Thread by @TracyNovick

The #MAEdu Board of Elementary and Secondary Education starts at 9-ish today. The agenda is here: doe.mass.edu/bese/docs/fy20…

(let's start that livetweeting thread here)

You can pull up the livestream from over here: livestream.com/accounts/22459…

You can also follow @Jung_Carrie on this:

https://twitter.com/WBUREdify/status/1338844858606346247

#MAEdu

LIVE NOW #MAEdu

...though it took a bit...

first public speakers from @massupt
Dianne Kelly, Superintendent of Revere
Bob Baldwin, Superintendent of Fairhaven (MASS President)

since March, we've had the unpredictable happen
has always been about social emotional, getting students fed, connectivity, and "of course loss of learning"

an initiative to support learning should be supported
concerns about how regulations will be implemented
compliance may overshadow engagement
timing "with almost half of our year completed"

"our educators are our lifeblood"
but the superintendents "are our implementers"
take initiatives from DESE, work with school committees, speak with stakeholders

"very serious decisions" starting in March
"always about emergency learning"
plans for next year "immediately began" as soon as last year ended
looked at classroom configuration, reviewed and vetted plans
"reflected unique...circumstances" of districts
submitted plans in August

"in many cases, we exhausted financial and human capital, but also political capital"
"pivoting this aircraft" midyear without resources
regulations without resources "nothing but political fodder"

"synchronous learning does not necessarily equate to connection"
confident "we will be labelled winners and losers"

https://twitter.com/massupt/status/1338851092227035138

Kelly: "agree that effective engagement and quality instruction" are key
"disagree that counting hours of synchronous learning equates to either of these"
"although we meet the mark in elementary" miss the mark at middle and high

"not evident" that responses played any role in department's evaluation
meeting with small groups for instruction necessitates some asynchronous learning
teachers collaborating also requires it, as does connection with families

only way to meet mandate is to increase whole group instruction
if being considered out of concern on SEL and connection, this does not meet it
Revere's way of doing it better meets these goals

https://twitter.com/massupt/status/1338851833494851585

"do not believe these regulations are the right way to achieve these goals"
regulations rely on faulty assumption that synchronous learning is synchronous with engagement and that time is what matters

second concern is timing of release
"it is only now at the eleventh hour that these regulations are trying to provide blueprints for a building that has already been built"

third: concern with routines that have already happened, agreements made "in good faith by both sides"
"we should all be spending time" on quality of engagement
getting vaccine out
rebuilding partnerships

Several local education union leaders presenting no confidence measure in Commissioner Riley, passed by 100 locals #MAEdu

"a grassroots action" that start with several locals, supported but not proposed by MTA
representing over 50,000 MTA members

Commissioner "continuously moves the goalposts as the pandemic worsens"
"simply redefined what it meant to be high risk"

teachers "are trying with our superintendents and our school committees to hold this fragile" system of remote learning together

stop trying to overrule local decisions
call for conferring with educators and their locals before decisions are made

president of Malden teachers union
"having a vaccine doesn't eliminate the need for" surveillance testing
"health and safety measures should not be zip code dependent"

"how do you actually know what the actual transmission is in schools" if there's no regular testing of asymptomatic

"Educators and students are both contracting COVID-19 in schools"
calls for reallocating funding of MCAS to COVID testing

president of Worcester teachers union
many schools are old, aged ventilation
district is improving that but in the meantime not safe

Commissioner has tried to pressure Worcester to open rather than providing guidance and resources

now a panel of regional vokes #MAEdu

Riley: air purifiers
webinars on air quality
contracted for over 12,000 air purifiers
MEMA distribution of adult and student masks, 1 1/2 million masks out to districts

P-EBT benefits extended through Sept 2021
(no word on when it's coming...I know, I keep getting asked)

Postpone MCAS January for juniors
extended ACCESS testing window
modified CDs for class of 2021: science for 21, 22, 23

Riley: vaccine coming February and March to educators
CDC reports increases in mental health visits for young people
struggle with remote and even hybrid learning
emergency regulation: born out of a concern of mental health challenges for children

testimony coming in from a pediatrician on mental health issues in children

...this is kinda of hard to summarize...we've gone from some stories of particular doctors and patients to something about fight or flight

I think this is supposed to be an analogy...that we're all as a society responding in fight or flight

Moriarty: this resonates with me in a very big way
"I'm not sure our overall mental health system for children is...as available as it was in the 90's"
students "being in isolation for all of 2020"

