Boston School Committee - Regular Meeting

Good evening, and welcome to this meeting of the Boston School Committee. I'm chairperson Jerry Robinson. We will begin with the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one I want to welcome everyone who is joining us tonight in person on Boston City TV V. And on Zoom.

I'm going to ask everyone here in the chamber to please turn off the volume on your laptops or other devices so it does not interfere with the audio for tonight's meeting. Thank you for your cooperation. Tonight's meeting documents are posted on the committee's webpage bostonpublicschools.org/schoolcommittee under the November 5 meeting link. For those joining us in person, you can access the meeting documents by scanning the QR code that's posted by the doors. The meeting documents have been translated into all of the major BPS languages.

Any translations that are not ready prior to the start of the meeting will be posted as soon as they are finalized. The meeting will be rebroadcast on Boston City TV and posted on the school committee's webpage and on YouTube. The committee is pleased to offer live simultaneous interpretation virtually in Spanish, Haitian Creole, Cabaverian Creole, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and American Sign Language. The Zoom interpretation feature has been activated. Zoom participants should click the globe icon at the bottom of your screen to select your language preference.

I'd like to remind everyone to speak at a slower pace to assist our interpreters. I cannot express enough the importance and value of having students we serve represented on the school committee and our student is in traffic coming, so I will introduce her to you at a later point in the meeting. Okay. So, superintendent, I'm going to ask you to please give us a brief update on BPS' response to the snap delay.

Okay. Are you going to do the minute approval?

Oh.

We're doing that and then that wait a minute, it came next.

Okay, doesn't matter. I can definitely. So just a brief update on the city's efforts and the district's efforts to support our students and families during the federal government shutdown and the delay in SNAP benefits. This is certainly a frightening time for our families. Approximately 70% is what we estimate of our PPS families who qualify for some kind of state or federal aid, which includes SNAP, Medicaid and others.

The loss of the SNAP benefits really means an extreme hardship for recipients, many of whom are children in our school district. I want everyone in BPS to know that we are here. I stated this last week at a press conference that we did, but we are here for our students and our families. BPS is second home, if not first, for many of our students. I'm just grateful to the many school communities and BPS staff who stepped up.

First question is always, what can we do to help? The government shutdown and the cuts to snap will not affect the fact that all BPS students will continue to have access to free breakfast and lunch in our schools every day. And so just reminding and asking our parents to remind students, please eat, please make sure you're getting your hot lunch, your hot breakfast or cold if that's the preference, along with any fresh fruits and vegetables that are available, but to please make sure that they're taking advantage of eating during the school day. We're also exploring how we might provide additional food access for our students. We have about 64 sites that actually offer an afternoon meal.

This ranges from a small snack to an actual shelf stable meal. Again, we would encourage parents and students to take advantage of that. Our student support team is also providing food to families who participate in our weekend six seventeen Sunday wellness program that happens at Madison Park. We also have it running this week, I believe, at Henderson and at Brighton. And this past Sunday, we saw hundreds of families come in, take advantage of the programming, and then they were we had a

partnership with Fair Foods, and

they were also able to take home fresh fruits and vegetables. We're holding food drives at many of our schools. There's 11 sites already that have committed to the food drives. We're actually doing a centralized food drive in Bowling that has multiple sites. And we are partnering with many of the food banks, local as well as the Greater Boston Food Bank, to be able to ensure that there's enough supply of food to give to our families.

For anyone listening, if your November SNAP payment was delayed due to the federal government shutdown and you need food assistance, the city of Boston and BPS will be here. Please visit boston.gov/snap,capitalsnap, for updates on any local resources you may need for you and your family. Any family in need can also reach out directly to their family liaison at the local school level. They can help them connect with all of the resources. Families can also contact the BPS helpline as they do every day for many things.

That is (617) 635-8873. And they can also visit our website bostonpublicschools.org/ snap, all caps. We'll just continue to keep the committee abreast of this as well as the public in our BPS community. We're doing that in a variety of ways, social media, our website, Beyond the Bell family newsletter, really every way that we're able to send messaging out. We also have established a BPS Emergency Food Council.

This is really where our departments come together to continue to brainstorm, pool resources and we will continue to do that. So please stay tuned. Know that for our families listening and our students, we're here for you throughout this emergency. And even beyond the emergency of SNAP, we have food insecurity among so many of our families. It's not that SNAP benefits make that go away. So we will continue to do as much as we can to raise awareness, to raise resources and to support. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. We'll begin the meeting with the approval of minutes. I will now entertain a motion to approve the minutes of the October 29 meeting. Is there a motion?

So moved.

Is there a second?

Second.

Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? Is there any objection to approving the motion by unanimous consent?

Chair, just have to point out I was away, so I was unable to attend the meeting, so I would abstain from voting on the minutes.

Okay. Thank you. With the exception of Mr. O'Neill, thank you. The minutes are approved. Thank you. We'll continue with the brief presentation on the membership proposal from the Opportunity and Achievement Gaps OAG Task Force. I'd say I'm to keep the presentation within seven minutes, and I'll now turn it over to the Superintendent.

Wonderful Chair. So before you hear from our OAG Task Force Co Chair, Ayalicia Kerr and PPS Senior Advisor for Strategy and Opportunity Gaps, Colin Rose, I just want to say a few words about how the OAG Task Force guides the district's work. Every day, we aspire to put the OAG policy into action so that all of our students have the opportunity to reach their full potential. And thanks to the work of the OAG task force members working closely with Colin and my team, we continue to align the goals of the policy and the district. The intent of the policy passed by this committee ten years ago, a decade, was to close opportunity and achievement gaps and work with BPS to monitor the district's progress, guide its decision making and provide support and hold it accountable.

I want to thank the present task force members for your collaboration and partnership and for pushing our thinking forward. We're especially grateful to Aiele and to Chair Robinson for nearly a decade of service on the task force. Thank you to the new members for accepting the nomination and stepping up to share your expertise and experience. I am really excited to get back with this work with new ideas, goals and strategies. We look forward to continuing the work with the task force to ensure the goals of the OAG policy that they're at the center of everything that we do, particularly our district's strategic planning process. So at this point, Chair, I would turn it over to Colin and Aiele.

Good evening. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Superintendent Skipper. It is wonderful to hear you speak about the work of the task force and its importance to BPS. So, I want to just say good evening to the esteemed members of the Boston School Committee, to Chairman Jerry Robinson, who's also the co chair serving with me with the Opportunity and Achievement Gaps Task Force. I'm here on behalf of our task force members and to share an update and also to present the new slate of task force members. And so, I'm also here, of course, with my esteemed colleague, Doctor.

Colin Rose, who's the senior strategy advisor and advisor to the Opportunity Achievement Gaps Task Force. He'll give you a correct title

momentarily. It

doesn't matter. Okay. All right.

So Doctor. Rose will start us off just with helping to ground the positioning of the policy and the work of So the task

I go back to the authoring of the 2016 policy and the implementation of that policy where this was proposed and should be held and is held as kind of the North Star of our district. It's a framework for how do we close opportunity achievement gaps. It's a citywide effort from folks outside, mostly from folks outside of the district. As you know, this is a school committee appointed task force. Right?

And so I am merely a guest in those spaces. I do a lot of coordination and collaboration with the group. But they are kind of their own entity. We try to support them by bringing forth implementation plans, presentations to inform them of how we are actually aligning and trying to bring about the spirit of policy. So obviously, Aiele is the chair. Chair Robinson is the other chair of the task force. And we work collaboratively, I think, and well together to try to think and plan and strategize how does the district live up to the policy.

I'll just mention briefly in terms of the history of the task force. This work began back in 2015 largely championed by BEAM, the Black Educators Alliance of Massachusetts, and the leadership of Chairman O'Neill. So thank you so much to Chairman O'Neill, Michael O'Neill, when you were Chairman of the School Committee for actually being the one to usher in the task force. I think one of the things that the task force does, Doctor. Rose said, is that we are that external body providing over side monitoring, really critical critical friends working with the district.

But we also create that continuity between leadership changes. So notably, there have been about four different superintendent changes over the lifespan of the task force. And having this external body in place helps to ensure that there's continuity in how the policy is being, overseen, how there's accountability, and how we're making sure that the goals of the policy are not lost based on changes in leadership and staff and so forth. So who is the task force? Again, we are that external body.

We represent educators, school leaders, funders, university partners, nonprofits, community advocates, teachers, school leaders. We truly reflect the stakeholders of the Boston Public Schools. And our role is to help guide and support. So again, we're overseeing that policy, but we're really trying to work in partnership with various districts to make sure that there's a clear implementation plan with real goals and benchmarks and accountability. We're tracking that progress.

We're helping to make recommendations to various departments and ultimately to the school committee since we serve as a subcommittee of the school committee. And partnering with those those departments, many of the people on our task force are already part of different working groups. They're seen as advisors. So, they're working collaboratively behind the scenes on many of the same issues that our district leaders are working on. And then ultimately our job is to review and update.

So we're constantly revisiting the policy. The policy itself calls for an update every six years and that has been the work that we've been very highly focused on over the last year. And that new policy for 2026 will be presented in January. So why do we need the taskforce, right? Aren't the gaps closed? Aren't we done with this work after ten years? This chart shows clearly no. There's clearly much more work to do and Doctor. Rose will sort of walk us through what we're seeing in this chart.

I mean, these are just two of kind of many data points we could look at to see that the gaps, both when you look across groups are really the focus is the gap to proficiency is huge. Right? And although there's been ebbs and flows over the years, there's still a lot of work to do in the district. So I think I appreciate the fact that there's a external body that creates that pressure for the district to have urgency for our work to really reflect kind of the logic model to close some of these gaps. So one of the top chart that you're looking at is eighth grade or fourth grade ELA MCAS.

Right? Again, we could have picked eighth grade ELA MCAS and a math measure. But just to show you kind of the longitudinal and historical issues that have been in the district ever since we could measure these things starting back at the first kind of generation of MCAS. So absolutely needed a pressure point that we need to continue to focus on.

And I want to just make the point that we're not trying to just compare students of color to white students, Asian students, but really looking at a measure of proficiency and what is the gap to proficiency as well as what is the gap between the various demographic groups. So the work of the task force is really focused on students of color, students with disabilities, multilingual learners and students from low socioeconomic status, students experiencing poverty. And that ultimately is the majority of the students in the Boston Public Schools which is why the work of the policy really is the north star for this district. So as I said, a large part of the work of the task force right now is revising the 2016 OAG policy. It's supposed to be revised every six years.

