Concord Carlisle School Committee May 21, 2024

Everybody we ready Lori recording in progress um and welcome to the conquered school committee which I will call to order at this time um to everyone on Zoom if I could just give you guys all a quick rundown of how um we work here if you are not speaking and are not a member of the conquered school committee if you could please um back out your camera or turn off your camera I guess is is um and if you are Called upon to speak um you can certainly put your camera on at that time but

we do ask um people who are not active members of the school committee um to just turn off their cameras so we would appreciate that we'll give you a minute to do that I see a couple cameras still on okay we still have a few yep great okay um all right uh I am okay we've called to order so um I'm going to move into our public comment period um per usual Tracy Morano is going to go over how um our public comment period Works mostly because I um I'm having trouble reading today so um

Tracy okay um our public comment period will be a period of 20 minutes as a reminder this is a meeting in the public and not with the public so the school committee will not be responding to any comments if you are in the room and you would like to speak you can submit a blue form up here which we already have and you'll be called to Speak if you're on Zoom you can use the raiseed hand feature when called to speak please state your name and address before you speak we will go every other starting

with a comment in the room and then taking a comment on zoom and you will have a time limit of three minutes okay um I'm GNA ask Wendy relli to be our first public comment speaker Wendy is a member of the select board and also aaon yes working okay all right um so my name is Wendy relli 42 Bo Street and I Am the select board liaison to the school committee and I'm speaking on behalf of the select board this evening um as you have likely heard the select board voted last night to schedule a

special Town election on June 25th and a number of advisory questions will be added including the following question would you be in favor of asking the school committee to reconsider the name of the publicly financed and owned properly property currently bu being Built at 923 old Marboro Road in conquered mass as Ellen Garrison Middle School the select board has received many comments about the naming of the new school building along with concerns about the process and handling of the town meeting vote by the school committee we're concerned about the divisiveness of the ongoing discussion and

the erosion of trust in our town government the select board is less concerned about what the actual name is That's chosen instead we're very concerned with restoring the trust in all of our elected officials by ensuring the voice that all citizens are heard the um sorry concerned about what the name is chosen but uh but sorry uring the voice of all citizens um this ballot vote will allow for absentee in person and early voting options which will enable broad participation we will know the will of the people following the June 25th Election it's our hope

that this information is heard by both the school committee in The Advocates of Ellen Garrison and that both groups commit to abide by the vote um of the entire Community we acknowledge that this decision did not include consideration for the outcome of tonight's school committee discussion but the deadline for setting the election date and final question was last night the timeline for these decisions could not be modified as The deadline was necessary to ensure that the senior means tested exemption could be in place for the first fiscal quarter of fy2 as part of the ballot

process there will be an opportunity to draft pro and con statements to be included in the town warrant and we encourage the school committee to provide their perspectives through this process uh this is our good faith attempt to bring the issue to closure so together we may all celebrate The opening of our new middle school thank you thanks M rll all right I'll stay in the room since Miss relli was scheduled and um I'll be calling Chesley Chen hi I'm CH I'm Chesley Chen 196 Williams Road uh for context I have a history of community

service in Congress record I Was A Boy Scout leader and scout master for 11 years during my tenure 47 Scouts earned the rank of Eagle we instilled in the scouts values such as inclusion fairness honesty and Common courtesy we hope they carry these values forward into their adult lives additionally outside of conquer I lead three Dei initiatives one I am chair of the Harvard Business School alumni and African American Student Union racial Equity project I was a founding member of the bioscience and investor inclusion group and now I lead a new group Asians in biotech

I'd like to read the statement I prepared two weeks ago thanks for Choosing me to speak today uh so I came here to ask you to name the new Middle School The Ellen Garrison Middle School I'm a person of color I'm Chinese American my wife Mary and I raised our four kids here they all went through conquered school system Mary and I are two time conquered residents first time from ' 87 to 91 and then again from 1999 to to right now we absolutely love it here uh we've always felt that the town and its

reputation represents a culture Of inclusion that welcomes and celebrates diversity Chinese people have a long history of being excluded in America in fact ironically May 6th was the 142nd anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 I'm not sure how many people are aware of that um we have all come along long way since then I'm proud that the vote was overwhelmingly yes at the town meeting and supported the name Ellen gar in middle school thank you people have Conquered um rather than go over things already discussed I'll just touch on uh reputation if we

go with Ellen Garrison Middle School conquered protects and keeps our reputation and culture of inclusion a culture that welcomes and Embraces diversity a town that we can all be proud of my fear is that the school if the school commune doesn't choose Ellen Garrison Middle School it will tarnish the town's reputation and by association to the town's people That's us uh conquered can ear a reputation of turning our backs on our history of inclusion I really don't want to see that happen I think the school company has a rare opportunity to Pivot and protect conquer's

reputation and maybe even improve it if messaged properly that's all in our in your control uh my question is which reputation do you want conquer to be known for which reputation do you want us all to be known for for me the choice Is very clear uh thanks for listening tonight appreciate it okay will go on Zoom I see a hand raised I'll call in Greg creamer and you can turn your camera on great hey good evening everyone my name is Greg creamer I live at 233 Elm Street in conquer could you Mr could you

stop for a can anyone hear him okay we can't hear you in here in the room so turn this up uh Could you um start over uh and give your name and address To start and we'll see if we can hear that sure uh Greg creamer 233 Elm Street in conquer how's that no when no one can hear hang on one second we can't hear you um he's adjusting on Zoom uh he is able to be heard fine but just not in the room okay see if it's beute a computer maybe just [Music] back try

again any better here wonderful there you go if you could start over Please okay sure uh sure Greg creamer 233 Elm Street and conquered um so we're a proud Public School family uh all three of my kids went through the conquered middle schools and I strongly support the decision of the school committee and the superintendent to retain the CMS name I mean the opposition's refusal to back down here is really driving a major wedge in our town it's harmful it's not very inclusive and frankly it feels sort of Magal likee to me um in my

view we cannot and should not allow the Dei committee to overrule the decisions of our elected officials that's really just bad governance and I think it sets a terrible precedent um due to this whole issue many of our school committee members are now being labeled as racist S I mean that's just a horrible thought these are volunteers they didn't sign up to deal with this nonsense and because a group of our citizens chose to leak this Story to the Boston Globe they're now being vilified well beyond the borders of our town again that's just not

right in my view um good government requires compromise and I'll say it again good government requires compromise conquer's always been a progressive town we should be proud of that the school committee has already served up a number of really good compromise ideas I think that we should think about those and consider those I also want to point out that our Town has already declared an official Ellen Garrison Celebration Day on April the 14th I mean no doubt she was an admirable person she railed against slavery that is terrific uh but by focusing so much on

one individual were ignoring other worthy concordians and that includes the 49 people who laid down their lives uh fighting against slavery they made the ultimate sacrifice and were doing nothing you're not making sense they I'm Sorry they we're doing nothing to honor them and again that just doesn't seem right to me so this whole issue illustrates why naming public buildings for individuals doesn't work in today's political environment there are too many identity based groups who will raise a stink if their group isn't represented or praised enough it's actually a pretty sad State of Affairs for

our country so at this point I believe the renaming issue is causing way more harm than good For our town um having additional non-binding votes isn't going to accomplish anything and so to you the school committee I urge you you have the authority just let's please declare a decision and put this issue to an end we'd all love some closure and I'm sure you'd love to actually move on to some important School business so thank you for listening thank you again for volunteering we truly appreciate your time and your dedication to improving Our children's lives

