[C. Decision on Kindergarten Science Program Curriculum, Ms. Heather Kutcher, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Ms. Diane Engelman, and Ms. Amy Ryan ]

ITEM C. DECISION ON KINDERGARTEN SCIENCE CURRICULUM. I'D LIKE TO WELCOME MISS HEATHER KUSHNER, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION. AND PLEASE WELCOME YOUR STAFF. THANK YOU. GOOD EVENING. BOARD SUPERINTENDENT PAULSON, I'M JOINED TONIGHT BY OUR SUPERVISOR OF SCIENCE, MRS. DIANE ENGELMANN, AND OUR TEACHER SPECIALIST OF ELEMENTARY SCIENCE, MRS. AMY RYAN, TO SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR NEW KINDERGARTEN SCIENCE CURRICULUM.

THE SCIENCE OFFICE IDENTIFIED THAT THE EXISTING KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM WAS NOT IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS, WHICH ARE THE SCIENCE STANDARDS ADOPTED BY THE STATE OF MARYLAND AND THE SAME STANDARDS THAT OUR STATE SCIENCE ASSESSMENT AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. THE MSA IS ALIGNED TO. THEREFORE, THE TEAM HAS BEEN WORKING TO REWRITE THE CURRICULUM TO ENSURE ALIGNMENT AND ALSO TO INCREASE THE HANDS ON OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR YOUNG LEARNERS. AS YOU WILL SEE IN TONIGHT'S PRESENTATION, THIS FOUNDATIONAL SCIENCE COURSE IS NOW ALIGNED TO THE STANDARDS CONSISTENT WITH THE UNIT APPROACH AND SUBSEQUENT GRADES,

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AND IT AFFORDS YOUNG LEARNERS MANY ENGAGING WAYS TO ACCESS SCIENCE, THINKING AND SCIENCE DOING. THIS CURRICULUM WAS CREATED IN-HOUSE BY CPS TEACHERS AND THOSE WITH ME AT THE TABLE TONIGHT, AND IT IS HOUSED ON CANVAS. THE BOARD HAS HAD ACCESS TO THIS COURSE THROUGH CANVAS SINCE OUR SMALL GROUP MEETINGS. MRS. ENGELMAN WILL KICK US OFF TONIGHT WITH A STATEMENT RELATED TO OUR PURPOSE IN BEING HERE, AND ALSO PROVIDE SOME CRUCIAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION BEFORE MRS. RYAN DELVES INTO THE SPECIFICS OF THE COURSE. MRS. ENGELMAN. THANK YOU. GOOD EVENING EVERYONE. THE SCIENCE AND EARLY CHILDHOOD OFFICES REQUEST THAT THE KINDERGARTEN SCIENCE CURRICULUM BE APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR IMPLEMENTATION FOR THE 20 2526 SCHOOL YEAR. IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND, WE FOLLOW TWO SETS OF SCIENCE STANDARDS. WE FOLLOWED THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS, WHICH HAVE THREE COMPONENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THEM.

THEY HAVE THE DISCIPLINARY CORE IDEAS, WHICH ARE THE CONTENT OR THE CONTENT OF SCIENCE. WE HAVE THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES, WHICH ARE THE SKILLS OF SCIENCE, WHICH IS SIMILAR TO THE SCIENCE TO THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. HOWEVER, IT DELVES A LITTLE BIT DEEPER AND IT REFLECTS MORE ACCURATELY THE PROCESS OF SCIENCE. IN ADDITION, WE ALSO HAVE THE CROSS-CUTTING CONCEPTS, WHICH ARE THE THINKING THEMES OF SCIENCE. IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE HAVE THE MARYLAND ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY STANDARDS, WHICH FOCUS ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL OR THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH WE LIVE, WITH A SPECIFIC FOCUS ON THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND ITS WATERSHED. OUR GOAL IN THE OFFICES OF SCIENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS IS TO PROVIDE HIGH QUALITY SCIENCE CURRICULUM THAT COMPLETELY ALIGNS WITH THE MARYLAND SCIENCE STANDARDS. AFTER A GAP ANALYSIS OF KINDERGARTEN THROUGH FIVE CURRICULUM, THERE WERE IDENTIFIED AREAS OF NEED, WHICH INCLUDES THE DEPTHS OF SCIENCE CONCEPTS, THE INQUIRY BASED SCIENCE, INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES, THE PEDAGOGY OF SCIENCE, AND THEN ALSO THE INTEGRATION OF CONTENT, CONCEPTS AND PRACTICES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. HI, I'M AMY RYAN, I'M THE A, THE CURRICULUM SPECIALIST IN ELEMENTARY SCIENCE, AND I AM REALLY GOING TO GO THROUGH WHAT THE PROCESS WAS THAT WE WENT THROUGH TO WRITE THIS CURRICULUM AND THEN GIVE YOU A LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT ABOUT WHAT THE CURRICULUM HAS, HAS INSIDE OF IT, TOO. SO I WAS THE LEAD AS MY ROLE. I'M THE LEAD ON THE PROJECT, AND I'M VERY EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO SHARE OR RESHARE THIS WITH YOU, BECAUSE A LOT OF TIME HAS GONE INTO TO WRITING THIS CURRICULUM. SO FIRST, THE AS FAR AS THE PROGRESS, WHAT IN 2023, WE STARTED BY CREATING A COMPREHENSIVE KINDERGARTEN SCIENCE CURRICULUM TEAM. THAT TEAM INCLUDED BOTH A WRITING TEAM AND A REVIEW TEAM. I WILL TALK ABOUT THOSE IN A MINUTE TOO. AND ON ANOTHER SLIDE. BUT AT THAT TIME, THOSE TEACHERS WHO VOLUNTEERED TO BE ABLE TO BE PART OF THIS WRITING TEAM, THEY WORKED FIRST TO BE TRAINED IN WHAT OUR NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS ARE, WHICH ARE OUR MARYLAND SCIENCE STANDARDS. AND SO WE TRAINED THEM IN PEDAGOGY. WE TRAINED THEM IN BEST PRACTICES LIKE OUR FIVE LESSON PLAN MODEL THAT WE USE FOR INQUIRY BASED SCIENCE INSTRUCTION. WE ALSO TRAINED THEM IN ASSESSMENT, BOTH FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE NOTEBOOKING AND INTEGRATING READING READING WITHIN OUR SCIENCE CURRICULUM. THE MAJORITY OF OUR WORK IS DONE IN THE SUMMERTIME AS WELL. AND SO YOU'LL SEE, YOU KNOW THAT THAT THAT'S WHEN OUR TEACHERS ARE ABLE TO WORK. THE FIRST TASK THEY HAD AS A TOTAL TEAM WAS TO BUNDLE STANDARDS. WHEN I SAY BUNDLED STANDARDS, THAT MEANS THAT WE FIND STANDARDS THAT MEET THAT. LOOK AT ALL OF THE STANDARDS, FIND WHAT'S COHESIVE ABOUT THEM AND WHAT IS COMMON SO THAT WE CAN MAKE UNITS THAT THAT ARE ALIGNED. AND THEN THE WRITING TEAM WENT TO WORK AND THEY WORKED ON THE CURRICULUM MAPS FOR IT TO BE ABLE TO GUIDE ALL OF OUR CURRICULUM WRITING FROM THAT POINT. SO FOR EACH ONE OF THE UNITS AND THE FIRST DRAFT THAT THEY CREATED WAS THE EARTH SPACE DURING THE 2023 SUMMER, AND THEN IN 2024, THAT WRITING TEAM ALSO DEVELOPED THE PHYSICAL SCIENCE AND THE LIFE SCIENCE UNITS. AND THAT'S WHEN THE REVIEW TEAM CAME IN AND PROVIDED THEIR FEEDBACK AND THEIR SUPPORT AND PROVIDED SUGGESTIONS. AND THEN THEY ALSO ASSISTED IN FINALIZING THEIR THEIR UNIT. THE FINAL UNITS. AND FINALLY, DURING THIS SCHOOL YEAR, IT'S BEEN THE SCIENCE OFFICER'S JOB TO REVIEW IT, TO REVISE IT, TO EDIT IT, AND ALSO TO UPLOAD IT, TO UPLOAD IT TO CANVAS. SO JUST A LITTLE

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BACKGROUND ON WHAT THE WRITING TEAM, WHAT THE WRITING TEAM AND THE REVIEW TEAM WAS LIKE FOR THIS COMPREHENSIVE CURRICULUM TEAM. THIS WAS A NEW PROCESS AS FAR AS HAVING TWO DIFFERENT PARTS TO OUR CURRICULUM TEAM. TYPICALLY WE ONLY HAD A WRITING TEAM, AND BUT HAVING A REVIEW TEAM REALLY ADDED VALUE TO THIS WHOLE PROCESS. WE HAD 16 MEMBERS, 16 MEMBERS. THEY WERE ALL CURRENT KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM TEACHERS, AND THEY WERE FROM DIVERSE CPS SCHOOLS.

THOSE SCHOOLS ARE LISTED ON THE BOARD. ON THE REVIEW TEAM, WE HAD EIGHT TEAM MEMBERS, AGAIN FROM THOSE FROM SOME OF THE SAME SCHOOLS, BUT ADDED SOME ADDITIONAL ONES FOR CURRENT CURRICULUM OR KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS, THREE FORMER ONES THAT HAD EITHER BEEN MOVED. THAT DOES HAPPEN THAT DURING CURRICULUM PROCESS THAT THEY GET CHANGED. BUT THEN THIS WAY WE HAD A TWO SECOND GRADE TEACHERS, A PRE-K TEACHER, AND WE ALSO INVITED A FIRST GRADE SCIENCE CURRICULUM WRITER WHO WAS FAMILIAR WITH THE EXPERTISE OF NGSS AND WHAT FIRST GRADE WAS. SO WE HAD ALL OF THE PRIMARY GRADES REPRESENTED IN THAT. I CAN'T THANK THESE TEACHERS ENOUGH. I WAS SO GRATEFUL FOR ALL THAT THEY HAD OR ALL THEY BROUGHT TO THE TABLE BECAUSE OF THEIR EXPERTISE IN KINDERGARTEN AND DOING AGE APPROPRIATE ACTIVITIES THAT WERE GOING TO MEET THE MEET THE STANDARDS. SO THIS IS JUST THE OVERVIEW. I WANT TO TAKE YOU THROUGH A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THE ACTUAL CURRICULUM HAS IN IT. OUR GOAL IS TO AIM. WE AIM TO PROVIDE A GUIDE FOR TEACHERS TO MEET THE INTENT OF THOSE MARYLAND STANDARDS, WHICH ARE A NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS. AND SO THE, THE AND OUR KINDERGARTEN BUILDS THAT FOUNDATION AND THE BUILDING BLOCKS FOR FUTURE SUCCESS IN SCIENCE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. BUT THEN BEYOND WE THEY DEVELOPED THREE SCIENCE UNITS, WHICH IS EARTH SPACE SCIENCE, PHYSICAL SCIENCE, LIFE SCIENCE.

THOSE ALSO MATCH AND ALIGN TO WHAT WE DO IN GRADES ONE THROUGH FIVE. AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IS IMPORTANT FOR KINDERGARTEN IS THAT THEY ARE HANDS ON. AND SO WE MADE SURE BECAUSE THEY THEY LEARN BY DOING AND THEY'RE NATURALLY CURIOUS. SO WE WANT TO CAPITALIZE ON THAT CURIOSITY. WE HAVE MATERIALS FROM OUR SCIENCE WAREHOUSE THAT WE PROVIDE FOR OUR FOR OUR ELEMENTARY SCIENCE.

AND THAT WAY BECAUSE OF WE'VE WE'VE WRITTEN THE CURRICULUM, WE CAN ALSO CUSTOMIZE OUR MATERIALS TO MATCH THAT. WE DO HAVE THIS IN CANVAS. THE CANVAS PIECE IS FOR TEACHERS. IT'S NOT THAT WE EXPECT OUR STUDENTS, OUR KINDERGARTNERS, TO BE SITTING ON ON A DEVICE AND BEHIND A SCREEN.

OUR THE TRULY THE MOST BENEFICIAL PART OF CURRICULUM WRITING IS THAT WE CAN MAKE IT FIT FOR OUR STUDENTS TO. AND WE WRITE. AND WITH THE EXPERTISE OF THOSE KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS. SO JUST TO GIVE YOU A AN OVERVIEW, ALSO OF THE THREE UNITS, THIS ONE'S THE EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE UNIT. IT HAS FOUR. THIS HAS BOTH THE STANDARDS ON THE RIGHT SIDE. THE ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS ON THE LEFT SIDE. THIS IS THE EARTH SPACE SCIENCE UNIT. IT HAS FOUR STANDARDS. WE ALSO TALK ABOUT PATTERNS CAUSE AND EFFECT, COLLECTING DATA, ASKING QUESTIONS FOR EXPERIENCES. WE DO START THIS THE FIRST ONE OF THE YEAR. WE DO START WITH AN INTRO TO SCIENCE AND SCIENTISTS. WE ALSO, IN THE FIRST EXPERIENCES, GET INTO WHAT AN ENGINEER IS. BUT WE START WITH WEATHER PATTERNS. WE TAKE THEM OUTSIDE, THEY FORECAST AND TRACK WEATHER, WHICH IS TYPICAL WITH A CLASS CALENDAR WE HAVE. WE ALSO TALK ABOUT THE SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS, THE TYPES OF WEATHER IMPACT AND HOW WE PREPARE. AND THE LAST PART, THE SUN'S ENERGY PIECE IS ABOUT HOW THE SUN WARMS THE EARTH AND HOW WE CAN PROTECT OURSELVES FROM THAT. THAT'S THE ENGINEERING PIECE THAT WE HAVE.

SO THE KINDERGARTNERS LEARN TO CREATE A SUNSHADE STRUCTURE THAT'S GOING TO PROTECT PEOPLE WHO MIGHT BE OUTSIDE AT A FIELD DAY, COMING TO, TO, TO VIEW THE FIELD DAY. THE SECOND UNIT IS OUR PHYSICAL SCIENCE UNIT PUSHES AND PULLS. SO THERE'S TWO STANDARDS IN THIS ONE. AGAIN ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS ARE LISTED THERE. THERE'S FOUR FOUR LESSONS. THEY THE FIRST EXPERIENCE IS WHEN THEY REALLY JUST EXPLORE PUSHES AND PULLS WHAT'S. AND THEY THINK OF IT THROUGH PLAY WHAT'S MOTION MOVEMENT SPEED CHANGE OF DIRECTION. AGAIN THEY'RE DOING CAUSE AND EFFECT IN DATA. THEIR THEIR SECOND EXPERIENCES WHEN THEY GET INTO ANOTHER ENGINEERING DESIGN CHALLENGE WHERE THEY CREATE A GAME FOR THE CLASS NEXT DOOR AND THEY TAKE THEIR KNOWLEDGE, THEY'VE LEARNED ABOUT PUSHES AND PULLS, AND THEY CREATE A MINI GOLF COURSE WITH A HOLE. THEY CREATE THE HOLE SO THAT IT WILL HAVE CHANGE OF DIRECTIONS AND A PUTTER. AND THEY'RE THE ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESS WE USE IS AGE APPROPRIATE. WE ASK THEM TO ASK,

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IMAGINE, TRY AND THEN TRY AGAIN. AND THE THIRD UNIT IS OUR LIFE SCIENCE UNIT. LIFE IN THE ENVIRONMENT. AND THERE ARE FOUR STANDARDS. THESE ARE THERE'S THREE EXPERIENCES WITH THIS. AND THE FIRST EXPERIENCE IS PLANTS AND ANIMALS. WE START WITH LIVING THINGS. WE GO INTO WHAT ARE PLANTS AND HOW TO HOW TO PLANTS AND ANIMALS THEN GROW AND SURVIVE. AND THEN WE DO SOME HABITAT TYPES OF RESEARCH FOR THE HOW, HOW THEY USE THE HABITAT TO, TO SURVIVE. THEN WE GO INTO THE INTERACTION. THE SECOND EXPERIENCE IS INTERACTION OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS WITH THE ENVIRONMENT. AND HOW DO PLANTS AND ANIMALS CHANGE THEIR ENVIRONMENT. AND WE DO THAT EVEN BY TAKING NATURE WALKS AND GETTING THEM OUTSIDE TO LET THEM SEE THAT. AND THE THIRD EXPERIENCE IS ABOUT HUMAN IMPACT. HUMANS DO HAVE CHOICES AND THEY WE CHANGE THE ENVIRONMENT. BUT IT IS A WE LOOK AT IT IN A POSITIVE WAY SO THAT WE CAN TALK ABOUT HOW WE CAN MAKE OR REDUCE OUR IMPACT THAT WE HAVE ON THE ENVIRONMENT. AND ONE OF THE WAYS WE DO THAT IS WE TEACH THE KINDERGARTNERS ABOUT REDUCING, REUSING AND RECYCLING. AND JUST TO GIVE A SENSE OF WHAT THE CURRENT CURRICULUM OR KINDERGARTEN SCIENCE CURRICULUM IS IN COMPARISON TO WHAT OUR PROPOSED CURRICULUM IS. AGAIN, HANDS ON SCIENCE. WE KNOW THAT'S APPROPRIATE FOR OUR KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS. WE WANT THAT. SO THAT HASN'T CHANGED. KINDERGARTEN CURRENT ONE IS REALLY LINKED TO THE MARYLAND STANDARDS, BUT IT WASN'T. IT'S WE IMPROVED THAT ALIGNMENT. THERE WAS A CHANGE IN OR WELL, WE GOT MORE INFORMATION WITH SOMETHING CALLED EVIDENCE STATEMENTS FOR STANDARDS THAT HELPED US TO IMPROVE THAT ALIGNMENT. AND IT'S REALLY ABOUT DEPTH THAT WE GO INTO, AND IT'S ABOUT THE APPROACH THAT WE USE TO. SO THE CURRENT ONE IS A THEMATIC UNIT BASED APPROACH.

