AT THE END OF THE YEAR. AS MISJUDGE SAID BY STATE REGULATION, WE CAN'T OVERSPEND IN ANY OF THE 14 CATEGORIES WHERE WE BUDGET OUR FUNDS AND SPEND OUR FUNDS SO AS YOU CAN SEE, WE DO. WE ARE GOING TO REQUEST AN AMENDMENT TO THIS TO ADD $900,000 TO INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPLIES AND MATERIALS, AND THE ACCOUNT NUMBER WOULD BE TEXTBOOKS. BUT I'LL RUN THROUGH THESE FIRST. SO IN OUR CATEGORY. INSTRUCTIONAL SALARIES ARE STATE CATEGORY. 103 WE'RE PROJECTING RIGHT NOW TO BE OVER BY ABOUT 1.56 MILLION. SO WE'RE PROPOSING TO MOVE 300 OR $3 MILLION INTO THAT LINE ITEM IN 106, WHICH IS OUR SPECIAL EDUCATION STATE CATEGORY. WE ARE PROJECTING TO BE OVER SPENT BY ABOUT $300,000 A PORTION OF THAT A BIG PORTION THAT IS NONPUBLIC PLACEMENT, SO WE'RE ASKING TO MOVE $500,000 INTO OOH, THAT STATE CATEGORY.

IN HEALTH SERVICES WERE PROJECTING JUST UNDER $100,000 TO BE OVER THAT HAS TO DO WITH SOME SUBSTITUTE NURSING AND THINGS LIKE THAT THAT WE'VE HAD OVER THE PAST YEAR, SO WE'RE ASKING FOR 200,000 TO BE MOVED INTO THAT STATE CATEGORY. UM TRANSPORTATION OR BUS ARE ARE LARGE BUS CONTRACTOR LINE ITEM IS GOING TO BE ABOUT $1.2 MILLION OVER. WE DO HAVE SOME POSITIVE VARIANCES IN SOME OTHER LINE ITEMS WITHIN THE STATE CATEGORY. 109 TRANSPORTATION TO OFFSET SOME OF THAT OVER SO WE'RE REQUESTING THAT $1 MILLION BEING MOVED INTO THE BUS CONTRACT LINE. THE NEXT THREE ARE REALLY UTILITIES. WE'VE SEEN A DRASTIC INCREASE OR DRAMATIC.

I SHOULD SAY INCREASE IN UTILITY COSTS, UM, OVER THE PAST YEAR, SO WE'RE ASKING FOR $1 MILLION TO BE ADDED TO OUR ELECTRICITY LINE. $1.5 MILLION TO OUR NATURAL GAS LINE AND $500,000 TO OUR OIL, WHICH IS OUR HEATING OIL FOR OUR SCHOOLS LINE. THE LAST ONE IS DEBT SERVICE. UM PRINCIPLE WE'RE ASKING FOR $80,000 TO BE ADDED TO THAT LINE ITEM. WE RE FUNDED OUR ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING LAST YEAR AND WE DID NOT MOVE. WE RE FUNDED AT A LOWER INTEREST RATE.

SO WE'RE PAYING LESS INTEREST AND MORE PRINCIPAL WHEN WE MAKE OUR PAYMENT EACH YEAR, UM I DID NOT TRANSFER THAT. I DIDN'T CHANGE THE AMOUNT OF INTEREST IN THE AMOUNT OF PRINCIPLE. SO IF YOU GO DOWN TO LOOK AT WHERE WE'RE REQUESTING THOSE FUNDS TO BE TRANSFERRED FROM, WE'RE ASKING FOR 7.7 MILLION TO BE TRANSFERRED FROM HEALTH INSURANCE AND WE'RE ASKING FOR $80,000 TO BE TRANSFERRED FROM DEBT SERVICE INTEREST. SO IN EFFECT THAT THE LAST TWO LINES OF THE CAPITOL OUTLAY AND THE FIXED CHARGES DEBT SERVICE PRINCIPAL DEBT SERVICE INTEREST, JUST A MOVEMENT BETWEEN WE'RE PAYING MORE PRINCIPAL. WE'RE PAYING LESS INTEREST. SO THE TOTAL TRANSFER OUT OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE WOULD ACTUALLY BE $8.6 MILLION TO INCLUDE THE 900,000 THAT WE JUST TALKED ABOUT FOR THE TEXTBOOKS. SO WE WOULD WE WOULD REQUEST A LINE BE ADDED FOR TEXTBOOKS, MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES. 4 $900,000 THE BEGINNING BALANCE OR PRESIDENT.