I'll see the floor um okay we'll go back to in the room first name Craig second name y great my name is Craig amiller um I live at 27 Lang Street and i' just like to read a letter that the school committee received from the Anti-Defamation League of New England May 17 2024 conquered school committee to the members of the conquered school committee on behalf of The ADL the Anti-Defamation League of New England we are pleased to write to you today in support of the name of the newly constructed middle school after Ellen Garrison a

black concordian civil rights activist and educator who who dedicated her life to advancing social justice and equality for the Comm conquered community and across the country since the since 1913 the adl's mission has been to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure Justice and fair treatment for all dedicated to combating anti-Semitism Prejudice and bigotry of all kinds as well as defending democratic ideals and promoting civil rights the ADL is proud of its leader leadership in developing Innovative materials programs and services that bridge and that build bridges of communication understanding and respect among

diverse racial religious and ethnic groups ADL acutely understands the importance of Representation and the profound impact it can have on shaping the attitudes and perceptions of students and community members not only is this the essential for fost in a sense of belonging and empowerment in students of diverse backgrounds it also cultivates a culture of empathy and understanding within the broader Culture by naming the newly constructed middle school after Alan Garrison conquered can celebrate her incredible contributions while also Demonstrating that the stories and achievements of all conquered community members are deserving of acknowledgement conquer can best

serve its increasingly diverse population by fostering a sense of belonging and inclusion this naming would also powerfully affirm that honoring individual legacies is not just to recognize the past but also to strive for a future where every voice is valued and every person feels empowered to contribute to the rich tapestry of Conqueror's identity thank you for your consideration please do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to discuss sincerely Peggy shukar vice president ADL East Division rabbi Ron fish ADL New England Regional director Sarah CB ADL New England Deputy Regional director and Jim Wallock

ADL New England regional board chair thank you okay we'll go back on Zoom I see and we'll recognize Elizabeth Moore hi thank you Elizabeth Moore 105 Blueberry Lane um I just want to comment on Wendy's um what when on the first comment from Wendy um and I'm not saying that I'm for or against adding this to the special meeting or even how I feel about Ellen Garrison but um I am I am concerned that that I'm I'm wondering if the select board actually checked was legal before doing this because I'm looking at a letter that

was from Anderson creger from March 8th 2024 from Mina macarius I believe it is and in it it says that um and I'm assuming that this is a renaming that you're asking it's not initial naming because the school is officially named and it says in that letter related to renaming that the select board cannot give the right to name or rename a school building to town meeting anymore than it could undertake the naming or renaming itself and I can't help but wonder if that rule may still apply to a special election um It doesn't it

doesn't say but it definitely says that the select board cannot make that decision related to town meeting and so I'm I I what I'm asking is is that um well I think so much effort is being um and and I and I think it's you know it's a it's it's a good effort to make the image of our town and the children have this um you know school that they're going to that you know promotes diversity and equity and Everything else my concern is that this whole process we have been having a lot of Legally

ambiguous um requests and even some unlawful request and and I really think that both sides I think I think the town manager and I think the superintendent and the school committee really needs to check with legal on all of this before making any decisions with the public because we're getting to a situation where the Public is is is is is is getting to you know is becoming divided and it's ugly and it's putting a bruise on this Middle School that shouldn't be there at all and it's damaging to everyone including the children which is what

I'm mostly worried about and the parents and and I and I'm really encouraged ing Wendy in particular with this request to special Town election that you please please I've asked it with Henry danne um when he was on board to please check Everything with legal because I think some of the things we're asking and doing are not maybe may seem fair and may work for our special interest grps that want things done but I don't know that we're working within a legal domain and and I think this is one of them because of the way

that legal wrote the letter saying that the selectboard could not do this with town meeting and now you're doing with the special election and I don't I I question it I can't say I do or I don't I'm not an attorney but I'm asking you to please check with legal on both sides on all sides that's all thank you thank you just as a reminder we're 15 minutes in um so we'll go back in the room we'll hear from constant LaVine line hi constant Levine 149 Stow Street some of you realize I've been looking into

the uh petition that was uh Presented by Jen Turner on February 6th uh and before the um there was a vote for the naming of the school and I had filed a um Citizen's uh request to get a copy of that from the town clerk so last Tuesday night uh I received an email from the superintendent Lorie Hunter and this is what it said the school district is not in possession of the petition the petition was provided to conquered school committee as information in hard Copy and not retained so basically someone threw this uh petition

with 1,00 names away apparently which I thought was pretty shocking because uh it probably violate some record retention policy but why would a school committee decide to discard or throw away a petition with over a thousand names advocating for Ellen Garrison many of whom you could tell by looking at them were listed as conquered residents so I was able to get A copy of this from the uh uh gen and it turned I counted them and there are um 363 names on this petition from conquered residents and I feel that the school committee as soon

as they saw that should have paused and not listed any count you know you made a count and I think you said it was 95 for Ellen and 160 or something for conquered Middle School well as soon as you got that petition and saw how many conquered citizens were on there you should have Said we have to go get this verified by the town Clerk and I spoke to the town clerk and she said the process would be you'd give it to the town manager and they would give it to the town clerk to see

that these are conquered residents so it seems to me that uh that vote never should have been taken and then I looked in your um February 6 minutes uh which was when the vote was taken and it's very incomplete and inaccurate you know you you sat on it for 3 months you Didn't release that till after the May 7th meeting and it doesn't even mention that you were voting for The Ellen garison name uh it just said that um I think it was Booth he made a um a motion uh for a roll call that's

all it says in your minutes so your minutes are wrong and they're incomplete and you never should have voted at that meeting thank you and we'll take our last public comment of the night online with a Stephen block hi thanks um can you hear me okay yes okay um so I live at 165 Cambridge Turnpike and I just wanted to comment uh very briefly on an assertion that's been a pillar of the opposition to naming the middle school for all Garrison specifically the assertion and I think I'm quoting the chair here that no one naming

buildings after people anymore I was surprised to hear that at the February meeting and found myself Wondering if it was true and it turns out it took very little research to discover that that assertion is false and I just want to share a few recent and local examples and one uh slightly more distant example as recently as April 10th just a few weeks ago the Boston Public School System renamed the Boston Community Leadership Academy to the Ruth Batson Academy in honor of the local black community activist who helped to launch The metco program last year

