1.7.2025 FRPS Instructional Subcommittee

uh this is uh Tuesday January 7th uh we have an instructional subcommittee meeting we are at the admin building uh Deb could we please have a role Mr Das here M laring yes M Perera here salute to the flag please I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all uh open meeting law pursuant to the

open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or Transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those president are deemed acknowledged and permissible uh Deb is there any citizens input there is not thank you that will take us two uh discussion

portion uh 3 one discussion and vote to refer uh teaching integration of CPR training with nasal knockan delivery in health to curriculum uh Mr Fitz or yeah Mr Sure Thing so our rationale we had a training last year with the former police department uh during one of our PD days we see the rise of fentanyl um in our community um Naran is used used to reverse an opioid overdose um we teach the CPR skill all

the signs of an overdose in health two currently um we showed the video but we were asking permission that um we can take these nasal trainers on a mannequin and it just simply shows students in case of an emergency thumb on the plunger um n uh nasal trainer in one delivery um per one delivery per uh trainer begin CPR as a life- saving skill so it all uh relates back to our skill-based health

um talking about the power of nxone uh which is U commonly called Naran um pairing that with CPR to ensure students gain um comprehensive emergency skills I've included um going back to 2018 um the stats of overdoses and overdose death I got this information from the fora police department and the fora addiction and support team commonly referred to as the fast team um last year we also looked with the opioid

Grant we did a new health curriculum um part of that we paired up with uh right State uh we Implement a hope a hope curriculum Dr Kevin Larson um which is health and opioid prevention education just to empower our students in case of of an emergency in case of a loved one a friend um whomever if they were concerned if they are using uh we also got information from Star uh where

they can access um Naran in the community if they needed to so we just feel that it's it's a good skill to have if we're going to teach it any questions so um there won't be any like Live use of n can no no no no this is just a trainer the trainer okay and um nothing comes out of it with Naran too if you were to deliver it even if a person was not overdosing nothing

happens to okay and um what grade level would this be taught I know you're going to add it into the 11 12 is a health to oh this is a yeah really good addition to the program I'll make a motion to refer to the full committee I have a question make a question um do you guys also teach um epip pen do we teach EpiPen all right I'm not

exp you what to do but it's always a thought to me because I feel like any emergency medicine right obviously Naran obviously CPR first aid but also sometimes I find the only people that are trained on the EpiPen other people have the allergy whereas sometimes having that knowledge and having a friend who maybe has the allergy but you're aware of how to use it and it's such a simple thing EP pen

trainers are so cheap and it's so simple to use and it might you know like I don't have an EpiPen my fiance does it's good that I know how to use it as well right in case he goes anaphylactic and he's a little nervous and startled cuz that's what happens right that you have somebody to help so I don't know if you guys do it but it's a thought it might

be something you can add to it the Naran is such a necessity in today's day and age and giving people that power um to be to be able to help people in that knowledge is it's necessary I'll look at the epip pen TR down to 6 to8 because we started doing first aid yeah that would be a 6 to8 thing totally it's so easy and those are the kids that have the

peanut allergies and the epipens and the even just to know the signs of it to be able to say oh I think you know my friend Colin is having a reaction I'm going to get the nurse or whatever you know I would say to um just I so my both of my children are uh peanut allergic and I think it was around age n that they were we spoke to the doctor about

them self carrying out an option for them as early as elementary school and then um they're in high school and they both self carry now yeah um but there I always wonder neither of them have ever had to use it and I'm thinking are they going to be calm enough no thank you are they going to be calm enough to be able to and so I I think that even that familiarity of multiple people in the

room in their Community um being able to step in be incredible I mean to to add to that I would like to see some data com on out coming out of the the nurses the health department on how many kids do use the upy pens at the at the level at least the middle school and high school and see if moving forward we we do want to you know move forward they

got at least 10 in each school I I I would say that they're probably using epipens more obviously than you know knockan now but um it's something I would like to see and see if it's something that we want to uh we have our PE teachers highlight like I'll make a little note the side of we're going outside um and then I knew at our Middle School sports um after school if you had

an inhaler or an EP like the coach like you had to show them had it and they went over with the nurse jab it in the thigh hold it for 10 right we do a training with all staff of the year the nursing department does that around the epip pen but I think it's a good thing to look into in terms of just it's such an easy skill that kids can be you know

empowered with yeah are you in a otion second well no I have question so it said that um where the access we had to access knock in so obviously if there's a knock in emergency I know a think it maybe out of school for this kind of uh uh situation but if there's ever um a situation in school I think going to these areas is probably not an option because I believe it's

like a 2minute uh uh time limit that you supposed to have knock in or two to four minutes is that when you begin the process of overdosing it's my understand that it's a couple hours before you okay um so if someone were to see that in a school I think there's enough time that that we can we can get to we get somebody there especially a call from the office over the radio to the radio

it up that was my only it was just the the School nurses office the Department of Public Health but I think we were just or you were just letting us know where the students can get them okay I think it'll appease a lot of students too we don't know what they go home to oh absolutely if if they have a loved one they care about who's an addict we know that you can't just say hey quit

it's a lot more than that that way we Empower them with that skill where they may take them down to a center or you know get them from a pharmacy to at least have that piece of mind that if there's an overdose of someone I care about I kind of have you know it's it's a very Bittersweet um discussion on this uh this agenda but uh call a vote please

