Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
1:30 ♪♪
1:29:15 in elementary math increased.
1:29:12 Science fifth grade went up, biology went up,
1:29:15 eighth grade slight dip, also studies went up.
1:29:18 Just really, really good news.
1:29:19 A lot of good hard work by our students and staff.
1:29:22 And we just wanted you guys to see that data
1:29:24 and see where we think we’re gonna be.
1:29:26 And we’re voting obviously for option one.
1:29:29 - Yes, thank you.
1:29:30 Very, very exciting.
1:29:31 Thank you for all the hard work
1:29:32 from all the people that have put in for this.
1:29:33 So I think for all the criticism
1:29:35 that you may receive out there
1:29:36 when you see something like this,
1:29:37 you go, okay, we’re doing something right.
1:29:39 So our people are phenomenal
1:29:41 and we appreciate them tremendously.
1:29:43 All right, do we have anything further
1:29:46 to discuss on that topic?
1:29:47 I don’t think so.
1:29:48 I think we’re on to the,
1:29:49 do you wanna take a short recess
1:29:50 to go to the restroom, like a five minute?
1:29:51 Okay, so we’ll come back at 10.50.
1:29:54 We’re gonna take a short recess.
1:30:09 (upbeat music)
1:30:39 (gentle music)
1:31:09 (gentle music continues)
1:35:41 Three, two.
1:35:44 All right, welcome back.
1:35:46 We are on to the next topic on the agenda,
1:35:48 which is the discipline update.
1:35:51 And I’m gonna turn the floor over to Ms. Dampier.
1:35:56 Good morning, board members and Superintendent,
1:36:01 Superintendent Rendell.
1:36:04 We’re very pleased to provide
1:36:06 our fourth quarter discipline data update.
1:36:09 We’ve had an opportunity to actually look at the data
1:36:13 from August 10th through May 24th.
1:36:17 So that’s what we’re gonna be comparing
1:36:19 for this data presentation.
1:36:23 I have with me, I have Mr. Kristal.
1:36:25 He’s our new director of student services.
1:36:28 He hit the ground running last week.
1:36:30 And so we’ve had an opportunity to onboard him
1:36:32 and provide him with a lot of the data
1:36:35 and conversations around the data,
1:36:37 as well as Mrs. Cash and Schmidt.
1:36:42 Today again, we will just review briefly,
1:36:44 there will be a slide about the discipline organization
1:36:47 of how we actually monitor the data
1:36:50 and make sure that we’re providing data
1:36:53 with fidelity throughout the school year.
1:36:56 We’re also gonna provide an overview of the discipline data.
1:36:58 Mr. Kristal is gonna go over that,
1:37:00 as well as some of our next steps
1:37:02 that we have planned for next year.
1:37:05 You know, we did have an opportunity to look at the data
1:37:07 and we are making some tweaks to some of the things
1:37:09 for next year to make sure that we implement
1:37:12 with fidelity again.
1:37:14 And then we will go over Title IX and the Boolean update
1:37:18 and provide some next steps for,
1:37:19 citing steps for next year with that.
1:37:23 And then we’ll allow for questions at the end.
1:37:26 Again, this is our district discipline structure
1:37:29 of how we’re monitoring discipline within our district.
1:37:33 The Office of Student Services, our job, my role,
1:37:35 is to make sure our team,
1:37:37 that we provide professional development
1:37:39 to all of our stakeholders,
1:37:40 as well as make sure that we have processes and procedures
1:37:45 in place to make sure that our policies
1:37:47 are being implemented with fidelity.
1:37:50 Of course, our school principals,
1:37:51 they are responsible for the implementation
1:37:54 of those policies procedures at their school site.
1:37:58 And then our Office of Chief Schools,
1:38:01 they make sure that if we’re looking at trend data
1:38:04 and things are not being implemented with fidelity
1:38:06 or that we need some more professional development
1:38:10 at a particular school,
1:38:11 they will intervene and provide that support
1:38:14 with the principal at their school.
1:38:18 Some positive impacts that have occurred over the past,
1:38:22 I think within the past couple of months,
1:38:25 has been the continuation of collaboration with our BFT,
1:38:30 as well as with our transportation department.
1:38:33 We’re gonna continue those practices for next year
1:38:35 because we get on-time feedback
1:38:37 where we can make those corrections within the moment
1:38:40 instead of waiting until there is a problem.
1:38:42 And sometimes it’s very proactive
1:38:44 where we’re sort of talking and then we’ll say,
1:38:46 okay, I’ll bring that back next month
1:38:49 that we can continue on with that discussion.
1:38:51 So it’s a lot of collaborations with transportation
1:38:54 and BFT this year, and that will continue for next year.
1:38:58 Another expectation is that decimal referrals
1:39:01 are implemented within a 24 hour period.
1:39:03 We will continue with that practice for next year
1:39:05 and the monitoring, the implementation of that
1:39:07 for next year as well.
1:39:10 Very excited about the code of conduct that is completed.
1:39:13 We’re moving forward with a lot of our training
1:39:16 and you will see that
1:39:17 when we continue to talk about next steps.
1:39:19 And we really want to focus on
1:39:21 what are the expectations for our students?
1:39:24 And in our code of conduct, we did place,
1:39:27 I think it’s a third or fourth page in there,
1:39:29 expected behaviors that we want our students
1:39:32 to bring forward.
1:39:33 And we will have to teach those expectations.
1:39:36 So we really want all of our trainings,
1:39:37 we’re gonna focus on that first
1:39:39 and then we’ll go into what were the changes
1:39:41 and then what other expectations
1:39:45 that we expect on our campuses.
1:39:48 I’m gonna turn it over to Mr. Cristol.
1:39:51 - So this first slide is the,
1:39:53 will be the depicts the total number
1:39:54 of office discipline referrals from that time frame
1:39:57 that we’re talking about of August 10th, 2023
1:40:01 to May 24th, 2024.
1:40:04 The total number of referrals at this point was 95,814
1:40:08 with about 21,426 students receiving referrals.
1:40:12 So these are gonna be our targets going forward.
1:40:14 So these are what we have set forth.
1:40:19 This slide is, these are the top 10 highest discipline codes
1:40:22 as of May 4th, 2024.
1:40:24 Willful disobedience is down approximately 1%
1:40:27 or about 1,006 instances, fewer instances.
1:40:36 This is the highest discipline code by race.
1:40:39 Currently willful disobedience and out of assigned area
1:40:42 are the focus across the board
1:40:43 for all students going forward.
1:40:45 This is part of that setting the expectations
1:40:47 and keeping students in school and we know that’s paramount.
1:40:52 This is the top 10 corrective actions by school.
1:40:58 This year, there was the addition
1:40:59 of the lunch detention code.
1:41:01 With that, the alternative classroom placement
1:41:04 and loss of privileges did fall out of the top 10
1:41:07 from 2023 to 2024, 23, 24, sorry.
1:41:14 This slide depicts the total number of ISS and OSS
1:41:17 as of May 24th, 2024.
1:41:20 We’ve seen an 8% decrease or about 3,403 fewer incidents
1:41:25 this school year.
1:41:27 Schools are using other consequences
1:41:30 to keep students in school.
1:41:32 This is gonna be the focus of the professional development,
1:41:35 which will include a lot of those successful strategies
1:41:37 that we’ve seen the schools, they ascend,
1:41:40 they kind of shared a lot of their practices
1:41:42 and we’re gonna embed that in professional development
1:41:44 going forward.
1:41:47 This slide shows Brevard’s risk ratio,
1:41:51 the racial breakdown.
1:41:53 The district will monitor the data throughout the year
1:41:55 as we support schools.
1:41:58 With the overall drop in ISS and OSS,
1:42:00 we should see a reduction in this as well
1:42:02 through continued improvement.
1:42:08 This slide illustrates the racial breakdown
1:42:10 of the alternative center placements.
1:42:12 The school year, approximately 263 fewer students
1:42:15 were sent to the ALC, 312 students that would have gone
1:42:20 to the ALC opted for the drug diversion program instead
1:42:23 and are currently still in school.
1:42:27 These are the alternative, these are the codes
1:42:29 that resulted in the placement at alternative center.
1:42:32 So you can see those higher numbers,
1:42:33 simple battery fighting and drug possession
1:42:35 are the main reasons for placement
1:42:37 and that’s gonna be the target area of focus going forward
1:42:40 for professional development and student support.
1:42:46 These are the list of schools that have recommended
1:42:48 students for placement at the ALC.
1:42:56 And these are the, this was introduced
1:42:58 in the middle of the school year,
1:43:00 but this slide depicts the students that opted for home ed
1:43:02 in lieu of alternative placement.
1:43:05 The data collection started approximately around January.
1:43:07 Going forward, this is gonna be embedded
1:43:09 from the beginning of the year going forward.
1:43:11 So we’ll have complete data there.
1:43:14 And this next slide is the very similar one
1:43:16 to the first one, but this is breaking down by race.
1:43:18 So this slide depicts the same data,
1:43:20 but it’s broken down by the racial subgroups.
1:43:37 - Next steps, we’re very pleased.
1:43:39 We already started part of this process
1:43:43 when we unveiled some of the new changes
1:43:45 to our MTSS problem solving process at ASCEND 2024.
1:43:52 We did that last week before last on Wednesday and Thursday,
1:43:57 some changes to that.
1:43:58 And we’ve already started training our administrators.
1:44:00 They were trained on June 11th
1:44:02 and they’re gonna be trained on June 20th.
1:44:04 And we’re gonna continue to train all stakeholders
1:44:07 of what these practices are and the changes that we’ve made.
1:44:11 We made it less about the paperwork
1:44:14 and more about what is it that the students need
1:44:17 in order to make sure that they get their services
1:44:19 and supports more quickly.
1:44:23 We are also gonna have district monthly trainings
1:44:26 for all stakeholders.
1:44:26 We already have that on the books
1:44:28 with behavior, academics, and attendance.
1:44:31 Before with the MTSS process,
1:44:33 we were looking at a student.
1:44:37 A student may come forward
1:44:38 where we’re looking at them for attendance.
1:44:40 Then we come back two weeks later,
1:44:41 we’re looking at, or a month later,
1:44:42 we find out, okay, well, there’s attendance.
1:44:45 There’s an academic problem.
1:44:46 So we are now focusing and looking at the whole child.
1:44:49 So when we bring a child up, we’re looking at attendance,
1:44:52 all of these things that may contribute to a student
1:44:56 not being successful academically, behaviorally as well.
1:45:00 So we’re looking at students as a whole
1:45:03 to problem solve solutions so we can get services
1:45:06 and supports again to them quickly as possible.
1:45:10 We also, we’re gonna continue
1:45:11 with the behavior intervention tool box
1:45:14 where we actually had teachers participate in this
1:45:17 where they come and they get professional development
1:45:19 on strategies and we give them a toolkit
1:45:21 that they can take back and utilize in their classrooms.
1:45:25 Positive behavior interventions and supports.
1:45:28 What does that actually look like?