Boston renamed its McKinley schools for civic activist Mel King and last year the Boston school committee also renamed the John de O'Brien School in honor of Boston's first black school Committee Member and I have one last somewhat more distant example uh as you may know alen Garrison died in a small town in California called Altadena and I learned recently that the town of Altadena California is actually considering naming a school there for her so I hope these facts will lead anyone whose opposition to alen Garrison was based on the false assertion that no one is

naming buildings or people anymore to perhaps reconsider their position thank you thank you all right so thank you to everybody that concludes our public comment for the Evening because we are out of time um so Stephen you can put your raised hand down if you so choose thanks um all right so I don't really have like a lot of structure planned for this evening I thought it might make sense for us to have a discussion about sort of what we all think might be good next steps um you know and I have sort of been

an outsized voice in this conversation to date so um I'm actually certainly going to Participate in the discussion but I am really interested in what the five of you guys are thinking um and what we can do to move forward to satisfy sort of the constituencies that have emerged um in this decision for us hi you yeah so like I said last week I'm I am in support of do you want to go into that definitely I'm still in support of naming the school conquer Middle School um just because based on my personal um my

personal things with My son my son couldn't wait to get to the high school to wear his CC gear he wears it everywhere whether we're in Boston or in conquer and I run a program in Boston and my kids love to you know have their program name or where they're from um on their shirts and on their Hood and things like that I just think it creates it it creates um a sense of unity and it and it diversifies the group it can diversify conquer authentically not um not force putting a Name on a building

is going to do I mean I love what what she stands for and what she fought for but I also you know standing with conquered Middle School I I have been harassed and you know I feel like I was discriminated against because I didn't stand what the agenda of that other people have with changing the name so as a person of color I feel you know and I've been a part of this community for over 20 years I went to the high school my son is my son's been here Since kindergarten and I just you

know putting a name on a building is not going to change the fact that when I come out to conquer I still in 2024 I have to explain that I own a home that I'm a black woman that owns a home it's it's ridiculous like I you know we have a lot of work to do and putting a name on a building is not going to change anything in conquered there's so much more that we have to do so whereas you know I respect um I respect this you Know I respect Ellen garison and I

you know I love what she fought for I wish that we would we would practice what she fought for as a community cuz right now we're not and as a person of color that comes that this is a huge commitment to come to a school committee meeting and the reason why I came was to represent you know the Meco kids and my son and you know just to make sure that he has a voice and these Meco children have a voice naming a school and and I know People want to put Meco into it and

I just think think that it should be conquered middle school because I think that you know the the conquered kids and the mecho kids like I like I I would appreciate my son wasn't pointed at and oh that's the Meco kid I want my son to be pointed at that's a conquered student and I you know that that I think we can get to a point where we're we're unifying like that and we're not you know creating boundaries and oh that's Just a mecho kid and you know we accept Meo and we accept people of

color and you know we don't treat you know my son was walking a conquer Center and had french fries thrown at him from a car and it was never addressed things like that I mean things like that are still happening in 2024 so if we name the school Ellen Garrison next year do I think that when I when I go to a coffee to engage with the community as a school Committee Member I'm not I'm not going to have like nasty comments said to me or you know I don't have to explain that you know

I'm a I'm a thriving you know person of this community and the Boston Community I I don't think that you know I think it's going to be the same and I don't think that it's going to ruin changing the name is going to ruin the reputation in conquered I think that forcing this and and um I think just sends sends a sense of entitlement that Conquered has that you know we're not going to back down this is what we want and this is what we're going to go with instead of you know instead of compromising

and being productive and moving forward and thinking about the kids first and not our own selfish um ideas anyone else um I I appreciate those comments again I'm trying not to be the dominant voice here tonight um I'm happy to be if We need some prodding um yeah look I can go okay yeah um so um I the only one here not here in February right so I'm near to the table um I observed a lot of this as a as a candidate uh running running for this committee uh took in a lot of data

right talked to a lot of people on the campaign Trail um witnessed the the February meeting uh was part of the election where a lot of people came out to vote um was at town meeting a lot of Energy you know going for Ellen Garrison um and then more recently I got access to the school emails um like two and a half weeks ago we've gotten hundreds of emails on this topic so we we have a lot of data I I personally don't you know feel there's a need to revisit this um at this time

um certainly a lot of opinions both ways but um you know I I respect the February decision and I don't you know I I think we should move the conversation forward to compromise But we heard last night that from the Ellen group that there is no compromise there is no modification so I I don't know where to go with this to be honest I thought you uh Alexa had a you know a suggestion to get the conversation rolling two weeks ago um I think it had mixed feedback at best um but it was a suggest

Carrie I thought you you know in February again watching tried to make a motion to name the building I thought That was a great idea and spirit of compromise but it didn't have much legs at night so um I don't know where I don't know where to go from here yeah um and again with respect to my suggestion of Ripley like you said I don't think that has much had many legs either um which was you know personally disappoint in for me but that's okay um you know as elected officials we we do Need to

listen and synthesize and sort of figure out um where we go I mean I do appreciate what you're saying and actually you said it too Aisha the spirit of compromise um that's sort of where I'm looking to go but again let's just keep talking go I um I hope you'll bear with me I wrote I wrote some remarks oh yeah so um after a lot of consideration and reflection um and strong listening To the strong opinions within our community I have a new perspective about the naming of our middle school and want to explain how

I came to this decision this issue is not just about name it's about what the name represents and the values we uphold as a community it's about acknowledging our past understanding our present and shaping our future in a way that Fosters unity inclusivity and respect and in the process of determining the school name We must demonstrate leadership and show how young people show our young people that we can disagree respectfully and find a path forward today I hope to outline a path forward that honors these principles and allows our community to heal back in February

I voted for conquered middle school because I've watched as we prepare to unite two buildings into one and the intentional work to foster a strong cohesive CMS Community but most importantly I Believed and still do that creating an inclusive School environment happens through the work inside the building not the name outside I was as confident in February as I am today that Dr Hunter and her team are dedicated to doing the work to Foster an inclusive School Community are we there no but we're doing the work while I was confident in my vote I hoped

that voting for CMS would be a first step with the next step being to find a meaningful way to honor Ellen Garrison it was clear there was a desire among the community to meaningfully recognize her that has yet to happen and the absence of it has led to a deep chasm in our community in our predominantly white Community a lot of the people of color here have shared that naming the school for Ellen Garrison is Meaningful in my conversation some mentioned that the town meeting vote was the first time they felt supported by the town

others Shared hesitations about whether they should should have or should continue to raise their children of color here no one thinks the name the name will solve the problem but many believe and I've come to agree that the name sends a message of our willingness as a community to do the work but let's not forget that we are here for children and their best interests ought to be at the Forefront both names are Rich part of our history and can serve as a source of Inspiration for our students there is a deep pride in the

name conquered Middle School for students Educators and many community members Ellen Garrison is a conquered native civil rights activist whose story certainly lives up to that of other great concordians who are recognized within our town and middle school is a critical time for developing self-identity naming the school after Ellen Garrison who demonstrated such bravy at the same age can be impactful For our students helping them see themselves as part of a larger courageous Legacy at the end of the day our children are watching we must show them that we can engage in rigorous debate have