I'm sorry M lar um just add question based off what you said um do we have any data on we never had an incident within the tools of um used overdose my experience no and um last question for you Mr fitzerald have we ever not saying I necessarily support this or or I don't I I need to get more information but would you ever support maybe or is there ever any discussion on moving this to a

grade level lower or you think this is the appropriate I think that um I would love to move it lower um I think this we come in at the 11th 12th grade level and then you know you know we can readjust after we look at it see where we stand the the number of overdoses have gone down since 2018 um depending on you know what we feel when we talk within the department

like hey should we bring this down to the health one level next can we bring this down to the eighth grade level next at all that that would have to be a discussion after um you know we meet we go through our new curriculum and you know we can kind of look to make changes in the future thank you Mr D yes M lar yes M Pere yes okay second uh 32 discussion vote uh

to refer a virtual pathway at uh RPA Robert all right so I will take the lead here so um in your packet you'll see a presentation that we had put together so so for the Public's um edification just to know we are talking about expanding programming options over at rlm RPA um as early as this late January at the semester change um this year we've been off to a decent start as it relates to

getting students engaged and building up our classroom experiences for kids and just the overall RPA experience we have been working with dery and our middle schools to create a two-way street um over the course of first and second term around supporting students who are looking to make their way back to dery or back to their middle school um to really begin having this be a two-way street for kids and families and

students seeing that returning back to my original school is my option and choice and I want to work hard to get there and those students that are doing that we are working with them to support them in those transition plans and it's been really successful um up until this point and we look for this semester change at the end of January to be another um opportunity for us to continue that work however we are still

leaving students behind um and one of the things that we've struggled with all year at RPA has been our attendance because what we've really done at RPA is attempt to replicate a very similar in school model over at RPA for students who have a lot going on in their personal lives and we want to be able to think outside the box and leverage some of the language that the Department of Education gives us as being an

alternative school and so you'll notice the enrollment um at RPA is right around 100 50 165 um but we will have a couple of students coming and going in the next couple of weeks as it relates to that semester change but overall we're really looking to Target this particular virtual pathway at RPA to Target our students in 10th 11th and 12th grade specifically so if you flip to page

three uh we took the opportunity to just provide some Dy alternative education language there is a guide that is given by the department of Ed that offers us opportunities to think outside the box and create relative programming for the students with which we're serving and so it's now been a couple of years at RPA that we are recognized the in-person model of instruction and kids physically

coming to school every day um has been a challenge for kids and so we have taken a look if you remember last year even to go back to last year we we we were beginning to look at a virtual school option and there are different levels of planning and paperwork that go into developing a virtual school that has to have a whole school code its own principal and many other indicators that

just create a longer application process however within the Desi alternative guidelines they give us an option to create a virtual pathway within an alternative school that currently exists and so we took a hard look at our current um attendance and recognized the low attendance in classrooms at RPA currently and So within our scheduling what we've been able to identify is that we can build a virtual pathway that

would essentially run the school day for students at RPA so rather than physically coming in the building for period one we have a teacher that would be available to support students through their coursework in a virtual live classroom so that we can have every period of the day for our 10th graders exposed with a teacher to support and helping them navigate the curriculum as well as in our 11th and 12th grade where

we're really able to focus in on the core academics the first four periods of the day so that our older students are able to access work and other um elective courses that they might be taking in order to secure graduation requirements and so we provided some data that just speaks to the students that we're targeting at both the 10th at the n9th excuse me the 10th 11th and 12th grade as well as looking at an

alternative way for us to really meet the needs of our kids who are finding themselves on a long-term suspension So currently there are seven students down at RPA who are out on 37h 37h and a half and 37h and 3/4 which puts those students out for longer periods of time and our current tutoring model um is not really necessarily meeting the needs of those kids and so by creating this

virtual pathway we will also be able to re-engage our more at risk students um out on different felony charges um to be able to bring them to a virtual pathway in a safe way and still give them the education that they also deserve to continue to make progress while they're absent and so it would be our plan so we we took a look at the current RPA schedule and we put a plan together to

bring forth this was early December we really recognized that we needed our teachers to buy into this model and we needed our teachers to be on board with supporting us in especially if we're thinking about switching to a virtual experience for teachers because this won't just affect kids it will also affect our staff and so um uh we at the time created um a handout for staff that gave them as much information as we

could possibly provide without school committee approval around our vision for the program and what that would look like as it relates to their current mode of teaching as well as their current teaching schedule um and so for the academic model would be periods 1 through six of our current school day where students would be logging in to get academic support from a live teacher and then

anytime off of that live time with a teacher the students do have access through the uity platform to live tutors that are embedded within the uity platform that we're already currently have access to not our Educators though right Educators correct correct but the point being is that at any point in time during the school day or even into the evening on the weekends there is a tutor

available to support students um as well as in 11th and 12th periods 1 through 4 as I had mentioned and then in the in the afternoon they would take advantage of either work learning experience credits and some of the other elements of their own graduation plan in addition to that because of our staffing model we are also able to for this year anyway be able to support with a special educator

in the live classrooms in the virtual classroom so the special educator will be partnering in the English and math with the core content teacher to be able to support any special education students who are involved in the pathway um it should also be noted um that this will be a choice-based model um this was some this is something that will be offered to students who are struggling

currently and not earning credits not keeping up on track um and families will be opting into this model to be able um to participate and in addition to that because of some of the other models we've seen across the state we took a visit just to know we went to New Bedford to check out some of their alternative Pathways um and they they host more of um like an a lab at the end

of the day where the the building is open for two hours at the end of the day and kids can come in for in-person services and so we're going to kind of you know once we get the live um classroom schedule going during the day as we get into a few weeks into term three we are going to look to Pilot the 3 to five lab especially if students are not finding success virtually we will

have a place to bring them in in the afternoons between 3:00 and 5:00 what was their attendance like in new bed for 3:00 to 5 it was spotty at B but because kids are stilling academic progress during the school day kids are allowed to be marked present as long as they're continuing to make progress in their courses okay and so similarly that's the way the model will work here our goal is