THEIR UNITS ARE WINTER FALL ENGINEERS, EXTREME EARTH, AND THEN WE BUT OURS IS NOW OR THE PROPOSED ONE IS MORE SCIENTIFICALLY BASED RATHER THAN THAT THEMATIC BASED. AND SO WE HAVE THAT EARTH SPACE PHYSICAL SCIENCE, LIFE SCIENCE. A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE OF THAT IS ENGINEERS IS A STANDALONE UNIT IN THE CURRENT ONE, WHEREAS ENGINEERING IS EMBEDDED IN EACH ONE OF OUR CONTENT AREAS IN THIS ONE. AND WE ALSO ENCOURAGE INQUIRY BASED SCIENCE INSTRUCTION, WHICH IS WHERE WE WANT OUR STUDENTS TO BE ABLE TO EXPLORE, ENGAGE AND EXPLORE BEFORE THEY EXPLAIN. AND SO THE LESSON PLANS ARE NOT AS TRADITIONAL, WHERE WE USE TEACHER MODELING BEFORE ANY HANDS ON PIECE. WE WANT KIDS TO START TOUCHING THINGS. SO AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE OUR NOTEBOOKS. NOTEBOOKING IS IMPORTANT THAT IT IS A PRACTICE OF WHAT SCIENTISTS DO, AND SO IT IS MORE EMPOWERING FOR THE STUDENTS. AND IT GIVES THEM OWNERSHIP. SO THEY ARE MORE STUDENT GENERATED VERSUS PRINTED FILL IN THE BLANK KINDS OF NOTEBOOKS THAT THEY CURRENTLY HAVE. I'LL THROW IT BACK TO DIANE. THANK YOU. SO PENDING APPROVAL, WE WOULD LIKE TO BRING IN OUR KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS FOR A FULL DAY OF TRAINING AND GIVE THEM THE OPTION WHETHER THEY'RE COMING IN PRIOR TO THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR OR AFTER, WHATEVER WORKS BEST FOR THEM OR THEIR SCHOOL. AND ONE OF THE BENEFITS FOR HAVING IN-HOUSE CURRICULUM WRITERS IS THAT WE CAN BRING CURRICULUM WRITERS TO THE TRAINING, AND THEY ARE THE ONES THAT WILL BE TRAINING OUR TEACHERS, ANSWERING QUESTIONS, PROVIDING FEEDBACK, AND REALLY BEING THERE TO HAVE A DIALOG ON WHAT THE INTENT OF THE CURRICULUM IS. CONTINUING ON. SHOULD THE CURRICULUM BE APPROVED, THE FALL WOULD BRING IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CURRICULUM. THERE WOULD BE ONGOING TRAINING FOR OUR KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS, WHICH INCLUDES SCIENCE WALKTHROUGHS, FEEDBACK SURVEYS FROM OUR TEACHERS, COLLABORATIVE PLANNING SESSIONS, AND THEN ALSO LESSON COACHING AND MODELING. SO FINALLY, OUR JUST TO REITERATE OUR REQUEST THIS EVENING IS THE SCIENCE AND EARLY CHILDHOOD OFFICES REQUEST THAT THE KINDERGARTEN SCIENCE CURRICULUM BE APPROVED FOR IMPLEMENTATION FOR THE 20 2526 SCHOOL YEAR. WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU HAVE? THANK YOU VERY MUCH. WE'LL OPEN IT UP TO BOARD MEMBER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS. SO YEAH, I'D LIKE TO SAY THAT I SUBMITTED SOME QUESTIONS PRIOR TO, YOU KNOW, AFTER LOOKING AT THE CURRICULUM, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, I HAVE OBJECTION TO IS, WELL, FIRST OFF, IT WAS VERY VAGUE AND IT LEFT OUT A LOT OF CONTENT, INFORMATION AND BEING AN ENGINEER, THERE WAS NOT A SINGLE ENGINEERING ASSOCIATION THAT HAD DEVELOPED OR APPROVED THIS CURRICULUM. IT'S ALL

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TEACHER ASSOCIATIONS. THE ONE ASSOCIATION THAT DID HAVE SOME SAY ABOUT IT SAID THAT THEY WERE THERE WAS CONCERN THAT THERE WAS NOT A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF ENGINEERING BY THE TEACHERS TO FULLY IMPLEMENT AND INSTRUCT THE STUDENTS IN THAT AREA. I ALSO HAVE TAKE ISSUE WITH THE FACT THAT THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS NOT IN THE CURRICULUM. AND THE RESPONSE THAT I GOT BACK WAS THAT SCIENTISTS SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS THOUGHT OF AS A LINEAR PROCESS, MUCH LIKE A CHECKLIST.

AND, YOU KNOW, SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS A LOGICAL ORDER, ORDERLY PROCESS FOR LOOKING AT PHENOMENA AND MAKING SURE THAT YOU CAN PROVE OF THE HYPOTHESIS. IT'S SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN USED THROUGHOUT HISTORY TO PROVE DIFFERENT SCIENTIFIC THEORIES. AND LEAVING THAT OUT OF THE CURRICULUM FOR OUR STUDENTS IS A NO GO FOR ME. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? YEAH, I HAD A LOT OF COMMENTS. THANK YOU FOR THE RESPONSES. YOU DID ANSWER A LOT OF THEM. A FEW OTHER ONES. I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND. SO THE BASIC CURRENT KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM HAS NINE UNITS, AND THIS WOULD REPLACE FIVE OF THEM. BASICALLY COMBINING THOSE UNDER THE TOPICS OF THE EARTH SPACE SCIENCE AND THE PHYSICAL SCIENCE AND THE LIFE AND THE ENVIRONMENT. SO THE CURRENT THERE'S NINE UNITS IN THE THEMATIC UNIT BASED PROGRAM FOR KINDERGARTEN THAT INCLUDES THAT INCLUDES A WELLNESS UNIT, WHICH IS HEALTH BASED. IT INCLUDES SOCIAL SOME SOCIAL STUDIES, THEMATIC UNIT BASED ONES AND THEN SCIENCE ONES. SO THE ONES WE'RE REPLACING ARE THOSE FIVE THAT ARE THE SCIENCE ONES. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. SO THE FIRST ONE ABOUT THE INTRODUCTION, THE INTRODUCTION TO THE FIVE E'S, WHAT SCIENTISTS DO IS THAT PART OF THE EARTH SPACE AND SCIENCE OR IS THAT SO. IT'S REALLY AN INTRODUCTORY, YOU KNOW, LESSON FOR, FOR JUST TO INTRODUCE KINDERGARTNERS TO SCIENCE AND WHAT IT'S GOING TO BE. SO IT'S PART OF BECAUSE EARTH AND SPACE WOULD BE THE FIRST UNIT THAT THEY TEACH DURING THE YEAR. IT'S PART OF IT THERE. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. AND YOU SAID THAT THIS CHANGE WAS NECESSITATED BECAUSE YOU GOT NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR EVIDENCE BASED EVIDENCE STANDARDS. IS THAT MAINLY WITH RESPECT TO THE MARYLAND ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY STANDARDS? NO. THOSE ARE SPECIFIC TO THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS, THE EVIDENCE STATEMENTS THAT WE HAVE. OKAY. BECAUSE A LOT OF THE DOCUMENTATION YOU SENT WAS DATED LIKE JUNE 15TH. THERE WERE SOME FROM 2013. IS THERE AN INDICATION OF WHAT THOSE NEW STANDARDS ARE? SO GO AHEAD. THE STANDARDS THAT WE HAVE IN MARYLAND, WE HAVE THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS, WHICH WERE TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN 2018. THAT WAS STATE LAW THAT WAS PASSED. IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE ALSO HAVE THE ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY STANDARDS. RECENTLY, THOSE WERE UPDATED, WHICH I BELIEVE WE SENT THE PROGRESSION FOR KINDERGARTEN THROUGH 12 FOR THE UPDATED STANDARDS. THE EVIDENCE STATEMENTS, WHEN THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS WERE FIRST PRODUCED, MANY PEOPLE WE WERE IN SUCH A SHORT KIND OF TURNAROUND TIME BETWEEN THE STANDARDS BEING PRODUCED AND THE NEED FOR CURRICULUM TO COME OUT, THE EVIDENCE STATEMENTS CAME OUT AND PROVIDED MORE CLARITY ON WHAT NEEDED TO BE INCLUDED IN THE CURRICULUM, AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO GO BACK AND REVIEW THOSE EVIDENCE STATEMENTS ALIGNED WITH THE CURRICULUM THAT HAD BEEN PRODUCED PRIOR TO THE EVIDENCE STATEMENTS. AND WE RECOGNIZED A LARGE GAP BETWEEN WHAT WAS WHAT IS CURRENTLY IN PRACTICE AND WHAT WE NEEDED TO DO IN ORDER TO ALIGN WITH THOSE EVIDENCE STATEMENTS IN THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS. OKAY, SO WE GOT THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS BEFORE 2018, AND WE IMPLEMENTED THEM. AND THEN WE WENT TO RELOOK AND SAW THAT MAYBE WE DIDN'T GET ALL THE EVIDENCE STATEMENTS. CORRECT. CORRECT. OKAY. AND THAT IS PARDON ME. THAT IS COMMON PRACTICE TO REVIEW CURRICULUM TO MAKE SURE THAT IT ALIGNS WITH THE STANDARDS OKAY. NO WORRIES.

THE OTHER QUESTION I HAD IS ABOUT THE NEGATIVE PHRASING OF SOME OF THE STATEMENTS. AND I KNOW THAT THOSE ARE DRIVEN. AND ONE OF OUR SPEAKERS, OUR COMMUNITY SPEAKERS, REFERRED THIS NIGHT TO THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF HUMANS ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND HOW SOMETIMES THAT CAN GET TRANSLATED TO THINGS THAT ARE SCARY FOR KIDS. AND, YOU KNOW, YOUR YOUR STATEMENTS. I SAW SOME NEUTRAL STATEMENTS, BUT IN THE STANDARDS, THEY'RE THEY'RE THEY'RE NOT. THERE'S AN OVERARCHING CONCEPT. UNDERSTANDING SAYS THAT

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SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS DEVELOP SOLUTIONS TO REDUCE THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS HUMANS HAVE ON THE EARTH. IT DOESN'T SAY DON'T LITTER, DON'T POLLUTE. CAN YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POLLUTION HAS THE IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT? AND SOME PEOPLE THINK, WELL, IT'S JUST HUMANS BEING HERE HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT. SO THE DIFFERENCE IN THOSE STATEMENTS, ANOTHER ONE, HOW DO HUMANS REDUCE THEIR NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT? IT HAS THE ASSUMPTION IN THERE THAT HUMANS HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT. YOU KNOW, AND EVEN THE REDUCE, RECYCLE AND REUSE ARE POSITIVE PRACTICES THAT HUMANS CAN CHOOSE TO LIMIT THE NEGATIVE HUMAN IMPACT ON THE EARTH. I'M JUST CONCERNED THAT WHY BURDEN KINDERGARTNERS WITH ALL THAT? YOU KNOW, IT'S A COMPLICATED ISSUE. THERE'S A LOT OF SCIENCE ON ON EITHER SIDE. IT JUST SEEMS LIKE WE DWELL ON THAT A LOT IN IN THIS SECTION HERE. SO A LOT OF THAT LANGUAGE IS FROM THE STATE AND THOSE FRAMEWORKS. SO I THINK MISSUS RYAN MIGHT HAVE MENTIONED WHILE THIS COURSE IS IN CANVAS, THAT'S FOR TEACHER USE. SO STUDENTS AT THAT AGE WILL HAVE OUTCOMES.

THEIR TEACHER WILL POST WHAT THEY'RE LEARNING FOR THE DAY WITH OBJECTIVES, BUT THEY'RE GOING TO USE STUDENT FRIENDLY LANGUAGE. AND THEY WOULDN'T USE THE DIRECT LANGUAGE OF THOSE STANDARDS. SO AS YOU SAW IN KIND OF THE EXAMPLES, IT IS MUCH MORE NEUTRAL IN THE LANGUAGE THAT TEACHERS USE WITH THEIR CHILDREN AT THAT AGE THAN WHAT THE STANDARD ITSELF SAYS THAT WE REALLY CANNOT ALTER, BECAUSE THAT'S PROVIDED TO US IN THE STATE REQUIREMENT IS TO FOLLOW THE FRAMEWORKS. OKAY. THANK YOU. AND CAN WE FOCUS ON THAT IN THE PD? JUST ABSOLUTELY. I MEAN BECAUSE IT'S A SMALL SLIP. BUT YOU KNOW IT'S ABSOLUTELY THAT'S THAT'S A PART THAT THAT'S WHY WE HAVE THE TRAINING IS SO THAT WE CAN WE CAN BE SURE THAT THE IT'S IMPLEMENTED THE WAY THAT WE WANT IT TO BE. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. SO. SO I GUESS I HAVE MORE OF A STATEMENT THAN A QUESTION. MRS. ALVAREZ, YOU MENTIONED ABOUT USING THE SCIENTIFIC THEORY. AND THE SCIENTIFIC THEORY IS USUALLY USED WHEN YOU'RE DOING EXPERIMENTS AND SUCH. BUT YOU SAID TO PROVE A THEORY, A HYPOTHESIS TO PROVE A THEORY. ONCE YOU PROVE A THEORY, IT'S NO LONGER A THEORY, IT'S A FACT. SO I THINK THAT MAYBE YOUR DEFINITIONS ARE A LITTLE CONFUSED, AND THAT'S POSSIBLY WHY THEY DON'T GO INTO DEFINITIONS OF HYPOTHESES AND THEORIES. IN KINDERGARTEN I SAID SCIENTIFIC METHOD, AND I ASSURE YOU, I'M NOT CONFUSED. I SPENT MY ENTIRE CAREER IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. YOU SAID SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING A THEORY. YOU DON'T PROVE THEORIES. THEORIES ARE NOT PROVABLE. PROVABLE? YES THEY DO. YOU HAVE TO PROVE A THEORY. THAT'S HOW YOU PROVE. THAT'S HOW YOU MAKE. THAT'S HOW YOU DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT SOMETHING IS A FACT. YOU COLLECT DATA, YOU GENERATE A HYPOTHESIS, YOU COLLECT DATA, AND YOU PROVE WHETHER OR NOT YOUR HYPOTHESIS IS CORRECT. AND I DON'T THINK THIS IS THE PLACE TO REALLY GET INTO, YOU KNOW, AN ARGUMENT ABOUT IT'S NOT AN ARGUMENT, IT'S JUST A DEFINITION OF WHAT A THEORY IS. AND A THEORY IS NOT A FACT. SORRY. NO, I DIDN'T SAY THAT A THEORY WAS A FACT. I SAID THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS USED TO PROVE THEORIES USING DATA. AND SO YOU GENERATE A HYPOTHESIS. IF YOU LOOK AT WHAT SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS, YOU GENERATE A THEORY OR A HYPOTHESIS AND YOU DEVELOP A METHOD FOR COLLECTING DATA, AND THEN YOU USE THAT DATA TO PROVE WHETHER OR NOT YOUR HYPOTHESIS OR YOUR THEORY WAS ACCURATE, THEN THAT THEORY BECOMES SOMEWHAT FACTUAL BASED ON ERROR. IT CAN BE REPROVEN OR RE SUPPORTED LATER ON. LIKE YOU TALKED ABOUT THE CYCLICAL NATURE OF SCIENCE. SO SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, THERE MIGHT BE THAT YOU CAN PROVE THIS TO, YOU KNOW, A CERTAIN PROBABILITY, BUT THEN YOU MAY NEED, YOU KNOW, AND SO PEOPLE MAY ACCEPT THAT AS ENOUGH, BUT MAYBE LATER ON YOU CAN PROVE THAT TOPIC. SO LET'S JUST KEEP MOVING FORWARD. DOCTOR MUELLER, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS.

NO. BUT I UNDERSTAND WHY YOU DON'T GO INTO ALL THAT IN KINDERGARTEN. ANYTHING FROM THE SIDE I JUST HAD A QUESTION. WHAT ENHANCED STANDARDS DID YOU USE INSTEAD OF USING THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD? IT'S THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES, WHICH IS PART OF THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS. SO THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO CONSISTENTLY REFINE AND EXPLORE THEIR LEARNING. ASKING QUESTIONS, SEEKING OUT ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS, COMMUNICATING, EXAMINING DATA. AND IT ENCOURAGES THEM TO COMMUNICATE THAT INFORMATION AND CONTINUE TO GO BACK AND REFINE THEIR LEARNING BASED ON FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS AND FURTHER QUESTIONS THAT ARE BORN FROM THEIR INVESTIGATIONS AND ON OUR

[01:25:02]

SCIENCE TAB UNDER CPS, I DON'T SEE KINDERGARTEN LISTED. WHAT WERE WHERE WAS THAT INFORMATION PREVIOUSLY? IT'S ON HC ORG. IT'S UNDER THE EARLY CHILDHOOD TAB WHERE WE HAVE OUR PRE-K AND K.