We were delayed due to things like COVID and some of the leadership transitions, but that work has been underway over the past year. We've done listening sessions with students at BSAC, with the Department of Academics, with all of the chiefs, with the heads of schools. So we've really been doing a lot of listening and gathering, a lot of input into how we're putting the policy together. The draft is now ready. It's on Superintendent Skipper's desk for review.

We're also planning to have a session with parents, with the citywide parent council and other groups to get additional feedback. And we'll also have an in-depth session, hopefully, as the school committee is also reviewing the policy. The policy will then be presented at a meeting in January is the hope. And that's when the policy will be voted into the new policy for the district. We're also very much aligning the work of the policy with the strategic plan that Doctor. Rose is overseeing. So I'll

let you speak to that.

We have like three seconds, so more to more to come on that alignment. So I think but I think the main order of business today is to put up kind of what we think is a really strong slate. Ayali's done a lot of work around recruiting. I've done a little bit of help, but making sure that we have expertise across the ecosystem of Boston. And when you think about a school district, kind of the important expertise that you would want as advisors to the different offices and thought partners and also accountability folks that you can't just bring any old presentation in front of because they know their work and they have different expertise.

The slate that our current members will continue for a two year term, the new members, as Doctor. Rose said, we're very excited about. They bring expertise in a lot of different areas. They were nominated by members in the community as well as members within the district based on people who have done a great deal of work with the various departments and really understand the needs of our BPS students and have worked collaboratively over the years. And so this is the slate.

I have eight members for your approval. In addition to the names you see, we also have three student reps from BSAC. So we will have Amor Reed, who is an eleventh grader at Boston Latin, Kevin Lewis, who is eleventh grade at O'Brien, and Nyla Hicks, who is a twelfth grader at Cash. So we'll have student voice in addition to the eight members that you see here on the slate.

Great work. We'll

now take questions.

Before Doctor. Rose, as we said, I currently serve as the co chair of the task force and will continue to do so until January. Doctor. Alkins, if approved tonight, will join the task force and if reappointed

to the

school committee, will take over as co chair in January. I'll now open this up to questions and comments from the committee.

Just wanted to express gratitude to the team reading over the bios and resumes of this slate is such a plethora of expertise and experience across, I think, Doctor. Rose, you said it well, an ecosystem while still really representing multiple constituents plus the student reps. And so, I think it's much needed critical friendship and pushing and accountability and appreciate the service.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

I echo the same comments, particularly reading the bios of the newer members. Very impressive group, and I thank them for their willingness to step up and serve as well as the returning members, several of whom I see in the audience tonight that are willing to continue. And thank you, Ms. Schakor, for your leadership on this issue.

Thank you. I want to say something, too. Thank you for you involved. Thank you for you now co chair in the group. When you say represent all the students multilingual, the color black and brown students. So thank you for that. Thank you for putting you hard for working for with your students, definitely.

Yes. Thank you. Thank you very much for this hard work and the new people coming on. It's been very exciting to see who they are, to hear their enthusiasm and know that they're going to breathe with our returning members, breathe new life into this because, as we say, the work is far from being done, but we're to give it another good try. So, thank you and we look forward to taking action on this later in the meeting. Wonderful. Thank you.

Thank you all very much. Does the student rep have any?

She's here and we're about to welcome her.

Good evening everyone. My name is Manor. I am a junior at Bryan High. So, I'm just gonna give you guys a little bit of my background. I was born in Pakistan, and then I came to The United States at the age of four.

I grew up around Watertown, and then I went back to Pakistan for my middle school and first year of high school, and I came back last August. So I currently live in Brighton with my family, and I've been a BSAC member for a year. This is my second year in BSAC. So during the past year in BSAC, like, I learned how much the student voice was valued and how much you could use that to advocate for our rights. So, I wanted to be a part of this committee to represent all the BPS students including myself and I'm just really grateful to have this opportunity to be sitting with you guys and I hope I learned a lot from you guys and thank you so much.

Thank you. Thanks, Green

Little License. Very good. Welcome.

Thank you. We

had a chance to meet earlier this week. And I can tell you I'm very excited to have you join and to bring your energy, your thoughts and welcome.

Thank you.

I'd like to just say welcome. I know for our students just juggling your academics and your sports and your job and your family commitments and travel, It's a big commitment to be on the body and so we just thank you and anything I can do, staff can do to help make it easier, just let us know.

Right. So we are not having a superintendent's report tonight, so we're going to move on to general public comment.

Thank you, Chair. The public comment period is an opportunity for individuals to address the school committee on school related issues. Questions on specific school matters are referred to the superintendent. Questions on policy matters may be discussed by the committee later. The meeting will feature two public comment periods, with the first comment period limited to one hour.

After one hour, anyone who hasn't testified will have the opportunity to do so at the end of the meeting. We have 32 speakers this evening. Each person will have two minutes to speak, and I will remind you when you have thirty seconds remaining. Please feel free to e mail your comments for distribution to the committee. Speakers may not reassign their times to others.

The time that an interpreter uses for English interpretation will not be deducted from a speaker's allotted time. Please direct your comments to the chair and refrain from addressing individual school committee members or district staff. Please note that the comments of any public speaker do not represent the Boston Public Schools or the Boston School Committee. Please state your name, affiliation and where you live before you begin. If you're on Zoom, please sign in using the name you registered with for public comment and be ready to unmute and turn on your camera when it's your turn to speak.

Please use your virtual hand when I call your name. To support interpretation, please speak slowly and clearly. So I will call for the first speakers, Travis Marshall, Rosanne Tang, Christa Magnuson and Deidre Manning. Travis Marshall?

My name is Travis Marshall. I live in Roslindale. I'm the parent proud parent of students at the English High School and the Bates Elementary School. Tonight I'd like to speak about the three quarters of high school students not at exam schools. From age 10, students and families receive a steady drumbeat of emails and texts from BPS promoting only the exam schools.

At age 12, students watch as their peers are plucked from around them, recognized as meriting investment and opportunity while those remaining must wait another month for their seventh grade assignment reaffirming a hierarchy of value. The next year these students may find themselves with shaken confidence and in classrooms with greater concentration of need. Their schools serve a majority of students with disabilities and multilingual learners because the three most vaunted schools in BPS do not. Students now receive messages that their goal should be a ninth grade exam school seat. That their school is not enough and that they are not enough as a result.

The exam schools sit at the crux of this cast based education system designed to separate the wheat from the chaff. If the existing policy aired, perhaps it wasn't allowing families accustomed to being wheat to imagine for a brief moment that their children could be the chaff. We focus on these families and never the families who leave for charters or METCO because they know BPS will ration opportunity for their students. At an Arts Academy edition last year, mine was the only BPS student in his group. Families were looking to come to BPS because they recognize investment and opportunity.

So no, most students are not excited about learning Latin. They are rather seeking Deus Ex Machina from scarcity. Until we stop hoarding opportunity in a few schools, we must ensure Thank you.

Your time is up.

They are all They are not reserved for the privilege. Thank you. Thank you.

Rosanne Chang.

Hi. I'm Roseanne Tung and I served on the Exam School Admissions Task Force. The policy we recommended made exam schools more representative and withstood legal challenges. Still, exam schools serve almost no multilingual learners who are 35% of the district nor students with disabilities who are 23% of the district. If you eliminate bonus points and include a 20% set aside, which the task force recommended against, simulations show up to 45 economically disadvantaged youth, up to 21 black students, up to 35 Latine students and up to 24 students from BPS sending schools would miss out on an invitation each year.

Meanwhile, white students would gain up to 43 seats and students from outside BPS would gain up to 24 seats. The 20% round sets aside 91 citywide seats for BLS. In that round, more than half would go to Tier four students, about 52 seats. Only four seats would go to Tier one students. In other words, overrepresented groups would gain the very seats lost to underrepresented groups, thus widening the opportunity gap that we just heard about.

Our district secondary schools are a caste system that concentrates privilege in three schools and mostly in BLS. As a consequence, the structure concentrates students with greater in resource open enrollment schools. BPS intentionally divides students into haves and have nots. You should not reinforce this hierarchy with a yes vote. Isabel Wilkerson wrote, The price of privilege is the moral duty to act when one sees another person treated unfairly And the least that a person in the caste with power can do is to not make the pain any worse.

Please do not amplify the pain. The vote or vote no. Thank you.

Krista Magnuson?

Hello. My name is Krista Magnuson, and I live in Jamaica Plain. I'm a BPS parent of two students who attend the O'Brien, and I'm also an organizer with the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance, which is a member organization of the Coalition for Equity in Exam Schools. We are asking the school committee to delay tonight's vote on the superintendent's proposed changes to the exam school admissions process. The BPS community deserves a full community engagement process for a change as significant as this, and changes with these kinds of potentially harmful effects on equity should be considered more carefully, both for longer and with more discussion by the community and the committee itself.

When BPS made greater strides toward equity in this admissions process in 2021, it was the result of months of work of engagement by the Exam School Admissions Task Force. The task force spent more than five months holding 28 public meetings. Frequently, more than 100 people turned up to these meetings. When you stack that against two one-sided webinars held on notably inconvenient dates and a Google Form, it really highlights the lack of genuine engagement in today's process. The difference is so stark.

Why is this time around so notably different? Why does this change not merit careful reflection? This week, our coalition delivered copies of our petition and signatures to the mayor and to the superintendent. Here is what we ask: Extend the current policy decision timeline by at least sixty days, publicize the decision timeline on the BPS website, BPS social media, e mails to all BPS families and students and via ParentSquare provide clear, accessible information about the proposed changes, including summaries, visuals and the comprehensive anticipated impact Hold meaningful community forums in neighborhoods across the city with real opportunities for feedback so that community members have the opportunity to ask about concerning trends, such as the unexplained 7% decrease in exam school invitations for black students from twenty twenty four-twenty five to twenty twenty five-twenty And finally, ensure all feedback is made public and is taken seriously before any final decision is made. Our community deserves a fair, transparent and inclusive process like the one we had in 2021 that reflects our shared values of equity, diversity and educational opportunity for all.

Please delay this vote.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Deirdre Manning.

My name is Deirdre Manning. I'm a Dorchester resident and parent of two public school children. I want to backtrack a bit to say that the makeup of the task force did not represent all in the city. Families impacted by the policy were home with young kids, in my case six and eight, unaware of the robust stakeholder process. METCO, parochial, charter school students, even private school students are part of our community.