that kids are would be assigned check-ins for a social emotional and wellness check-in every week at a minimum um but that students would be expected to show up to English class show up to math class show up to science class and the and the rest um a minimum of two days a week to check in with the teach teacher check their progress and set their plan moving forward particularly if they don't need tutoring

and support but if they do need tutoring and support it's during those sessions that teachers will also be able to provide that tutoring that support and keep kids moving productively within the uity model who's monitoring the I'm sorry go ahead sh go ahead I just had a couple of questions before it's okay you had said it's an opt-in program so it's opt-in for everybody there not like is

there a cut off like we can only accept this many students or if every single student besides stopped in which obviously I don't see happening but let's say room or is there no so it's going to start with an offering to students and families that we've identified who are at risk and who are not currently making progress um and we are also using this as a pilot um as we move forward thinking about program of

study and some long how much space do we have right now like how many kids pilot look like we're we're striving for about 15 Max maybe 20 kids per class um but that's not even those we haven't even reached those number at this point based on the kids that we've identified if I can follow up on that so if a student Ops into this program they they they couldn't they wanted to choose to attend

inperson classes cuz that should always be the goal right is to get people inside the classroom so if we want if they choose to come back they're always welcome to come back in person but I don't think they can do both it's like one of but you're picking this option but just if I have one more question when we first started this didn't we have a room there where it wasn't

necessarily sort of what what uh Colin was saying when we first started this virtual thing because this is not this is right am I am I out of my mind there's been a few Renditions Renditions okay so one rendition did we not provide like a room at the RPA to make sure that if students wanted to come in and have access to the school access to one-on-one tutoring or maybe access to a

computer there to to touch to do some work so we don't have that we do we do okay so these these students have access to to that room these students are not coming in currently that's what we targeting but what I'm saying is are they going to have the students in this program are they going to have access to a room where if they choose to come into the building not during the school day

they would come at the 3 just the 3 to five okay correct okay thank you and then the last thing was that I had was uh weekly check-in say a student um a traditional student's absent uh one day we call two days we call whatever what's the point where there's a a serious concern or that we do a house check it would function the same way with these students that's I wondering the

difference would be are they virtually showing up is the teacher virtually getting their eyes on students and if not you know and we will leverage class attendance to be that that gatekeeper if students are showing up making sure that every day students pop into at least one of those class periods um and just like our attendance policy we go a day without seeing anybody we make a phone

call we go to days we make a phone call by Third Day we're going out to the house to check on you okay um and so the similar process and protocol would be in place as it relates okay right so the teacher monitoring the attendance and in Ingenuity correct correct all right correct their sole responsibility is both correct I think potentially that it caught my ear I was going to ask when

you said we would check in at least weekly that was you meant that in addition to these daily checks forend be just a social emotional Outreach I understand now you I understand what you're so they're going to have that adult if they to show up to get this oneon-one social emotional support it that's on them cuz we're not really going to reach out correct I think until there is a concern

and there is yes and there is the three to five where the sacs will be reaching out to do that check-in so if you Verge to the experience the student experience support would be access to the sac virtually and or during the drop in hours of 3 to 4 based on the students need and or any IEP Services um because another part of this is that we're trying to be fiscally responsible to

build this within the school day of RP RPA where we can um and so from 3 to four we do have adjustment councils in the building because that is part of their daily schedule so knowing that the lab runs from 3: to 5: students would be able to come in and get support during that first hour and then take part in any academic support they might need for the second

hour um as well as the check-ins that you know will then be monitored by attendance and and factored into the grade that way MH um we talked a little bit with teachers around um assessments and uh the validity of students taking assessments and the cheating potential and what that would look like and so in working with um Edgenuity they have done a lot of work already you know coming

into this year with AI to be able to catch students who might be using less than um honorable methods to get answers and and doing some internet search type stuff and copy and paste right so AI has definitely become a tool that they have already embedded um but we are also going to work with our teachers to leverage the class relay tool that will allow our teachers to virtually watch students take exams so

when they come to the marking periods of the uity courses we will be working with students that they are showing up to take those exams in front of the teacher and the teacher will be able to Leverage The Tool of class relay which essentially gives us access to their computer so we can make sure that they're not going online and searching answers outside of their own knowledge and ability right so really just trying

to think outside the box a few of the things um that came up from teachers on the next page you'll notice a sample schedule so um you know period one is period one at RPA so it is literally um a rotation of a virtual opportunity you know all four periods in the morning and then we put a break and a case conferencing at that time to be able to check in with students for the 10th

graders you'll notice it moves into the credit recovery and Edgenuity electives for that last period of the day and for our Juniors and seniors similarly they would have access and or be off to work and taking on some of those other experiences that they're getting credits for and then we note Monday through Thursday the inperson tutoring lab okay okay um and so the only thing now you know so we also we we crafted an

agreement we did get some attorney feedback from Michael Joyce on that piece so we can we will have that finalized for Monday um I just didn't have a chance to get it tightened up with the holiday break um and the only thing that we are waiting on is just ensuring with the Department of Education that we are not required to submit a a seat time waiver that could take a little bit more of a process but

as we've begun to even dig into that process we need to have sample data that shows a virtual pilot program existed and it was successful and so other than covid which I'm not going to lean into being successful on too many fronts for too many districts uh we don't have a model program so it is our goal that we will be able to secure confirmation from desie that we can pilot this for this

next semester and then be able to come forward with a more robust plan for the program of studies for s26 okay so even though we're not a school and we're going to be a pathway I mean that's the vision right we still have to worry about the the seat time potentially yeah we just need to be able to Showcase that we're offering similar time on learning as we would for students in school

correct now again alternative school time on learning does have an opportunity to look a little bit different and so that's some of the language we've been going back and forth with Michael Joyce on and with desie in the last 48 hours now getting everybody back from Christmas Vacation do we have to wait for desie No we're going to move move forward to school committee Monday and hopefully we'll have an update on

