Baltimore City Board of Education 7 24 2012 Board Minutes

7/31/2019 Baltimore City Board of Education 7 24 2012 Board Minutes

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1

1

2 THE BALTIMORE CITY

3 BOARD OF SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS

4 BALTIMORE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

5

6 200 EAST NORTH AVENUE FIRST

7 FLOOR BOARD ROOM

8 BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21202

9

10 SPECIAL BUSINESS MEETING

11

12 July 24, 2012

13 6:00 P.M.

14

15

16

17

18

19

20 REPORTED BY:

21 D. Brown


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1 BOARD MEMBERS:

2 NEIL DUKE - BOARD CHAIR

3 ANDRS ALONSO - CEO

4 STUDENT COMM.

5 TINA HIKE HUBBARD

6 JERRELLE FRANCOIS

7 MAXINE J. WOOD

8 ROBERT W. HECK

9 SHANAYSHA SAULS - Not Present

10 DAVID STONE

11 LISA AKCHIN

12 MARNELL COOPER - Not Present

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21


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1 I N D E X

2 Call to Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 Moment of Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

4 Pledge of Allegiance. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

5 Consent Agenda. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

6 Chairman's Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

7 Ethics Panel Introductions . . . . . . .10

8 CEO's Comments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

9 PEP Announcement . . . . . . . . . . . .24

10 MSA Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

11 Public Comment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

12 Kim Truhardt . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

13 Action Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

14 Appeals and Hearings . . . . . . . . . .60

15 Procurement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

16 Information and Discussion. . . . . . . . . 111

17 School Effectiveness Review. . . . . . 111

18 Code of Ethics Policy 2nd Reader. . . .139

19 Charter School Renewal . . . . . . . . 144

20 Delayed Openings 2nd Reader . . . . . .163

21 Announcement of Meetings. . . . . . . . . . 172


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1 P R O C E E D I N G S

2 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Good evening,

3 everyone. We're going to get started with

4 tonight's Board meeting. Before we do so, I

5 should note a few facts.

6 First, thank you for being patient with

7 us. We have a number of you who are here happily

8 awaiting appointments for this evening, I

9 suspect, given the large size of the room.

10 COMMISSIONER FRANCOIS: And they can

11 stay to the end of the meeting.

12 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Yes, we can only

13 hope so based on Commissioner Francois'

14 suggestion. We do not have the presentation of

15 colors this evening.

16 But, I would like to start off on a

17 more somber note. That would be this. As the

18 nation mourns the passing of a number of lives in

19 Colorado based on a senseless act of random

20 violence, we're also reminded of the preciousness

21 of life here in Baltimore City and we do have the


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1 occasion to mourn the passing of several members

2 of our school community. I would ask you to bear

3 with me as I note these particular passings.

4 First, with respect to Dr. Evelyn

5 Valentine, a nationally known educator and

6 business woman. During her career, she had the

7 pleasure of serving as a teacher, a department

8 head, an assistant principal, principal at Lake

9 Clifton High School, and Central Office

10 administrator in Baltimore City Public Schools.

11 Also, in the memory of Beatrice Dorsey

12 who was a retired school teacher. She served

13 some 29 years of dedicated service to city

14 schools. At the time of separation, she was a

15 Master Teacher at City Springs Elementary.

16 Camilla Russell was a retired office

17 assistant at Belmont Elementary. She had 39

18 years of dedicated service to city schools. At

19 the time of separation, she was working at

20 Belmont Elementary School.

21 Willie Battle, a life that never


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1 reached the fullness of its blossom. He was an

2 11th grader at Baltimore Liberation Diploma Plus

3 High School. Finally, also another life cut

4 short. Deshawn Satchell was a 9th grader at

5 Baltimore Community School.

6 With respect to each of their passings,

7 I would ask that you engage with us as a Board in

8 this moment of brief silence.

9

10 (Moment of Silence)

11

12 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Thank you for your

13 indulgence. If you could all rise with the Board

14 for the Pledge of Allegiance.

15

16 (Pledge of Allegiance)

17

18 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Thank you. Please

19 be seated. Now, on to tonight's agenda. With

20 respect to our Consent Agenda, Consent Agenda

21 meaning items that have been removed from action


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1 item status tonight because they have been

2 resolved and may or may not bear further

3 commentary or presentation of the Board.

4 The following items have not been

5 approved by way of the Consent Agenda. They are

6 as follows. Procurement items 7.1, 8.1, 8.6,

7 8.8, 9.3, 9.5, 11.1 and 11.2, 11.3, and also

8 pulled from tonight's agenda is 14.1, in the

9 event that it's reflected on the agenda for this

10 evening.

11 So, those are the items that have been

12 removed from the action items for the evening. I

13 believe there was also one appeals and hearings

14 matter that was also pulled or perhaps it's being

15 tabled for tonight. Or pulled in completion? It

16 is 6.11. We'll also note that 6.11 is being

17 pulled from the Consent Agenda as well.

18 According to my notes, that reflects

19 the extent of the items that are being pulled

20 from the Consent Agenda. To the extent that a

21 prior Boarddocs or internet site references third


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1 reader for the BLA, BLB and BLC series, those

2 actions that would have been scheduled for third

3 reader are also being deferred for tonight.