"we cannot just sit with the status quo which is what I think many of those speakers asked us to do"

Morton: tell us why this is the solution
Doctor: two thirds of districts are already doing it
"speaks to me of the recognition" of the importance
[what? That doesn't answer the question.]
"not just teaching; you're raising a nation"

and now there's an analogy of a chain link fence

"neglect and isolation is harmful to kids"
"recommendation to me says...if we're going to be the safety net to protect our kids" let's make it a big safety net

"have a teacher look after them, check in with them"

Morton: there's nothing that I find disagreeable, it all makes logical sense
but I am also "struck by the raging coronavirus in our communities of color in particular"

"is this the time, is this the moment" as opposed to waiting a few weeks for the virus to calm down
suspect that districts not doing it right now are those serving the most vulnerable
their families are those being challenged by the virus

this is founded on the idea of caring adults wants to be in that relationship
"a forced relationship is not the one that we want"

doctor: "the teachers need to be cared for, too. If teachers are convinced that we care for them, they are free to care for students."

advocate: in terms of health and safety concerns...this proposed regulation really provides "a nice balance" between those concerns "and the mental health and well being of children"

[side eye]

"where they're left a list of assignments" with no contact, no ability for them to check in, "creating a situation where that is really lacking" or "if it's half a day"

Peyser: we're starting to get into the conversation about the regulations themselves
"really insightful...much deeper level of understanding of how this is impacting children and families"
believe that more students need to be in person

engage daily with teachers and classmates: critical not only to educational process, but to social emotional and mental health
spike in ER visits
"we know that one way to mitigation...is a daily routine of interaction" with teachers and friends

"most districts that are falling short...only need to add a few hours"
can have a waiver
"averaged across all grades" in order to differentiate

further guidelines and recommendations for early learners
"will establish a common but flexible baseline" across the state
urge Board to vote in favor

Lombos: hearing testimony from expert educators at beginning, then from mental health experts
"I don't like that dichotomy" in testimony

People are starving, they're unemployed
"what I would have liked for you to dialogue...and actually talk about this policy"

"I'm not sure this gets at what we're trying to address"
"the intent of these regulations I'm not sure meet what these goals are"

Lombos says she would have wanted to ask superintendents about the qualitative and quantitative question

...which raises a good point: the implementers are not at the table here #MAEdu

Coughlin: "not sure how more hours of live instruction" will lead to more connection
"no sense of deeper connection" in sitting six feet apart or on a zoom call

(note that he's the student rep)

the "assumption that more time learning synchronously will" create deeper connections "is false"

rather than expanding the safety net "what would be better than to catch students when they're falling is to prevent them from falling"

Stewart: time and mental space that this takes up is enormous
Has shone a big light on all the holes everywhere

"we were taking for granted a lot of what educators were doing for kids"
educators who appeared today spoke to that, "and wanting to be seen and heard"

"have some serious concerns if more time on screens" is going to catch kids in crisis
"what resources...more than guidelines! what resources are going to be available to educators on the other side of the screen"

Morton: why now? raging coronavirus
"why not have the dialogue with all the stakeholders...you talked about trust...and caring...if the best possible situation, folks are in it because they want to win it"

question for me is not so much the content of the regulation as it is the process

"it's going to feel heavyhanded"
"the emergency is not the regulation; it's the raging coronavirus"

why not have the input from the stakeholders "and the refinement that comes from that"

Riley: think it is an emergency
asking small number of districts "to go a little bit further"

Rouhanifard: not an obvious right or wrong answer
"that is what we're grappling with"
"I don't think this actually goes far enough to promote in person instruction"

joined Board due to Riley's reputation of listening
"I think you're underselling how much your team has done to lead that dialogue"

(he isn't because he hasn't)

West: discussion on a robust and well informed discussion on something that hasn't been presented to us
reminded of our obligation under the state constitution to ensure all children have high quality and adequate education

delegate particular aspects to local districts
"but ultimately we're on the line"
ensure that we're doing that

"it's not a regulation that I love"
"but we're in a world of second best here"

Fernández: similar to Lombos, heard commentary from superintendents, then from doctors and legal
did create dissonance to me

regulation itself does not address this massive mental health issue that was described by the physicians
"fear that there is some conflation going on of the issue"
not opposed to better quality engagement

"but I don't know that this regulation is going to solve what are these massive" issues

other piece is data: in these one-third of districts, what is happening?

