[00:00:01]
[A. Meeting Opening]
IS NOW CALLED TO ORDER AND WE WILL ENTERTAIN A ROLL CALL DISTRICT TWO.[B. Minutes]
ALPHABET.APPROVAL OF THE SCHOOL BOARD MINUTES OF, UH, THE MAY 18TH, 2023, REGULAR BOARD MEETING AND THE MAY 4TH, 2023 AND JUNE 1ST, 2023.
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETINGS AS PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL.
UM, IS THERE A MOTION IT HAS BEEN MOVED BY MR. RUSS AND SECONDED, UH, BY MR. MARTIN.
UM, COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD? OKAY.
SEEING NO COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD, WE WILL NOW TURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC.
SEEING NONE, WE RETURN BACK TO COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD.
SEEING NONE, WE WILL ENTERTAIN A VOTE.
ARE YOU NOT GETTING ANYTHING? YOU'RE REFRESHED.
CAN YOU REFRESH AND SEE IF IT'LL, THE MOTION CARRIES.
[C. Information Only]
C, THESE, UM, DOCUMENTS ARE ENTERED FOR INFORMATION ONLY.UH, NUMBER ONE, MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORT.
NUMBER TWO, PERSONNEL CHANGES.
NUMBER THREE, PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST, MONTHLY REPORT SO THAT IT SHOULD SIMPLY, OKAY, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM OUR BOARD? OKAY.
[D.1. Update from Superintendent]
WE WILL PROCEED FORWARD TO ITEM D.RECEIVE AS INFORMATION UPDATE FROM OUR SUPERINTENDENT AND, UH, IN DR.
UH, MR. BRICKHOUSE IS MAKING THE PRESENTATION.
ON BEHALF OF OUR SUPERINTENDENT, DR.
NARCISSI, I'M HAPPY TO GIVE YOU THE SUPERINTENDENT UPDATES FOR THIS EVENING.
UM, AS WE PREPARE OUR STUDENT ATHLETES FOR THE UP AND COMING SCHOOL YEAR, WE'VE PARTNERED WITH HEALTHCARE CENTERS AND SCHOOLS TO OFFER L H S A A SPORTS PHYSICALS THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF THE MONTH.
THESE SERVICES WILL BE OFFERED FROM 9:00 AM TO NOON ON JUNE 22ND AT PARK FOREST MIDDLE AND JUNE 29TH AT WOODLAWN MIDDLE.
YOU CAN FIND MORE DETAILS ON OUR DISTRICT'S SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS.
WE'D ALSO LIKE TO EXTEND A SPECIAL CONGRATULATIONS TO PEYTON AND PARIS TURNER, WHO ARE STUDENTS AT E B R VIRTUAL ACADEMY.
PEYTON RECENTLY APPEARED ON THE EMMY AWARD-WINNING TELEVISION SERIES, ABOTT ELEMENTARY AND HER SISTER PARIS IS CURRENTLY FEATURED IN GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING SINGER DOZER KATZ VEGAS MUSIC VIDEO.
CONTINUE TO LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BRIGHT AS WE CONTINUE, AND WE WISH YOU CONTINUED SUCCESS.
THAT CONCLUDES OUR REPORT FOR THIS EVENING.
[E.1. Board Appointees]
NOW MOVING TO ALPHABET E REPORTS FROM BOARD APPOINTEES TO COMMITTEES AND AGENCIES.ARE THERE ANY REPORTS FROM, UH, OUR COMMITTEES AND OR AGENCIES? OKAY, MR. ROSS, I'LL JUST REPORT REAL QUICK AS OUR APPOINTEE TO OUR BRET COMMISSION.
UM, OUR COMMISSION DID MOVE, UH, LAST MEETING AT THE END OF MAY TO RENEW, UH, MR. COREY WILSON'S, UH, CONTRACT AS THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THAT ORGANIZATION.
UH, WE WENT INTO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, DISCUSSED HIS, UH, HIS PERFORMANCE SO FAR.
IF YOU DON'T KNOW, THEY JUST EARNED THE, UH, A GOLD MEDAL AWARD FOR OUR PARK SYSTEM, WHICH IS A NATIONWIDE AWARD, MEANING WE, UH, AND BRECK IS THE TOP, UH, PARKS AND RECREATION SYSTEM IN THE COUNTRY AS OF THIS YEAR.
UM, SO WE, WE SOUGHT TO RETAIN
[00:05:01]
HIM.UH, COMING UP AT OUR MEETING FOR THIS MONTH IN JUNE, WE WILL SEE HIS CONTRACT, UH, AND BE WORKING ON THAT TO, UH, HOPEFULLY KEEP HIM AS SUPERINTENDENT OF THAT ORGANIZATION.
UH, VICE PRESIDENT BY UPDATE AS WELL.
UH, I'M OUR DESIGNEE ON THE, UH, UH, EASTBOUND SCHOOL SYSTEM FOUNDATION.
UM, AND, UH, UM, THE, THE BOARD HAS BEEN WORKING ON A, UH, THE STRATEGIC VISION AND STRATEGIC PLAN ON HOW TO, UM, SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE ITS ABILITY TO FUNDRAISE FOR THE BENEFIT OF OUR STUDENTS.
UM, AND, AND I ANTICIPATE THAT, UM, ONCE WE GET THROUGH THE BUDGET PROCESS, UH, THAT WE'RE GOING TO, UH, ASK THE BOARD, UH, CHAIR AND THE, AND THE FOUNDATION'S, UM, UM, TOP EXECUTIVE KATHLEEN SARS FIELD TO, UH, GIVE A PRESENTATION ON, UH, WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT THE GOALS ARE, UH, AS PART OF THE ONGOING COLLABORATIVE WORK BETWEEN THE FOUNDATION AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM TO RAISE MONEY TO HELP OUR KIDS.
SO I JUST WANNA GIVE YOU A HEADS UP THAT THAT'S GOING TO BE COMING.
UH, I'VE ASKED THEM TO, THEY'RE REALLY READY TO GIVE IT JUST ABOUT ANY TIME, BUT I THOUGHT IT'D BE BETTER IF WE GOT THROUGH THE BUDGET BEFORE WE, UM, UH, TOOK TIME TO HEAR THAT.
SO WE'VE HAD A REPORT FROM MR. RUSS WITH, UH, THE BRETT COMMISSION AND MR. MARTIN WITH THE EBR R FOUNDATION.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER REPORTS FROM OUR BOARD? OKAY, SEEING NONE, WE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD.
[F.1. Policy: JGBA-Recess]
ALPHABET ELF UNFINISHED BUSINESS ITEM ONE, POLICY J G B A RECESS CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF POLICY J G B A RECESS.IS THERE A MOTION I MOVE TO ADOPT THE POLICY? OKAY.
AND HAS BEEN MOVED BY MR. MARTIN.
IT HAS BEEN SECONDED BY MR. RUSS.
COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD? MR. MARTIN? THANK YOU.
VICE PRESIDENT POWELL, VERY BRIEFLY.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT RECESS A LOT.
I THINK WE ALL HEARD FROM THE, UM, INCREDIBLE STUDENTS, UH, MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS THAT CAME AND TESTIFIED IN FAVOR OF RECESS.
UH, I THINK WE WENT OVER AT THAT TIME ALL OF THE, UM, SIGNIFICANT ACADEMIC RESEARCH FROM THE CDC, THE AMERICAN ACADEMY PEDIATRICS, AND OTHERS ABOUT THE, THE, THE EXTRAORDINARY VALUE AND NE NECESSITY THERE IS FOR, UH, MENTAL BREAKS, UH, THROUGHOUT THE DAY FOR, UH, CHILDREN AT MIDDLE SCHOOL AGE.
UM, RIGHT NOW, FOR SOME KIDS, THEY'RE, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH A FOUR BLOCK SCHEDULED THROUGHOUT THE DAY, 97 MINUTES EACH.
SOME KIDS ARE GOING FOR THREE STRAIGHT BLOCKS, FOUR HOURS AND 51 MINUTES WITHOUT A BREAK, OTHER THAN TO CHANGE CLASSES.
UM, AND, AND THAT'S JUST TOO MUCH.
EVERY, EVERY MEMBER OF THIS BOARD, I'VE HAD INDIVIDUAL CONVERSATIONS WITH, CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG.
UH, BETWEEN BATHROOM BREAKS, BETWEEN JUST MENTAL HEALTH BREAKS TO UNWIND JUST A LITTLE BIT AND STOP FOCUSING.
UH, AND SO I THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT, THAT WE, UH, THAT THIS BOARD SAID AS A MATTER OF POLICY, THAT WE EXPECT OUR KIDS TO HAVE, UH, A RECESS BREAK OUR MIDDLE SCHOOL KIDS TO HAVE A RECESS BREAK.
UM, WE, UM, UH, POSTPONED DISCUSSION AT THE, UH, COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING BECAUSE THE ADMINISTRATION EXPRESSED SOME CONCERN THAT THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF THE ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS, UM, BECAUSE OF THE DISCIPLINARY AND BEHAVIORAL CHALLENGES THAT THEY FACE, UH, MIGHT HAVE A PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT TIME OR CHALLENGING TIME IMPLEMENTING THE, THE POLICY IN THE SAME WAY THAT OTHER, UM, UH, OTHER SCHOOLS DO.
I DON'T A HUNDRED PERCENT AGREE WITH THAT.
BUT IN THE INTEREST OF MOVING, UM, THE POLICY FORWARD FOR MOST STUDENTS, UH, WE ADAPTED THE RESOLUTION TO PROVIDE, UM, UH, AUTHORITY TO THE SUPERINTENDENT TO WAIVE THE POLICY AS IT APPLIES TO ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS.
AND MR. SHALIN HAS UPDATED HIS MEMO, AS I UNDERSTAND THE BOARD DOCS, WE HAVE A CLEAR DEFINITION OF WHAT, WHAT COUNTS AS AN ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL, AND THAT'S APPLICABLE TO THIS RESOLUTION.
UM, THERE'S ALSO A PROCESS JUST IN CASE THERE'S SOME REASON FOR A PARTICULAR SCHOOL THAT THEY CAN'T, UM, UH, MAKE THIS WORK, RIGHT? THAT, THAT THEY CAN COME THROUGH THE SUPERINTENDENT TO THE BOARD TO ASK FOR AN EXCEPTION OR A WAIVER.
I DON'T ANTICIPATE THAT THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN, BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO HAVE ANYBODY BE ABLE TO ACCUSE OF, OF MICROMANAGING OR IGNORING SOME PRACTICAL REALITY THAT MIGHT EXIST.
SO I WANTED TO HAVE A MECHANISM BY WHICH WE COULD REVISIT ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS IF THERE WAS A PROBLEM IN A PARTICULAR SCHOOL.
I DON'T KNOW THAT I WOULD SUPPORT ANY OF THOSE, BUT I JUST WANTED TO HAVE A VEHICLE TO DO THAT.
SO, UM, WITH THAT SAID, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
UH, I HAVE, UH, MY UNDERSTANDING FROM, FROM MY CONVERSATION WITH THE SUPERINTENDENT TWO WEEKS AGO IS THAT THE ADMINISTRATION WOULD SUPPORT THIS, UM, RESOLUTION WITH THE REVISION TO, TO ACCEPT OUT THE ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS AND PROVIDE THE OTHER MECHANISM.
[00:10:01]
UM, AND SO I WOULD ASK THAT EVERYBODY, UH, SUPPORT THIS RESOLUTION.I HAVE ENTERED THE QUEUE AS WELL.
UM, MS. SILAS, MAYBE YOU CAN HELP ME WITH THIS.
UM, JUST FOR A MOMENT OF CLARITY, WAS THERE RECENTLY SOME STATE LEGISLATION THAT HAS BEEN ADOPTED IN REGARDS TO, UH, RECESS POLICIES? SO THE LEGISLATION THAT WAS PASSED RECENTLY WAS IN REGARDS TO KINDERGARTEN THROUGH FIFTH GRADE, AND THAT IT REQUIRED, I THINK, WHAT WAS IT, A 15 MINUTE? YES, MA'AM.
UH, JUST WANNA FIRST SAY THANK YOU TO, UH, BOARD MEMBER MARTIN FOR PRODUCING THIS ITEM.
IF YOU HADN'T, I WOULD HAVE, UM, JUST A COMMENT ON SOME OF THE CHANGES AND REVISIONS.
I, I'M NOT, I WANT TO GO ON RECORD BY SAYING I'M NOT PARTICULARLY KEEN ON EXCEPTIONS TO THIS.
BUT, UM, MR. MARTIN HAS, THROUGH HIS VERY DEF LEGAL AND LAWYERING SKILLS CONVINCED ME THAT, UM, THERE COULD BE, UH, RIGHTEOUS REASONS WHY THAT COULD HAPPEN.
UH, I, I WILL AGAIN, AS WELL GO ON RECORD THAT IF, UH, IF YOU'RE AN ADMINISTRATOR OVER A SCHOOL AND, AND YOU EXPECT TO BE EXEMPTED FROM THIS, UH, POLICY, UM, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A HIGH BURDEN OF PROOF TO GET THAT PAST ME
UM, BUT THANK YOU FOR PRODUCING THIS, AND, UH, I DO SUPPORT THIS.
SEEING NO FURTHER COMMENTS IN THE QUEUE, WE WILL NOW TURN TO THE PUBLIC.
UM, I TRUST YOU ALL VOTE FOR THIS RATHER THAN LET THE PERFECT INTERFERE WITH THE GOOD.
BUT I'M INCREDIBLY DISTURBED BY THE IDEA THAT PEOPLE IN THE ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL SHOULD JUST GET USED TO THE CONDITIONS OF A PRISON.
THEY PROBABLY NEED A RECESS WORSE THAN ANYBODY.
AND IF THE FOLKS THAT RUN IT, ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS CAN'T HANDLE IT, FIND SOMEBODY THAT CAN RUN THE ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS CORRECTLY.
WHEN YOU DECIDED TO KICK THE MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS OUT OF BROOKSTOWN SO YOU COULD HAVE A BIGGER, BETTER ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL OVER THERE, ONE OF THE PROMISES WAS WRAPAROUND SERVICES.
IT'S TIME TO START, UM, FULFILLING PROMISES.
SEEING NO FURTHER COMMENT CARDS, WE WILL NOW RETURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD.
FINNEY'S POINT, UH, THE, EVEN EVEN FOR THE ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS, THEY, THEY, THE PRINCIPALS OF EACH ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL HAVE TO REQUEST A WAIVER.
THAT WAIVER IS WITHIN THE AUTHORITY OF THE SUPERINTENDENT TO GRANT.
I FRANKLY WOULD URGE THAT IT NOT BE GRANTED.
UM, UH, BUT I, YOU KNOW, SHOOK, SHOOK HANDS WITH HIM THAT THAT'S WHAT THE POLICY I PROPOSED WOULD HAVE IN IT.
UM, AND SO THAT'S WHAT IT DOES.
BUT I WOULD, I WOULD HOPE THAT NOBODY WOULD, UM, ACTUALLY GRANT THOSE, BECAUSE I AGREE THAT, THAT, THAT SOMETIMES THE, THE, THE SOMETIMES THE KIDS THAT ARE GET IN TROUBLE GET IN TROUBLE BECAUSE THEY'RE EXPECTED TO SIT STILL TOO LONG AND LONGER THAN HUMAN NATURE WILL ALLOW.
UM, AND HUMAN NATURE'S DIFFERENT FOR EACH ONE OF US.
SO I WOULD, I WOULD CERTAINLY ENCOURAGE THAT EVERYBODY HAVE RECESS.
I JUST WANT TO MENTION ONE MORE ITEM.
AS THIS CAME IN INTO DISCUSSION BEFORE THE BOARD, IT KIND OF OPENED A BIGGER DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW WE MANAGE OUR, OUR SCHOOLS, THEIR TIME, AND OUR CHILDREN'S EDUCATION.
AND SO, MR. GODDE, WHO'S NOT PRESENT, HAS MADE A VERY, I BELIEVE, EXCELLENT SUGGESTION THAT, THAT WE HAVE TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE BIGGER PICTURE OF WHAT THAT MEANS.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, IN THAT LIGHT, I, I WANT TO MENTION TO THE BOARD THAT THERE WILL BE AN ITEM BROUGHT BY SOMEONE, UH, IN THE NEAR FUTURE THAT IS GONNA ASK, UM, THAT WE LOOK AT HOW OUR SCHOOL DAY IS RUN AT DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCHOOLS.
BECAUSE I THINK THAT, UM, THE PRESSURE THAT, UH, OVER TIME OF DIFFERENT, UM, EXPECTATIONS FROM OUR KIDS, BOTH IN CURRICULUM, TYPES OF SCHOOLS, THAT THEY'RE IN TIME OF DAY, THAT THEY'RE GOING TO SCHOOL, HAS ULTIMATELY LED US TO HAVE TO FORCE TO MAKE A POLICY LIKE THIS.
UM, AND SO I THINK WE HAVE TO TAKE ANOTHER BIG PICTURE, LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, WHEN DO OUR KIDS SHOW UP TO SCHOOL? HOW LONG IS THEIR DAY? WHAT ARE THEY DOING AT SCHOOL? UM, AND SO THIS IS JUST A SMALL PART OF THAT CONVERSATION.
AND, UH, I JUST WANT, YOU KNOW, THE BOARD AND THE PUBLIC KNOW THAT WE'RE, WE'RE GOING TO BE ASKING MORE AND DE EVEN DELVING DEEPER INTO THAT ISSUE.
SEEING NO FURTHER COMMENTS IN THE QUEUE, WE WILL NOW CALL FOR A VOTE.
[00:15:02]
PLEASE VOTE.WELL, BEFORE WE ENTER INTO ITEM TWO, I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AS WELL THAT WE'RE ABOUT TO START, UH, REVIEWING SOME OF THE, UH, UNFINISHED, UH, CONTRACTS AND PRESENTATIONS THAT WERE REQUESTED FROM THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE.
AND, UH, JUST A REMINDER TO THOSE WHO WILL BE PRESENTING, WHICH WILL BE OUR DISTRICT ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF, UH, THAT YOUR PRESENTATIONS SHOULD BE, UM, ABOUT THREE TO FIVE MINUTES.
AND IT'S GENERALLY A SUMMATION OF THE EXTENDED PRESENTATION THAT HAS BEEN PLACED IN BOARD DOCS.
SO I DID WANNA SHARE THAT WITH YOU ALL, CONSIDERING THAT WE HAVE QUITE A FEW PRESENTATIONS, UH, TO BE MADE TONIGHT.
[F.2. Professional Services Contract: Achieve 3000]
TWO.PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT.
ACHIEVE THREE, ACHIEVE 3000 CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACTS BETWEEN THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND ACHIEVE 3000 IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,391,090 TO PROVIDE A LITERACY WEB BASED SUPPLEMENTAL PROGRAM AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE ESTHER THREE, ACTION TWO.
AND, UH, IF THE PRESENTERS WILL MAKE THEIR WAY FORWARD.
BETLEY, MS. SMITH, AND I SEE DR.
MR. LANNIS, IN HIS ABSENCE, DR.
NARCISS, IN HIS ABSENCE INTO ALL BOARD, BOARD MEMBERS ACHIEVED 3000 IS, UM, ONE OF THE PROGRAMS THAT IS BEING USED FOR, UM, LITERACY SUPPORT.
NOT JUST IS IT BEING USED IN, UM, FOR LITERACY IN ELA, BUT IT IS ALSO BEING USED IN SCIENCE, SOCIAL STUDIES, UM, WHERE THERE EVEN, THERE'S EVEN SOME ADAPTABILITY FOR IT TO BE USED IN MATH, BUT WE'RE FOCUSED IN MATH AROUND DREAMBOX.
SO ACHIEVE IS, IS THE TOOL THAT WE'RE USING, WHICH IS SUPPLEMENTAL SUPPORT TO THE REGULAR CURRICULUM.
UM, AND THAT'S TAUGHT FOR TIER ONE, UM, IN OUR, IN ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS.
SO LET TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE BENEFITS.
SO, UM, I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT MORE OF THE UPPER LEVEL USAGE, AND MS. WARREN IS GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE, UM, PRE-K LOWER.
UM, SO STUDENTS, WE REALLY ENCOURAGE FOR, UH, TEACHERS TO HAVE STUDENTS USING ACHIEVE, UM, 3000, UM, DAILY, UH, IF POSSIBLE, BUT AT LEAST TWO TO THREE TIMES, UM, PER WEEK.
UM, THERE ARE VARIOUS LESSONS THAT THE STUDENTS WILL HAVE.
UM, THIS QUESTION CAME UP A LITTLE BIT EARLIER.
UM, I THINK AT THE CAL, WE ARE GONNA BE WORKING WITH OUR TEACHERS DURING TEACHER DEVELOPMENT WEEK, WEEK, WHICH WE CALL T D W TO SUPPORT THEM IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF HOW TO USE IT IN THE CLASSROOM WITHOUT HAVING TO, UM, STOP THE CLASS.
AND EVERYBODY DOES ACHIEVE 3000, AND THEN WE PICK IT BACK UP.
SO WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING WITH THEM TO IMPLEMENT THIS SO THAT IT CAN BE DONE.
