Liveblog: Board of Ed in April

The agenda is here. The video link is here.
Posting as they go: I am probably mangling names


Comments from the public:
first speaker: two points about equity during COVID-19
all students need access to the internet
could streamline opportunity through centralized learning
"today no student is going to a school"
school has worked hard at access
"if students are not held in physical schools, there is no zip code barrier"
why should a student in Chelsea not have the same as students in Winchester
have looked at websites of other districts
"many parents don't have time to shop district resource"
proposes resources on state website for all students
"have the power and the obligation to leverage this crisis"
"have the capacity because of this crisis to rise to this challenge"

Courtney Edmund, parent in Framingham:
struck by tone of Commissioner: to personalize learning
readiness and competency assess
content matched with student readiness leads to engagement
provide resources for teachers to assess readiness and then content matched

Carolyn Fox:
"this is a chance to create equity for all students"
through access to equal resources, arguing for open access resources
"every city and town seem to be doing their own thing"
and parents are comparing resources
arguing for open access resources for all

Monica Linden: teaches at Brown
sees students at Brown who weren't engaged
can use current crisis to match learning readiness to content
summer slide compounded by months of school out
"can now expect a larger privilege gap" as some have means to support learning better than others
"actionable data on each student" needed
there are computer programs that can assess; would be a logistical challenge, but needs to be done

another argument for matching students to individual readiness and skills
with multiple assessments over the course of the year
"a growth focused education learning system"

Ann Fertato (sp?)
granddaughter who graduated from Lowell High
"very concerned that this is the new normal"
"do not want children to learn this way...this is no way to teach children"
"online thing is more like homework" it's not working
maybe a hybrid learning
"these kids, they've already lost half a year"
"we have to plan on opening these schools in September"
"one of the things that makes me so proud to be from Massachusetts...we seem to be more on the ball with things"
"when you go to a graduation program at Middlesex Community College, there's about forty flags; that says something about us"

Christine Spellman
voice for at-risk seniors across the state
"why not waive the CD to make a clear decisive outcome for these students?"
had 12 seniors who were working on portfolios, but they lost weeks
they would have gotten those back in time to graduate with their classmates
now wouldn't get it until August
"now is not the time to leave seniors and their families in confusion or making them wait"

Yamara (?) Garcia:
licensed teacher from Puerto Rico living in Boston
have students in Boston Public Schools
don't agree with the state intervention at this moment
after hurricane in PR, state decided to privatize schools and make them charter schools
only caused more problems
our students don't have the same access and opportunities as those outside our city
"you know you are not doing the right thing"
"as a mother and a teacher, I am telling you we need more support...we do not need this top down intervention"
"truly this agreement is not necessary"

Irelis...missed it
have been living in this country and "have had the privilege of my children receiving an academic education"
"today I have no more words to say to my daughters that their schools will be closed always"
it's not fair
one is at the Blackstone
not fair to teachers that they need to be providing resources to their students
"it must be kept in mind that not all children are the same, and they require personalized time"
"it is time to give more resources"
"but let the school communities make their own decisions"
"what happened with the Student Opportunity Act that was approved?...this would provide" greater resources
"this is not the time to judge schools like mine with transformation status"

Craven: difficult time for many and all
still meeting on Commissioner's evaluation

Riley: congratulations student member for being a semi-finalist in National Merit

Peyser: Governor's decision on school closure made on health concerns but also concern of loss of momentum
setting students up for success in the summer and in the fall
made sense not to have students shift gears again