IT'S THE LINK I SENT EARLIER TODAY TO THE BOARD. THANK YOU. SURE. ANYTHING ELSE? JUST ONE FOLLOW UP TO MISS ALVAREZ. SHE SAID SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT OF THERE WERE NO ENGINEERS OR SCIENTISTS THAT WERE A PART OF THIS. DO YOU HAVE ALL THE RESOURCES YOU NEED TO BUILD EVERYTHING OUT? THERE WERE ENGINEERS THAT WERE PART OF DEVELOPING THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS, SO THEY WERE INVOLVED? YES. I'M SORRY, COULD YOU TELL ME WHICH ORGANIZATION AND ASSOCIATION THAT WAS? I CAN'T PULL IT UP RIGHT NOW. I CAN I CAN GET IT BACK. I CAN COMMUNICATE THAT BACK TO YOU BECAUSE ALL OF THE INFORMATION AND I DID DO QUITE A BIT OF RESEARCH ON TRYING TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THERE WERE SCIENTISTS AND MOST OF THE ORGANIZATIONS, ALTHOUGH THEY DID MAYBE HAVE SCIENTISTS ON THE PANEL. THERE WERE NOT ENGINEERING ASSOCIATIONS THAT WERE INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OR THE APPROVAL. THE ONLY ONE THAT I COULD FIND THAT MADE STATEMENTS AND REVIEWED THE CURRICULUM WAS THE ASSOCIATION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, WHO STATED THAT THEY THEY WERE SUPPORTIVE, BUT THEY HAD CONCERNS. AND THERE WAS A LETTER LETTER THAT THERE WAS A LINK IN THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS, WHICH WAS NOT ACCESSIBLE. I GUESS I'LL JUST ASK THAT YOU GET BACK TO MISS ALVAREZ WHENEVER YOU HAVE THE INFORMATION, AND JUST COPY ME AND I'LL SHARE IT WITH THE BOARD. I WAS ASKING TO SEE IF YOU NEEDED ANY ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR THE BOARD TO BE ABLE TO FINISH THIS, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE IN GOOD HANDS. BUT IF YOU COULD PLEASE FOLLOW UP WITH MISS ALVAREZ. AND JUST TO CLARIFY, WE DIDN'T HAVE AN ENGINEERING ASSOCIATION REVIEW OUR CURRICULUM. YOU'RE REFERRING TO THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS, WHICH WERE ADOPTED BY THE STATE OF MARYLAND. RIGHT. AND I WAS GOING TO HAVE A FOLLOW UP QUESTION AFTER THIS. BUT LET ME BRING IT UP AGAIN, BECAUSE OUR LET ME BRING IT UP NOW. SO THERE WAS A STATEMENT THAT THIS IS A LEGALLY REQUIRED STANDARD. COULD YOU REFERENCE THE BILL NUMBER OR THAT THAT MADE THIS A LEGALLY REQUIRED STANDARD IN MARYLAND? I CAN'T CITE IT. ALTHOUGH MRS. NEAL MIGHT BE ABLE TO, BUT KOMARR DOES REQUIRE EVERY DISTRICT TO ALIGN THEIR CURRICULUM WITH THE STATE STANDARDS AND FRAMEWORKS. SO THAT'S A REQUIREMENT OF KOMARR.

SO BECAUSE THE STATE OF MARYLAND ADOPTED THE NGSS AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY STANDARDS, WE ARE BOUND TO ALIGN WITH IT. IS IT A FRAMEWORK OR IS IT A LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENT TO HAVE US USE NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS BECAUSE MANY STATES HAVE NOT ADOPTED IT? THERE'S ACTUALLY LESS STATES THAT ARE NOT USING IT AND HAVE HAVE DECIDED THAT THEY WILL NOT USE IT BECAUSE OF THE OBJECTIONS THAT THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY HAS. WE'RE FOLLOWING THE GUIDANCE FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT, STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION. BUT IT WASN'T IT WASN'T A LAW LIKE A LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENT WAS A FRAMEWORK. THE REQUIREMENT IN KOMARR IS THAT WE FOLLOW WHAT MARYLAND ADOPTS. SO WE'RE FOLLOWING THE LAW. KOMARR REGULATIONS. SO IT'S NOT A STATUTE, WHICH IS WHAT THE LEGISLATURE REQUESTS. BUT YES, THERE ARE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS THAT WE FOLLOW THE STATE LAW, WHICH IS HANDLED BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION. ARE YOU TAKING A MOTION? YEAH, I'LL TAKE A MOTION IN A SECOND TO APPROVE THE KINDERGARTEN SCIENCE CURRICULUM. I MOVE THAT WE APPROVE THIS CURRICULUM. I SECOND THE MOTION. ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY YES. YES, YES, YES. ARE THERE ANY OPPOSED? PLEASE SAY NO. NO. OKAY. THE RECORD SHOW. MISS ALVAREZ DISSENTED. ARE THERE ANY ABSTENTIONS? OKAY.

THANK YOU. THE MOTION PASSES. AND YOU KNOW WHAT? WE'LL WE'LL GO. YOU'RE UP NEXT AS WELL. SO WE'LL JUST KEEP YOU IN THE HOT SEAT, AND THEN WE'LL TAKE OUR BREAK RIGHT AFTER YOU'RE DONE.

[D. Decision on Harford County Public Schools ESOL III Program, Ms. Heather Kutcher, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Ms. Chandra Krantz, Ms. Juraj Duracka, and Ms. Erin Steelman]

OKAY. THANK YOU. SO WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON TO ITEM D DECISION ON ENGLISH FOR SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES THREE CURRICULUM. WELCOME BACK. AND YOU HAVE A NEW CREW COMING UP I DO KINDLY INTRODUCE THEM. ABSOLUTELY. ALL RIGHT SO GOOD EVENING AGAIN. SO I AM HERE WITH DOCTOR CHANDRA KRANTZ, OUR SUPERVISOR OF THE OFFICE OF MULTILINGUAL INSTRUCTION AND OUR TWO SPECIALISTS IN THAT OFFICE. MR. URAI IS AT THE END, AND MRS. AARON STEELMAN, THEY'RE IN THE MIDDLE. SO WE WILL BE PRESENTING TO YOU THIS EVENING A NEW COURSE, ENGLISH FOR SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES. THREE. WITH THE INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS WITHIN CPS, A NEED TO OFFER A THIRD HIGH SCHOOL COURSE IN THE ACQUISITION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE

[01:30:03]

HAS ARISEN. THE MAIN INTENT OF THIS COURSE IS TO ENHANCE STUDENTS LANGUAGE ABILITY WITH ACADEMIC AND CONTENT SPECIFIC ENGLISH, AS WELL AS GENERAL ENGLISH. THIS COURSE IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN THE KINDERGARTEN SCIENCE COURSE THAT YOU JUST SAW. IT IS VERY MUCH MORE LEFT OPEN AND THAT'S INTENTIONAL SO THAT TEACHERS CAN CREATE LESSONS BASED ON THE VERY INDIVIDUALIZED NEEDS OF THE STUDENTS IN FRONT OF THEM AT THAT GIVEN YEAR. THIS COURSE IS NOT IN CANVAS, AND TEACHERS BUILD THEIR LESSONS FROM THE CURRICULUM MAP THAT'S BEEN SHARED WITH THE BOARD. THAT MAP WILL BE AVAILABLE ON CPS. ORG IF APPROVED, ALONGSIDE THE MAPS FOR ESOL ONE AND ESOL TWO, DOCTOR KRANTZ WILL NOW PROVIDE MORE CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND FOR THIS NEW COURSE. THANK YOU. GOOD EVENING, SUPERINTENDENT DOCTOR. POINT TO MISS HAHN AND BOARD MEMBERS. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR AFFORDING OUR OFFICE OF MULTILINGUAL INSTRUCTION THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THE NEXT STEP IN OUR ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. SEQUENCE OF LEARNING. THE ESOL ENGLISH FOR SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES PROGRAM IS AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM THAT FOCUSES ON SUPPORTING STUDENTS WHO ARE IDENTIFIED AS ENGLISH LEARNERS OR ELLS. TEACHERS IN THIS PROGRAM USE TEACHING STRATEGIES DIFFERENTIATED FOR EACH STUDENT'S LEVEL OF ENGLISH PROFICIENCY. THESE STRATEGIES ARE USED TO HELP EACH STUDENT REACH ENGLISH PROFICIENCY IN LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING, AND WRITING. ADDITIONALLY, THEY WILL HELP TO HAVE STUDENTS EXPERIENCE SUCCESS IN ACADEMIC CORE SUBJECTS. ELLS NEED TO LEARN AND FUNCTION EFFECTIVELY IN ENGLISH AND WITH ENGLISH WHILE LEARNING CHALLENGING ACADEMIC TASKS. HOWEVER, THE ACADEMIC TASKS NEED TO BE ACCESSIBLE TO ELLS BASED ON THEIR OVERALL ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY LEVEL. THIS NEW ONE CREDIT YEAR LONG ELECTIVE COURSE WILL FOLLOW OUR ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT CURRICULUM SEQUENCE IN THE HIGH SCHOOLS. CURRENTLY, WE OFFER BOTH ESOL ONE AND ESOL TWO TO OUR ENGLISH LEARNERS. THE CURRICULUM SEQUENCE ALIGNS WITH THE ENGLISH PROFICIENCY LEVEL OF STUDENTS. IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE PROFICIENCY LEVEL OF STUDENTS EACH YEAR, ALL ELL STUDENTS TAKE WIDA ACCESS. THIS IS AN ASSESSMENT THAT IS GIVEN TO STUDENTS FROM JANUARY THROUGH MARCH, AND MEASURES THE ENGLISH PROFICIENCY OF EACH STUDENT IN LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING, AND WRITING. EACH STUDENT EARNS AN OVERALL SCORE BETWEEN 1.0 AND 6.0. IF THE STUDENT EARNS A 4.5 OR HIGHER, THEY THEN EXIT DIRECT ELL SERVICES. IF A STUDENT IS NEW TO HC AND DOES NOT HAVE AN ACCESS SCORE, THEY WILL PARTICIPATE IN A WIDA SCREENING ASSESSMENT OF THEIR LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING, AND WRITING, AND THIS SCREENING ASSESSMENT MIRRORS THE WIDA ACCESS. ONCE AN OVERALL PROFICIENCY LEVEL IS DETERMINED, STUDENTS WOULD BE AFFORDED THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENROLL IN THE CORRESPONDING ESOL CLASS. FOR EXAMPLE, STUDENTS SCORING BETWEEN 1.0 AND 1.9 WOULD BE ABLE TO ENROLL IN AN ESOL ONE CLASS IF A STUDENT WERE TO HAVE AN OVERALL PROFICIENCY SCORE OF 2.0 TO 2.9, THEY WOULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR ESOL TWO AND SO ON FOR THE ESOL THREE CLASS THAT WE'RE PROPOSING, IF THEY HAVE A SCORE OF 3.0 TO 3.9. ADDITIONALLY, A STUDENT CAN COMPLETE THE CONTINUUM OF COURSES BY ENROLLING IN AN ESOL ONE CLASS, THEN MATRICULATING TO ESOL TWO AND ESOL THREE AT THE COMPLETION OF THOSE COURSES. YOU'RE RIGHT, OUR STEPS FOR IMPLEMENTATION ARE SUMMARIZED IN THE FOLLOWING TIMELINE. THIS SUMMER, WE PLAN TO MEET WITH TEACHERS WHO WILL BE TEACHING ESOL THREE IN THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR, AND WE WILL PLAN TO PROVIDE THEM TRAINING ON ESOL THREE CURRICULUM. WITH THE START OF THE SCHOOL YEAR THIS FALL, ALL TEACHERS WILL BE ABLE TO PLAN AND DELIVER LESSONS USING OUR CURRICULUM MAP. AND AFTER ABOUT FOUR MONTHS INTO THE SCHOOL YEAR IN EARLY SPRING 2026, WE WILL ELICIT TEACHER FEEDBACK ON ESOL THREE SCOPE AND SEQUENCE. THEN, IN THE SUMMER OF 2026, TEACHERS WILL BE GIVEN TIME TO CREATE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND LESSON PLANS FOR THEIR INCOMING STUDENTS. AND IN THE FALL OF 2026, IMPROVEMENTS TO THE COURSE WILL BE SHARED WITH ELL TEACHERS FOR IMPLEMENTATION. NOW, LET'S FOCUS ON THE BENEFITS OF ESOL THREE IMPLEMENTATION. AS DOCTOR KRANZ EXPLAINED IN THE ESOL THREE DESCRIPTION, THIS COURSE IS DESIGNED FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE IN THE WIDA PROFICIENCY LEVEL RANGE 3.0 TO 3.9. THOSE ARE STUDENTS WHO ARE IN THAT MIDDLE RANGE OF

[01:35:05]

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT CONTINUUM. COMPARED TO LEARNERS WITH LOWER PROFICIENCIES, STUDENTS IN THIS RANGE CAN PROCESS AND PRODUCE MORE LANGUAGE. THEY CAN USE VOCABULARY THAT IS MORE CONTENT SPECIFIC, AND THEY CAN COMMUNICATE THROUGH LANGUAGE WITH BETTER GRAMMAR. SO WE AIM TO AID STUDENT ACADEMIC SUCCESS BY INTEGRATING SPECIFIC CONTENT TOPICS IN ESOL THREE WITH DEDICATED TIME, STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO TRANSITION FROM BASIC LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT TO GAINING ACADEMIC LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY. THE NEW COURSE WILL HELP STUDENTS IMPROVE THEIR COMMUNICATION SKILLS BY SHIFTING FROM EVERYDAY CONVERSATIONAL LANGUAGE TO MORE FORMAL USE OF ENGLISH. STUDENTS WILL REACH LEVELS OF ENGLISH WHERE THEY ARE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR CRITICAL THINKING AND EXPRESS IT IN ACADEMIC WRITING. IN ESOL THREE STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP LANGUAGE ABILITY TO COMPREHEND COMPLEX SUBJECT MATTERS AND TO PARTICIPATE IN THEIR CONTENT CLASSES ALONG WITH THEIR PEERS. AND LASTLY, SUCCESS IN ESOL THREE WILL BOOST STUDENTS SKILLS NEEDED FOR LIFE NOW AND IN THE FUTURE. BETTER LANGUAGE SKILLS WILL HELP THEM COMMUNICATE MORE CONFIDENTLY IN ENGLISH, BOTH IN THE CLASSROOM WITH TEACHERS AND CLASSMATES, AND LATER IN THEIR PROFESSIONAL CAREERS. WE WOULD ALSO LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT THE RELATIONSHIP TO AND IMPACT ON EXISTING CORE CURRICULUM THAT ESOL THREE WILL HAVE. FOR EXAMPLE, ESOL THREE WILL POSITIVELY IMPACT CORE CURRICULUM AREAS BY ENHANCING ENGLISH LEARNERS ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND AND ENGAGE WITH ACADEMIC CONTENT, IT WILL HELP STUDENTS GAIN THE SKILLS NEEDED TO ACCESS COMPLEX TEXTS AND PARTICIPATE IN DISCUSSIONS ACROSS SUBJECTS LIKE MATH, SCIENCE, AND HISTORY. IT WILL PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH A STRONGER FOUNDATION IN LANGUAGE, WHICH ENABLES ENGLISH LEARNERS TO BETTER GRASP ABSTRACT CONCEPTS AND EXPRESS THEIR IDEAS CLEARLY, BOOSTING THEIR PERFORMANCE IN CORE SUBJECT AREAS. IT WILL INTEGRATE LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT WITH SUBJECT SPECIFIC VOCABULARY, HELPING STUDENTS MAKE CONNECTIONS AND RETAIN CONTENT MORE EFFECTIVELY. ULTIMATELY, AN ESOL THREE CURRICULUM WILL FOSTER ACADEMIC SUCCESS ACROSS ALL AREAS BY ENSURING THAT ELL STUDENTS ARE LINGUISTICALLY PREPARED TO MEET RIGOROUS STANDARDS. TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE ESOL THREE CURRICULUM, A MULTIFACETED APPROACH WILL BE USED, INCORPORATING BOTH QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE MEASURES. FIRST, SCORES FROM OUR YEARLY WIDA ACCESS ENGLISH PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT WILL BE ANALYZED BEFORE AND AFTER THE COURSE TO ASSESS IMPROVEMENTS IN LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY, FOCUSING ON LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING AND WRITING DOMAINS. ADDITIONALLY, TEACHERS WILL CONDUCT FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS THROUGH QUIZZES, WRITING SAMPLES, AND CLASS PARTICIPATION TO MONITOR STUDENTS PROGRESS ON SPECIFIC LANGUAGE SKILLS.

STUDENT FEEDBACK WILL ALSO BE COLLECTED THROUGH SURVEYS AND INTERVIEWS WITH STUDENTS TO GAUGE THEIR SELF-PERCEIVED GROWTH AND ENGAGEMENT WITH THE CURRICULUM. LASTLY, PERFORMANCE AND CORE SUBJECT AREAS ON STATE TESTS WILL BE TRACKED TO DETERMINE HOW LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IMPACTS ACADEMIC SUCCESS, WITH PARTICULAR ATTENTION GIVEN TO IMPROVEMENT IN SUBJECT SPECIFIC VOCABULARY AND COMPREHENSION. THIS DATA WILL BE USED TO ADJUST THE CURRICULUM AS NEEDED TO ENSURE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AND ALIGNMENT WITH STUDENT NEEDS. AS WE CONCLUDE OUR REQUEST AND PURPOSE FOR PRESENTING THIS INFORMATION TO YOU THIS EVENING IS TO GAIN YOUR APPROVAL FOR THE FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ESOL THREE CURRICULUM FOR THE 2025 2026 SCHOOL YEAR. THANK YOU. DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATIONS.