4 So, with that recap, unless there is

5 anything else that I have missed, I will

6 entertain a motion for the approval of tonight's

7 Consent Agenda.

8 COMMISSIONER HECK: So moved.

9 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: By Commissioner

10 Heck.

11 COMMISSIONER FRANCOIS: Second.

12 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Second by

13 Commissioner Francois. All those in favor of the

14 Consent Agenda, signify by saying aye.

15 SPEAKERS: Aye.

16 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: All those opposed?

17 Abstentions or recusals? Consent Agenda thus

18 passes.

19 Next on tap would be Chairman's

20 Comments. I am going to have, indeed, the great

21 privilege of introducing some very fine members


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1 of our audience tonight. To include our very own

2 state Senator, Catherine Pugh. (Applause.) I am

3 very much aware of the fact that it is not often

4 that we have both a celebrity as well as a

5 locally elected official in our presence. So,

6 your presence is deeply appreciated. We know

7 that you are very much in tune with what goes on

8 in city schools. You've been very supportive of

9 all of our efforts in Annapolis since you've been

10 elected to office. You are a valuable member of

11 what we consider to be our team. Especially now

12 that you have a little bit of a rooting interest

13 in a certain aspect of city schools. So, we'll

14 get on to that in short order.

15 So, let me give you a little bit more

16 of a backdrop. As part of our duties as a Board,

17 we need to make sure that we make all of our

18 decisions in the most open and honest way

19 possible. We need to ensure that the integrity

20 of the process is always item one on our agenda.

21 We know that there are going to be


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1 times, because of complications or complexities

2 of issues, that we're going to have questions.

3 We're not a perfect Board and we don't pretend to

4 be. But, we need that layer of additional

5 support.

6 I'm very proud to introduce what that

7 layer of additional support is going to be this

8 evening. Those would be the members of the

9 Baltimore Public Schools' Ethics Panel.

10 We have five members of our Ethics

11 Panel. They, like us as a Board, serving in a

12 non-compensated fashion because they truly care

13 and are deeply committed to city schools and our

14 progress. And, also, ensuring that we, again,

15 make our decisions in the light of day and that

16 we are diligent to our efforts to give fair and

17 impartial and reasonable analysis to everything

18 we do as city schools' Board members.

19 I'd like to introduce the four members

20 that are present and also read their bio's, in

21 addition to the one members who was not able to


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1 be with us this evening.

2 Before doing that, I want to make one

3 other commentary about our Ethics Panelists.

4 You'll find out in a few short seconds that these

5 folks are super talented and I like to think of

6 them as our better angels. These are folks that

7 we would like to aspire to be based on what

8 they've done in their professional lives and what

9 they're going to bring to bear as our Ethics

10 Panelists.

11 These folks are super impressive and

12 we're very glad to have them. I don't think

13 there's a finer Ethics Panel in all of the state.

14 Now that I've built them up, I think

15 it's time to introduce them to you as the school

16 community. The first introduction will be the

17 one member of the Ethics Panel who is not

18 present. So, she will not stand and accept her

19 acknowledgment. Her name is Letina Green,

20 Esquire. Yes, she is an attorney. Ms. Green is

21 currently employed with the Social Security


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1 Administration. She was appointed a member of

2 the Senior Executive Service in September of

3 2007. She has held Executive leadership

4 positions in Human Resources, Operations and

5 Retirement and Disability Policy, and served as

6 Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff.

7 Prior to the SES, Ms. Green assumed

8 increasing levels of responsibility in the area

9 of labor and employee relations. Ms. Green

10 served as Chairman of Baltimore City's Board of

11 Municipal and Zoning Appeals from August of 2005

12 to September of 2006, as well as a Board member

13 for three years prior. She has also served as a

14 Hearing Officer for the Baltimore Civil Service

15 Commission from April of 2005 to May of 2006.

16 Ms. Green received her Bachelor's

17 Degree, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of

18 Baltimore and obtained a JD with Honors from the

19 University of Baltimore School of Law. I can

20 attest to that fact because she was my study

21 partner for the Bar examination. Were it not for


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1 her, who knows what I'd be doing right now. But,

2 I'm certain it would have been probably studying

3 for the Bar examination yet again and again and

4 again.

5 She presently lives in Mount Washington

6 with her husband, Aaron, and her daughter, Layla.

7 She is a fine addition to our Ethics Panel. She

8 is not able to be present tonight. Actually,

9 she's doing an all-nighter in her office

10 preparing for testimony before Congress tomorrow.

11 So, that goes to show her level of involvement in

12 Social Security and the bigger picture as well.

13 The folks who are here, we'll start off

14 with Mr. Paris Lee. Mr. Lee is a resident of

15 West Baltimore. He has worked in a number of

16 state and local government offices such as the

17 Mayor's Office of Baltimore City and the Maryland

18 Department of Transportation.

19 The father of three boys, he has

20 studied in the central Mexican town of Taxico and

21 is open to learning about different cultures. He


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1 is new to the experience to participating on a

2 Board, but hopes that his presence will not only

3 be an opportunity for himself but for others to

4 identify other ways to help in the city in which

5 they live. Mr. Lee, I attended his interview to

6 be on the Ethics Panel personally. I say he is

7 truly going to be an asset to the Ethics Panel.

8 I introduce to the audience at large, Mr. Paris

9 Lee. (Applause.)

10 Next, Ms. Nicole Leonard. Also a JD

11 and also possesses an MBA. She is the Deputy

12 Director of the Johns Hopkins University's School

13 of Medicine, Office of Research Administration.