KIDS CAN ACTUALLY DO IT INDEPENDENTLY, UH, WITHIN THE CLASS.
SO, UM, WHEN THE LESSONS ARE DONE, UH, WHAT WE DO WITH THE, WITH THE, UM, ARTICLES THAT COME WITH IT IS WE ARE WORKING ON THE LESSON PLANS FOR THE TEACHERS.
THESE ARTICLES ARE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTED IN THE LESSON PLANS SO THAT THE TEACHERS ARE NOT HAVING TO GO AND LOOK THEM UP IF IT'S A SCIENCE ARTICLE OR IF IT'S SOCIAL STUDIES OR EVEN FOR ELA, WE'RE ACTUALLY PLACING THOSE IN THE LESSON PLANS FOR THE TEACHERS TO ENSURE THAT THEY, UM, CAN USE THEM, KNOW WHAT TO DO.
AND SO THE PD THAT WE DID LAST SUMMER, UM, SUPPORTED THAT.
WE'LL BE DOING THAT AGAIN, UM, THIS SUMMER DURING TEACHER DEVELOPMENT WEEK AS WELL.
UM, WE HAD A 99%, UM, 99% OF THE STUDENTS WHO COMPLETED THE ART, THE, THE, UM, THE LESSONS, IF IT IS DONE WITH FIDELITY, IF THEY DO THE LESSONS AND REACH THE, UH, 75% OR HIGHER THE FIRST TIME.
[00:20:01]
SO WE REALLY DON'T WANT THE KIDS TO HAVE TO DO IT OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.RIGHT? WE ON THAT SAME LESSON, WE, BUT WE WANT THEM TO REALLY CONCENTRATE ON IT THE FIRST TIME THEY TAKE IT, ACHIEVE 75% OR BETTER OR HIGHER THE FIRST TIME.
IF THEY CONTINUE TO DO THAT, IT WILL SHOW VAST IMPROVEMENT AND IT'S GONNA INCREASE THE LEVELS OF OUR STUDENTS, THE READABILITY LEVELS OF OUR STUDENTS, AND IT WILL RESULT IN THEM ACHIEVING HIGHER ON THE LEAP.
SO SMARTY ANTS IS DESIGNED FOR OUR PRE-K THROUGH SECOND GRADE STUDENTS.
IT ACTUALLY GIVES A DIAGNOSTIC, UM, ASSESSMENT FOR OUR YOUNGER STUDENTS.
AND IT PROVIDES AN INDIVIDUALIZED, UM, PROGRAM FOR THEM TO EITHER USE WITH THE TEACHER IN A CLASSROOM, OR THE SOFTWARE DOES GO THROUGH SOME INDIVIDUALIZED, UM, LESSONS FOR THOSE YOUNGER CHILDREN.
IT ACTUALLY LOOKS AT THE PHONEMIC AWARENESS CONTINUUM, SO IT CAN PREPARE THEM TO BEGIN TO READ BY THE END OF PRE-K OR FIRST AND SECOND GRADE.
AND SO, WHEN WE LOOK AT SOME OF THE DATA AT KINDERGARTEN FROM LAST YEAR TO THIS YEAR, WE HAD, UM, A HUNDRED, 1,617 STUDENTS TO 2,201 STUDENTS ON OUR, AT OUR BELOW ABOVE LEVEL, WHICH WAS REALLY GOOD.
AT FIRST GRADE, WE HAD 273 STUDENTS TO 1,509 STUDENTS ON OR AT ABOVE GRADE LEVEL.
AND THEN 273 TO 1,509 ON, UM, AT OR ABOVE GRADE LEVEL.
CUZ REMEMBER WHEN SOME OF THE STUDENTS ARE ENTERING INTO OUR SYSTEM AT PRE-K, THEY HAVE NO EXPOSURE, UM, TO AN EARLY, UM, LEARNING ENVIRONMENT THAT IS HIGH QUALITY.
SO MOVING THEM AT THAT RATE IS REALLY GOOD.
SO WHEN WE, AGAIN, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE OF OUR STUDENTS AND HOW THEY ACTUALLY ARE ACHIEVING, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THOSE LEXILE SCORES.
AND FOR EXAMPLE, UM, IF WE HAVE A STUDENT, LET'S SAY IN THIRD GRADE, ALL RIGHT, UM, THE, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE STAYING ON TRACK, WHICH MEANS WE WANT THEM TO ENTER THIRD GRADE BEING ABLE TO READ AT OR ABOVE GRADE LEVEL.
SO THAT WOULD BE WHERE THEY WOULD BE AT A FIVE 20 LEXILE SCORE.
THAT'S WHAT WE WANT THEM TO HAVE, IS A MINIMUM THRESHOLD.
BUT MANY OF OUR SCHOLARS DO NOT ENTER THIRD GRADE READING AT OR ABOVE GRADE LEVEL.
SO THESE TYPES OF SUPPORT RESOURCES IS JUST ONE DATA SOURCE THAT IS USED AMONGST MANY TO HELP SUPPORT THE TEACHERS WITH DEVELOPING SMALL GROUPS AND DEVELOPING WHAT HAPPENS IN THOSE SMALL GROUPS.
THIS DATA FROM ACHIEVE, AGAIN, IS ONE SOURCE.
THERE ARE OTHER SOURCES THAT TEACHERS ARE GONNA USE, BUT IT REALLY WILL SHOW THE DEFICIT AREAS WHERE CHILDREN ARE STRUGGLING, SO THAT AS TEACHERS ARE PREPARING LESSONS, THEY WILL BE ABLE TO PREPARE LESSONS UTILIZING THIS DATA, LOOKING AT THOSE DEFICITS AND THE STRENGTHS OF THE STUDENTS.
UM, NOW THAT WE'VE HEARD THE PRESENTATION, IF WE COULD, UM, ENTERTAIN A MOTION FOR THIS PARTICULAR ITEM.
AND IT HAS BEEN MOVED BY MR. BALLOU.
IT HAS BEEN SECONDED BY MR. RUSS.
UH, COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD, MR. LEWIS, YOU KNOW, LITER LITERACY HAS BEEN A PROBLEM.
OKAY? UM, I KNOW MS. WARREN, I KNOW YOU AND YOUR, YOUR TEAM, YOU, YOU DO AN EXCELLENT JOB.
THE PROBLEM I HAVE, OR THE CONCERN THAT I HAVE WITH, UM, ACHIEVE 3000 IS THE FACT WHEN YOU GO INTO THE, UM, SLIDES, THE PRESENTATION ON THE, UH, MCGRAW HILL ACHIEVED 3000.
THIS ON SLIDE, UM, FIVE, WHAT, WHAT IMPACT HAS, WHAT IMPACT HAS 3000 HAD ON STUDENTS? IS THAT ON THE LATE 2025? NO, IT'S, IT'S, UH, SLIDE FOUR MAYBE.
WHAT IMPACT HAS ACHIEVED 3000 HAD ON STUDENTS? YES, SIR.
ARE THESE NUMBERS? ARE, ARE, ARE THESE OUR NUMBERS? ARE THESE EBR NUMBERS? UM, THESE, YES, THESE ARE OUR NUMBERS.
[00:25:01]
OKAY.SO, UH, WHERE DO THEY COME FROM? I MEAN, IS IT DISTRICTWIDE OR WAS IT SELECTED SCHOOLS? NO, THIS IS DISTRICT-WIDE DATA.
SO IT'S NOT, SO IF IF EVERYONE'S NOT DOING IT, THEN IT'S NOT EVERY SCHOOL.
WHAT SCHOOLS IN PARTICULAR DID THIS DATA COME FROM? DID IT COME FROM CAPITAL MIDDLE? DID IT COME FROM WESTDALE? DID IT COME FROM, WHERE DID IT COME FROM? THAT'S MY QUESTION.
IT THE COMPILATION OF ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS THAT PARTICIPATED IN IT.
WHAT SCHOOLS WE CAN GET YOU SCHOOLS PARTICIPATED IS MY QUESTION.
THE HIGH WE, CAN YOU A LIST HIGH, ARE THEY HIGH PERFORMING SCHOOLS? ARE THEY LOW PERFORMING SCHOOLS? NO.
WHAT SCHOOLS? WELL, WE CAN GET YOU A LIST OF ALL, THAT'S WHAT I'M ASKING.
YEAH, WE CAN PROVIDE YOU A LIST TO YOU.
WE HAD TWO WEEKS TO GET IT FOR ME.
UM, SO TO YOUR POINT, MR. LEWIS, ALL OF THE SCHOOLS ARE EXPECTED TO DO ACHIEVE 3000.
DO THEY USE IT? DO ALL THE SCHOOLS USE IT? THERE IS A REPORT.
DO ALL THE SCHOOLS USE IT? OKAY, WELL, THE ANSWER WOULD BE YES.
THAT THE SCHOOLS, YOU DO AT LEAST HAVE A STUDENT IN EVERY SCHOOL THAT IS, THAT HAS SIGNED IN AND HAS AND HAS USED IT.
A STUDENT, I SAID AT LEAST A STUDENT.
SO IT'S NOT EVERY SCHOOL TO ME, THAT'S NOT EVERY SCHOOL.
WE CAN GET YOU THE INFORMATION AND, AND THE SPECIFIC NUMBERS.
SCHOOLS WE HAVE, WE HAVE THE DATA ALREADY DONE THAT WE CAN PROVIDE TO YOU IN TERMS OF EACH SCHOOL.
YOU CAN SEE THE USAGE, YOU CAN SEE HOW MANY STUDENTS PARTICIPATED.
UM, WE ARE, WE PROVIDED WHAT WE WERE ASKED TO DO FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
AND WE CAN HAVE THAT FOR YOU TOMORROW.
THIS, THIS CONTRACT COSTS US $1.379 MILLION.
IT'S ONLY 180 DAYS IN SCHOOL YEAR.
SO YOU ASK, YOU GONNA DO 157 PDS AT THAT COST.
WHERE ARE YOU SEEING 157 PDS? UM, AS SOON AS I CAN GET TO IT, I WILL FIND IT FOR YOU.
THAT'S WHAT'S IN THE PRE, THAT'S WHAT'S IN THE, UH, THE NUMBERS WE HAVE HERE.
YOU CAN FIND IT BEFORE I CAN MEMO.
NOW I KNOW THAT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS DONE ON A MONTHLY BASIS.
BUT YOU ARE, YOU'RE ASKING FOR 157, THAT'S WHAT THE CONTRACT COSTS FOR 157.
WITH 180 DAY SCHOOL YEAR, YOU'RE GOING TO PROVIDE 157 OPPORTUNITIES FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND 180 DAY SCHOOL YEAR.
I HONESTLY AM NOT SURE WHERE YOU'RE READING THAT OR WHAT YOU HAVE, BUT I CAN INFORM.
BUT I AM GOING TO FIND, FIND INFORMATION THAT YOU'RE SCHOOL YEAR.
UM, NOW I KNOW PD IS PROVIDED TO SCHOOL LEADERS.
IT'S UNDER THE SLIDE THAT SAYS MCGRAW HALL HILL.
NOW I THINK THE SMARTY, THE SMARTY ANTS AND, YOU KNOW, ALL THAT STUFF IS COOL.
BUT UNDER LITERACY PROFESSIONAL LEARNING SERVICES 156, THAT MAY BE SOMETHING 1 56 AT A COST OF $2,910 A POP FOR A GRAND TOTAL OF $454,063 AND 60 CENTS.
AND OF COURSE, THEY DISCOUNTED IT.
MR. LEWIS, CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT PAGE YOU'RE USING,
[00:30:04]
COACH? CONSIDERING THAT WE ARE NOW ABOUT ONE MINUTE OVER, UM, I KNOW THAT I'M NEXT IN THE QUEUE.CAN I CONTINUE WITH YOUR QUESTION? PLEASE CONTINUE.
AND THE QUESTION I WANT YOU TO ASK VICE PRESIDENT POWELL, IS THIS CONTRACT SUSTAINABLE? WE BOUGHT IT LAST YEAR.
WE'RE TRYING TO BUY IT AGAIN THIS YEAR.
SO THE, THE PURPOSE OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS TO BUILD CAPACITY WITH TEACHERS.
SO IF THEY HAD THE SAME PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT LAST YEAR, WHY WE GONNA TURN IT AROUND AND BUY IT AGAIN THIS YEAR? OKAY.
AND, AND I'LL, LET ME ASK THIS AS WELL.
I'M WONDERING IS THE 156 IS THAT 156 TEACHERS THAT WILL RECEIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN REGARDS TO ACHIEVE 3000? SO YOU HAVE A, UM, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT THAT'S BEING DONE MULTIPLE TIMES DURING THE YEAR FOR TEACHERS, MULTIPLE TIMES DURING THE YEAR FOR SCHOOL LEADERS.
AND, UM, ALSO OUR EDS ARE A PART OF THAT.
EVEN, UH, OUR COACHES ARE A PART OF THAT.
SO IT'S NOT NECESSARILY JUST FOR THE TEACHERS THAT THEY ARE RECEIVING THIS PD.
THEY DID RECEIVE PD LAST YEAR, BUT THE PD IS BASED UPON THE DATA AND THE PERFORMANCE OF THE STUDENTS IN THE CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR.
SO AS THE, THE MA AS AS STUDENTS ARE TAKING THE, THE VARIOUS ASSESSMENTS, THE DATA IS GOING INTO THE, INTO THE DATA BANK.
BUT WHEN ACHIEVE NOW DOES THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS BASED UPON THE CURRENT DATA AND USAGE AND PERFORMANCE OF THE STUDENTS.
I'M, I'M, I I'M BEING A LITTLE TOO AGGRESSIVE.
YEAH, I'M, I'M BEING A LITTLE TOO AGGRESSIVE.
MATTER OF FACT, MY WIFE JUST TEXT ME AND SHE'S LIKE, WHY ARE YOU BEING SO AGGRESSIVE? OKAY, THANK YOU COACH
SHE KNOWS THAT'S MY NATURE, BUT I'M, I'M, I'M SORRY.
ROBINSON AND MS. WARREN, THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR PRESENTATION.
UH, I'M NOT SURE IF MY QUESTION APPLIES TO YOU OR IF IT WOULD BE MS. UH, DR.
BETLEY IN IS THE, UH, FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM INCLUDED ALREADY? JUST FOR THE, FOR THE SAKE OF, OF MAKING SURE THAT WE ALL HAVE CLARITY, IS THE FUNDING FOR THIS PARTICULAR PROGRAM ALREADY INCLUDED IN YOUR, IN THE SER THREE ACTION, TWO PROJECTION FOR THIS UPCOMING YEAR? YES, MA'AM.
WE ALLOCATED THE AMOUNT FOR THE 2324 SCHOOL YEAR.
AND IS THERE A, AND I THINK I ASKED THIS BEFORE, BUT JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT I'VE ASKED AGAIN FOR THE SAKE OF EVERYONE LISTENING, UM, WHAT IS THE EXPIRATION, I GUESS, OF OUR CURRENT LICENSING AND SUBSCRIPTION AND, AND, YOU KNOW, ARE WE IN A TIME CRUNCH TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GO AHEAD AND GET, UH, THE LICENSES PURCHASED FOR THIS UPCOMING YEAR, UH, JUNE 30TH.
SO WE ARE, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.
SO THOSE WERE MY TWO QUESTIONS.
SO, ALL RIGHT, MS. KENNISON, THANK YOU.
UH, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE ASK OURSELVES WHAT THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT IS FOR ALL OF THESE THINGS.
LIKE IT, IT'S HARD TO MEASURE BECAUSE IT'S WHAT IT'S INVESTMENT IN KNOWLEDGE FOR KIDS.
BUT IF WE'RE LOOKING AT JUST THIS PRESENTATION, UH, IF, SO, IF WE LOOK AT 99% OF STUDENTS WHO COMPLETED 40 OR MORE MULTIPLE CHOICE ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVED 3000 SCORING 75% OR HIGHER ON THEIR FIRST TRY SCORED, SCORE ACHIEVED BASIC OR ABOVE ON LEAP 2025, IT'S, THAT IS FUN WITH NUMBERS.
AND IT DOESN'T SAY, THAT DOESN'T EVEN INDICATE ANY SORT OF GROWTH.
ALL IT SAYS TO ME IS THAT IF YOU'RE A SMART KID AND YOU DID THIS, YOU'RE GONNA REMAIN SMART AND DO GOOD ON THIS OTHER TEST.
SO WHERE'S THE, WHERE'S THE IMPROVEMENT DATA? THIS IS JUST SAYS A KID WHO KNOWS HOW TO READ DOES WELL AND ACHIEVE 3000 AND DOES WELL ON LEAP LIKE THIS, THIS SCREEN SHOULDN'T EVEN BE HERE.
WHAT, WHERE'S THE REAL INFORMATION? LIKE I'VE TALKED TO A BUNCH OF TINY CONSTITUENTS.
NO ONE, NONE OF THEM CLAIMED THAT THEY'VE LEARNED ANYTHING ON A CHEAP 3000.
UM, AND LIKE, UH, MS. ESPINOZA, I THINK WAS HER NAME, UM, SAID, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T HAVE MONEY, WE DON'T NEED TO SPEND IT.
AND THIS IS A GOOD CHUNK THAT WE COULD JUST START, WE COULD START CHIPPING AWAY.
[00:35:01]
JUST, JUST START.AND IT'S NOT, I MEAN, WE HAD A COUPLE WEEKS TO COME UP WITH A PRESENTATION AND THIS IS THE DATA WE GET.
THIS IS, THIS IS, THIS IS NOTHING LIKE, IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT SAYING ANYTHING.
SO WE DID SEE IN ELITE LAST YEAR UNDER E L A, WE DID SEE APPROXIMATELY 1.51 SOMEWHERE IN THAT MARKET OF INCREASE, RIGHT? SO WHEN WE CAME INTO THE DISTRICT, UM, SOME OF THE SCHOOLS WERE USING, UM, I CALL THE NAME OF IT MULTIPLE TIMES TODAY, SUCCESS MAKER.
BUT IT WAS NOT BEING IMPLEMENTED IN EVERY SCHOOL.
IT WAS BEING IMPLEMENTED IN SOME SCHOOLS THAT NEEDED THOSE SUPPORTS.
AND WITHIN THOSE SCHOOLS, THERE WERE CERTAIN STUDENTS THAT WERE USING IT BEING, IT WAS BEING USED FOR, FOR THEIR INTERVENTIONS.
SO IT WASN'T FOR EVERY STUDENT AT THAT TIME.
UM, WHAT I WILL SAY, UM, MS. KENNISON, IS THAT IN ORDER FOR US TO REALLY MOVE THE DATA ACROSS THE DISTRICT LITERACY, I'M A PRIME EXAMPLE, IS OF A STUDENT WHO STRUGGLED WITH READING.
CUZ READING IS COMPREHENSION, BEING ABLE TO REALLY D DISSECT WHAT IS ON THE WRITTEN PAGE.
UM, AND IT WAS NOT UNTIL LATER IN MY ACADEMIC CAREER HIGH SCHOOL THAT I REALLY LEARNED HOW TO READ AND APPLY THOSE SKILLS TO OTHER CONTENT AREAS.
UM, AND WENT ON TO BECOME A TEACHER WHO TAUGHT ENGLISH IRONICALLY.
BUT WE NEED TO HAVE, IF IT'S NOT GONNA BE ACHIEVED 3000, YOU'RE GONNA NEED TO HAVE SOME MEANS OF BEING ABLE TO MEASURE SYSTEMICALLY THE PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS ACROSS THE BOARD IN TERMS OF HOW STUDENTS ARE PROGRESSING.
IF WE REALLY ARE GOING TO BE FOCUSED AROUND IMPROVING LITERARY SKILLS.
UM, SO ALL THESE MEASURING, WE HAVE TO MEASURE, WE HAVE TO LIKE MEASURE THE DATA TO MOVE THE DATA, FIND THE DATA TO, WELL WE HAVE LEAP TESTING, THAT'S OUR, BUT IF WE ADD SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS TO PREPARE, LET'S TAKE THIS TEST TO PREPARE THE KID TO TAKE THIS TEST, PREPARE THE KID TO TAKE THIS TEST SO THEY CAN DO GOOD ON THIS TEST.
I THINK, I THINK TO MR. LEWIS'S POINT AND TO YOURS AND I GUESS TO ALL OF OUR BOARD MEMBERS, UM, WHAT YOU'RE REALLY ASKING IN TERMS OF THE DATA, UM, WE CAN PROVIDE THAT TO YOU IN, IT'LL BE A LENGTHY, UM, THAT'S WHAT WE FORMAT, BUT WE WE CAN PROVIDE THAT INFORMA.
WE CAN JUST HAVE THAT WHY ISN'T IT HERE? LIKE WHY ISN'T IT HERE? LIKE THAT'S, WE DON'T WANT THIS, WE WANT THE ACTUAL DATA.
SO LET'S NOT BRING ANY MORE OF THESE NUMBERS.
LET'S, LIKE WITH HUMAN RESOURCES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
LET'S COME, IF WE ASKED FOR SOMETHING TWO WEEKS AGO, WE WANT, WE WANT ALL OF IT REALLY
I'M, I STUCK YOU IN THERE TOO,
AND I CAN SAY WITH A CORRELATION FOR THE UPPER GRADES, WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED OUR LEAP SCORES YET.