WE'LL OPEN IT UP TO THE BOARD FOR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS. QUESTION. WHAT GRADE LEVEL WOULD YOU SAY THE ESOL TWO IF YOU COMPLETED ESOL TWO WHAT GRADE LEVEL WOULD THAT PERSON BE ABLE TO FUNCTION AT? WHAT GRADE LEVEL OF THE STUDENT WHO COMPLETES ESOL TWO. SO THE ALIGNMENT TO GRADE LEVEL IS, IN OUR OPINION, A LITTLE INACCURATE BECAUSE BASED ON PROFICIENCY LEVEL, STUDENTS MAY BE IN GRADE KINDERGARTEN, FIRST GRADE, SECOND GRADE, THIRD GRADE, FOURTH GRADE, FIFTH GRADE, ALL THE WAY TO GRADUATING. HOPEFULLY WE CAN GRADUATE A PROFICIENCY LEVEL ONE OR 2 OR 3 HIGH SCHOOLERS. SO WE HAVE STUDENTS IN ANY GRADE LEVEL WHO MIGHT BE ON PROFICIENCY LEVEL 1.0 TO 4.5. KNOW WHAT I MEAN? IF SOMEONE TOOK THE ESOL TWO CLASS AT THE END OF IT, WHAT LEVEL OF SAY, ENGLISH WOULD YOU SAY THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO DO? WHAT LEVEL OF

[01:40:02]

GRAMMAR, WHAT LEVEL OF? SO THAT WILL BE BASED ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS.

WE THE STANDARDS THERE WILL BE A PROFICIENCY LEVEL THREE. AND THE STANDARDS SAY THAT STUDENTS ON IN ESOL THREE WOULD BE ABLE TO PRODUCE OR USE ENGLISH ON PROFICIENCY IN THE RANGE FROM 3.0 TO 3.9, AND TO BE SPECIFIC TO A PROFICIENCY LEVEL THREE STUDENT, THEY CAN USE GENERAL AND SOME SPECIFIC LANGUAGE OF THE CONTENT AREAS. THEY CAN USE EXPANDED SENTENCES IN ORAL INTERACTION, SOME WRITTEN PARAGRAPHS, AND THEN THEY ALSO STILL NEED VISUALS AND GRAPHIC SUPPORT. BUT THEY'RE KIND OF OUR STUDENTS WHO ARE JUST ON THE CUSP OF BEING PROFICIENCY LEVEL FOUR, WHERE THEY WILL NEED LESS SUPPORT. SO THIS COURSE IS IMPORTANT TO KIND OF GET THEM TO THAT POINT. THEIR CONVERSATIONAL ENGLISH IS QUITE GOOD. HOWEVER, THE ACADEMIC LANGUAGE IS WHERE THE STRUGGLE IS BECAUSE OF THE ACADEMIC AND CONTENT VOCABULARY THAT'S SPECIFIC, AND THAT'S WHY WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE IMPORTANT TO FOCUS ON THIS. YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I'M GETTING AT, HOW THE NEED FOR THIS. BECAUSE IF YOU ONLY GET THROUGH ESOL TWO, THEY STILL HAVE A GOOD SOCIAL ASPECT OF LANGUAGE, BUT IT'S THE CONTENT THAT WE REALLY WANT TO DRIVE HOME. AND THAT'S WHY THE CURRICULUM IS WRITTEN IN SUCH A WAY THAT TEACHERS ARE REALLY WORKING WITH CONTENT TEACHERS, AND THE CONTENT THAT'S OUT THERE TO REALLY SCAFFOLD IT FOR OUR STUDENTS. OKAY. THANK YOU. GRADE LEVELS ARE TRICKY AND ESOL, JUST BECAUSE STUDENTS COME TO US AT ALL DIFFERENT AGES, RIGHT? AND SO WE'RE NOT GOING TO PUT A 14 YEAR OLD IN THIRD GRADE. AND SO IT'S HOW YOU WOULD YOU KNOW. SO WE'RE LOOKING AT YOU KNOW, WHAT THEY'RE ABLE TO MANAGE, WHICH I THINK IS WHAT YOU'RE ASKING. CAN YOU CAN YOU OPERATE AT THIS LEVEL. BUT IT'S DIFFERENT BECAUSE DEPENDING ON THE EDUCATION THEY HAVE BEFORE THEY COME, SOME STUDENTS COME, YOU KNOW, WITH TREMENDOUS KNOWLEDGE, JUST IN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE. YOU KNOW, THEY'LL HAVE A LOT OF CONTENT KNOWLEDGE IN A, IN A, IN A COURSE. AND THAT MIGHT PLAY ITSELF OUT. THEY'RE JUST GOING TO STRUGGLE WITH SOME OF THE CONTENT, YOU KNOW, VOCABULARY AND THINGS LIKE THAT. BUT THEN YOU MAY GET STUDENTS WHO HAVE EITHER INTERRUPTED EDUCATION OR THINGS LIKE THAT WHO COME WITHOUT THE CONTENT KNOWLEDGE.

AND SO WHILE THEY MAY BE CONVERSATIONAL LANGUAGE, THEY ALSO DON'T HAVE ALL THAT CONTENT. SO IT'S ALWAYS KIND OF A TRICK TO SORT OUT, YOU KNOW, WHERE TO PLACE STUDENTS, PARTICULARLY WHEN THEY COME OLDER BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW. IT'S HARD TO ASSESS WHAT THEY HAVE AND WHAT THEY DON'T HAVE. SO IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF AN ART, BUT THIS HELPS. THIS IS ANOTHER TOOL JUST TO GIVE US A BROADER RANGE OF WHO WE'RE SERVING. YEAH. THANK YOU. SO THIS IS FOR HIGH SCHOOL. YES. AND YOU SAID THERE'S STILL TEACHER WORK TO BE DONE THIS SUMMER IN 2025 AND IN 2026. SO THAT MEANS WE STILL HAVE TO PAY TEACHER GROUPS SOME EXTRA HOURS IN, IN, IN THE SUMMER. OR IS THAT COVERED BY OUR 12 MONTH STAFF? TYPICALLY WE WORK ON THIS THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL YEAR. WE MEET MONTHLY AS AN ELL DEPARTMENT, WHICH WE TALK ABOUT CURRICULUM, BEST PRACTICES, PROMISING PRACTICES, SO ON AND SO FORTH. SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD WORK ON THROUGHOUT THE YEAR WITH TEACHERS. SO THERE REALLY IS NO ADDITIONAL COST. OKAY. I MEAN, ON YOUR SLIDE FOUR, IT SAYS SUMMER 2025 ELL TEACHERS PREVIEW AND RECEIVE TRAINING IN SUMMER 2026. THEY'RE GIVEN TIME TO CREATE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES. IN OTHER WORDS, TEACHERS DON'T WORK IN THE SUMMER. SO I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHETHER THIS IS IN THE BUDGET OR NOT.

YES, WE DO HAVE A LINE IN OUR LARGE CURRICULUM, THE WHOLE OFFICE CURRICULUM BUDGET FOR PROJECTS LIKE THIS. SO WE HAVE A VERY LIMITED NUMBER OF THESE TEACHERS WHO MIGHT WORK A VERY LIMITED NUMBER OF HOURS IN THE SUMMER. THIS IS WORK THAT'S PAID AT THE NEGOTIATED RATE. SO IT IS NOT. IT IS A VERY COST EFFECTIVE WAY TO PRODUCE LESSONS BY TEACHERS THAT REALLY CAN BE USED BY THE STUDENTS THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE TEACHING, AND THEY CAN VOLUNTEER IF THEY WANT TO HELP WITH THAT OR WHATEVER, WE WOULD PAY THEM, BUT THEY WOULD GET PAID. THEY WOULD OFFER TO WORK THOSE HOURS IN THE SUMMER. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. THAT'S THAT'S ALL. I HAVE A QUESTION CONCERNING THE I MEAN, THIS IS A UNIQUE DYNAMIC THAT, YOU KNOW, STUDENTS THAT ARE OF OTHER LANGUAGES IS THERE. AND THIS THIS CURRICULUM IS TEACHER STUDENT BASED. BUT IS THERE AN ASPECT OF IT WHERE THE FAMILIES AND THE OUR ARE ENGAGED IN THE LEARNING PROCESS TO DEAL WITH THEIR UNIQUE CULTURE THAT THEY BRING TO THE SCHOOL? MOST CERTAINLY OUR ELL TEACHERS ALL HAVE A CASELOAD OF STUDENTS THAT THEY WORK SPECIFICALLY WITH. PART OF WHAT THEY DO IS ENGAGE WITH FAMILIES REGULARLY. WE ALSO HAVE IMPLEMENTED A STUDENT PORTFOLIO AND STUDENT LED PARENT CONFERENCE INITIATIVE. LAST YEAR WAS OUR FIRST YEAR DOING IT. SO WE BRINGING PARENTS IN AND HAVING STUDENTS EXPLAIN TO THEM WHAT THEY'RE LEARNING, WHAT THEY'RE DOING, WHAT THEIR GOALS ARE. WE ALSO, THROUGH TITLE THREE FUNDING, ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE, WE CALL THEM BLOCK PARTIES, WHERE WE INVITE PARENTS IN TO SHARE CULTURE AND EXPERIENCES WITH OUR STUDENTS SO

[01:45:01]

THAT WE GET AROUND AND DIVERSE WAY OF LOOKING AT EVERYONE'S CULTURE. DO YOU HAVE, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE A NUMBER OF HOW MANY FAMILIES PARTICIPATE. OUT OF ALL OF THE STUDENTS THAT HAVE THAT, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S A IF THERE'S KIND OF A GOOD FEEL FOR WHETHER OR NOT THEY'RE ENGAGING IN THOSE ASPECTS, BECAUSE I KNOW AT OUR AT OUR LISTENING SESSION, WE DID HAVE SOMEBODY FROM THE COMMUNITY THAT WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE STUDENTS FROM OTHER LANGUAGES. WHAT I CAN SAY IS THE BLOCK PARTIES THAT WE HAVE HAD HAVE BEEN VERY WELL ATTENDED BY PARENTS COMING IN DURING THE DAY OR IN THE EVENING. THE STUDENT LED CONFERENCES AND PORTFOLIO PROCESS THAT IS ALSO VERY WELL ATTENDED BY PARENTS. WHENEVER WE OFFER SOMETHING WE HAVE, THEY COME, SO WE APPRECIATE THAT.

GOOD TO HEAR THAT. THANK YOU. ARE WE TARGETING SPECIFIC HIGH SCHOOLS FOR THIS NEXT SCHOOL YEAR? WE HAVE TO LOOK AT ENROLLMENT TRENDS. SO OF COURSE THE SCHOOLS THAT HAVE THE LARGER POPULATION OF STUDENTS IN THE RANGE OF 3.0 TO 3.9 WOULD BE THE ONES THAT WOULD OFFER. OKAY.

OTHER THAN THAT, WE WOULD STILL MOVE THROUGH THINGS LIKE WE DO NOW, WHERE WE WOULD PULL A STUDENT FROM CLASS TO PROVIDE THE SERVICES NEEDED. AND WE'RE USING EXISTING STAFF FOR THIS.

ARE WE HAVING TO HIRE FOR. NO, THIS IS EXISTING STAFF. ALL RIGHT. JUST ONE FINAL QUESTION OUT OF CURIOSITY. SO THOSE THAT IN LIEU OF THIS RIGHT, WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW IF THEY'RE BETWEEN THE THREE AND THE THREE NINE. DO THEY JUST LIKE CAP OUT. NO NO NO NO. SO WHAT IT IS TYPICALLY WHEN WE WORK WITH STUDENTS, WE WOULD PULL THEM IN TO INDIVIDUAL SESSION OR SMALL GROUP SESSION.

SO INSTEAD OF HAVING TO DO THAT WE ACTUALLY HAVE A CLASS FOR THEM SO THAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY GETTING MORE SERVICES IN A DIRECT MANNER WITH PEERS THAT ARE LIKE THEM. ALL RIGHT. I THINK WE'RE READY FOR A VOTE UNLESS THERE'S ANY OTHER QUESTIONS. OKAY. I'LL ACCEPT A MOTION IN A SECOND. PLEASE. TO APPROVE THE ENGLISH FOR SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES THREE I SO MOVE. I SECOND, THANK YOU. ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY YES. YES, YES. ANY OPPOSED? PLEASE SAY NO.

THANK YOU. THE MOTION PASSES. THANK YOU

[E. Decision on New Board Policy: Student Telehealth Access, Mr. Bernard Hennigan, Assistant Superintendent for Student Support Services and Ms. Pamela Smith, Homeless Liaison ]

ON THE AGENDA IS ITEM E DECISION ON STUDENT TELEHEALTH ACCESS. I'D LIKE TO WELCOME MR. BERNARD HENNIGAN, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT FOR STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES. WELCOME, SIR.

GOOD EVENING. SO GOOD EVENING, DOCTOR POINTON. VICE PRESIDENT. DID I SAY DOCTOR POINTON? YES, DOCTOR. PRESIDENT. DOCTOR POINT, YOU HAVE A LOT OF TITLES. VICE PRESIDENT HAHN, DOCTOR BOLSON AND BOARD. I'M HERE TO BRING BACK THE TELEHEALTH POLICY TONIGHT. WE WERE BEFORE YOU LAST MONTH WITH THE ORIGINAL READING OF THE POLICY. WENT OUT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT FOR 30 DAYS, AND NOW WE'RE BACK FOR A VOTE. GREAT. AND THE BOARD HAS HAD TIME TO TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF THE FEEDBACK THAT HAS COME IN. AND THE BOARD HAS DISCUSSED THIS AS WELL, I THINK. AND SO WE'LL OPEN IT UP FOR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS. AND WHERE'S MISS ALVAREZ? YVONNE, CAN YOU JUST RUN BACK AND GRAB HER? THANKS. OKAY. SO HAS IT CHANGED SINCE WHAT WAS ON THE EXHIBIT, THE EXHIBIT OR THE LAST PRESENTATION? THE EXHIBIT THAT WAS POSTED ON FRIDAY IS THE FINAL VERSION I'M BRINGING BEFORE YOU TONIGHT. THERE ARE FOUR EDITS SINCE THE ORIGINAL PROPOSAL, MISS COKER, SOME LANGUAGE IN THE PURPOSE, WHICH WAS GREAT ADDITIONS. THEY'RE SAYING THAT THIS POLICY IS TO SET FORTH THE POSITION AND CRITERIA OF THE BOARD IN THE UNDER DEFINITIONS. IT SAYS FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS POLICY, IT SAID FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROCEDURE. SO THAT WAS A MINOR EDIT THERE. WE ALSO ADDED IN TO BE TO JUST REITERATE, AS WE DID AT THE BOARD MEETING LAST WEEK, THAT PARENTS DO HAVE TO BE A PART OF THIS PROCESS AND MUST BE PRESENT IN PERSON OR VIRTUALLY. AND IN LETTER C, WE ADDED AN A LINK TO THE TELEHEALTH PROCEDURE, WHICH I ALSO SENT TO THE BOARD LAST WEEK. I'M SORRY. I'VE GOT THE LINK TO THE POLICY.

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE POLICY NOW, RIGHT? YES, MA'AM. OKAY. MAYBE THIS IS ONE WHERE MY ONE LINK DIDN'T MATCH THE OTHER ONE. ANYWAY, WE CAN COME BACK TO YOU IF YOU COME BACK FOR SOMETHING.

ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD. YEAH. SO I'M GOING TO ASK THAT WE TABLE THIS. WE HAVE SOME TIME. STILL I KNOW THAT YOU'VE DONE A LOT OF WORK HERE AND I COMMEND YOU ON IT. FOR THE RECORD. AND I KNOW THIS IS STATE IT'S A LAW NOW. RIGHT. AND SO MAYBE OUR HANDS ARE TIED THERE.

THE MAJORITY OF OUR HARFORD COUNTY DELEGATION VOTED AGAINST THIS. RIGHT? I DON'T BELIEVE

[01:50:04]

THAT SCHOOLS SHOULD BE IN THE BUSINESS OF HEALTH CARE. RIGHT. WE ARE SO RESTRAINED IN RESOURCES, RIGHT, THAT OUR FOCUS NEEDS TO BE ON MATH AND READING, NOT FACILITATING DOCTORS APPOINTMENTS FOR KIDS. ALSO TO MENTION, INSURANCE IS NOT THE SAME ACROSS THE BOARD. YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE SOME KIDS WHO ARE ABLE TO DO THIS AND SOME WHO AREN'T, AND THAT'S NOT OKAY. AND SO I JUST WANT A LITTLE MORE TIME TO TALK TO OUR DELEGATION TO SEE WHY THEY VOTED AGAINST IT. HOW CAN WE MAKE A POLICY THAT'S EQUITABLE ACROSS THE BOARD? HOW? I MEAN, DO WE HAVE ADA SPACES IN EVERY MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL TO FACILITATE THIS? RIGHT. WHAT STAFF DO YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE KIDS ARE MAKING DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENTS? IS A STAFF MEMBER GOING TO STAY IN THERE AND MAKE SURE A PARENT JOINS? IT'S I DON'T KNOW. IT'S ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE STATE TELLING US WHAT TO DO WITHOUT GIVING US THE RESOURCES TO DO IT. SO IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE UNTIL JULY 1ST. I'D ASK FOR A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME TO MAKE SURE WE GET THIS RIGHT. IF IT'S SOMETHING WE ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO DO WELL, THAT DOES SEEM TO BE THE THEME COMING OUT OF ANNAPOLIS. UNFORTUNATELY, IF IT'S LAW, IT'S LAW. BUT I APPRECIATE YOUR DESIRE TO WANT TO LOOK INTO IT MORE WITH THE DELEGATION. MY QUESTION WAS GOING TO BE WHEN DOES IT HAVE TO BE IMPLEMENTED BY STATUTE? AND THAT'S THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1ST. OKAY. AND ONE MORE QUESTION. DO WE CONSULT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS AS WE CREATED THIS POLICY? THAT'S ANOTHER THING, RIGHT.