Riley: have broken up process into four phases
"continuous improvement"
feeding stations
WGBH television programming
pay workers to do other work, not file for unemployment at the same time
concern with continuation of services: need to still have out-of-district special education resources, transportation companies
remote learning guidance: focus on what's best for students
multiple points of access with students
Peske: supporting English learners: 67% of EL clustered in 20 districts in the state
focused there first, then supporting other districts
how to ID EL students who had not yet been identified; provisional identification
does not replace face-to-face identification when that is again process
US DOJ praised guidance and said Massachusetts ahead in this regard
provided two webinar guidance
strategies and resources for both EL teachers and core academic teachers
option for earning seal of biliteracy remotely
information and resources on special education
weekly calls with special education directors
Johnston: FAQ on March 26
get information out to families and special education leaders
regular communication with attorneys, special education leaders
how we can address special education timelines? Going out with "very extensive stakeholder engagement next week"
support students by disability types and age level
services for students who are turning 22
Riley: wrap up for Level 2, now moving on
Level 3 builds on initial guidance
how children are best prepared for when they re-enter the classes
"get settled into this routine on remote learning"
"set of essential standards...most critical for students to learn to go onto next grade level"
really go deeper on what we think on the core essential standards
"connecting with students on their fundamental needs"
some students disengaged, some students only somewhat engaged
work to get supports to families
"we believe that by doing this we will get better a result than others"
operationally, an application filed in next few days with fed for CARES Act funding
up to $214M; "are hopeful those dollars will be supplemental dollars...rather than used to supplant holes in people's budgets"
believe guidance also further limits variation among districts on remote learning
Fourth phase: preparing for school re-entry
have a working group that includes health experts and members of education communities
looking at other countries on how they're re-opening schools
"which, if any, safety measures will be up in place"
face masks, desks apart, staggered schedule, keeping students in class and move teachers
working on what will be best for Massachusetts students going forward
match donors with districts to put more technology in district hands that want them
larger issue with technology; have team working on that
some P-EBT cards going out to families
mental health supports for families
pilot translation services with five districts; hope to have running in next few weeks
regulatory relief on timelines
parent-friendly letter coming out on updated guidance
need to talk about competency determination for underclassmen
recognize graduating class of 2020
"we think this is not an ideal situation, obviously"
"we want to say that 'we made the best lemonade'"
recognizing lift for parents; multiple children
trying to get our school districts to get our families in a routine
maximize the amount of learning this year and minimize loss

Questions:
Fernandez: kudos and thank you
questions are not not acknowledging that
technology gaps, providing supports for populations
parallel process for phase 5; how we think about learning access and opportunity
a lot of people thinking about this
Riley: project-based learning, go deeper, explore that
connectiveness to real world to what they're learning
"different projects that can be done in the real world"
"in many ways we are still operating from a factory model"
NO WE ARE NOT! THIS IS NOT A THING
Peske: resources that we've put out relies first on a phone"
doesn't require internet access
other resources tiered by access
trying to get more and better information about which families have access to which types of technology and use that to inform services
Johnston: resources and supports through low tech
matched with parent communication
getting assignments out to families, then close communication with families
expand translation and interpretation services provided by districts
related service providers can provide services through whatever means are available
bifurcated model
Riley: survey to superintendents who needs access
Department "did a great job on getting broadband to schools to the" end of 96 or 97%
wow, that is not my recollection at all!
but now those schools have gone dark
access for families not schools
Standards?
Peske: requisite standards for success in the next grade
what, if students missed out on, would students struggle in the next grade?
under normal process would not ever do this: this is a COVID-19 response
tried to select topics, particular on history and social science, given timing of school year
Riley: shoutout vocational schools
now working on programming for vocational programs
Moriarty: broadband access is very irregular
"not just an education problem"
nearly 10% of Holyoke students are homeless; half are in shelters
Hills: are seeing some districts doing particularly well?
Riley: heard not enough, then heard too much
asks districts to find "what is the place that works for your community"
have seen improvement everywhere we've gone
have asked districts to look at standards that have been covered, then cover those not yet covered
asks people to recognize process of continuous improvement
West: role of diagnostic assessment as we head into phase 4?
Riley: having discussions with superintendents now
depends on re-entry phase
have to get students re-acclimated to the school day, then do usual re-assessment
then need to use data to make plan to meet needs of students