14 Ms. Leonard earned her law degree from North

15 Carolina Central University in 2000 and is a

16 member of the Maryland Bar. She earned her MBA

17 from Johns Hopkins University's Carey Business

18 School in 2012.

19 Ms. Leonard began her career as a

20 licensing professional in academic technology and

21 transferred to Duke University in 1998 which was


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1 followed by a short tenure at the National Heart,

2 Lung and Blood Institute at the National

3 Institutes of Health before joining Johns Hopkins

4 University.

5 In 2006, she shifted gears and became a

6 research administrator. She has served on many

7 academic committees including the Johns Hopkins

8 University School of Medicine's Committee on

9 Outside Interests and the Carey Business School

10 Honor Council.

11 I can say this with respect to Ms.

12 Leonard, as you can tell, she's not only

13 brilliant but she takes a mean set of minutes. I

14 reviewed the minutes from the first Ethics Panel

15 meetings, or one of the back-up Ethics Panel

16 meetings and it is really a prototype of what I

17 would hope anyone's committee meetings look like.

18 They are flawless and I was deeply impressed. I

19 don't get impressed by written work too often.

20 But, kudos to Ms. Leonard. They've obviously

21 selected the right person to serve, at least on a


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1 temporary basis, as secretary. I introduce Ms.

2 Leonard. (Applause.)

3 Next would be Aaron Murkey, Esquire.

4 I'm sensing a general trend in our Ethics Panel.

5 Mr. Murkey is a graduate of the University of

6 Maryland, Baltimore County, Magna Cum Laude, and

7 the University of Maryland, School of Law, Cum

8 Laude. Mr. Murkey has had an avid involvement in

9 the Maryland educational community through his

10 service as a student member for the Maryland

11 State Board of Education and, this summer, with

12 the Maryland State Department of Education as the

13 Maryland Governor's intern. Furthermore, he is

14 clerk for the United State's District Court for

15 the Honorable Susan Garvey. Mr. Murkey has also

16 served as the President and Vice President of the

17 Board of Directors for the Free State Legal

18 Project, Inc.

19 Mr. Murkey recently left Venable, one

20 of the largest law firms in the State of Maryland

21 and, indeed, the mid-Atlantic, to become the


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1 Executive Director of the Free State Legal

2 Project which provides pro bono legal services to

3 low-income LGBT individuals and families.

4 Mr. Murkey is going to be a wonderful

5 addition to our Ethics Panel. He brings a very

6 sharp, analytical mind and the willingness,

7 obviously, from his prior participation as a

8 student member, to be part of our educational

9 process. So, Mr. Murkey, I introduce you to our

10 wider audience. (Applause.)

11 Wasn't it Shakespeare who uttered the

12 quote about attorneys and doing away with them?

13 Ignore. Shakespeare was vastly overrated, I

14 believe.

15 Last but certainly not least in our

16 introductions is Mr. Benjamin A. Neal, Esquire.

17 Mr. Neal is a full professor of legal studies at

18 Towson University. He has published numerous

19 academic journal articles on various legal

20 topics, as well as presenting at a number of

21 academic conferences, both nationally and


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1 internationally.

2 Previously, he served as the Chair of

3 the Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals for

4 Baltimore City under both Mayor Schmoke and Mayor

5 O'Malley. He is admitted to practice in

6 Maryland, as well as the U.S. District Court for

7 the District of Columbia, the U.S. District Court

8 for the State of Maryland, as well as the Third,

9 Fourth and Fifth Circuits of Appeals and the

10 United States Supreme Court.

11 I can share this with you, the wider

12 audience, of Mr. Neal. Whenever there is

13 discussion regarding the short list of viable

14 candidates to be elevated to the bench here in

15 the State of Maryland, Mr. Neal is certainly part

16 of that conversation.

17 Also, I should note, Mr. Neal, based on

18 his acumen, his confidence and just being an all

19 around good guy, has been selected as the present

20 Chair of our Ethics Panel. So, with that said, I

21 would introduce you to Mr. Benjamin A. Neal,


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1 Esquire. Kudos, sir. (Applause.)

2 So, those are the members of our Ethics

3 Panel. They will be getting a lot of work out of

4 this particular Board. We're looking forward to

5 the product that they will provide for us. As

6 you can tell, these folks are very highly

7 competent and qualified.

8 Commissioner Francois has reminded me

9 to remind all of us what the Ethics Panel will be

10 doing. That is, basically, determining and

11 fielding questions, not only from the Board, but

12 from the school district regarding questions of

13 potential conflicts, potential matters that

14 require resolution as to the, I don't want to use

15 too many college words. The efficacy of our

16 processes.

17 As so eloquently said by Commissioner

18 Francois, to make sure that we're doing what

19 we're supposed to be doing in an ethical and

20 sound manner.

21 Again, these are highly qualified folks


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1 and we're truly looking forward to their presence

2 and their contribution to city schools. With

3 that said, I'll conclude Chair comments and we'll

4 next turn to CEO comments for tonight.

5 MR. ALONSO: Good evening. I have

6 three main comments. Then, I'm going to

7 introduce lots of folks who were named on June

8 26th but couldn't be here to be recognized since

9 it was a special Board hearing. Then, some

10 wonderful folks who are here today because today

11 they are being named to new positions in the

12 school system. I'm going to close with some

13 comments and some presentation on the MSA to

14 frame some of the work that remains for us in the

15 district.