LIKE I'D LIKE TO CONSULT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS. HOW HOW WOULD THEY DO THIS. HOW ARE THEY GOING TO FACILITATE THIS. RIGHT? I MEAN, I THINK MOST OF ALL, I'LL JUST SPEAK FOR MYSELF. I WOULD AGREE WITH YOUR SENTIMENTS, AND THE PURPOSE OF THIS POLICY AND PROCEDURE IS TO MERELY FOLLOW THE LAW. SO I WOULD AGREE THAT WE DON'T HAVE THE MANPOWER AND NECESSARILY THE SPACE TO CARRY THIS OUT, WHICH IS WHY THE PROCEDURE IS VERY CLEAR THAT THE PRINCIPALS HAVE FULL DISCRETION WHETHER TO APPROVE OR DENY THE APPOINTMENTS. SO THIS THIS WHOLE POLICY AND PROCEDURE WAS CREATED BECAUSE THE LAW MANDATED THAT WE DO THAT, NOT BECAUSE WE THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE A NEW INITIATIVE.

WE SHOULD TRY TO START OFF BY SAYING THAT. BUT THAT'S ANOTHER PROBLEM. A PRINCIPAL IS GOING TO APPROVE ONE KID AND NOT ANOTHER. LIKE IT'S JUST FRAUGHT WITH ISSUES. AND SO HOW CAN WE I THINK IT NEEDS MORE TIME IF WE HAVE TO DO IT THAT THAT WE GET IT RIGHT. I AGREE WITH LAUREN.

AND I ALSO BELIEVE THAT. SO IN THIS INSTANCE, FOR ME, HAVING THE TELEHEALTH ACCESS PROCEDURE LINKED TO THE POLICY. IT'S THE BOARD'S JOB TO DICTATE OUR EXPECTATIONS. AND TO BE CLEAR AND CONCISE, WE HAVE OVERSIGHT OF POLICY. WE DO NOT HAVE OVERSIGHT OF PROCEDURE. SO BY LINKING A PROCEDURE TO THE POLICY, I BELIEVE THAT WE ARE YOU KNOW, WE HAVE NO SAY OVER WHAT IS IN THE PROCEDURE. WHAT WE HAVE SAY OVER IS THE POLICY. SO BY LINKING THIS PROCEDURE TO THE POLICY, I FEEL LIKE WE ARE THERE FOR GIVING AWAY OUR OVERSIGHT. AND I DON'T I MEAN, WE WERE ELECTED AND APPOINTED TO DO A JOB AND THAT IS, YOU KNOW, POLICY IS ONE OF THOSE JOBS. SO I, I DON'T LIKE THIS FORMAT. I THINK THAT IF THIS PROCEDURE IS WHAT IS GOING TO BE FOLLOWED AND IF THIS IS WHAT IS REQUESTED THAT WE DO, THAT WE PUT THE FULL PROCEDURE IN THE POLICY LIKE WE DO FOR OTHER THINGS. AND IF THERE'S CHANGES THAT NEED TO BE MADE, THEN COME BACK TO THE BOARD AND WE CAN MAKE THOSE CHANGES, WHATEVER THAT IS. THANK YOU, MISS HAHN. MISS COKER, DID YOU FIND YOUR NOTES? YEAH. OKAY. SO YOU'RE SAYING THAT THE STATEMENT IN THE PURPOSE ADDING WITH PARENT GUARDIAN CONSENT THAT THAT WAS THE CHANGE AT THE TOP OF THE POLICY. IS THAT TRUE.

SO THE TOP OF THE POLICY. YOU HAD SUGGESTED SOME LANGUAGE IN THAT FIRST SENTENCE ALSO CHANGING PROCEDURE TO POLICY AND DEFINITIONS. AND THEN THE PIECE THAT YOU HAD ASKED ME TO ADD, WHICH I THOUGHT WAS A REALLY GOOD POINT, WAS IN TWO B, WHICH SAYS AS LONG AS ALL THE CRITERIA IS MET, INCLUDING THE PRESENCE OF THE PARENT. SO THAT IS CLEARLY STATED IN THE PROCEDURE, BUT YOU WOULD ASK FOR THAT TO BE IN THE POLICY. SO IT DOES NOW STATE THAT THE PARENT MUST BE PRESENT VIRTUALLY OR IN PERSON FOR THE. OKAY, SO YOU DID PUT SOME OF IT IN. OKAY. I'M TRYING TO GO BACK TO WHAT I SENT. AND THERE WAS LIKE SOME OTHER STUFF TOO. SORRY. LET'S SEE. ANYTHING ELSE WHILE SHE'S LOOKING THAT UP. WELL, I KNOW THIS IS MINOR, BUT THERE'S A NUMBERING PROBLEM HERE. YOU'VE GOT ONE, TWO, TWO ARE. I DID HAVE ONE COMMENT THAT I HAD SENT TO YOU VIA EMAIL ABOUT ADDING THAT THE PARENT OR GUARDIAN BE PRESENT AND INVOLVED IN THE APPOINTMENT IN THE FORM

[01:55:01]

THAT THEY HAVE TO SUBMIT A CONSENT FORM. OKAY. YOU DID UPDATE THIS IN THERE. YEAH. SO THE FORM DOES REFLECT THAT. THE PARENT IS ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THEY MUST BE PRESENT. THANK YOU.

AND THE IDEA THAT YOU CAN'T USE THESE FOR SICKNESS THAT CORRECT. YES. THAT WAS ANOTHER PROCEDURE.

YEAH. SO SOMEONE COULD THINK OH I COULD GO TO SCHOOL TODAY EVEN THOUGH I HAVE 102 FEVER AND SEE MY DOCTOR. AND SO WE'RE VERY CLEAR THAT IN THE PROCEDURE THAT THE STUDENT SHOULD NOT BE COMING TO SCHOOL IF THEY OTHERWISE WOULD NOT COME DUE TO ILLNESS. AND WE REALLY ARE HOPING THAT MOST OF THESE APPOINTMENTS DO FOLLOW THE 30 DAY NOTICE. SO PRINCIPALS HAVE TIME TO FIGURE IT OUT. BUT WE ALSO KNOW WE DON'T ALWAYS GET A 30 DAY NOTICE OF A DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT. SO IF THERE'S A SHORT NOTICE AND THAT'S NOT DUE TO AN ILLNESS TO WHICH WE WOULD NOT WANT THE CHILD TO BE IN SCHOOL, THEN PRINCIPALS CAN HAVE THE DISCRETION. BUT YOU'RE SAYING THAT THE SCHOOLS DON'T HAVE THE SPACE OR THE BANDWIDTH TO REALLY DO THIS? WELL, NOT EVERY SCHOOL.

WELL, LET ME LET ME BACK UP. SO THIS IS THE REASON WE ASKED FOR PARENTS TO BE PRESENT IS BECAUSE IF WE DID NOT, WE WERE GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE A STAFF MEMBER SITTING AROUND WAITING FOR THE APPOINTMENT TO END. SO THIS IS WHY PARENTS MUST BE PRESENT, BECAUSE IT'S THEIR JOB TO MONITOR HOW THE APPOINTMENT GOES. WHEN IT'S OVER, CHECK IN WITH THEIR CHILD. THE SPACE PIECE IS SCHOOL BY SCHOOL. YOU GO INTO SOME SCHOOLS, THEY CAN'T FIND A SQUARE TO PUT SOMEONE IN, AND OTHERS DEPENDS ON THE PERIOD OF THE DAY WHEN THEY MAY HAVE AN OPEN CLASSROOM, OR THEY MAY HAVE A ROOM THAT THEY LET THE SCHOOL BASED MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDER BE IN. BUT THEY'RE NOT IN A WEDNESDAY. SO IT'S THAT'S REALLY SCHOOL BY SCHOOL, WHICH IS WHY WE WANT TO GIVE PRINCIPALS THE FULL DISCRETION TO DECIDE ON THIS DAY AT THIS TIME. DO WE HAVE THE SPACE, YES OR NO AND THEN APPROVE OR DENY? BUT EVERY SCHOOL IS REALLY DIFFERENT. HAVE YOU SEEN WHAT ANY OF THE OTHER JURISDICTIONS ARE DOING ON THIS? YEAH. SO I SHARED OUR PROCEDURE WITH ALL THE DIRECTOR OF STUDENT SERVICES ACROSS THE STATE LAST WEEK OR THE WEEK BEFORE, AND MOST OF THEM ARE TAKING OUR LEAD IN MAKING THE PARENT BE PRESENT, AND SOME OF THEM ARE DOING SOME DIFFERENT THINGS. SOME ARE NOT REQUIRING THAT, SOME ARE ONLY WORKING WITH MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS OR PROVIDERS FOR WHICH THEY ALREADY HAVE MOU. SO BUT FOR THE MOST PART, I WOULD SAY FROM THE FEEDBACK I'M GETTING FROM SURROUNDING, NOT SURROUNDING COUNTIES, COUNTIES ACROSS THE STATE, THEY SORT OF TOOK OUR LEAD BECAUSE I WAS PRETTY VOCAL ON OUR PHONE CALLS WITH MSDE EARLY ON IN THE PROCESS. OKAY, WELL THAT'S GOOD, THANK YOU. IT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE THERE'S WE'RE NOT UNDER ANY TIME CONSTRAINTS ON THIS, AND THERE'S STILL SOME STUFF THAT THE BOARD NEEDS TO FIGURE OUT, INCLUDING WHETHER OR NOT THIS BELONGS IN A. I'LL GET TO YOU ONE SECOND. SORRY, WHETHER OR NOT YOU KNOW, THE BOARD IS OKAY WITH HAVING POLICIES THAT LINK TO PROCEDURES. SO IN LIEU OF I'M SORRY, I HAVEN'T HEARD WHAT HE'S GOING TO SAY YET. WHAT MR. SEWELL'S GOING TO SAY YET. BUT MY RECOMMENDATION WAS GOING TO BE THAT I LOOK TO PUT A WORKING BOARD MEETING, WHICH I WAS LOOKING TO DO ANYWAY, NEXT MONTH, IN LIEU OF ONE OF THE PUBLIC BOARD MEETINGS WHERE THE BOARD COULD DISCUSS THIS FURTHER. BUT, MR. SOULE. YEAH, THANKS. SO I GUESS WE WANT TO JUST COME BACK AND LOOK AT WHY WHY DID THE LEGISLATURE DO THIS? LIKE WHAT WERE THEY TRYING TO ADDRESS? AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WE'RE THEY WERE TRYING TO ADDRESS STUDENT ABSENTEEISM, BASICALLY DISRUPTING THE SCHOOL DAY. SO WHEN PARENTS HAVE TO PICK UP THEIR CHILDREN FOR APPOINTMENTS, YOU KNOW, TAKE THEM OUT OF SCHOOL HALF HOUR, GO TO THE APPOINTMENT, GET THE APPOINTMENT EARLY SO YOU'RE THERE, THEN THE DOCTOR MAY BE RUNNING LATE, THAT TYPE OF THING. AND THEN AT THE APPOINTMENT AND THEN BRINGING THEM BACK, AND ALSO TO TRY TO ADDRESS THE MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS THAT'S KIND OF PLAGUING OUR SCHOOLS, RIGHT? THE GROWTH IN MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES AND TRYING TO BE MORE PROACTIVE TO PROVIDE, YOU KNOW, THOSE OPPORTUNITIES. A LOT OF THESE APPOINTMENTS ARE DURING THE DAY, DURING THE SCHOOL DAY. SO THIS IS REALLY JUST A WAY TO EASE THAT, YOU KNOW, DISRUPTION OF THE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT. AM I GETTING THAT RIGHT? IS THIS I BELIEVE SO, YEAH. I MEAN, I KNOW OF ONE KINDERGARTNER IN OUR DISTRICT THAT LEAVES EVERY DAY AND GOES TO TIMONIUM FOR MENTAL HEALTH APPOINTMENTS. SO I'M GUESSING HE MISSES THREE HOURS A DAY, THREE HOURS A WEEK TO GO TO THAT MENTAL HEALTH APPOINTMENT.

SO I THIS IS WHY I TRULY BELIEVE OUR PROCEDURE STRIKES THE BEST BALANCE BETWEEN WHAT WE'RE BEING TOLD WE CAN DO AND WHAT WE HAVE THE LATITUDE TO DO. FOR INSTANCE, HAVING THE PARENTS BE THERE INSTEAD OF THE ONE OF OUR SCHOOL COUNSELORS OR PSYCHOLOGISTS OR WHOMEVER IS SITTING THERE WAITING FOR THE APPOINTMENT TO END AND THEN CHECKING IN TO MAKE SURE THE CHILD'S OKAY AFTERWARDS. SO AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO DO THIS LEGISLATION SESSION IS OVER AND NOTHING HAS CHANGED. SO IT'S ABOUT HOW WE DO IT. AND I REALLY THINK THAT WE

[02:00:02]

HAVE DEVELOPED A PROCEDURE THAT PUTS THE LEAST BURDEN ON OUR STAFF AND ESPECIALLY OUR ADMINISTRATORS. IT'S JUST ADDRESS SO THE STUDENTS CAN BE IN THE CLASSROOM AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE. YEAH, I MEAN, I WAS AT THE DOCTOR TODAY. I WAS THERE FOR ABOUT EIGHT MINUTES, BUT IF I HAD TO DRIVE AN HOUR TO JOHNS HOPKINS FOR AN EIGHT MINUTE APPOINTMENT AND THEN BACK, YOU KNOW THAT CHILD'S GOING TO MISS 2.5 HOURS OF SCHOOL FOR AN EIGHT MINUTE APPOINTMENT. AND SO I DO THINK THAT'S THE THAT'S THE PURPOSE BEHIND IT. BUT WE ALSO CAN'T SAY CARTE BLANCHE. ANYBODY SEES THEIR DOCTOR ANYTIME THEY WANT AND WE'LL MAKE IT HAPPEN. SO THAT'S WHY WE REALLY WANTED TO PUT THESE PROCEDURES IN PLACE TO MAKE IT SO THE ADMINISTRATORS HAVE FULL DISCRETION. THANK YOU.

I STILL HAVE A PROBLEM WITH YOU KNOW, YOU SAY THE PURPOSE OF THE POLICY IS TO SET FORTH THE POSITION AND THE CRITERIA. THEN LATER IT SAYS THE CRITERIA FOR THIS ARE IN THE PROCEDURE. SO I THINK YOU'VE GOT ALL THE RIGHT STUFF BETWEEN THE POLICY AND THE PROCEDURE. BUT THE CRITERIA NEEDS TO BE IN THE POLICY A LITTLE MORE SPECIFIC THAN JUST THE ONES THAT YOU HAVE AND NOT NOT TO DEFER TO THE PROCEDURE FOR CRITERIA. SO I WOULD REWORK THAT. AGAIN. IT'S THE SAME. I DON'T DISAGREE WITH ANYTHING YOU SAY HERE, BUT I DO AGREE WITH YOU, LAUREN, ABOUT WANTING TO FIND OUT MORE BEFORE WE WOULD APPROVE THIS. SO IF WE MAKE SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES TO THIS, IT WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK UP FOR 30 DAYS. AND SO WE DO. WE NEED TO HAVE A POLICY IN PLACE BY JULY 1ST. IS THAT WHAT ACCORDING TO LEGISLATION? OKAY. SO JUST TO KIND OF, YOU KNOW, LOOK LOOK FORWARDS, YOU KNOW. YEAH I MEAN I WAS GOING TO CHANGE ONE OF THE MEETINGS NEXT MONTH TO A WORKING MEETING WHERE I FEEL LIKE WE COULD PROBABLY WORK ON THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE COLLABORATIVELY, WHICH WOULD STILL GIVE US THE TIME THEN TO APRIL, MAY. WE WOULD STILL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO POST IT RIGHT AFTER THAT AND THEN GET 30 DAYS OF NOTICE. SO, I MEAN, I JUST I DON'T THINK IT'S GOING TO THERE'S TOO MANY ISSUES RIGHT NOW. SO I'LL ACCEPT THE MOTION IN A SECOND TO TABLE THIS. THIS IS LAUREN. I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO TABLE THIS. THIS IS MELISSA. DID I SECOND ALL IN FAVOR. PLEASE SAY YES. YES, YES. ANY OPPOSED? PLEASE SAY NO. NO NO ANY. I'M SORRY. WHAT WAS YOUR VOTE. YEAH. NO. NO OKAY. THREE KNOWS ABOUT POLICY ELBERS. SHOULD WE DO A ROLL CALL? YEAH.

LET'S DO A ROLL CALL. VOTE. MRS. ALVAREZ. YES, MISS. BRUCE? NO. MRS. KOCHER. YES, DOCTOR.

MUELLER. NO. MISS. PAZUKI. YES. MRS. PERRY? NO. MR. SEWELL. NO. MISS STRAUSS. YES, VICE PRESIDENT. HAHN. YES. PRESIDENT. BOYNTON. YES. SIX FOUR. OKAY, SO I'LL GET BACK WITH THE BOARD AS TO WHEN WE LOOK TO DO THE THAT SESSION WHERE WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS IN A DIFFERENT SETTING.