that final piece but it will be you know I think we would rely on Michael Joyce our attorney to give us the green light okay um and we will take it from there as it relates to this pilot opportunity this this second semester so would this be coming to the school committee on Monday for a vote before we know if we can even legally do it or

no I was that good so I I mean I I do wonder I we might have the information by Monday it might be a vote to approve pending clearance could be you know we some kind of wording like that that would have to be the way simply because you know we it would take too long to we can't wait till January we we just need a motion pending approval to move it

forward what is the cost of this like as far as teachers is there anything above what we're doing now no we are we are embedding it within the current RPA schedule and structure um the only cost that we'll be using is for the 3 to 5 we're going to lever some Title One funds to create that 3 to five opening um based on what principal Riley had projected so that we can then have a way

to gauge the use of the lab the open SpaceTime if kids came in to use it because coming forward for next school year if the lab is not something that's utilized but building a day program is then we would want to move in that direction right so we're not partnering with like a third party um agency to work with this okay no we were recognizing low attendance in our in-person classes at RPA and felt that

our teachers um could provide more supports to our kids um and meeting them in a virtual space um was something that we needed their buy in for and and them to understand the need for which they did in early December with us um we took their feedback we made some adjustments to our um program model actually even made some decisions around the program model because we originally were

offering teachers um the opportunity to use the current highquality instructional materials that all students are exposed to at RPA but that would require a different lift by teachers versus Edgenuity that we do have access to with the tutoring piece but that becomes a different lift for teachers um to be able to support and so we really needed their voice and their buyin which um yielded a really positive

outcome in the end okay so on the um attendance piece of this so um the students that are enrolled in the pilot program are they going to be counted towards rpa's attendance and um just going through like um so just multiple periods um and so say someone attends period one two misses the rest or say they attend maybe 1 through five but misses the sixth period um how is that going to be

counted towards like the daily attendance and like how would that affect like our so they get marked they would be marked present for the day and then their grade would be impacted based on attendance overall as well so they need to show up the goal is that kids are showing up two times a week and they're counted for the day and they counted for the day as long as that they're making

progress two times mean two times a week or two times like two period and they count it for the day or they show up one period a day they make they get marked present for the day because the goal is that kids are working on their instruction at other non non non necessarily school day times um but just because the student doesn't attend the virtual session doesn't mean they're not

working on their English project during math time right so the idea of virtual programming is really not to put kids in a box and say you've got to be in English class at in math class at these times but that kids recognize I've got to show up two times a week to English class and I've got to get my English work done outside of English class if I choose not to show up during that time

so we should be seeing some sort of dramatic improvements in attendance most importantly I think yes attendance that's certainly going to be a big piece for us and certainly for me you know pushing attendance and really trying to think about how we get kids connected but the idea is also that especially at the high school that our kids continue to make progress towards graduation

because right now by them not coming to school and not physically showing up they're not making progress towards graduation y so just so both yes attendance yes but graduation so are dery students can they be part just all right not currently it's it's a pilot at RPA I mean ideally you know if this becomes a larger project moving forward it really becomes an alternative pathway

for Fall River Public School students um ideally next year moving forward any student who does find themselves on a long-term suspension from dery they would be transferred to the virtual pathway when that suspension is up they get transferred back um so that we are really so not necessarily transferred to RPA but transferred to the virtual pathway at virtual pathway at RP that

could be okay yes yeah if I can just add this um um just one more thing just at the beginning um so people who are eligible for this are those who are just um chronically absent or what's the criteria for making for making it sorry to come in late I was just finish up uh interviews with community facilitators and I thought it was a little later so um we're going to Vice we went to Vice

principles to ask them who they thought would um benefit the most for doing the virtual pathway so it could be kids who are just having a hard time coming in could be kids with some phobias also there's a small percentage of kids who come in there to stock fights every day or to get into what they're getting into in the community and I really do think that it takes away from all the other

they recommended so far um instead of having like very initial conversations about that what it would look like for them cuz we want them to be successful too it's not about just getting kids out it's about making sure they're in a place that they can learn as well I guess my only um not even concern but just requests is just like just keeping that data separate at least for like in

house for the school committee just so we know you know if a student attends like one or two periods and then but then they're gone for the rest of the day they're counted as you know in in school but were you planning on doing that keeping the the but I I think that's also something that we just need to I would hope that we can begin to open our minds to is that you know

School doesn't have to just be 7:30 to 3:00 and school doesn't just happen inside the the buildings the walls of classrooms and so if students are making academic progress and that's where I just want to make sure we understand how this works there is a course that kids will be enrolled in and they've got to pass the course in order to get the credits just like as an in school

scenario and so if a student shows up period one and shows up period two but for whatever reason doesn't show up the rest of the day but continues to make progress in their period 3 and period 4 classes over the course of the week then they did show up they were present for themselves for for for their education and being in an alternative setting we're allowing them the grace to

be able um to learn in a different time that might work for them right um and so for us it's about making sure our kids are safe making sure our kids are actually learning and walking away with the skills um necessary to be able to get their high school diploma and if that happens for some kids at midnight if that happens for other kids at you know Sunday on Saturday then then we

want to make sure that we're supporting that and again Wellness is going to be at the top of our priority which we talked about earlier that and and which we can probably even do a better job with than we are now because right now kids are just absent we reach out we don't necessarily get our eyes on them in all of the same ways uh we do home visits they're not home we can't get in

touch with them so at least meeting kids where they are comfortable to be met and opening up a door of we understand you can't make it in the building but we're not giving up on you and we're also not giving anything away to kids right it's having high expectations um holding kids accountable but also supporting their wins and letting them see that school can be done differently for them

