October Board of Ed: opening remarks

 The Board of Ed meets today at 9; the agenda is here. The livestreaming of the meeting (assuming all goes well) will be here. 

updating as we go

Public comment: with a new note that interruptions will not be tolerated: one warning, and then they'll be asked to leave if there is a second disruption

comment on respecting "equity by respecting the unique needs of each child"
"flowery talk and... pilots while disruption reigns across the land"
30 years of disrespect for advanced children
personalized competency 

BPS student: receivership isn't the answer
MCAS shouldn't be the test of competency
disruption of different plans put into place
"real and sustainable changes"
PD, sufficient supplies, manageable workload, more support for students
"give us the resources, not receivership"

Boston Education Justice Alliance: here to address the ongoing bullying of the Boston Public Schools around receivership
"systemic disarray" of state receivership across the state
all came under between 2011-14: DESE has had time to provide support and improvements
Lawrence lacking supports for students in coming back
"this is the state's record of receivership and it is chronically underperforming"
know that this is coming when parents are pushing for an elected school committee
track record of takeover across the country in response to Black leadership
"receivership is a form of institutional racism"
"your record of leadership helps no one"

BPS parent: in Boston, communities of colors lost the right to elect their school committee just when those communities when they were gaining power
no coincidence that just at the same time, there is talk of state receivership
it is evident what happens when voices are left out of decision making
Lawrence makes it clear what happens when those voices are left out
"receivership is obviously not the answer"
DESE is not providing support that is needed
uplift community voices, cultivate trust, and close achievement gaps
all mitigation can be undone by the time they're eating together unmasked
need further guidance for when students are exposed and waiting for test results

organizer with BTU reading a statement from someone else about Lawrence:
Writing to call into question the efficacy of receivership
most often, "as I learned at Harvard," receiverships don't do what they've set out to do
"gathered in collective rage" in response to increase in student violence
just last night, DESE's presence was requested and it is unacceptable that no one could be bothered to go to Lawrence
"what exactly is DESE accomplishing with this experiment?"
varied magnitudes of violence; compounded trauma from last year
has gone unaddressed 
systemic failures and injustices
"receivership since 2011 has failed to respond to students social and emotional needs"
"racist and classist receivership law" rests power in hands of Commissioner Riley
Striping us of the ability to address needs of students and community 

Lou Finfer, vocational 
emergency admission policy from Monty Tech's new policy
continue to rank students through four sectors
"look, after you passed this new policy, they're passing it again"
DESE can intervene when there is non compliance: "isn't this non-compliance?"
doesn't align with the spirit of the regulation passed
request no ranking unless required for participation
intervene now if there is this ranking
ask Board to spend time in November on implementation
"something must be done rather than wait and see in a year"
"aren't they flaunting this when they pass it" again after two years?

Chair Craven: members to the budget committee: Hills, Moriarty, Stewart, Carris Livingston
Ed diversity: Fernández, Lombos, Rouhanifard, Stewart

Peyser: it's STEM week
theme is "see yourself in STEM"

Riley: Regina Robinson now joining department; per earlier note, "Special Services, Strategic Transformation, Problem Resolution, Curriculum and Instruction, Educator Effectiveness"
New org is over here

Moriarty for some reason is now talking about school ventilation, even though we aren't on that part of the agenda?
very often facilities don't know what to do with the new equipment

Mass Teacher of the Year: Marta García 
"this accent which is my super power...behind the accent is the story over overcoming struggle"
"a sign of another part of our identity"
students who have taught me more than I can say
like the student who brought her new kitten to school because she didn't have the words in English to tell us about it

We love to teach our kids to be independent. See what a kindergartner might pack in their backpack 🎒 when they want to bring a comfort of home with them 🤣 pic.twitter.com/5Ot2z7DV4A

— Salem Public Schools (@SalemSchoolsk12) February 24, 2021

and the student who talked about it being dark and cold in the desert and spoke of the border patrol
culturally responsive practices and assessments

Commissioner: shorage
brought in National Guard "to solve that problem" of bus driver shortage
that didn't solve the problem
now doing so with testing
mask removal is a local decision when hitting metric; districts may consider other things
Nine schools have asked so far
"by early next week, the decision will be made whether or not to continue masks" at state level
MEMA supplies for schools 

visited Lawrence last week and this: "continue to support administration as they enact a plan to strengthen the school and give students what they need"

Hills: on testing, is National Guard going to clear out a backlog, or are we constantly going to need help from National Guard
Riley: anticipate will be similar to buses: as companies train drivers, will be able to wean off 

Carris Livingston asks about masks with clear shields being provided

Rouhanifard: breaks spirit of law in new regs
Riley in process in reviewing this particular case and others
Craven "but it's fair to say the Department was aware of this before this morning"
Riley: "we had heard about it"

Lombos: asks about receivership process
Riley: multistep process he said more than that and offered to share more