1:45:29 We talk a lot about that,
1:45:31 but we really want to provide interventions and strategies
1:45:35 and like a little toolbox for our teachers
1:45:37 that they can utilize in the classroom.
1:45:40 We’re gonna continue with our FBA and BIP training.
1:45:44 We started that training last year.
1:45:46 We’re gonna continue that training
1:45:47 to make sure we have interventions and strategies
1:45:49 that teachers can utilize within their classrooms
1:45:52 as well as our school principals can utilize
1:45:56 and be a problem solver for their school staff.
1:46:00 We’re gonna continue with coaching and mentoring of teams.
1:46:03 When we look at the data, we see that there’s a trend
1:46:06 for a particular school.
1:46:07 Our goal is to go out and meet with that school to say,
1:46:10 hey, what kind of support, what do you need from us?
1:46:13 So we wanted to do more of that coaching and mentoring
1:46:16 with our schools with the problem solving process.
1:46:21 For the development of the MTSS website,
1:46:25 we’re unveiling a new website.
1:46:27 We really wanna work on that
1:46:28 and have that be a resource for all of our staff
1:46:32 as well as MTSS.
1:46:34 It used to be, we had one half an academic.
1:46:37 We had an employee that was in CNI
1:46:41 and then we had one that was in student services.
1:46:43 Now we have both that will be housed up
1:46:45 under student services that will focus on the whole child
1:46:49 and looking at it from a district-wide support
1:46:52 of our schools.
1:46:55 This was something important from last year.
1:46:57 We did like a pilot where schools could upload
1:47:02 our student statements into FOCUS this year moving forward.
1:47:05 Starting in August, it will be expected
1:47:07 that all documents will be uploaded into student statements
1:47:11 into the FOCUS database.
1:47:15 - You know what I’m gonna ask you real fast?
1:47:16 Can I jump in and ask it?
1:47:17 And the recommendation when a referral is written
1:47:19 for a teacher to be able to make,
1:47:21 that’s also gonna be starting the school year, correct?
1:47:24 - Yes, yes, yes, I did.
1:47:26 We forgot to put that on there,
1:47:27 but yes, we already worked with ET on that.
1:47:29 That was something that Mr. Reed worked on.
1:47:33 We’re working also to align the corrective action levels
1:47:36 to incidents in FOCUS ‘cause sometimes they would not,
1:47:39 we didn’t get the data correctly
1:47:41 because we didn’t have a code
1:47:42 or the code didn’t match this intervention.
1:47:44 So we wanna make sure in some instances
1:47:46 we are looking at all of that we’re creating
1:47:50 like a dummy account to go in and be able
1:47:52 to look at the interventions as well as the coast
1:47:56 of infractions to make sure they match.
1:47:59 Also, we’re developing training for all of our stakeholders,
1:48:02 which will include our teachers, our bus drivers.
1:48:05 We already have our bus driver training already on the books
1:48:08 as well as training for our teachers, our administrators,
1:48:13 and we’re moving towards more of the module training.
1:48:17 So when we have new staff that come on board,
1:48:19 they can still get a lot of this training
1:48:22 instead sometimes they get lost in the crack
1:48:25 once school gets started.
1:48:26 So we wanna make sure that we have a library
1:48:28 of resources that’s on demand for our schools
1:48:33 so they can utilize for training.
1:48:35 So we’re just very excited about a lot of the training
1:48:37 that we are planning for our stakeholders
1:48:41 to make sure that I feel like we’re in a better spot
1:48:43 than it was last year ‘cause when I came in,
1:48:45 it was like we were creating from scratch.
1:48:47 And now I feel like we’ve gotten feedback
1:48:50 from our stakeholders that we’re tweaking
1:48:52 a lot of the things as well as implementing
1:48:54 a few new things as well.
1:48:56 So I’m gonna, are there any questions at this point
1:49:00 about the discipline data before we move on
1:49:03 to the Title IX and Bullying?
1:49:05 - Form, I’ll turn it over to you, Ms. Jenkins.
1:49:07 - Yeah, I have a lot.
1:49:09 So the whole point of having this conversation
1:49:15 18 months ago was to, well, we all know the point.
1:49:21 So let’s talk about where it went from there
1:49:23 ‘cause I argue what the point actually was.
1:49:27 If the goal was for us to correct this process,
1:49:31 the goal should be for student behaviors to decrease
1:49:34 in order to increase academic engagement
1:49:37 and hopefully increase academic performance.
1:49:40 And so it’s great that we’ve streamlined everything.
1:49:45 We’ve reviewed the code of conduct, all that, that’s great.
1:49:47 But I’ve been saying for the past 18 months
1:49:49 every time we have this conversation
1:49:51 is the goal is to decrease student behaviors
1:49:54 and increase student engagement.
1:49:55 And we haven’t seen that yet.
1:49:57 It’s been 18 months.
1:50:00 This draft statement we’re gonna send out today
1:50:02 about this presentation is frustrating to me
1:50:05 because it doesn’t really serve a purpose
1:50:11 and it’s fluffing for no reason
1:50:13 when we could just be honest about the positive things
1:50:16 that have taken place and be honest about the things
1:50:18 that we still need to work on
1:50:20 to show that we acknowledge the benefits of the data
1:50:23 that we’ve gathered.
1:50:24 The whole point of gathering data is to use it
1:50:26 to affect change.
1:50:28 And I don’t see that here in the statement
1:50:31 we’re gonna send out today.
1:50:33 I don’t see it acknowledging some of the negative things
1:50:35 that are in here that are leading to these next steps
1:50:38 which would bring positive change to our district.
1:50:40 Those are things that we should be sharing
1:50:42 with our community intentionally
1:50:45 because it shows that we’re engaged
1:50:47 and that this change was effective.
1:50:50 So I have a question.
1:50:53 And Ms. Dampier, I appreciate this next step section
1:50:56 because that’s what I’ve been saying for the past 18 months
1:50:58 is what are we doing to change the behavior?
1:51:00 If the numbers are going up, okay,
1:51:02 what are we doing to change the behavior?
1:51:04 ‘Cause we don’t wanna keep seeing that.
1:51:05 One of my questions because it’s not in this presentation,
1:51:08 it’s not broken down that way specifically
1:51:10 but it has been in the past is the two highest demographics
1:51:14 for referrals and behavior were kindergarten and ESE.
1:51:21 Is that still the same?
1:51:22 ‘Cause we don’t have that broken down here.
1:51:24 Are those numbers still some of the highest?
1:51:26 And if so, I clearly can identify the things
1:51:31 in the next steps that are going to directly address ESE.
1:51:34 But are we thinking forward about what can we do uniquely
1:51:37 for those kindergarten babies that are coming in
1:51:40 and struggling behaviorally?
1:51:42 What do we have as a plan and place for those classrooms
1:51:47 and for those students and those families and those schools
1:51:49 that are struggling with those behaviors
1:51:51 in that kindergarten?
1:51:51 And sometimes if there’s a pre-K,
1:51:53 it sometimes is reflected in that classroom too.
1:51:59 - One of the things is to make sure that,
1:52:02 again, we talk about the changes
1:52:04 but what are specifically teaching those expectations
1:52:08 for our students that we expect them to adhere to
1:52:11 when they come to school?
1:52:14 We also have put in a behavior tag
1:52:17 at the majority of our elementary schools
1:52:19 to really be that resource
1:52:21 to be able to teach those strategies.
1:52:24 ‘Cause it’s all about strategies and interventions as well.
1:52:27 And I’m just gonna be honest with you,
1:52:29 we didn’t do a whole lot of that this year.
1:52:31 It was trying to get things under control
1:52:33 as far as processes and procedures.
1:52:36 And we’ve already been planning
1:52:38 because that’s some of the things
1:52:39 that we really want to be able to provide.
1:52:42 Interventions and strategies that teachers can utilize
1:52:45 and be able to utilize within their classroom.
1:52:49 But that behavior tech will also be a resource
1:52:52 for our schools.
1:52:54 And we’re training them up as well to be that resource.
1:52:57 But really focusing on what we expect
1:53:01 and how we expect them to behave in the classroom.
1:53:04 So that’s one of the main changes.
1:53:06 I’ve already looked at some of the training.
1:53:08 I’m like, if we put this,
1:53:10 that’s why it was important to put it in the code of conduct.
1:53:13 Okay, we keep talking about how we expect
1:53:17 but we’ve never taught it.
1:53:19 A kid is coming to school for the first time.
1:53:21 How do we build community in the classroom?
1:53:23 How do, what do we expect when the kid transitions
1:53:26 from one activity to the next?
1:53:29 So teaching those specific strategies in the classroom.
1:53:34 - So, and just to preface with,
1:53:39 my frustration and my questions aren’t to you
1:53:42 as an individual.
1:53:43 It’s to this conversation that we’ve been having
1:53:45 for 18 months.
1:53:45 I don’t put all of this responsibility on you.
1:53:47 I’m well aware of everything you’ve been doing
1:53:49 in this category.
1:53:50 So please understand that.
1:53:52 I pushed back a little bit on the,
1:53:54 we’re not teaching the expectations.
1:53:56 I don’t believe that our kindergarten teachers
1:53:58 aren’t doing that.
1:54:00 Do I believe that there’s new teachers
1:54:01 that need those classroom management skills?
1:54:02 Absolutely, they can always use that support.
1:54:04 But I appreciate you saying the piece
1:54:07 about the behavior tech.
1:54:08 And again, I’m just throwing it out there.
1:54:10 Like these are the things that we should be telling
1:54:11 the public that we’re doing in statements like this.
1:54:14 Because it’s great.
1:54:15 It’s a positive thing for our families to know
1:54:19 that we are investing in those resources
1:54:21 to change the behaviors that we’re seeing
1:54:23 in those classrooms.
1:54:24 So thank you, I appreciate that.
1:54:27 My other question,
1:54:32 slash comments.
1:54:39 So when we go to, I think it’s page six.
1:54:45 I’ve brought this up every single time
1:54:47 and I’m not going to stop until I’m gone.
1:54:49 Because it’s critically important
1:54:52 and we just keep ignoring it.
1:54:56 When we have certain demographics
1:54:58 and populations of students
1:55:01 that are coming up on these data charts
1:55:04 at a significantly higher percentage
1:55:06 than the percentage that they represent
1:55:08 within the population of our schools,
1:55:10 that tells us we have a problem.
1:55:13 We as a district, if our goal is to decrease behaviors,
1:55:18 increase engagement, increase academic achievement,
1:55:21 it is our responsibility to dive deep into those numbers
1:55:24 and understand the why and understand what kind of resources
1:55:28 and supports we can put into those schools
1:55:30 or to those specific students in order to change it.
1:55:33 That is our job.
1:55:36 So I’m going to say that again.
1:55:39 Looking forward
1:55:45 to page 11,
1:55:49 our risk ratios for free and reduced lunch
1:55:51 in black or African-American students has increased.
1:55:56 I don’t know if I’m gonna use the word again or not
1:55:58 ‘cause I don’t know what the date range is on this,
1:56:00 but it has increased while others were dropping.