Competency determination
Riley: talking only about seniors today
seniors did have chance to take make-up test before virus hit; results coming back now
usually 2/3rd of those not having yet passed still need additional coursework
also students entitled to continue on to age 22 due special education
usual less than 1000 able to graduation over summer
those seniors will not have ability to take make-up tests, recommending a way for them to provide their competency determination
"bounded within this path"
Hills: usually how many of those taking it over the summer would (usually) pass the test?
Curtin: about 1000 kids a year that usually would meet local requirements but not have met competency determination
"that's the 1000 kids we're talking about"
about 2500 of 3500, this wouldn't normally apply to: either special education students, going beyond 12th grade; or haven't yet met local requirements
somewhere around 1000 met local requirements but have not met competency determination
might be making up coursework over summer; not so much a pass rate over summer
Hills: are you saying that all 1000 would normally to able to graduate over summer?
Curtin: normally certification of attainment, have met local requirements but have not met competency determination
usually have 1000 of those a year
those kids haven't have the final opportunity to take MCAS
science in June; ELA and math take regular administration of it
"try to find a way to say 'yup, those kids would have had one more bite of the apple' and we're proposing a way" to make that happen
Hills: roughly what percentage of them would successfully do it?
Curtin: would be a relatively small percentage, but we don't know who that small percentage would be
Hills: a small percentage would be successful or not successful?
Curtin: small percentage would be successful "but it's about the opportunity more than the outcome"
Fernandez: will there be extra guidance or supports?
Curtin: not proposing students take extra coursework
looking at current or past coursework
not asking anyone to do anything about a retest right now or additional coursework
Morton: if a student wanted to do additional coursework?
Curtin: a local decision, as we're talking about local requirements there
Peyser: earning a credit over the summer wouldn't necessarily allow student to graduate?
Curtin: generally accurate, have series of course data up to a point
"might need to put a secondary process in place to get data more quickly than normally we would"
Hills: if next year proceeded as a typical year, you're not looking at this as precedent?
Riley: that would be a fair statement
"we may need to look more closely..at other students impacted this year"
Moriarty: completely supportive of this, thoughtful, balanced
some looking "to take advantage of chaos of this moment" to end CD
"want there to be no thought" of that
"balanced response"
Motion: passes


BUDGET:
Bell: "insight to the extent I have any"
FY20: all funding being provided as budgeted, both state and federal as administered
includes state aid, reimbursement, grants
guidance as to accessing funds
not anticipating any reduction in funds for FY20
state is daily keeping track of revenue receipts
right now Commonwealth does not believe it will need to reduce spending for this fiscal year
federal CARES Act funding will be able to be used 9/30/22
Gov's fund $50.8M
$214.9M for K-12 education stabilization
In process of applying for that funding
received notification from US DOE regarding funding; start with state application for that funding
streamlined application
getting that application finalized and submitted; approvals quickly
once approved, funding within three business days
relatively broad use of funding; anything in federal funding, plus supporting continuity of services
have to create an application for districts to apply and receive allocations
mirrors how Title I is distributed; use last year's Title I allocations as your base (fed said)
totals about $193M of $214M, so in process of determining allocations; that's 90% of funding
10% available to state for determining needs that the formula might not address district needs
reality is most of this funding is going to be used to support districts through the summer and the upcoming school year as well
additional support for school nutrition
"working long and hard to support nutritional needs of students"
FY21: "don't have a magic wand"
budget is delayed
consensus revenue had "some pretty scary numbers"
drop of $4-6B
big question as to what the revenue basis (tax and non tax revenue) will be
have had informal discussion with folks on W&M
not exactly sure what they're going to be able to do
"discussions based on timelines that some might join together"
waiting for administration to give them some idea of how they're going to get out of FY20 first
rainy day fund; administration doesn't seem to believe will need to get out of FY20
along with '21, talk about pandemic 4 response
"feels like there is going to be some federal relief" which would stabilize '21
question is when, as that gets into question right now
"by this time, most municipalities have a decent idea of what to expect from state" most years
locals having trouble right now, particular for town meeting form of government
not having state information creates challenges as well
even more complicated for regionals, with multiple municipals
"there are 1/12th budget provisions; those aren't ideal"
"think it's fair to say that's what we might be looking at as we head into June and July"
think it's fair that the state may also operate on 1/12th budget, as well
Craven: can the state do 1/12th budgets given potential revenue shortfall?
question that districts are going to be faced with
Hills: (on Newton)
someone had texted that they're presuming a 25% reduction in Newton's Ch.70 next year
jeez, based on what?
Bell: SOA passage and how much we'll fund "seems a distant memory"

Regs on collaboratives out for public comment: sent out for public comment