hard conversations disagree and still find a way to move forward together we teach our students in Middle School even to approach differences with curiosity to listen and learn from one another can we really say that we're holding ourselves To the same standard it's with the with that spirit that I believe it's time we move forward with a compromise we may not get everything we wish for but we can still find a way to meaningfully move forward together I propose renaming the building the Ellen Garrison conquered Middle School this name not only honors our past but

also sets a Clear Vision for our future it allows us to retain the historical significance of conquered Middle School while Recognizing the legacy of Ellen Garrison it reflects our commitment to inclusivity and unity providing a strong foundation for our students as they navigate their educational Journeys I urge my fellow committee members to embrace this compromise so we can begin to heal as a community do the work inside the building and shift our Focus to the exciting task of opening a new amazing school for our children great thanks Great is that a motion it's just a

yeah I want to give everybody a chance to talk and I you know so I I just want to confirm that the Ripley idea is being put to bed or I mean yeah it's up to us you know without emotion certainly yeah okay because I think I just want to I personally just having done a little research reading Mr gross's some of his book I didn't will say I read it all um I just don't want to leave our community with a I don't Have the same concern that he's a religious figure I think he

was a very um yeah no that's fine you know so I I just he was he was a burnstone preacher I don't think he's I don't think his legacy is is a NE a negative one for our town so that's I just want to say that the other thing is that um we as a committee have not yet responded to town meeting I think you heard that last night we've all heard it many times it was an Overwhelming vote for the name alen Garrison school there was a motion to amend to find a compromise and

that failed I thought rather overwhelmingly so I think in our comments tonight we also have to think about that response and what we how we feel about that so um I'll just leave that there um and I thank uh Carrie for her remarks um she did a lot of footwork um and talk to people and I appreciate that because it's it's timec consuming but also I Think very um energizing to have a lot of s and feedback so okay my next sure we we can also just sort of chitchat like I sometimes don't find the

speeches to be productive but we can do it and then we'll talk how about that I don't have a speech right just more of a conversation um I think that we've been talking about for months having conversations we've had a lot of conversations with community members We've had conversations at town meeting we've had conversations around this table we've had emails come into us we've had you know there's been a lot of feedback on this particular topic I think that you know I go back to February 6th and this committee sat here on February 6th but

we're also committee that listens we listens we listen to what the town has to say we listen to community members because everybody is part of our community I really look Forward to our community coming together and celebrating the opening of our new Middle School and that I'm really concerned has gotten lost in all of this um I I do think this has been really challenging it's been challenging for all of us I was at the select board meeting last night and I was totally taken by surprise about a ballot vote you know so that's now

out there on the table I I like Andrew I'm not really sure what to do with that um again I Think it is the conversation around this table that that has to move forward I think the only way forward is to have a compromise there are there are just people are very ground in on on either side and I feel like you know it's our duty to really come together find a compromise that works for everyone and really puts the needs of the students in the community first and we have a duty to those 12

and 13 year olds that going walk through that building and be Excited about new middle school I know that there was a tour of the middle school today I mean the the we have uh CMS building committee they went through a student building committee most towns do not have that we have kids that are walking through there and seeing you know this wonderful building so I don't want to lose sight of that I do think that um I love this town I love this community I want to feel like everyone belongs here including all of

us it's Been very challenging for all of us um we do not take this lightly by any means um and I think that a lot of us have had a lot of sleepless nights so I'll just you know it it's been very emotional very challenging and I I promise you that we really H are being thoughtful about this and really trying to do what's best for the community and for the students and just be true to who we are yeah um I'll I'll build upon that I think what sometimes gets lost whether It's in public

comment where people focus on the Nuance of procedure or things that we should do and you know or did do or haven't done like the bottom line is we're all volunteers here um none of us at this table um who are members of the school committee get paid we spend tireless hours advocating for students um we do it everywhere we go tirelessly every day um you know whether it's at town meeting advocating for budgets at finance committee meetings Whether it's at Meco lobbying um for increased funding whether it's with the superintendent working to ensure that

we have our FTE counts right to service our students in the best way possible looking at curriculum looking at our policies so I really do feel like that perspective has been lost um we are all people who are committed to doing our best here um and we do have different perspectives on what that looks like I think you know I always try to focus on The things that unite us um and I think I believe that everyone at this table is committed to doing best by kids I believe that everyone at this table is truly

committed to the work that we're doing in this District to ensure that all kids belong um to ensure that people feel like they have a place here that work is hard that work is long um that work is never ending but you know we show up and more importantly Dr Hunter and her team shows up every day with That commitment and I just you know when we talk about sort of how we how we move forward I want that to be sort of the uniting message we are all here committed to that work I think

everyone um in this room is committed to that and we've demonstrated that um I think you know not a lot of you guys come to most of our meetings um if you did you you'd see that that is sort of what we demonstrate in our meetings week after week after week what we're doing um for Kids um that being said um I sort of agree with um this idea of compromise um I think compromise is a wonderful example to set to Children um I think that we compromise in our relationships with our partners we compromise

in our friendships we compromise at work um and I think compromising here should be something that is celebrated as well um you know so what that looks like I think is for us to sort of discuss um to me when we were examining what we were Doing for February 6th um I remember looking at the minutes of 1968 I think it was when the conquered Junior High School was built um that that that school committee I think in 1968 um entertained you know same kind of thing a number of names for the school ultimately they

named it the conquered junior high school and they named the building after Frank I think sandborn um I think that is a lovely precedent that's been set by previous School committees again we talk about sort of Carrie talked about traditions and um sort of things that are culturally embedded um to me I like that I love the idea of the Garrison building at the conquered Middle School um so sort of that's that's sort of where I am but you know leave it to everybody to kind of chat about well I love that I love the

idea Of compromising that um shows a great um we we'll be setting a a really good example for um for our kids because that's our that's our priority right is the kids not um our own our own beliefs and ideas and agendas and box people need to check um I think that we should um I think compromise is good but I just just know that conquer still has a lot of work to do I think that it's gotten a lot better um I think Dr Hunter has been extremely supportive of the Meco program And the

kids of color at the school but um conquered as a whole when I'm in the community itself I think um I don't feel welcome here and um you know going to the coffees and things like that when we're outside of a school setting I last week at this meeting I did not feel welcome because I didn't agree with what everybody else said and it's sad it's sad that you know I I've been here since I was a teenager and you know now I'm a grandmother and um It's just sad that We're still going through this

and it's still it's emotional it's just it's just sad that we're going with that in 2024 we are we're still having issues like this we're still having discussions like this and it's you know it's just sad I don't know I think it's sad I think we should compromise though I'm supportive compromise okay how do people generally feel about compromise I feel like I've heard from some of You well so I've heard two things I I'll just be like who's heard what I heard Carrie say Ellen Garrison conquered middle school and you said Garrison building at

the conquered middle school so two options on the table I think we should see if are there any other options to put on the table first before we kind of make a decision does anybody have any other option I'll just say I don't really think we're Listening to town meeting that was not what was voted at town meeting so I don't think we're being respectful of that vote and I'll just leave it at that so is is your um suggestion the Allen Garrison Middle School correct that be it okay so we have three options that