16 First of all, we want to thank all the

17 funders throughout Baltimore, as well as the

18 Mayor's Office and the Family League who help

19 support summer learning enrichment to supplement

20 the Read to Succeed summer learning program.

21 Summer learning loss is real. It is


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1 important for all families to encourage their

2 students to read all summer long. There are

3 reading lists available on the city schools'

4 website and at the Pratt libraries. Please go

5 online. Please visit your local library. The

6 kids should be reading all the time.

7 Secondly, this is one of my favorite

8 events of the year. The Summer Robotics Olympiad

9 will be held on Wednesday, August 1st at the

10 Timonium Fairgrounds. Have you ever been to a

11 robotics olympiad? It's like the NCAA finals but

12 with future engineers. The level of craziness

13 and enthusiasm.

14 This event is the culmination of weeks

15 of hard work for our middle grades summer

16 robotics students. More than 150 teams are

17 expected to compete. Families and community

18 members are welcome to attend and volunteers are

19 needed to support the event and serve as judges.

20 Please visit. More information can be found,

21 again, on the city schools' website.


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1 Thirdly, hundreds of teachers have

2 already completed professional development for

3 achievement unit credit so far this summer.

4 There's still some openings left for some

5 sessions. Teachers interested in enrolling in

6 summer professional development sessions should

7 check the professional growth page for more

8 information. Please sign up, take advantage of

9 the opportunities that we try to provide for you.

10 I'm going to turn to the reason why

11 many of you are here today. I want to start with

12 the June 26th PEP Report. As you know, it was a

13 special Board meeting simply to make sure that we

14 had as many people on board as possible for the

15 beginning of the new school year. Some of you

16 were not here to be recognized as you start your

17 new roles in city schools.

18 So, let me introduce you and feel free

19 to applaud, whistle, cheer. Whatever you feel

20 like doing. And, if you don't hear anybody

21 cheering, then cheer. (Laughter.) We don't want


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1 anybody to feel unappreciated.

2 I'm happy to start with this person

3 because this person has come before me before.

4 Now she's going to be a managing assistant

5 principal at Bluford Drew Jemison Academy.

6 Audrey Freeman. (Applause.)

7 The new principal at Matthew A. Henson

8 Elementary School, David Guzman. (Applause.)

9 Student Support Liaison in the Student Support

10 Team, Christine Hudson. (Applause.) The new

11 principal at Afya Public Charter, Katie Marts.

12 (Applause.) I should say founding member of

13 Afya.

14 Assistant principal at Digital Harbor

15 High, Shannon Mobley. (Applause.) Educational

16 specialist in the Transportation Office, Roberta

17 Neal. You guys are so important. The kids have

18 to get to school on time.

19 Academic Content Liaison for the

20 Teaching and Learning School Team, Dan Oliver.

21 (Applause.) Academic Content Liaison for the


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1 Teaching and Learning School Team, Valerie

2 Stamper. (Applause.) The new principal at

3 Francis Scott Key Elementary/Middle School, Mary

4 Boswell McComas. (Applause.)

5 The new principal at Johnston Square

6 Elementary/Middle, Raymond Braxton. (Applause.)

7 Assistant principal at Baltimore Liberation

8 Diploma Plus Academy, Michael Brown. (Applause.)

9 The new principal at the Baltimore Design School,

10 Nathan Burns. (Applause.) The new principal at

11 Curtis Bay Elementary/Middle School, Benia

12 Cartage. (Applause.)

13 The new managing assistant principal at

14 Roland Park Elementary/Middle, Nicolas Dambrosio.

15 (Applause.) While I'm at it, let me recognize

16 the former principal of Roland Park

17 Elementary/Middle who told us very late in the

18 game that she was retiring, Caroline Cole.

19 (Applause.)

20 The new principal at East Baltimore

21 Community School, Katrina Foster. (Applause.)


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1 Educational Specialist in the Office of School

2 Counseling, Jasmine Graham. (Applause.) New

3 principal, former teacher at Green Street

4 Academy, Crystal Harden Lindsay. (Applause.)

5 New assistant principal at Roland Park

6 Elementary/Middle, Daniel Herrbach. (Applause.)

7 Academic Content Liaison in the

8 Teaching and Learning School Team, Melissa

9 Loftus. (Applause.) The new principal at City

10 Neighbors, Obidimma Okobi. (Applause.) The new

11 assistant principal at Mergenthaler Vocational

12 Technical High, Larry Ward. (Applause.) The new

13 principal, and this gives me joy. Not because of

14 the retiring of an exceptional principal, but I

15 think this person did a great job closing out NAF

16 at the end of last year, Tammatha Woodhouse, new

17 principal at Excel Academy. (Applause.)

18 Final person on the list, but just as

19 exceptional closing out another school, principal

20 at James McHenry Elementary School, Grace Yador.

21 (Applause.) That's a pretty outstanding group of


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1 people, leaders. Congratulations to all.

2 Tremendous luck. We are here to serve you

3 because we cannot possibly succeed without you.

4 (Applause.)

