Thread by @TracyNovick

#MAEdu, it's a Board of Ed morning. Livetweeting/blogging to come (mute me for the next couple of hours if you're not interested)

The agenda is here: doe.mass.edu/bese/docs/fy20…

Livestream will show up here: doe.mass.edu/bese/docs/fy20…

first round of liveblogging will go up here: who-cester.blogspot.com/2022/01/livebl… #MAEdu

hey, we're in for the call to order!

BPS parent: "given that families do not have a remote option this year..."
COVID safety has to be a continuous top priority
Families and students must have a voice in decisions

DESE making decisions without our input
"families are in turmoil"
"Despite what you say here today, we know that transmission is occurring in schools"

"Asserting that transmission does not occur in school" does not address the issues
"your current policy for test and stay does not reach all contacts who are exposed"
"So I ask, how can you say there is no transmission in schools"

shifting to testing at home will create more inequity
rapid test direction in only two languages

"the new DESE policy has many problems...offers an 'either/or' option"
"you did not consult us"

"we can't test our way out of this pandemic"

better masks, guarantee adequate ventilation and filtration in every eating place
do not penalize families for missing more than 18 days in a school year; families are getting court orders
support districts to investigate outbreaks

allow remote learning; needs to be support for families and students
"any mitigation strategies, any COVID protocols, there needs to be racial equity"

that was followed by read testimony from a mother who sent a child back into exposure

Mass Advocates for Children: advocate for racial equity
parents have expressed their concerns, students have organized a walkout
pre-existing inequities..."COVID has revealed" how pervasive these inequities are

"I am here to urge you to put equity at the forefront of your policies"
urge you to ensure students can access their education safety
should have the right to access remotely, and should count towards instruction

"decision makers cannot continue to minimize the concerns of students and their families"

another: "I was here back in September begging you to consider the options available" to students and all of those in their schools
appreciated home and hospital mention from Morton, and SEL from Stewart

"It was sadly clear that the conditions and desires" of parents expressed "were certainly different than is typical in this space"

decisions made without consultation; have been denied repeated requests to meet with Commissioner
even now "no option for parents and guardians to testify via Zoom or in another language

"it literally sickened me to witness" the gap between our experience and the Board's understanding of this

"to witness yourself pat yourself on the back for forcing testing" during a pandemic "as if the data all around you wasn't enough"
"as if the struggle of our teachers" and "our telling you wasn't enough"

next testimony is asking the Board to keep the two MCAS science test proposed to be ending
(it isn't proposing ending all science MCAS, so I don't think this is quite on it?)

Parent in New Bedford: innovative charter school before the them
thanks Board members for being in New Bedford
over 150 in meeting, roughly 99% of audience disapproval for charter school; most who approved don't live in New Bedford or Fall River

"the people of Fall River and New Bedford have spoken, and I hope that people here listen to them"

"this fixation on learning loss needs to cease. I ask the Board to hold all school districts...schools...students on MCAS scores"

Additionally: bank has now withdrawn support for proposed charter school
"the stability of the charter school is in question now that three members...have withdrawn themselves from the application"

application "has always been littered with red flags"
"now the school's governance structure...is in complete shambles"

Dan French, vocational educational justice coalition
analysis of admission patterns

overall, while doing better, not enough attention is paid to recruiting EL and students of color

voke schools offer seats to less privileged students at substantially lower rates across comparisons groups

when offered seats, less privileged students are more likely to accept seats than more privileged peers

Chelsea organizer: admission policy to local vocational school from 14 year old student
"the worst thing was knowing I could have learned something different"

guidance counselor "hesitant to encourage students to even apply" to vocational schools
every year "less and less" of students who might have thrived apply
"heavily discouraged" based on what they've seen in prior years

every student should have an equal opportunity to participate in vocational education
using data that's heavily biased

[sorry, interrupted by a phone call...missing a speaker here]

Craven: thanks Board
"every speaker this morning represents someone who is diametrically opposed by someone else"

thank the Board for being in New Bedford
"again, the concept that voices aren't heard...we hear them in hours and hours of testimony across the Commonwealth in many ways"

"kindness, patience, and partnership" across the Commonwealth
"lacking kindness in discourse"
haven't seen urban superintendents in some time; will be coming in

thank Governor Baker who has appointed all on Board (except the student member)
remembering Paul Andrews of MASS

Carris Livingston on Presidential Scholar's award
it's already done for this year, but to keep in mind for other years
www2.ed.gov/programs/psp/i…

Riley:
appears we've gotten past the peak of omicron
"but still we must remain vigilant"

part of preparation was handing out home tests "over holiday break"

planned on giving two, gave one
extended mask mandate

Johnston: "our testing program has never remained the same"
key is "the listening that we do"
visiting "five districts" to visit together
"available technologies" have changed

"our data are telling us that our schools are safe"
the change is to keep staff focused "particularly on symptomatic individuals"
"opt-in" by families

"have responded to what we've learned by listening to parents and students and staff"
changes if they are coming in late March, early April

Hills: were there any district leaders who told you that this was not a good option?
Johnston: overwhelmingly asked to reduce the burden
(they literally didn't have a chance for the superintendents to talk back on that call)

Stewart: what about districts that don't change?
Johnston: will continue to stay where they are, provided with testing and staff (what staff is that?)