are kind of out there on the table all right anyone want to talk about any I mean I just think that we should prove we should prove that as a Community that we are moving forward we're productive and we're you know we we we do um inclusion is important to us so compromise and inclusion I think are hand in hand so I think compromising would be um you know the best option here I mean if you know we want I know these people are passionate about naming the Ellen Garrison um house but when's the last

time you had a person of color over your over your house for dinner how many people of color do you have as Friends like you know those are important questions too there shouldn't be you know this is what she fought for these are freedoms that she fought for and I don't think that we practice them as a community as a whole and that's what I would love to see so I think compromising and inclusion I think go hand in hand and Cynthia I I've done a lot of thoughts I've been thinking about this a lot

um And I've had a lot of conversations and I I I I hear you on what you're saying but I actually think what we're doing right now is exactly what was asked of us of at town meeting what asked of what was asked of us was to reconsider naming the building Ellen Garrison and that's exactly what we're talking about the the ask of us at town meeting wasn't to name the building Ellen Garrison Middle School it was to reconsider it was a non-binding vote and I I hear you I hear I hear the I understand

the difference and I and I found that the town meeting was incredibly moving um but I and I think that where I am is like I want to I want to see her name on the building I think that that is deeply powerful and I understand that um and probably more powerful to to other people who've witnessed what you what you are going through with your kids as a parent Now as a grandparent um across the board so I I actually think we are listening and we are doing it this is not easy and it's

um I think we all have really good intentions with just different ideas for what that looks like that's yeah thank you I'm supportive of the Garrison building I think it's a great idea so what I don't like about the Garrison The Garrison building is that I um I appreciate that it and I again to your point earlier I I did want to on February 6th recommend that we we um name the building Ellen Garrison and what I don't like about the Garrison building is that it it puts Ellen Garrison below conquered Middle School it's like

not they're not on level footing they're not equal parts and I actually think that there's that's an important piece of it um so that's why I feel like to me Ellen Garrison conquered Middle School puts them at at even foot even footing they're they're equal parts Um alen Garrison is on the building conquered Middle School is part of it and I think that I still think that kids will wear conquered shirts I mean soccer baseball those are all run by like ccys you know like conquered socc not at the middle school but when you play

for your sports team yeah but it it would still say I mean like I went to chenry middle school that was in Belmont and all of our all of our uniforms said Belmont like it was like it's still your town You still represent your town whether or not you're your building is the Garrison Ellen Garrison conquered middle school so um but either way that's my my feeling so originally on February 6th I know that you were talking about doing the conqur mental School Garrison building yeah this is different when you say the Garrison building at

conquered Middle School it does actually Elevate Ellen Garrison to be the first part of it the Garrison building at conquered middle school so that's how I heard it tonight um because I I do think that that it matters like you said you know you were like you you like The Ellen Garrison conquered Middle School by putting Ellen Garrison conquered Middle School I mean the Ellen Garrison building at conquered Middle School it does put Ellen first um but that's just my opinion yeah and I think that could matter I think Right I mean I am slightly

concerned about some of the emails that we did get that said there is no compromise but I I do think that again I think we have to show leadership on this and I think we have at least some consensus or a majority of people that are invested in the idea of compromise as a way to show the community and the kids that we did take a vote and that vote on February 6th had had meaning and impact and you know I Think it's important that you know we we did thoroughly take into things into consideration

on that date and we have you know to Andrew's point he's a data guy a self-identified data guy we took in some additional data and we're willing and we're willing to to ad to to adapt and add that data um to me that's important um you know and especially for me I am somebody that um really felt that emphasizing and elevating and celebrating our community Over an individual was more important so you know to me this is a big compromise you know I don't I don't love the idea of putting anyone's name on that building

but because um I've heard the folks that elected me I'm willing to do it um so that's a that's a message that I'm talking about with my kids at home um you know you can have principles um but sometimes you have to be flexible in those when again good People are um are are having those dialogues with you and I think that is the other thing that I think we need to all remember we are all good and decent people really trying to do the right thing for our community um and even though the way

we achieve it might look a little different I think what needs to unite us is the fact that we are all um supportive of kids and belonging and diversity and inclusion so I think that's great that we agree on Those kind of things if there if there if we were to vote for the Garrison building at conquered Middle School what would the would it be we would just vote to name the building Garrison I I think so I think yeah that's generally how buildings are Nam named I guess I don't know I mean we could

call it the Ellen Garrison building at the conquered Middle School I mean I think you could go either way the Ellen whether it's the Allen Garrison building conquered middle school or the Garrison building conquered middle school but the you know the building is we are looking forward to the opening so we do actually have to make a decision um you know I mean like time is really of the essence and and I think that you know we we have to make this decision and and our plan was always to make it tonight you know and

I can certainly appreciate um that people thought that We haven't been responsive but I think our practice in the school committee and it's part of our everyday practice we would all agree here at this table is we discuss at one meeting we vote the next meeting and we did not vary from that at all because we need to have enough time for discussion to listen to the community and I feel as though we did that I feel as though we've gotten a lot of feedback in the past two weeks I'm I'm glad we didn't respond

on May 7th I Do think that we really have processed all of the feedback and that's what's helping us to get to making a decision and even to have like this open conversation we're having a conversation with the public where we have you know 76 people online watching us probably have another 76 in the room but I actually think that this has been a really um productive and positive conversation and you know I I really do look forward to the town coming together To celebrate both alen Garrison and the conquered Middle School I mean I

think that that's that's really what our task is is to really be able to celebrate both all right so I mean maybe at this point looking it I was going to ask we have not talked about the town vote that we heard clearly about tonight meeting vote oh the June V oh the June vote that's out of our hands I don't think there's much we can do and there's maybe we should well maybe we Should talk about a little because Cynthia you were there right we were both there last night um at the select board

meeting on Zoom we were there kind of I was present then I was really present um you know and maybe we can just both just talk about maybe what happened last night so we I think Wendy Wendy did Wendy Wendy summarized it so the town is putting this question on the ballot um you know I I did say last I mean I find it premature that it goes on The ballot ahead of this discussion because we very clearly had on our agenda that we were voting on this tonight so to me that was very premature

to go on the town ballot I'm not sure what to do with it I really am not yeah to me you know what I worry about with the precedent that this sets is you know I'm thinking about the fact that we're looking at new math curriculums I'm thinking of the fact that we just adopted new literacy curriculums in a Very heated environment that is a national debate um are we setting up a precedent if if if we say as the town suggests will you listen to this ballot vote this non-binding ballot vote um and honor

the will of this ballot vote I fear if we say yes that opens the floodgates for the next time there are big you know the reading Wars come out in you know a couple more years or you know there's people uh what was that called The Core Curriculum or no uh the core standards Common Core um you know that was hotly contested I I don't feel like we can create a precedent where we say hey if you don't like what we do just put it on the ballot um in a special election that's four weeks

