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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-04-04-ESTABROOK-minMinutes of the Estabrook's School Site Council April 4, 2025 2:30pm-3:20pm Attendees: Gerardo Martinez, Maris Joniec, Andrew Harris, Karyn Zhao (via google meet), Carolyn Mabardy, and Ethan Wells Agenda: Greetings/Introduction Public Speak General Update School Innovation Plan Updates Greetings/Introduction Public Speak / General Update Mr. Wells raised a question about whether the school has the resources it needs to meet its legal IEP requirements. Dr. Martinez said Estabrook is fully funded, but faces a continual challenge to maintain the staffing necessary for consistent services. These staffing shortages are due in large part to the difficulty of filling temporary positions to cover those who are on leave. Often, there are no applicants for these positions. As a result, families have been notified of an interruption to services and that they are entitled to compensatory services. As the Evaluation Team Supervisor Jennifer Beaulac happened to pass by the meeting room, she gave a brief presentation on how the school was accommodating families due to the previously noted IEP staffing issues. Missed or disrupted services are being logged; most disruptions have been lessened or corrected by creatively repurposing staff. At every point, the school has been transparent with concerned parties to ensure that the disruption is being mitigated as well as possible. Mr. Harris asked about the unit C negotiations (i.e. those concerning paraprofessionals) that are ongoing and difficult. Salary is a key issue, but what other barriers are there to getting applicants for these roles that are hard to fill? Dr. Martinez: It is difficult to fill positions with a short duration (due to leaves) at unusual times. These positions carry no health insurance benefits, and tend not to have a lot of applicants. Mr. Harris gave a kudos, seconded by Mr. Wells, to the IEP evaluation team. He also wanted to know how the school was dealing with low kindergarten enrollment. Dr. Martinez: Dr. Hackett and principals will meet next week to learn about potential section reductions or consolidations. As of now, no decisions have been made. From the budget message, there were a number of class section reductions that will have to happen to respect the budget parameters, but what these will consist of practically remains to be determined. In response to a question from Mr. Wells, Dr. Martinez underscored that consolidation would consist of reducing sections in one school rather than consolidating kindergarten across schools. School Innovation Plan Updates Dr. Martinez sent the school innovation plan by email. It is a three-year plan (2024-2027) and we are now approaching the end of year one. As a three year (2024-27) plan, some aspects will carry over into next year and/or be modified over the course of its enactment. A new column has been added to the plan providing a status update. Most of the points of the plan are "in progress." A handful have been completed, and a few not yet engaged. One, involving the lab sites, is on hold due to budgetary concerns. Dr. Martinez invited the council to review the plan and raise any questions or concerns. Mr. Harris asked for a macro view of how the school's innovation plan was approaching the equity gap identified within it. Dr. Martinez responded that the crucial components of this approach were high quality instruction, well-trained staff and consistent monitoring of assessment data. In response to a question from Mr. Wells about whether the school was feeling any pressure about its DEI commitment, Dr. Martinez advised that no pressure is currently being felt. Estabrook is not immediately susceptible to pressure from the federal government because it is not a Title 1 school. That said, as Mr. Wells noted, the pressure might ultimately come from the state if the federal government withholds funds the state relies on. Dr. Martinez suggested the council members review the plan more completely on their own time and raise any concerns or questions at our next meeting on May 30th. The meeting was then adjourned around 3:20 pm.