AND SO WHAT THIS PROGRAM DOES IS USES THAT INFORMATION THAT THEY COLLECT IN THEIR SYSTEM TO COMPARE IT WITH THE LEAP.
CUZ THERE IS A CORRELATION THERE.
BUT IF YOU LOOK ON THE SLIDES, YOU WILL SEE THE SMARTY ANTS DATA FROM 20 21, 22 TO 22, 23.
BUT YES, WE, WE CAN, UM, I THINK WE'LL DO A BETTER JOB ONCE THE LEAP SCORES COME OUT TO GET THAT CORRELATION.
UH, YOU KNOW, I WON'T BELABOR THE POINT THAT'S BEEN MADE, BUT THE, BUT THE STATISTIC PROVIDED FOR ACHIEVE 3000 IS THE EQUIVALENT OF SAYING, WELL, YOU KNOW, 90% OF THE KIDS WHO DO THEIR HOMEWORK, YOU KNOW, PASS THE CLASS THAT, BUT IF ONLY FIVE KIDS IN THE CLASS DO THEIR HOMEWORK, WE HAVEN'T DONE OUR JOB.
RIGHT? SO THIS STATISTIC IS REALLY NOT PROVIDING US, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE SLIDE THAT, THAT DISCUSSES THE IMPACT OF THE SMARTY ANTS, YOU KNOW, STARTS LOOKING AT A LITTLE MORE OF THE KIND OF, OF DATA THAT WE NEED.
UM, AND WE MIGHT NEED TO LOOK AT SEPARATING OUT THIS CONTRACT BETWEEN THE TWO.
UH, BUT MY QUESTION IS FUNDAMENTALLY, AND I I THINK I ASKED THIS LAST TIME IS HOW WAS ACHIEVE SELECTED? WAS THERE A COMPREHENSIVE
[00:40:01]
SELECTION PROCESS THAT COMPARED ACHIEVE AND SMART ANTS WITH OTHERS? I KNOW, YOU KNOW, MY DAUGHTERS USED LEXIE.I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF PRODUCTS IN THE MARKET, SOME ARE OPEN SOURCE AND, UH, NO COST FOR, YOU KNOW, INDIVIDUAL USAGE MAY HAVE TO PAY TO GET THE DATA OUT OF THEM AND SO FORTH.
UM, AND, AND SO CAN YOU TELL ME, UH, WHAT THE SELECTION PROCESS WAS TO SETTLE ON THIS PARTICULAR PRODUCT? WELL, UM, ABSOLUTELY.
WE, WHEN WE CAME IN, WE LIT, WE LOOKED AT VARIOUS SOURCES OF DATA, UM, AND THEN, UM, IT WAS ACHIEVE, AND I FORGET THE OTHER COMPANY THAT, UM, DR.
NOCI WAS LOOKING AT, BUT ACHIEVE ENDED UP BEING THE, UM, COMPANY, A RESOURCE THAT WE WENT WITH TO REALLY ADDRESS THE DEFICITS OF READING ACROSS THE, THE SYSTEM.
WE DID LOOK AT, UM, I JUST CALLED IT, UM, SUCCESS MAKER.
WE DID PRICE IT IN COMPARISON TO, BECAUSE THAT WAS A CONCERN THAT CAME UP TO ACHIEVE AND IT WOULD'VE BEEN A LITTLE BIT MORE EXPENSIVE EVEN THAN ACHIEVE IF HAD WE GONE SYSTEMICALLY, RIGHT? BECAUSE REMEMBER WHEN THEY WERE DOING IT BEFORE, IT WAS BASED UPON SCHOOL BY SCHOOL SELECTION.
UM, BUT THIS WAS A, UH, FOCUS AROUND THE LITERACY PLAN FOR THE DISTRICT.
UM, THAT WE WERE LOOKING AT ALL SCHOOLS BEING ENGAGED IN THIS SO THAT WE COULD HAVE MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS AROUND DATA AND LOOKING AT ACCOUNTABILITY.
UM, I WILL SAY TO MR. LEWIS'S POINT, UM, YES, YOU'LL FIND THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE SCHOOLS HAVE SIGNIFICANT HIGH NUMBERS OF STUDENTS THAT ARE USING IT AS OPPOSED TO SOME OTHERS.
THAT IS AN ISSUE THAT WE DO NEED TO AND WILL BE ADDRESSING.
I'VE ALREADY ADDRESSED THAT WITH MR. BRICKHOUSE IN TERMS OF OUR SCHOOL LEADERS REALLY DOING THESE THINGS WITH FIDELITY.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE DO NEED TO WORK MORE ON AND HAVE A PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF SUCCESS FOR THAT FOR NEXT YEAR.
UM, AS A FORMER PRINCIPAL, YOU KNOW, I MAY NOT HAVE LIKED EVERYTHING THE SUPERINTENDENT HAD TO TELL ME, OR I MAY NOT HAVE LIKED EVERY PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE THAT I HAD TO DO.
AND I HAD ACHIEVED 3000 IN A WHOLE ABOUT 50 MORE PROGRAMS IN MY TURNAROUND TRANSFORMATIONAL SCHOOL.
UM, BUT I HAD TO GET IT DONE BECAUSE I WAS BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THAT DATA.
AND SO WHEN WE DO OUR DATA REVIEWS, UM, WITH PRINCIPALS, THIS IS INFORMATION THAT WE WILL BE, WE'VE ALREADY STARTED WORKING WITH, UH, MR. BRICK HOUSE'S, UH, DIVISION FOR NEXT YEAR WHEN WE DO OUR DATA REVIEWS WITH SCHOOLS, OUR DATA ROUND TABLES WITH SCHOOLS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE SPENDING A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME, UH, LOOKING AT THE ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURES.
BECAUSE YOU'RE RIGHT, YOU'RE SPENDING AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY AND WHAT IS THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT IF EVERY STUDENT, UM, IS NOT DOING IT.
BUT, UM, I ONLY HAVE SO MUCH CONTROL OVER CERTAIN THINGS.
SO WE TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT WHAT WE ARE DOING, BUT WE ARE GOING TO WORK EVEN CLOSER NEXT YEAR AROUND ACCOUNTABILITY.
UM, I KNOW YOU GUYS DON'T REALLY KNOW, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO ACCOUNTABILITY, UM, I EMPHASIZE THAT A LOT.
AND SO HE GETS TIRED OF ME SAYING IT, BUT I CONTINUE TO SAY IT.
WE HAVE TO ENSURE THAT SCHOOLS ARE, WHATEVER WE USE, WHETHER IT'S SUCCESS, MAKE OR ACHIEVE, WHATEVER IT IS, IT HAS TO BE DONE WITH FIDELITY AND IT HAS TO BE DONE BY EVERY SCHOOL WITH EVERY CHILD PARTICIPATING AND ENGAGING IN IT.
SO I THINK THERE'S, THERE'S, THERE'S TWO CONCERNS THAT I HAVE AT THE END OF, AT THE END OF THE DAY.
UM, AND, AND I CERTAINLY, I UNDERSTAND THE, THE, THE PREMISE OF AND, AND THE POTENTIAL FOR SOFTWARE LIKE THIS CUZ KIDS REALLY DO NEED THE HUMAN TOUCH TO, TO, TO LEARN.
BUT, UH, SOFTWARE THAT YOU CAN USE AT HOME TO SUPPLEMENT THAT LEARNING, THAT ALSO MEASURES HOW YOU'RE DOING ALONG THE WAY.
I CAN SEE THE TREMENDOUS VALUE IN THAT.
I'VE, I'VE MADE MY OWN CHILD SIT THERE AND DO HER ALEXIA, UM, UM, TO, TO, TO GET THAT BOOST.
AND IT'S HELPED EVEN THOUGH SHE DOESN'T LIKE IT AND SHE GRUMBLES.
UM, THAT, THAT SAID, UM, AS WE ALL KNOW, A LOT OF OUR STUDENTS COME FROM SCHOOL, FROM, FROM HOMES THAT ARE NOT THE BEST ENVIRONMENTS.
UM, AND, AND THIS MAY HAVE LIMITED BENEFIT FOR THEM.
MAYBE FOR SOME IT'S GONNA HAVE A LOT OF BENEFIT, RIGHT? CUZ THEY HAVE A LITTLE ESCAPE TOOL THAT THEY CAN USE TO GO DO THEIR THING.
SO I THINK AS WE, YOU KNOW, AND FOR ANY SOFTWARE LIKE THIS, SOME OF IT'S MORE ATTRACTIVE TO KIDS AND MORE LIKELY TO BE USED AND SOME OF IT'S
[00:45:01]
NOT.SO I THINK AS WE MEASURE PERFORMANCE, THAT'S GOTTA BE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF PART OF WHAT WE MEASURE.
MY, MY MY HESITATION TO, TO VOTE FOR THIS CONTRACT RIGHT NOW THEN STEMS THOUGH FROM THE SELECTION PROCESS.
CUZ WHAT I'M HEARING IS THAT WE DID NOT GO OUT AND SAY, HEY, ALL THE SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS OUT THERE WHO ARE COMPETING IN THIS SPACE, AND THERE ARE A BUNCH OF 'EM, IT'S NOT JUST TWO, RIGHT? UM, THAT, THAT COME, COME, COME SHOW US YOUR DATA.
COME SHOW US YOUR ADOPTION RATES.
LET'S MAKE SURE THAT ALL THE TEACHERS WHO ARE ULTIMATELY GONNA BE MANDATED AND ORDERED UNDER PAIN OF GETTING DISCIPLINE THAT YOU HAVE TO USE THIS AND YOU HAVE TO USE IT WITH FIDELITY.
CUZ IF YOU'RE NOT GONNA USE IT WITH FIDELITY, I AGREE WITH YOU, THERE'S NO POINT IN DOING IT ALL RIGHT.
THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT WE'VE HAD A, A, A, A COMPREHENSIVE SELECTION PROCESS THAT DOESN'T NEED TO TAKE LIKE TWO YEARS, RIGHT? I'M NOT SAYING THAT, BUT THAT WE HAVE A REAL PROCESS THAT'S FAIRLY AND OPENLY LOOKING AT ALL THE AVAILABLE OPTIONS FROM BOTH A BUDGET AND A SUCCESS ROI STANDPOINT.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S MY CONCERN AND HESITATION OVER, OVER SUPPORTING THIS RIGHT NOW.
ALMOST FORGOT I WAS IN THE QUEUE.
UM, SO SOME OF WHAT I WAS GONNA ASK AND SAY, UM, WAS ALREADY COVERED, SO THANK YOU.
I THINK, UM, SO I WANNA SAY I'M, I'M IN SUPPORT OF CONTINUING USING THIS TOOL.
UM, ONE BECAUSE I DO BELIEVE THAT WE NEED TO LIKE THIS TO SUPPORT OUR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS.
UM, IF YOU JUST SIT DOWN AND DO THE MATH, THE COST OF THIS CONTRACT, THE AMOUNT OF TEACHERS YOU COULD HIRE WOULDN'T SCRATCH THE SURFACE OF THE AMOUNT OF STUDENTS THIS IS TOUCHING, RIGHT? WE KNOW DATA SHOWS THAT THE MOST, THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO FOR A STUDENT IS ONE-ON-ONE INSTRUCTION.
IT'S VERY DIFFICULT FOR US TO DO THAT WITH THE RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE.
UM, THERE'S CERTAINLY ADDITIONAL SUPPORT THAT STUDENTS, UH, RECEIVE AND THAT CAN BE VERY EFFECTIVE.
BUT I THINK WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO ATTACK THIS FROM EVERY ANGLE.
AND I THINK THAT IS WHY WE HAVE THIS SERVICE.
CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, UM, I DO AGREE THAT AT LEAST THE, UH, THE AMPLIFY, EXCUSE ME, NOT AMPLIFY GETTING OFF ON A DIFFERENT SIDE.
THE ACHIEVE PRODUCT, THE DATA THAT WE'RE SHOWING IS, IS REALLY HARD TO EXTRAPOLATE WHAT THAT MEANS.
BUT I'LL POINT OUT THAT AT THE VERY LEAST THIS, THIS SMARTY ANTS PRODUCT THEY'RE SHOWING LIKE THAT THIS IMPACTED 2000 STUDENTS THIS YEAR.
THAT IS A VERY SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF KIDS THAT WENT FROM ESSENTIALLY NOT AT GRADE LEVEL TO GRADE LEVEL.
THAT IS, THAT IS THE MAGIC DATA POINT THAT WE ARE ALL SEEKING IN EDUCATION.
HOW DO WE GET KIDS TO READ AT GRADE LEVEL? UM, I AGREE THAT THIS IS A BIG NUMBER FOR A PIECE OF SOFTWARE.
UM, TO MS. SEN'S COMMENT, MY CHILD IS AT HOME RIGHT NOW USING TECHNOLOGY TO HELP HER READING COMPREHENSION.
UM, WE'RE USING MCLASS, WHICH IS A AMPLIFIED PRODUCT THAT WAS GIVEN BY THE SCHOOL.
I DON'T KNOW HOW TO TEACH MY KID HOW TO READ.
I'M TAKING EVERY RE RESOURCE I CAN.
I WANT HER TO HAVE EVERY RESOURCE SHE CAN AT SCHOOL.
UM, IF THAT MEANS THEY GET TO SIT HER DOWN AT A TABLE AND SAY, HERE DO THIS FUN THING AND THEY PRACTICE PHONETICS AND IT HELPS USE, UM, ESSENTIALLY WHAT SEEMS LIKE, YOU KNOW, EARLY AI TO DETERMINE WHERE IS A CH A CHILD'S WEAKNESS IN THEIR PHONETIC LEARNING.
AND THEN TELL A TEACHER, HEY, THIS IS WHERE YOU HAVE TO FOCUS WITH THIS STUDENT.
THAT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO DO WITH FIDELITY AS A TEACHER AND WITHOUT TOOLS.
WE NEED TO GIVE OUR TEACHERS TOOLS TO DO THAT.
MOVING ON FROM THAT POINT, WE'VE HEARD, AND YOU'RE GOING TO HEAR TEACHERS THAT SAY THIS TOOL SUCKS.
I WILL TELL YOU THAT THERE ARE GONNA BE PEOPLE THAT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH EVERY TOOL.
WHETHER THAT'S CURRICULUM, WHETHER THAT'S TECHNOLOGY, WHETHER THAT'S HR, LIKE THERE'S ALWAYS GONNA BE A PROBLEM WITH SOMETHING.
NOTHING THAT WE BRING TO THE TABLE IS PERFECT.
WHAT I THINK THAT WE NEED TO DO IS SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES HERE.
THIS IS, I BELIEVE THE GOING TO BE IF WE KEPT THIS PRODUCT THE THIRD YEAR, RIGHT? THAT WE HAVE THIS SECOND YEAR.
IS THIS, THIS SCHOOL YEAR IS THE SECOND YEAR, RIGHT? CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR HAVE WE HAD IS IT WAS WAS THIS SCHOOL YEAR? IT WOULD BE THE SECOND.
UM, OKAY, SO 2223 WAS THE FIRST YEAR WE HAD THIS PRODUCT.
[00:50:01]
SO 2324 WOULD MAKE 2 23 MAKE 23, 24 YEAR.UM, I, I THINK WE NEED TO KEEP IN MIND THAT IT TAKES, IT DOES TAKE TIME TO GET, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING LIKE, I DON'T KNOW, 70 DIFFERENT SCHOOLS THAT WERE ALL DOING THEIR OWN THING, UM, TO USE THIS STUFF.
OBVIOUSLY AS YOU'VE SAID, WE, WE HAVE ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT THERE AND WE CAN'T GET DATA THAT WE DON'T HAVE.
THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE THROW THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATH WATER.
SO, UM, I THINK WE NEED TO MOVE FORWARD.
I THINK WE NEED TO SUPPORT THIS.
MY ONLY CONCERN WITH THIS IS NEXT SCHOOL YEAR, NEXT BUDGET CYCLE BECAUSE THIS IS AN SER FUNDING.
UM, ARE WE GONNA CONTINUE USING THIS PRODUCT? IS IT SUSTAINABLE? ARE WE GOING TO DO A PROPER RFP AND LOOK AT OTHER SOLUTIONS? UM, ARE WE GONNA HAVE TO ROLL THIS BACK AND TAKE AWAY SUPPORT THAT WE'VE OFFERED? SO THANK YOU.
AND BEFORE WE CONTINUE WITH COMMENTS IN THE QUEUE, WE WILL NOW TURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC.
LIKE MRS. ESPINOZA SAID EARLIER, AIN'T NOBODY GETTING NOTHING.
UH, PROGRAMS DO NOT TEACH CHILDREN, TEACHERS DO.
I LIKE ALREADY IT SHOWED GREAT GROWTH BUT GUESS WHAT, I'M NOT GONNA ASK YOU FOR IT CUZ THAT COSTS MONEY.
I CAN TEACH MY STUDENTS, UM, WITHOUT ASKING FOR SOMETHING THAT COSTS OVER A MILLION DOLLARS.
UM, NEWS ELA IS FREE AND I CAN DO THE SAME THING WITH NEWS ELA ON THE CLASSROOM LEVEL AS ACHIEVE.
SO LET'S START SAVING BY CUTTING $1,391,090.
I MEAN I WILL BE FINE IF YOU DID USE A PORTION OF THAT TO BUY OUT DR.
CORRELATION DOES NOT PROVE A CAUSE AND EFFECT RELATIONSHIP.
YOU CAN GET A DATA POINT OR A COUPLE OF THEM TO SUPPORT ANYTHING.
WHAT'S MISSING HERE FROM THE REALLY WELL PAID FOLKS THAT WERE UP HERE DEFENDING THIS EXPENDITURE IS ANYTHING THAT RESEMBLES A CONVINCING CASE THAT YOU SHOULD BUY THIS PRODUCT.
AGAIN, NOT EVERY CHILD IS ALIKE AND I'M SURE ALL OF YOU HAVE GONE ON RECORD AT LEAST CLAIMING THAT YOU VALUE THE PARTICIPATION OF THE HUMAN RESOURCE CAPITAL OF THIS DISTRICT.
EITHER YOU RESPECT TEACHERS OR YOU DON'T.
I AM INCREDIBLY DISTURBED HERE IN DR.
ROBINSON SAY THAT THE REASON THIS ISN'T EVEN BETTER IS BECAUSE SOME TEACHERS ARE RESISTING IT.
BUT WE'RE GONNA FIX THAT BY PING THEM INTO SUBMISSION.
SO THEY'LL DO WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO, THEY'LL ALL ACT ALIKE AND WILL TAKE THEIR INDIVIDUAL ABILITY TO RUN THEIR CLASSROOMS IN THE WAY THAT WORKS BEST FOR THEM AND THEIR KIDS AWAY FROM THEM.
I HOPE YOU'RE DISTURBED BY THAT TOO.
FOUR WORDS YOU SHOULD NEVER EVER ACCEPT FROM THE VISITOR FROM MARYLAND OR FROM ANY OF THESE OTHER PEOPLE MAKING 130,000 THAT WORK FOR HIM ARE WE CAN GET YOU FOLLOWED BY WHATEVER, YOU KNOW EARLIER MR. RUSS ASKED FOR SOMETHING.
IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ANSWERED IN PUBLIC, IT SHOULD BE AVAILABLE IN BOARD DOCS.
IT SHOULD'T BE AN EMAIL SENT TO ONE BOARD MEMBER.
YOU WERE VERY SPECIFIC WITH THE FIRST CONTRACT THAT WAS ON THE AGENDA TWO WEEKS AGO ABOUT WHAT YOU WANTED REALLY WELL PAID PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO COME BACK AND ANSWER IN TWO WEEKS.
THEY GET AN F THEY SHOULD NOT BE RETAINED.
YOU WILL HAVE PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT ANY PRODUCT.
WHAT I HAVE NOT HEARD ABOUT THIS PRODUCT AND MAYBE I'LL BE SURPRISED AND THERE WILL BE ENTHUSIASTIC PEOPLE SPEAKING BEHIND ME ABOUT HOW ACHIEVED 3000 IS THE GREATEST THING FOR THEM AND THEIR KIDS AND IT WAS GREAT FOR THEM.
AND SO MAYBE IT'S GREAT FOR ANOTHER 40,000 STUDENTS.
I'LL TRY NOT TO HOLD MY BREATH THOUGH CUZ I LIKE TO REMAIN ALIVE.
UM, BUT MOST IMPORTANT YOU DON'T HAVE AN S OR THREE ACTION TWO BUDGET.
YOU DON'T HAVE SCHOOL OPEN IN JULY.
[00:55:01]
LEAST DEFER THIS, BUT I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE EVIDENCE THAT SUPPORTS SPENDING ANOTHER MILLION 0.3.AS MS. MATTHEWS POINTS OUT, THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO SPEND THIS MONEY AND I DO HAVE A SUGGESTION FOR HOW YOU CAN SPEND SOME OF THE S OR MONEY YOU CAN MOVE DR.
NA'S CONTRACT SINCE HE'S A TEMPORARY EMPLOYEE LOOKING FOR OTHER WORK ENTIRELY FROM THE GENERAL FUND.