from now that you know is going to be challenging to get the word out it's at a really challenging time it's the week before July 4th where I don't know how much of the town is is on Vacation um to me there's just I I think that that's a I think that anyone in elected government knows that that's not a question that we can answer in the affirmative I think it shows a sense of entitlement in the fact that so many people are Clos to the option of compromise it's just it doesn't it doesn't say

it doesn't scream Progressive it doesn't scream that we're we want to move forward that we're here for the kids I think that we need to um Make the children the priority make the education priority and compromise and set a good example for for these for the children and um you know the fact that some people are close to compromise and don't even want to entertain it um speaks volumes as to where you at where you're at and it speaks volumes to the sense of entitlement and conquered I think no I think that it's agenda we

don't do that in our meetings we have different policies than The for it sorry I um EXC you can't public meeting yeah I know you don't get it Miss LaVine we're going to ask you to be removed from the meeting we don't allow through the agenda I checked I want to speak to an agenda item you you'll see I wrote yes yeah that's just to understand that's that's during public comment you can read our policy on the man this is exactly what I'm Saying like there's no there's like there's rules there's rules in place for

a reason if you like you you can't just think that you can just come and just do whatever you want there's rules in place for a reason so if you can't follow the rules then the intent of that the intent of that is to see if you're addressing something on the agenda the attempt is not yes I checked it it's right there I wrote yes and for you to discuss that during public comment not during the Agenda item itself we're going to ask you again to please to please not engage with us because this is

not a meeting with the public we are in the public and we it is very clearly articulated in our policy that if people cannot stop engaging then you will have to be removed I'm sorry thanks on your Carrie I'm sorry you were speaking hope you didn't lose your train of thought I was just going to say I found um last night to be really frustrating and also um I Think that it actually discredit it's what happened at town meeting I think there was a really powerful vote and the select board basically said took that away

from the The Ellen Garrison people to say like okay so we're going to bring it to the broader Community like we don't we don't know for sure and I just feel like if that is our our Democratic uh governing body then and that's what they believe and I know that We're in this process of trying to figure out what our what what town meeting looks like and making improvements to it which I totally support and I am excited actually about what comes of all of that um because it is an a grueling process and really

really hard yeah um that being said it is what we have right now and um so I I found it to be very frustrating especially on the eve of like when we were we had it on Our agenda to have a conversation about it to vote on something nobody we still don't know what we're voting on um so I found it very frustrating and um and unfortunate I think instead of moving people towards productive dialogue and perhaps compromise it actually pushes people back into their Corners to say like this is where I am and not

um allowing for us to move forward which I think is what needs to happen me too well at a future Meeting I think we'll need to take a vote on that but obviously not tonight because it wasn't our agenda on June on the election whether we will take it into consideration or not it's fine we vote no I think we can table yeah we can table that um all right I guess at this point I would start entertaining motions again I'll Advocate about process we have a another item and then we said oh yep sorry

so right thank you Cynthia thank you thank you um so at this point I think are we good with discussion being concluded on this does anyone have anything that they feel didn't get considered or talked about tonight nope great um oh this is also in the wrong spot I'm realizing representative to the Cocker B Middle School building committee should be an action item um well you just have to oh yeah oh okay you're right sorry you're right as chair okay so sorry um I am announcing that I've U appointed Andrew her to the conquered Middle

School building committee for the duration of the project um thank you Andrew for volunteering and thank you to everyone else who volunteered um for that so um I guess it's more of an announcement um um so thank you Andrew and um I don't think we have a meeting for a week or two so the hook for aatul change orders right that's the theme um all right so thank you Andrew and Welcome um all right so now we can move on to our action items at which point I would you know I think in the we're

talking about compromise so if anyone has a motion that they would like to make um does number 39 sorry if you can mute um how about it I'll make a motion I'd like to move that we name the um Middle School the Middle School The Ellen Garrison conquered Middle School do you have a Second okay not hearing a second does anyone else have a motion we got to get somewhere guys please okay should I try um I move that we um name the Middle School The Garrison building at conquered Middle School I have a second

I'll second that okay any discussion I move to amend uh okay in light of the overwhelming expression of public Sentiment at the town meeting in favor of naming our new Middle School The Ellen Garrison Middle School I move that the school committee respond to the voters that we name the school the school currently being built at 923 old Marble road in conquered Mass The elen Garrison Middle School okay said have a second okay hearing no seconds we drop the amendment and return to the original motion Any discussion on the original motion I actually have a

little discussion on the original motion that I made I mean I think we should decide within this group just for you know um the sake of confusion not confusion Garrison building yelling Garrison building at conquered Middle School yeah that would just be something to mean you might have to revise your motion then what did you move the G I move the Garrison building at conquered Middle School do we think that alen Garrison is more descriptive are there any examples of this kind of a name elsewhere in the state of Massachusetts or elsewhere in the nation

uh yeah this conquered Junior High School sandborn building or the current conquered Middle School pebd building and conquered our town but the signage out in front of them says conquer middle school and then Underneath it and PE and that is what it would be I think that that would be something we could discuss and what that might look like I'm open to to anything that um feels right for this committee anything um I liked car's um point about the elevation um and ensuring that there's um equal gravitas to sort of both constituencies with Garrison and

CMS um and I don't know quite the role that the school committee plays in that but I'm sure that we can um at least have an advisory or suggestive role um so do you want to amend and maybe do more descriptive with alen Garrison or withdraw your motion no I'll keep my motion on the table because I I mean I think that people should discuss it and then I can withdraw it if if you think that people want to go in a different direction I just think by the the like sheer name that it is

it is not like it Is not equal it is not they it's not putting them at no matter how you whether you put her name above or below it's still conquered middle school with her name somewhere around it versus putting her name next to it in front of it yeah like I I I think there's a big difference is your question Garrison building or Ellen Garrison building so I moved the Garrison building but then I actually added to to the discussion and and said if anyone has any other Sor I Confused it um but the

motion on the I might make a motion to amend then yeah I would like to amend your motion to instead um call the school The Ellen Garrison building at the conquered Middle School oh I can't make that motion someone else want to amend it can make a motion to amend to the Ellen Garrison building at conquer Middle School do I have a second second okay any discussion on That all right so we have a motion and a second um all in favor of the motion I think you're voting on the amendment the amendment y all

in favor of the amendment I I which necessitates the mo the original motion fails I think we'll just vote on the original motion as well all in favor or no yeah so wait for hold on I'm terrible at this um okay back to the amendment um we have a vote in a second so all in favor of The amendment I I all opposed n all no abstentions um okay so for thees because someone is is making the minutes online sure can we just say for the minutes um Anderson herek Morano I Ranken rainy n yeah

and um and the amendment was to name the school The Ellen Garrison building at the cockered middle school okay and with that the amendment carries so the motion gets taken Out um just in case let's vote on the original motion all in favor of the original motion all opposed I I okay all right uh thank you guys um with that it's time can you just clarify what the vote was and where we are now sure so we have put a compromise to name the building after Ellen Garrison that was a no vote in case that