5 I also want to thank the members of

6 school communities who participated in the search

7 processes in the work that went into identifying

8 finalists. I, personally, interviewed at least

9 the final two people for every single search and

10 what was remarkable was how hard it was to make

11 decisions and how much talent and good faith is

12 out there.

13 So, I want to thank the parents, the

14 teachers, the community partners who worked in

15 the School-Family Council conversations because

16 this is all about a partnership with the schools

17 and the communities. The people that are here

18 today are the result of a lot of hard work.

19 I didn't see this person before but I

20 just saw her. I also want to recognize my new

21 Executive Assistant, Rashi Jawade. (Applause.)


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1 She is doing a double job until we get somebody

2 to do the work that she used to do and the work

3 that she is now doing.

4 Let me turn to the question of our

5 recent Maryland School Assessment scores. I'm

6 willing to frame my comments in the context of

7 the present and also in the context of what has

8 happened in the district over time. I think I

9 will wait for everybody who is going to leave, to

10 leave. (Laughter.)

11 So, in trying to place the results in

12 the context of what has happened over time and

13 what needs to happen in the future. We are in an

14 interesting point in our evolution as a school

15 system. For many years, the system was making

16 incremental progress. Incremental progress with

17 points along that progress where certain things

18 were not moving. For example, our middle grades

19 scores.

20 Then, five years ago, the progress

21 accelerated and accelerated quite remarkably. In


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1 the past two years, what we are seeing is our

2 pushing with huge concerns around how we're going

3 to now take the next leap in the work. That work

4 is happening in a context where we know that our

5 standards are changing, we know that there are

6 new assessments that are coming that are actually

7 going to be far more rigorous than the

8 assessments that we are taking right now, where

9 what our kids need to know and be able to do is

10 going to be different.

11 The game is being raised and we're

12 struggling to push forward in some areas. At the

13 same time, we're making enormous progress in

14 certain other areas. For example, graduation.

15 The cutting of the drop-out rate.

16 Part of what I'm going to highlight in

17 these comments is some of the things that I think

18 are contributing to our pause, some of the things

19 that are going to help us move forward, some of

20 the things that I feel matter tremendously. I

21 have to say, one of my friends in the work told


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1 me that this is an opportunity to articulate that

2 we should not necessarily define ourselves by how

3 we do on MSA tests.

4 But, I have to say that these results

5 are incredibly important. Even if the tests are

6 not the best tests, even if they do not define

7 everything that our kids should know, if we are

8 struggling to make progress in any way, then

9 that's an opportunity to really reflect on our

10 work. It's work that we own as a school system.

11 I really push back on the notion that it is about

12 any sector of schools, that it is about a

13 superintendent. It is about a community coming

14 together to try to figure out how to work for

15 every single child. If the theory of action

16 continues to be that the schools are the center

17 of the world, that there is huge capacity in

18 schools, then there is huge opportunity for an

19 ongoing conversation about what we're missing,

20 what we can do in response and really about

21 ownership and responsibility in every single


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1 school. It's too easy to point the finger at a

2 program, a component of the work. It's about all

3 of us. Including parents in this conversation.

4 So, I'm going to start by summarizing

5 where we are. Where we are is, in math, the

6 scores went up by two points. In reading, the

7 scores went down by roughly one and a half

8 points.

9 Where we've come from, and we need to

10 keep sight of this in the context of the district

11 and its history, that we have made extraordinary

12 progress in the past five years. To not

13 highlight that progress is to rob our schools and

14 our kids of the enormous success that they have

15 had.

16 Since 2007, for example, the percentage

17 of students and proficient and advanced grew by

18 53 percent. This is huge. This is in math. In

19 reading, that growth was roughly 20 percent. We

20 were higher in reading than in math going back.

21 What has happened over the past five years is


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1 there has been an acceleration in math and, in

2 reading, a stagnation in the elementary schools

3 and huge growth in the middle grades.

4 What you see over time is, in the past

5 five years, a huge jump in the middle grades

6 while the elementary grades have remained mainly

7 flat.

8 The next set of information really,

9 this is math, by the way, talks about certain

10 things that get hidden by the data. For example,

11 over the past five years, the number of students

12 at advanced has doubled. So, 100 percent

13 increase in the number of kids performing at

14 advanced. That matters tremendously because part

15 of what we want to see is not simply a movement

16 of non- performing kids to a standard of

17 performance, we want to see every child improve

18 in the school system. We want to be a school

19 system for all kids.

20 The growth of kids from proficient to

21 advanced is a huge signal that something


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1 different is being done in the school system.

2 At the same time, a huge decline in the

3 number of kids at basic. This is math. In

4 reading, almost exactly the same picture. The

5 growth in the number of kids in advanced in

6 reading over the past five years in 80 percent.

7 What is quite remarkable, again, is the shift in

8 middle grades in reading.

9 What is also interesting, and I've

10 alluded to this, is what is happening in the

11 grade bands. In math, if you look at grades

12 three to five, you see a jump from 2004 to 2007,

13 then another smaller jump from 2007 to 2012.

14 In the middle grades in math, however,

15 what was happening in 2004 to 2007 was progress

16 but, on average, in the middle grades in 2007,

17 only 30 percent of the kids were proficient and

18 advanced in math in the middle grades. In 8th

19 grade, the number was down to 23 percent.

20 So, while the system was improving, you

21 had the improvement in the elementary grades


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1 masking a huge retrenchment in the middle grades.