1:56:04 Again, we had a conversation about how 1.0
1:56:09 is kind of the neutral line.
1:56:10 And so when you fall beneath one,
1:56:13 it’s not necessarily a positive thing.
1:56:16 It’s showing that there is a significant imbalance.
1:56:18 So when you have two categories of students
1:56:20 that are significantly higher than that,
1:56:23 again, it’s showing that there’s a disproportionate data.
1:56:27 And we as a school district have a responsibility
1:56:29 to dig in and understand why
1:56:31 and affect change for those students.
1:56:35 - I have a question about,
1:56:45 so with ALC, I have a couple of questions.
1:56:48 My first question is it says here that on page 12,
1:56:53 slide 12, sorry,
1:56:57 263 fewer students were sent to the ALC in 23, 24.
1:57:03 And forgive me because I don’t have
1:57:05 the comparative slide in front of me,
1:57:07 but I could have sworn we were just presented information
1:57:10 about our ALCs where the numbers were higher than ever.
1:57:14 Am I inaccurate in that statement?
1:57:17 Or was that just the conversation
1:57:19 because it was talking about moving
1:57:21 from three days to five days?
1:57:24 - I don’t recall the numbers being higher
1:57:26 at the third quarter presentation.
1:57:28 - Okay, so–
1:57:30 - And the third quarter presentation
1:57:31 was up until that point comparing
1:57:33 last year to last year to this year.
1:57:37 And now this data is comparing last year,
1:57:41 the full year to now this year, the full year.
1:57:44 - If I remember right, at the end of third quarter,
1:57:45 we were actually looking at whether we could go back
1:57:47 to five days full time because at one campus–
1:57:50 - Right, but it was very high.
1:57:51 That’s what I’m asking.
1:57:52 So it was ‘cause it’s the full year data that’s different.
1:57:54 - Yes. - Okay.
1:57:55 So again, I brought this up 18 months ago
1:57:59 and I’m gonna do it again and I will keep doing it again
1:58:02 because it’s my obligation.
1:58:04 So we have disproportionate data on the types of students
1:58:09 that are being sent to ALCs.
1:58:11 We have, my color codes are backwards, sorry, give me,
1:58:14 or they’re black and white, I should say, underneath, okay.
1:58:20 274 black or African American students
1:58:23 are being sent to the ALC and 235 white students.
1:58:27 When black students represent 15% of our population,
1:58:31 when black students are, according to our slide six,
1:58:37 performing these behaviors at a lesser rate,
1:58:42 but they’re attending the most severe consequences
1:58:46 more often, that math doesn’t math up for me.
1:58:49 So again, it’s our obligation as a school district
1:58:51 to look into that data and ask ourselves why.
1:58:54 When I brought this up a long time ago,
1:58:56 one of the responses was some students are opting
1:58:59 to do home education in lieu of ALC
1:59:01 and I asked for this data to be presented a long time ago
1:59:03 and I’m appreciating that it’s back on here.
1:59:07 And what it shows is that the percentages
1:59:11 of black students opting for home ed
1:59:14 is not significantly different than our white students,
1:59:17 not enough to explain why there are more black students
1:59:21 inside of the ALC than white.
1:59:24 It is absolutely our obligation to pay attention
1:59:26 to the data that we’ve asked for
1:59:29 and to do something about it.
1:59:31 Again, Ms. Dampier, I appreciate slide number 17 tremendously
1:59:36 ‘cause I understand the benefits of this
1:59:37 and the more and more new staff that we have
1:59:40 and fresh educators that we get,
1:59:43 the better that this can make them
1:59:46 in that classroom management.
1:59:47 And I most appreciate the MTSS conversation
1:59:50 because someone from the EMC world,
1:59:52 we’ve had this conversation privately,
1:59:53 but just to say it publicly,
1:59:54 it is an absolute nightmare sometimes
1:59:56 for some of our schools
1:59:57 that don’t have a huge tremendous ESC staff
1:59:59 to get students into the place
2:00:01 that they would be most successful.
2:00:02 So thank you for taking that seriously
2:00:04 and deep diving into all of that paperwork.
2:00:07 - I also wanna mention something else
2:00:09 in reference to the SIN 2024.
2:00:13 I know when we talk about culture and climate,
2:00:15 that includes the behavior, academics,
2:00:17 it includes all of those measures.
2:00:19 We felt so strongly that this needed
2:00:22 to be in our school improvement plan
2:00:23 that it is one of our goals
2:00:25 that our schools were working on at SIN 2024, ‘25.
2:00:28 And they had groups where they were looking at,
2:00:31 okay, what are some of our school wide expectations
2:00:36 for tier, I hate to talk about tiers,
2:00:38 but tier one school wide expectations.
2:00:40 Those were some of the questions.
2:00:41 What does that look like?
2:00:42 And then what are we going to do for those students
2:00:45 who the tier one, those school wide expectations
2:00:48 are not working for?
2:00:50 What are some things that we’re going to do differently
2:00:53 or enhance to address and try to make sure
2:00:57 that we provide some of the strategies
2:00:59 for those students to ensure that they’re successful?
2:01:02 So there is a process that the schools went through
2:01:05 to make sure that we’re looking at all students,
2:01:08 regardless of races.
2:01:09 Like, okay, what are we doing for those students
2:01:11 who are not successful in the classroom?
2:01:14 What are we gonna do with that?
2:01:15 So, and that SIN 2024 consisted of teacher leaders,
2:01:21 as well as administrators, school counselors.
2:01:24 So everyone getting together and problem solving,
2:01:27 what does that look like?
2:01:28 And they had the opportunity.
2:01:29 We provided our office discipline referral data
2:01:32 for the schools, their OSS, the ISS,
2:01:36 as well as their climate survey,
2:01:37 so they could create these goals and put in action steps
2:01:41 of what they were going to do for next year.
2:01:43 So all of this is, it’s gonna help us, we think,
2:01:48 ‘cause when you have a foundation
2:01:50 of everyone looking at the data for the academic,
2:01:53 as well as the behavioral and attendance portion of that,
2:01:56 that it’s gonna set us up for success.
2:01:58 So we will be monitoring this as well.
2:02:01 They’re gonna turn those goals in
2:02:04 before the end of the summer.
2:02:06 We’ll be monitoring the action steps,
2:02:08 but our goal is to really problem solve.
2:02:10 And we also talked about how the principals
2:02:15 can set up problem solving,
2:02:16 that what that model is gonna look like on their campus
2:02:19 to look at, like you just said, the individual student
2:02:23 that things are not working for for that tier one.
2:02:25 So there are some things that we are planning
2:02:27 to do differently for next year.
2:02:29 - And I appreciate that.
2:02:32 If that information as it comes in
2:02:34 and there’s the review periods can be presented to the board
2:02:37 or just provided to the board, I would appreciate that
2:02:40 because ultimately, I love to hear that we’re doing that
2:02:43 and I love to hear that our district leaders are doing that,
2:02:46 but it is 100% a top-down approach.
2:02:50 And if it’s not coming from the top or from this board
2:02:53 and the board doesn’t buy into it,
2:02:55 it’s not gonna be sustainable.
2:02:56 So please present that data to us as soon as you have it.
2:02:59 - Okay.
2:03:01 Thank you, Ms. Shinkins, Ms. Campbell.
2:03:08 Thank you for following through with our request this year
2:03:10 to do this quarterly update
2:03:12 because it was really important for us this year
2:03:14 to start seeing the differences.
2:03:15 Now, I’m gonna emphasize that word start
2:03:18 because I have a different perspective, Ms. Shinkins,
2:03:22 from in this conversation when we,
2:03:24 as aggravated as I have also been
2:03:27 at maybe how this conversation started,
2:03:29 the fact was that 18 months ago, we started the conversation
2:03:32 and that was gonna require policy changes,
2:03:33 which we did last year.
2:03:35 It was also gonna require really doing great record keeping,
2:03:40 which we found out through our audit
2:03:43 as well as just staff like, and we weren’t doing that.
2:03:47 We had the ability with FOCUS now
2:03:50 to incorporate all of that data keeping, record keeping.
2:03:54 And so, you know, actually we should have anticipated
2:03:58 and did, staff did, some higher numbers
2:04:02 in certain categories because for the first time,
2:04:05 people were actually, you know,
2:04:06 being held accountable to record things,
2:04:09 to record the consequences, to make sure that it’s in there.
2:04:12 And then as we’ve gone through
2:04:14 and then we’ve got the student code of conduct,
2:04:16 what, I am not in dismay at this point
2:04:23 over the numbers that have increased.
2:04:26 I’m super excited to see the decrease
2:04:27 in willful disobedience
2:04:29 because we didn’t recategorize that in any way.
2:04:32 I mean, that’s its own category
2:04:34 ‘cause some of the fighting and aggression,
2:04:35 like we’ve moved things around
2:04:37 and the student code of conduct from last year, this year,
2:04:39 but this, and then in the coming year,
2:04:41 but that one is willful disobedience
2:04:43 is willful disobedience.
2:04:44 We didn’t recategorize that, that I recall.
2:04:46 And so I’m excited to see little victories, right?
2:04:49 And fewer students being, you know,
2:04:51 our rates of in-school and out-of-school suspension
2:04:55 because we gave people options.
2:04:57 But what I’m looking for moving forward
2:05:00 is now that we have a clear,
2:05:02 more concise student code of conduct,
2:05:05 now that we have, we have had a year of accurate,
2:05:09 more accurate record keeping,
2:05:11 and we’re moving into year two
2:05:12 of that more accurate record keeping.
2:05:14 Now that we have training that’s going on,
2:05:16 it’s gone on through the year,
2:05:17 but it’s specifically heavily focused this summer.
2:05:20 From here on out, I wanna see those numbers go down.
2:05:24 And I will have an expectation.
2:05:26 I have a positive, I’m an optimist,
2:05:28 but I have a positive expectation
2:05:30 that those numbers will continue to go down
2:05:31 because we will be able to more effectively deal with this.
2:05:34 I would, however, though, join Ms. Jenkins in saying,
2:05:38 I think we need to add that conversation
2:05:41 about the behavior text to our press release.
2:05:43 Because when I look at these,
2:05:45 we have in the past looked at those kindergartners
2:05:47 that are coming in, and even the seventh graders
2:05:49 that are coming, it’s those kids moving up
2:05:51 into the next level, so it’s ninth graders.
2:05:53 There’s where we always see the higher behaviors
2:05:54 because they’re moving into that new atmosphere,
2:05:56 and they just have gotta get their feet underneath them.
2:05:59 But things like willful disobedience,
2:06:01 out of assigned area, classroom disruptions,
2:06:04 physical aggression, those particular four
2:06:06 out of our top 10, I think, in an elementary setting
2:06:09 in that kindergarten setting is gonna particularly
2:06:13 be affected by having that behavior tech in the classroom.
2:06:16 And I would add to that, even though it’s more
2:06:18 of an academic thing, we are now funding those IAs.