was oh I'm sorry what so confusing what was going no I said that I I said it for The minutes because I know the person is doing the minutes I don't we just want to make sure the minutes are accurate um so the amendment that carried was the Ellen Garrison building at the coner Middle School okay Clarity um all right with that I also need to entertain a motion to move into executive session we vote on the building Committee Member uh I appointed she appointed we should still vote okay think sure we can um Sure

um all right uh I anyone want to I moved with Andrew her on the um Middle School building committee second all in favor I I all opposed okay okay and I'll make a motion to put us into exec session the congr school committee will enter into executive session under purpose three of the open meeting law to conduct strategy with respect to collective bargaining with the conquer Teachers Association and the CPS building service workers and Return to open session a second anyone second second okay uh roll call Anderson I Morano oh sorry Morano I Ry ey

jump it no you're right Rank and I okay thank you and we will be back in Open session at the conclusion of our executive session e um sorry about the delay everybody welcome back to um our meeting at this point um I've been designated by Miss Morano for um at least the foreseeable Future this evening to um chair The Joint school committee so I would like to um call to order and I see that our favorite student reps are on board are online I see Harry I see zarya I don't see Felicity today um but

we from you helped us to put upate and everything well we're ready for you guys sorry sorry thanks foring thank you okay yeah so we just have a quicker one this week um but AP exams concluded last week That was the second week of testing so all the AP classes are kind of just in the middle of a break right now which is nice um yeah it's nice for the seniors and it's nice for the juniors as well who are just like holding out right before finals um I'm pretty sure was last week uh CC

theater concluded a successful run of the prom I know some people went and uh it was really fun and a really good experience all over and I'm we're really Happy that we were able to make it happen so yeah sorry it was fantastic so good it was so good everyone says it's like where you're ready for Broadway the whole cast was saw you up there zarya you were awesome it was so good we're so proud of you guys um and then we also had of course our actual prom as well um this past Saturday so

that was a lot of fun everyone really liked the venue this Year um it was very nice we enjoyed the food so yeah it was a fun night overall I was all night live that's after graduation sorry just a couple weeks ear y sophomores a taking mcast today and tomorrow uh which also means that there's a change of schedule uh for today and tomorrow and I'm pretty sure there's also a half day tomorrow as well so it's just a lot of different schedules and mixing it up this week so I yeah great yeah definitely um

and then the postseason is starting or already has started for most of the spring sports team so like the track for instance we have our divisionals meet this Friday and Sunday so that's coming up for the teams and then of course seniors are really in the home stretch um we just have two more days of regular classes and then this Friday is the priy Day of Service we have like all of our senior week activities next week and Then graduation next Saturday so it's all coming up very soon for seniors how do you feel Harry

about it all I don't know you know it hasn't really fully set in yet to be honest I think like these last few days of classes have been kind of busy and it sort of just feels like any other week and then I think it's all just going to be done so we'll I love to see well I want to say on behalf of this committee to you Harry um what an extraordinary representative you have Been not just one year not just two years but three years with this committee you have shown such exceptional leadership

um you Felicity and zarya in particular have really transformed how you've brought your updates to us um we appreciate your organization and the comprehensive um picture that you all give us of what's happening in the schools from a student perspective it's really valuable to us um as as we do our Work and and how it intersects with you all is really meaningful and you have unbelievably large shoes to fill Harry and um good luck to whoever is next next year um and Zary are you returning with us next year hopefully we've come to like you

so um I'm not a like late okay so I don't I don't know if I'm elected again right well we're rooting for you um anyway so Harry just truly we wish you the absolute best next year you Will be very very very missed um your integrity and dedication to this role has not gone unnoticed by any of us um you've really really really brought a lot of Gravitas to it all um that we really appreciate so good luck so much thank you thank you Harry thank you both thank you enjoy the rest of the year

all right thank you um so we also want to make recognition I will be brief and Dr Hunter might also have a few words um our dedicated long-term um assistant Superintendent of curriculum and learning Kristen Herbert is leaving the district um I want to thank her for her 10 years of service 10 years to the conquered public schools and obviously most notably in her current role as assistant superintendent of teaching and learning um person I met Kristen on the long range um strategic planning committee back in 2008 um I ended up in her group a

lot um so I was struck immediately by her thoughtfulness and Her curiosity which I think is particularly relevant because I think those are both Hallmarks of a lifelong learner I think Kristen is a lifelong learner and that's just evident um when you meet her and to know her um and I think that's you know particularly relevant because that's exactly what we seek to create here um in our school system it's actually a part and language um from our strategic plan um I also think one of The one of Kristen's I think signature achievements and what

she'll sort of be known for at least from my perspective is that under her leadership we've prioritized the mental Wellness of our students and really have made the community understand and recognize that strong social emotional health is the found upon which our students are ready to learn so um I just think that that is such an a wonderful signature achievement of christen so Cape cod's Gain is our loss um and on behalf of the committee we wish Kristen nothing but success and Dr H and unfortunately she couldn't be here tonight so we just want to

Echo those thoughts um Kristen walked into a district that didn't have much systemic work going on and so much of what we talk about is the work that Kristen started and built this incredibly strong Foundation whether it's deib or mtss or aligning with the curriculum Frameworks or mental health as you said so many so many of our core values have been moved forward by the work Kristen did so she's off to an exciting Adventure on Cape Cod um bit of a life change as well already envious of the beach view she's describing from her office

um I'm really jealous of that so we're wishing her well and just know how grateful we are for all that she did for totally district and its children thank you Kristen thank you thank you thank You CHR all right and with this I will turn over chair position back to my esteemed colleague thank you all right we are on to our cchs student update but they're not here oh you already did that consent agenda yeah we're on the terrific okay on the consent agenda would anyone like to pull anything off of the consent agenda okay

so I'd entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as written on the um agenda so moved second any Further discussion all in favor I right on to correspondence um at the region we had nothing yeah and um no it's um let me just check um I believe that we had an we had an extraordinary amount of Correspondence in the last um week or two really um in the last two weeks I'll speak to that because I don't have exactly um what but we've received well over 200 pieces of Correspondence I think all of which

were about um the Conquered middle school so um thank you guys again for your Civic engagement and attention to this matter we appreciate it um then on to our superintendent chairs in Le Leon's update and I'll just I'll start I don't think we really have any updates we talked about earlier in the meeting about um the select board so that will be to be continued but nothing really at the region for updates we did not attend the chair's breakfast oh I do Have one update I sat on the interview committee for the assistant superintendent position

it was actually a really great experience um that I can't discuss here but we're moving on to the next around and we really spent a great day with a bunch of new candidates with some fresh enthusiasm which was great so it was it was a good day and do you have any updates Lori um you know it's such a busy time there's so many amazing things happening it's hard to Think we could name them all um Harry some of you are out of the room but Harry referenced the musical and the prom that went off

successfully last weekend so we're excited for the kids that that happened obviously we're ramping up to graduation on June 1st and all the senior activities that come before that um so it's just a really busy time of concerts multiple nights between here and the end both middle and high school um a lot of award sad Librations grade eight graduation at the end of the year the grade five moving up ceremony so it's just that time of year where we're not sure how we managed to fit it all in um so and actually I was out

