June Board of Ed: educational mission and vision with a focus on newcomer students

 This report is going to focus on newly arrived homeless students, but some reminders first
This is really the part where you can see Johnston leaning into the superintendency "these are the goals, and everything is tied to it" thing (which is good!)

DESE has now published the second annual Catalog of Aligned Supports to districts and schools, which is, he says, all the opportunities (PD, grants) in one place at once

next will be implementing system monitoring, planning for professional learning, timeline and expectations for next year's planning

support for newly arrived homeless students
panel includes representation from Salem Public Schools
starting with Komal Bhasin, Chief Schools Officer
"focus is on our students...even in the face of challenges, seek to be involved in our schools"
"with a deep belief that our students are capable, competent, and creative"
Kristin McKinnon, Student and Family Support (DESE)
more than 31,000 students in MA this year; 85% of public schools report serving at least one homeless student
40-70 schools  districts serve most students who are homeless
increase of about 20% over last year
students who have uncertainty over where they will be one night to the next
most students experience homelessness as being doubled up; only about 1/3 benefit from emergency shelter
about 90 communities opened hotels and motels
additional support pushed into such districts to build capacity to build basic supports for those communities
$1000/students to meet immediate needs; $104.89/student/day (expended to date $23M); accelerated payments for eligible districts to address transportation costs to "school of origin" (expended to date: $700K)

Allison Balter, Language Acquisition (DESE): many students English learners, many with disrupted education
self assessment tools for districts (of what they had and needed)
services from state: translation and interpretation; training and stipends for EL and SEI endorsed; PD and coaching; assessment and direct technical assistance

Steve Zrike, Salem Superintendent speaking first
"belonging equity opportunity"
"New families are an asset, never a burden"
consistent message; remind others to the benefit of welcoming new community members
meet with families to listen and learn about their experiences
starting in November 2022, larger numbers coming
298 McKinney-Vento identified homeless students (8% of total enrollment)
"That's why I love working in public education: we take everybody! You come to our doors; we don't turn anybody away."
82 students at Salem State emergency shelter; 28 still remaining; others have been sent to other communities, as there aren't places to live in Salem
8 different schools, 4 different languages

Ellen Wingard, ED of Student Supports in Salem
cross-department district team; school based support teams; partnered with city and with Department
family resources; transportation; language access; staff training; adult career technical programming
stresses importance of message from leadership that new families were welcome and an asset
coordinating with city and community programming ongoingly
Zrike: "transportation was the biggest need for families"
don't have cars, don't have access, Salem doesn't have the best public transportation
"transportation needs continues to be the biggest need"

Hills asking 
"is it better from a policy standpoint...to bring students into a smaller number of communities"
he specifies "not a morality" standpoint 
McKinnon says about half of the 40-70 communities previously didn't have any many prior to this
families experiencing is all over the Commonwealth
in some places, 20, 50, 100 students being served by a district, thus building capacity is key
Bhasin: "with respect, our policies are influenced by our values"
Hills: if put into a new community or into a current community
Johnston: "just want to double down on what Komal said" want to build capacity wherever they are
Gives example of Boston going into shelters to register students there
"we're going to take the students where they are...to meet their needs"

Moriarty: references numbers; "the need is just horrific"
"these are expensive problems to solve"
believe the educational agencies of Massachusetts are carrying an undue part of the burden
services in shelters; families in profoundly dramatic crisis

Rocha: "as a formerly newcomer student" importance of adults who care
state has one of the greatest varieties of newcomer students
appreciate this conversation
wondered about transition plan
would love to know which districts had no such students and now 20
Bhasin: "this is one of their favorite things about their school" for students who attend schools with newly arrived students 
Zrike: importance of staff that represents students
current transporting students; transition over summer
"students who need the most stability get the least stability"
students have the right to stay with us
"they're asking for help from us--I wish I had the authority--to find housing in Salem"
Haitian families who speak Spanish due to their time in central and south America
"speaks to incredible talent" of families
Tutwiler: have been some news coverage of some districts--Concord, Lexington, Peabody--"just to give a flavor"