specifically I think I think a good way to look at it is that it's an alternative situation so it's not going to be typical so then we look like okay why to these students need alternative situations you highlighted a couple right there could be phobias there could be illnesses there could be um many issues those issues prevent a child Maybe not even going to school but maybe sometimes

functioning first thing in the morning maybe really rough night maybe problem sleeping caused by a million issues um maybe best learning for that particular person doesn't happen in the morning but maybe at 10:00 at night when for some reason they've managed to get themselves in the right space that's where they're able to do their work so I agree we obviously want to see our students in

school all the time for the whole day and I understand that mental certainly when my daughters went to school I expect them you're in school it means when I drop you off and when I pick you up but I think that there are certain students for a plethora of reasons which could be home issues or could be um you know medical issues mental health issues those are the kids that we're trying to

get here and those are the kids that unfortunately the reason they're good for this is because they really have a hard time and they struggle with that 8 to 4 or that you know that schedule so this is that's what makes it that virtual thing I think that's where it's that leeway so I think if we look at it like that it makes me feel a little better anyway like okay all right I'm

going to assume that Michael is going to get his work done at 6 o'clock as long as he's you know giving it to the teacher or whatever the next day and there's learning happening and there's growth happening that's I think where we're going to determine the success of this program is not so much like are they how many classes they showing up for but are we seeing growth are we seeing learning learning are we seeing

any Improvement on that are we seeing an excitement about learning that's where I think is where the probably if if I can add one more thing to that too I know at least one situation where we have a student who's a a starting 12th grader due to credits who um works third shift and supports his family there you go so he's a kid who's not a behavior problem for us he's coming in usually about a

half hour late every day after his shift his 8 hour shift and we expect him to be right on time like we're asking a lot of this kid because he is Breadwinner of the family uh and he's a kid that we put in here right away cuz he' do that work at 4:00 in the afternoon before go home and take and take a nap sleep after work and then get up and do some work

employed at a good place I mean everything going his way except that school is not perfect for him anymore it was before it's not time wise yeah yeah no I million per agree with every Everything everyone just said I just think it's important just so we can monitor the success of the program that we just make sure we keep that data um and of course um making sure that we keep this program for those like you

said who really need it and that um we always prioritize of course iners school but I'll make a motion to refer to the full committee second Mr Das yes yes for yes and we are on to three three prop y determination who's got that sorry I sorry I was late you're never going to get that five minutes back buddy I get trac's text oh my God than thank you thank

you I I wasn't smart enough to for myself myself and Beth yeah the CH man I'm sure so I'll ask Beth to kick us off um and then we'll go from there um so I'm sure everyone is very much aware that there was a vote in November that removed mcast as a a compens um determination measure um as a part of the graduation requirement so we right before Christmas break we finally

got some FaceTime with Jessie in the form of a webinar are kind of answering some questions on what that means because we they put out some some um FAQs which I attached um they actually updated them at uh at one point in no uh December so I attached them here just so you didn't have to go look for them on the website but just what what we need to do so basically there's sort of like

a three-step process we have to figure out what we need to do for the current seniors the class of 2025 then we need a plan for the kids who are in high school and then for the ones who are future high schoolers within the district and that may look the same it may look different um and then along with this sort of the the number nine on the FAQ if you will is um students who have

gotten a comp a certificate from us but didn't pass mcast cast have the right to come back and and we need to have a pathway for them to be able to to graduate get a diploma um in the past that was done through desie they're not doing that anymore so we we sort of have to have that so I'm sorry I don't need to interrupt you just 2003 is that what I are you saying that

we yes so anybody who graduated 2003 to whatever if they well didn't graduate sorry didn't graduate because they didn't pass mcast can come back do they already have to have met the uh competencies that were required by the school that's that's the questioning because we're required at this point it was graduation what relied on meeting local requir requirements and this competency determination which at the

time was mcast sure now it's there we still have to establish a competency determination because there is we're not going to use mcast or the state isn't requiring us to use mcast so we have to decide then what in additional in addition to the existing local requirements what else is going to make a student eligible for a diploma requirs um so for the purposes of this one of the things where so

there's two sort of buckets there's a competency determination and graduation requirements right and so what what sort of where this is really a draft and the purpos is sort of discussion here because this is hot off the press right so on the first page one of the things that um we propose and we've sort of looked at other districts so there are other dist you know every district is in

the same boat right now trying to figure out how are they going to sort of respond in this moment and so one of the things you can see there in that third paragraph um is you know this potential idea of um if a student hasn't yet earned their competency determination through the previous mcast requirement um that they would receive a passing score in the equivalent areas that we

would have assessed during mcast and so essentially in mcast you're assessing Math Science and English and so those three bullets sort of outline you know we would potentially say if a student received a passing grade in equivalent for grade 10 English in Algebra 1 goo or in BIO or physics then they would have met by our standard the competency determination you know and so I think to

the point around number nine there is this idea of when we think about people and I it's my understanding we've already had inquiries right of people sort of coming forward saying hey you know I you know so you know one of those things could potentially be in speaking with Beth today that it sounds like on the call we were on we just have to provide a path or a process the language

there is a for to process um and so you know does that mean that we do a transcript review or something and say Hey you when you were here you passed X Y and Z and so that becomes the process right so that's that's something that's up for discussion um but I think you know the purpose for today is sort of this initial hot off the press this is what it is here's something we're

potentially proposing and open to feedback around like you know where do we go from here one concern concern that's important to name is that um you know with mcast not being a requirement we do have there's a risk around our accountability data right and so one of the things you'll see here we have an italics is you know is there this notion of adding in participation in mcast as a

potential piece um really with the goal of just not taking such a hit on accountability right cuz the concern is we're still going to be held accountable to the department based on the mcast data right for both participation and what the performance looks like but now it's no longer a requirement around graduation so depending on how people interpret that and it's also a part of our report card on ourselves right so

accountability separate but we need our kids to take the test so that we can measure our own growth and progress towards state standards and our peers across other communities right so just go ahead just so I'm not misunderstanding so um you're not proposing that we have like mcast as like a local requirement within the no not at all no but we are we are recommending potentially correct me if