This process resulted in close to a 180 degree change, which did make gains in terms of representation, but unfortunately put a target on the back of kids who didn't go to Title I schools and lived in three four tiers. I can distill all testimony for you. People who want it the way that it was are benefiting it. People who want it the way that it is now are benefiting. It is your job to find the middle ground.

I think that the city should be leading this process, not BPS. In my opinion, a middle ground is every applicant should have the same chance of admission no matter what tier he or she lives in. The current policy does favor Tier one and two applicants, and the changes that have been recommended still suppress Tiers three and four. I think the allocation of seats per tier should be dynamic. If there are different numbers in any given year, then that policy can reflect it. Seats at exam schools are publicly funded educational opportunities and they should not be unfairly limited to students who live in Tier

three Good and

public policy does not favor one group of students over the other. I think you should put an end to the educational 100 games. Put vote today to allocate seats by percent of tier and give a modest number of points to those who are least resourced and received means tested public benefits. This would be a meeting in the middle and would make sure that every child has an equal chance of admission. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speakers are Anna Baez, Sharon Hinton, Julie Santos and Peggy Wiesenberg. Anna Baiz will need Spanish support, so if our Spanish interpreter can come forward.

Good night. My name is Ana and I'm a juvenile leader at a program called Juvenile Organization of Community Latin Society that it's an organization dedicated to the development of young people outside the normal school time that works with middle school youth in Roxbury. Today, I'm testifying on behalf of the request that emerged from the work of Sociedad Latinas Teens and Tech campaign in response to Boston's public school new guidelines on artificial intelligence. We want to promote the responsible and effective integration of AI in education. Last year, the youth of Sociedad Latina testified about cell phone use policy and also called for the development of an artificial intelligence policy that promotes more education on this topic for students and teachers.

Current guidelines are a good start, but we're disappointed to be left out of the conversation and after we've spoken to you about this at the school committee for a year. So here are thoughts on what needs to happen. Even with the guidelines, it's difficult to know when and where it's okay to use AI. You're asking our teachers to guide us, but many times they don't know what is or isn't acceptable themselves or even how to use it. We know that AI can be useful, but it can also become a trap if it replaces learning.

Many students already rely on AI without understanding its limitations, which is why we're calling for more education for teachers too and a certification program to ensure responsible use in schools.

Our next speaker is Sharon Hinton.

Good evening, school committee members. I'm Sharon Hinton, mother of a BPS grad, former BPS student, Hyde Park homeowner, former candidate for District five City Council, longtime educator, founder and executive director of Black Teachers Matter. First, congratulations to Mayor Wu and the At Large and the District City Council members who ran and won in Boston yesterday. And thank you, Michael O'Neil, for your long service in the Boston School Committee. Which brings me to the fact that the nonbinding referendum voted on by 120,000 registered voters who supported an elected school committee in the last mayoral election should be recognized and acknowledged as well.

That being said, I came here to encourage all members of the school committee to reflect on the outcomes of the last several years of tweaking the exam school admissions policy formula, which has resulted in lower admission numbers of black and brown students and an increase of white and Asian students to these same exam schools. Let's just admit democracy is messy and a relatively new experiment of government considering the arc of world history. In addition to observing the history of the Boston School Committee, even with the independent voices on the committee, I witnessed the go along and get along mentality and actions of those independents when not enough voices dissented. I'm imploring the current school committee members to not vote today on adopting this proposed admissions policy change and instead hold additional meetings

Thirty seconds.

That are more inclusive of parents, students, and community input held in the community at different times, not during school vacations, not when parents are working or just getting off work, not when students are in school or doing homework and in multiple languages, different venues and utilizing various methodologies and platforms with adequate promotion and publicity to encourage and make available increased participation and feedback. Let's come together holistically in the spirit of innovation, renovation and restorative justice for those people who have been historically denied access to a quality education through centuries of racism. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Julie Santos.

Good evening. I'm Julie Santos, again testifying on behalf of CFJJ and as a part of the Coalition for Equity in Exam Schools in opposition to the superintendent's recommendations. I'm so glad that we got to hear from the Opportunity and Achievement Gap Task Force tonight because the decision you make tonight will make opportunity gaps worse if you vote these recommendations through. We all know that the current policy has been effective increasing the racial, economic and geographic diversity in the exam schools. We know that the recommendations you are voting on tonight are projected to decrease invitations to low income students, black and Hispanic students and multilingual learners while invitations to white, high income and private school students are expected to increase.

We know that the district's feedback form, the results of which have never been shared publicly, only got three twenty six responses which is less than 1% of BPS families. Our coalition collected about the same amount of signatures on our letter to the mayor, superintendent or rather our petition to the mayor, superintendent and members of the school committee asking you to delay this vote until you engage the community meaningfully. So if you vote these recommendations through tonight, it will send a message to the BPS community that this committee doesn't care about opportunity gaps or equitable access, doesn't care about making evidence based decisions and certainly doesn't care about the opinions of the hundreds of people who signed our petition asking you to slow down and include the community in your decision making. I urge you to pause voting on these recommendations, keep the current policy, continue to collect data, develop recommendations that center equity and have meaningful discussions with the BPS community that center the voices of those who hold identities that are underrepresented in the exam schools. Don't vote these recommendations through tonight.

Thank you.

Thank you. Peggy Wiesenburg?

Good evening. I reside in Jamaica Plain. I'm affiliated but speaking by myself, I'm affiliated with Quest and Citizens for Public Schools. My three children attended BPS from K to 12. All attended BLS.

My middle daughter was in the last BLS class invited based on rank order ISEE test scores and the district's racial fairness guidelines under Judge Garrity's 1974 desegregation court order. She had a diverse group of friends from every neighborhood in Boston, including kids with disabilities. I am here to urge you not to take action tonight on the superintendent's proposal, but instead to reconvene the Exam School Task Force to consider the superintendent's proposals to alter the policy. Yesterday, I participated with mass vote at an election protection worker at the Boston Housing Authority apartment building in Grove Hall. Black male students from John D.

O'Brien High School were there and helped translate for voters who spoke Haitian Creole and Spanish and needed help to be able to vote. I was impressed by these civic minded students and I'm concerned this proposal to change the exam school policy will make the exam schools less diverse. We are living under an authoritarian federal regime. President Trump aims to abolish the Department of Education and its Office of Civil Rights. I feel fortunate to live in Massachusetts, and I'm glad our Attorney General, whose tenth grade BLS facing history trip I chaperoned to D.

C. I'm glad she is challenging the executive But order in given the work of the Federalist Society and Project twenty-twenty five, I fear the Federal Court's rulings on civil rights will be appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court and the court will not buck the executive.

Thank you. Your time is up. Thank you. Our next speakers are Loni Nguyen, Viviane Dow, Alex Nguyen, David Tran, Ani Nguyen Shunhei Chen. Loni Nguyen?

Good evening. My name is Long Ning Nguyen. I'm a third grade and third and fourth grade Vietnamese bilingual teacher teaching in the Vietnamese dual language program at the Mathis School. The next few public comments are all about equitable access to the program like mine. Right now, most new bilingual program are zoned for home based assignments.

We are asking for citywide assignment allowing more students to learn in both their home language and in English. I want to be really clear about what this mean and why it matters. Right now, only Vietnamese speaking family living in Dorchester get access to this program, but Vietnamese speaking families living in East Boston, Metapan or Brighton do not, simply because of their address. We are telling multilingual families, your home language is an asset, but only if you live in the right zip code. That is an equity problem.

Our Vietnamese dual language program is not just a nice to have program. It affirms Vietnamese language and culture for Vietnamese speaking students and support English speaking student to become bilingual and have cross cultural understanding. This program is working. I see it every day in my classroom. I see Vietnamese student who used to feel ashamed to speak Vietnamese now sharing their brilliant ideas in Vietnamese and supporting their friends learning Vietnamese.

That is healing. That is what cultural sustaining education looks like. I'm asking you tonight to approve citywide enrollment for the Vietnamese dual language program so that any Boston family who wants this education for their child can apply. Our kids are ready. Our families are ready. We need the system to be ready too. Thank you very much for your time and commitment to education and equity in Boston Public Schools.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Viviane Dow.

Good evening. My name is Viviane Dow. I go to the Mather Elementary School. I am in fifth grade, and I belong to the first group of students learning in the Vietnamese dual language program. The Vietnamese program helped me learn about my culture and taught me how to read, write, and talk in Vietnamese.

Vietnamese is important to me because it's the only language that some of my family members speaks, like my mom. I also got to learn about Vietnamese history, like the Chung Sister, the Vietnam War. I also learned about food and places, and that helped me connect to my culture. Today, I am here to request the school committee to expand the program to include more students living in Boston. I think it's important because some Vietnamese students, their members only speak and know Vietnamese.

It can be hard for them to communicate. If the Vietnamese students learn Vietnamese, it will be easier for them to communicate with their families. And for those who are not Vietnamese, they can learn a second or a third language. So I think it's important for more students to have access to the Vietnamese dual language program because who knows, it can be handy one day.

Thank you. Next speaker is Alex Nguyen.

My name Yes.

My

name Good evening, everyone. My name is Alexander Weung. I am 10 years old, and I am a Vietnamese American. I am a fifth grade student from Vietnamese dual language program. Have been in this program for three years. This is the greatest program I ever been to. I love this program because I get to learn about my culture and think Viet, my language. I am here with my friends to represent the students in this program. I think I am very lucky because I get to study in the Vietnamese dual language program. Not everyone living in Boston can.

This program means a lot to me because in the future, I can speak Vietnamese fluently and I can fully understand my family and my community. This program has taught me a lot. It has made me proud of myself, and now I am truly bilingual. I can speak both Vietnamese and English, so I think this program should be expanded so more students like me can join. Thank you so thank you so much for listening.

Thank you. David Tran.

Hello. My name is David Tran. I'm a fifth grader at Mather Elementary School, and I live in Dorchester. My first language is Vietnamese. I speak English at school and Vietnamese at home.

I am in a Vietnamese dual language program. I'm here today because I want you to know that I advocate for all bilingual programs to be accessible to all students living in Boston. I believe that being bilingual is better for me and my family. And I'm currently in a bilingual program, and I love learning both languages. This is important to me because I want to be able to talk to my friend family and friends.

I wish the program allows all kids that live in Boston to attend this great dual language program. I just want to say, I want a bilingual program because it's better for me and my community. So so please make more bilingual language programs. Thank you very much for listening.

Thank you.