KATHY CARMICHAEL, DISTRICT SEVEN.
I JUST WANTED TO QUOTE MR. ROBINSON WHEN HE WAS SPEAKING ABOUT, UH, CHIEF 2000 THAT THE TEACHERS ARE REALLY ENCOURAGED OR REQUIRED TO USE THE PRODUCT SO TEACHERS ARE MANDATED TO USE IT.
SO WHEN WE MAKE OUR TEACHERS USE A SYSTEM, THAT MEANS THEY DON'T GET TO DO THE LESSON THAT THEY HAVE PLANNED OR THE TEACH THE POEM THAT THEY WANNA TEACH OR THE BOOK OR THE NOVEL BECAUSE THEY ARE REQUIRED TO STOP AND TEACH THIS PARTICULAR PROGRAM THAT COME DOWN, COME DOWN FROM THE TOP.
SO WE ARE UNDERMINING THEM AS PROFESSIONALS TELLING THEM TO DO THAT.
SO I UNDERSTAND THAT ACHIEVE 3000 IS GREAT FOR SOME KIDS AND SOME KIDS MIGHT NEED MORE MINUTES THAN OTHERS, BUT ALL OF YOU LIKE TO TALK ABOUT EQUITY.
AND EQUITY IS NOT THE SAME FOR EVERY KID.
SO IF ONE KID AT SCHOOL A NEEDS 32 MINUTES OF ACHIEVE 3000, WELL AND WE FIGURE THAT OUT AND THE TEACHER THINKS IT'LL WORK, THEN LET'S DO THAT.
BUT IF ANOTHER KID AT SCHOOL B DOESN'T NEED THAT AND THEY'RE GONNA READ A NOVEL, THEN LET'S LET THEM READ THE NOVEL AND NOT LOOK AT THE SCREEN.
AND MAYBE THEY DON'T NEED TO DO ALL THOSE MINUTES AT HOME BECAUSE THEY'RE GONNA BE WORKING ON SOMETHING ELSE.
SO WHEN WE MANDATE IT FOR EVERY SINGLE STUDENT, WE'RE REALLY NOT SERVING EVERY SINGLE STUDENT EVERY SINGLE DAY IN THE WAY THEY NEED TO BE SERVED.
AND SO WE CAN FIGURE OUT OTHER WAYS TO MAKE THAT WORK.
CUZ I'VE HAD KIDS IN THIS DICTOR FOR MANY YEARS.
MANY I COULD NAME OFF ALL THE PROGRAMS. THINK THROUGH MATH, LEXIE, I MEAN ALL THE DIFFERENT ONES THAT THE TEACHERS DISCOVERED THAT THEY NEEDED.
WHAT WAS THE SPELLING ONE? THERE WAS ANOTHER SPELLING ONE.
SO THERE'S TONS OF PROGRAMS OUT THERE, BUT LET'S NOT MAKE, MAKE THE TEACHERS DO IT THAT STRESSES THEM OUT AND DOESN'T LET THEM TEACH.
ROBINSON WAS TALKING AND I JUST THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT HE HAD SAID AND IT WAS KIND OF GLANCED OVER, BUT YOU WANT 1.3 MILLION TO USE A PROGRAM THAT YOU'VE HAD FOR TWO YEARS AND YOU'VE ONLY SEEN 1.5% GROWTH IN A FOR ACHIEVE 3000, WHICH IS FOR THREE THROUGH 12.
WELL LET'S GO AHEAD AND DO THAT.
LET'S GO AHEAD AND GIVE THE NUMBERS THAT WE, LET'S PRETEND EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH HAS 41003RD THROUGH 12TH GRADERS.
THAT'S ONLY 410 KIDS THAT ARE BENEFITING.
BUT I ALSO WANT YOU TO THINK ABOUT, YES WE DO NEED INTERVENTIONS.
YES, THERE ARE THINGS THAT NEED TO BE DONE, KIDS CANNOT READ, BUT WE'RE PUTTING THEM ON THIS PROGRAM THAT WE'RE REQUIRING YOU TO SIT DOWN AND DO THIS.
WHAT, WHEN ARE THEY GONNA GET THE INTERVENTION THAT THEY ACTUALLY NEED WITH A TEACHER? IF WE CAN PUT AN INTERVENTIONIST BACK INTO SCHOOL, THEY COULD GET THE L I PROGRAMS THAT ARE COLLECTING DUST IN THE DIBELS ROOMS. WE COULD USE THE READING 180 PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE THAT HAVE BEEN COLLECTING DUST AND THE ONLY PEOPLE ENJOYING THE ONLY THING ENJOYING THEM ARE THE, UH, BUGS THAT LIKE TO EAT PAPER.
THERE ARE SO MUCH RESOURCES IN THIS DISTRICT THAT NO ONE'S EVER SAT DOWN AND LOOKED AT.
WHAT PROGRAMS DO WE ACTUALLY HAVE? IS THERE A WAY WE CAN USE SOME OF THOSE? BUT NO, WE'RE JUST GONNA GO AND BUY THE NEXT SHINY CAR EVERY YEAR BECAUSE IT'S PRETTY, IT'S GOT LEATHER SEATS.
IT'S NICE AND WARM IN THE WINTER, BUT I DON'T KNOW CAUSE I'VE BEEN DRIVING THE SAME CAR FOR ABOUT SIX YEARS, SO I GET USED TO IT.
I DROVE MY OTHER CAR TO THE FLOOD, TOOK IT OUT AFTER I MADE THE LAST PAYMENT.
SO LIKE I SAY, I MEAN I JUST, I JUST THINK ABOUT THAT AND IT, I'LL GET THE SMARTY AN SMARTYANTS FOR THE K2 BUT FOR THREE THROUGH 12, IF
[01:00:01]
THEY DON'T MAKE THE 75 PERCENTER BETTER, I CAN'T READ IN THE FIRST PLACE.YOU KNOW, I CAN'T READ, BUT YOU WANT ME TO GET ON THE PROGRAM THEN MAKE ME READ.
I NEED SOMEBODY TO HELP ME BLEND, MAKE SOUNDS.
AND IT MAY WORK FOR SOME CHILDREN WHO ARE READY JUST LIKE SHE SAID, BUT IT'S NOT ONE SIZE FITS ALL.
IF THAT WAS THE CASE, WE WOULD BE AT A DISTRICT CUZ EVERYTHING WE DO WOULD BE PERFECT IF EVERYBODY COULD BENEFIT FROM EVERYTHING WE DO.
THEY DON'T, EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT.
NOT SEEING ANY OTHER PUBLIC COMMENT CARDS.
WE WILL NOW RETURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD.
I'M NOT EVEN GONNA NEED, I'M NOT GONNA NEED FIVE, BUT I'D LIKE TO SAY THIS.
FIRST OF ALL, MS. WARREN AND, AND HER TEAM, MR. ROBINSON, YOU GUYS WORK EXTREMELY HARD AND THERE'S NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT YOU HAVE THE, THE BEST INTEREST OF IKES AT HEART.
UM, MS. ESPINOZA MADE COMMENTS ABOUT THE PROGRAMS AND THERE'S, THERE'S TONS OF PROGRAMS OUT THERE, BUT I HAD A VERY WISE EDUCATOR MAKE A POINT TO ME JUST A FEW DAYS AGO THAT ALL OF THE PROGRAMMING AND ALL THESE THINGS THAT WE HAVE AT OUR DISPOSAL, ONE THING MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN A CHILD LEARNING.
AND THAT IS A GREAT TEACHER, A GREAT TEACHER MAKES THE DIFFERENCE.
BEFORE PROGRAMMING AND ALL THESE THINGS BECAME SO IN VOGUE, YOU HAD GREAT TEACHERS TEACHING CHILDREN HOW TO BE GREAT.
A LOT OF IT WAS DONE WITHOUT EQUITY.
A LOT OF IT WAS DONE IN SCHOOLS THAT WERE UNDERFUNDED, BUT YOU HAD GREAT TEACHERS.
SO IF WE, AND IF YOU'VE GOT A GOOD TEACHER, YOU DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO MAKE THAT TEACHER A GREAT TEACHER.
I'VE GOT GRANDKIDS THAT COULD OPERATE A COMPUTER AT FOUR YEARS OLD.
ALL I HAD TO DO WAS TURN IT ON AND PUT THE PASSWORD IN.
IN 1997, I HAD A COMPUTER IN MY OFFICE, I TURNED IT ON TWICE.
WHAT'S NEEDED ARE GREAT TEACHERS.
AND WHAT ARE WHAT'S NEEDED IS WAYS AND MEANS TO SUPPORT THEM, TO HELP THEM GO FROM GOOD TO GREAT OR FROM GREAT TO GREATER.
THAT'S HOW WE ARE GOING TO SOLVE OUR ISSUES IN THIS DISTRICT.
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO STREAMLINE, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO OPERATE THIS DISTRICT, LIKE A DISTRICT THAT HAD ONLY HAS 30 SOME ODD THOUSAND STUDENTS AND WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PUT GREAT TEACHERS IN FRONT OF THEM AND ALLOW THEM TO TEACH.
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO ALLOW PRINCIPALS A AUTONOMY IN THEIR SCHOOLS TO RUN THEIR SCHOOLS THE WAY THAT THEY KNOW HOW BEST TO RUN THEIR SCHOOLS WITHOUT BEING MICROMANAGED.
A FEW YEARS AGO I WAS AT A SCHOOL THAT WAS A FAILING SCHOOL AND THERE WAS ALL THESE PROGRAMS. THE PRINCIPAL, AND I HOPE SHE'S NOT WATCHING BECAUSE SHE SWORE ME TO SECRECY ABOUT 15 YEARS AGO, SHE WENT INTO HER POCKET AND SHE WENT OUT AND PURCHASED HOOKED ON PHONICS THE YEAR BEFORE.
THE YEAR SHE DID THAT WE BARELY MISSED COMING OUT OF CORRECTIVE ACTION WHEN SHE PUT THE HOOKS THEN PHONICS ON PLACE IN PLACE.
GUESS WHAT HAPPENED THE NEXT YEAR WE CAME OUT OF CORRECTIVE ACTION IN FLYING COLORS AND THEN THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT MOVED THE GOALPOST AND WE WENT RIGHT BACK IN.
BUT SHE HAD GREAT TEACHERS AND YOUR MOTHER, MS. SMITH WAS ONE OF THEM.
WE HAD GREAT TEACHERS IN THAT SCHOOL EDUCATING KIDS THAT WERE FREE AND REDUCED LUNCH FROM, UH, SINGLE PARENT HOMES, NO PARENT HOMES.
WE HAD STUDENTS WHO CAME TO SCHOOL BECAUSE THEY HAD A GREAT TEACHER STANDING IN FRONT OF THEM EVERY DAY WHO WENT TO BATTLE FOR THEM EVERY DAY.
[01:05:01]
WHAT'S GOING TO MAKE THE DIFFERENCE.PROGRAMMING IS ONE THING, IT'S ALL GOOD.
IT'S ALL GREAT BECAUSE THAT'S HOW OUR KIDS LEARN NOWADAYS.
THEY WIRED DIFFERENTLY, BUT IT'S STILL GOING TO TAKE A GREAT TEACHER.
VICE PRESIDENT POWELL, IT'S 29 SECONDS.
UH, I'VE ENTERED THE QUEUE AS WELL AND UM, I JUST, I KNOW THAT, UH, SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE, UH, SEEN SOME OF THE, THE, UH, AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE STATEMENT THAT MYSELF AND MY COLLEAGUE, UH, MR. LEWIS ACTUALLY PRESENTED, UH, TO THE PUBLIC WITHIN THE LAST 24 HOURS.
AND WITHIN THAT, ONE OF THE COMMENTS WAS WHETHER OR NOT WE'RE TAKING A LOOK AT THE RECOMMENDED PROGRAMS THAT ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH OUR STATE THAT COULD POSSIBLY BE AT A FREE COST OR A MORE OF A REDUCED COST.
AND SO THAT'S ONE OF MY, MY RHETORICAL QUESTIONS.
I'M NOT ASKING ANYONE TO ANSWER IT TONIGHT, BUT JUST SIMPLY, ARE WE LOOKING AT COMPARABLE STATE RECOMMENDED PROGRAMS THAT MIGHT BE AT A CHEAPER COST THAN 1.3 MILLION? THEN ALSO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVE SEEN THE DATA FROM SMARTY ANTS.
WE HAVE SEEN THE DATA THAT WE HAVE FROM E V R AND JUST AS COACH MENTIONED AS WELL, I WONDER IF, IF WE ALLOW PRINCIPALS TO USE PART OF THEIR TITLE ONE FUNDING OR WHAT HAVE YOU TO SUPPORT THESE PROGRAMS AND FOR SCHOOLS THAT MAY NOT NEED ACHIEVE 3000, THAT THEY WOULD BE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE A PROGRAM THAT IS FITTING FOR THEIR SCHOOL.
AND SO I JUST HOPE THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE THINK ABOUT MOVING FORWARD THAT WE, YOU KNOW, ASSESS WHAT IS AVAILABLE TO US.
AND THEN AT THE SAME TIME THAT WE GIVE OUR PRINCIPALS SOME AUTONOMY BEHIND WHAT THEY USE AND WHAT THEIR STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES NEED AS WELL.
YOU KNOW, ACHIEVE 3000 MAY NOT BE IT, BUT I ALREADY MIGHT BE IT.
YOU KNOW, SO WITH THAT IN MIND, I THINK THAT THAT'S JUST SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO CONSIDER MOVING FORWARD.
I, I REALLY WANT TO AGREE WITH MY COLLEAGUE, MR. RUSS, THAT YOU KNOW, THERE'S ALWAYS GONNA BE DISAGREEMENT.
YOU CAN'T LET THE PERFECT BE THE ENEMY OF THE GOOD, AND YOU'VE GOTTA MOVE FORWARD WITH SOMETHING.
BUT I THINK AS SEVERAL OTHER MEMBERS HAVE POINTED OUT, ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WE HAVE HERE IS A CENTRALIZED VERSUS DISTRIBUTED NATURE OF THE SYSTEM, RIGHT? AND THE MANDATE, THE CENTRALIZED MANDATE THAT ALL SCHOOLS USE, THIS ONE SINGLE PROGRAM IS ONE THAT SPEAKS TO CENTRALIZED MANAGEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL EDUCATIONAL DECISIONS.
AND, AND IN SOME CASES THAT MIGHT BE NECESSARY.
CERTAINLY CENTRALIZED ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURES ARE IMPORTANT TO, TO ENSURE THAT WE HAVE HIGH QUALITY, BUT CENTRALIZED CONTROL AND MANDATES OF SPECIFIC, UM, UM, UH, PEDAGOGICAL TECHNIQUES OR PEDAGOGICAL TOOLS MAY NOT BE, UH, THE MOST APPROPRIATE.
MAYBE WE SHOULD BE LOOKING INSTEAD TO SAY, LOOK, WELL, WE'LL HAVE CONTRACTS FOR, YOU KNOW, WITH TWO OR THREE DIFFERENT OF THESE PROVIDERS, AND EACH SCHOOL CAN CHOOSE WHICH ONE THEY WANT TO USE, YOU KNOW, UM, AND THAT'S MOST APPROPRIATE FOR THEIR PARTICULAR ENVIRONMENT AND THEIR TEACHERS AND THEIR PRINCIPAL.
UM, MAYBE WE, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE HAVE TO BE VERY FRUGAL FISCALLY RIGHT NOW, RIGHT? WE ARE NOT A WEALTHY SCHOOL SYSTEM.
WE, WE, UM, NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT IF THERE ARE FREE RESOURCES THAT WE CAN USE INDIVIDUAL TEACHERS CAN USE LIKE NEWSELA.
THAT, THAT MS. MATTHEWS TALKED ABOUT, UM, THAT WE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THOSE WHERE WE CAN.
AND SO WE NEED TO, WE'RE GONNA SPEND A LARGE SUM OF MONEY, WHICH, YOU KNOW, PER STUDENT IS NOT A LARGE SUM OF MONEY, BUT COLLECTIVELY IT'S A LARGE SUM OF MONEY.
UM, UM, UM, AND IT'S, IT'S NOT THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, MR. RUSS IS CERTAINLY CORRECT.
AT 1.3 MILLION IS NOT GONNA, YOU KNOW, MAGICALLY ALLOW US TO, TO, TO FUND A, A HUGE TEACHER PAY RAISE OR, OR, OR, YOU KNOW, KEEP ALL THE ESSER PROGRAMS, BUT A MILLION HERE, A MILLION THERE.
TO PARAPHRASE RUSS LONG, PRETTY SOON YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT REAL MONEY.
AND SO WE'VE GOTTA HAVE THAT MINDSET IN EVERYTHING THAT WE DO.
UM, AND SO I THINK WITH THAT IN MIND, I'M, I'M, I'M NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO SUPPORT, UM, THIS CONTRACT COMBINED WITH MY CONCERN THAT WE HAVEN'T ACTUALLY EVER, FROM THE BEGINNING DONE A REAL COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF WHAT THE BEST TOOL WOULD BE.
EVEN IF WE WERE GOING TO DECIDE APPROPRIATELY DECENTRALIZE THIS FUNCTION, WE SHOULD BE, YOU KNOW, SHOULD HAVE FROM THE BEGINNING BEEN VERY MUCH MORE OPEN AND LOOKING AT ALL OF THE DIFFERENT OPTIONS.
AND I, I JUST DON'T FUNDAMENTALLY BELIEVE WE WERE.
[01:10:01]
YOU, MR. RUSS.I'D LIKE TO MOVE TO TABLE THIS ITEM UNTIL THE NEXT REGULAR BOARD MEETING.
IT HAS BEEN MOVED BY MR. RUSS TO TABLE, UH, ITEM TWO, UH, UNTIL THE NEXT BOARD MEETING.
IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND? OKAY.
IT HAS BEEN SECONDED BY MR. LEWIS.
WOULD WAS, UH, MR. RUSS ONE OF THE, WITH THE SECOND ON THE ORIGINAL MOTION? OH YES.
I'D BE WILLING, IF SOMEBODY OFFERS THAT UP AS A FRIENDLY, I'D BE WILLING TO, UH, ACCEPT IT.
I'LL OFFER THAT AS A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT.
OKAY, SO, UH, CONSIDERING THAT WE WILL NOW ENTERTAIN A VOTE, SINCE THAT WAS A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT, THAT WE WOULD TABLE THIS ITEM UNTIL THE NEXT BOARD MEETING THAT'S TABLED UNTIL THE NEXT REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD.
SO THE NEXT REGULAR MEETING WOULD BE, UM, JULY JULY'S REGULAR MEETING.
ARE WE VOTING TO TABLE IT OR ARE WE VOTING ON IT? WE'RE VOTING TO TABLE IT.
CUZ DOESN'T, IT DOESN'T SAY THAT, DOES IT? IT SAYS, IT SAYS MOTION TO DEFER REQUEST.
[F.3. Professional Services Contract: Amplify]
BUSINESS PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT AMPLIFY CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT BETWEEN THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND AMPLIFY IN THE AMOUNT OF $22,200 TO SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DOUBLES ASSESSMENTS AND RELATED SERVICES FOR 2023.SCHOOL YEAR STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE GENERAL FUND.
UH, MS. KOSKI? THANK YOU MS. POWELL.
THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK ON THIS ITEM.
A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT.
WE HAD TO DO THE ADD-ON LAST SCHOOL YEAR TO ADD ON GRADE FOUR FOR THE LITERACY ASSESSMENT.
THIS IS THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONTRACT.
THIS IS THE COMPANION PIECE, MR. RUST, YOU SPOKE TO MY HEART A MINUTE AGO.
UH, SO THIS IS WHAT TRAINS OUR TEACHERS ON HOW TO ADMINISTER THE, THE VERSION OF DIBELS THAT WE USE, AS WELL AS THE MCLASS INTERVENTION THAT COMES IN BETWEEN THE ASSESSMENT CYCLES.
SO THE PRODUCT, THE RETURN ON THE INVESTMENT, I HOPE, UH, YOU'RE SEEING IN YOUR HOUSE RIGHT NOW THROUGH YOUR, THROUGH YOUR OWN CHILD.
WE'RE FOLLOWING A TRAIN THE TRAINER MODEL.
AND THE NEXT 40, 30 TO 45 DAYS, EVERY PRINCIPAL WILL TURN IN A NAME TO ACCOUNTABILITY OF WHO THEIR DIBELS COORDINATOR IS, WHO THEIR LEAD PERSON IS, WHO THEIR A C T PERSON IS AND SO FORTH.
WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO WITH THE AMPLIFY TEAM IS WE'RE GONNA BRING IN OUR LEADS AT EACH SCHOOL AS WELL AS OUR DISTRICT LEADS.
THAT'S OUR FIRST INITIAL TRAINING.
WE'LL DO THE ASSESSMENT THE FIRST 30 DAYS OF SCHOOL, THEN WE'LL BRING THOSE LEADS BACK BEFORE THE 45TH DAY FOR THAT M-CLASS TRAINING.