OKAY. SO YOU'RE STILL HERE, MR. PRESIDENT? YES, SURE. ARE WE TABLING POLICY OR THE PROCEDURE? BECAUSE MY UNDERSTANDING IS THE PROCEDURE UP TO THE STAFF. SO WHY ARE WE TABLING OR WE'RE TABLING THE POLICY WHICH LINKS TO THE PROCEDURE. SO THE PROCEDURE IS NOT IN EFFECT UNTIL THE POLICY IS PASSED. SO ARE WE GOING TO BE MAKING CHANGES TO THE. ARE WE GOING TO BE MAKING CHANGES TO THE PROCEDURE. I'M SORRY. GIVE ME GIVE ME ONE SECOND. SO THIS POLICY THIS PROCEDURE IS LINKED TO THE POLICY. SO ARE YOU SAYING THAT THE POLICY, THE PROCEDURE IS IN EFFECT WITHOUT HAVING A POLICY. SO THERE'S LOTS OF PROCEDURES THAT DON'T HAVE AN ACCOMPANYING POLICY. THIS ONE'S A BIT UNIQUE, ISN'T IT? BECAUSE THE LAW REQUIRES A POLICY. CORRECT. SO IF WE DON'T HAVE A POLICY THAT'S THE CASE. BUT THE ADMINISTRATION CAN FROM AN OPERATIONAL STANDPOINT, IF THERE'S A NEED TO HAVE A TELEHEALTH PROCEDURE, IT CAN BE CREATED AND IT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED. THE TELEHEALTH PROCEDURE WOULDN'T WOULDN'T SATISFY THE STATUTORY REQUIREMENT, WOULD IT? NO. IF THEY REQUIRE A POLICY, IT HAS TO BE A POLICY. THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THE PROCEDURE COULDN'T BE EXIST AND BE IMPLEMENTED. BUT THE PROCEDURE IS NOT IN PLACE, AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE INTENT IS WITH THE. SO YEAH, I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY THIS IS ALL NEW INFORMATION OVER THE LAST FEW MINUTES, BUT MY INTENT WOULD BE TO PROTECT OUR SUPERINTENDENT AND CARRY OUT THIS PROCEDURE AS WE'RE DICTATED TO BY THE LEGISLATION. SO IF THERE IS NO POLICY, WE WILL STILL CARRY OUT THE PROCEDURE. SO THE SUPERINTENDENT IS IN LINE WITH LEGISLATION. THEY WOULDN'T BE DOING IT BEFORE JULY 1ST, CORRECT? NO NEXT SCHOOL YEAR.

BUT JUST TO BE CLEAR, THE PROCEDURE ALONE DOESN'T SATISFY THE STATUTORY REQUIREMENT. SO WE WOULD STILL NEED A POLICY. AND SO I THINK THERE'S STILL A COUPLE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES. AND IF THERE'S NO TIME CRUNCH, I ALWAYS DEFER TO GIVING THE BOARD THE TIME THAT THEY NEED TO MAKE

[02:05:01]

AN INFORMED DECISION. AND I THINK THAT WE COULD PROBABLY DIG INTO SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS AND MAKE A MORE INFORMED DECISION IN A DIFFERENT IN A DIFFERENT SETTING. AND I THINK THERE'S STILL THERE'S THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION OF, YOU KNOW, DOES THE BOARD WANT TO BE IN THE PRACTICE OF CREATING POLICIES THAT ARE BASICALLY SHELLS THAT LINK TO PROCEDURES? I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S SOME BENEFITS TO THAT IN THE FORM THAT A PROCEDURE CAN BE CHANGED FAIRLY, YOU KNOW, QUICKLY AS CONDITIONS CHANGE. BUT TO MISS HAHN'S POINT, YOU KNOW, IS IT A WAY OF USURPING THE BOARD'S AUTHORITY? AND WHEN I SAY BOARD, I MEAN THE BOARD AND THE PUBLIC'S AUTHORITY, BECAUSE YOU WAIVE CERTAIN THINGS, SUCH AS 30 DAYS IN PUBLIC COMMENT, SHOULD THERE BE A CHANGE IN A PROCEDURE, THE ADMINISTRATION COULD UNILATERALLY, YOU KNOW, MAKE THAT CHANGE? AND I BELIEVE THAT IF THE LEGISLATURE INTENDED FOR THIS TO BE A PROCEDURE, THEY PROBABLY WOULD HAVE USED THE LANGUAGE PROCEDURE, BUT THEY SPECIFICALLY USED THE TERM POLICY, WHICH MEANS THAT THEY WERE PUTTING THE POWER IN THE BOARD INTO THE PEOPLE. AND SO I THINK THAT'S STILL NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED. AND AGAIN, I THINK THERE'S A DIFFERENT SETTING TO DO THAT. SO MISS BRUCE, GO AHEAD. I GUESS THAT'S THE POINT. I THOUGHT THAT, YOU KNOW, WE WERE LOOKING AT THE POLICY AND THEN THE BOARD WANTED TO HAVE THE PROCEDURE BECAUSE WE SAID THAT SHOULD BE IN THE PROCEDURE. I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WE'RE GOING TO BE JUST LOOKING AT THE POLICY. THIS PROCEDURE AS PRESENTED TONIGHT, CAN BE PUT IN PLACE BY A IT COULD, BUT I DON'T THINK THEY'RE GOING TO BECAUSE THERE'S NO REQUIREMENT FOR IT RIGHT NOW. AND I THINK THAT THIS IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS. SO DO YOU INTEND ON PUTTING THIS PROCEDURE IN PLACE WITHOUT A POLICY NEXT SCHOOL YEAR? SO WE'LL TRAIN ADMINISTRATORS IN AUGUST AND START IN SEPTEMBER.

OKAY. YEAH. IT HAS TO BE DONE BY JULY 1ST, 2025. SO THERE'S REALLY TWO PIECES TO THIS. ONE IS THE LEGISLATION THAT WE ACTUALLY DO THE ACTION. AND THE SECOND IS THAT WE HAVE A POLICY.

IT'S IT SOUNDS FEASIBLE THAT JULY 1ST COULD COME AND WE DON'T HAVE A POLICY, BUT AS OF THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, WE WILL HAVE A PROCEDURE WHICH WE WILL BE ENACTING. I THINK WE'LL HAVE

[F. Decision on Proposed, Revised, and Renamed Board Policy 02-OO006-000 MckKinney-Vento Education Program, Mr. Bernard Hennigan, Assistant Superintendent for Student Support Services and Ms. Pamela Smith, Homeless Liaison ]

A POLICY. AND SO THIS HAS BEEN TABLED. SO I THINK WE'RE GOOD. WE'LL MOVE ON OKAY. SO WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON TO ITEM F WHICH IS DECISION ON EXCUSE ME. PROPOSED REVISE AND RENAME BOARD POLICY 02-0006 MCKINLEY VENTO EDUCATION PROGRAM. WELCOME BACK. ALL RIGHT. SO WELCOME, MISS PAM SMITH, OUR MCKINNEY-VENTO HOMELESS EDUCATION LIAISON TO THE TABLE. AND SO WE BROUGHT THIS POLICY FORTH THE SAME NIGHT AS THE TELEHEALTH POLICY, I BELIEVE, ONLY SAW TWO PUBLIC COMMENTS. AND SO WE'RE BRINGING IT BACK AT THIS POINT WITH NO CHANGES FOR A VOTE. DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY OR ARE YOU JUST HERE FOR THE WING WOMAN TONIGHT? SHE'S THE EXPERT, SO SHE'LL ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO SAY TO THE BOARD OR YOU HAD A GREAT PRESENTATION LAST TIME, SO I APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU. IT'S JUST THE UPDATE AND THE CHANGES SO THAT WE CAN FURTHER SUPPORT THE STUDENTS WHO ARE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS. OKAY. WE'LL OPEN IT UP IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS. BASED ON THE PUBLIC COMMENTS THAT WE DID RECEIVE. I DO AGREE WITH A FEW OF THEM. IS THERE ANY SORT OF REPORT THAT WE RECEIVE NOTIFYING US OF THE STUDENTS THAT HAVE UTILIZED THE SERVICES THROUGH THIS PROVIDED MONTHLY REPORT TO STUDENT SERVICES AND TITLE ONE OFFICE, AS WELL AS THE COMMUNITY PARTNERS, BUT NOT TO THE BOARD? OKAY. IS THERE SOME LIKE WHEN YOU'RE NOTIFIED OR WHEN WHOEVER IS NOTIFIED THAT A STUDENT IS HOMELESS, IS THERE ANY EFFORT TO REACH OUT TO THE PARENTS TO VERIFY THEIR STATUS, AND THAT THE PARENT WANTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROGRAM? I'M NOT SURE WHY THEY WOULD WANT NOT TO, BUT, YOU KNOW, TO GIVE THE PARENT THE OPTION TO SAY, YOU KNOW, NO, WE DON'T WANT TO DO THIS OR WHATEVER. IS THAT? IS THERE A PROCESS WHERE THERE'S A TIME FRAME THAT WE HAVE TO NOTIFY THE PARENTS BY THAT? HEY, THIS PROGRAM EXISTS AND WE WOULD LIKE TO ENROLL YOUR CHILD, HAVE A PARENT SIGN OFF AND AGREE. WELL, THE PROCESS IS THAT MOST OF THE TIME THE PARENTS ARE THE ONES WHO ARE SELF IDENTIFIED AND COMING AND MEETING AND SCHEDULING AN APPOINTMENT WITH OUR PUPIL PERSONNEL WORKERS IN ORDER TO COMPLETE THE PAPERWORK TO IDENTIFY THEY ARE AWARE OF THE PROGRAM. IT IS POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE AND IT'S VERY DETAILED ON WHAT THE LAW IS AND WHAT THE PROCEDURE IS AND WHO TO CONTACT IN THE PROCESS. INFORMATION IS POSTED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY WITH INFORMATION TO PROVIDE WHO TO GET IN CONTACT WITH. IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS.

AND I'LL ADD TO THAT. SO WE HAVE FOUR OF OUR WONDERFUL PEOPLE IN THE BACK HERE. SO YEAH, PARENTS

[02:10:02]

DO HAVE TO CONSENT TO THIS. AND PART OF IT IS A CONVERSATION ABOUT WHERE THE CHILD WILL GO TO SCHOOL IF THEY NEED TRANSPORTATION. DO THEY NEED THESE OTHER RESOURCES. SO THE ONLY TIME A PARENT WOULDN'T BE INVOLVED IS IF WE HAVE SOMEONE, WHAT'S CALLED AN UNACCOMPANIED YOUTH, AND THAT WOULD BE A CHILD WHO'S NOT LIVING WITH THE PARENT. SO IT MIGHT BE A 17 YEAR OLD WHO'S TRULY ON THEIR OWN, PARENTS UNAVAILABLE. BUT IT'S NOT. WE DON'T DEEM STUDENTS AS MCKINNEY-VENTO WITHOUT THE PARENTS AGREEING. AND AGAIN, THEY ALSO HAVE TO BE PART OF THE DECISION MAKING OF WHERE THE CHILD IS GOING TO GO TO SCHOOL AND SUCH. YES. THANK YOU. I HAVE A QUESTION. CAROL. BRUCE. ON QUESTION NUMBER NINE ON THE SLIDE SAYS DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES AND ACTIONS WILL CONSIDER A STUDENT'S HOMELESS STATUS. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THAT TO ME? YES. THEY LOOK AT THE ATTENDANCE OF THE STUDENT AND THE REASON WHY THAT THEY'RE BEING DISCIPLINED. THE NEW LEGISLATION WILL BE COMING ABOUT DISCUSSING HOW WE HANDLE STUDENTS WHO ARE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS. THEY'RE LOOKING AT IT HAS TO BE AN EXTREME, EGREGIOUS ACT IN ORDER TO DETERMINE IF THE STUDENT SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM SCHOOL DUE TO THAT DISCIPLINARY MEASURE, THAT SUSPENSION IS WARRANTED. SO, I MEAN, WHAT WHAT IMPACT WILL THAT HAVE ON THE DISCIPLINARY ACTION? I GUESS THAT'S MY QUESTION. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, IF A CHILD, FOR INSTANCE, TALKS BACK OR SOMETHING OR YOU KNOW WHAT, WHAT WOULD YOU THINK? WELL, I CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO THAT CHILD BECAUSE HE'S HOMELESS. IS THAT WHAT I'M UNDERSTANDING? NO, IT IS OKAY. THEY ARE FOLLOWED AND DISCIPLINE, JUST LIKE ANY OTHER STUDENT. IF THEY COMMIT AND BREAK A RULE, I WOULD JUST ADD TO THAT TOO. I THINK THIS GOES BEYOND HOMELESSNESS AND THAT OUR ADMINISTRATORS AND I'M GOING TO JUST REFER TO WHAT I'M GOING TO CALL LOWER LEVEL BEHAVIORS, YOU KNOW, AND SO THEY HAVE TO REALLY THINK ABOUT WHAT THAT DAY IS GOING TO BE LIKE FOR THAT CHILD.

SO FOR INSTANCE, A CHILD WHO MIGHT BE HOMELESS, WHO'S SUSPENDED FOR TWO DAYS MAY NOT BE EATING, MAY BE IN A SHELTER, SO THEY MAY OPT FOR SOMETHING LIKE AN IN-SCHOOL SUSPENSION WHERE THEY'RE IN A ROOM DOING THEIR WORK WITH SOMEBODY. BUT AT LEAST THEY'RE GETTING THEIR BREAKFAST, THEY'RE GETTING THEIR LUNCH, THEY'RE NOT IN THE SHELTER OR IN THE SITUATION THEY'RE IN. SO AND AGAIN, I'M TALKING ABOUT MORE LOWER LEVEL BEHAVIORS. EGREGIOUS ACTS ARE WHAT THEY ARE. AND CONSEQUENCES WILL BE IMPLEMENTED REGARDLESS OF THAT STATUS. BUT I THINK OUR ADMINISTRATORS MAKE, YOU KNOW, DOCTOR BOLSON TALKS ABOUT TEACHERS MAKING DECISIONS EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY, AND ADMINISTRATORS HAVE TO DO THE SAME WITH MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT WHAT'S THE IMPACT BEYOND OUR SCHOOL TO A SUSPENSION FOR A CHILD. AND AGAIN, WHEN YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT SOMEONE WHO MIGHT HAVE A TWO HOUR BUS RIDE BACK TO BALTIMORE COUNTY OR MIGHT BE LIVING IN A SHELTER, OR MIGHT BE, YOU KNOW, TEN PEOPLE IN A TWO BEDROOM APARTMENT, THEY'VE GOT TO CONSIDER WHAT THAT SITUATION IS GOING TO BE FOR THAT CHILD IF THEY'RE NOT IN THE BUILDING AGAIN, FOR LOWER LEVEL BEHAVIORS. COULD WE REFERENCE THE DISCIPLINARY REFERENCES IN THERE SOMEWHERE IN ACCORDANCE WITH. SO WE WOULD TELL SOMEONE TO GO AND LOOK AND SEE. MISS BRUCE. I'M NOT SURE WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT NUMBER NINE ON THE SLIDE WHAT YOU'RE REFERENCING.

WE DON'T HAVE A SLIDE IN FRONT OF US. YEAH, IT'S ON A SLIDE. IT'S ON THE IT'S IN THE POLICY UNDER UNDER THREE. UNDER THE GUIDELINES IT SAYS NUMBER NINE DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES AND ACTIONS OKAY. THREE NINE WILL CONSIDER A STUDENT'S HOMELESS STATUS. SO I THINK THAT WAS YES WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT. THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. AND CAN YOU CLARIFY YOUR ASK FOR THAT. I'M SORRY I'M TRYING TO LINK WHAT HOW THE TWO THINGS AFFECT ONE ANOTHER. AND IF I'M LOOKING AT THIS POLICY AND THERE IS A CHILD THAT MAY BE SENT HOME FOR SOME REASON, WOULD IT NOT? AND THEY'RE HOMELESS. SO I WAS JUST ASKING A REFERENCE IN HERE SO YOU'D KNOW WHERE TO GO. A REFERENCE TO THIS POLICY IN OUR DISCIPLINE. POLICY. YES. LINKING THE TWO. SO, SO WHERE IT SAYS DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES YOU KNO, WILL CONSIDER LIKE CAN WE JUST ADD WHAT THE REFERENCE AT THE BOTTOM AND WHAT THE PROCEDURE. I THINK ACTUALLY I THINK WHAT MISS BRUCE IS ASKING FOR IS DOES OUR STUDENT HANDBOOK, WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT DISCIPLINE, IS THERE ANY ACKNOWLEDGMENT KNOWLEDGEMENT IN THE STUDENT HANDBOOK THAT POINTS AN ADMINISTRATOR BACK TO THE POLICY? IS THAT CORRECT, MISS BRUCE? YES. AND WHAT WHEREVER IT IS THAT YOU CAN MAKE THE CONNECTION TO. YEAH, I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT, BUT I'LL DO SOME DIGGING TO SEE IF WE HAVE THIS ON THE OTHER SIDE IN THE DISCIPLINE POLICY OR IN THE HANDBOOK. OKAY. THANK YOU, THANK YOU. EITHER WAY, THAT WOULD NOT AFFECT THIS POLICY. RIGHT. SO NO CHANGES THEN. THAT WOULD BE. YEAH. THE OTHER SIDE

[02:15:06]

WOULD BE REFERENCING IT IN THE STUDENT HANDBOOK. ALL RIGHT. SO IF YOU COULD JUST CHECK BACK AND WHEN YOU REPLY YOU CAN SHARE IT WITH ME, I'LL SHARE IT TO THE ENTIRE BOARD AS WELL. BUT AGAIN THAT WOULDN'T MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE POLICY. SO ANYTHING ELSE? ARE WE READY FOR A VOTE? YEAH.

