School Committee Calendar 2020 (10 minutes) vote required

Transcript (~2 min @ 41:27)

Speakers identified by voice; unnamed voices are numbered within this recording. Auto-caption text — verify against the video.

▶ 41:15 Speaker 1: thank you for that that brings us to the school committee meeting calendar for 2020 I have prepared and included in the packet a proposed meeting calendar for the calendar year 2020 and I was able to prepare that in consultation with the Board of Aldermen I'd like to thank the clerk of committees Kristen foot for her assistance in that regard and her time in that regard as well this does require a vote so for purposes of discussion or otherwise is there a motion to approve

▶ 41:52 Speaker 5: I just want to say I'm not I'm not being rude. I'm trying just to check the Jewish holidays. You're okay

▶ 42:08 Speaker 4: In 10th, is it when's Veterans Day? Do we do that actually on Veterans Day?

▶ 42:13 Speaker 9: I can never remember the 11th November 11th

▶ 42:16 Speaker 4: So you're gonna have a meeting the night before when there's no school the next day. So that's just a consideration. Very good

▶ 42:19 Speaker 1: Thank You superintendent Any other comments or questions? Just to sound please

▶ 42:27 Speaker 7: as has been passed practice approval of these now does not necessarily set them in stone if in the future should we need to adjust this correct thank you I I think your foresight for this and I have no problem doing this knowing that they are not

▶ 42:47 Speaker 1: cast in stone very good thank you for that comment I appreciate that is there a motion to approve so moved by mr. Selms seconded by mr. McAndrew any further discussion seeing none all those in favor and that calendar is approved unanimously thank you for that next up under announcements MCAS proposed MCAS resolution this agenda item was actually submitted by Mr. Selm

▶ 43:15 Speaker 7: Mr. Selm please thank you so the overarching purpose here is to reaffirm to the community that all are welcome that racism and bigotry have no place place in our schools, in our classrooms, or on our exams. While there are certainly greater topics for discussion here, namely the invalidity or validity, however you view it, of high stakes testing, this resolution is aimed at pushing the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to hold them accountable, such that they should not punish students who took the role of whistleblower, and that if we must operate under a high stakes model, They release their exam questions to districts at the conclusion of the testing year to ensure egregious errors such as this do not happen again. It is important to note a couple things. First, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education upon hearing the public, upon the public learning of this ELA writing prompt pulled it from exams that had not yet been administered and agreed to disregard answers to this question for whom, for those who took exam already. Also, there are five groups back in April who came out in a public statement stating that just this, that they should hold the exam, DESE should hold the exam harmless. Those five groups, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the Boston Teachers Union, the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance, and the New England Area Conference of the NAACP. And they want it held harmless, regardless of whether the question was removed or was present at the time the students took them, and regardless of how the students scored.