UH, HOW DO YOU DO THE INTERVENTIONS IN BETWEEN? I HAVE SIX DAYS TO PLAY WITH AFTER THAT, THAT WE WILL KEEP IN OUR POCKET TO USE AS WE NEED AFTER EACH ASSESSMENT CYCLE.
DO WE NEED TO GO INTO THE DATA ANALYSIS? IS THERE A PARTICULAR AREA WHERE FOLKS ARE STRUGGLING WITH? PLEASE KNOW THAT THIS CONTRACT IS THE MINIMAL PACKAGE THAT YOU CAN PURCHASE FROM AMPLIFY, BECAUSE WE'RE IN YEAR TWO, BUT I APPRECIATED YOUR COMMENTS EARLIER, MR. ROSS, THAT EVEN IN YEAR TWO, THE FIRST YEAR YOU'RE LEARNING TO FLY THE PLANE.
NOW IT'S LIKE, OH, WHAT DOES THIS BUTTON, WHAT DOES THIS DO? THERE ARE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO GET BETTER AT.
SO WE'RE DOING A GRADUAL RELEASE MODEL WHERE WE'RE SCALING BACK.
AND SO IF WE DON'T NEED THE DAYS, WE DON'T USE THEM.
WE DON'T GET CHARGED FOR THEM.
AND SO THIS IS ASKING YOU TO ALLOW US UP TO $22,000 TO DO THAT JOB EMBEDDED PROFESSIONAL LEARNING SO THAT WE CAN SUPPORT OUR TEACHERS WITH PRODUCT IMPLEMENTATION.
UH, OUR DIBEL SCORES THAT BECOME PUBLIC, THEY'RE PART OF OUR KPIS THAT REALLY SPEAKS TO THE RETURN ON THIS INVESTMENT AS WELL AS AMPLIFY DOES A GOOD JOB OF, UM, QUALITATIVELY GATHERING DATA
[01:15:01]
FROM TEACHERS AFTER EACH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SESSION.HOW DID IT GO? WHAT DO YOU NEED NEXT TIME? AS A MATTER OF FACT, ONE OF THOSE LAST SESSIONS FOR THIS SCHOOL YEAR WILL TAKE PLACE NEXT TUESDAY WITH DISTRICT STAFF.
WELL, WE'LL EVALUATE WHAT WORKED WELL, WHAT DIDN'T WORK WELL, WE'LL GO THROUGH OUR DATA AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL, BUT THEY'RE ALSO GONNA BRING IN NATIONAL COMPARISONS FOR US SO THAT WE CAN USE THAT DATA TO PLAN FORWARD FOR NEXT YEAR.
SO I'LL PAUSE THERE CAUSE I TRY TO BE, BE BRIEF MS. POWELL TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS OR ANY AREAS I DIDN'T TOUCH ON.
SO WE WILL NOW ENTERTAIN A MOTION FOR ITEM THREE.
IT HAS BEEN MOVED BY MR. MARTIN AND SECONDED BY MR. LEWIS.
AND ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD? OKAY, SEEING NONE, WE WILL NOW TURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC.
22,000 IS A LOT LESS THAN 1.3 MILLION.
AND IT SAYS GENERAL FUND, YOU HAVE A THREE OR 400 PAGE GENERAL FUND BOOK.
YOU WOULD BE NICE IF THE ADMINISTRATION WOULD'VE ADDED THREE OR FOUR MORE WORDS SO YOU COULD TELL WHERE IN THE GENERAL FUND THIS WILL COME FROM AND MADE THAT A STANDARD PRACTICE.
SEEING NO OTHER COMMENTS, COMMENT CARDS.
UH, WE WILL NOW RETURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD AND, UM, SEEING NONE, WE WILL NOW ENTERTAIN A VOTE.
[F.4. Professional Services Contracts: Workforce Development]
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACTS WORK FOR, I APOLOGIZE.ITEM THREE, UH, PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT.
AMPLIFY DID PASS FOR THE RECORD.
ITEM FOUR, PROFESSIONAL SERVICES.
CONTRACT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT BETWEEN THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND THE FOLLOWING.
A DEFINE CAREERS IN THE AMOUNT OF $250,650 TO PROVIDE A DIGITAL WORK-BASED LEARNING PLATFORM THAT SUPPORTS STUDENT CAREER EXPLORATION, LESSONS, ACTIVITIES, AND EXPERIENCE REFLECTIONS IN GRADES FOUR THROUGH 12.
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, FUNDING SOURCE CAREER DEVELOPMENT FUND CDF B U SCIENCE, SEAMLESS WBL IN THE AMOUNT OF $24,734 AND 20 CENTS TO PROVIDE A DIGITAL WORKFORCE EXPERIENCE PLATFORM TO DOCUMENT STUDENT WORK-BASED EXPERIENCE AND COORDINATE BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, FUNDING SOURCE CAREER DEVELOPMENT FUNDS, C D F MS. SCOTT SPALDING.
BOARD MEMBERS, UM, FOR DIVINE CAREERS, OBVIOUSLY IT'S A CAREER EXPLORATION, UM, OPPORTUNITY.
UM, THE SELECTION PROCESS WAS MANAGED WITH THE CHAMBER AND A COMMUNITY EFFORT OVER FIVE MONTHS.
THERE WERE PRINCIPALS, TEACHERS, PARENTS, BUSINESS OWNERS, UM, MANY PEOPLE FROM CAREER AND TECH EDUCATION THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE PROCESS TO BE ABLE TO SELECT THE PROGRAMMING.
THIS IS THE ONLY K12 PLATFORM FOR CAREER EXPLORATION.
UM, ONCE THE PROGRAMMING WAS SELECTED, WE BROUGHT IT TO THE BOARD.
THE BOARD APPROVED IT, AND WE BEGAN IN FEBRUARY OF THIS YEAR.
SO WE'RE BRINGING IT BACK BECAUSE OUR CONTRACT IS ACTUALLY THROUGH DECEMBER, BUT THAT MEANS WE WOULD BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, RIGHT? AND SO THE GOAL WAS TO BRING IT AND, UM, HAVE A YEAR AND A HALF APPROVED SO THAT WE CAN GET THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF NOT ONLY 2324, BUT 24, 25.
OBVIOUSLY WE CAN MAKE AMENDMENTS TO THAT PER THE BOARD'S DIRECTION.
SO WHATEVER YOUR PLEASURE IS, WE CAN MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
I'LL TELL YOU THE CAREER PROGRESSION, UM, THROUGH DEFINED LEARNING.
[01:20:01]
AGAIN, IT'S A PLATFORM FOR K THROUGH 12.CURRENTLY, EBR R IS USING IT FOUR THROUGH 12.
THERE'S BEEN OVER 80,000 USES.
80,000 STUDENTS HAVE GONE IN TO LOOK AT THE PLATFORM FOR CAREER AWARENESS OR BUILDING OUT THEIR PORTFOLIO TO UNDERSTAND THE TYPES OF CAREERS OR THE TYPES OF PATHWAYS THAT THEY'RE INTERESTED IN.
MOST OF OUR USE HAS BEEN FROM THE HIGH SCHOOL, BUT AGAIN, EVERY SCHOOL HAS BEEN ABLE TO USE IT.
THE FIRST MONTH THERE WERE OVER 10,000 OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO GO INTO THE PLATFORM FOR USE.
WITH THE SIX THROUGH 12TH GRADE EXPERIENCES, THERE'S A LIST OF 16 CLUSTERS OF, UM, CAREER INDUSTRIES.
AND THAT EQUATES TO OVER 75 JOBS THAT ARE TRULY AVAILABLE NOW WITHIN THIS COMMUNITY FOR STUDENTS TO EXPLORE AND BECOME AWARE AND FAMILIAR WITH AND TO UNDERSTAND.
THERE'S HANDS-ON CAREER EXPERIENCES AND THE STUDENTS PREPARE WITH SOFT SKILL UTILIZATION.
AND THERE'S A FULL ASSESSMENT NOT ONLY OF THEIR VALUES, BUT THEIR SKILLS AND THEIR INTERESTS.
WE LITERALLY HAD A MEETING AT THE CHAMBER EARLIER THIS WEEK AND BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY WAS ASKING, WE'RE SUPPORTING THE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM.
HOW DO WE KNOW THE STUDENTS ARE PLACED IN A CAREER THAT THEY HAVE INTERESTS AND APTITUDE FOR? AND SO DEFYING CAREERS DOES THAT, I GUESS I'LL, I WON'T BELABOR MUCH OF THIS, BUT I'LL SAY THAT SOME OF THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT IS OBVIOUSLY STUDENTS UNDERSTANDING WHAT CAREER OFFERINGS ARE, UNDERSTANDING EVEN FIVE TO SIX LAYERS DEEP INTO CAREERS.
IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT LIBERAL ARTS AND MANAGEMENT AND YOU'RE INTERESTED IN ARCHITECTURE, YOU CAN GO DOWN THROUGH CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AND WHAT HAVE YOU.
AND SO IT'S MULTIPLE LAYERS THAT THE STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO EXPLORE.
THERE'S GUIDED EXPLORATION WITH THE TEACHERS AND THEN THE STUDENTS ARE ABLE TO EXPLORE ON THEIR OWN AT ANY TIME THEY HAVE A LOGIN AND THEY CAN EXPLORE ON THEIR OWN.
THE, UM, SCOPE AND SEQUENCE ARE ALIGNED WITH OUR FIVE CAREER INDUSTRIES THAT THE CHAMBER HAS WORKED WITH AND INVESTIGATED IN THE COMMUNITY TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT.
THE OTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR US IS THE SKILLS INVENTORY.
AND YOU CAN SEE THE SLIDE ON THE BOARD, UM, THE HANDS-ON PROJECT, YOU KNOW, IT'S RELATED TO PROJECT-BASED LEARNING.
THE TEACHERS HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN A MONTHLY MEETING IF THEY NEED ANY SUPPORT FROM THE COMPANY, THE COMPANY OFFERS THAT FREE OF CHARGE.
AND THEN THERE'S ACTUALLY CURRICULUMS THAT ARE LISTED, EVEN ALIGNED WITH ACTIVITIES, BOOKS THAT, UM, WOULD BE AGE APPROPRIATE FOR THE KIDS TO LEARN THE SOFT SKILLS AND WHAT HAVE YOU.
UM, WE HAVE, UH, STUDENTS CREATING THE STUDENT PORTFOLIO.
AND SO OUR SUMMER INTERNS WERE ABLE TO BEGIN JUST THIS WEEK.
THIS WAS LITERALLY THEIR FIRST WEEK WORKING IN BUSINESSES AND THEY WERE ABLE TO PROVIDE NOT ONLY A COVER LETTER AND A RESUME, BUT THEY WERE ALSO ABLE TO PROVIDE THEIR STUDENT PORTFOLIOS SHOWING THEIR INTEREST IN THE CAREER INDUSTRIES WHERE THEY WORKED.
AND THEN THE LAST THING IS THAT THE GRADUATE WILL BE ABLE TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT IT.
OBVIOUSLY OUR SENIORS, THIS WAS THEIR FIRST TIME WORKING WITH IT, A RISING JUNIORS AS WELL.
BUT OVER THE YEARS, STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO GO BACK.
TEACHERS, OUR CAREER AND TECH ED TEACHERS, OUR INTERNSHIP TEACHERS WILL BE ABLE TO GO BACK TO SEE IF THERE WERE MORE INTEREST IN A PARTICULAR FIELD, MAYBE MORE INTEREST IN, UM, TECHNOLOGY AS OPPOSED TO CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURING.
THEN THERE'S GUIDANCE WITH COURSEWORK THAT CAN HAPPEN AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SELECTING PATHWAYS TO DETERMINE WHICH HIGH SCHOOL THE STUDENTS WOULD WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY.
LET US ENTERTAIN A MOTION, UH, ON THIS ITEM.
THAT'S BEEN MOVED BY MR. MARTIN.
AND IT HAS BEEN SECONDED BY MR. BALLOU.
WE WILL NOW ENTER INTO, UH, COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD.
MS. KENNISON MUST BE REALLY QUICK.
I DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR YOU, BUT, UM, WE DON'T HAVE A BUDGET AND WE DON'T HAVE, WE HAVE A MONEY PROBLEM.
UH, SO WE NEED TO STOP SAYING YES TO MORE MONEY.
UM, IF WE DON'T, WE'RE JUST PART OF THE PROBLEM.
WE'RE, WE'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM.
I, YOU MENTIONED SORT OF HOW MANY STUDENTS HAD ACCESSED THIS LIKE ONE TIME, BUT CAN, CAN YOU, HOW, HOW MANY KIDS ARE, ARE ACTUALLY LIKE REALLY USING THIS TO EXPLORE THE THINGS THAT IT'S INTENDED TO HELP THEM EXPLORE? DO WE KNOW THAT? SO WE DO HAVE THAT.
I DON'T HAVE THAT DATA WITH ME, BUT I CAN HAVE THE TEAM SEND IT.
WE CAN PULL IT FROM THE SOFTWARE AND IT SHOWS EACH SCHOOL, IT SHOWS EACH STUDENT, SO WE CAN PULL THE DATA FROM THE SOFTWARE.
AND, AND WE'LL FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE IT PUBLIC FOR DR.
[01:25:01]
SEE ANY OTHERS TO SEE THE ANSWERS AS WELL.UM, AND JUST THIS, THIS IS NOT IN ANY WAY TO LIKE PIGEONHOLE KIDS INTO A PARTICULAR PATH.
THIS IS HELPING THEM EXPLORE THEIR INTERESTS AND IN APTITUDES.
I LIKE WHAT, WHAT YOU'VE BOUGHT TO US.
I MEAN, IT REALLY SOUNDS GOOD.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S BEEN TIMES WHEN I'VE ASKED HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS, WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO NEXT YEAR? AND LOTS OF TIMES THEY DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE.
I THINK THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY NEEDED.
BUT THE THING THAT MOST OF ALL THAT IMPRESSES ME ABOUT IT IS TWO WORDS YOU MENTIONED.
UM, ESPECIALLY IF, IF IF YOU READ AND YOU DO YOUR RESEARCH AND YOUR DATA POST PANDEMIC, EMPLOYERS ARE MORE INTERESTED OR THEY FIND THEMSELVES BECOMING MORE INTERESTED IN PEOPLE WHO POSSESS SOFT SKILLS, WHO CAN WORK IN GROUPS, WHO CAN PROBLEM SOLVE, WHO CAN THINK CRITICALLY, THINK CREATIVELY.
UM, I LIKE THE FACT THAT IT TIES INTO, UH, PATHWAYS AND DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED.
UM, AND WE ALL HAVE HEARD THE HORROR STORIES ABOUT WORKFORCE IN THIS CITY.
YOU KNOW, WHY WE LOSE INDUSTRY, WHY WE LOSE COMPANIES, WHY PEOPLE DON'T COME TO OUR CITY TO SIT UP THEIR BUSINESSES.
I THINK THIS TYPE OF PROGRAM PUTS US ON THE RIGHT TRACK.
UM, JUST THANK YOU FOR ALL THE EFFORT THAT YOU GUYS HAVE PUT INTO THIS.
I HAVE ENTERED INTO THE, UH, QUEUE AS WELL.
I HAVE, UH, I GUESS TWO QUESTIONS.
THE ONE, ONE OF THEM IS, I KNOW THAT YOU MENTIONED, UH, THE STUDENTS THAT ARE IN INTERNSHIPS RIGHT NOW, THAT THEY ARE CREATING THEIR PORTFOLIOS.
IS THIS, UH, PRETTY MUCH THE, THE PLATFORM THAT WE ARE REQUIRING INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS TO USE WITHIN OUR DISTRICT? AND ALSO WITH ATTACHED TO THAT, ARE THERE ADDITIONAL CAREER BASED PLATFORMS THAT WE'RE USING AS WELL? OR IS THIS OUR CENTRAL MAIN PLATFORM THAT WE USE TO GUIDE, UH, CAREER INTEREST? SO YOU'RE HELD A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SEAMLESS.
UM, MY COLLEAGUE CHAD QUINN WILL PRESENT ON THAT, BUT DEFINE CAREERS IS DIFFERENT BECAUSE IT'S EXPLORATION, IT'S UNDERSTANDING, YOU KNOW, WHAT THIS BUSINESS IS, WHAT KIND OF EMPLOYEES ARE NEEDED, YOU KNOW, WHAT DOES THIS CAREER LOOK LIKE? WHAT ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES TO NAVIGATE IN THE CAREER? BECAUSE NOT EVERYBODY'S PATH IS THE SAME.
AND SO THE OTHER PROGRAMS ARE DIFFERENT.
BUT I WILL MENTION THAT DEFINED CAREERS IS THE ONLY K-12 PLATFORM THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO RESEARCH AND FIND WITH OUR, YOU KNOW, BROAD TEAM THAT MEETS CAREER EXPLORATION.
CAN YOU SPEAK TO THE FUNDING SOURCE FOR THIS, THE CAREER DEVELOPMENT FUNDS AND HOW THAT WORKS? SURE.
I'M GONNA INVITE KELLY LOPEZ TO COME UP AND GIVE SOME MORE DETAILS, BUT I'LL START WHILE SHE MAKES HER WAY FORWARD.
AND SO AS PART OF MFP, THERE'S A PERCENTAGE THAT'S OF THAT FUNDING IS, THAT'S ALLOCATED TO CAREER AND TECH ED CAREER DEVELOPMENT.
AND SO THERE'S SPECIAL GUIDELINES THAT THE STATE REQUIRES YOU TO MANAGE THOSE DOLLARS AND HOW YOU USE THOSE FUNDS.
ANYTHING THAT WE SUBMIT HAS TO GO THROUGH A COMMITTEE AND THEN WE SUBMIT IT THROUGH TO MS. LOPEZ TO BE ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD.
AND SHE MANAGES THOSE GUIDELINES, BUT SHE CAN SPEAK TO MORE DETAIL.
SO I DON'T REALLY MANAGE THE GUIDELINES,
SO THE CDF MONEY IS MUCH LIKE YOUR SCA MONEY.
IT IS A, IT'S IN LEVEL FOUR OF YOUR MFP.
YOU GET ABOUT $6 PER EVERY CHILD THAT TAKES A CAREER DEVELOPMENT CLASS IS HOW MUCH YOU GET.
AND IT'S, AND YOU GET 75% UPFRONT.
AND THEN THEY, THEY KIND OF, UM, GIVE YOU THE OTHER 25% AT THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR.
NOW I KNOW THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT GUIDELINES ON HOW YOU CAN USE THESE FUNDS.
UM, MR. NEASE HANDLED ALL OF THAT AND HE WOULD CALL AND HE'S LIKE, YEAH, I CAN DO THIS, THIS, AND THIS.
GREAT, WE'LL DO THIS, THIS, AND THIS.
UM, BUT I KNOW HER STAFF HANDLES WHAT, BUT THAT'S HOW YOU GET THE MONEY.
I JUST WANTED TO GET CLARIFICATION ON, YOU KNOW, HOW AND WHY WE'RE USING THIS TOOL AND, UH, UNDERNEATH THAT FUNDING SOURCE, OBVIOUSLY THERE'S STRICTURES ON HOW WE CAN DO THAT AND WHAT QUALIFIES FOR WHAT WE CAN DO WITH THAT MONEY.
WE CAN'T SAY TAKE, YOU KNOW, $250,000
[01:30:01]
AND SAY WE'RE GONNA USE THAT IN THE GENERAL FUND FOR WHATEVER ELSE WE WANT TO DO.UM, SO I JUST WANTED THAT TO BE ON THE RECORD.
YOU ALRIGHT? WE WILL NOW TURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC.
THERE'S MORE TO EDUCATION THAN TRAINING FOR A JOB.
I'M PUZZLED AS TO WHY THE CHIEF OF OPERATIONS HAS ANYTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH SOMETHING THAT SOUNDS ACADEMIC.
AND UNTIL I HEARD MS. UH LOPEZ SPEAK, I HAD NO IDEA WHERE I WOULD LOOK IN THE BUDGETS.
NOT THAT YOU'VE APPROVED ANY BUDGETS FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT FUNDS.
IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S COMING FROM MFP.
WELL, WHY DOESN'T THE AGENDA ITEMS SAY GENERAL FUND AND THEN MORE SPECIFICALLY SAY WHICH PART OF THE GENERAL FUND THIS WOULD BE SPENT UNDER.
AND SINCE YOU DON'T HAVE A GENERAL FUND BUDGET, YOU SHOULD NOT APPROVE THIS CONTRACT.
EITHER OF THESE CONTRACTS YET.
SEEING NO FURTHER COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC, WE WILL NOW RETURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD.
SEEING NONE, WE WILL ENTERTAIN A VOTE ON ITEM FOUR.
THANK YOU MADAM VICE PRESIDENT.
ARE THEY PUT ON A DIFFERENCE? JUST VOTED? YES.
OKAY, MR. BALO, THANK UH, CONSENT
[G. Consent Agenda]
AGENDA.THE FOLLOWING ITEMS ARE TO BE APPROVED AS PART OF THE CONSENT AGENDA AND ARE CONSIDERED TO BE ROUTINE AND WILL BE ENACTED WITH ONE MOTION.
THERE WILL BE NO SEPARATE DISCUSSION OF ITEMS UNLESS A BOARD MEMBER.