I'm wrong Mr raposo we are asking that at least requiring kids to take the test they keep data so that we can keep data and we can measure ourselves but what they get on that exam technically no we're not not impact their graduation we don't want kids opting out I'm not taking this I'm not taking this because I don't have to at the High School level because it does mean

something for us as a district I go ahead I was under the impression that was what was happening I was under the impression that we weren't just saying nobody has to take the mcast anymore we're not going to take any tests we were just saying it's not going to count for a graduation we're suggesting though is because this is part of the conversation here is that is that language that we potentially add in and

say that the participation is required right that's not language we technically before it was and I'll say that it it is required I mean that is the message that we always give every student in any grade participation is required we get letters saying we're going to opt out opt out language isn't real but it's test refusal and family students might refuse to test if we had many students at the high school

level or at any level refuse to test got yeah it it it it invalidates the um the results that we get so even the state has a minimum threshold for participation for all students for student groups and things like that so we could be held we'd be held accountable for the fact that kids aren't taking the test gotta so could we then say like I think what what you're

trying to say is okay uh it's to in order to graduate our requirements are you have to pass all these you know whatever the the grades that and you have to and we need you to sit for the mcast it's not going to count but in 10th Grade you got to sit for it 10th only well that's when they use it for the for the but 10th only well 10th so I

think the the issue that we come up against with anything um I there are some districts in the state who I'm sure will still will use mcast in the future as the competency determination every district has an opportunity to do that um it was recommended that no District do that this year like that that wasn't the thing and that because even the state has to work out um the original

system offered opportunities for retakes which aren't really going to be available moving forward because it's not a graduation requirement they're probably going to pair things down so people have to be really careful about making that a graduation requirement but the participation piece we know that that 10th grade exam is going to be given every year so it could be that we say it's some point in 10th 11th 12th

grade like you you have to if you're with us in 10th Grade the requirement is that you test because that is how we are measured if someone shows up to us in 11th grade it doesn't matter whether or not they participate it's that sitting in 10th grade um for that and some students do it in ninth but it's sitting for that 10th grade test yeah I still another because I understand what you're

saying you really want valid results so then my mind goes to like oh if I'm in high school even if they're making me sit for it and I know it doesn't count see C BC I mean I wouldn't do that because I'd still want but you know there's going to be so It's Tricky It's Tricky so it's almost like you don't really want to for I don't know yeah students that's something you guys I

think the tricky I think the tricky thing is too just in terms of um kind of operations at you know a school as large as dery or any of our schools that are testing High School right they are that school for 10th graders it you know kind of like shuts down all the 10th grade teachers are used classes are move everything is happening and we had 25% of our kids go yeah I'm good I'll

just not take the test what are those students doing for hours at a time like even so on the most basic level of how are we scheduling and program I have one more quick one and then I'll let somebody else could we do something like think out of the box to be like okay it is a requirement you're going to have to sit and take this test at some point cuz we need it f

if you pass one section or two sections or whatever it is something we could offer whatever that may be I don't know you know what I mean that's something for you guys to determine but something so it makes it worth my while some incentive like do I get I don't know I don't know what incentives you give at the high school but at that level but something to make me you know say okay

yeah I'm going to go in and give it my best you know my best try because I may free prom ticket get a free prom ticket or whatever I don't know you know that might I don't know that's something like that you know that would be exciting or beneficial that they maybe would want to do it I know you're saying we need it for for data but how many other assessments are the the high

school kids taken outside of that cast I mean they take District benchmarks right um you know across content areas you know even in content tans that aren't assessed by MC um but it's a it is a it's a it is a valuable assessment and in Fall River it it is valuable to us in terms of um I we use it even at a basic level of if that is the assessment of student um attending

to grade level standards right in in U meeting expectations ter we use it to assess the validity reliability of our own assessments of our district assessment to see if we're marking student progress in this way does it match how they do on mcast kind of thing so it I mean it is very helpful to us at you know at the district level and certainly the state is still going to hold us accountable for the performance

of students how do we get that message to the students and to the parents that that AG thing is we're successful in doing this all the way up through grade eight right and we've always it's not a graduation requirement to take it in third through e8th grade but we're successful in getting students to participate in a meaningful way um so that we look at the data and we say this is an accurate reflection of how we're

doing there's almost this element to the fact that because it was a graduation requirement we rest in so much on that right unfortunately that's probably the conversation we were having you need this for graduation you need there was no discussion of any other value to the assessment so we are taed I think at this point in in building up the importance of of that assessment especially I think like our current

eighth graders what that what that discussion looks like in ninth grade and in 10th Grade for kids who sat for the test already 10th 11th 12th graders um I'm sorry 11th and 12th graders who sat for it already in 10th Grade what's done is done now we this is these current 10th graders are the they're like woohooo it doesn't count right that's scary count for something when they were

in eighth grade so it's like got a lot of work to do with them there are best chance U the ninth graders are even you know I just it feels like we just have to build up the importance for our students and in and and even that you have to sit thing hopefully over time doesn't feel like this bird and they're making me do it I'm just going to sit

here I'm going to prove to them that they can't make me take test they'll they'll find Value in it personally right it takes work just do yeah if I make um two ways we can you know approach this like um the first way like you said like let's like next year go forward with the test but you start seeing like a drastic change in numbers like if students don't take it as

serious then we can talk about just like foregoing you know standardized tests for um for data data collection I don't personally think we should do anything um to either not entice but neg negatively um you know punish or reprimand students um for not taking the test um you know because on the other end of this as well we just had an election on this issue and I believe the city of Fall River

also voted overwhelmingly to get rid rid of this test and so we have to sorry it's not that's that's the part I think people are getting confused about graduation requir got rid of it as a graduation requirement not the test no no I agree as a graduation requirement but I mean there's there could be many different reasons as to why um someone voted to get rid of it as a graduation requir