Stewart: would be interested in learning about districts that aren't changing
Johnston: disparities between participation; "really pleased to say there is not a difference"
share that data, and we'll see

(sorry, that last was my comment)

Stewart: what we learned last year; call for greater flexibility from students
"would love to know what best practices were picked up"
"really haven't heard much at all about any other best practices from year of best practices"

Lombos: new testing option an add on?
Johnston: a choice

Lombos: is that what you heard from the districts, that it was a choice not an add on?
Johnston: wasn't posed that way, but hearing this is very responsive to concerns

Lombos: respond to public testimony we're hearing
Johnston: what's happening in our communities in our
students testing positive "primarily due to" community transmission

Lombos: would say then it's one of the only places where there's testing and that the transmission is coming from other places then?

Carris Livingston: what if the test kits don't show up
Johnston: have a ready supply in our warehouses
redundant systems in distributions

...as happened in VT vtdigger.org/2022/01/20/ver…

Moriarty: recognize and honor, the policy decision vital that schools stay open
"harder than it's every been before"
"think we should recognize and honor the heroic efforts that have been made" to keep schools open

Lombos: truancy issues and courts getting involved
if we are asking folks to test and quarantine
maybe it's a miscommunication with the courts?
Riley: "we'll get back to you on that"

Clark: "how much of that is our role?"
Riley: there is a part of that is our role
Johnston: "we have put out" guidance to schools and districts around working with families
really is about local schools and districts
recent webinar for principals, resources that aren't the courts

Moriarty: policies at district level "that school committees
Clark: "we're only as good as those implementing locally" the state law from the Legislature

Carris Livingston: continuing learning if they have to quarantine
how best to assist students if they have to quarantine
Riley: individual districts have contracts with teachers' unions
some of which don't provide for that

Clark: any authority of state?
Riley: local authority
West: can call out what we find objectionable

Lombos: want to check that there is actually a collective bargaining issue
Carris Livingstone: hear that hybrid was very difficult
"as communities not think of this as either or"
"remain open to discussion about this"

Riley: BPS MOU in a future meeting
All voke schools have submitted admissions policies
will begin process of evaluating

ON TO MCAS...

for some reason, not having four science tests means we're "devaluing science"

Rouhanifard: vote of acquiescence
sad day, devaluing science

Peyser: don't want to send a signal that the sciences don't matter

Moriarty: who we can't hear because his mic isn't on

Riley: updating lower grade science assessment

West makes the motion "despite the lack of enthusiasm"

passes (note this phases over two years)

ok, that happened so fast I couldn't even get a new blog post open: the charter amendments just passed

Bell: "while we await the Governor's FY23 state budget proposal" (TOMORROW!)
working through FY22 budget

enrollment reserve: close to finalizing a recommendation on a methodology for that
will go to Secretary and Governor for review before going to the Legislature (wait, it has to do what?)

$55M Legislative bill passed:
HVAC, Compensatory services, educator diversity initiative, 53 separate Legislative earmarks

close to $3B in federal funding being managed
(I missed how much of ESSER I has been drawn down; I'll ask)
30% in ESSER II out

not yet approved in ESSER III: a lot of construction related; have to ensure that they adhere to state and federal procurement
$1.66B; approved about 3/4 of a billion of those funds out so far

looks like further Legislative action: masking and testing funding; not yet on Governor's desk

Peyser now arguing that DESE's isn't the bottleneck
districts enabled "to spend money as its needed"

Moriarty asking about outreach to families on compensatory services

Bell: let's be smart about getting it out there
$100M HVAC can be spent until 2027
even modest HVAC construction isn't going to happen overnight
"some of these things are multi year in nature"

Hills: school committee members are very focused on the cliff
to a large degree "money is fungible at the local level"
cliff impacts spending at local level "to a degree maybe not clear at this level"

"this is an issue that more people are following, what the real cliff is, than might be apparent"

Bell: local governance are still running their local appropriations
SOA: there are going to be additional funds coming
"how do you thoughtfully link up" those funding

Bell: DESE also managing private school federal support

Peyser: 2027 aligns with full implementation of SOA
front load their investments that they might have to otherwise phase in
when funds were appropriated, was concern that there would be a hole
in addition to the one time COVID related expenses, a chance to front load

West: deadline to spending? or obligating?
Bell: expenditure dates

AND ADJOURNED #MAEdu