SO REQUEST IN WHICH EVENT THE ITEM WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND CONSIDERED AS AN ITEM ON THE REGULAR AGENDA FOR A SEPARATE VOTE PROCEEDING.
THE LAST ITEM ON THE REGULAR AGENDA I NUMBER TWO.
ADVERTISING OF BIDS 2023 TO 2024.
CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST TO AUTHORIZE STAFF TO ADVERTISE, RECEIVE AND AWARD BIDS FOR MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES AND SERVICES THROUGH JUNE 30TH, 2024 TO THE LOWEST RESPONSIBLE BIDDER SLASH PROPOSER MEETING SPECIFICATIONS AND STATE AND FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR QUOTES AND FORMAL INVITATIONS TO BID.
ITEM NUMBER THREE, ADVERTISING AN OFFICIAL JOURNAL 2023 TO 2024.
CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST TO, FOR THE APPROVAL TO SELECT THE ADVOCATE AS THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING OF THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2023 TO 2024.
ITEM NUMBER 4, 20 23 TO 2024 RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.
CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST TO APPROVE THE FOLLOWING RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.
RECOMMENDATIONS A TO AUTHORIZE THE ADMINISTRATION TO APPROVE THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE PROGRAM.
POLICY RENEWAL PACKAGE FOR THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR THE 20 23 20 24 FISCAL YEAR.
AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS.
B TO APPROVE A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE BOARD PRESIDENT AND THE SUPERINTENDENT TO EXECUTE AND SIGN ALL DOCUMENTS TO REJECT UNINSURED MOTORS COVERAGE IN CONNECTION WITH THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEMS AUTOMOBILE LIABILITY COVERAGE AND ITS SELF-INSURED RETENTION PROGRAM FOR THE 20 23 20 24 FISCAL YEAR.
C TO AUTHORIZE THE DISTRICT STAFF TO ISSUE AN R F Q FOR AN INDEPENDENT THIRD PARTY REVIEW OF OUR ENTIRE RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAM TO BE COMPLETED BY DECEMBER 31ST, 2023.
THE STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE, UH, ITEM FIVE, EARLY CHILDHOOD GRADE EXPANSION.
CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE FOLLOWING, A CRESS AND WESTMINSTER MICROCENTER EXPANSION TO SERVE INFANTS TO TWO YEAR OLDS.
[01:35:02]
B.OPEN MICROCENTER AT NORTHEAST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO SERVE INFANT TO THREE YEAR OLD STUDENTS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HIGH PERFORMING LICENSED CHILDCARE PROVIDERS IN THE EBR R EARLY CHILDHOOD COMMUNITY NETWORK.
ITEM NUMBER SIX, GRANTS EARLY CHILDHOOD CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE FOLLOWING 2023.
A CECIL J CARD EARLY CHILDHOOD LA FOUR AND THE AMOUNT OF 7,200, EXCUSE ME.
$7,248,420 B NON-PUBLIC SCHOOLS EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT N S E C D AND THE AMOUNT OF $814,680.
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT ITEM NUMBER SEVEN, RFP SELECTION.
CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST TO ACCEPT THE RECOMMENDATION FROM THE RFP COMMITTEE AND AUTHORIZE THE SUPERINTENDENT AND STAFF TO EXECUTE THE CONTRACT WITH IMAGINE LEARNING EDGE ANNUITY.
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT DUE TO ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE GENERAL FUND ITEM A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT, A A V I D CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF A PER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT BETWEEN THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND A V I D CENTER IN THE AMOUNT OF $76,591 TO PROVIDE INDIVIDUAL GRADUATION PLANNING SUPPORT AND PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES.
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT IS STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND DEPLOY EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT FUNDING SOURCE REDESIGN.
ITEM NINE, PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT DREAMBOX.
CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT IN THE AMOUNT OF 544,000 TO PROVIDE A DIGITAL MATHEMATICS PROGRAM.
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE ESSER THREE.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR EXCELLENCE AND TEACHING IN I E T CONSIDERATION FOR A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT BETWEEN THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND N I E T IN THE AMOUNT OF $427,500 TO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT BEST PRACTICES, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE REDESIGN.
ITEM 11, CONTRACT RENEWAL UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION CONTROLS L L C.
CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE CONTRACT RENEWAL BETWEEN THE, THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION CONTROL SYSTEMS L L C U C C S AND THE AMOUNT OF 144,000 PER YEAR FOR A PERIOD OF THREE YEARS BEGINNING JULY 1ST, 2023 THROUGH JUNE 30TH, 2026.
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE FUNDING SOURCES DISBURSEMENT CLEARING FUND.
ITEM 12, CONTRACT AGREEMENT BABEL CON CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF A TWO YEAR CONTRACT RENEWAL BETWEEN THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND BE BE ABLE EDUCATION INCORPORATED IN THE AMOUNT OF $121,652 FOR THE CAREER BASED LITERACY PLATFORM.
THE FOR THE FOLLOWING MSAP SCHOOLS, BILL DALE, DEL RAY ELEMENTARY, PARK, FOREST ELEMENTARY PARK FOREST MIDDLE, AND BEL AIR HIGH SCHOOLS STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT FUND, UH, FUNDING SOURCED MSS AAP GRANT I ITEM 13, POLICY J E D BID AND QUOTATIONS CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF POLICY J E D BID AND QUOTATIONS.
ITEM 14, SEMI-ANNUAL FINANCIAL TAX PLAN UPDATE CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE ACTUAL DECEMBER, 2020 2, 20 22 SEMI-ANNUAL FINANCIAL TAX PLAN UPDATE AND THE 20 22 20 23 REVISED BUDGET FOR PROPOSITIONS ONE, TWO, AND THREE.
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE ITEM 15 BID.
WOODLAWN HIGH CLASSROOM EDITION.
CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE AUTHORIZATION FOR STAFF TO DESIGN, ADVERTISE EXCEPT THE LOW BID MEETING THE CONTRACT DOCUMENTS AND TO MAKE THE AWARD OF A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE WOODLAWN HIGH SCHOOL
[01:40:01]
CLASSROOM EDITION AND RENOVATION PROJECT AS SPECIFIED IN THE, A PLAN TO IMPROVE FACILITIES SLASH TECHNOLOGY DISCIPLINE AND COMPENSATION IN THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM KNOWN AS THE PLAN AS REVISED THROUGH FEBRUARY 22ND, 2018, OR REJECT ANY AND ALL BIDS FOR JUST CAUSE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOUISIANA PUBLIC BID LAW LOUISIANA REVISED STATUTE.TITLE 38, CHAPTER 10, ITEM 16, LITIGATION CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE RECOMMENDATION FROM GWEN SHALIN, GENERAL COUNSEL, EASTBOUND PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND THE MOUNT, UH, TRAINED BOWIE INDIVIDUAL AND, UM, ON BEHALF OF THE MINOR CHILD VERSUS EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AT AL.
DOCKET NUMBER 7 0 5 6 65 SECTION 29 19TH JDC.
THAT CONCLUDES THE CONSENT LEGITIMATE ITEMS. I SO MOVE.
UM, IS IT WITHIN, UH, I GUESS PROTOCOL FOR ME TO CALL FOR THE ITEMS THAT NEED TO BE PULLED? OKAY.
SO ARE THERE ANY ITEMS THAT NEED TO BE PULLED FROM YOU? CAN WE GET A SECOND? YES.
UH, MADAM VICE PRESIDENT, I'D LIKE TO PULL ITEMS NUMBER SEVEN, EIGHT, AND NINE FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA TO BE DISCUSSED SEPARATELY.
SO IT HAS BEEN MOVED BY MR. BALLOU AND THEN MR. MARTIN HAS PULLED ITEM SEVEN, EIGHT, AND NINE AND IT HAS BEEN SECONDED BY, UH, MS. STEWART.
OKAY, WE WILL NOW ENTERTAIN COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD ON ALL ITEMS EXCEPT SEVEN, EIGHT, AND NINE.
SEEING NONE, WE WILL NOW TURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC.
FANNING, I HAVE A COMMENT ON ITEM NUMBER FIVE, THE MICROCENTER EXPANSION.
THE ONLY PREVIOUS TIME A RELATED TOPIC CAME TO THE BOARD THAT I COULD FIND WAS IN APRIL, 2021 WHEN THE BOARD VOTED DOWN CREATION OF MICRO CENTERS AT WESTMINSTER AND CREST WORTH, AND SOMEHOW THEY CAME INTO EXISTENCE ANYWAY.
YOU HAVEN'T HAD A SERIOUS DISCUSSION ABOUT WHETHER IT MAKES SENSE TO BE PRIVATIZED IN PRE-K SERVICES IN OUR SCHOOL BUILDINGS.
I THINK THIS IS A VERY BAD STEP DOWN A SLIPPERY SLOPE.
NUMBER SIX, THE EARLY CHILD GRANT.
BE SURE THAT THE ADMINISTRATION DOESN'T TAKE AN INCH AND ASSUME YOU GAVE THEM A MILE BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT APPROVING THE ALLOCATION OF THE GRANT.
WITH RESPECT TO NUMBER 13, I THINK IT'S A DANGEROUS AND BAD IDEA FOR YOU TO DOUBLE THE SUPERINTENDENT'S, UH, AUTHORITY TO SPEND MONEY WITHOUT BOARD APPROVAL.
WITH RESPECT TO NUMBER 14, I'M JUST REMINDED THAT THE, UH, PROPOSITION ONE ANNUAL BUDGET IS NOT IN THE SPECIAL FUND BOOK AND THAT'S A PROBLEM.
AND WITH RESPECT TO NUMBER 15, THE CONSTRUCTION MANAGER DOESN'T KNOW HOW MANY BUILD HOW MANY ROOMS THAT YOU'LL BE BUYING FOR THE WOODLAWN EXPANSION.
SO I GUESS THE TAX PLAN SAYS SPEND MONEY SO YOU SPEND MONEY.
I THINK ALL OF THOSE COULD HAVE STOOD, UM, IT WOULD'VE BEEN REASONABLE TO PULL THOSE AND MAYBE IF SEVEN, EIGHT AND NINE WEREN'T SO OUTRAGEOUS AND YOU WEREN'T ALREADY EXHAUSTED FROM TRYING TO LOOK AT A BUDGET THAT HASN'T BEEN, UH, ACTUALLY PREPARED BY THE ADMINISTRATION YET.
MAYBE YOU COULD LOOK AT SOME OF THESE OTHER THINGS A LITTLE MORE CAREFULLY.
THANK YOU MS. MATTHEWS TO SPEAK TO ITEM G FIVE.
CAN I CHANGE THAT TO THE
UM, I I HOPE THAT SOMEBODY PULLS IF IT'S NOT TOO LATE.
UM, WE NEED TO BE WATCHING EVERY SINGLE PENNY THAT WE ARE SPENDING.
FINNEY THAT CHANGING THE AMOUNT THAT CAN BE SPENT WITHOUT IT COMING BEFORE THE BOARD AT THIS POINT IS, UM, NOT WISE PHYSICALLY.
SEEING NO FURTHER COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC, WE WILL NOW RETURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD ON THE CONSENT
[01:45:01]
AGENDA WITH THE EXCEPTIONS OF ITEM SEVEN, EIGHT, AND NINE.SEEING NONE, WE WILL NOW ENTERTAIN A VOTE.
[G.7. RFP Selection: Blended Learning Software]
SEVEN, R F P SELECTION, BLENDED LEARNING SOFTWARE.CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST TO ACCEPT THE RECOMMENDATION FROM THE R F P COMMITTEE AND AUTHORIZE THE SUPERINTENDENT AND STAFF TO EXECUTE THE CONTRACT WITH IMAGINE LEARNING EDGE ANNUITY STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE GENERAL FINE IS, UH, THERE IS A PRESENTATION, UH, IN REGARDS TO THIS ITEM, MR. JAMES, MR. BRICKHOUSE? MR. CLEMENTS? MR. JA, UM, EXCUSE ME, MR. SMITH.
MR. SYLVIE, IF YOU COULD COME FORWARD PLEASE.
YOU ALL, I HAVE TO PUT HER ON BLAST.
MS. SYLVIE IS ONE OF MY MENTEES.
I WAS HER SUPERVISING TEACHER WHEN SHE DID HER STUDENT TEACHING AND NOW SHE'S JUST A PART OF MY FAMILY.
MY NAME IS JAMES SMITH AND I WORK IN THE OFFICE OF GRADUATION EXCELLENCE.
AND SPEAKING OF, UM, THE EDGENUITY, WHICH IS IMAGINE LEARNING, UM, JUST TO KIND OF GIVE YOU AN UPDATE AS FAR AS WHAT WE'RE GETTING AS FAR AS OUR BANG FOR OUR BUCK, UM, THERE WERE 1,219 STUDENTS ENROLLED IN 1,715 CREDIT RECOVERY COURSES, INITIAL CREDIT RECOVERY COURSES, I MEAN INITIAL CREDIT RECOVERY COURSES, UM, AND ALSO USING THOSE, UM, MEANS FOR OUR BACK ON TRACK STUDENTS AS WELL AS OUR SUMMER SCHOOL STUDENTS.
AND SO WE'RE LOOKING AT HOW WE ARE ACTUALLY MAKING THESE THINGS HAPPEN FOR OUR STUDENTS.
UM, ONE, WE LOOKED AT A REPORT THAT SAID THAT AT ALMOST 2000 STUDENTS THAT GRADUATED THIS PAST MAY, 1053 OF THOSE STUDENTS, UM, HAD SOME FORM OF CREDIT RECOVERY DURING THE FOUR YEARS THAT THEY WERE, OR THE EIGHT SEMESTERS THAT THEY WERE IN HIGH SCHOOL.
AND SO THAT'S MORE THAN HALF OF OUR STUDENTS, UM, THAT USE THAT PLATFORM IN ORDER TO, UM, USE THOSE CREDITS TO OR RECOUP THOSE CREDITS TO GRADUATE ON TIME.
UM, WE ARE ALSO LOOKING AT, UM, THERE ARE INSTANCES WHERE WE ARE CHARLOTTE, WE HAVE SHORTAGES IN SCHOOLS WHERE THERE'S NOT A TEACHER THERE OR THAT SUBJECT IS NOT BEING TAUGHT IN THAT SYSTEM.
AND SO WE USE THIS PLATFORM TO ALSO HAVE THOSE KIDS STILL BE ABLE TO, UM, BE ON TRACK FOR THEIR, UM, CARNEGIE UNITS TOWARD GRADUATION, UM, WITHOUT HAVING TO, UM, TRANSPORT THEM TO OTHER SCHOOLS OR JUST NOT HAVE THOSE CREDITS THERE.
SO EDGENUITY HAS ACTUALLY SERVED OUR, UM, DISTRICT.
WE ARE NOW UP, UM, AS FAR AS THE AVERAGE COMPLETION, WE WENT FROM, UH, 22% COMPLETION LAST YEAR.
WE ARE UP TO 65% COMPLETION AS FAR AS OUR STUDENTS REALLY USING THE PROGRAM TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE RECOUPING THOSE CREDITS.
UM, AND THAT COMES FROM THE, A LOT OF THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE'VE PUT IN PLACE AS FAR AS THE OFFICE OF GRADUATION EXCELLENCE, WHETHER IT'S BEEN EXCELLENT MONITORING OF WHAT, OF WHAT'S HAPPENING WITHIN OUR SCHOOLS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE FACILITATORS ARE MONITOR WHERE THE KIDS ARE ACTUALLY DOING IT DOING IN THOSE CLASSES.
IT WAS ACTUALLY PUT ON THEIR SCHEDULES.
SO THEY'RE NOT KIND OF TAKING SEVERAL CLASSES AT ONE TIME AND THEY'RE KIND OF NEARLY WILLY JUST KIND OF TAKING ALL THE COURSES AT ONE TIME AND REALLY NOT GETTING THROUGH WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO.
UM, WE ARE ACTUALLY HELPING THOSE STUDENTS TO REALLY ATTAIN THOSE CREDITS, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE WORKING TOWARD GRADUATION.
MAY WE ENTERTAIN A MOTION ON ITEM SEVEN? OKAY.
IT HAS BEEN MOVED BY BY MS. STEWART AND SECONDED BY MR. LEWIS.
AND COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD, MR. LEWIS? I SUPPORTED THIS.
I MEAN, I SUPPORT THIS, THIS ITEM BECAUSE I'VE SEEN FIRSTHAND WHAT EDGENUITY CAN DO FOR A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT WHO'S FALLING BEHIND.
A LOT OF KIDS, ESPECIALLY THEY COME TO HIGH SCHOOL, NINTH GRADERS, IT'S SUCH A WEIRD GREAT YEAR FOR 'EM, KIND OF ACADEMICS KIND OF FALLS OFF CAUSE THEY'RE, THEY'RE INVOLVED IN, YOU KNOW, WHO, WHO DO I WANNA HANG OUT WITH SOCIALLY? WHO, WHO, WHO'S THE NEW CROWD I WANNA BE AROUND? AND THEY, THEY, THEY FALL BEHIND.
THEY, THEY, THEY, THEY FAIL SOME CLASSES.
SO EDGENUITY IN MY EXPERIENCE, HAS BEEN REALLY GOOD AT HELPING KIDS GET BACK ON TRACK ONCE THEY GET OFF A LITTLE BIT.
SO I THINK EDGENUITY IS A, A, A GREAT TOOL TO HAVE IN OUR SCHOOLS.
[01:50:01]
THE QUEUE AS WELL.I JUST WANTED TO SHARE AS A PARENT, UM, I WANNA SAY MAYBE AROUND THE TIME OF COVID, I WAS WORKING IN PORT ALLEN AND UH, I ACTUALLY, UH, DECIDED TO MOVE MY SON TO PORT ALLEN TEMPORARILY.
AND, UH, HE WAS AN EIGHTH GRADER WHO WAS TAKING GEOMETRY AT SCOTLANDVILLE MIDDLE.
AND THEN I MOVED HIM TO PORT ALLEN TO BE CLOSER TO ME.
AND THERE WAS NO GEOMETRY TEACHER AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL.
AND SO THEY ASSIGNED HIM INGENUITY.
AND FROM THERE, NOT ONLY DID HE PASS THE CLASS, BUT HE PASSED THE LEAP BY HAVING INGENUITY THERE FOR ATION.
SO, AND I'LL SAY THIS, HE DIDN'T GET SUPPORT FROM HIS MAMA BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW, GEOMETRY, THAT WAS MY WORST SUBJECT.
SO, YOU KNOW, I ALWAYS TELL HIM THAT HE WAS SMARTER THAN ME BECAUSE HE'S ABLE TO TAKE THAT CLASS WITH THAT PLATFORM AND ACTUALLY HAVE THE DATA TO SUPPORT THAT IT ASSISTED HIM IN HIS, UH, LEARNING.
I JUST WANTED TO, UH, SUPPORT THE, THE PROGRAM.
I WANTED TO COMPLIMENT YOU ON YOUR, UM, ROI STATISTICS THAT YOU PROVIDED.
Y'ALL BEEN LISTENING TO WHAT WE'VE BEEN ASKING EVERYBODY.
UM, Y'ALL, Y'ALL HAVE THE GOOD FORTUNE TO, TO HAVE A, A MORE DISCRETE, ISOLATED PLATFORM THAT YOU CAN GET, SEE, SEE THE CHANGES COME MUCH MORE QUICKLY THAN THE CHANGES IN LITERACY AND OTHERS.
SO YOU'VE GOT A LITTLE ADVANTAGE THERE.
A LITTLE, LITTLE, UH, HEAD START.
BUT I APPRECIATE YOU, UH, FRAMING IT IN THAT WAY.
SEEING NO FURTHER COMMENTS, UH, FROM THE BOARD, MR. RUSS? YEAH, I JUST WANNA ASK, UH, UH, QUESTION, NOT ABOUT THE PROGRAM, BUT ABOUT THE ITEM.
IT DOES NOT AS OTHER ITEMS TYPICALLY DO LIST THE AMOUNT OF THE CONTRACT ON THE ITEM ON THE AGENDA.
IS THAT TYPICAL? IS THAT A PROBLEM? GENERALLY, WE, WE WILL LIST THE PRICE.
UH, WE CAN, I WOULD SUGGEST AMENDING THE MOTION IS AN RFP OR IT'S AN ACTUAL, IS THIS THE RFP TO ACCEPT THE RECOMMENDATION FROM THE COMMITTEE AND AUTHORIZED? YEAH, SO THE BOARD SECRETARY JUST INDICATED, UM, TO ME THAT THIS IS AN RF P SO THERE'S NOT A SPECIFIC PRICE POINT.
UM, THE AUTHORIZATION IS FOR US, THE SUPERINTENDENTS TO HAVE TO EXECUTE A CONTRACT.
SO YOU'RE AUTHORIZING US BASED ON THE RF RFP SPECIFICATIONS TO AUTHORIZE THAT CONTRACT.
AND I THINK THIS IS THE ITEM THAT HAD QUESTIONS DURING THE CAL ABOUT WHAT THE, HOW THE PRICE POINT WORKED WITH THE PER STUDENT, UM, AND WHETHER THAT WAS A CAP.