2:06:22 And the truth is, even though those IAs fall
2:06:24 into the academic side of the house,
2:06:27 those IAs that we’re putting into kindergarten,
2:06:30 when students are able to more fully engage
2:06:32 in their academics because there’s more people
2:06:34 to help them, then the behaviors should also fall
2:06:38 because they’re focused, and there’s more eyes and hands,
2:06:42 and people able to help them focus on those academics.
2:06:45 So again, another thing that I think is going to help
2:06:48 when we look at future behavior issues,
2:06:51 future discipline reports, is that we’re gonna have
2:06:53 more people in the building focused on students
2:06:57 being more actively engaged in their academics
2:07:00 and helping to focus them back when it comes to behaviors.
2:07:02 And so, moving forward, if these numbers stay
2:07:05 the way they are, chop chop, let’s do something different.
2:07:09 But I really think that we’re now in a place,
2:07:12 this is the year, this coming year is a year
2:07:14 that I expect all these to fall.
2:07:15 And I may be wrong, but I think we’ve done too much work,
2:07:18 and your department and the staff all the way
2:07:21 from the top down to the schools has done so much
2:07:23 to make sure that we’re set up for success
2:07:25 moving forward in the future.
2:07:27 - Okay, that being said,
2:07:31 I wanted to ask a question about how our in-school
2:07:35 and out-of-school suspension numbers,
2:07:37 which would have been slide eight,
2:07:39 might or might not have been affected
2:07:40 by the drug diversion program.
2:07:42 Because we know, obviously, our expulsions have gone down
2:07:46 because students had the opportunity,
2:07:48 but could these drops right here,
2:07:51 it’s not, I mean, these drops were in the thousands,
2:07:53 so the 313 kids who chose out of drug diversion,
2:07:59 but are those students, and this is a process question,
2:08:01 it may be a Chief of Schools question,
2:08:03 when a student is first found to have alcohol,
2:08:07 or THC, whatever it was that would have put them,
2:08:10 give them the options of ALC or a drug diversion program,
2:08:15 are they included in these numbers,
2:08:17 are they serving some out-of-school suspension days,
2:08:21 and would that have gone down because of the fewer numbers
2:08:25 of students, I mean, are they still serving
2:08:27 those out-of-school suspension days
2:08:29 before they start the drug diversion program?
2:08:31 That’s my question.
2:08:35 Are you tracking, I mean, I’m trying to be clear.
2:08:38 Is this number affected at all by that?
2:08:40 - They have to get out of here.
2:08:41 - Yeah, so the way the process works,
2:08:43 they’re immediately placed on a 10-day suspension pending,
2:08:46 and so before you can set up the hearing with the parents
2:08:49 and offer a drug diversion, it usually takes several days,
2:08:52 so the amount of time that a student would be out
2:08:55 on suspension before they go to the ALC
2:08:58 or enroll in drug diversion is probably the same.
2:09:00 - It’s the same, okay, so this is a true decrease
2:09:04 in out-of-school and in-school suspensions,
2:09:07 well, they wouldn’t have gone to in-school suspension,
2:09:08 but out-of-school suspensions, not affected by that,
2:09:11 because they’re going to go ahead and conserve
2:09:13 those 10-day pendings until the decision is made.
2:09:15 - Well, the number of days they’re out
2:09:16 would probably be this, ‘cause it usually
2:09:18 doesn’t end up being 10 at some point.
2:09:20 - Right, right, right, right.
2:09:21 - But no, I think the reason that the numbers are down
2:09:23 is because the schools used other disciplinary consequences,
2:09:30 other consequences, and they were attacking behaviors
2:09:31 earlier in the process, which led to fewer suspensions,
2:09:35 because we didn’t get to the point
2:09:37 where it was gonna be a suspension.
2:09:39 - Good, thank you.
2:09:40 - And they really utilized that lunch detention,
2:09:43 if you saw that in the data, so that went up,
2:09:46 and that’s the strategy.
2:09:47 And I have to point out, this is actually surprising to me,
2:09:51 we made the change last year, for the last half,
2:09:57 three months or the last half of the year,
2:09:59 to give principals the authority to suspend more.
2:10:04 They could do more without district approval,
2:10:06 and yet, the number still went down.
2:10:09 So I think that’s a positive show as well,
2:10:12 ‘cause the expectation may have been from some,
2:10:14 oh, if you give the principals the authority
2:10:15 to suspend more without checking it,
2:10:17 they’re just gonna be suspending right and left,
2:10:18 and that’s not necessarily, I mean,
2:10:20 we may have some at some schools,
2:10:22 but I mean, that’s not necessarily proving true.
2:10:24 So I’m glad to see that, another little positive in this,
2:10:29 but like I said, I expect those numbers
2:10:31 just to continue to come down.
2:10:32 - And just so you know, the hiring of the Behavior Tech
2:10:36 came from my team and I visiting schools
2:10:39 and having conversations with principals,
2:10:41 and I could see that they were struggling somehow,
2:10:44 actually, I witnessed a couple of them
2:10:47 where they were spending a lot of their time
2:10:50 at the elementary level.
2:10:51 - Chasing kindergartners.
2:10:52 - Yes, and it’s not, and so this Behavior Tech
2:10:55 is for the whole school, it’s not even for ESC students,
2:10:58 it’s for those students who need to be redirected
2:11:01 and taught those strategies.
2:11:03 So I wanted to make sure Ms. Jenkins didn’t think that,
2:11:06 I didn’t think the teachers, the teachers do a great job,
2:11:09 but for those students who it’s not working for,
2:11:12 redirecting and reteaching and modeling for those kids
2:11:15 in the classroom or outside of the classroom,
2:11:18 that’s why that position was brought forward.
2:11:21 So that came from us looking at the data
2:11:24 and having those problem solving conversations
2:11:27 with principals.
2:11:28 - Thank you.
2:11:29 - Thank you, Ms. Campbell, Mr. Schusen.
2:11:31 - Hey, Dr. Rendell, I just wanna kinda, and Ms. Pam,
2:11:34 I wanna ask you guys a couple of questions
2:11:35 ‘cause there was some statements made earlier,
2:11:37 I’m not sure if they were made incorrectly or not,
2:11:39 but Dr. Rendell, do you feel that our student achievement
2:11:42 has gone up?
2:11:42 Did you just present today
2:11:44 on our achievement levels going up?
2:11:46 - Yeah, I mean, I think the presentation we just shared
2:11:49 showed that we’ve recorded increases in ELA
2:11:53 and most math and science.
2:11:55 - Okay, and then Ms. Dampier,
2:11:56 did we see a significant change in the staff surveys
2:11:58 from before discipline was corrected till now?
2:12:04 - I can tell you we only did a survey in the spring,
2:12:09 the goal next year, we’ve already had this conversation
2:12:12 is that we will do a survey in December
2:12:15 as well as year end.
2:12:16 So we’ll have some, this was just the baseline data.
2:12:19 We were just coming in and we didn’t think it was fair
2:12:21 to give them a survey in December
2:12:23 when we were just starting to,
2:12:25 and we were working out those things
2:12:28 that needed to be implemented with fidelity.
2:12:31 And so next year, the goal is that we’ll have that survey
2:12:36 twice in December and in May.
2:12:39 - And you had a survey that went out
2:12:41 that showed that 86% felt comfortable
2:12:44 with the discipline changes and they were, right?
2:12:46 - Yes, and based on the conversations that we’ve had
2:12:50 and meetings that monthly meetings we have with BFT
2:12:54 as well as with transportation, we’ll continue to have that.
2:12:58 They feel like we’re addressing some of those deficiencies
2:13:03 that were not being addressed prior.
2:13:05 - So that would be successful in that we’ve had to survey
2:13:07 and discussions inside of our unions and trade groups
2:13:11 that they feel that this process has worked
2:13:13 and we’re working towards better goals
2:13:15 and there’s a constant evaluation and going forward.
2:13:18 - Yes.
2:13:19 - Okay, and the survey that was given out by the auditors
2:13:23 showed a significant difference
2:13:24 in what we’re seeing now, correct?
2:13:29 - RSM.
2:13:30 - Yeah, RSM, the auditors came out and showed a survey
2:13:33 that was saying that we had deficiencies
2:13:35 in a lot of our disciplinary actions
2:13:37 and the survey that we have recently has shown a difference
2:13:40 in showing that what we’re doing
2:13:41 is making a difference with our unions.
2:13:44 - Yes, based on the topics that they had,
2:13:47 they wanted us to make sure that there were processes
2:13:49 and procedures in place and that we had a,
2:13:53 where we were putting data into focus
2:13:55 and doing that with fidelity.
2:13:57 So all of those things, yes,
2:13:58 we’ve done those things that were outlined in RSM.
2:14:01 Okay, Ms. Padampere, do you feel your team,
2:14:05 what, you and I talk a lot about this
2:14:07 and what you end up finding is that we’re talking
2:14:11 where you’re combing through the data
2:14:13 and you’re always trying to find improvements in processes,
2:14:17 meeting with your principals one-on-one.
2:14:20 Can you talk a little bit about that process
2:14:21 that you go with your teams,
2:14:23 your meeting inside the schools?
2:14:25 Can you walk through that a little bit?
2:14:28 - We, each one of my directors,
2:14:30 we have data metrics that we look at
2:14:33 and monitor on a monthly basis.
2:14:35 And we, as a team, we look at the data,
2:14:39 we look at all sorts of data,
2:14:41 not just the behavioral data,
2:14:44 but we look at the threat assessment data,
2:14:46 we look at the SRI data,
2:14:48 we look at all of those to tell us a story about a school.
2:14:52 We’re looking at it from this particular school
2:14:55 having issues in every area.
2:14:58 Or for example, if Title IX, there’s a cross connection
2:15:01 with that and what we’re seeing
2:15:02 as far as office discipline referrals,
2:15:04 that tells us where we need to go out
2:15:06 and meet with schools and see, hey, how can we support you?
2:15:11 And that’s done on a monthly basis.
2:15:13 We’re gonna continue that practice again.
2:15:15 I may be tweaking a few things
2:15:17 as far as some of the metrics.
2:15:18 Now that we’re gonna have the data dashboard,
2:15:21 they won’t have to spend as much time, Mr. Reed.
2:15:25 There was a lot that went into us
2:15:27 pulling those data metrics, but I didn’t care
2:15:29 because that’s gonna lead us into improving our practices.
2:15:33 Also, when we’re looking at whether or not data codes
2:15:37 or if we’re schools that are actually completing
2:15:42 the referrals within a 24 hour timeline,
2:15:44 that also provided us an opportunity
2:15:48 to look at the data for professional development.
2:15:50 If we’re seeing trends where that,
2:15:55 I’ll just give you an example, willful disobedience
2:15:58 is occurring, okay, what are some things
2:16:00 that we can help a school with, with willful disobedience?
2:16:03 Also going over the data at the monthly principal meetings,
2:16:08 once we see that there’s a trend with,
2:16:11 I think we did so many, every month we did
2:16:13 a principal meeting and it was based on what we saw
2:16:17 with processes and procedures and some of the data metrics.