Hi, everyone. My name is Ning Oh and I'm in fifth grade. I recently joined the bilingual program last year. Being in this program has helped me become better at Vietnamese and has helped me learn new stuff, such as learning new words and getting better at speaking Vietnamese too. Today, I am here to advocate for the fact that this program should be open for every student in the BPS system because it is fun and you get to learn how to write and speak two languages, maybe even three.

People from other countries move to America and most of the times, they don't understand English. So this program can help them feel connected to their culture and country even if they're not in their country. This program welcomes all students even if you don't understand or speak Vietnamese and you want to learn Vietnamese. The teachers and students will welcome you and help help you. I hope the bilingual program can be open to all BPS students so they can connect to their culture. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you. Junhai Chen.

My name is Chen Hei Chan. I teach fourth grade at the Tsai Quincy Elementary School. I'm a proud alumnus, lifelong English language learner, and a member of the Chinatown community. I'm here to speak on the moral obligation of this community to expand access to bilingual education at the Quincy School. The question that shall be answered by this committee's actions is whether Boston will continue the long legacy of using institutional power to marginalize the Chinese immigrant community or take proper steps to break that cycle.

Throughout the history of Chinatown, its families have fought to maintain their community and defend their children's right to fair and equitable education. Policy decisions have led to Chinatown being cut apart by I 93 and I 90, divided and seized, its land divided and seized by Tufts Medical and its residents priced out by gentrification. In the face of all this, the Chinatown community has persevered as work to build new schools, support our students, and preserve our language and culture. Restricting access to bilingual education continues a pattern where the needs of immigrant families are ignored and its community marginalized. Access to bilingual education is not a privilege.

It's a civil right. Members of this committee have made statements about its commitment to, and I quote, advancing equity for immigrant communities, language access for families, dismantling of systemic inequities. These words alone are not enough. You hold the power to make them a reality. Expand the catchment area, protect bilingual education, stand with immigrant communities so that our children can learn in their own language, embrace their culture, and can be contributing global citizens. Thank you.

Thank you. We will now transition to Zoom testimonies. Our first group of speakers is Vicky Lo, Kim Chi Nguyen, Charlene Sithu, Shuai Wang and Xiaomi Zheng. Vicky Lo is our first speaker. You can start.

Good evening, Suh community members. I'm Vicky, a Mandarin teacher at Josiah Quincy Elementary with a Master degree in World Language Education from Boston University. I stand before you tonight to advocate for the immediate citywide expansion of successful bilingual program. This is just not an administrative shift. It is a foundational investment in improving every student's academic success.

In my general ed classroom, I use a student's home language to bridge language learning. For example, my Spanish speaking students are happy and excited to hear me say, I like to explain how I say, I like in Chinese. Using the home language in this way is an immediate act of care for a student's social emotional learning. Telling them clearly, your language and identity are valued here. In my bilingual classrooms, I see my K-one Chinese students engaging in complex conversations far beyond the simple home phrases they used after just three months of learning with me.

I had one K-one student who repeated or listened to her younger sister at home. Her grandmother was amazed that a school program could make her grandchildren's Chinese proficiency competitive with that of students who live in China. Students in high quality bilingual

thirty seconds.

Gain significant academic success. I urge you tonight to change the current enrollment policy and expand our bilingual program citywide. Let's ensure the academic success and the opportunity currently available at Josiah Quincy Elementary School can benefit families and neighborhoods across our entire city. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Our next speaker, Kim Xin Nguyen, will be will need support in Vietnamese. Kim Xin Nguyen, and we will need support for Vietnamese. He's our Vietnamese interpreter? Is our Vietnamese interpreter there?

Just a second. Our Vietnamese interpreter.

Hello, I'm Bahir. I'm Vietnamese interpreter, Bahir.

Thank you. Kim Chun Wen, you can start.

Yes. Hi, everyone. I was speaking Vietnamese. Generation for children with special

Can you please Can you please please

My name is Yeah. My name is Kim Ching Wing. I'm a family engagement specialist at Federation for Children with Spatial Needs. I have many years of experience supporting Vietnamese family who have children in need of special education. Through my work, I have a conversation with many family.

I have learned that a number of them have wished to enroll their children in the bilingual program since it was first established in 2021 at mother school. At that time, the program was not yet an inclusions program and was not ready to support with moderate disability student. However, since most of students speak Vietnamese at home, it is extremely important for them to learn in bilingual environment and receive support from teacher who speak Vietnamese. Many family have wanted to enroll their children in the bilingual program, but was unable to do so because they live in various area of Boston that are not within enrollment of mother school.

Since

2024, we learned that more school in Boston, but school have begun implementing inclusive education model and the bilingual program at Maarten now have fully trained teacher and paraprofessional who can support students with moderate disability. Bilingual learning specialist for bilingual speech pathology And we understand that program have a special educators and speech therapists who who are bilingual. And for Vietnamese family, having the children learned in bilingual program is essential for preserving cultures, identity and maintaining family connection.

Thank you. Your time is up.

Yes. For family with children who need special education, the bilingual program provide the most inclusive environment to ensure their role and development. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Our next speaker is Charlene Sittou. Charlene Sittu, please accept the prompt. Hi. You can start.

Okay. Yep. I'm with number 10 as well, Shuai Wang. Okay. Hi, everyone. My name is Charlene Si Tu. I'm a parent of Clinton Glen of Josiah Kunze Elementary School and also Charlotte Glen at BCNC BPK. I live in Charlestown, and my children's is Chinese Cantonese. We speak both Cantonese and English at home. After I enrolled my son into JQES, Josiah Quincy School in 2022, the school enrollment has changed the next year that Charlestown has been excluded from the school zone.

I was concerned that my younger child cannot access to the same school as her older brother. And after three years of escalation, the school is finally opened up for our the residential area in Charlestown. However, I think Josiah Quincy has should have opened for citywide so many other students and family in the same situation like us have access to bilingual education. Access to bilingual education is a question of valuate valuing equity and inclusion. It is important to me and other because I want my children to be able to communicate to their grandparents and relatives who speak Chinese only.

And, also, as immigrants, I want my children to be proud of the language and culture.

Thirty seconds.

Ask I'm here to ask the assignment policy to change to citywide for bilingual program like Josef Kunsee Elementary School, which the only school in the district offer instruction in Chinese. This change is important so family like mine and our kid can send our kids to the school in Josiah Quincy. Changing the policy for student will outcome to better for students and also for BPS. Please change the policy for Josiah Quincy Elementary School to city wise.

You. Our next speaker, Shuai Wang, needs support in Mandarin? Our Mandarin interpreter can come out of the channel.

I think she said that she was the same. I think she said that that was her too. The previous parent said she was I know if she's saying that she signed

up twice or Maybe. Yeah.

Mhmm. Shuai Wang.

It's the same parents.

Yes. Thank you. Hello. Just a second. Our Mandarin interpreter?

Yes. I'm here.

Perfect. Thank you. Charlene, I think you we lost you. We are moving you back.

My name is Shuai Wang. I'm the My son's name is Wei Wei. Mhmm. Second second grade We me and my children live in South Boston. We speak Mandarin maybe because our home language is Mandarin.

I'm here because the bilingual program is very important to me. Because I noticed even though I try to speak Chinese only at home, but the children are more inclined to speak in English only. Sometimes we have to end the conversation abruptly because we could not talk more deep. Because some of the deep and valuable topic, we could not communicate without any barrier anymore. In other words, I do not want my children to lose the communication skill with the family, with the same culture.

Unfortunately, JQOES is the only bilingual program available to the whole BPS school system. I just hate to see this family is confined to a certain ZIP code, but the problem is they might not be able to afford the house value in that particular ZIP code. Therefore, they cannot have access to GQES bilingual program.

Thirty second.

That's why I'm here to advocate to expand the enrollment for the bilingual program like JQES to C device. So all the students in BPS system could enjoy the diverse and the bilingual program like you have said you committed to.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you. Our next speaker, Xiumei Zeng, will need support in Cantonese. Xiamese Zeng is our Cantonese interpreter.

Hello. Hi.

Just a second. Is is Anna our Cantonese interpreter there? Hello? Anna, we can't hear you.

Just a second.

I'm still hi. Can you hear me?

No. Can you please speak louder? Me? Yes. Anna, we can't hear you very well.

Okay. Wait. Can you wait, hold on. Can you hear me well?

Not that great, but I think we have to Zheng, you can start.

Can you hear me okay? Hello? Can you hear me okay? Hi, everyone. My name is Xiaomi Zhang.

I'm a parent of a k two student at Bowen. My my child's first language is Thai Chinese, and at home, we speak both Thai Chinese and Cantonese. We currently live in Boston. Because my child wasn't able to enroll, the only public school that offers bilingual program. I believe JQES should be approved for citywide assignment zone.

So that way, other children like mine could also have access to bilingual education. I'm sorry. Accessing bilingual program is very important to us.

Well,

I want my child to be able to communicate fluently with confidence with our family. Right now, communication has become one of the biggest challenges in our home. Since JQES bilingual program is the only available options for Chinese speakers, restricting it by neighborhood enrollment is extremely unfair to families who cannot afford housing within that zone. I urge the district to make GQES bilingual program open to students citywide. Finally, I sincerely hope my child will have the opportunity to attend GQDS bilingual program.

If children like mine continue to lose the chance because where we live, it's true it would truly be unfair and a great loss for Chinese speaking families. Thank you, everyone.

Thank you. Our next five speakers will need support in Mandarin. Yutong Yu, Meishan Li, Yunhao Wang, Hao Min Yu, and Xing Tong Yu. And I believe that they're all in the same Zoom. So you is our Mandarin interpreters out?

Tina, are you out of your channel?

I'm ready.

Perfect. Thank you. Sure. Our first speaker is Kyotong Yu.

I am Yutong, and I'm a fourth grader at JQES. Boston. Just came to The US and live in Boston.

My

home language is Chinese. My family speaks Mandarin and Shanghainese. I am in the Chinese ESL class now. I am here today because I believe being bilingual can help me learn English better.

I

like learning in two languages Because it helped me understand the lessons. I think being bilingual will be helpful for my future. I hope students like me can all have access to joint bilingual programs. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Our next speaker is Meisheng Li.

My name is Bei Chen Li. I'm a fifth grader at JQES living in East Boston. My home language is Chinese. My family speaks Mandarin.

I

am in the Chinese ESL class. I'm here today because I believe being bilingual can help me do better in school. The first school I attended in Boston was Quincy Elementary.

