Official Minutes of the Boston School Committee Meeting
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OFFICIAL MINUTES OF THE BOSTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING May 23, 2018 The Boston School Committee held a meeting on May 23, 2018 at 6 p.m. at the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building, 2300 Washington Street, School Committee chamber, Roxbury, Massachusetts. For more information about any of the items listed below, visit www.bostonpublicschools.org, email [email protected] or call the Boston School Committee Office at (617) 635-9014. ATTENDANCE School Committee Members Present: Chairperson Michael Loconto; Michael O’Neill; Jeri Robinson; Regina Robinson; Dr. Miren Uriarte; and student representative Keondré McClay. School Committee Members Absent: Vice Chairperson Hardin Coleman and Alexandra Oliver- Dávila. DOCUMENTS PRESENTED Agenda Grants for Approval Totaling $150,000: BPS Teaching Fellowship – Districtwide - $40,000 High-Quality Curriculum – Districtwide - $10,000 Snowden High School Painting Project - Snowden High School - $100,000 Columbia Point School Properties Resolution – Draft BPS Department of Global Education Update PowerPoint and Equity Impact Statement Boston School Committee - Boston Police Superior Officers’ Tentative Agreement PowerPoint and Equity Impact Statement Superior Officers Cost Out Memo from Superintendent to Boston School Committee re: Boston Police Superior Officers Federation – Collective Bargaining Agreement, dated May 22, 2018 School Committee Meeting Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building School Committee Chamber May 23, 2018 Boston School Committee - Plant Administrators Association’s Tentative Collective Bargaining Agreement PowerPoint and Equity Impact Statement Plant Administrators Cost Out Memo from Superintendent to Boston School Committee re: Plant Administrators Association’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, dated May 23, 2018 Boston Public Schools Strategies to Serve Off-Track Youth PowerPoint Excellence and equity for all: Unlocking Opportunities for off-track youth in Boston Public Schools – EY Parthenon BPS Response to Off-Track Youth Report CALL TO ORDER Mr. Loconto led the pledge of allegiance and called the meeting to order. CITATIONS The Committee and Superintendent presented citations to the following graduating seniors who are active members of the Boston Student Advisory Council, the primary vehicle for student voice and youth engagement in Boston Public Schools: Keondré McClay, Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers Dejah Delpleche, Snowden International School at Copley Alanna Bannister, West Roxbury Academy Dorothy Jeune , Madison Park Technical Vocational High School Malik Bullock, Madison Park Technical Vocational High School Steven Moquete, Madison Park Technical Vocational High School Jamaleek Bush, John D. O’Bryant School for Math and Science Jashara Henderson, John D. O’Bryant School for Math and Science Alejandro Melguizo, John D. O’Bryant School for Math and Science Anthony Pina, Mary Lyon Pilot School Nickoliss Twohads, Urban Science Academy Norsha Hydol, Tech Boston Academy Jhalen Williams, Excel High School MEETING MINUTES Approved – The Committee approved by unanimous consent the minutes of the May 9, 2018 School Committee meeting. 2 School Committee Meeting Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building School Committee Chamber May 23, 2018 SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT *As prepared for delivery. Good evening everyone. I would like to start tonight’s report by addressing — yet again — another senseless school shooting: this one at Santa Fe High School in Texas, which tragically ended the lives of 8 innocent students and 2 teachers at the hands of a 17-year-old gunman. I know we are all sick and tired of hearing about school shootings and many of us are left speechless. But we cannot be silent. This onslaught of school gun-violence can make us, as a society, desensitized to these brutal acts — that as a country we are beginning to “normalize” school shootings. We mustn’t let this happen. We cannot allow these incidents to be accepted as normal behavior. According to news reports over the weekend, more people have been killed in our schools ... so far this year … than have been killed while serving in the U.S. military. Accounting for the 10 people shot to death on Friday at the Texas high school, 31 people — an overwhelming majority of them students — have been killed at schools since Jan. 1. Comparatively, 29 U.S. service members have been killed during the same time period, including both combat and non-combat deaths, according to the Pentagon. In BPS, we are working focused on creating safe, welcoming and sustain school environments. We have a deep partnership with the Sandy Hook Promise for anti-violence initiatives and to create more inclusive learning environments. We are making commitments to facilities upgrades and access to mental health. But we cannot ignore that we have to