2:16:21 So as far as implementing with fidelity,
2:16:25 that process really, we started in October
2:16:27 making those visits and not just there with ESC as well,
2:16:31 looking at how we can improve practices
2:16:33 and support our schools.
2:16:36 And we did some meetings and we walked with BFT as well,
2:16:40 just to see what was happening at a school
2:16:42 to provide some additional supports.
2:16:45 - And I think to Ms. Campbell’s comments
2:16:47 is that this year has been a lot of that.
2:16:50 And I knew you were gonna say it
2:16:51 because your number one thing that you consistently say
2:16:55 is we need to figure out the data,
2:16:56 hold everybody accountable, but then find the supports
2:16:59 that are needed to help these children.
2:17:01 And I think we don’t talk about that enough.
2:17:03 That was mentioned that I agree with.
2:17:04 We don’t talk about your amazing work
2:17:06 that you’ve been doing on the back end.
2:17:08 And just like you said, you started going out in October
2:17:11 to address these issues.
2:17:12 It’s not something that could have been addressed
2:17:13 immediately and turned.
2:17:15 And I just knew you were gonna say that
2:17:17 the number one thing that I think that you’ve brought
2:17:19 to the table that we discuss all the time
2:17:20 is the supports to the schools.
2:17:22 You are in the schools, you’re meeting with the schools,
2:17:24 you’re bringing BFT to the schools,
2:17:26 you’re doing a lot of that stuff.
2:17:27 And that was not something that was evident before.
2:17:30 And I think that that is going to,
2:17:31 to Ms. Campbell’s comment, turn the corner
2:17:34 on a lot of this stuff because you can’t just flip a switch
2:17:36 and expect it to change.
2:17:37 But there is hard work, determination and identification
2:17:40 that you’re doing that’s making it.
2:17:41 So I wanted to thank you for that one.
2:17:42 Dr. Rendell, can you explain to me the correlation
2:17:45 between 3,403 days of out of school suspension
2:17:49 to student achievement or you know what I mean, less days?
2:17:53 Can you give me that ‘cause I think that kind of,
2:17:55 to help the public understand what that means.
2:17:58 - Yeah, so obviously if the student’s not in class,
2:18:00 they can’t learn.
2:18:01 And you know, that’s probably the best number
2:18:05 in the whole slide presentation is the fact that
2:18:07 we reduced the number of OSS days and ISS days.
2:18:11 The number of in-school suspension days
2:18:12 were reduced by 20%.
2:18:14 So that and the out of school suspension is 3,000,
2:18:18 over 3,400 days of not missed instruction.
2:18:23 You know, 3,400 student days back in the classroom,
2:18:27 so to speak.
2:18:28 And so even though we, you know, increased accountability
2:18:33 and you know, wrote more referrals
2:18:36 and issued more consequences,
2:18:39 the bottom line is in the end,
2:18:40 more kids were actually in class, you know,
2:18:43 compared to the previous year.
2:18:45 You know, more days of in-class instruction,
2:18:48 not lost days of instruction,
2:18:50 which would have probably impacted academic achievement.
2:18:54 - And I think that’s something
2:18:55 that we don’t talk about enough
2:18:56 is when we throw the number out there,
2:18:58 3,403 days of less suspensions.
2:19:01 It’s yeah, that sounds good ‘cause it’s less kids,
2:19:03 you know what I mean, in trouble or days suspension,
2:19:05 but it directly affects the achievement of those students.
2:19:08 And I know Jean and others that are on this board know
2:19:11 that when those kids are inside the classroom,
2:19:14 that’s when they truly learn
2:19:15 and being suspended is not our goal.
2:19:17 Our goal is to have them inside the classroom.
2:19:19 Dr. Rendell, can you tell us
2:19:20 how the drug diversion program supports student achievement?
2:19:23 How is it that keeping those kids at that school,
2:19:26 which is again, our number one goal,
2:19:27 can you explain that to me?
2:19:29 - Yeah, so the drug diversion program,
2:19:30 we gotta give the board credit for taking the bold step
2:19:33 to put that in place this year,
2:19:34 offer these students the ability
2:19:36 to remain at their home campus,
2:19:37 remain enrolled in their coursework,
2:19:39 seven classes that they were at their home campus.
2:19:42 The alternative learning center
2:19:43 is not the same learning environment.
2:19:45 So the drug diversion program allowed them
2:19:47 to remain in their homeschool,
2:19:50 access the same high quality curriculum,
2:19:52 some periods a day,
2:19:54 some of those courses are not available at the ALC.
2:19:56 Now it was high risk, high reward kind of thing,
2:19:59 ‘cause if they messed up,
2:20:01 they were gonna then forfeit not just their homeschool,
2:20:03 but the ALC, they were gonna be expelled out of school.
2:20:08 But the board took that step and offered that program.
2:20:11 It’s been very successful.
2:20:13 All those students were able to remain,
2:20:14 again, like I said, at their homeschool
2:20:16 and access their standard curriculum.
2:20:20 - And I think there is, thank you for that, Dr. Rendell.
2:20:22 I think there’s some other things is that you have,
2:20:24 in some instances,
2:20:25 some schools that did a significant increase
2:20:28 with all of what we laid out for ‘em
2:20:30 and some that needed some development and supports.
2:20:33 Like Rockledge had, I think, 27 expulsions last year,
2:20:36 and they only had seven this year.
2:20:38 And others, there’s some great schools
2:20:40 that have done some great things.
2:20:41 And I think we need to honor them for what they are.
2:20:43 And then other schools that are going through
2:20:45 some of those issues, support them,
2:20:47 find out how we can help them, and get them.
2:20:49 Because our goal here today is not to find out
2:20:52 to just reduce the amount of times kids get expelled
2:20:54 and everything else, it’s student achievement.
2:20:56 And I think that looking at the numbers
2:20:58 by both how we are showing the achievement gains today,
2:21:02 along with showing that we’re reducing
2:21:03 the total out-of-school suspensions,
2:21:05 along with some of the things that you guys said is amazing.
2:21:08 So thank you very much.
2:21:08 I appreciate your time.
2:21:09 That’s it.
2:21:10 - Thank you, Mr. Suze, and Mr. Trent.
2:21:12 All right, well, so we don’t repeat.
2:21:16 - I’m so sorry.
2:21:16 I did a lot.
2:21:17 - You gotta stop looking at my notes.
2:21:23 More than months ago, I mean,
2:21:28 we were talking to a lot of educators in this room,
2:21:30 and parents, and I think we all do what we do,
2:21:34 either teach or go into education,
2:21:36 or run for the school board,
2:21:37 in hopes of improving student achievement.
2:21:41 Otherwise, I mean, what is the main goal
2:21:43 a school district is doing that?
2:21:47 I don’t believe in consequences.
2:21:51 Not every number has to make sense
2:21:54 if the goal is being achieved.
2:21:56 And I think we’ve seen it today
2:21:57 that we are achieving that goal of student achievement.
2:22:02 It’s happening.
2:22:05 There is a correlation.
2:22:06 I mean, I think a lot of things with coaching in my life
2:22:10 is if you take care of the small things,
2:22:12 sometimes it takes care of the big things.
2:22:14 And I don’t have expectations on certain numbers going down.
2:22:19 I want teachers and administrators
2:22:20 to continue doing what they do
2:22:21 with the situation that they’re faced every single day.
2:22:24 I’m not gonna put an expectation that I want less referrals
2:22:27 or less discipline issues taken care of.
2:22:30 I don’t.
2:22:31 If that was out of hand,
2:22:33 and we were not improving student achievement,
2:22:36 then we have an issue.
2:22:37 But when I see tardies and mishandling of phones,
2:22:44 those things going up,
2:22:45 and we’re still achieving student achievement goals,
2:22:50 that’s a good thing.
2:22:51 When I see willful disobedience going down,
2:22:55 that’s the big things
2:22:56 that we didn’t have to take care of as much
2:22:57 because we took care of the small things.
2:22:59 And it all leads to that.
2:23:00 When it’s an emphasis that you get to school on time
2:23:04 and you get in the class,
2:23:05 now student achievement can happen.
2:23:07 But also the willful disobedience or fights,
2:23:12 things like that doesn’t happen in the hallways
2:23:14 because the students are in the classrooms
2:23:15 and they’re on campus and they’re in schools.
2:23:19 That’s exciting to see
2:23:20 that things are actually working that way.
2:23:22 That’s the way it’s supposed to happen.
2:23:24 I’m excited to see the consequence of lunch detentions.
2:23:30 That’s not an exciting topic,
2:23:31 but it’s an immediate consequence to an action.
2:23:35 I mean, many times I’ve witnessed at the schools
2:23:38 I were at where the bell was wrong,
2:23:40 we’re out in the courtyard
2:23:42 and they’re giving out a lunch detention to serve that day
2:23:46 because of something that student chose to do that morning.
2:23:50 And that handles it.
2:23:54 You gotta be in the classroom,
2:23:55 that in-school suspension, the out-of-school suspension,
2:23:58 those days, I mean, that matters, that’s huge.
2:24:01 Give a hand to the board
2:24:02 for taking the risk on the drug diversion program.
2:24:06 That could have blown up in our faces.
2:24:07 It really was a high risk, high reward for the student,
2:24:10 but it was also for us as well.
2:24:12 So I applaud us for doing that.
2:24:16 I see the students who are staying in schools
2:24:18 without us having to compromise our accountability
2:24:23 to those students.
2:24:23 We’re still doing what we’re supposed to be doing
2:24:26 in standing strong and saying,
2:24:29 students, you need to be in class.
2:24:31 You need to put the phones away.
2:24:33 It’s disturbing still.
2:24:35 I know this probably you’re just gonna say ‘cause I’m old,
2:24:38 but it’s disturbing to see the behavior at kindergarten.
2:24:41 You wonder why are they coming into schools
2:24:44 with such behaviors?
2:24:45 I don’t wanna get into what I think,
2:24:47 but how many times do we go out to dinner
2:24:49 and we see babies with cell phones in their hands?
2:24:52 And maybe we need to really focus at home
2:24:55 on getting those behaviors taught
2:24:58 that it’s okay to have our young ones around adults
2:25:05 and individuals and teach that behavior.
2:25:08 I don’t remember many behavior techs and IAs
2:25:10 being in kindergartens years ago.
2:25:12 I mean, it’s a fact that we have today,
2:25:14 but it’s an entire community.
2:25:17 And I see it when we’re in the schools.
2:25:20 It’s needed now, but those are things
2:25:23 that I wish we didn’t have to be facing.
2:25:26 So I appreciate that you respect the data.
2:25:31 There’s not one thing in this presentation
2:25:34 that I know you haven’t gone over a hundred times
2:25:37 in your head and with your team, Mr. Ampere.
2:25:39 So I know you’re looking at those.
2:25:42 I see the slide where a home ed in lieu of ALC.
2:25:47 I mean, the black demographics over double from 15 to 34
2:25:51 that they’ve chosen that and only 46 to 49
2:25:54 and the white demographic.