2 What's happened in the last five years

3 is a huge jump, a 70 percent jump in terms of

4 math achievement in the middle grades, that I

5 think it's absolutely necessary if we're going to

6 give our high schools a chance. It's part of

7 what was problematic in the conversation about

8 achievement in the district five years ago and

9 before is that we were blaming high schools for

10 the drop-outs, but 77 percent of the kids going

11 into high school were starting high school at

12 basic.

13 One of the things we're learning from

14 the data, and I'm going to allude to a couple of

15 those slides, is that once kids are basic in 7th

16 and 8th grade, it is almost impossible to move

17 them to proficient and advanced. What our data

18 tells us is that we need to get to the kids by

19 the 6th grade because the pattern is once they're

20 in basic in math in 7th and 8th, it becomes

21 incredibly difficult to move them up.


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1 Same pattern in reading but, again,

2 more pronounced in the middle grades. Again, in

3 reading, what you're seeing is progress since

4 2007. But, in the middle grades from 2004 to

5 2007, hardly any movement. Then, since 2007, a

6 31 percent increase in the number of kids at

7 proficient and advanced.

8 All this information is on the website.

9 So, if you're taking notes, all you need to do is

10 download it and print it. You're going to see

11 information about what happened at the grade

12 level in math by grade. What happened in reading

13 at the grade level. What happened by school

14 type.

15 Something very interesting is happening

16 in schools with contradictory results for math

17 and reading. Part of what is interesting this

18 year is whatever you saw happen, happened across

19 everything. As in, it happened across types of

20 principal experience, it happened across school

21 sectors, it happened across different groups of


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1 kids.

2 So, in math, there was improvement.

3 For the first time ever, and this is a

4 conversation about what is happening in

5 individual schools, the traditional schools

6 outperformed charters in three to 8 math. Now,

7 that's three to 8. Part of what we now need to

8 do is disentangle it because maybe something

9 different happened in terms of elementary and

10 middle grades.

11 In reading, a reversal of that. As in,

12 charters outperformed the traditional schools.

13 But, across every single sector, you saw a

14 decline. Because the sectors are so different,

15 then part of the question that I have in terms of

16 our conversations with schools is what was going

17 on underneath? If regardless of the governance

18 structure or regardless of the academic program

19 at work, what we were seeing on average across

20 the system was a decline in reading. You would

21 have expected, even though it was a small decline


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1 with some schools improving and some schools

2 declining, what you saw was that the type of

3 governance structure and the type of program did

4 not seem to predict the final results in reading.

5 It cut across the system. So, the question then

6 becomes if it's not about the program, then what

7 is it?

8 The other interesting thing which is,

9 of course, incredibly important for us is, last

10 year, when we had a decline, the decline had huge

11 variability. As in, you had many schools losing

12 20, 25, 30 points. Very few schools gaining more

13 than five points.

14 This year, the scores were very tightly

15 bunched. As in, the range, from the schools

16 losing the most to the schools gaining the most

17 was very tight. A range of roughly 20 points

18 from minus 10 to plus 10 with only a couple of

19 outliers. Which is quite significant, again, in

20 the context of something happening across the

21 entire system as opposed to last year, clearly


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1 something happening that was very much tied to

2 what was happening in individual schools. The

3 number of schools losing 20 to 25 points

4 challenge any notion of statistical probability.

5 One of the things that we found was

6 that, and this is our hypothesis early and I feel

7 that it is very true, time on task matters

8 tremendously. So, after the decline of math

9 scores last year with a long history of

10 struggling with math, we found resources through

11 savings and cuts throughout the year and opened

12 83 Saturday academies in the 83 schools that had

13 the greatest challenges in the work.

14 What we see across the system is that

15 the schools that had the Saturday school gained

16 more than the schools that had no Saturday

17 school. In actuality, the schools that had no

18 Saturday school dropped almost a point from last

19 year.

20 The gains in the schools that had the

21 Saturday school masked what had happened in the


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1 schools that had not received the additional

2 investment of Saturday school.

3 The notion of the meaning of time in

4 school is really supported by some of the

5 analysis that we have done on what happens with

6 kids who are chronically absent or who have been

7 suspended once or multiple times.

8 What this slide tells you is that the

9 achievement gap between kids who have never been

10 suspended and kids who have been suspended one

11 time is roughly 20 odd points in math and roughly

12 17 points in reading. The achievement gap

13 between kids who have never been suspended and

14 kids who have been suspended more than once, it's

15 almost flabbergasting. It's 33 points in math

16 and 25 points in reading. So, to my schools, and

17 this is very important to me, when we talk about

18 why the school system has been making progress or

19 not been making progress, five years ago, we drew

20 a line in the sand about suspensions and we saw a

21 huge decline in the number of suspensions. Right


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1 away, we began to see huge progress. Especially

2 in the grades where the suspensions had

3 concentrated before the middle grades.

4 What has happened in the past two years

5 is a slight incremental increase in the number of

6 suspensions in the school system. We're still

7 way below where we were 7 years ago, five years

8 ago. But, we are not making progress on this

9 metric which is a proxy for achievement.

10 So, if we are sliding back into old

11 practices, why should anybody not predict that we

12 would be sliding back into old outcomes. So, the

13 question of suspension is often framed around the

14 issue of school climate. The question of

15 suspension has to be framed around a learning

16 problem for students. When kids get suspended,

17 they miss school, the root cause of why they've

18 been suspended is not addressed. This is an

19 ongoing challenge for the system.