And

I found that I could understand the lessons, which made me feel more confident. I also hope I can help my family translate in The U. S. And I can communicate easily where I visit China. I hope Chinese student like me can all have access to joint bilingual programs.

So they can both learn Chinese and English. Being bilingual is really important to me and our community. That's why I hope more student can attend bilingual schools and become bilingual speakers.

Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Yunhao Wang.

My name is Yun Hao. I'm a fifth grade student at GQES and live in Chinatown. My home language is Chinese, and my family speaks Mandarin. I'm in the Chinese ESL class. I'm here today because being Bilingual is good for both me and my family.

It helps me communicate better with my friends and my family. And it allows me to do more for my community. I want to keep both my Chinese and English. I hope student like me, no matter where they live, can join bilingual programs to learn both their home language and English. Being bilingual is important for everyone.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Our next speaker is Hao Min Yu.

My name is Houming. I'm a fifth grade student at JQES and live in Chinatown. My home language is Chinese, and my family speaks Mandarin and Cantonese.

I

am in the Chinese ESL class. I'm here today because I believe being bilingual can help me learn better in school and find a better job in the future. Bilingualism is important for me and my community. I wanna keep using Chinese to enrich my life. I also hope more students from China can take bilingual classes.

And learn both Chinese and English. Please make sure that more students, no matter where they live, have this opportunity.

You.

You. Our last student is Xingtong

My name is Xin Tong, eighth grader. My name is Yin Yin, seventh grader.

Chinatown.

We used to be student at JQES. We came to The US in fourth grade and live in Chinatown. Our home language is Chinese. At home, we speak Mandarin and Cantonese. We used to take Chinese ESL class at JQES.

I'm here today because I believe being bilingual is very helpful for me and my family. And they also help me learn English better. We are very grateful to our elementary school ESL teacher, Ms. Yu. Even though I was in her class for only two years, but with her help, I have been improving every single day.

Now we no longer need ESL classes. Sometimes when other student needs help, I can even translate for them, which makes me feel very proud. We hope more students can have access to Jiang bilingual classes, So they can learn both Chinese and English with the support of teacher who speak their own home language.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next group of speakers our next speakers are Vernier Wilkinson, Mike Heischmann, Sheryl Buckman, Emma Yashar, Dora Sandoval and Carolina So to. Vernier Wilkinson? Bernie Wilkinson, please accept the prompt. You can start.

Hello. Good evening. Fernay Wilkinson with Schoolfax Boston. Once a year, the city and BPS rolls out a promise to be later broken, a deadline to be missed, or a plan that was not vetted by the folks that it will impact most select most directly. In 2022, it was the Green New Deal for BPS.

In 2023, it was the O'Brien potential move to West Roxbury. In 2024, it was White White Stadium. Now in 2025, there are potential exam school admissions policy changes. Once a year over the past four years is for too many. These are moments that have long term impact on chill on the children of Boston and potentially for generations to come.

This is not an acceptable norm. Today, city of Boston and BPS district leaders need stand as dismissive, not responsive, and not in collaboration with the community. Wake up to this call for equity. Delay the vote for exam school policy. Do not vote for the proposed policy.

Do not vote in favor of the proposed policy. And build out a community engagement process that is built off of school based equity roundtables and inclusive of the racial equity planning tool. Going into the second term, the city of Boston needs mayor Wu to move forward as an education mayor. If Boston schools end up being the best in the nation, fine. So be it. But Bostonians need Boston schools to be the best for all Boston students. National stats are irrelevant. If that means some get the best while others go on waiting for on time buses, HVAC

Thank you. Updated factors.

Thank you. Time is up. Thank you. Our next speaker is Mike Heisman.

Mike Heischmann, Dorchester. Tonight is the third consecutive meeting where I've spoken against the proposal to change the emission policy in ways that would benefit white and Asian children and harm our black and brown children. The third rail for the superintendency has been, thou shall not change the emission policy in ways that would harm privileged white families. Superintendent Chang years ago attempted to diversify the elite schools. Fired by mayor Walsh, superintendent Kasilias, supported by the school committee, courageously decided to make the exam schools more diverse.

Fired by mayor Wu, the Coalition for Equity and Exam School Research shows that the proposed changes would make the system less equitable. Why don't you use your racial equity tool? Any decision to change the exam school admission process, which would be at the expense of our black and brown children, would be racist. Superintendent Skipper would never have made this proposal without the consent of Mayor Wool. A few years ago, Robinson.

She had told me that she had been disappointed and surprised that the mayor had not reappointed her. I was not surprised. Ms. Robinson had descended too much. I'm sure that every school school committee committee member considers themselves I believe that the BPS is a racist institution and that we need an elected school committee. School committee members, is your highest allegiance to the mayor? Be courageous. Vote no against this racist rule skipper proposal.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Cheryl Buckman.

My name is Cheryl Buckman. I'm a parent of a seventh grader at the Ruth Patson Academy and a lead and parent lead at the Denver. I'm also a longtime resident of Boston. I'm here tonight because I care deeply about the future of our students and the integrity of the exam school admissions pro process. I'm asking the committee to delay the implementation of the proposed admissions policy changes while I fully support the goals of equity and fairness.

This process is moving forward without enough outreach, communication, or collaboration with the families in the communities most affected. Right now, many parents still don't understand how these changes will work or what they mean for their children. The rollout has has felt rushed and unclear, leaving families and educators with more questions than answers. A change this important deserves real community engagement. That means listen to all voices, especially those from historically underrepresented neighborhoods, immigrant families, and working class communities.

We need transparency, time, and trust to make sure this policy truly supports every student rather than one widening the divides. If we move forward too quickly, we risk creating a gap that could leave students feeling displaced and families feeling unheard. Once that trust is lost, it's hard to rebuild. So tonight, I'm asking you to pause, not stop this process. Take time to meet families where they are, hold listening sessions, translate material, and make sure everyone has the chance to understand and be a part of that change. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next speaker is Emma Yashar. Please turn on your camera. Trying.

There we go.

Thank you. Hi.

My name is Emma Yasher. I'm a parent of two kids in BPS, and I'm speaking in support of the proposed revisions to the exam school admission policy. When the new admissions policy was first announced, my kids were really young, and junior high or high school seemed like a long way off. But now here we are almost five years later. My oldest is in fourth grade, and I have no idea what the options will look like for her in a few years.

Families like mine need clarity and predictability, and I think what's being proposed will do just that. Nothing is going to make everyone happy, but this is a good compromise and will make the policy simpler, easier to understand, and more predictable for families. I think it's important to acknowledge what's working and also be willing to fix what's not. The models shared by BPS in June showed that the revisions wouldn't substantially change demographics of the students receiving an invitation. So it's not gonna move us back to '20 to pre 2020.

At the same time, the citywide round would ensure that higher achieving students are not shut out of exam schools from the outset just because of where they live. It's a balanced approach. Lastly, like other speakers, I would love to see more and better junior high and high school options for kids across the city. So families like mine don't feel like an exam school is the only option.

Thirty seconds.

That's why I'm urging you to move these revisions forward so we can achieve closure on this issue and so BPS and the city can focus their energy and resources on all of the other schools in the district.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Our next two speakers, Dora Sandoval and Carolina So to, will need support in Spanish. Perfect.

My name is Sandoval. I'm a mother of three kids. One just graduated from college. The other one goes to the secondary school, and the the other one goes to a Hurley school. I'm very pleased to see that my actually, my youngest kid goes to the bilingual school.

I'm very happy and pleased about this, I'm very pleased to see all the changes that had been implemented with this type of education in their development, the positive impact that it had in the in my own family and the education itself. I'm very pleased with these positive changes. That is precisely the reason why I'm here to advocate to have more bilingual schools in the city of Boston. Our kids deserve the opportunity to be able to learn two languages. They will feel more proud about them, and they will be able to be better prepared for their future as professionals.

I'm here as well to ask you to please do not change the exam schools admission policies so they would not impact the more vulnerable populations that we have in our schools. We're talking about two important populations here, the English language learners, EOL, and the kids with high needs or special needs.

Thank

you very much for listening to me tonight. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Carolina So to. Mhmm. I'm a mother of a child that goes to the Boston Public School, specifically to the Charter School.

The reason I'm here tonight is to advocate for the exempt schools that you have more bilingual schools.

So

last week, I had a conversation with my child and told me that he wanted to be part of an exam school. I have my son that he is very dedicated, he's hardworking, and he has many dreams. So as a mom, my major concern or I would say satisfaction is that my kid is able to go to the school of that he prefers of his preference. So it is very important to me as a mom that he's able to achieve his dreams to go to an exam school and to be able to continue developing his professional skills. That is something that is very important to me as a mother.

I have to say that many bilingual students are confronted with multiple barriers that could limit in itself their opportunities of success. That is precisely why I am here today in front of you raising my voice asking for more bilingual education and to better education for my kids as well. I'm asking, so to please keep the open the doors open for to all the students regardless of their origin, the national origin regarding the language that they speak. So we're looking for a more inclusive type of policy where every child has fair opportunities and they have the ability to demonstrate their full potential and what they can achieve. So those policies, the current policies that are in place are actually minimizing or reducing the equity that could exist and the opportunities for different families.

So repetition today in front of you is to keep strengthening those possibilities and the opportunities and minimize those gaps that exist so every kid and my young kids can achieve their own future goals. Thank you very much for listening to me to continue contributing to develop the well-being of every kid and to continue promoting the development of every kid here in BPS in Boston.

You. Juan, could you please stay on? We are going to continue with our two last speakers who also need support in Spanish, Ximel Rodriguez and Maria Elena Pereira.

Ximel Rodriguez, I'll make it open up for follow-up. Good evening, everyone. Rodriguez Lamaque is my name, and I'm speaking from my heart as a mother. So I have to say that even though my child has an individualized education plan known as an IEP, she was born here. However, she's considered an English language learner despite the fact that she was born here.

I am here because I'm very concerned of the trajectory that the exempt schools and its own policies are taken and where they're going to.

I

am here considering despite the challenges that my, daughter confronts, she should be able to select the school of her choice for her own future. It is important. It is my desire that English language learners do not see limited their opportunities because of the fact that they do not have the language and other capable kids and intelligent kids should be able to have those opportunities and not be limited just by dual language skills. So it's important not to keep opening any more gaps between race and culture and language. We should not be opening more gaps.

So you have to say united as a community that we are promoting and moving forward towards the excellent of the community without leaving any child behind. Marielena Pereira. Good evening, everyone. My is Maria Elena Pereira, and I'm proud to represent my community of Dorchester.