of the room and I see Zary is on with Harry I have to just comment went back to the prom sorry I I really need to do it it was amazing and you probably already said this but literally I mean I I could not believe the talent on the stage and I was happy to see you zarya After your middle school debut I remember that really well and Harry was on lights that year when you were in The Lion King so I was glad to see you back on stage um in the prom and really

a lot of talent at the high school and it was just really a great great show yeah so and Harry if you do come to our next meeting you may or may not be listening we have a little something for you so but if not we understand and then just looking forward to graduation I know Lori sent an email if anyone will be attending graduation just um let Lori know oh there's Harry sorry I missed you yeah no no worries I'll definitely be at the next meeting and I think we're talking about maybe coming in

person for would love that to see love that thanks Harry all right all right um and then on to our discussion so we have the CPAC end uh year end review which you received via email from Dr Hunter and I will turn It over to you to just yeah we really just wanted to bring that forward we've been working closely with suac all year they owe you an annual report so that's what that is um it's been a productive year car you should chime in at any point you've been engaged through the whole thing a

number of different informational nights a number of different um organizational meetings and uh we're looking forward there's some leadership turnover coming for the fall So that we're supporting that transition um and I think Capp capping the year as always is the CAC award nights where award um ceremony where so many educators are celebrated and nominated by families um who they mattered to it's one of my favorite events of the year to to hear and see all the impact that um our teachers are having on students I know I missed it this year for the first

time since I've been on the school committee it's the best like I had tears Yes time my face I could not keep it she was remarkable oh that's it was it was a moment stop it was the courage that that took was like unbelievable she definitely stopped the room yes that's incredible yeah yeah and really I think it just really those CPAC Awards it's just such I mean I I spent a year on CAC it's such an opportunity to celebrate what our teachers are doing in the classrooms and these are teachers from it might be

a tutor it might be a Teacher it might be the music teacher the art teacher it it goes across all different subjects and sometimes it's a custodian it might be a coach like and and there was there was they they said a recess worker like yes a recess agent is amazing and really the impact that every person in the building has on a child and in their life I think that like we can't celebrate that enough and I'm just so grateful that CPAC does that um and I know like with my own kids I make

them Write what they're going to say on the awards but just really when you listen to what either parents or students have written it really it's wonderful so thank you to CAC for all of that I do think if you are looking for a quick snapshot of what's Happening inside our schools especially um in relation to um you know just the work we're doing for all of our different types of Learners it is bar barring none the best hour you can spend To really understand that and and to really understand the breadth of how many

people contribute to that work it isn't just um people with you know special education in their job title it is truly everybody um that was something I wasn't prepared for the first time I went to those Awards so um again it is a deeply moving um afternoon that I recommend anyone on this committee ever yeah if you can find the time it's worth going To I agree all right so uh moving on to policy so we have a second reading of policy ADF and you have attached the agenda the current District policy the masc policy

and then the comparison which we did that in the room I think at our last policy meeting where we had the redline documents um so you have those attached and this is something that we actually need to fix so we are on to our second reading did anyone have any Comments or discussion on policy ADF and the changes they were very straightforward thanks to Sharon and glor for putting that together for us yep all right and the same applies to policy efd so this is our second reading tonight and again for those viewing at home

you can see the district policy the m recommended policy in the comparison and we talked about that at our last meeting any other discussion regarding Policy efd no okay great so we'll be ready to vote on those and then next up is uh the book challenge at cchs and you received um all the proper documentation on that and it is attached the agenda if you're looking for that and I will turn it over to Dr Hunter for some background sure so as you're aware there's a policy for families if they have questions or concerns about

a text that we are using so a High School parent had formally Challenged the inclusion of a particular book which Alexa is going to show you the cover of peris um and really the question was where we were using it and then some level of whether it was a balanced presentation so Kristen led the committee through its process that um is supported used to support the policy and at the outcome of that extensive process you have the details of that in the memo That's here um it's the recommendation of the committee that the high school

retain the book and teach it in ninth grade English teachers should teach it in a context of balance perspective as requested so really instead of pulling the book we're going to look at how the instruction is occurring to to their balance um we're not going to continue to repeat it in 12th grade that happens sometimes where inadvertently things get put in two different courses and so We're going to clean that up as well so I think um your last piece is to support that the text remain in the curriculum and then we will communicate that

with the family I just want to sort of say publicly to me this is such a wonderful example of how policy can work really well yes um so the process is is really formal um what I liked about it was when you when I read um the way that the parent had sort of challenged things that I thought that they were they were Really respectful challenges they were thoughtful um and then similarly the way that our committee in their response um addressed those challenges I think it also demonstrates how um this creates dialogue um um

between parents and Educators um to promote further understanding of why we choose text and how they're relevant and I think in this instance too it allowed us to reflect on you know is there a more balanced way or A more comprehensive way to look at a book and I think even when Any teacher who might be excellent is um I think it's always good to be reminded of how we can all do better and again so this was the policy I forget if we looked at it last year or the year before but to me

I'm glad that we did revise this policy I think it's a good example of how policy can work really well um and why it is in fact so important so I um really applaud the the depth that um That was undertaken by this committee and I think the outcome is going to be largely positive agreed and you could see where it could be in two grades where is 12th GR English is more of an elective type English and nth grade is prescriptive so you could see where there could have that overlap so I appreciate the

work of the literature review committee because I know it is um it is work to when we go through this process they read the text And then goes how many how many books do we do a year like this it depends on the parent inquiries that we get it's maybe one a year okay very cool I first I've heard of it so it's good yeah I Kristen gives a lot of credit for the procedure that yes the procedure excellent um after the policy was changed it was two years ago wow yeah doesn't it feel like

we just did it yeah yeah um any other questions or Comments no okay great all right so we'll go on to our action items so the first is we have a vote um we have a vote on the book challenge so if anyone would care to make a motion sure I will make a motion to um approve the recommendation of the literature review committee regarding the book prilis second right any further discussion no just thanks to riew committee for their work on this uh all in favor I I I opposed okay and then we Have

policy ADF and efd so I would entertain a motion to to um oh should do them individually individually yeah I entertain a motion to approve policy ADF as written on the agenda per the masc second or so moved right any further discussion all in favor I I any want to make the motion for policy efd I move that we approve efd as written In the agenda so moved we're adopting the masc version we're adopting the MC version MC version as written in the agenda great second all right any further discussion all in favor I I

okay and with that um I would entertain a motion to enter into exec session someone could read that in front of them we're not doing any conquered school committee business right both for no we're not doing any conquer school buiness this is Region uh I'll move that the coner KLA Regional school committee will enter into executive session under purpose two of the open meeting law to discuss strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with non-union personnel and the superintendent and the superintendent and under purpose three to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with the CCTA

and the cchs building service workers and not to Return to open session do you have a second second okay okay and we have to roll call Anderson I uho I tell r i r i i all right with that we'll say goodbye to our viewing audience thank you thank you