I can just say for myself and others I've spoken to in the community have given me their opinion datas don't believe a standardized test should be a graduation requirement um so there's a lot of things to look at in that regard but going back to um if um people I you've been getting inquiries of individuals who have umies yeah I don't know how many I don't know if it's just like a few or we're

dealing this is um more of a bigger issue that's why it's be before us today I mean what's just so I don't know when I guess we would have to see the data on um when these individuals did not pass the mcast and what those requirements were at the time like if they met all other requirements and just pass the mcast then um any just just failed the mcast then you know we should just go based

off the requirements of that time just minus in the mcast that's no longer requirement however if it's um you know if it was just if it was multiple reasons as to why they did not graduate in addition to the mcast then you know implementing something like you have here yeah yeah I think so the one thing I would maybe draw your attention to is so the the the um the table at the

bottom of that front page those are requirements so say for math student has to our um graduation requirements say you have to pass four courses local requirements we have to be specific for the current graduating class that it's not just any four course is you had to have been successful in Algebra 1 and geometry because when they took the test in 2023 algebra and geometry were tested on

math the the the ELA was up through grade 10 the science courses they had to the science test that they had to pass was either biology or physics so now as part of our local competency determin our not local requirements but the competency determination so it's like past four courses competency determination including Algebra 1 and geometry pass for ELA including pass including 10th grade pass um your

science classes including either bio or physics we have to be really specific about that in terms of local competency determination uh the competency determination so when we look back we have to decide and and and it might actually take I don't know if the state's going to come through anything but it's like does it matter what was tested In Those Years or or can we be loose and free and just say you passed

local requirements mcast was the only barrier you get your depos when will they report on that do you know I don't know if they're going if if it's only beginning with this um you know or if they're only saying that for this class we haven't heard anything about that it does seem like we have the freedom in for previous um years that that we do have that freedom but for this class

it's much more specific yeah if I could follow up I'm assuming and that's why um either I or if you would all like I as a committee or the committee or whoever is going to decide this looks at the data of um like I'm I'm just going to go off the Assumption maybe 5 10 years ago the um graduation requirements weren't as strict am I I wrong and saying that or you think they're more rigorous now

they've been they've been um the same because a lot of this has played into how we were able to um you know some back in the day old stuff student with needs Improvement in ela you had they had to the needs Improvement meant they also needed to have um an educational proficiency plan which generally speaking says you have to continue to progress you have to continue to show progression and we showed progression by

saying kids would then take 11th grade English and pass and they had to pass 12th grade English they would meet the requirements of their EP our requirements have kind of supported what we are um our local graduation requirements have been pretty much the same for a long time because we were within our local requirements trying to support that EP process I think that was actually when we added the fourth year

of math as a requirement right because that became a graduation requirement within the last like 10ish years give or take and I want to say that was also where we carved out the um lab science specifically which include biology and physics um so those are the two you know back dusting off my director of guidance brain there um those were some of the moves that we made to be responding to

the EP plan that added to the graduation requirements within the last 10 15 years and I just would also like to add that that the law says like the the CD has to be the algebra 1 the geometry standards so there are conceivably students who could have met these requirements but not met those because they didn't make it through say geometry MH like there were you know we used to

offer classes like you know it would be like Algebra 1 A and B so you would take two years to take your algebra um and that those they would count as two separate courses two of the four but it wasn't as if you took algebra freshman year and then so the it just is possible that people haven't meet the requirements but and um I did give you some data on what our current 2025 class

looks like and this is not just dery it's the district So currently we have 133 students who have not met the competency determination through mcast and of those there's 33 of them that are what we would consider um in a non-d diploma track students with disabilities um so that kind of leaves us with a 100 and of those 100 92 of them when their guidance counselors were asked um they

said that they were outside of the mcast competency determination they were on track as far as those boxes are concerned for graduation theyve it looks like they would meet and then so then so that leaves you sort of those eight that are not they're short credits or whatever so then of that 92 85 of them if we were to say um you have to pass algebra geometry English 10 um and a lab science they

would they would graduate these are all students these are our class of 2025 yes yes um and and then I asked um Mr wood who can be with us here tonight what do the numbers look like in Prior and it's between 40 and 60 kids and the reason for that difference is those um kids would have retested in November the spring that you know they have had much many more opportunities

than this class uh and we haven't gotten our November um data back yet so we may actually chop some of these kids point of information what school is this for again just the dist the district so a class of 25 so that's some RPA Stone dery yes and and possibly some Auto District kids because they also have to play B rules and some of these students could have transferred to us from out of state

and never sat for m at all um and may or may not have taken in November it may or may not have passed M I just felt like it kind of puts a little these are the kids that we're talking about and I I of this group it it's almost not quite but almost half students with disabilities and half of our English language Learners it's they make up the definitely good 80 85% of

the kids that we're talking about any questions on this no so just what we're looking at now is just you're going to figure it all out and come back to us with where you think we need to be as far as competencies and we have to hear back you're going to have to hear back from the state obviously well I think we've been the state has been pretty clear that we have to have a plan for

the class of 2025 sort of almost immediately because if if something came up sure but you're determining the plan they're not giving you any parameters right just that they we have to say that if you didn't pass mcast then you have are competent in those standard are that they tested okay all right so that's the plan right now sound yeah so really Our intention here was because this is brand new to bring