do something about access to guns. There are some who may want us to ignore the simple fact that there are just too many guns in our country. The New York Times reported last November that the only variable that can explain the high rate of mass shootings in America is the astronomical number of guns. Speculation on other factors, such as mental health care or an unusually violent society we live in, have been debunked by research. Americans make up about 4.4 percent of the global population but we own 42 percent of the world’s guns. From 1966 to 2012, 31 percent of the gunmen in mass shootings worldwide were Americans, according to a 2015 study by the University of Alabama. The United States has 270 million guns and had 90 mass shooters from 1966 to 2012. No other country has more than 46 million guns or 18 mass shooters. The issue of gun access not only affects young people in their schools but it also results in shootings in our neighborhoods, especially the neighborhoods where many of our young people live. The news often focuses on school shootings but it’s the other non-school related shootings that kill even more children. I am proud that Boston Police Commissioner Billy Evans has been vocal about these issues. Last night I had an opportunity to spend some time with about two dozen BPS principals. This topic came up. People are worried and concerned about the safety of students. They want to 3 School Committee Meeting Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building School Committee Chamber May 23, 2018 barricade our schools- understandably so. But let’s not forget what makes our schools great- that they are welcoming to parents, students and community partners. In BPS, we are not about building “walls” but opening “doors.” Let’s not forget our values as we continue to ensure that we are putting in place safety protocols in our schools. Tonight, members of EY-Parthenon will present the findings and recommendations of a report that I commissioned — and the Barr Foundation generously funded — studying how the district supports our off-track youth. In 2007, BPS commissioned a similar report (by the then-Parthenon Group) to examine how the district serves its students who were at risk for dropping out. That report revealed a serious need for improvement. In ensuing years, BPS made concerted efforts and devoted targeted resources toward supporting these students. Over the last 10 years, we’ve celebrated our steadily rising graduation rate and declining dropout rate that’s put more students than ever on a path to graduate high school. Our high school graduation rate reached a historic high in 2017, continuing its decade-long rise that has produced a nearly 15 percentage-point increase in the number of students earning a diploma in four years. The BPS four-year graduation rate has risen from 57.9 percent in 2007 to 72.7 percent in 2017, representing a 14.8 percent increase. Over the same time, the annual dropout rate has fallen from 7.9 percent to 3.6 percent. But we know these improvements have not been enough, that we need to do more to better support those students who are falling behind and falling through the cracks. That’s why last August I commissioned a new report by EY Parthenon to re-examine how we support students who are most at risk for to fall off to graduate. This newly completed report has found that — while there are recent signs of improvement, especially in the last 3 years for students who enter high school without EWI (early warnings signs) staying on track — we have much more improvement to make. This report on off-track youth is BOTH a call to action AND one key to further focusing our efforts effectively. Among its key findings is something we’ve suspected… we need to: o Preventative strategies: Assist more youth to stay on track to graduation and prevent them from falling off-track. o Recuperative strategies: Assist more youth who fall off-track to get back on track to graduation. o System strategies: Adjust policies and practices that impact student success broadly. The report calls on BPS to make bold, systemic changes to our high school policies and practices. And it recommends a more holistic, integrated approach to prevent students from falling off track to graduate and help them recover when they do. We know our dedicated educators work very hard to prepare our students for college, career and life readiness. We must get rid of the systemic and policy barriers so that they are in a better position to do their best work on behalf of all our students, including those who are falling behind and are off-track to graduate. 4 School Committee Meeting Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building School Committee Chamber May 23, 2018 In BPS, we are committed to preparing each one of our graduates is prepared for college, career and life in the 21st century. To close opportunity and achievement gaps, we need to make sure EVERY student in BPS is put in a position where they can be successful through their journey to graduation. This is our promise to youth.