20 We have now had two consecutive years

21 with slight upticks. If we don't start bringing


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1 that number way down again, we should not be

2 expecting a different result. The definition of

3 insanity is to do the same thing and to expect

4 something different. If we go back to what

5 didn't work 10 years ago, we will get the

6 outcomes that we got five years ago.

7 What we find with suspensions is

8 completely, completely triangulated with what we

9 find with attendance. The achievement gap

10 between children who are not chronically absent

11 and children who are chronically absent is 25

12 points in math and 16 points in reading. It is

13 not a marginal number of kids. It is not about

14 what happens with somebody else's kids. We had

15 almost 4,000 students that were chronically

16 absent in both tests. We only tested roughly

17 33,000 kids. So, we're talking about 12, 13, 14

18 percent of the number of kids tested.

19 Once again, five or so years ago, we

20 made a huge dent in middle grade attendance.

21 Attendance for the middle grades improved by 10


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1 percentage points in the first two years of my

2 tenure. We're incredibly glad that middle grade

3 attendance caught up to elementary attendance.

4 But, if we're not addressing the problems of

5 those kids at the margin who are not marginal,

6 they are 14 percent of the population. If those

7 numbers are not improving then the work of

8 schools becomes incredibly harder. You will see

9 some of what this means when we look at some of

10 the slides about what happens with kids who have

11 been tested on two consecutive years.

12 In the midst of these scores, then

13 there are some schools that are having

14 extraordinary success. I think that in the

15 aftermath of scores, as we try to do a kind of

16 analysis of what it meant, we forget that we need

17 to celebrate and recognize the people who are

18 doing exceptional things. So many people are

19 doing exceptional things. These schools are

20 doing quite remarkable things.

21 There are schools that have 80 percent


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1 free and reduced meal populations. By the way,

2 if we had lowered that 80 percentage to 70

3 percent or 60 percent, which is the kinds of

4 schools that, in other districts, are perceived

5 to be schools with great challenges, this number

6 of schools would be much larger.

7 But, because we have been playing with

8 the words 80/80 and that comes from being a

9 baseball fan. I've been a 30/30 and 40/40 man

10 all my life. So, we picked 80/80 four years ago.

11 Then, we're stuck with a methodology so nobody

12 accuses me of padding the numbers.

13 But, some of these schools, Mary Ann

14 Winterling, Cecil, Wolfe Street Academy,

15 Armistead, Hilton, Liberty, Gardenville, Gwynns

16 Falls, Northwood, Morrell Park, Govans, Northwood

17 Appold, NACA, Thomas Jefferson, KIPP Ujima,

18 Hamden Elementary, Leithwalk, William Paca,

19 George Washington, Dallas F. Nicholas, Calvin

20 Rodwell, Hampstead Hill, these are schools that

21 have figured out a way to do something


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1 exceptional. I think it's a combination of

2 community, professionals, parents, kids,

3 believing in something and making it work.

4 Every single one of these schools is a

5 potential master in the work for us. So, I just

6 want to recognize these exceptional places.

7 One of the things that I wanted to

8 highlight, and I'm not going to go over all the

9 numbers because some of my Board members would

10 kill me in the process. I know.

11 In order to truly understand what's

12 going on, you cannot simply look at test results

13 that tell you that so many kids passed the bar.

14 You want to be able to see what's going on with

15 all kids.

16 So, some of the things that I asked

17 people to do is to look at what was happening

18 with the average scale score. Meaning, the

19 average score. Not percentage of proficient and

20 advanced. How did kids do?

21 Then, I said, well, let me look at the


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1 kids that are at basic. If the district is

2 improving, then you should be able to see an

3 improvement in how the kids at basic are

4 performing. That means that they're coming

5 closer to the line.

6 What you see, and this is math, is,

7 again, look how consistent the analysis is. Look

8 at what's happening in the middle grades in math

9 since 2007. Huge jumps, 11 points in 6th grade,

10 10 points in 7th grade, four points in the 8th

11 grade. One or two scale score points is enough

12 to push you over the edge. To put you over the

13 score threshold. However, if kids are starting

14 from below, then the progress has to be higher.

15 Then, I said, well, then if we're

16 concentrating on the kids below basic, then what

17 does that mean? You also want to see progress

18 for the kids who are above basic. You want to

19 see kids who have already met the threshold. Are

20 they stuck or are they improving as well?

21 When you see the average performance of


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1 kids in the system, for kids who are at

2 proficient and advanced, you see exactly the same

3 picture. That is, in the 6th grade, you see a 9

4 point improvement. In the 7th grade, a 9 point

5 improvement. In the 5th grade, a five point

6 improvement.

7 This means that it's not simply about

8 getting kids over the bar. It's about are we

9 moving kids within the bands. That's part of the

10 reason why you see so many more kids moving to

11 advanced over time.

12 So, lots of slides that show you what

13 happened. In reading, the same types of

14 analysis. What we're seeing in reading is that

15 if you look at the kids in basic, in the

16 elementary schools, you still see growth in the

17 4th grade, in the 5th grade, in the 6th grade, in

18 the 7th grade, in the 8th grade. When you see

19 the kids in advanced, you see much higher jumps.

