WSESD

The Social Justice Committee will be bringing the following recommendations to the
WSESD Board and Policy and Amendment Committee meetings for consideration:

● The 2021-22 WSESD Social Justice committee developed three questions related to diversity and equity that should be included on all job applications. Currently only part of the first question seems to be included on job listings. The Social Justice Committee recommends that this be remedied and that all three questions are asked on every job listing for the district.

On a motion by Kim Price, the minutes of June 7, 2023 were approved.

On a motion by Anne Beekman, the committee accepted the recommendation of administration to hire Kerri Beebe, WSESU PreK Coordinator.

On a motion by Anne Beekman, the committee accepted the recommendation of administration to hire Tara Sullivan, BUHS Special Education teacher.

Agenda
I Call to order – Anne Beekman, Chair
II Approval of minutes of June 7, 2023
III New Hires
IV Resignations/retirements
V Other business
V Adjourn

SUMMARY: The WSESD Board and members of the Vernon School Board and Administrators attended a retreat together on June 26 to develop goals and priorities for the Continuous Improvement Plan. Administration will begin developing budgets without the support of ESSER funds in September. All schools held graduation ceremonies including BUHS, which was the final one on June 16. There was a discussion of how board members should attend when seating is limited due to holding the event indoors. The board considered new policies regarding the dress code, fire and emergency preparedness, access control, and leadership councils. The report on the sexual abuse investigation has been delayed due to new information received by the investigator. The Board adopted a set of norms to inform their meetings. The Board has not yet received any applicants for the vacant Brattleboro seat but hope to appoint someone at their next meeting on July 25. Administrators will be holding a planning retreat on August 7 and the Board hopes to hold one later that month. Tim Maciel was added to the Social Justice Committee.

AGENDA – 7/11/2023
I. Approval of Minutes from 6/20/23
New Business including reconsideration of current agenda

Chair DS convened the meeting at 2:32 pm and read hybrid statement.

I. Approval of Minutes and confirmation of next meeting date

The minutes of 06/05/23 meeting approved by assent.

A discussion took place on whether the Policy and Amendments Committee will meet during the summer. It was agreed that there will be one meeting in July, specifically focused on planning a calendar and setting priorities for which policies to review in the coming school year.

AGENDA
I. Call to Order / Introductions / Recognition of Visitors
II. Review of minutes
III. Items to discuss related to programmatic & performance equity:
a. Universal Pre-k access
b. Rotation of school board meetings
c. Food Services in the district

AGENDA
I. CALL TO ORDER – 6:00 p.m. – Kelly Young, Board Chair
Review of Agenda
II. STUDENT MATTERS (5-10 Minutes)
III. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
A. Update on CIP Development with multi-year goals moving forward

It was decided that Ruby would be the chair and Kim would be the clerk.

The mission statement was discussed. Does this committee need to exist? Is everything already happening/being taken care of by the administration? How do we make sure all schools feel served?

Liz discussed how this committee was previously tasked with examining Title IX in regards to sports at the High School.

AGENDA
I. Call To Order – 6:00pm – Kelly Young, Board Chair
II. EXECUTIVE SESSION
A. Executive Session under 1 VSA § 313 (a) (7) Student Matters / The academic records or suspension or discipline of students – Action Required
B. Executive Session under 1 VSA § 313 (a) (7) Student Matters / The academic records or suspension or discipline of students – Action Required
III. Student Matters (5-10 Minutes)

Agenda
1. Approval of Minutes
2. FY23 Fiscal Year to Date Financial Statement Review
3. School Funding Formula, Legislative Session Impact
4. Capital Project Implementation update (Oak Grove School Renewable Energy Improvement project, BUHS/Guilford/Academy HVAC project updates)

AGENDA
I. Call to Order / Introductions / Recognition of Visitors
II. Establish chair, clerk & minutes expectations
III. Re-establish mission:Mission: Foster learning environments in which all members of the school community are safe, feel valued and are appreciated, as well as promote policies and procedures that value equity and diversity in our schools.
IV. Centering social justice in our hiring process, what specifically to focus on.

DST discussed how new policies should come to the committee.
They should come directly from the community to the P&A Committee.
Only time a new or revised policy goes to the full Board for discussion is when it is ready for 1st or 2nd reading for readoption.
All policies up for readoption need to be warned.
Policies are under constant scrutiny and may be revised at any time the P&A Committee decides they should be reviewed.

I. Approval of Minutes from 5/22/23
New Business including reconsideration of current agenda
Confirm date for next meeting
II. Edits and Updates
H7 Leadership Councils
F42 Student Dress Code

SUMMARY: The board heard a presentation by the Superintendent on administrative goals, and a presentation by three principals on the teacher peer observation program that was piloted this year. BUHS administration gave an update on the school branding process: a screening committee composed of students and staff has narrowed down 132 submissions for a new team name to three finalists, which students will be voting on this week. The Finance Director provided an update on the grant application process for funding the Oak Grove School capital improvement projects, which include installing a heat pump, insulation, PCB remediation and window replacements. The board shared news that the sexual abuse investigation will soon be closing the information gathering phase and encouraged anyone who has been considering reporting to do so as soon as possible. The Superintendent provided information on possible improvements to Natowich and Tenney Fields, and the Board voted to direct the administration to resuscitate Natowich as a natural field.

The board heard a presentation from the Office of Diversity Equity and Social Justice about the teacher leader structure and diversity, equity and social justice programming in the district. There was a discussion about how to address and facilitate input from leadership councils. The board approved an updated capital plan, focused on increasing sustainability. The board heard from students that they would appreciate more transparency around the sexual abuse investigation and disclosed that they are in meetings with their attorney in order to gather some data that can be released to the public.

There was a discussion about the need for increasing athletic field capacity which could include resurfacing Natowich Field and improvements to Tenney Field. The superintendent provided an update about the process to select a new name and mascot for BUHS. The board voted to approve the superintendent’s recommendation for a reorganization of leadership roles at BUHS.

Policy wsesdF35AnimalPolicyAdopted4-25-2023.pdf was adopted by the WSESD Board on April 25, 2023.

III Policy discussion

Policy WSESDF42DressCode.pdf

In attendance: Ruby McAdoo, Robin Morgan, Michelle Green

I. Call to Order / Introductions / Recognition of Visitors
The meeting was called to order at 9:33

II. Establish chair, clerk & minutes expectations