SO MAYBE YOU GUYS COULD PROVIDE DETAILS ON THAT.
UM, SO THERE'S ONE FLAT FEE, UM, FOR EDGENUITY FOR ALL STUDENT USERS AND UM, TEACHERS.
AND THAT FEE IS $362,000, UH, 362, UH, $524 AND 40 CENTS.
SO IT'S NOT LISTED AN ITEM BECAUSE IT'S AN RFP, BUT WHEN WE NEGOTIATE THE CONTRACT, THAT'S THE AMOUNT WE'LL BE WORKING WITH.
COULD YOU REPEAT THAT AMOUNT AGAIN FOR ME? YES.
SEEING NO FURTHER COMMENTS, UH, IN THE QUEUE, WE WILL NOW TURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC.
MS. MATTHEWS, WHEN YOU HAVE A BUDGET, THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU HAVE TO HAVE.
AND INGENUITY IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE THAT'S LIKE YOUR UTILITIES.
UM, BUT FOR THE CONTRACT, I'M GONNA SAY IT AGAIN CUZ WE HAVE TO REPEAT THINGS TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE HEAR IT.
THAT WHEN IT'S USED FOR A SITUATION FOR A TEACHER SHORTAGE, CAN THE CONTRACT PLEASE SPELL OUT THAT A LIVE TEACHER BE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT CAMERA FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE TIME FOR THE CHILDREN NOT CHOOSING THAT SITUATION.
SO WE USE IT FOR SUMMER SCHOOL.
THOSE KIDS ARE CHOOSING THAT SITUATION.
WE USE IT FOR INITIAL CREDIT WHEN THEY'RE TRYING TO GET AHEAD OR DO SOMETHING.
THOSE CHILDREN ARE CHOOSING THAT SITUATION.
IF THEY LEARN, IF THEY KNOW THAT THEY CAN LEARN IN THAT PLATFORM, THEN THAT IS GREAT.
LIKE I SAID, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE ACTUALLY DO NEED.
UM, AND I DO HOPE THAT YOU ACTUALLY APPROVE THIS ITEM, BUT FOR KIDS THAT THIS IS NOT A CHOICE FOR, FOR KIDS THAT JUST DON'T HAVE A TEACHER AND NEED THAT BIOLOGY TEACHER OR NEED THIS AND, AND WE HAVE FAILED TO STAFF THAT POSITION AND THEY'RE BEING PLACED IN THIS POSITION UNTIL WE GET THEM A TEACHER AND THEY DON'T LEARN LIKE THAT.
THEY NEED A REAL HUMAN BODY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT CAMERA.
SINCE WE ARE REPLACING PROXIMITY WITH THIS, UM, WE CAN OUTLINE THAT IN THE CONTRACT.
AND I DO HOPE THAT AS WE ARE DOING THE CONTRACT, THAT THAT WE DO THAT, UM, BECAUSE THOSE KIDS AREN'T MAKING THAT CHOICE.
AND THAT WOULD BE IN THE BEST INTEREST OF ALL OF OUR STUDENTS.
[01:55:01]
THANK YOU DR.JUST TO MAKE SURE I UNDERSTOOD WHAT THE STAFF MEMBER JUST SAID, IT'S $362,524 AND 40 CENTS IF 20,000 STUDENTS USE IT, AND IT'S $362,524 AND 40 CENTS IF NOBODY USES IT, THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A VERY GOOD NEGOTIATION, BUT WHATEVER.
UM, YOU KNOW, AS MS. MATTHEWS SAID, THE UH, HR DEPARTMENT HASN'T SUCCESSFULLY STAFF THE CLASSROOMS WITH THE STUDENTS WE NEED.
SO PERHAPS SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS NEEDED, BUT PLEASE INSIST THAT THE ADMINISTRATION BRING THE CONTRACT BACK FOR YOUR APPROVAL.
I WOULD SUGGEST THAT YOU AMEND THIS.
WELL, BETTER YET, PUT IT OFF UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY HAVE A GENERAL FUND BUDGET.
BUT IF YOU APPROVE THIS IN THE HOPES THAT THERE MIGHT BE $362,524 AND 40 CENTS IN SOME CATEGORY OF THE GENERAL FUND, THEN I THINK YOU SHOULD INSIST ON TAKING OUT THE WORD, EXECUTE THE CONTRACT, LET 'EM NEGOTIATE SOMETHING, AND THEN LET THE COMMUNITY SEE IT.
NONE OF THIS WE CAN GET YOU THAT.
UM, YOU KNOW, I'VE TRIED THAT.
THERE'S A LAW THAT SAYS I SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET RECORDS.
I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO SUE FOR THEM ANYWAY, IN INSIST ON SOME ACCOUNTABILITY FROM THE VISITOR FROM MARYLAND AND HIS, UH, COLLEAGUES, PLEASE.
SEEING NO FURTHER COMMENTS, UH, COMMENT CARDS FROM THE PUBLIC.
WE WILL NOW RETURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD.
SEEING NONE, WE WILL ENTERTAIN A VOTE.
[G.8. Professional Services Contract: AVID]
SERVICES CONTRACT.AVID CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT BETWEEN THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AND AVID CENTER IN THE AMOUNT OF $76,591 TO PROVIDE INDIVIDUAL GRADUATION PLANNING, SUPPORT AND PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT FUNDING SOURCE REDESIGN PRESENTATION BY DR.
SO AVID IS, UM, A PART OF THE, UM, I G P PRO, UM, THAT THE STATE REQUIRES, BUT AVID IS ONE OF THE VENDORS ON THAT PARTICULAR LIST.
SO YOU DID RECEIVE THE PRESENTATION.
AND AVID IS ADVANCEMENT VIA INDIVIDUAL DETERMINATION.
UM, 13 OF OUR SCHOOLS ARE CURRENTLY USING AVID, UH, HIGH SCHOOLS RIGHT NOW.
UM, THE C R I AND THE U R I SCHOOLS ARE USING IT, UM, BECAUSE AS IT IS REQUIRED BY THE STATE, AND THAT'S PAID FOR THROUGH THE, UM, REDESIGN GRANT.
BUT AVID STARTED, UM, SEVERAL YEARS AGO BY A ENGLISH TEACHER IN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA WHO, UM, REALLY WAS BEGINNING TO LOOK AT THE FACT THAT STUDENTS WERE COMING TO SCHOOL.
THEY WERE NOT SUCCESSFUL, THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO READ.
AND YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.
AND SO, UM, HER NAME WAS MARY CATHERINE, UH, SWANSON FROM CLAREMONT HIGH SCHOOL IN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA.
AND HAVING HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING AN AVID PRINCIPAL MYSELF, UM, IT WAS VERY TRANSFORMATIONAL FOR ME AND FOR MY SCHOLARS AT THE TIME.
UM, BECAUSE THE TYPE OF SCHOOL THAT I WAS THE PRINCIPAL OF AT A, AS A MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, UM, WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT MOST PEOPLE WOULD WANT TO SEND THEIR CHILDREN TO.
AND IT BECAME A GAME CHANGER FOR, UM, MY SCHOLARS AND FOR OUR CULTURE AND THE CLIMATE OF OUR SCHOOL.
IT TOTALLY TRANSFORMED WHAT ACADEMICS LOOK LIKE IN THE SCHOOL.
UM, BUT HERE WE ARE USING IT, UM, IN A LITTLE BIT OF A DIFFERENT WAY IN THE STATE OF LOUISIANA.
[02:00:02]
UM, IT IS INITIALLY IT CAME TO THIS, THIS SYSTEM BEFORE WE GOT HERE AND PRINCIPLES WERE ABLE TO LOOK AT, AT THOSE PRINCIPLES AT THAT TIME, WERE ABLE TO LOOK AT THE VARIOUS, UH, PROGRAMS THAT WERE ON THE APPROVED LIST.SOME OF THE PRINCIPLES WHEN WE GOT HERE WERE USING AVID.
SOME SCHOOLS WERE USING AVID AND ONE GOAL, ONE GOAL IS STILL ON THE LIST.
HOWEVER, THEY, THEY'RE NO LONGER IN OUR DISTRICT.
AND SO WHEN THE, UH, SCHOOLS THAT NEEDED IT, UM, NEEDED TO HAVE A, UH, ANOTHER PARTNER, UM, WE CHOSE AVID BECAUSE IT WAS CONSISTENT WITH EVERYTHING THAT WAS ALREADY BEING DONE AND TO BUILD THE CAPACITY OF THE PRINCIPALS.
UM, LAST, LAST YEAR, THE SCHOOLS WENT TO VARIOUS, UM, PLACES WHERE THEY WERE HAVING THE AVID TRAINING.
UM, THIS YEAR I DID NOT WANT TO SPEND THE MONEY ON ALL THE TRAVELING.
I WANTED TO BE ABLE TO SAVE, UH, AS MUCH AS WE COULD.
AND SO WE BROUGHT AVID HERE, UM, WHICH WAS A LOT CHEAPER THAN EVERYBODY FLYING, GOING DIFFERENT PLACES.
AND WE HAD THE INSTITUTE ON LAST WEEK, UH, VERY EYE-OPENING EXPERIENCE FOR SOME OF OUR SCHOOL LEADERS AND TEAMS THAT CAME.
UM, BUT IT BROUGHT ABOUT A SENSE OF AWARENESS.
UM, AVID HELPS BUILD CRITICAL AND ANALYTICAL THINKING SKILLS FOR THOSE STUDENTS.
OUR SCHOLARS THAT ENGAGE WITH AVID, IT IS A PART OF THE I G P, THE INDIVIDUAL GRADUATION PLAN THAT EVERY STUDENT, UM, IS REQUIRED TO HAVE, UM, BEFORE THEY GRADUATE.
AND USUALLY THOSE PLANS BEGIN AROUND THE EIGHTH GRADE.
UM, AND THEY, EVERY YEAR THE COUNSELORS WILL, UM, CHART THE THINGS THAT, FOR THAT PARTICULAR YEAR ON THEIR I G P UNTIL THEY GET TO 12TH GRADE AND GRADUATE.
SO IT IS, UM, A PART OF THE APPROVED, UM, LIST OF VENDORS THAT WE CAN USE.
BUT WHETHER OR NOT A C R I OR U R I, THOSE ARE SCHOOLS, HIGH SCHOOLS THAT ARE STRUGGLING ACADEMICALLY, WHETHER OR NOT THOSE SCHOOLS ARE ABLE TO NOT HAVE AN I G P PARTNER THAT IS NON-NEGOTIABLE.
THAT'S BY THE STATE, UM, REQUIREMENT.
SO, UM, WE'RE USING AVID AS THE VEHICLE, UM, TO SUPPORT THE IGPS FOR THOSE STUDENTS IN THOSE SCHOOLS.
AND THAT'S 13 OF OUR HIGH SCHOOLS.
UM, SO WE HAVE TWO THAT ARE NOT USING THAT BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE, THEY DON'T HAVE TO DUE TO THE ACADEMIC STATUS OF THOSE SCHOOLS.
WE WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION FOR ITEM EIGHT.
THIS HAS BEEN MOVED BY MR. RUSS.
IT HAS BEEN SECONDED BY MR. MARTIN.
AND WE WILL NOW TURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD.
AND I HAVE ENTERED INTO THE QUEUE.
I JUST HAVE, UM, IF YOU ARE WILLING TO YIELD TO JUST A SERIES OF QUESTIONS HERE.
SO AS I THINK ABOUT, UH, AVID, I WAS WONDERING HOW DOES THIS COMPARE TO WHAT MS. UM, SCOTT SPALDING MENTIONED TO US, UH, EARLIER WITH, UH, THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS, DIVINE CAREER DEFINED CAREERS, I'M SORRY, AND YOU SCIENCE SEAMLESS.
AND THEN I WAS ALSO WONDERING ABOUT LIKE QUEST FOR SUCCESS.
HOW, OR DO ALL THESE PROGRAMS WORK TOGETHER OR ARE THESE ISOLATED AND COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, UM, PLATFORMS AND, AND DO WE USE ALL OF THAT WITHIN OUR SCHOOLS? UM, THE, THE ANSWER WOULD BE NOW IN TERMS OF WHAT MS. SCOTT SPALDING PRESENTED MM-HMM.
SO THAT'S SORT OF DETACHED FROM WHAT WE, WE WE ARE DOING.
UM, BUT HOWEVER, UM, WHEN IT COMES TO QUEST, QUEST FOR SUCCESS IS A COURSE THAT THE STATE, UM, HAS FOR HIGH SCHOOLS.
UM, YOU COULD DO IT IN MIDDLE SCHOOL, BUT TYPICALLY THEY, IT IS DONE AROUND THE NINTH GRADE.
UM, COULD DO IT IN IN MIDDLE SCHOOL AS WELL, BUT TYPICALLY, USUALLY IT'S GONNA FALL AROUND THE NINTH GRADE, MAYBE EIGHTH GRADE, BUT DEFINITELY NINTH GRADE.
UM, IT IS A YEAR LONG CLASS THAT DOES SUPPORT, UM, UM, COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS, UM, SUPPORT AND AVID, UM,
[02:05:01]
IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT FROM THAT COURSE IN THAT QUEST FOR SUCCESS IS NOT A PART OF THE I G P PROCESS.AND SO, UM, IT'S, THE COURSE AVID CAN BE A COURSE THAT CAN BE ISOLATED TO JUST AN AVID TEACHER OR IT CAN BE, UH, INTEGRATED INTO ALL OF THE CONTENT AREAS.
AND SO MANY OF THE SCHOOLS, THAT'S WHAT THEY'VE HAD TO DO SO THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS AROUND THE MASTER SCHEDULING AND ALL OF THOSE OTHER REQUIREMENTS THAT THEY HAVE IN THEIR SCHEDULES.
SO, BUT IN TERMS OF, UM, NOW THERE IS A COMPONENT OF AVID CALLED TALO THAT DOES ALLOW FOR SOME VERY LIMITED EXPOSURE TO WHERE IT WILL LOOK AT VARIOUS INDUSTRIES IN OUR COMMUNITY, IN OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY, AS WELL AS NATIONALLY, BUT SPECIFICALLY AROUND, AND THEN KIDS CAN REALLY, UM, UH, DO LIKE RESUMES, APPLICATIONS WITHIN TALO, UM, FOR VARIOUS BUSINESSES, UH, TO TEACH THEM HOW TO DO AN APPLICATION AND HOW TO LOOK FOR CAREER, UH, CHOICES.
UM, AND THAT WOULD BE ISOLATED TO STUDENTS IN A HIGH SCHOOL BECAUSE AVID IS A PROGRAM THAT, AN INITIATIVE THAT CAN BE PLACED IN ELEMENTARY AS WELL AS MIDDLE SCHOOLS.
BUT WE DO IT HERE IN STATE LOUISIANA.
UM, TYPICALLY IT'S ON THE LIST FOR HIGH SCHOOLS.
THAT'S NOW, WE COULD DO IT IN OTHER, OTHER LEVELS, BUT THE FUNDING FOR IT IS SPECIFICALLY FOR HIGH SCHOOL.
AND I, I REMEMBER YOU MENTIONED THAT THERE'S A GRANT THAT SUPPORTS THIS, CORRECT? YES.
AND THEN ALSO, SO IT'S NOT ON THE GENERAL FUND, IT'S COMING OUT OF THE REDESIGN GRANT.
UM, ALSO, OR IS THERE ANY DATA THAT SUPPORTS WHETHER OR NOT THE TEACHERS HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTING THIS, UH, YOU KNOW, ON A REGULAR BASIS WITHIN THEIR CLASSES? I KNOW YOU SAID THAT IT'S, IT'S KIND OF I GUESS AN ADDITIONAL, UM, ACTIVITY THAT'S ADDED TO CORE CLASSES OR WHAT HAVE YOU.
THOSE ARE STRATEG TEACHING STRATEGIES, METHODOLOGY STRATEGIES THAT ARE ADDED TO SUPPORT, LIKE NOTE TAKING.
UM, YOU CAN DO COLLEGE TRIPS, UM, TO SUPPORT CAREER COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS.
UH, KIDS CAN RESEARCH CAREERS, UM, THEY CAN DO, UM, SURVEYS AND INTERVIEWS.
UM, SO IT'S, IT IS, THE STRATEGIES CAN BE A BROAD RIGHT.
UM, NOW WHEN IT COMES TO, UM, THE IMPLEMENTATION OF IT, UM, WE, IT, WE WERE STRUGGLING EVEN WHEN WE GOT HERE.
WE WERE STRUGGLING WITH, UM, THE SUCCESS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION.
WE'VE GOTTEN BETTER LAST YEAR, UM, YEAH, LAST YEAR.
BUT, UH, I MEAN THE YEAR BEFORE, BUT THERE IS STILL GREAT ROOM FOR IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT.
SO WE, WE, THAT'S WHY WE BROUGHT EVERYBODY TOGETHER THIS SUMMER TO HAVE ONE INSTITUTE.
AND IT REALLY, FROM THE FEEDBACK THAT WE WERE PROVIDED, IT REALLY AND TRULY DID MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN TERMS OF THE UNDERSTANDING FOR IMPLEMENTATION.
WE'VE ALREADY BEGUN TO START WORKING WITH SCHOOLS AROUND THEIR PLANS CUZ THERE IS A REQUIRED PLAN THAT EACH SCHOOL HAS TO DO.
WE WANTED THEM TO BRING THEIR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLANS BECAUSE AVID IS A PART OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT.
AND SO INSTEAD OF THEM HAVING TO DO A WHOLE SEPARATE PLAN, THEY WERE ABLE TO EXTRACT THINGS FROM THEIR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLANS TO PUT INTO THEIR AVID PLANS.
BUT WHEN IT COMES TO IMPLEMENTATION, AGAIN TO MR. LEWIS'S POINT PREVIOUSLY, UM, THERE IS GREAT ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT THAT WE REALLY NEED TO DO, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ALL OF THESE INITIATIVES.
THAT'S, THAT WAS ONE WHAT MY FINAL STATEMENT WOULD'VE BEEN AS WELL.
THAT I THINK THAT WE JUST ACROSS THE BOARD NEED TO WORK ON WHAT OUR ACCOUNTABILITY AND OUR IMPLEMENTATION STANDARDS ARE.
POSSIBLY HAVE FRAMEWORKS AND MODELS THAT ARE PUT IN PLACE AS WELL.
UM, YOU KNOW, ALMOST FROM THE BEGINNING, UH, DR.
NOCI AND AND HIS STAFF HAVE TALKED ABOUT TRYING TO ALIGN EVERYTHING WE DO.
SO OUR KIDS FROM, YOU KNOW, PRE-K, KINDERGARTEN, ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, HIGH SCHOOL, CAN HAVE AN IDEA OF OF, OF WHERE THEY'RE GOING.
AND I'LL PIVOT BACK TO SOMETHING I SAID EARLIER ABOUT ASKING HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS, WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO NEXT YEAR? AND KIND OF GETTING THAT BLANK LOOK.
[02:10:01]
ABBOTT IS A GREAT TOOL WHEN YOU LAYER IT WITH EVERYTHING ELSE THAT WE ARE DOING.I'M VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE IMAGINE, YOU KNOW, UH, GRANT, I TOOK PART IN THAT AT MY LAST SCHOOL.
I CAN SUPPORT THIS PRIMARILY CAUSE IT'S COMING FROM THE GRANT AND SECONDARY CAUSE WE, WE NEED IT.
OUR KIDS REALLY NEED TO HAVE SOME TYPE OF IDEA OF, OF WHERE THEY'RE HEADING ONCE THEY WALK ACROSS THAT STAGE, YOU KNOW? AND, AND FOR SO MANY YEARS THAT WAS NOT THE, THAT WAS NOT THE CASE.
UM, I A APPLAUD Y'ALL FOR THE WAY YOU'VE, YOU KNOW, YOU ARE INTEGRATING ABBOTT INTO WHAT WE DO, BUT LET'S NOT, LET'S NOT OVERWORK OUR TEACHERS WITH IT.
YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING? IF WE'RE, IF THEY'RE GOING TO MAKE IT PART OF THEIR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN, LET'S NOT MAKE IT SO THAT, YOU KNOW, THE KIDS AREN'T GETTING THE READING AND WRITING ARITHMETIC AND ALL THOSE OTHER THINGS THAT THEY NEED.
BUT I, I THINK IT, IT'S REALLY GOOD FOR OUR KIDS AND I THINK IT'S GOING TO HELP OUR DISTRICT IN THE LONG RUN.
SO IF AVID IS SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTED, IMPLEMENTED, IT FOCUSES VERY HEAVILY ON AROUND LITERACY.
UM, AND THE CRITICAL AND ANALYTICAL THINKING SKILLS THAT ARE NEEDED IN MATHEMATICS, THAT ARE NEEDED IN, IN SCIENCE, THAT ARE NEEDED IN SOCIAL STUDIES.
UM, I E EVEN WITH THE NEW ROLLOUT THAT'S COMING WITH SOCIAL STUDIES, UM, WHICH IS REALLY GONNA BE A MINDBLOWER FOR THE STATE BECAUSE THERE ARE GOING TO BE SOME CRITICAL SKILLS THAT STUDENTS WILL HAVE TO BE EXPOSED TO, EVEN AS EARLY AS KINDERGARTEN, WHICH WAS WHY WE WERE FOCUSING SO HEAVILY AROUND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEACHING SCIENCE AND SOCIAL STUDIES IN, IN THE EARLIER GRADES.