DID YOU SEE ANYTHING IN THE PUBLIC COMMENT THAT YOU WOULD HAVE CHANGED, WHETHER IT HAD TO DO WITH ACCOUNTABILITY OR USE OF THE FUNDS, YOU KNOW, BEING ABLE TO WITHSTAND AUDITS? IS THERE ANYTHING IN THERE THAT YOU THINK WE SHOULD CHANGE IN THE POLICY? NO. NO. SO OUR FUNDING COMES IN PART THROUGH GRANTS AND PART WELL, TITLE ONE IS A GRANT, BUT IN PART THROUGH TITLE ONE AND PART THROUGH OTHER GRANTS THAT WE GET. AND, YOU KNOW, MISS SMITH DOES AN AMAZING JOB OF TRYING TO ALLOCATE THOSE RESOURCES APPROPRIATELY, WHETHER IT BE PAYING FOR A HOTEL FOR THE NIGHT, GETTING TUTORING, GETTING COUNSELING, GETTING CLOTHING, WHATEVER IT MIGHT BE FOR OUR STUDENTS, ALSO SUPPLYING OUR PEOPLE WITH THE RESOURCES THEY NEED. SO WE HAVE NO CONCERN AT THIS TIME ABOUT THE USE OF THOSE FUNDS. OKAY, SO I'LL ACCEPT A MOTION IN A SECOND TO APPROVE PROPOSED, REVISED AND RENAMED BOARD POLICY 020006. EL BRUCE. SO MOVED. I SECOND, THANK YOU.

ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY YES. YES YES YES. ANY OPPOSED? PLEASE SAY NO. THANK YOU. THE MOTION

[G. Decision on Proposed Revised, Renamed Board Policy 02-0039-000 Search and Seizure, Mr. Donoven Brooks, Supervisor of Safety and Security and Kimberly H. Neal, Esq., General Counsel ]

PASSES. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. THANK YOU. OKAY SO MOVING ON TO ITEM G. DECISION ON PROPOSED RENAMED REVISED AND RENAMED BOARD POLICY 020039 SEARCH AND SEIZURE. WELCOME. MR. DONOVAN BROOKS, SUPERVISOR OF SAFETY AND SECURITY. AND MISS KIMBERLY NEILL, GENERAL COUNSEL. WELCOME.

GOOD EVENING. BOARD. WE ARE BACK BEFORE YOU WITH THE SEARCH AND SEIZURE POLICY, WHICH WAS A NEW POLICY PRESENTED. WELL, IT HAD BEEN UPDATED FROM A DIFFERENT POLICY ABOUT STUDENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES THAT WAS PRESENTED MORE THAN 30 DAYS AGO. WE DID POST THIS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AND RECEIVED ONE COMMENT WHICH HAS BEEN CONSIDERED. AND AGAIN, THIS WAS ALSO A POLICY THAT WAS VETTED BY OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT PARTNERS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY AND SOME CHANGES ACTUALLY HAD BEEN MADE PRIOR TO SUBMITTING IT TO YOU ALL IN THE BEGINNING, AS A RESULT OF FEEDBACK FROM THE LAW ENFORCEMENT PARTNERS. SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THEY ALSO SUPPORT FOR US TO BE ABLE TO HAVE IN PLACE AND IMPLEMENT TO KEEP OUR SCHOOLS SAFE. GREAT. ANYTHING ON THAT. SO BEFORE YOU TONIGHT FOR A VOTE ON THE POLICY AS PRESENTED, WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU RECEIVED FROM THE PUBLIC THAT WAS NOTEWORTHY? THERE WAS ONE COMMENT. I MEAN, I DON'T WANT TO SAY IT WASN'T NOTEWORTHY. IT WAS IT WAS CONSIDERED. AND I DON'T KNOW IF MR. BROOKS WANTS TO. I MEAN, WHEN I READ THROUGH IT, I WASN'T SURE IF ANYTHING ELSE HAD COME THROUGH. OH, YEAH. NO, IT WAS JUST THE ONE. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT HOW THE POLICY WILL BE IMPLEMENTED AND THE WAY THAT THE LAW ENFORCEMENT PARTNERS ARE PART OF THIS AND WHATNOT, THESE WEREN'T NECESSARILY ISSUES RAISED. THEY'RE THEY'RE ALREADY KIND OF COVERED, I GUESS IS MAYBE ONE WAY TO EXPLAIN IT. THE CONCERN WAS WHETHER THEY WHETHER A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER CAN SEARCH THE KID'S CELL PHONE, IS THAT IT RELATED TO CELL PHONES? YES. WHAT IS THE TRAINING AND SORT OF JUST UPDATE TO ADMINISTRATORS ON ANY CHANGES IN THIS POLICY. IS THERE A PLAN TO GET THAT DONE IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS OR. NO, WE ACTUALLY PUT IT TOGETHER. WE ACTUALLY HAVE A MEETING THIS WEEK BECAUSE WE'RE PUTTING TOGETHER THE TRAINING SO THAT ADMINISTRATORS CAN HAVE A FORMAL TRAINING, BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO TRACK PREVIOUSLY WHETHER OR NOT THERE WAS A FORMAL TRAINING. SO THAT'LL HAPPEN THIS WEEK. YEP. WE'RE DEVELOPING THAT THAT TRAINING OKAY. IS THE INTENT FOR THE SEARCHER TO BE THE SSL. THE INTENT IS FOR THE SEARCHER TO BE SSL AND OR AN ADMINISTRATOR AS A PRINCIPAL, ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL OR SCHOOL SAFETY EMPLOYEE. YES.

SO WAS THIS A PREVIOUS POLICY FROM 2004, OR IS THERE JUST A TYPO IN THE TOP LINES THERE? YEAH, THIS IS AN UPDATED POLICY FROM 2004 WITH THE NAME CHANGE. OKAY. SO YOU WOULD YOU JUST HAVE TO LOOK AT THE TOP, GET THE DATE STRAIGHT. IT SAYS 2004 RIGHT NOW OKAY. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE DATE. IT'S 2004. BUT THAT THAT WAS THE LAST. THAT WAS THE LAST. THAT'S CORRECT. YEAH. YEAH I

[02:20:01]

DON'T THINK IT IT'S A 20 YEAR OLD AND IT'S A NEW ONE AND IT'LL BE IT'LL HAVE TODAY'S DATE IF IT IN FACT. OH YEAH. SO YEAH. SO THE NEWER VERSION OF THIS WILL HAVE TODAY. IT'LL BE UPDATED.

YEAH I SEE YEAH. YEAH. BUT IT IS YOU KNOW 20 YEAR OLD POLICY DUSTY ONES SO NEEDED TO BE UPDATED. CAROL BRUCE, I HAVE A QUESTION IN ITEM I, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAUGHT THIS, KIMBERLY OR NOT, BUT THE FIRST SENTENCE IS REPEATED TWICE. WHERE ARE WE? ARE YOU IN THE POLICY? PAGE THREE. YEAH. OKAY. SO PAGE THREE OF SIX. ITEM I. WHAT WHAT IS THE SENTENCE DURING THE SEARCH I GOT IT OKAY. YEP. SO IF WE COULD JUST MAKE THAT CHANGE NON-SUBSTANTIVE HAPPY TO MAKE ANYTHING SHORTER. SO THAT'S GREAT. YEAH, I JUST I MEAN, I JUST WANT TO LET YOU KNOW I DID READ IT. I WANTED TO SEE IF IT HAD CHANGED. OKAY. THANK YOU. I MAKE THEM LONGER. YES. A-PLUS.

ALL RIGHT. GREAT. WELL, LET US KNOW HOW THE TRAINING GOES. OKAY. IF THERE'S NO OTHER QUESTIONS, THIS IS A TIME FOR A VOTE. OKAY, I'LL ACCEPT A MOTION AND A SECOND, PLEASE. TO APPROVE PROPOSED REVISE AND RENAME BOARD POLICY 020039 SEARCH AND SEIZURE. MISS TERRY. SO MOVED.

DIANE, I SECOND, THANK YOU. ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY YES. YES, YES. ANY OPPOSED? PLEASE SAY NO.

THANK YOU. THE MOTION PASSES. THANK YOU. GOOD LUCK VERY MUCH. OKAY. SO WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON

[H. Decision on Proposed Board Policy 02-0037-000 Student Backpack / Bag Use, Dr. Aaron Poynton, Board President ]

TO ITEM H PRESENTATION KIMBERLY DO YOU YOU WERE KIND OF DO YOU MIND SITTING UP HERE JUST IN CASE THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS ON THIS ONE. SORRY. JUST IN CASE THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS.

PRESENTATION ON PROPOSED BOARD POLICY 02-0037 STUDENT BACKPACK USE. SO THIS WAS A THIS WAS PRESENTED A MONTH AGO. RIGHT. AND WE HAVE RECEIVED SOME. WHERE'S MY CALL HIM UP HERE.

YEAH. COME ON UP MIKE. YEAH IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN EVENTUALLY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF WE'RE GOING TO IF WE'RE GOING TO GET THERE. BUT I THINK WE ARE. IT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT POLICY. SO IT'S CONTINUED TO HAVE LOTS OF EYES ON IT. YEAH. SO BASICALLY THIS IS THIS IS BACK ON THE AGENDA BECAUSE ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT THE 30 DAY, YOU KNOW, PUBLIC COMMENT IN THE BOARD GETS TO THINK ABOUT THINGS. AND SOMETIMES WE COME BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD AND SAY, HEY, WE'VE GOT SOME FEEDBACK AND WE WANT TO CHANGE THINGS A LITTLE BIT. SO CAN YOU JUST BRIEFLY DESCRIBE WHAT SOME OF THE INPUT WAS? YOU KNOW, FROM THE FROM THE STAFF? YEAH, NOT JUST FROM THE STAFF. WE HAD A NUMBER OF COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS RESPOND, SOME ABOUT A LITTLE CLEARER LANGUAGE ON WHAT STUDENTS CAN WEAR FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES. SO WE CLEANED UP SOME OF THAT LANGUAGE. WE TOOK IT TO A MAJORITY OF OUR ADMINISTRATORS WHO SAID, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE IF YOU'RE GOING BACK TO A BAG POLICY AND THE PURPOSE IS REALLY FOR SAFETY, TRANSPARENT BAGS ARE PROBABLY THE WAY TO GO. K TO 12. AND SO WHAT YOU SEE IN THE REVISED IS WHAT OUR, OUR TEAM REALLY CAME UP WITH. WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE FEEDBACK, WE HAD A BAG POLICY BACK WHEN I WAS A PRINCIPAL AND IT WAS PRETTY EFFECTIVE. WE MOVED AWAY FROM IT BECAUSE OF THE LAPTOPS AT THE END OF COVID. SO WE DO HAVE HIGH SCHOOL KIDS, YOU KNOW, CARRYING $1,800 LAPTOPS FOR PROJECT LEAD THE WAY AND SUCH. SO THAT WILL CONTINUE TO BE A CONCERN FROM FROM PARENTS THAT WAS TALKED ABOUT. KIDS DO DROP THESE ALL THE TIME. SOME OF THEM ARE VERY EXPENSIVE. WE DO HAVE A COUPLE OF SCHOOLS WHO HAVE ALREADY GONE TO THE TRANSPARENT BACKPACK ROUTE, AND IN SOME CASES, THEY ACTUALLY ALLOW STUDENTS TO BRING THOSE TRANSPARENT BACKPACKS TO CLASS SO KIDS CAN CARRY THEIR EXPENSIVE BACKPACKS IN IT. THERE'S A LITTLE MORE FLEXIBILITY IN THAT PROPOSED LANGUAGE THAT'S IN THERE THAT WOULD ALLOW SCHOOLS A LITTLE FLEXIBILITY AROUND THAT WHERE IT'S WORKING. SO AGAIN, THIS IS KIND OF PING PONG. WE WANT TO GET THIS RIGHT AT THE END OF THE DAY. SO AS LONG AS IT TAKES TO GET IT RIGHT, TO HAVE THE COMMUNITY FEEL HEARD, IT TO BE A POLICY THAT YOU'RE COMFORTABLE WITH THAT WE CAN ENFORCE. THAT'S WHAT WE WANT TO DO. SO ALSO GIVE SOME PERSPECTIVE ON THIS, BECAUSE I AUTHORED THE FIRST VERSION OF THIS, AND THERE WERE A COUPLE DIFFERENT VERSIONS THAT KIND OF WENT AROUND AND THEY GOT CHANGED A LITTLE BIT. BUT I THINK MY INTENT AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS WAS TO ACTUALLY HAVE CLEAR BACKPACKS THAT STUDENTS TOOK IN AND OUT OF SCHOOL. IF YOU LOOK AT THIS FROM A SAFETY PERSPECTIVE, IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO HAVE A POLICY. EXCUSE ME? A POLICY WHERE WITHIN THE SCHOOL AND ONLY WITHIN THE

[02:25:02]

SCHOOL, THAT THEY HAVE DECLARED BACKPACKS, BECAUSE IF THERE IS GOING TO BE A THREAT OF CONTRABAND OR A WEAPON OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE THAT COMING IN, COMING INTO THE SCHOOL. SO THAT WAS MY ORIGINAL THOUGHT. BUT THEN TALKING TO OTHERS, THERE WAS ALSO THE CONCERN. AS YOU MENTIONED, IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO GET SOME OTHER STUDENTS PERSPECTIVES ON THIS AS WELL. YOU KNOW, CURRENTLY YOUR MINI SCHOOLS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO CARRY BACKPACKS THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL THROUGHOUT THE DAY, AND THAT'S IN PART BECAUSE OF SECURITY REASONS AS WELL. AND SO WOULD THIS ALLEVIATE THAT CONCERN. RIGHT. SO WHAT ARE YOU SORT OF KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE? ONE IS, YOU KNOW, THE TRANSPARENCY OF THE BAGS AS THEY'RE COMING IN AND OUT OF SCHOOL, JUST QUITE SIMPLY SEE WHAT'S IN THERE. AND THE SECOND IS NOW YOU WOULD ALLOW STUDENTS, IF THEY WANTED TO, TO NOT HAVE TO CARRY ALL OF THEIR STUFF, YOU KNOW, WITH THEM, LIKE ON A TRAY, RIGHT. AND HAVE BROKEN LAPTOPS AND BOOKS AND PENCILS AND FALLING AROUND, BUT THEY ACTUALLY HAVE A BAG THAT THEY CAN TAKE WITH THEM INTO, INTO CLASS. AND INTERESTING. I HAVE THIS HERE AT MY FEET. SO YVONNE JUST TEXTED ME. SO I PUT MY LAPTOP IN HERE. SO THIS IS, THIS IS THIS IS ONE OF THE ONES. RIGHT. SO AND I STUCK MY LAPTOP IN THERE. RIGHT. SO RATHER THAN CARRYING MY LAPTOP WITH ME I CAN JUST TAKE MY BAG WITH ALL OF MY STUFF IN THERE. SO ANYWAY JUST A LITTLE LITTLE SHOW AND TELL AND YOU CAN SEE THIS ONE. WHERE'D YOU GET THIS FROM? HOW MUCH WAS THIS? AMAZON $12. AMAZON $12. RIGHT. SO ANYWAY, JUST A JUST A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY AS TO HOW WE GOT HERE. SO WHAT'S YOUR PERSPECTIVE. YEAH I DO HAVE A FEW COMMENTS. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT WAS THAT IF WE ARE IMPLEMENTING A BAG POLICY, MAKING IT MANDATORY, IF WE COULD POSSIBLY PROVIDE THE STUDENTS WITH LIKE THAT UNIFORM BAG THROUGH THE SCHOOL STORE. AND IT'S NOT SAYING THAT ALL THE STUDENTS NEED TO BUY THIS SPECIFIC BAG, UNLESS THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE WANT TO IMPLEMENT INTO OUR OWN POLICY. SORRY, MY VOICE IS GOING NEED SOME WATER. OKAY, I'M BACK. ANYWAYS. EVERYBODY'S GETTING SICK. YEAH. ANYWAYS, IF THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE REQUIRING OUR STUDENTS TO HAVE, WE SHOULD BE PROVIDING THEM WITH AN OPTION. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT TO PUT THAT BARRIER ON THEM, THAT THEY HAVE TO SEARCH FOR A BAG THAT MEETS OUR REQUIREMENTS OR FITS THE LAPTOP.

SO BY PROVIDING THEM WITH MAYBE IF WE WANT TO USE THAT BAG AS THE ONE THAT WE PROVIDE THROUGH THE STORES, OR POSSIBLY EVEN MAYBE HAVING A CONTRACT WITH SOMEONE WHO PRODUCES THESE BAGS.

SO MAYBE IT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT'S EVEN PROFITABLE FOR US, BUT ALSO GIVES THE STUDENTS A CHEAP OR CHEAPER ALTERNATIVE RATHER THAN BUYING LIKE SOME EXPENSIVE BAG WHEN WE CAN PROVIDE THEM WITH ONE THAT IS ATTAINABLE FOR THEIR PRICE RANGE, OUR REQUIREMENTS, AND CAN MEET THE DIFFERENT SIZES OF LAPTOPS. BECAUSE THERE'S THE STANDARD ONE THAT IS THE TYPICAL DELL LAPTOP. BUT THEN ALSO MAYBE FOR MAGNET PROGRAMS LIKE I HAVE A LARGER LAPTOP. SO JUST MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE A BAG SIZE THAT'S APPROPRIATE FOR, YOU KNOW WHAT? WE HAVE EXPECTATIONS FOR OUR STUDENTS. THE OTHER THING WOULD BE WHEN WE TALK ABOUT CARRYING AROUND SCHOOL, I'M VERY, VERY MUCH FOR THAT BECAUSE I SEE IT A LOT AROUND MY SCHOOL. WE SAY STUDENTS CAN'T CARRY THEIR BACKPACKS, BUT IT HAPPENS JUST LIKE A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN SCHOOL, IT'S HARD TO FULLY MANDATE THAT. BUT WITH THAT, I THINK STUDENTS WILL FEEL MORE FREEDOM IN SCHOOL BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE, A LOT OF STUDENTS FEEL THAT THEY'RE RESTRICTED, ESPECIALLY IF WE'RE IMPLEMENTING MORE RULES OR REGULATIONS ON THEM. SO ALLOWING THEM TO HAVE THEIR BACKPACK WITH THEM COULD KIND OF ALLOW THEM TO SEE SCHOOL AS SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE THAT HAS MORE FREEDOM TO IT. AND YOU'RE NOT SO RESTRICTED INTO THE CONFINES OF WHAT OUR RULES AND REGULATIONS ARE. AGAIN.