2:25:56 So they are, some groups are taking advantage of that home
2:26:01 and instead of going to the ALC.
2:26:05 And those are, when you hear we’re putting them in ALC,
2:26:11 I’m a big one on that.
2:26:12 No, that’s the consequence that they have chosen
2:26:15 based on the actions that they’ve decided
2:26:17 to take themselves.
2:26:18 They’ve chosen that route.
2:26:22 So just continue doing what you’re doing
2:26:25 and giving the supports to the schools.
2:26:29 I don’t think there’s conversation that goes by,
2:26:30 you and I have that it isn’t about putting more supports
2:26:34 in the schools, giving the teachers, administrators,
2:26:37 and those students everything.
2:26:39 I know you’re pouring your heart and soul into this
2:26:41 and we appreciate it.
2:26:42 It isn’t gonna be turned around overnight.
2:26:45 No, I’m not putting a demand
2:26:49 that these numbers need to be reduced.
2:26:51 I just keep doing what we’re doing.
2:26:52 And over time, I have faith and confidence
2:26:56 that BPS is gonna continue improving.
2:26:59 So thank you.
2:27:00 - Thank you, Mr. Trent.
2:27:02 All right, I get to wait patiently
2:27:03 until everyone speaks at the end.
2:27:04 And so thank you for continually diving into this data.
2:27:07 I think you’ve said this a couple of times, expectations.
2:27:10 So unspoken expectations lead to disappointment.
2:27:12 And so sometimes I think that’s what we found with this.
2:27:15 We weren’t setting a clear expectation
2:27:17 of what we expected from our students
2:27:19 and what we expected from our staff.
2:27:20 And now we’re kind of all rowing in the same direction,
2:27:22 which is very, very important.
2:27:25 I look forward to the day where,
2:27:29 I’m gonna use your analogy.
2:27:30 Sorry, don’t be mad at me, Dr. Rendell.
2:27:31 But I want Brevard County to be the Georgia.
2:27:34 So everybody that drives a 995 knows
2:27:36 when the second you hit Georgia, you stop speeding,
2:27:38 because you know why?
2:27:39 They write tickets and you get in trouble.
2:27:41 And so I would like our schools to be the Georgia,
2:27:45 so to speak, when it comes to discipline.
2:27:47 That you know what the expectation is
2:27:49 and you know how to behave in the classroom.
2:27:51 Because if you do not, there will be a consequence
2:27:53 associated with that behavior, whatever that behavior is.
2:27:57 I anticipate a day where we see the first quarter data
2:28:00 being extremely high,
2:28:01 because they’re setting the expectation of saying,
2:28:04 hey, we see a lot of referrals.
2:28:05 And then we start to see it taper off
2:28:07 because students now realize, hey,
2:28:08 they’re not going to allow this in the school.
2:28:10 So I can’t act this way, I can’t do these things.
2:28:13 I think that’s the trend that we’ll probably start to see.
2:28:15 I hope that we start to see.
2:28:17 One thing I would just say I recommend doing,
2:28:19 and I think this has been an eye-opening tool
2:28:22 that I’ve used when I tore my schools.
2:28:24 And I know you guys are at the schools now.
2:28:26 As I asked to see a few different classrooms,
2:28:28 a lot of times they want to show you
2:28:29 the shiny, nice classroom
2:28:30 with everybody sitting really well.
2:28:32 And I want to see the first year teacher’s classroom.
2:28:34 I want to see your seasoned teacher’s classroom.
2:28:36 I want to see the classroom
2:28:37 that’s writing the most referrals.
2:28:39 Because a lot of times you can go in there
2:28:40 and just kind of spectate what’s happening
2:28:42 and give some positive feedback on some ways
2:28:44 we could maybe help that classroom
2:28:47 or take some of those model examples
2:28:49 and implement them in other classrooms.
2:28:50 So just one recommendation I’ll throw out there to you guys
2:28:53 when you go out there.
2:28:54 Just ask to see different stuff
2:28:55 than rather than maybe the classrooms
2:28:57 that you get steered into.
2:28:59 Because a lot of times that’s very, very eye-opening.
2:29:01 Other than that,
2:29:03 thank you for the work that you’re putting in here.
2:29:04 I want to continually have these conversations.
2:29:06 It’s important that we continually look at this
2:29:08 and monitor this.
2:29:08 And like you guys are doing,
2:29:10 you’re recognizing there’s an issue here.
2:29:11 We need to focus on this.
2:29:13 And we have the human element.
2:29:15 This will never be perfect.
2:29:16 So quite frankly, we’re dealing with children.
2:29:18 Children push limits.
2:29:19 That’s what they do.
2:29:21 So we will continue to have these conversations, I believe,
2:29:24 for as long as we’re in the business
2:29:25 of working with children.
2:29:26 So don’t get discouraged when you’re not seeing things
2:29:28 that you want to see.
2:29:29 It’s just figures, okay, well, hey,
2:29:31 this is reflecting that we need to work
2:29:33 or focus more in one specific area.
2:29:35 So I won’t continue on anymore, thanks.
2:29:37 I know we have another part of this presentation.
2:29:38 So I appreciate the work you guys are doing.
2:29:40 Thank you so much.
2:29:41 And I believe it’s Ms. Cashinspin,
2:29:43 are you doing the next section of this?
2:29:45 Okay, all right. - I have a followup.
2:29:47 So, step out to the restroom really fast.
2:29:51 I want to just highlight one thing.
2:29:56 So the part about the behavior tech
2:29:59 in the elementary schools,
2:30:00 not just in our kindergarten classrooms,
2:30:03 I appreciate you highlighting that,
2:30:04 but I just want to bring it to everyone’s attention too.
2:30:07 The reality is, is when you have a grade level
2:30:11 that’s struggling so much, especially an initial grade,
2:30:15 like kindergarten, getting data for those students
2:30:19 is so time consuming.
2:30:21 And so it’s really, really helpful
2:30:23 to have that individual on that campus
2:30:25 to be able to be in those kindergarten classrooms more often.
2:30:29 So just acknowledging, yes,
2:30:30 they’re gonna be there for everyone,
2:30:31 but putting them there is really helpful
2:30:34 for those struggling kindergarten classrooms.
2:30:38 I think it’s important that we speak
2:30:40 about what was just presented honestly,
2:30:43 to say we’re excited that kids
2:30:45 are getting to class more often.
2:30:47 The data says the exact opposite.
2:30:49 By the thousands, they’ve increased in the categories
2:30:51 of tardy to class and tardy to school.
2:30:53 So make sure you’re reading the slides
2:30:55 before you make statements publicly.
2:30:58 And it’s frustrating for me because I speak first,
2:31:02 I’m called to speak first,
2:31:04 and then I listen to everyone else speak.
2:31:05 And for the first time, there’s a benefit there.
2:31:08 Not one other person addressed the exact same issue
2:31:11 I’ve brought up time and time again.
2:31:13 There is a blindness from this board
2:31:15 to have conversations about the data
2:31:18 that has been presented over and over again.
2:31:21 I’m not necessarily speaking to you, Ms. Campbell,
2:31:23 because you did brush over it really quickly.
2:31:25 But what I’m talking about is there’s excuses being made
2:31:27 by the majority of this board over and over again.
2:31:30 And it’s frustrating.
2:31:32 It’s frustrating ‘cause there was a huge sector
2:31:34 of our population of students that are being ignored.
2:31:38 And to excuse a way that children made choices,
2:31:43 that’s why they’re in the ALC.
2:31:45 Absolutely, you’re correct.
2:31:47 But when you look at the data
2:31:48 and those students are doing the same behaviors
2:31:51 at a lesser rate than the other students
2:31:53 that they’re being compared to, that doesn’t add up.
2:31:57 That’s a problem.
2:31:58 It is our responsibility to identify the problem
2:32:00 and to fix it.
2:32:01 And the blindness is a problem for the board.
2:32:05 And I appreciate the interrogation of Ms. Dampierre.
2:32:08 Again, I said it before,
2:32:10 it has nothing to do with Ms. Dampierre
2:32:12 or the district staff and their initiatives
2:32:14 and their acknowledgement of it.
2:32:15 If the top of the line isn’t acknowledging that problem,
2:32:18 this isn’t going to be rectified.
2:32:27 - Thank you.
2:32:28 Yes, go ahead.
2:32:29 You are.
2:32:30 - Mr. Mayor, there’s been some accusations
2:32:32 that there’s a large population center being ignored.
2:32:35 Can you talk a little bit around some of your things
2:32:39 that we have that have been addressing some of those?
2:32:42 I think she’s in reference to the risk ratios
2:32:44 and stuff like that.
2:32:45 Can you talk around how your actions
2:32:47 of going to the schools, identifying some of the issues,
2:32:50 what is the plan that we’ve engaged with
2:32:52 to overcome some of the risk ratio problems
2:32:56 that she kind of said that we were ignoring?
2:32:59 - I think the way we have included the culture and climate
2:33:04 and the SIN as a goal.
2:33:06 We didn’t have that goal
2:33:08 as a part of the school improvement plan last year.
2:33:11 And that the ownership of, okay,
2:33:15 what are the school wide expectations?
2:33:17 They’re gonna work for about 80 to 85% of our students.
2:33:21 That other 15%, what are some strategies
2:33:25 and interventions that we’re gonna provide
2:33:27 for those students to make sure
2:33:29 that they’re getting that resource or support
2:33:35 that is needed?
2:33:36 Because again, we wanna make sure
2:33:38 that our students are in school.
2:33:40 But that’s one of the things
2:33:43 is actually being able to look at that.
2:33:46 It’s also gonna help with MTSS.
2:33:48 We have a lot of processes and procedures in place
2:33:55 that should have been updated a couple of years ago.
2:34:01 And so what we did was we streamlined work with CNI
2:34:06 and this was a collaboration effort
2:34:08 when looking at how can we streamline
2:34:10 the MTSS problem solving process.
2:34:14 We met several times to just as a cohesive unit,
2:34:19 but then also once we had what’s required,
2:34:24 we eliminated some of those things and practices
2:34:27 that were not required.
2:34:29 And so that’s gonna streamline that resource
2:34:32 so we can get to providing those resources
2:34:35 and not doing it in isolation to do it as looking at,
2:34:40 why is this kid not in school?
2:34:43 The MTSS process is gonna look at attendance
2:34:45 and behavior and academics, all of those things.
2:34:49 Whereas before we were doing it sometimes in isolation
2:34:53 and sometimes with all of the paperwork
2:34:58 that we were requiring them to do that really wasn’t needed,
2:35:00 we couldn’t get to that intervention quickly enough.
2:35:04 So we’ve streamlined that.
2:35:06 And we got a huge applause for the teachers that were there
2:35:10 when we told them, hey, we’re no longer doing this
2:35:14 for certain parts of that MTSS process.
2:35:17 So we’re doing a lot of our paperwork in focus now
2:35:20 and we’ve streamlined, I went and pulled policy
2:35:24 and actually legislative requirements and said,
2:35:29 this is not required, so why are we doing it?