BUT AVID, IF IT IS DONE CORRECTLY, FOCUSES A LOT AROUND LITERACY, READING, UM, CRITICAL TO THE OTHER CORE CONTENT AREAS.
AVID CAN BE IMPLEMENTED, THE STRATEGIES CAN BE IMPLEMENTED IN ANY CONTENT AREA.
AND, AND AGAIN, I'LL GO BACK TO SOMETHING I SAID EARLIER, GREAT TEACHERS.
SO IF WE'RE GOING TO USE THIS, LET'S MAKE SURE THAT OUR TEACHERS ARE PREPARED AND, AND THEY CAN IMPLEMENT IT AND THEY CAN WEAVE IT INTO WHAT THEY DO EVERY DAY IN THEIR CLASSROOMS. CAUSE IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A PROGRAM.
LIKE SO MANY OTHER THINGS THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT TONIGHT.
AND IT'S GOING TO COME DOWN TO THAT PERSON STANDING IN FRONT OF THOSE KIDS.
GREAT TEACHERS WILL HARVEST GREAT RESULTS.
MS. CANON, YOU SAID THIS WAS A REQUIREMENT BY THE STATE? THE I G P I G P IS A REQUIRE INDIVIDUAL GRADUATION PLAN.
AND AVID IS ONE OF, IS THE VEHICLE BY WHICH WE'RE USING TO IMPLEMENT THOSE IGPS.
AND THERE'S NO OTHER PROGRAMS OF THE MANY, MANY PROGRAMS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
AND OTHERWISE THAT COULD BE USED.
IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S SIMILAR TO A LOT OF OTHER ONES.
IS IT JUST IN, IN WHAT WAY? LIKE JUST INDIVIDUAL GRADUATION PLANNING IS A REQUIREMENT BY THE STATE.
THAT PART IS, THAT PART IS REQUIRED.
AND WHEN WAS, WHEN DID THAT BECOME A REQUIREMENT? UM, IT'S BEEN FOR A FEW YEARS NOW.
UM, UM, AND SINCE BEFORE I THINK I RETURNED BACK TO THE STATE OF LOUISIANA.
YOU SAID IT'S ALREADY BEING USED IN 13 SCHOOLS.
DO WE CURRENTLY HAVE A CONTRACT? WE'RE CURRENTLY IN A CONTRACT WITH THEM.
DO WE FOR THIS PREVIOUS, THE BOARD VOTE ON, UH, THAT YES.
THIS CONTRACT, I THINK IT EXPIRES JUNE 30TH.
SO WE'RE LOOKING TO RE-UP FOR THE NEW FISCAL YEAR.
SO THE BOARD VOTED ON IT A YEAR, MA'AM? YES MA'AM.
SEEING NO OTHER BOARD COMMENTS, WE WILL NOW TURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC.
I'LL BE BRIEF, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, ONE OF MY PET PEEVES IS ACRONYMS THAT AREN'T EXPLAINED.
I HOPE YOU ALL KNOW WHAT CIR AND UIR STAND FOR CUZ I HAVEN'T THE FOGGIEST IDEA.
[02:15:01]
AND THE OTHER POINT IS THAT YOU HAD A SPECIAL FUND BUDGET HEARING NOWHERE IN THAT HOUR AND A HALF OR WHATEVER DID I HEAR THIS PARTICULAR GRANT OR SPECIAL FUND MENTIONED.PRESUMABLY THERE'S ROOM FOR 76,000, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE A BUDGET.
YOU WON'T HAVE A BUDGET FOR TWO WEEKS.
I DON'T THINK ANYBODY'S GONNA BE DOING A LOT OF WORK ON THEIR INDIVIDUALIZED GRADUATION PLANS IN JULY.
MAYBE I'M WRONG, BUT I THINK YOU SHOULD REALLY PUT OFF THIS PURCHASE UNTIL YOU AT LEAST HAVE A BUDGET FOR THE FUND FROM WHICH THE MONEY IS GONNA COME.
THERE ARE NO OTHER, UH, COMMENT CARDS.
UM, AND WE WILL NOW RETURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD.
SEEING NONE, WE WILL ENTERTAIN A VOTE.
IS THERE A MOTION ON THE FLOOR TO EXTEND OUR TIME? UH, WE SEE THAT IT IS NOW 8:50 PM WE DO HAVE A COUPLE OF MORE ITEMS, UH, TO, WELL, ABOUT THREE I NO TWO ITEMS THAT WE NEED TO COVER.
YEAH, IF YOU THINK WE CAN DO IT IN 10 MINUTES, WE CAN COVER IT.
[G.9. Professional Services Contract: Dreambox]
SO ITEM NINE, PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, CONTRACT DREAMBOX, CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR THE APPROVAL OF A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT IN THE AMOUNT OF $544,000 TO PROVIDE A DIGITAL MATHEMATICS PROGRAM, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FUNDING SOURCE SER THREE, ACTION TWO.SO REMEMBER THEY SAID YOU ONLY HAVE NINE MINUTES NOW, SO WHEN WE GOTTA GET THROUGH THE WHOLE LINE, I'M TRYING TO DO IT IN THREE
SO WHEN WE CAME TO, UM, E B R, UM, SAME PROCESS AS WAS BEFORE WITH ACHIEVE, UM, WAS DONE WITH DREAMBOX AS WELL.
AND WE LOOKED AT DATA, UM, TO ASSESS WHERE WE WERE.
UM, AGAIN, SCHOOLS, THERE WAS NOT A CONSISTENT PROGRAM FOR EVERY SCHOOL LIKE WE'RE DOING WITH DREAMBOX, UM, SCHOOLS WERE KIND OF USING, UM, DIFFERENT PROGRAMS, BUT, UM, WE BROUGHT THIS HERE AND I THINK WE HAD AT THAT TIME, UM, IN THAT MEETING, UM, I THINK THERE WERE A COUPLE OF, UM, OTHER ADDITIONAL STAFF MEMBERS THAT CAME IN TO THE MEETING AS WELL.
BUT DREAMBOX IS A SUPPLEMENTAL SUPPORT TO OUR TIER ONE CURRICULUM, WHICH IS EUREKA.
AND, UM, IT IS BOTH AN INTERVENTION AS WELL AS, UM, AN ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITY FOR, FOR STUDENTS.
WE, THE, THE, THE COMPANY ACTUALLY, UM, THEY ASK WOULD BE THE FIVE LESSONS PER WEEK.
WE'RE GETTING TO FOUR LESSONS PER WEEK.
UM, AGAIN, WE, OUR TEACHERS HAVE BEEN REALLY, UM, NOBLE AND WORKING TO ENSURE THAT THE STUDENTS ARE ON DREAMBOX.
I'VE GONE INTO SCHOOLS, SAME WITH ACHIEVE, BUT I'VE GONE INTO SCHOOLS WITH DREAMBOX TO SIT, REALLY TALK WITH KIDS.
THEY LOVE THE LITTLE CARICATURES THAT COME WITH IT.
AND, UM, WHEN THEY FINISH THEIR WORK, THEN THEY, THE TEACHERS WILL ASSIGN THEM TO IT.
THE DATA FROM DREAMBOX CAN BE USED TO HELP CREATE, UH, AMONGST OTHER DATA SOURCES TO CREATE SMALL GROUP INSTRUCTION, UH, SMALL GROUPS SO THAT TEACHERS ARE ABLE TO DO SMALL GROUP.
UM, EVERY SCHOOL MR. LEWIS IS IN FACT USING DREAMBOX, SIR.
UM, EVEN IF WE HAVE ONE STUDENT IN THE SCHOOL USING IT, WHICH WE PROBABLY WOULD SEE IN SOME OF OUR SCHOOLS THAT ARE DEDICATED MAGNET HIGHS, BUT OUR STUDENTS ARE USING, AND 96%
[02:20:01]
OF THE STUDENTS, UM, K TO EIGHT ARE USING DREAMBOX.UM, WE DID SEE AN INCREASE IN OUR MATH DATA THIS PREVIOUS LEAP.
WE HAVE NOT GOTTEN THE DATA BACK FROM THIS YEAR, BUT WE DID SEE, UM, APPROXIMATELY THREE LITTLE OVER 3%, ALMOST 3.5% GAINS IN OUR NOW WE CAN, WE ATTRIBUTE THE SUCCESS OF THAT TO OUR TEACHERS WHO HAVE BEEN REALLY PUSHING THESE INITIATIVES WITHIN THEIR CLASSROOMS. UH, DREAMBOX SIMPLY WAS AN, WAS AN A VENUE TO HELP US GETTING THERE WITH OUR LEAP.
WE ARE EXCITED TO SEE WHAT THE LEAP DOES LOOK LIKE FOR THIS UPCOMING SCHOOL YEAR.
UM, WE DO HAVE A, A LOT OF, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WITH ACHIEVE AS WELL AS, UM, WITH DREAMBOX, THERE IS A LOT OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
WE'VE HAD TO DO A LOT OF IT VIRTUALLY BECAUSE OF COVID AND RETURNING BACK, UM, FROM THE, FROM COVID.
BUT WE DO HAVE A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
WE DO HAVE A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, UM, SCHEDULED FOR, UM, 175 OF OUR TEACHERS THIS YEAR.
IS THERE A MOTION FROM THE FLOOR FOR, TO ACCEPT THIS ITEM? OKAY, THANK YOU.
IT HAS BEEN MOVED BY MR. RUSS AND SECONDED BY, UH, MR. LEWIS.
AND WE WILL NOW TAKE COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD.
MR. MARTIN, VERY QUICK QUESTION.
CAN YOU CONFIRM, ARE WE, ARE WE USING EUREKA CURRICULUM? ARE WE MOVING TO USING EUREKA CURRICULUM? UH, IN, IN ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS UNIVERSALLY, WE USE CURRIC, UH, EUREKA IN ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS EXCEPT FOR, UM, TWO OF OUR HIGH SCHOOLS AND, UM, E LA GUARD THEY'RE USING, WE PILOTED ILLUSTRATIVE AND EVIL LA GUARD THIS YEAR, AND THE PRINCIPALS, UH, AT BATON ROUGE HIGH AND LIBERTY, UH, WERE ABLE TO SELECT AND THEY SELECTED ILLUSTRATIVE FOR THEIR SCHOOLS WERE INHERITING CAPITAL WHO WAS ALREADY USING ILLUSTRATIVE.
SO THOSE SCHOOLS WILL BE USING THAT, BUT EVERYBODY ELSE IS USING EUREKA.
SEEING NO OTHER COMMENTS, UH, FROM THE BOARD, WE WILL NOW TURN TO COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC, MS. MATTHEWS.
SO ALL OF THE PRO, UH, PROGRAMS THAT THE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS, UM, SAID THAT THEY WORK BECAUSE OF BUY-IN ARE LISTED AS MODERATE IN THE PRESENTATION.
UM, YOU CAN HAVE THE ABSOLUTE BEST LESSON IN THE WORLD, BUT IF YOU DON'T HAVE A HOOK AND YOU DON'T GET THE KIDS TO BUY INTO IT, YOU HAVE NOTHING.
AT LEAST, UM, THIS ONE'S ONLY 544,000, BUT UM, THAT IS MONEY ALL THE SAME.
UM, AND THE 1 MILLION, SOMEBODY ASKED EARLIER, HOW DO WE GAUGE GROWTH THROUGHOUT THE YEAR IF WE DON'T HAVE THIS PROGRAM AND ACHIEVE THE 1 MILLION A NET AND ILLUMINATE TESTS THAT WE TAKE ALL YEAR LONG, DO GAUGE THAT GROWTH THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
AGAIN, NOT EVERY CHILD IS ALIKE.
YOU SHOULD TREAT TEACHERS LIKE PROFESSIONALS.
AND THE REASON I SUSPECT THAT THERE WAS 96% PARTICIPATION IS BECAUSE STUDENTS WERE FORCED TO DO DREAMBOX, WHETHER IT WAS TO THEIR EDUCATIONAL BENEFIT OR NOT.
KIDS ARE UNIQUE IF YOU WANT TO HAVE THIS RESOURCE AVAILABLE, THAT'S ONE THING.
ALTHOUGH HALF A MILLION DOLLARS IS A LOT OF MONEY, BUT WHAT I HEARD WAS EVEN MORE CONCERNING ABOUT DREAMBOX IS THE FACT THAT IT WAS DONE TO THE STUDENTS, NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE STUDENTS.
AND LET ME REPEAT THE, UH, ANECDOTE FROM A, UH, PARENT ON THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL, OR AT LEAST IN THE LAST WEEK.
HER CHILD HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE IN AN INTERESTING LAB EXPERIENCE AND WAS INSTEAD FORCED TO SIT IN THE FRONT OF COMPUTER AND DO BUSY WORK SO THAT THE SCHOOL WOULD NOT GET IN TROUBLE FOR NOT HAVING COMPLIANCE WITH DREAMBOX.
AND IF YOU DON'T FUND THIS, IT'S LESS LIKELY TO HAPPEN.
AND ANOTHER REASON YOU SHOULDN'T FUND THIS, AND YOU SHOULD DEFER THIS FOR, UM, AT LEAST A FEW WEEKS, IS THAT THE FUNDING SOURCE IS IDENTIFIED AS S SER THREE ACTION TWO, NOT THE GATES GRANT, BY THE WAY.
[02:25:01]
FOR SER THREE.IF THE EXPECTATION IS THAT YOU'RE GOING TO USE THIS PROGRAM YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR, YOU NEED TO HAVE A, A SUSTAINABLE FUNDING SOURCE.
AND YOU HAVE TO HAVE A WAY OF ACTUALLY GATHERING USEFUL DATA BECAUSE I DON'T THINK THERE IS A LINE OF PEOPLE BEHIND ME WITH POSITIVE QUALITATIVE ANECDOTES ABOUT HOW GREAT THIS PROGRAM IS.
IN FACT, THE ANECDOTES I'VE HEARD HAVE BEEN QUITE CRITICAL OF IT.
SO I THINK IT WOULD BE PRUDENT OF YOU TO NOT APPROVE THIS CONTRACT TONIGHT.
POSSIBLY CONSIDER IT ONCE YOU HAVE A BUDGET AND THEN VOTE IT DOWN.
SO, QUICK QUESTION, DO WE JUST SIMPLY CONTINUE CONSIDERING THAT IT IS 8 59, CAN I MOVE TO EXTEND OUR TIME? YES.
I'D LIKE TO MOVE TO EXTEND OUR TIME TO FINISH THIS DISCUSSION VERY QUICKLY.
IT HAS BEEN MOVED BY MR. MARTIN AND SECONDED BY MR. RUSS THAT WE EXTEND OUR TIME TO FULFILL THIS PARTICULAR ITEM AS WELL.
AND WITH THAT IN MIND, I DO HAVE A QUESTION.
YOU NEED TO ENTERTAIN THE VOTE? YES.
SO MOTION SECOND, ALLOW COMMENTS IN THE VOTE.
AND WHAT WAS THAT LAST PART YOU SAID? UH, AND WE'LL HAVE TO TAKE, UH, COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD AUDIENCE AND BACK TO THE BOARD.
UM, MY NAME IS IN THE QUEUE FOR THIS PARTICULAR ITEM.
OH, THIS COMMENT IS ON EXTENDED MEETING.
YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS.
IF YOU RESCINDED THAT RIDICULOUS POLICY, WHICH YOU SHOULD AT YOUR EARLIEST POSSIBLE OPPORTUNITY, THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO RUN A GOVERNMENTAL BODY.
COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD? OKAY.
SEEING NONE, WE CAN ENTER INTO A VOTE.
RETURNING TO, UH, CONVERSATION ABOUT ITEM NINE, UH, IN REGARDS TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT AND, UH, DREAMBOX AND I HAVE ENTERED INTO THE QUEUE.
MY QUESTION, UH, WAS ABOUT JUST AS WHAT DR.
FINNEY HAS MENTIONED ABOUT THE FUNDING SOURCE MM-HMM.
IS THERE, UH, A GRANT THAT SUPPORTS THIS? YES.
SO, UM, THERE, THIS PARTICULAR YEAR OF DREAMBOX WOULD BE COMING FROM ESSER, UM, WHICH IT WAS ALREADY DESIGNATED LAST YEAR TO COME FROM ESSER THIS YEAR.
UM, THIS IS A PART OF A, UM, WE'VE, WE ENTERED INTO A GRANT WITH BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION, UM, AS WELL AS LSU.
AND, UM, THEY ARE SUPPORTING US IN THIS EFFORT AROUND THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
UM, AND WE DO HAVE TWO OF OUR REPRESENTATIVES FROM OUR DREAMBOX, SO YOU COULD ALWAYS MEET WITH THEM AFTER IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO.
BUT, UM, THIS IS A PART OF THAT PROCESS.
WE, WE'VE ALSO SPOKEN WITH DREAMBOX IN TERMS OF TRYING TO NE NEGOTIATE FOR THIS YEAR TO KIND OF BRING THE PRICE DOWN, UM, A LITTLE BIT MORE ON, ON DREAMBOX AS WELL.
AND SO WE'RE IN THAT PROCESS OF, OF DOING THAT.
I DO HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION THEN.
SO WHAT IS DO YOU KNOW, HAPPENS IN OTHER CALLS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT? I THINK THAT WAS 178,000, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN.
[02:30:01]
COST IS BEING ABSORBED BY BILL AND, AND THE GATES FOUNDATION, UM, THROUGH THE GRANT.SO BEYOND THIS YEAR, WOULD WE BE ABLE TO CONTINUE DREAMBOX POSSIBLY WITH THAT PARTICULAR GRANT, OR WOULD THIS BE THE, THE FINAL YEAR THAT WE HAVE SECURED FUNDING FOR DREAMBOX? SO THE GRANT DOES NOT PAY FOR DREAMBOX, SO THAT WE WOULD THEN HAVE TO LOOK AT HOW WE WILL FUND FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS OF THE GRANT, UM, DREAMBOX.
SO THERE ARE MULTIPLE THINGS THAT COULD BE DONE, UM, BUT WE WOULD HAVE TO LOOK AT THAT.
SO THAT MEANS WE, WE HAVE TO, UH, PRETTY MUCH EAT THE COST OF 544,000.
I NOTICE ON THE LAST SLIDE OF THE, UH, PRESENTATION THAT THERE WAS A REVISED OR REALIGNED ORIGINAL QUOTE.
WE, THAT, UM, WAS AN ERROR, MR. RUSS, BUT THAT IS WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT TRYING TO REDUCE THE PRICE.
SO THE CORRECT IS THIS, IT'S 5 44.
I HAVE A HARD TIME SEPARATING OUT MY POSITION ON THIS FROM MY POSITION ON THE ACHIEVE, UM, THING WE DECIDED WITH ACHIEVE THAT THE BEST THING TO DO WAS TO TABLE THIS FOR, UH, UNTIL THE NEXT MEETING.
UM, AND SO I'D LIKE TO EITHER OFFER A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT OR A SUBSTITUTE MOTION TO TABLE THIS, UM, UNTIL THE NEXT MEETING.
UH, MR. RUSS AND MR. LEWIS, DO YOU ACCEPT THE FRIENDLY AMENDMENT OF BEING ABLE TO TABLE THIS UNTIL THE JULY MEETING? YES, MA'AM.
CONSIDERING THERE ARE NO OTHER COMMENTS, UH, IN THE QUEUE, UH, WE WILL ENTERTAIN A VOTE AND THE MOTION IS MOTION IS TO DEFER TO THE DEFER REGULAR MEETING OF JULY.
[H.1. Student Expulsion]
H, NEW BUSINESS STUDENT EXPULSION.UM, AS THE SUPERINTENDENT WAS ABLE TO RESOLVE THIS MATTER WITH THE PARENT, AND BECAUSE OF THE, BECAUSE THE ITEM WAS PLACED BY MOTION AND SECOND OF THE BOARD, WE CAN SIMPLY REMOVE IT IF THERE'S NO OBJECTION FROM ANY OF THE BOARD MEMBERS WHO ARE CURRENTLY HERE.
ANY OBJECTION? IS THERE ANY OBJECTION? NO OBJECTION.
THEN THE MATTER WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE AGENDA.
SO ITEM H UH, ONE HA IT WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE AGENDA AND WE ARE NOW
[I.1. Announcement of Meetings]
TWO ORGANIZATIONAL ITEMS. MR. MARTIN, THANK YOU.ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEETINGS, SPECIAL MEETING TO BE HELD ON JUNE 29TH, 2023 AT 5:00 PM IN THE CENTRAL OFFICE.
BOARDROOM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE TO BE HELD ON JULY 6TH, 2023 AT 5:00 PM IN THE CENTRAL OFFICE.
BOARDROOM, REGULAR MEETING TO BE HELD ON JULY 20TH, 23 AT, UH, 5:00 PM IN THE CENTRAL OFFICE BOARDROOM.
WITH THAT, CAN I MOVE TO ADJOURN TONIGHT? YES.
THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH TO ADJOURN.