ALSO, IT HELPS DROPPING ITEMS BECAUSE WHEN YOU'RE CARRYING, NOT ALL STUDENTS HAVE THAT BINDER THAT CAN FIT FIVE DIFFERENT SUBJECTS IN IT. A LOT OF STUDENTS JUST HAVE SINGLE NOTEBOOKS OR LAPTOPS STUCK ON TOP. ON TOP, YOUR PENCIL CASE, YOUR CALCULATOR, AND A LOT OF THE TIMES WHEN THERE'S A LOT OF COMMOTION IN THE HALLWAYS, YOU BUMP INTO IT AND YOUR STUFF IS ON THE GROUND, AND WE END UP BREAKING A LOT OF THE LAPTOPS. SO I THINK HAVING THESE BACKPACKS ALLOWED TO BE CARRIED AROUND SCHOOL IS A SAFER ALTERNATIVE, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO THE DEVICES. AND THEN LASTLY, AGAIN WITH CARRYING THE BACKPACKS, IT ALLOWS FOR LESS MOVEMENT IN THE HALLWAYS BECAUSE STUDENTS WILL SAY THAT THEY FORGOT SOMETHING IN THEIR LOCKER. AND WHETHER OR NOT THAT'S TRUE, THE TEACHER MAY ALLOW THEM TO GO BACK TO THEIR LOCKER TO RECEIVE IT, AND THAT CAN RESULT IN STUDENTS MAYBE CONGREGATING WITH THEIR FRIENDS JUST WALKING AROUND THE HALLWAYS. AND ALSO IT'S MORE WORK ON THE TEACHERS AS WELL, BECAUSE THERE'S THE HALL PASS. AND SO WE TO ACCEPT HOW MANY STUDENTS ARE IN THE HALLWAYS AND BY ALLOWING THEM TO HAVE THEIR BACKPACK WITH THEM AND HAVE ALL THEIR MATERIALS WITH THEM DURING THAT CLASS PERIOD CHANGE, WE CAN AVOID HAVING AS MANY STUDENTS OUT IN THE HALLWAYS AS WELL. I WROTE A WHOLE DISSERTATION ON THAT. THAT WAS AMAZING. OF COURSE, THAT'S GREAT. WELL, HERE

[02:30:02]

YOU GET THE FIRST BACKPACK. YOU COULD TAKE IT TO SCHOOL. OF COURSE I'M ON IT. REAL LIFE FEEDBACK, MR. SEWELL. YEAH. SO, YOU KNOW, I'M A LITTLE CONFLICTED ON THIS. YOU KNOW, I SEE THE INTENT. I SEE WHERE IT COULD POTENTIALLY MAKE THINGS A LITTLE MORE SAFE FOR SCHOOLS.

BUT THE MATERIALS THAT THESE BAGS ARE MADE OF ARE PRETTY FLIMSY. IT'S THE TYPE OF PLASTIC THAT TEARS, YOU KNOW, PARTICULARLY WITH THE WEAR AND TEAR THE BACKPACKS GET. AND, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THE STUDENTS ALREADY HAVE BACKPACKS, YOU KNOW. SO THIS WOULD BE DEFINITELY A BURDEN PLACED ON PARENTS. AND IF WE DO ENACT THIS POLICY, I WOULD ASSUME IT WOULD BE EFFECTIVE FOR NEXT SCHOOL YEAR. WE SHOULD, AND I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH LIKE I DON'T KNOW WHAT CALL THEM RETAIL PARTNERS. BUT LIKE I DON'T KNOW WHERE PEOPLE BUY BACKPACKS THESE DAYS.

LIKE, I MEAN, YOU CAN ORDER THEM ONLINE, RIGHT? L.L. BEAN, THAT TYPE OF THING IF YOU WANT A FANCY ONE, I GUESS. BUT YOU KNOW, AMAZON. BUT WALMART AND TARGET RIGHT. ARE RETAIL PARTNERS PRETTY MUCH THAT CARRY BACKPACKS. AND THEY GET I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF BACKPACKS IN THERE. I'M SURE THEIR ORDERS ARE ALREADY IN. AND IF WE ENACT THIS, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE THEIR STORES ARE GOING TO BE FILLED WITH BACKPACKS THAT ARE ONLY GOING TO SELL TO STUDENTS WHO DON'T GO TO CPS. SO IT WOULD BE KIND OF US TO GIVE THEM A HEADS UP, YOU KNOW, SO THAT THEY CUT BACK OR THEY START STOCKING THE CLEAR ONES. I DON'T KNOW, I JUST JUST A THOUGHT, YOU KNOW. YEAH, WE WOULD DO I THINK WE WOULD DO TWO THINGS. ONE IS WE WOULD WE WOULD SET SOME PREFERRED, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD DO A LITTLE BIT OF RESEARCH AND SAY, HEY, THESE ARE THESE ARE DURABLE. HERE'S YOUR DIFFERENT PRICE POINTS OR WHATEVER. AND I MEAN, AND FOR SOME FAMILIES, YOU KNOW, AT 12 BUCKS, YOU KNOW, BACKPACK MIGHT LAST A YEAR AND THEY'RE OKAY WITH THAT. WE ALSO PROBABLY WANT TO SET SOME STANDARDS BECAUSE TRANSPARENT, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW MAYBE THAT MEANS DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE. MAYBE, YOU KNOW, YOU GOT PURPLE AND PINK ONES, BLUE ONES COMING IN THAT YOU'RE SORT OF NOT QUITE CLEAR.

BUT I DO AGREE THIS IS WHY WE PUT THIS OFF FOR 30 DAYS. GET GET SOME MORE FEEDBACK. HOW MANY STARS DID THIS ONE GET? WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK DID THAT $12 ONE GET ON ON AMAZON? I HAD THE MOST STARS LIKE FOUR FIVE REVIEWS, FIVE FIVE STAR. OKAY, I HAVE A COUPLE COMMENTS TOO. I WANT ONE ONE THING JUST REAL QUICK. HAVE OTHER DISTRICTS ENACTED THIS IN MARYLAND OR AROUND THE COUNTRY? NO, AROUND THE COUNTRY, I'M SURE. I MEAN, IF THEY'VE ALREADY DONE THIS RIGHT, WHAT ARE THE KEY LEARNINGS? HOW DO THEY DO IT? HAVEN'T WE ALREADY DONE IT AT EDGEWOOD? WE HAVE. YEAH, A COUPLE OF OUR SCHOOLS DO IT CURRENTLY, BUT THEY ALSO DO LET THEM CARRY THEM. SO AFTER WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR, WE HAD TWO SCHOOLS WHO WENT RIGHT TO TRANSPARENT. BUT THEY DO ALLOW THEM TO CLASS. SO THEY FELT LIKE THAT WAS SORT OF A HAPPY MEDIUM.

AND AGAIN, WE DON'T WANT FOLKS TO HAVE A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY EITHER. WE COULD HAVE ALL THE CLEAR BACKPACKS IN THE WORLD, AND THAT THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY KEEP A STUDENT FROM BRINGING SOMETHING IN CONCEALED, BUT IT MAKES IT HARDER. AND IT'S ABOUT HAVING LAYERS OF SECURITY, RIGHT? IT'S JUST ONE MORE THING. I THINK IT I THINK THAT HAVING A CLEAR BACKPACK CREATES A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY. I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, PARENTS NEED TO DO THEIR DUE DILIGENCE TO MAKE SURE WHAT THEIR KIDS ARE BRINGING TO SCHOOL BY ALLOWING KIDS TO CARRY BACKPACKS THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL DAY. IT ALSO CAUSES AN ISSUE BECAUSE THEN THEY HAVE ACCESS TO THINGS THAT THEY WOULDN'T NECESSARILY HAVE ACCESS TO. SO, I MEAN, WE JUST MADE THE SEARCH AND SEIZURE POLICY, RIGHT? SO THE POINT OF THAT IS TO, YOU KNOW, GIVE US AN EXTRA LAYER OF PROTECTION WHERE THEY HAVE THE IF YOU IF YOU THINK THAT THERE'S SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS IN THAT BACKPACK, THEN YOU HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO SEARCH IT. BUT I THINK THAT BY MAKING SURE THAT EVERY STUDENT COMES INTO THE BUILDING, PUTS THEIR BACKPACK IN THEIR LOCKER AND THAT THEY DON'T GET TO CARRY THE BACKPACK, I THINK THAT IS MORE OF A SAFETY MEASURE THAN A CLEAR BACKPACK. AND I WAS JUST READING, YOU KNOW, IN 2018 AT MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL IN FLORIDA, THEY ENACTED A CLEAR BACKPACK AFTER THEY HAD THEIR HORRIFIC EVENT. AND THEN THE NEXT YEAR, THEY DID AWAY WITH IT BECAUSE THEY SAID THE SAME THING. IT'S A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY, AND WE NEED PARENTS TO BE ACTIVE IN, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THEIR STUDENTS AND STUFF LIKE THAT. SO I THINK, I MEAN, IT'S A MINIMAL COST. BUT AGAIN, HOW MANY OF THESE BACKPACKS ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE TO BUY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AS WELL AS, I MEAN, YOU CAN HIDE THINGS IN A, IN A, IN A I DON'T WANT TO SAY IT'S VERY SIMPLE, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? SO AGAIN, JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T SEE IT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S NOT THERE. NOTHING IS EVER FOOLPROOF, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO SECURITY. BUT I DO THINK THIS IS A HAVING TRANSPARENT BACKPACKS IS A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND IS SAFER BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE AT A DISTANCE WHAT SOMEONE'S BRINGING IN, BECAUSE SEARCH AND

[02:35:07]

SEIZURE, YOU REALLY CAN'T. BUT TO YOUR POINT ABOUT THE SEARCH AND SEIZURE, YOU'RE YOU'RE VERY LIMITED. YOU HAVE ONE SSL, YOU KNOW, WITH A THOUSAND STUDENTS COMING INTO SCHOOL, AND THEY'RE ONLY GOING TO DO SEARCH AND SEIZURE IF THERE'S SOME SORT OF LIKE REASONABLE SUSPICION. AND YOU SEE THIS IN THE BACKPACK. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS, BUT MAYBE IT WARRANTS AN INVESTIGATION. THERE'S NO PERFECT ANSWER. I'M JUST SAYING I THINK IT'S A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY, AND I JUST I DON'T KNOW, I THINK THAT'S THE NATURE OF THE COMPLEXITY OF THIS. SO WE WERE TOTALLY COMFORTABLE WITH PUTTING THIS OUT THERE AND THEN COMING BACK AND LOOKING AT THE FEEDBACK AND THEN COMING BACK BEFORE YOU AND JUST SAYING, HERE'S WHAT THE FEEDBACK SAID.

LET'S TAKE IT. YOU KNOW, AGAIN, WE WANT TO GET IT RIGHT, WHICH WE'D MUCH RATHER DO, YOU KNOW, THAN RUSH SOMETHING THROUGH. YEAH. AND AGAIN, NOT A VOTING ITEM. THIS IS JUST A CHANGE THAT'S SUBSTANTIVE FOR 30 DAYS OF PUBLIC COMMENT. YES, MA'AM. WE HAD A PARENT REACH OUT TO ME RIGHT BEFORE THE MEETING AND SAY SHE'D LIKE TO SEE EMPIRICAL DATA WHERE THIS MAKES ANY DIFFERENCE.

SHE REALLY WOULD. AND THE OTHER THING, LIKE ATHLETIC GEAR CAN COME IN AND REGULAR BAGS. AND SO NOBODY'S EVER SMUGGLED ANYTHING IN AN ATHLETIC BAG. I DON'T GET THAT. WELL, ANYTHING COULD AT THE ATHLETIC BAGS OFTENTIMES CARRY PERSONAL CLOTHING ITEMS, WHICH I KNOW FOLKS WOULDN'T WANT TO THERE. SO LIKE LACROSSE BAGS, FOR INSTANCE, WHICH WOULDN'T WHICH DON'T COME CLEAR, YOU PROBABLY COULDN'T FIND IT. IT'S JUST A COMMENT THAT I'M MAKING. IT'S LIKE, IF YOU COULD HAVE A REGULAR BAG FOR ATHLETIC GEAR, YOU CAN HAVE A MUSIC PIECE, WHETHER OR NOT IT'S GOT AN INSTRUMENT IN IT. RIGHT? IT'S NOT. WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THE TRANSPARENT BACKPACK MAKE UNLESS THEY'RE CARRYING IT THROUGHOUT THE DAY. AND THEN I CAN WITH THE TOMMY GUN. YEAH. AND SO THAT THAT IS ONE ASPECT OF IT. BUT DON'T FORGET, THE OTHER ASPECT OF THIS WOULD BE FOR STUDENTS WHO WANTED TO CARRY A BACKPACK INTO CLASS. THEY WOULD NOW HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO THAT WHERE NOW THEY'RE NOT DOING IT. AND THAT'S A BIG COMPLAINT I'VE HEARD FROM A LOT OF STUDENTS, IS THEY'VE GOT TO CARRY EVERYTHING WITH THEM AND RUN TO THEIR LOCKERS AND CHANGE OUT BOOKS. AND, YOU KNOW, JUST IT'S LIKE YOU SAID, YOU KNOW, YOU GOT YOUR CALCULATOR, YOUR PENCILS, YOUR PENS, YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING AS IT READS RIGHT NOW. THAT'S NOT I CAN'T DO THAT. YEAH. AS A READER RIGHT NOW, THAT'S NOT A STUDENT UNLESS THE PRINCIPAL ALLOWS IT. THE PRINCIPAL, THEY THEY ASK.

YES. SO IF I THINK IF THE INTENT IS TO ENSURE ALL STUDENTS HAVE ACCESS TO A BACKPACK LIKE YOU JUST DESCRIBED, THAT MIGHT BE SOMETHING WE CHANGE IN THE LANGUAGE. BUT AGAIN, THIS IS GOING OUT FOR 30 DAYS OF PUBLIC COMMENT. I THINK ALL THESE ALL THESE COMMENTS ARE VALID AS A PART OF THAT FEEDBACK THAT WE REACH OUT TO TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATION AND STUDENTS OF THE SCHOOLS THAT ARE USING IT FOR THEIR SPECIFIC FEEDBACK AND MAYBE MAKE IT PART OF THE PRESENTATION WHEN WE COME BACK. I MEAN, WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING IT, SO LET'S FIND OUT HOW IT'S GOING. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD IDEA ON OUR WORK TEAM, WHICH GOALS DEVELOP THAT SEATBELT? OKAY. EDGEWOOD DOES IT AS WELL AND JOPPATOWNE DOES IT. IT'S ONE. IT'S A SURVEY SPECIFIC TO STUDENTS THEY CAN REACH OUT TO. BUT I THINK THAT'S AN AUDIENCE. SO I CAN'T IMAGINE ONE OF THESE BACKPACKS ACTUALLY BEING STRONG. LIKE THE AMOUNT OF STUFF MY KIDS TAKE TO SCHOOL. IT'S LIKE IT'S LIKE 20 POUNDS. LIKE, I JUST CAN'T IMAGINE THESE HOLDING UP AND NOT THAT ONE. BUT THERE ALSO ARE DIFFERENT SIZES THAT YOU. YEAH, YOU COULD GET THEM BIGGER OR SMALLER. YEAH. I REMEMBER THE I LIKE WHERE YOUR HEAD'S AT. I'M JUST GRANDCHILD CARRIED 60 POUNDS OF STUFF TO SCHOOL AND I STARTED TO EMPTY OUT HER BACKPACK CAUSE I MISSED THAT ONE, UNFORTUNATELY. OH. SO SORRY. IT WAS KIND OF EXCITING. ALRIGHT, SO I THINK WE'VE HAD GOOD DISCUSSION ON THIS, SO WE'LL DO 30 DAYS OF PUBLIC COMMENT. WE'LL BRING IT BACK NEXT MONTH AND SEE WHERE TO GO

[I. Presentation of Harford County Public Schools Academic Performance: Attendance and Behavior, Ms. Heather Kutcher, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Mr. Phillip Snyder, Supervisor of Accountability, and Mr. Bernard Hennigan, Assistant Superintendent for Student Support Services ]

FROM HERE. SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH. OKAY. SO MOVING ON. NEXT IS A PRESENTATION ITEM. I OR ONE AS SOME WOULD SAY PRESENTATION ON HARFORD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE ATTENDANCE AND BEHAVIOR. WELCOME. MR. BERNARD HANNIGAN ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES, PLEASE WELCOME YOUR TEAM. MR. ALL RIGHT. KEEP THIS TRAIN MOVING. OKAY. SO GOOD EVENING, PRESIDENT BOYNTON, VICE PRESIDENT HAHN, DOCTOR BELSON AND BOARD MEMBERS, I'M HERE TONIGHT. TO DISCUSS THE DATA PRESENTATION ON ATTENDANCE AND BEHAVIOR, I'M JOINED BY MISS NATALEE HOLLOWAY, DIRECTOR OF MIDDLE SCHOOL INNOVATION. MR. TOM SMITH, DIRECTOR OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PERFORMANCE. AND MR. BUZZ WILLIAMS, OUR SUPERINTENDENT DESIGNEE FOR DISCIPLINE AND SUPERVISOR OF PUPIL PERSONNEL WORKERS. ARE WE DRIVING THIS? OKAY? OKAY, THANKS. OKAY. SO WE'LL START WITH ATTENDANCE. SO WHAT YOU SEE IN FRONT OF YOU, THIS SLIDE

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