2:35:31 So we eliminated a lot of things.
2:35:33 So that’s gonna streamline.
2:35:35 - And I appreciate that because every one of the schools
2:35:37 that I went to go speak at consistently,
2:35:40 that was one of the top three issues was the MTSS process.
2:35:44 And you and I talked about it and you identified it
2:35:46 and you were already on top of it
2:35:47 by the time I brought it to you.
2:35:48 So I applaud you for that.
2:35:49 And what you had said earlier was is that in regards
2:35:52 to some of the risk ratios and some of the other issues
2:35:55 that we have at each one of the schools,
2:35:57 we’ve actually baked it into the school improvement plan
2:35:59 to start identifying those factors
2:36:01 so that culturally we can identify them also
2:36:04 besides just the actions and then holistically look
2:36:06 at those individuals as a whole to support them
2:36:09 instead of just saying, you’re bad, here’s some solutions.
2:36:12 You’re actually looking at it from a holistic perspective.
2:36:14 - And it’s part of your action steps.
2:36:16 So before we just had the academics,
2:36:19 now we have academics and culture and climate.
2:36:21 So you’re gonna be, you put together a goal,
2:36:23 you put some action steps and as a school,
2:36:26 they’re gonna be monitoring that and we will be monitoring
2:36:29 as a district as well to see how we’re making progress.
2:36:32 And then again, that’s where the problem solving
2:36:35 and then we go out and make sure that it supports them,
2:36:38 give them ideas and we problem solve as a team.
2:36:41 And we’re gonna do a lot more of that.
2:36:44 And I’m streamlining also in my department,
2:36:48 especially in the discipline area,
2:36:51 we are going to be doing some things differently
2:36:54 where Mr. Kristall can get out there more frequently
2:36:59 to the schools ‘cause that will be an expectations
2:37:01 that we’re all going and providing
2:37:04 that support and resource.
2:37:05 - And I appreciate that because when they have to put it
2:37:07 into, when you put it into a school improvement plan,
2:37:09 it becomes part of your plan, not some sort of side piece.
2:37:13 So I appreciate that you’ve put together a robust plan
2:37:15 to deal with some of those higher areas, risk ratios
2:37:18 and stuff like that for next year.
2:37:19 I appreciate that.
2:37:20 Thank you.
2:37:23 - Yeah, just one more right at the apple here.
2:37:27 I hear the concern, especially about the risk ratios.
2:37:30 We get presented this every time and they’re showing
2:37:33 that improving.
2:37:35 I have seen enough of our data through the years.
2:37:38 It’s not included in this presentation to know
2:37:40 that our highest risk ratio issue is free reduced lunch.
2:37:44 We also know that there is a higher occurrence
2:37:47 of free and reduced lunch in our black student population.
2:37:50 That is true.
2:37:54 There, and when we have, and our students with disabilities,
2:37:56 we have, sometimes we have a higher representation
2:38:00 of students with disabilities in our black population
2:38:02 than we do our white population.
2:38:04 I want us to be careful because if we’re,
2:38:07 if what you just suggested a few minutes ago
2:38:11 was that we have students committing the same offense
2:38:14 and they’re getting different outcomes.
2:38:18 I haven’t seen anything presented in this.
2:38:19 For one thing, risk ratios, if I recall,
2:38:22 only have to do with in-school
2:38:25 and out-of-school suspensions, correct?
2:38:27 They’re not talking about all disciplines.
2:38:28 And what we were presented with as far as the numbers
2:38:31 of actions, the highest discipline codes,
2:38:33 none of those are suspendable offenses
2:38:40 unless they lead to something else.
2:38:41 Willful disobedience out of assigned area can be,
2:38:44 depending on how egregious it was,
2:38:46 but targeted class, classroom disruptions,
2:38:48 minor electronic misuse,
2:38:49 those are not suspendable in-school, out-school.
2:38:52 So if we’re truly gonna look and say,
2:38:55 are we having our black students,
2:38:58 our students with disabilities or our,
2:39:00 or free and reduced lunch issues,
2:39:01 are they getting different outcomes for the same offense?
2:39:05 Then that’s egregious and we need to take care of that.
2:39:08 But that’s not in this presentation.
2:39:10 So I don’t think anybody can look at this presentation
2:39:12 and go, we’re causing this.
2:39:15 I hear the concern.
2:39:17 Well, then we need to get down
2:39:19 ‘cause what are the offenses that are leading to that?
2:39:22 Then if we wanna get that specific data and go,
2:39:24 okay, how many black students committed this offense
2:39:29 and what was the result?
2:39:30 How many white students or how many free reduced lunch?
2:39:33 How many non-free reduced lunch?
2:39:34 How many students with disabilities?
2:39:35 How many students who didn’t have a disability?
2:39:38 If we need that breakdown so we can get that clarity,
2:39:43 part of this, this is just a snapshot
2:39:45 and part of the risk ratio conversation
2:39:47 and the, I’m gonna get the initials wrong, but CEI,
2:39:50 there’s– - CEIS.
2:39:51 - That, or there’s extra S’s.
2:39:53 I always wanna add, mix up the letters.
2:39:55 That process, you guys are going school to school
2:39:58 and risk ratios that are extreme, the most extreme,
2:40:03 you are coming in and helping them problem solve, correct?
2:40:06 - Yes, we have to, the DOE gives us a list of,
2:40:11 of course they, while we’re on the list
2:40:14 and then we determine which schools are contributing
2:40:16 to that high percentage and then we’re bound
2:40:19 to provide 15% set aside of support and resources
2:40:24 to those schools and we’ve, this, the support that you,
2:40:27 I’m talking about my team going,
2:40:29 that is above and beyond the CCEIS
2:40:32 that’s running within itself.
2:40:35 So that’s, and remember that’s lagging data,
2:40:40 it’s not leading, so yes, that is something
2:40:43 that we’re required, we haven’t gotten the update
2:40:45 for this coming school year yet, but yes,
2:40:48 we are required to set aside that 15%.
2:40:50 - And as part of those conversations,
2:40:52 are you guys looking at that specific granular level
2:40:54 of data where you’re looking at,
2:40:57 are there different punishments being doled off
2:40:59 for the same crime?
2:41:02 - As far as the CCEIS schools, yes, we are looking at,
2:41:05 and we will be able to do a better job
2:41:08 now that we have the dashboards,
2:41:11 because I’m just gonna be honest with you,
2:41:12 pulling the data, we only pulled it once a month
2:41:15 because it is very tedious, so we’re looking at,
2:41:18 I think we will pull it on the 15th of every month,
2:41:21 all these different reports and then from there,
2:41:24 look at it now that we’ll have dashboards available
2:41:27 come August, September, we’ll be able to pull it
2:41:29 at our fingertips and do some more in-depth data
2:41:32 and that’s where Mr. Kristal, he comes with that background
2:41:35 from Hillsborough County and he’ll be able to help us
2:41:40 problem solve as well as some additional strategies.
2:41:42 We’ve already been talking last week about,
2:41:45 and we said we’ll wait ‘til next year,
2:41:46 we’ll wait ‘til next year ‘cause we’re gonna be putting
2:41:48 those interventions and strategies in place to monitor that.
2:41:52 - So my point is, it’s not being ignored.
2:41:54 - No. - It’s not being ignored
2:41:55 and that data is probably some data
2:41:57 that if there are significant, what’s the word I’m looking
2:42:02 for, discrepancies, that’s probably some data specifically
2:42:07 that we need to look at ‘cause I don’t wanna make
2:42:09 just broad statements without being able to know
2:42:11 exactly what we’re talking about.
2:42:14 - All right, Cam. - I need to clarify that.
2:42:17 - We are just bored just so that we’re aware,
2:42:20 we’re at 1158 right now and so we’re gonna need
2:42:23 to either take a break ‘cause we still have
2:42:25 another agenda item and then we still have
2:42:26 the second half of this presentation,
2:42:28 which is the bullying data.
2:42:29 So Ms. Jenkins, if we’ll go ahead and finish
2:42:31 with your last statement– - Yeah, I need to clarify
2:42:33 that, so– - Go ahead.
2:42:37 - When meeting with RSM, we had this conversation
2:42:43 in a one-on-one setting and they were uncomfortable
2:42:47 to present certain information publicly.
2:42:51 So I’m not making broad statements, Ms. Campbell,
2:42:53 and that may not have been said to you or presented to you.
2:42:57 But that was made very clear to me.
2:43:00 I have asked for this data time and time again.
2:43:04 We have mildly been presented this data in the past,
2:43:07 not in this exact presentation, but other presentations.
2:43:11 Each of some of these top five, whatever,
2:43:14 I don’t know if it was five, 10 categories,
2:43:16 were broken down.
2:43:18 I have been asking for this data for a very, very,
2:43:21 very long time, so it is not a broad sweeping statement.
2:43:24 It is a statement I have asked for the information
2:43:27 over and over again.
2:43:28 And when I say that it’s being ignored for the third time,
2:43:31 it is being ignored by the majority of this board.
2:43:34 So I appreciate you asking for that data
2:43:37 so that I am not the only one asking for it,
2:43:39 ‘cause it is important information for us to have.
2:43:42 And it was brought up by RSM way back in the day
2:43:46 and we haven’t done anything about it.
2:43:48 I made an assumption that that same statement was made
2:43:51 to the majority of our board members.
2:43:54 I don’t know why it wouldn’t have been,
2:43:56 but it was an in-depth conversation I had with RSM
2:43:58 and it wasn’t presented when they came back
2:44:00 with their findings.
2:44:01 The findings had nothing to do with that.
2:44:02 It had to do with process.
2:44:04 And that bothered me, but clearly we weren’t comfortable
2:44:07 having that conversation publicly.
2:44:09 I’m comfortable having it because identifying the bad things
2:44:12 means we can work towards progress and positive.
2:44:15 So thank you.
2:44:17 - All right, thank you.
2:44:18 Okay, so we’re gonna go ahead and go move on
2:44:19 to the bullying and Title IX updates if that’s okay.
2:44:23 All right, Ms. Cashion-Smith, you have four?
2:44:25 - All right, so we’re just gonna go through this data
2:44:29 like we have in the previous,
2:44:32 oh, I went too far here, in the previous session.
2:44:35 So we’re gonna compare last year’s to this year’s
2:44:39 and we know that we have seen an increase
2:44:42 in our bullying data, both substantiated
2:44:45 and unsubstantiated cases.
2:44:47 Our substantiated cases are up 24%.
2:44:52 That number has come down some.
2:44:55 In the second quarter, we were 52% above
2:44:58 where we were last year.
2:44:59 So each quarter it has sort of leveled out a little bit,
2:45:03 which is good that we did not continue at that pace.
2:45:08 That was making me a little bit nervous.
2:45:11 And then our unsubstantiated cases,
2:45:14 which we know is really bogging our principals
2:45:16 and administrators down in these investigations
2:45:19 are 45% higher, which they were last quarter,
2:45:24 58% higher in the quarter before that, 56% higher.