My

daughter, she goes to a charter school. I am here to proudly advocate for our families and for our children. So I'm very concerned about the different policies that are to be implemented that have to do with the exempt school admission policy are impacting, many of the students ignoring their own voices.

Our

children deserve the same opportunity as every other kid. Regardless of their origin, regardless of their color, or regardless of where they live, their ZIP code. At the same time, I would like to say that we do need more bilingual schools. That is actually a strength that will be opening many doors and opportunities for their own future. That is my petition.

We have to consider that we speak multiple languages here in the city. It is my petition that we consider the exam school admission policy and to continue promoting bilingual programs in the city of Boston. And thank you very much for listening to me.

Thank you. Thank you to the interpreters who supported us today, and that concludes public testimony.

Thank you, Ms. Parvik. And thank you to those of you who spoke this evening and shared your perspectives. Your testimony is very important to us. Our first action item this evening is the grants for approval totaling $257,810.76. Now I'd like to turn it over to the superintendent for any final comments.

Wonderful. Thank you, chair. There are three grants tonight for the committee's consideration totaling nearly $258,000 the largest is the Innovation Career Pathways implementation and support grant totaling more than $182,000 that will support 400 students at the Dearborn STEM Academy, Holland High School of Technology, Brighton High and Xcel High School. The remaining two grants total approximately $75,600 One is a supporting students SEL behavioral and mental health and wellness continuation grant for nearly $70,000 This will support students district wide. This state funded competitive grant program will help adapt, expand, and strengthen multi tiered systems of support to respond to the social, emotional, behavioral and mental health needs of students, families and educators.

There's also a school based Bridge Program grant totaling approximately $5,700 This will support students at Boston Latin School and provide intensive clinical and academic support for students returning to school after an extended medical related absence, most of whom are returning after a mental health related hospitalization. We would ask for the Committee's vote favorably on this. David Blum is here whether to be any questions.

Thank you. I'll now open it up to questions and comments from the Committee.

Any questions?

Okay.

Thank you. If there's no further discussion, I'll now entertain a motion to approve the grants as presented. Is there a motion? So moved. Thank you. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you. Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? Is there any objection to approving the grants by unanimous consent? Hearing none, the grants are approved. Our second action item tonight is the Exam School Admission Policy Recommendation. The updated policy recommendation was first presented at the September 25 meeting, followed by an update and discussion at the October 8 meeting. We have also received both written and oral public comments. We want to thank everyone who took the time to share their feedback. Now I'd like to turn it over to the Superintendent for any final comments.

Thank you, Chair. So we're now asking for the committee's vote on the district's recommendations for revisions to the exam school's admissions policy. As I've said throughout the process, our district's goal regarding exam school admissions has not changed. We are committed to creating an equitable and transparent policy that ensures that all students have an opportunity for a seat at one of the three exam schools Boston Latin Academy, Boston Latin School and the O'Brien School of Mathematics and Science. Our recommendation is meant to keep what's working about the current policy and fix what's not working well.

We think these changes will lead to a clear, understandable policy that creates fair and equitable access to the exam schools. Under the current policy, there are some students that have very high composite scores but because of what elementary school they attend or what neighborhood they live in, it can be difficult and sometimes mathematically impossible for them to receive an invitation. The larger number of students receiving points during each admission cycle increases the competition between BPS schools and is seen as punitive by students and families, which results in our needing to adjust the number of points students receive each year. Our recommendation is meant to address that issue by ensuring that there is a pathway for the highest scoring students citywide while preserving the basic structure of distributing invitations equally across each socioeconomic tier. The socioeconomic tiers are a part of the policy that has worked well over the last several years.

As we've explained to the Committee and the community, this reconsideration of the policy is a provision in the policy itself that calls for a thorough review at or after the five year mark. And we're now at that five year mark. If approved, we are also asking that the policy remain in effect for at least three admission cycles so that we can monitor the data over an extended period of time. It is certainly understandable that this committee has asked us each year to look at concerns raised and make recommendations and minor changes to the policy to address those concerns. But I really want to emphasize that moving forward, we will be asking this and any future committee members to hold to the three admission cycles before making a similar request so that we can have more consistent trend data.

We presented our recommendations at the School Committee meeting on September 25 and provided additional data at the October 8 meeting. I'd like to take a moment to just review the changes that we're recommending. First, the removal of school based points because they are hard to explain and difficult to justify. They also changed the competition for seats within each tier, not across all tiers. The percentage of students receiving additional points has increased since the policy was first created from 63% of applicants to 73% of applicants, making them less impactful.

Second, reduce the housing points from 15 to 10. When chosen, the selection of 15 points was chosen to be higher than the number of school based points, which was 10 at the time. Our analysis of the twenty five-twenty six admission cycle shows the actual difference in composite scores for students who qualify for housing based points and students who do not qualify is 10 points. Third, we are recommending the addition of a citywide round, meaning that the first 20% of seats at each school will go to the highest composite scores. This round will not include additional points and is based solely on a student's GPA and test composite score.

The 20% was part of the initial recommendation from the twenty twenty one Exam School Admissions Task Force. After the citywide round, the remaining 80% of seats will be distributed equally across socioeconomic tiers. After the citywide round, the remaining oh, sorry. Finally, we are recommending that BPS maintain the current four socioeconomic tier structure where the tiers are sized by population as opposed to number of applicants. As a reminder, after the citywide round, students are assigned to one of four tiers based on their home address and will only compete for exam school admissions with other students in their tier.

We are not recommending changes to the criteria students must meet to be eligible for consideration for an exam school seat. Consistent with the current policy, students will need a grade point average or GPA of B or higher, rank at least one exam school on their school choice list, and have a valid score on the MAP Growth assessment test. A student's composite score is based on 30% of their MAP Growth score and 70% of their GPA, consistent with the current policy. We did not consider a change to the thirtyseventy ratio. At the September 25 presentation of our recommended changes, we were asked to run simulations based on 50% MAP Growth score and 50% GPA scenario.

At the October 8 meeting, we provided those simulations that showed there was no significant change to invitation status by changing the ratio of the test scores to GPA. As part of the recommendations, students will receive an additional 10 points on their composite score for invitations distributed in the 80% round by tier if they are experiencing homelessness, live in housing owned by the Boston Housing Authority, or in the care of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. If approved, the new policy will go into effect immediately and will apply to the 2627 admission cycle. It is important that the vote happen tonight to ensure families have all of the information about the process before this year's residency verification deadline for non BPS families happens on November 21. We've heard consistently that this timeline is important for families.

There is no perfect policy, but we think these changes will lead to a system that is overall clearer and more stable. Our goal remains the same, to create an equitable, predictable and stable policy that students and families can easily navigate and understand. We need to shift the district's focus to improving our entire secondary school ecosystem and to building a portfolio of high quality high school options so that students are confident and excited about all of their high school choices. So Madam Chair, I'll turn it back to you.

Thank you. I'll now open it up to questions and comments from the committee.

Since none of my co members are taking the lead on making the open statement. I'll venture myself to make that statement. We've heard well, at least for me, we've heard the pros and the cons, the opposition and the support for the revised school policy school admission policy. I've heard you all. I've heard researchers.

I've heard evidence, data presented by the proponent and the opponents of the changes. But one thing I'm very I do appreciate is the fact that despite all the differences, the main thing that we are all focusing on is the equity. I understand that. Each of us may have different limit on the equity. I do have certain limits on equity when it comes to the classification of students.

But being a civil rights lawyer for over thirty years, I think I have enough sense to understand what equity is. There is no the policy we all agree that it needs to be tweaked and we are trying to tweak it. We are trying to tweak it in the name of equity. We may not agree on the limitations of equity, but we are all agree that it is time to apply diversity, inclusion and equity into the process regardless of what the federal government is advocating out there. So in that vein, I appreciate all your concerns, I appreciate all your research, your evidence in supporting your positions.

But I do know that deep in my heart, this is at least an improvement. This new policy is at least an improvement in moving forward with equity. So I will vote yes. Thank you.

You. Okay.

For that, I think in what I've heard, the superintendent, I certainly, we share the same sentiment is that despite as we've heard around the particular community engagement around this, I do agree that this body needs to take action on it. And, any inaction or delayed action has that domino effect for the application cycle. And so, families definitely need clarity now regardless of the outcome. I also recognize that the district has certainly exhausted numerous person hours devoted to gathering and analyzing data around this issue, which I think actually feeds the the deeper narrative around the focus on these three particular schools and takes it away from the focus, which should be the remaining schools in our district and making sure that every student has access to a high quality education no matter what school in BPS they attend. I firmly believe that that that work is being led by you and everyone in this room and everyone in our schools.

And so, regardless of whatever the outcome, I think everyone wakes up every day with the intention of making educational options and experiences better for everyone. I think the also, the other thing as we talk about this is to remember what's gotten sort of lost in this conversation for me has also been a bit around the merit of these schools and questioning sort of the the merit of students who have been attending these schools, and I certainly assure that every student that is eligible is eligible for these schools. No one is a DEI hire. Everyone here is eligible, our students are eligible. And so, I think that needs to be said flat out.

So, for those people who are thinking that this policy is leans towards that way, nah. For me though, what I will say is that this conversation has always been around how we view schools as resources and then the surrounding narrative of what these resources do for our students. They are not just as perceived by our families. They are not just educational options. These are gateways to better outcomes, better lives after they attend these schools.

And, I will say that these are also gateways that have, for a long period of time, been shut out by many of our most marginalized populations, who now represent the majority of our district. And so, while I believe that the majority, like, are moving in a positive direction and it's under stable leadership, we are growing the quality of our seats, Families are still left with this. So, the citywide assignment option, you know, makes the policy easier to understand. Two, it would guarantee that a portion of our students with those perfect scores and grades regardless of their background, would be able to claim admission to their top choice school. But, equity begs me to see a little bit more of the nuance.

And, the simulations that have been presented compromise the admissions to our most representative populations within the district. And, that goes against the original ethos of the policy for me. And, also, as I think back to the racial equity planning tool, I remember clearly on, I think it's like page four or page five of it, we note targeted universalism as one of our approaches, which begs us to focus opportunities and resources to our most marginalized. And so, you know, with that, I respect the votes of everyone like up here, but for me, changing it because I really believe that keeping it as is allows us to continue to monitor where it needs to be monitored to make that change three years down the road. I believe it can take the conversation still off the table for the next three years in the same way.

And, I think it it it allows for us to preserve still, like, the the strides the that have been made since 2021. So, thank you for opening it.