it here for discussion get some feedback answer some question this is not to refer this this is really for discuss but I would expect that by February February be back we have to get we have to get a vote on yes I mean we didn't have this maybe this isn't the right place to ask it I'm just thinking about the semester change coming up at the end of January and just making sure that at a minimum

kids are scheduled to meet this threshold again I have no idea who those kids are and what those variations are I just don't want to miss a semester change at the end of January by postponing to February particularly for the class of 25 we can talk about everybody else later but it feels to me that we're really kind of lock in step with what we know we need to do because

we absolutely cannot I think to Mr das's point we cannot add extra stuff at this point to students right it's too late in the game but I just want to make sure if there are kids that could be scheduled into a particular course at the semester change to graduate on time with their classmates in June I just that's all I'm thinking I think that would be the question too like when we think about

they basically eight students who B who right now it looks like maybe aren't on track correct so and maybe it's a question of how far off track are they I mean it was sort of that quick you know oh I'm glad we're going on vacation at the end of the day today but could you fill this out for us that's how that you know this dat was look at it make sure you know we The

House of the for vacation but I mean it's worth a discussion about whether or not we could do something I think at the meeting most immediately maybe then if there is an opportunity for the meeting to at least for this class this class class of 202 and then we could revisit and say moving forward is there anything that we need which is acceptable there's no reason why we should and the propos

at this point would be that we'd say local requirement for English courses competency determination grade 10 Ela for math four courses which is already right here the first Y which is already um and you only have to meet that that that if you didn't already pass mcast in that subject the kids already passed they're all set these three bullets MH so this would be for the class of 2025

and it's really only to best's point for the 133 or 133 who have not yet passed mcass CU if a kids would pass mcass they're all set yeah all right currently for this class specifically and then there's 85 students in that bucket that already through combination of the cour work that they've passed or the mcast exams they've passed that should not be an issue if that if that's the the will

of so what what motion do I want to make here then I think we move on discuss no we're we're I think we're talking about getting something at the meeting we're talking about making just for the class of 2025 so that they can move forward because waiting till February so at the end of January their courses change they shift over they start taking other classes if they don't sort of nip this and at least

get a plan for these kids in 2025 some of those kiddos might not get the classes they need in February so we so I'm add anything I'm just trying to I'm just February no it cannot is what she's saying because you just starting now I'm going to make the motion and if it doesn't you know we'll deal with it on Monday if it doesn't pass it doesn't pass but at least we get it there

because otherwise is that not correct is that yeah I just think it is important to stress that what Amy said is very valid that if it's not by a certain time it will be very hard for those eight students to yeah mhm hope Monday when you come to the meeting you have 100% of the answers to all the questions going we can't change if we feel like you know

as we see this happen this is for this class most immediately right now and then we can think what what this is look like but it's also like showing up in the last lap to change the rules of the game which I don't think any school Committee Member would support moving forward for 26 we can have a different conversation for the sake of now inform nothing's going to change because we're

not going to add anything I think we recognize we're not taking anything away because we can't this is the minimum the state is saying so we're going to accept the minimum threshold and make plans moving forward for whatever that could look like the committee it's also the same rules we played by during Co so um it's it's not unprecedented there we go so just a question when you guys give us

the these um handouts especially the comparison with dery and RPA why is dery always listed by courses in RPA and a of District like credits that it it's just the way that the um graduation requirements are for the that school or scho in the program of studies I I literally copied and pasted from the program of studies really why is it like that the program of studies then why are

why AR they well I I think for one RPA Stone and auto District it's less credits 80 um to graduate so um I think they sort of divide that up a little bit differently and I think that also doesn't um R don't they have smaller smaller credit chunks too that certain class differently and there's no language requirement too so it wouldn't be an equal language requirement no but doing credits to coures right so for

English so if you look at English English at dery says four courses right English at RPA says 20 credits but then it gets a little confusing because math is four courses and math is 17.5 at I didn't give you I that asress says some I didn't bring that in I was just trying to but within I'm sure we can look at that meeting for that I had it in Fr SCH

yeah but I I do think it has to do partly with an English class at dery is worth how many credits five five you might be able to take five English classes at one credit each no at RPA like little not that extent but like chunked out it's chunk and I think it was probably in there credit wise way back when so where I started that way I have no idea but we can look at that

with the program studies we can look at that yeah and I I just all right we'll have another conversation because I have questions I to waste can I should I make this motion yes I just wanted to bring up one more point that I think it's important for people to know given the relevance with the semester deadline is that um previously students hadn't passed a certain mcast test or multiple

got guidance counselors could um appeal like you know like essentially there was a process to get a waiver or to where I don't know what the process will be now so again to Amy's Point without having the answers to all these questions it could put that certain subset of students in a really tough position I just think it's important for everyone to have all the information because if

it happens to be you or your child or whatever it could be really tough all right well I'm going to make a motion it we'll see what happens on Monday it's nothing here is you know play for death all right so I'm going to make a motion to adjust the requirements for compet competency determination for Fall River Public School students who have not yet earned their competency through previous mcast

administrations but can meet requirements for competency determination through the following receiving do I have to read them want me to read them receiving no okay you got Dred it thank you right there to clarify a motion to refer to the yeah refer just for the class of 2025 just for 2025 yeah Deb loc call and hopefully they have more information and Mr Das yes M ly yes yes motion to adj please somebody Miss

believe we have a new business business I had um just a quick question um just because I received a couple complaints from parents over winter break um some I ref refer to some I I haven't yet but um the D4 policies that's something that came before this committee subcommittee or was that did that fall under another jurisdiction came here it was policy that's a policy subcommittee yeah I was

on that at the time I'm not now I um I'll save us for that or oh you want policy right that's the one I'll make a motion to ad second