2:45:28 So that leveled off a little bit as well.
2:45:32 But again, that’s a lot of extra,
2:45:37 extra time that is taking our administrators
2:45:39 from the main work, which is academics.
2:45:45 And I’m gonna talk about next steps at the end for both.
2:45:49 So looking at our Title IX cases,
2:45:52 total we had 27 this year.
2:45:54 And I am happy to say that right now
2:45:58 we only have six cases still open.
2:46:00 If you remember, I think we had 25
2:46:02 from the previous year when I started.
2:46:04 And so we’re going into the summer in a much better place
2:46:07 than we were even in the fall of last year.
2:46:11 You can’t always have them all wrapped up
2:46:13 because a lot of them take a minimum of 60 days
2:46:19 and so it just takes time with all of the different steps
2:46:24 that are in this process.
2:46:25 It’s a very, very intense process.
2:46:30 We do have two cases that are open with labor relations.
2:46:34 One that is still open from last school year
2:46:37 and one from this school year.
2:46:40 So that’s a total of eight cases that are currently open.
2:46:44 And you can see the breakdown of how the 27 cases
2:46:49 have ended up with, right now we have five
2:46:52 that are still in investigative progress
2:46:55 and one is with a decision maker.
2:46:58 We had five that went to informal resolution,
2:47:01 which is great, that means both parties agreed
2:47:05 to resolve it a certain way.
2:47:08 We had six that were dismissed,
2:47:10 three that were substantiated,
2:47:11 seven that were unsubstantiated.
2:47:15 So our next steps, right now we are working really hard
2:47:19 on building training videos.
2:47:22 And we are building these videos for bullying
2:47:26 for our staff, our students and our parents this year,
2:47:28 which is an exciting addition.
2:47:32 We know that we’ve got to really get the definition
2:47:37 of what bullying actually is
2:47:39 to our families and our students.
2:47:40 And so we decided to do this by making videos
2:47:44 that we can put on our website,
2:47:47 that we can share out on social media,
2:47:50 really like going over the difference
2:47:53 between conflict and bullying.
2:47:54 And I know that we’ve talked about this
2:47:56 in some of the previous updates,
2:47:59 but we are right in the middle of making these videos
2:48:02 and the one for the parents is short and sweet,
2:48:07 but it gets that information to them.
2:48:09 And I think that’s really important.
2:48:12 For administrators, we’re building more in-depth training
2:48:16 and we’re doing this through a Canvas course
2:48:18 where they will actually have to answer questions
2:48:22 throughout the module.
2:48:24 So we know that they’re really understanding
2:48:27 what is being asked of them
2:48:28 and throughout the,
2:48:30 when they’re conducting the investigations.
2:48:33 We are also going to implement a new case management process
2:48:38 which should really help with that record keeping piece
2:48:40 that came up earlier and keeping us in compliance.
2:48:45 You know, all of these,
2:48:46 both of these have specific statute and law
2:48:50 that is required in them.
2:48:52 And it’s hard to manage that
2:48:55 across all of the different schools.
2:48:57 So having something where it’s very visible for the staff
2:49:03 and for us to kind of keep track of those steps
2:49:06 and how many days each thing’s been at each step
2:49:08 and all of the templates built out right in those steps
2:49:11 is gonna be very helpful.
2:49:14 We wanna focus on prevention.
2:49:16 And I talked last time about how we have Ms. Elam
2:49:21 who is really our prevention person for bullying.
2:49:26 And she spends a lot of her time
2:49:28 managing the investigation packets.
2:49:31 And so our goal is to really free her up
2:49:33 through this new case management process
2:49:36 to get her out in the schools more
2:49:38 to be able to do the prevention
2:49:40 and that side-by-side coaching with our administrative teams
2:49:46 that are maybe struggling
2:49:47 through some of these investigations.
2:49:49 So, you know, seeing where we see
2:49:52 that they need a little bit more support,
2:49:55 her being able to go out
2:49:56 and walk through these investigations with them.
2:50:00 And then we are working on updating our website
2:50:04 with resources for teachers
2:50:08 and for our families and students.
2:50:10 So we had our site up and going
2:50:12 and it disappeared yesterday.
2:50:14 So we’re not quite sure what happened,
2:50:16 but it’s gonna get back up there.
2:50:18 Yes, so it looks more appealing and it’s got links,
2:50:23 you know, a link that goes to the stopbullying.gov site
2:50:28 that’s full of a lot of resources.
2:50:29 And our goal is to put that parent video up there
2:50:32 for them to also see it there.
2:50:34 So just some of those exciting things.
2:50:37 And then with Title IX,
2:50:38 we’re also working on the training videos.
2:50:42 And the nice thing about those training videos
2:50:44 is even like for our administrators,
2:50:47 they go through this course,
2:50:49 but then when they’re finished with the course,
2:50:52 it will automatically open up to some resources
2:50:56 where they can just watch the videos
2:50:59 without having to go through the questions again.
2:51:01 So they can just refer back to it.
2:51:02 And when we get a new administrator
2:51:04 or someone switches roles,
2:51:06 they can just be assigned to the course
2:51:09 and they have access to it.
2:51:10 So it became a difficult management process
2:51:16 to really get them all in here to train.
2:51:19 And so our goal is to have them do these courses
2:51:22 and then do some of those Q&A sessions with them on Teams
2:51:27 where they can ask questions that they still have.
2:51:31 And, you know, go out and support them side by side
2:51:34 if that is something that they really need.
2:51:36 We’re also revise, well,
2:51:38 we’re gonna implement the same case management software
2:51:40 with this process as well,
2:51:42 which is gonna be a huge game changer with the Title IX.
2:51:45 And we’re revising the flow chart.
2:51:49 We just saw some areas where we could improve
2:51:56 where certain things were happening.
2:51:58 And our goal is to eventually have some short little videos
2:52:03 that just walk through each,
2:52:06 like you’re in this stage of this flow chart,
2:52:08 you can click on a link and it’ll just show you
2:52:10 like a little tutorial for just that section.
2:52:14 And adding when they pass the case on from one,
2:52:18 from the investigator to the decision maker,
2:52:21 that there is a mandatory meeting that happens
2:52:25 with our Title IX coordinator,
2:52:26 just to make sure that they have everything they need,
2:52:29 they understand what their steps are,
2:52:30 and they are prepared to move forward.
2:52:33 And then updating our website there as well.
2:52:38 - Thank you.
2:52:39 All right, Board, do you have anything to weigh in
2:52:41 on the Title IX data that was presented?
2:52:45 - At that point of handoff where they’re meeting
2:52:48 with the Title IX coordinator,
2:52:49 is that with the district Title IX coordinator?
2:52:52 - Yes, it is.
2:52:55 - You’re good?
2:52:56 All right, yeah, thank you.
2:52:57 I’m glad about the videos.
2:52:58 I think that’s gonna be tremendous.
2:52:59 Honestly, the unsubstantiated (mumbles)
2:53:05 cases obviously is alarming.
2:53:06 So if we can get those numbers down,
2:53:08 that will free up a lot of time.
2:53:09 So very much excited to see this.
2:53:11 - We’ve also worked on some graphics
2:53:14 that are really visually appealing,
2:53:18 that have the definition on there,
2:53:22 and really helping students and families
2:53:26 to understand that cyber bullying
2:53:28 is also part of the bullying definition,
2:53:30 and you get to that repeated level very quickly
2:53:33 when it’s online, and just some of those implications
2:53:37 in our code of conduct merged that together this year,
2:53:42 so that we’re really aligned with the assessor,
2:53:46 and it’s all just improving.
2:53:50 - Yeah, thank you.
2:53:52 All right, board, we are now at 1210.
2:53:54 We have one more item that we were going to cover today,
2:53:58 and I don’t know who’s presenting on this one,
2:54:01 with the policy updates?
2:54:02 - Yeah, basically Paul was gonna review it.
2:54:04 It’s just a policy update,
2:54:06 and the policy regarding professional development,
2:54:09 and it’s just to get it in line with NEOLA.
2:54:11 - Okay, and so I think we’re probably good
2:54:13 to go ahead and cover that
2:54:14 before we take a short recess for maybe lunch,
2:54:16 and then we’ll reconvene after that.
2:54:18 So I’m gonna go ahead, and we’ll move on to the next topic,
2:54:20 which is the policy revisions for the board review,
2:54:23 and I’m gonna turn it over to you, Mr. Gibbs,
2:54:24 if you wanna run through what you have for us.
2:54:28 Thank you. - On your agenda item,
2:54:29 there’s a summary and a red line version.
2:54:39 - Okay.
2:54:40 - And I mean, I can put ‘em up there.
2:54:41 I think Lena added ‘em to the thing
2:54:43 if you want ‘em on the screen.
2:54:44 - No, I mean, we have it right here in front of us.
2:54:46 - So the summaries, as you’ll note,
2:54:48 three of the four are pretty much just NEOLA.
2:54:50 The fourth is also NEOLA.
2:54:52 - Okay.
2:54:53 - There is one typo where it lists the three policies.
2:54:55 We obviously don’t have a 4,000 set of policies at all,
2:54:58 so we corrected that red line and struck the two policies
2:55:01 that we don’t currently have on the books.
2:55:03 The rest are all in line with NEOLA,
2:55:05 so as long as you are good with it and have no questions,
2:55:08 we’re good to move forward.
2:55:09 The staff thought that these were needed to update
2:55:13 prior to the next big update coming in the fall.
2:55:16 - Okay, all right, thank you, board.
2:55:18 Do you have anything to weigh in on any of these policies
2:55:20 or any issues or questions?
2:55:23 None?
2:55:24 All right, none, all right.
2:55:26 So then that–
2:55:27 - So yeah, these will come back at the July workshop
2:55:29 for the first public hearing,
2:55:31 and then July 30 for final approval.
2:55:34 - All right, perfect.
2:55:35 All right, the last topic that we have
2:55:36 is the general counsel’s evaluation review
2:55:38 for the ‘23-‘24 year.
2:55:40 The board will finish the workshop business
2:55:41 in the superintendent’s conference room
2:55:43 with the general counsel’s evaluation,
2:55:45 and we’ll adjourn the meeting
2:55:46 upon the conclusion of the evaluation.
2:55:48 We’re gonna take a short recess, though,
2:55:50 so, board, can we agree to meet back
2:55:52 into the superintendent’s conference room at one o’clock?
2:55:55 Is that fair, or that’s?
2:55:59 - Well, I mean, we can have an eating meeting
2:56:01 if you don’t mind. - If you wanna have
2:56:02 an eating meeting, okay.
2:56:04 All right, 1230 then, that’s probably not enough time,
2:56:07 so let’s split the difference.
2:56:09 1245, let’s meet in the superintendent’s office,
2:56:12 conference room, sorry, at 1245,
2:56:14 and we’ll reconvene the meeting from there and carry on.
2:56:18 All right, everyone good? - Yep.
2:56:21 - All right, we’ll see you there, thank you.
2:56:48 (upbeat music)
2:57:48 (silence)
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