I want to say thank you for every family contact to me, community and students about the proposed for changes the exam school policy. For me, it's make a decision hard because, on one hand, I see students I talk to the family with a student who is high qualification when not receive invitation for exam school, the family working very hard with students. He put in tutoring class and then because the population, the family, have resources for that. In the second hand, I have the students very intelligent too, but the family is low income, don't have money to prepare for support you students because his family pay high rent, have two and three jobs, he doesn't speak English.

So

it's like I understand family, when you a student is high qualification. I understand your frustration when you not receive a school invitation because some students' low income receive points and you think it's the advantage for that. But in resuming

So I have to say, in summary, that this policy aims to balance merit and equity, but its real impact will depend on the implementation of complementary supports. Indian enrichment programs and data monitoring are properly if they are properly applied, it could expand opportunities for historically marginalized populations and students. However, without equitable investments in K through eight schools, existing academic gaps will continue to reproduce themselves, limiting real access for many young people for from vulnerable communities and populations. In addition, language learning students face a dual challenge. They must demonstrate academic proficiency while still developing language competence.

This policy could benefit them if the district fulfills its commitment to expand access, awareness and targeted supports. For example by ensuring linguistically and culturally appropriate testing materials, bilingual tutors and enrichment programs that integrate language learning with academic content. On the other hand, if these supports are not implemented consistently, ELL students risk being left out of the exam schools, not because of the lack of ability, but due to language barriers and limited guidance. Therefore, their effective inclusion will be a key test of the true equity policy that this seeks to achieve. It is a very important decision.

We have to consider that families have to be involved in this very important decision making. So it brings a lot of priorities not to focus essentially and only on exam schools. We have to bring the attention to the high schools. There are many different needs that are essential as well that have to be implemented at high schools for example.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Good evening. I'm grateful for the students, parents, educators, and community members who've delivered passionate and compelling testimony on this issue, not just over the past few months, but over the course of the 2021 working group and in the years thereafter. That 2021 policy was a response to the very disparities that the Opportunity Gaps Task Force spoke to today, and that policy did result in progress toward our city's exam schools being more reflective of the city itself, though still far from proportionally aligned to Boston's composition, particularly by socioeconomic status, race, IEP status and language level. I also respect the position, though I don't share the same opinion, held by some who have expressed that exam schools or selective admission schools overall should not be our model in Boston. Though there is not a major city nationally without some form of selective admissions high school or as some cities call it, talented and gifted programming, the existence of exam schools in Boston does, as we heard testimony today, have tremendous ripple effects on the enrollment and performance at all of the secondary schools in the district, particularly because the three schools serve a whopping 25% of high school age students.

But, this is the system we have. All three schools have tremendous outcomes and they represent what many all over the city in every neighborhood feel is a viable pathway to choose BPS for their young people. That said, these are not just schools with high demand and high interest. They are schools with a specific curricular design intended to provide an accelerated course of study beyond what is considered typical grade level work. Students have up to two to four hours of homework nightly, take up to six subjects daily, sometimes seven, etcetera.

All three schools have a specific college preparatory mission and a specific program of study to arrive at that outcome. They are not comprehensive schools with a full range of academic programs and they are not staffed for anything other than college preparatory mission. While this course of study is not going to be the preference of every student in Boston, nor does it need to be, it is essential that we prepare all students in every school to have the ability to succeed in the program of study that they want. And that means ensuring a rigorous grade level experience at every level from pre k forward. DESE reports BPS as having two thousand eight hundred eighty two sixth graders enrolled last year.

Of these total students, eight sixty four met or exceeded standards in ELA, seven twenty one met or exceeded standards in math. There are approximately 1,000 available seventh grade seats at exam schools annually. What does this mean? It means we do not have the number of students in the entirety of Boston Public Schools performing at grade level in ELA and math to fill the total available seventh grade seats across the three exam schools. This is what needs our attention and urgently.

The proposed policy on the table for exam school admissions preserves the most impactful component of the current policy which is the maintenance of the tier structure. We have been familiar with the flawed nature of the school based points for years and have tweaked the policy many times to chip away at the over allocation of how many students receive these points which was not run through proper simulations at the time of the working group. I do agree that the community engagement on exam schools over the past few months has not been as robust as it should have been. I also think there is factual information that we already know, such as, if we continue with the current structure as it exists today, there are likely scenarios where access is impossible or nearly impossible for some Boston students before they even submit a report card or sit for the MAP assessment. If the policy is kept the same, there will continue to be affluent students who receive bonus points because of the school that they attend, weakening the impact of points for students experiencing homelessness or living in BHA housing.

There will continue to be students who could not have achieved a higher composite score than the one they earned and still face being shut out of a seat at any of the three schools. The students and families for whom this situation has applied do not share a monolithic identity and they attend all types of schools, some of which are our own BPS schools. A citywide allocation running alongside geographical student assignment is not new to us. The current exam schools class of 2027, our first COVID class, was admitted with a citywide allocation. It's a diverse class that is thriving at the exam schools.

It should not be the case that we associate citywide seats with one specific type of student. If we can't, as a system, prepare all of our students so that citywide seats aren't assumed to be predestined for a specific set of families, then we need to reassess what we are providing for our young people. The students we serve in BPS who are predominantly black, Latino and or low income deserve the opportunity to compete within their tier and citywide regardless of their school and circumstance and that comes not by spending multiple school committee meetings on the topic of exam schools year after year but by determining the policies, resources, programming and learning experiences that raise student achievement throughout the district. If we sustain the low expectations that readiness and preparation is not a responsibility of BPS, we will continue to educate with an ethic of mediocrity. We need a multi year policy that gives all students the chance to apply and be considered for a seat regardless of address or sending school while we maintain the element of the plan that is most critical to diversity, to the diversity that is to benefit the benefit of every learner in the exam schools.

And that lever is the tier system that is based not on the number of applicants in the tier, but by how many school age children in the city that the tier represents.

Thank you.

First of all, thank you to people that have testified to us over the past several months since the superintendent first started talking about this a year ago, December, and then in June, and then the initial proposal in September. Thank you also to my fellow members this evening for your very thoughtful comments. You each bring out excellent points. I am going to be very brief in my comments because much has been said already. I do view this proposal by the superintendent as a compromise, as the superintendent said.

We have heard from people who have a variety of viewpoints on this. I do believe that the plan that we have in place did achieve the goal of opening up the opportunity for our students citywide by implementing the tier structure. I also am very sensitive and I don't want to speak for the chair, but we've had many conversations about this. The chair has raised it herself publicly quite a bit over the concerns about highest achieving students, as the superintendent said, being blocked out mathematically before the process even starts. So I do believe this is a compromise that allows us to keep the goals that we had in place, which was to have greater socioeconomic diversity and greater representation from all the neighborhoods in our city, while also solving for the problem that I just mentioned and importantly, providing transparency and clarity and simplification of the project process.

Trying to explain the points over the years has been a challenge into itself for parents and students have a hard time understanding what the policy is, particularly as we have continued to tweak it. So I applaud, Superintendent, what you said of recommending this policy and then you would like it to stay for three years. You will analyze it, but we need to be focusing our effort on the rest of our schools. I also applaud the inclusion in this policy and it was not talked about much, though, Ms. Palenka Garcia, I think it's what you were getting at, was about also exploring ways to expand the Exam School initiative to include students in the Grade four and also design and implement additional enrichment programs in Grade four to six to increase rigor and academic resident readiness for all of our students.

So I appreciate that other work that is included in it as well. I think it is thoughtful, I look forward to supporting it.

I want to thank all of my fellow members and all of the public for all of the conversations that we've had. This is a very difficult decision. It's been a very difficult one from the very beginning because no matter what decision is made, there will be people that will be happy and there will people that will not be happy. There is no perfect solution. I appreciate with Member Skerritt's remarks with helping us to really think about who our students are.

My issues all along have been it's not so much for me about enrollment and admission, but preparation. And if we've got a number of students, as we see from our MCAS scores, etcetera, that we have fewer students at proficiency than the number of seats that we have, that's critical. We've got over 1,000 seats and we've only got 800 kids who, by virtue of their preparation, are ready for this work. So what are we doing to our students? We have 32 high schools.

Every school, every student is not going to be the right student for those programs. If we have that many options, we should be working very hard to make sure our students are ready to be successful in a program that makes sense for them. People love the exam schools because they bring prestige and they have resources, But they're not right for every student. We know that. And oftentimes, students are there because their parents want them there more than they do.

And our goal needs to be to make sure that students are prepared but also have the right kinds of choices. For that reason, even though I may not like all of the options that we have to move forward, we have to move forward. Stopping this process now only frustrates the actual families for whom this will be a next step for them. Thank you to all of the advocates, but many of the advocates are not going to be the people who are going to be facing this personal decision as we move forward in this next year. So with that, I'm recommending that we move forward.

And if there are no further questions, I'll entertain a motion to approve the exam school admission policy recommendation as presented. Is there a motion?

So moved.

Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? Ms. Prafix, will you please call the roll?

Thank you, Chair. Doctor. Alkins? No. Mr. Candidate Hernandez? Ms. Polanco Garcia?

No.

Ms. Rachel Skerritt? Yes. Mr. Tran?

Yes.

Mr. O'Neill?

Yes.

Ms. Robinson? Yes. The motion is approved with four yeas and two nos.

Thank you, Ms. Parvax. Our third action item tonight is the approval of the OAG task force membership proposal that was presented earlier this evening. If there's no further discussion, I will now entertain a motion to approve the membership as presented. Motion? So moved. Thank you. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you. Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? Is there any objection to approving the membership by unanimous consent?

Point of order.

Excuse me?

Am I allowed to vote

on him?

He's member. You have accuse yourself.

Well, I'm a nominated member.

You're nominated. Is that correct? No, ma'am.

I'll recuse yourself. Okay. I'll recuse you.

Thank you.

I think it'll go forward.

Alright. Thank you. Sorry about that.

All

right. Is there any objection to approving the membership? All right. Why don't we do this by roll call? Thank you.

Doctor. Altkins? Abstain.

Abstain. Abstain. Yes.

Mr. Gutier Fernandez, Ms. Polanco Garcia? Yes. Ms. Rachel Skerritt? Yes. Mr. Tran? Yes. Mr. O'Neill?

With appreciation for those willing to serve, yes.

Ms. Robinson?

Yes.

Thank you.