what is the response?
"it is important for me to have a better understanding of what we are talking about"

"this is addressing something very short term and the bigger issues are ahead of us and our time is better spent as a state, as a board, as an institution to focus on these issues that are coming before us"

view "is we should have some basic" outlines "but does that require regulation"
"we need to talk about that: is the regulation necessary for the schools and districts stepping up"

and now we're over to Russell Johnston to...I assume argue that this is necessary

and now we're going through a bunch of the documents that were put together over the summer
"shared resources, shared engagement... they're the voice of the state, they're the voice of parents, they're the voice of educators"

...I am going to note that this is manifestly untrue when it comes to this regulation #MAEdu

...this is not actually responding to...anything?

mental health academy: ongoing work engaged in for years
idea is if you have more live time with teachers, teachers know what to look for, what interventions teachers can supply

"in our minds" it's not more screen time
"can be opportunities" for teachers to direct play in students' homes, or students to engage with each other [through the screen, one assumes?]

Curtin: normally I present the framework and then a vibrant discussion would assume
want to be sure you know how we got here today
started getting a lot of questions about what was happening in our schools

"just didn't have the answers as to how that had evolved"
collected data in early November: really large knowledge base of what's happening
two weeks snapshot of grades 1, 4, 7, 10

"there were some things that were in the data that were concerning"
saw hybrids there are days that are fully asynchronous
in fully remote models, there are districts that have fully asynchronous days

based on average amount of live instruction or synchronous instruction across grades
allows for district judgment on the appropriate use of synchronous instruction

last week issued preliminary clearance: SLT report based on data they gave DESE
districts currently reviewing report, open for editing

and there's a little bar chart here, but they didn't post the presentation, so oh, well

So, going to point out as they kept throwing around "most districts are meeting" that only is true if you meld the remote and hybrid:

45% of remote districts not meeting proposed standards

#MAEdu

and I keep coming back to their having not a blessed idea of how the remote is actually functioning, because they haven't asked!

Morton: when are districts to respond back to department on data? by tomorrow
Curtin: have received requests for editing
Morton: who else have you spoken with
Curtin: we've had conversations with the superintendents' association

Morton: did we talk to educators, parents, students
Riley: this whole thing has been generated by parent concerns for their children
medical community has been "vociferous"

have talked "to superintendents' association, to school committees, and have been in some conversations with teachers' association"

[errr...to/at]

West: which districts
Curtin: pretty diverse, across districts
West: want to be sure it isn't grossly misleading presented this way, but also what is possible

Lombos: why do we have to change a regulation? Couldn't we just give the supports to the one-third districts? and since we've haven't had a discussion with teachers, students?

Johnston: "don't think it's unrealistic to ask for this to happen"
"we do think supports will have greater impact"

Peyser: superintendents and school districts have historically asked for more flexibility
most insistent critique has been superintendents needing more clarity

Lombos: hear that, but superintendents were clear that they needed these much earlier
Peyser: expectations were that this might be met

Morton: one of the most important decisions put before us
questions are to help me make a decision
talk about why schools are using a day of asynchronous?

Curtin: "I want to be clear that we haven't asked why"
thought that there needed to be a deep clean in hybrid models during the week
"felt that there needed to be time built in for PD"

Morton: some of that was division of groups
Curtin: that was at least the rationale behind it
Stewart: students are the most vulnerable, and certainly students of color
don't want to lose sight of what is said

ensure things aren't conflated: push to get back into classrooms
"I don't want to support this in a way that's most productive"
going to support it

new emergency regulation PASSES 7-4

Notes on that here: who-cester.blogspot.com/2020/12/decemb…

#MAEdu

opening of a discussion here on vocational regs
the conversation is swirling here around access and equity #MAEdu

(there isn't anything being proposed today...they're going to be getting data on applicant pools in a coming meeting) #MAEdu

Bill Bell on finances: FY21 budget was signed late last week: approach six month mark of fiscal '21
pretty consistent what we had seen in the conference report

EXCEPT $53M grant in conference committee was going to go out formulaic aid
Gov instead in a grant structure that DESE would administer with Executive Office "to help remedy all of the concerns that have been relayed...over learning loss and additional needs"

circuit breaker fully funded; reimbursement as high as have been
federal side: Congress has to act by Friday on spending
different versions of bills
working with administration on FY22 state budget

And then Peyser talks about "targeted and strategic approach" on spending #MAEdu

and adjourned #MAedu