APPROPRIATION IN THAT ACCOUNT IS 641,000 TO 14 THAT WOULD BRING THE REVISED APPROPRIATION TO 1,541,204. AND THEN WE WOULD REQUEST FOR THAT ADDITIONAL 900,000 AS MISJUDGE SAID TO COME FROM HEALTH INSURANCE, WHICH WOULD MAKE THE TOTAL $8.6 MILLION AND THAT WOULD GIVE OUR REVISED APPROPRIATION OF 85,419,833. SO THIS POINT, UM. I WOULD NEED A MOTION TO MAKE THE ADJUSTMENTS. THE TRANSFERS, UM FOR THE BUDGET THAT YOU'VE JUST DESCRIBED. WOULD THAT BE? SUFFICIENT RIGHT, INCLUDING THE AMENDMENT, BUT SOMEBODY LIKE TO MAKE THAT MOTION. I WASN'T SURE IF ANYBODY HAD ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS USUALLY DISCUSSION AFTER THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE TRANSFER BUDGET LINE TRANSFER AS PROPOSED. THANK YOU. DO I HAVE A SECOND? CAROL BRUCE. I SECOND.

OKAY. IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION YOU WANT ME TO GO? OKAY? DIANE MRS ALVAREZ. DID YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS. THANK YOU. OKAY, MRS BURST. YEAH. MRS HAN. SO THE ONLY QUESTION I HAVE IS THE, UM $7 MILLION THAT IS COMING FROM THE HEALTH INSURANCE. IS THAT LIKE AN EXCESS THAT WE OVERPAID SO THAT WE'RE USING THAT NOW TO PAY FOR OTHER THINGS THAT WE HAVE OUTSTANDING, SO IT'S A SURPLUS THAT WE HAVE IN THE HEALTH INSURANCE LINES SO WE HAVE HAD WHEN WE SWITCHED OUR RETIREES TO THE MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLAN. WE HAD SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS AND HEALTH INSURANCE THAT WAS RIGHT BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, SO THEN WE HAD EVEN MORE SAVINGS OF THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE. WE DID NOT MOVE. WE DID NOT NEED TO INCREASE OUR RATES DURING THE PANDEMIC, SO THAT BUDGET LINE HAS BEEN FROZEN WITH THE SURPLUS IN THAT LINE. SO LUCKILY THIS YEAR WE HAVE THOSE FUNDS TO TRANSFER TO THE OTHER LINE, SO

[01:30:04]

IT'S A NET ZERO IMPACT TO OUR BUDGET. UM, WE WILL NEED THE MAJORITY OF THAT MONEY. JULY 1ST BECAUSE THERE IS A 6.6% INCREASE IN OUR HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS NEXT YEAR, SO WE HAVE THE FUNDS NOW TO MAKE THAT TRANSFER TO COVER THOSE LINE ITEMS THAT WOULD NOT BE THERE NEXT YEAR.

OKAY, THANK YOU. DR HAROLD. NO QUESTIONS. THANK YOU. PERRY QUESTIONS DR PHILLIPS. AND FOR ME, THANKS NOTHING FOR MR RICCARDI. NOTHING FROM HIS PLAYING. VICE PRESIDENT SEWELL.

MIGHT BE LOST IN THE ORCHESTRA. I'M GOING TO GO WITH NO, AND I HAVE NO QUESTIONS. SO MR HOLLYWOOD, YOU DO REAL CALL VOTE FOR ME. MR ALVAREZ. YES. MISS BRUCE? YES. TIME. DR HAROLD YES.

MR PERRY? YES. DR PHILLIPS. YES. THIS. RICCARDI? YES. LINCOLN. YES. VICE PRESIDENT SEWELL.

PRESIDENT MUELLER. YES. MOTION PASSES. THANK YOU SO MUCH, AND NOW WE'RE BACK TO MRS JUDY GUN.

[H. Presentation on Quarterly Financial Report for the Period Ending March 31 2023, Ms. Deborah Judd, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services]