You, Yoigi. Fourth membership proposal is approved. Thank you. Our next reaction items include three policies that impact our secondary schools. You may recall that Assistant Superintendent, College Career and Life Readiness, Brett Dickinson, and Interim Chief of Teaching and Learning, Doctor. Angela Headley Mitchell, presented these policies at the October 8 meeting. I will now turn it over to the superintendent for any final comments.

Great, Chair. Thank you. So tonight we're asking the committee to take three votes, all related to secondary schools. At the October 8 school committee meeting, we presented two DESE policies related to Chapter 74 Career and Technical Education or what we call CTE programs. As the team explained, the first policy is an admissions policy for entrance into Chapter 74 CTE programs at five of our high schools.

Madison Park Vocational Tech High School, English High School, Boston Arts Academy, Boston Green Academy, and the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers or EMK. The second policy is the Middle School Career Exploration policy regarding the ways in which the district supports career exploration and awareness about Chapter 74 CTE programs at the middle school level. We also shared a revised competency determination or CD policy with you tonight. You'll see it in the packet.

BPS competency determination was approved by the school committee in June 2025. Over the summer, DESE released updated CD requirements. Our policy has been updated to meet those requirements. And so we're therefore asking for an affirmative vote. We have Brett Dickens here, who's the secondary superintendent for college career and life readiness. Doctor. Angela Mitchell who's our interim chief of teaching and learning is also here to just answer any clarifying questions. We did hear the committee loud and clear and we are in full agreement in terms of the competency determination. Rigor is at the heart of it. We eagerly await to hear any further guidance that DESE will be giving relative to the graduation requirements.

For the purposes of this year, we need to have these three policies passed.

Thank you, Superintendent. I'll now open it up to the Committee for any final questions or comments.

A couple of things that kind of stretch across policies, maybe starting with the CTE programs and the middle school pathway education around school options. I was very struck by the public testimony around the differentiation of timing and communication around options. And I agree it would be ideal for students to get all of their choices in a comprehensive set to show that there are multiple viable pathways and that one doesn't come out separate from another. It's also very confusing for families. And so, just expressing a hope that as we think about making high school opportunities known at the eighth grade or other grade levels, that we think about it as a portfolio of our schools.

So, students really understand the range of options that they have for high school.

Yeah. I think this is a really important point, Mimascari. It's also the sixth grade because of now the tipping point of seventh grade start. I know that Brett and the team are doing just incredible work to lift this relative to awareness and access. Brett, I don't know if you want to share just a few things.

Yeah, thank you for that comment. I share that concern. We have done a lot of work to line up a website to explain this portfolio of school options to families and to link it to all of the schools. As you well know, two of them are Horace Mann charters and we have worked to make sure that all of the policies and all of the deadlines are as aligned as possible. And lastly, we met with the Office of Family and Community Advancement and we will be doing a webinar in the next few weeks which we're really excited about in advance of the showcase, the same structure that we do for the exam schools so that we can inform families in the community about these five schools and the opportunities.

So I think each year we will get closer and closer to that full alignment. But because we only have one school that's wall to wall CTE and the others have programs and different entry points, I think we've done a really good job of bringing all five schools to a pretty common timeline.

And maybe just talk about the work within the sixth and seventh grade to be able to get to them like as they're working with guidance, counselors, social workers, whoever their front facing team is, that students are able to begin that career exploration at a younger grade?

Yeah, I think the most important part of especially the middle school policy is integrating this into the MICAP framework and we're trying to go fourth grade on with those career connected and career exploration activities at all of our schools. So as that becomes more integral to the curriculum from fourth to eighth grade, at whatever point students are making that decision, grade six or grade eight, they will be making a more informed decision. So we've got teams on the ground at many of our K through eight schools integrating that MICAP framework and better educating students about career options.

As you think about that landing, that web page landing for that set of schools, And I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to this. Like, something to maybe look toward is, is there a place that just has a description of all of the secondary schools in one place if a parent were just wanting to see them as a whole versus a type?

Yes. We've been updating no, sorry.

No, go ahead. We've been

updating all of our slides to present the different types of schools and then to present the individual school profiles in one presentation. It's lot a of information and that's why we want to do the webinar so that families would understand what those different options are and certainly the showcase in December will help clarify that. But everything is in one presentation And there's a handbook that accompanies that that families can download as a PDF.

And more and more schools are and will be supporting this but really incorporating in their sixth, seventh and eighth grade just having conversations with the kids. I was in an eighth grade class probably about a month ago and just started talking with them about what they were thinking about school choice, why they were thinking what they were thinking. And it became very clear to me that one kid said x school and then the other is like, yeah, that's the one I want to go to. And so that peer kind of influence was very strong. That's important but we want the influence to really be information.

And so I think it's the combination of engaging families and having teachers, guidance, visitors come in and actually talk to the kids about what is available at the schools. Because sometimes the kids, when they talk, have they know what their interests are. But they don't know where to find those interest areas when it comes to the secondary world. And that choice is happening earlier now than ever, right? So this is a point that we'll follow-up and then definitely come spring we'll give report back as to how the choice season went.

And I know those school profiles can be very long and involved, so I was more thinking just like a paragraph on each school that could just got one website page, just scroll down with the more detailed things behind it.

In all of our languages.

We'll send the website to you. We'd love to have that feedback. Yes. That'd be great.

Yeah. Is there a sense that, I guess, sort of like on the ground, how you all might be mobilizing BSAC to also speak to directly Not to

specifically on this, but I think it's definitely a good idea to talk with. I know student support is definitely in the mix as one of the support mechanisms for this and BSAC is an extension of that. So I think that's definitely worth talking with BSAC about.

Yes, I think that's a great idea. The students do go to all of the secondary schools with the admissions coordinators and the instructors because that's who the kids want to talk to. So we have set that up at all of our secondary schools where the admissions coordinator will go in, but students from each of those five schools will accompany them.

I had a competency determination question, but I wanted to defer to my colleagues if there was a question on the other items. I just wanted to maybe repeat my understanding of the competency determination just for clarity in terms of what we're approving for the classes of 2026 and 2027 and what the competency determination is versus the graduation requirements. So, my understanding is that the competency determination is the temporary substitute for our oldest students, juniors and seniors, in light of the MCAS removal as a graduation requirement which is typically a sophomore year assessment. Yes. And that competency determination does not equal a high school diploma.

It is required to be eligible for a high school diploma.

Yes.

So these temporary, honestly low standards of a barely passing grade in two freshman and sophomore year courses are just one element of what would be required of our students to earn a BPS diploma. And that what's required to earn a BPS diploma is the completion of Mass Core four years of study, things we've already discussed.

Yes, correct. We did and I can't remember if we did it before you came on to the committee or not. Was report. We did provide waiver language for, instance, our multilingual learners levels one, two and three, special education students in particular situations where it's schedule wise not possible to complete. Other than that, that's correct. Your understanding is correct.

But no one is earning a diploma for two courses in ELA and two in math with a D minus. I do think there is some public confusion around that. And so I just wanted to make sure that the

We understanding can was even look at what we've put out. I mean, we're about to we're going to be sending messaging out and we can emphasize that messaging that, that is correct. The alternative education schools function on 18 credit, not the 22 of MassCore. But other than that, it's the MassCore. And we're eagerly awaiting like we want to hear what the graduation committee or working group puts forward because there may be other things that they suggest that we may also want to incorporate.

So, we will revisit this for classes beyond the class of 27 for more rigorous requirements?

Barbara Correct.

Anything else? Anybody else? Okay. So, we'll start. So, we're going to be taking three different votes. So, the first one is, I'll now entertain a motion to approve the competency determination policy class of 2026 and 2027 is presented. Is there a motion?

So, thank you.

Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? Ms. Parvax, will you please call the

roll? Thank you, Chair. Doctor. Alkins? Yes. Mr. Hernandez? Ms. Polanco Garcia? Yes. Ms. Rachel Skerritt? Yes. Mr. Tran?

Yes.

Mr. O'Neill?

Yes.

Ms. Robinson?

Yes.

The motion is approved.

Thank you, Ms. Parvax. I'll now entertain a motion to approve the Career and technical education recruitment, admission, and retention policy as presented. Is there a motion?

So moved.

Thank you. Is there a second?

Second.

Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? Ms. Parvax, will you please call the roll?

Thank you, Chair. Doctor. Alkins?

Yes.

Mr. Gannett Hernandez? Ms. Polanco Garcia? Yes. Ms. Rachel Skerritt? Yes. Mr. Tran? Yes. Mr. O'Neill? Yes. Ms. Robinson? Yes. The motion is approved.

Thank you. I will now entertain a motion to approve our final action item, the middle school pathway exploration policy as presented. Is there a motion?

So moved.

Thank you. Is there a second?

Second.

Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? Ms. Pawlick, will you please call the roll?

Doctor. Alkins?

Yes.

Ms. Candidate Hernandez? Ms. Polanco Garcia? Yes. Ms. Rachel Skerritt? Yes. Mr. Tran?

Yes.

Mr. O'Neill? Yes. Ms. Robinson? Yes. The motion is approved.

Thank you all. We'll now move on to public comment on reports. Ms. Parvik?

No, we don't have any.

All righty. Great. Any new business? That concludes our business for this evening.

I'm very sorry. I should have spoken up before you call for the recess. We've heard continuously last time and this time as well about the catchment issues regarding bilingual. And I do understand that. We understand current bilingual programs that are existing in different schools are full.

I understand that. But I do believe that there are other ways, other means and other processes to pretty much to respond to the need of these students as we all agree that bilingualism is very important. Wasn't a product of bilingual program. I hope I was, but I was not. So I do look forward to some discussion regarding that and maybe if it is a policy issue, please put it on the table so we can discuss it and we can dissect it. Thank you. What

I would say is that also, to some degree, that's sort of some of the things we've talked about in the opportunity and achievement gaps conversations and that has been a huge part already of the conversations that we had in making sure that bilingualism is a North Star for the district. Like, yes, I can assure you that is a priority.

So the team is actually preparing, it's gathering the information, it's preparing a memo so that it can be a springboard to a conversation for School Committee. I would anticipate that you will have that before the next School Committee.

Thank you. You're welcome. Okay.

All right. That concludes our business for this evening. The next school committee meeting will take place in person on Wednesday, 11/19/2025 at 6PM. If there's nothing further, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting. Is there a motion? So moved. Thank you. Is there a second?

Second. Second.

Any discussion or objection to the motion? Is there any objection to approving the motion by unanimous consent? Hearing none, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you all and have a good night. Thank you. Thank you.