20 Part of what that suggests is that

21 we're getting a heightened level of performance


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1 in terms of the kids who are already at

2 proficient and advanced. We're not seeing the

3 same level of jump in reading for the kids who

4 are at basic. Which is the reason why those

5 proficiency numbers are not jumping in reading.

6 So, you see the system improving. But,

7 the number that everybody pays attention to in

8 terms of the kids who are jumping over a certain

9 threshold, we're not making the same kind of leap

10 for the kids in basic that we're doing for the

11 kids who are at advanced.

12 So, I'm going to explain what this is

13 and what is happening because it's so powerful.

14 This shows you what happens for kids who have

15 been tested in consecutive years. For the 4th

16 grade, the top line across tells you that last

17 year in the 3rd grade, there were 73.4 percent of

18 the kids at proficient and advanced.

19 We followed those kids who got tested a

20 second time in a row in the 4th grade. Of them,

21 91 percent held at proficient and advanced. We,


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1 then, followed the kids who, the year before, had

2 tested at basic in the 3rd grade and followed

3 them for one more year. Of the kids in basic, 41

4 percent jumped up into proficient and advanced.

5 So, if I'm in a school and I'm talking

6 about performance, and this is the average in the

7 system for math, you would need to say that the

8 4th grade did an amazing job because most of the

9 kids who were already proficient, remained

10 proficient. Many of the kids that were in basic

11 jumped into proficient.

12 Then, you had a bunch of kids in the

13 middle who came into the system for the first

14 time and had not been assessed. Part of what

15 shapes the numbers is what is happening in the

16 middle in terms of how kids are coming into the

17 system for the first time.

18 Part of what we see is that the numbers

19 are quite remarkable. One you get to the 7th and

20 8th grade in math, and this is a conversation at

21 the school level in terms of what is happening.


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1 What you are seeing is that, on a whole, schools

2 are still pretty good at holding kids at

3 proficient and advanced.

4 This is what they're not doing, then.

5 They're not able, at this point in time, to lift

6 the kids in basic to proficient and advanced.

7 Then, and this is also highly significant, we're

8 getting huge numbers of kids coming in for the

9 first time, and this is a systemic lens, so in

10 individual schools it works very differently and

11 for many fewer kids. But, it aggregates at the

12 system level.

13 At the system level, most of the kids

14 coming into the 7th and 8th grade are already

15 coming in at basic. These kids are very

16 difficult to move.

17 So, part of the question is, well, what

18 do we do? That is the work in terms of figuring

19 out how to add time on task. How to create

20 systemic elements where we identify kids as they

21 come in and we know we have to do something


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1 different with them. We cannot simply assume

2 that they can do exactly the same thing as kids

3 who have been there before.

4 So, that kind of work is there for

5 reading and for math for every single grade.

6 The final piece that I was going to

7 talk to, and it's significant in the context of

8 my announcing principals, there is a myth that

9 experience means capacity. In the best systems,

10 experience means capacity because there are good

11 results. But, when you have systems that have

12 not succeeded over time, experience doesn't

13 necessarily mean capacity. People mean capacity

14 and people need to be looked at individually in

15 the context of their work.

16 So, because I got very tired of people

17 telling me that principal turnover was part of

18 the reason why this course has slowed down, we

19 looked at the data. Guess what? If you look at

20 shifts over time, you see the data is

21 astonishingly consistent. As in, we went up in


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1 math. That means that we went up in math for

2 principals no matter what their level of

3 experience was. We went down in reading. That

4 means that we went down in reading no matter the

5 level of experience of principals.

6 So, if we're going down across sectors,

7 and it's the same conversation for charters and

8 traditional schools, then you need to change the

9 conversation. If principals lose ground across

10 experience, then it cannot be about experience.

11 It's about something else.

12 If principals gain ground across

13 experience, then it cannot be about experience as

14 it is about something else. What is most

15 interesting is, in some areas of the work, it is

16 the first-year principals who have the highest

17 levels of gain in the entire system.

18 So, what does it mean when, for grades

19 6 to 8, the average gain for first-year

20 principals is 2.9 in math but the average gain

21 for the most experienced principals is 0.8. As


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1 in, then stop talking to me about the experience

2 of principals and let's talk about what's going

3 on in individual schools. Because, I'm going to

4 make the decisions on the basis of how a school

5 is performing. Not on the basis of whether

6 someone has been around for 10 years, five years,

7 or three years.

8 Same with reading. As in, across, you

9 see losses in reading, you see losses in reading.

10 This is all at two years. We took it back

11 another year in order to account for any

12 variability over time.

13 Exactly the same story. If you look at

14 grades 6 to 8 in math, you have almost double the

15 loss from the most experienced principals than in

16 the first-year principals. Mind you, I have no

17 horse in this race. I am not looking to find

18 validation for first-year principals. What I am

19 doing is looking at the data, looking at

20 performance, and I want to end the myth of people

21 who are not looking at the data and come to the


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1 table with the, you know, the reason something

2 happened is because of X.

3 Well, the system, over time, has had

4 huge growth. Those people who have been around

5 from the beginning of the work deserve enormous

6 respect. I recognize Caroline Kohls today

7 because she is definitely responsible for the

8 gains at Roland Park over time.

9 But, the work is about what's going on

10 with individual communities and individual

11 people. It is not about the simple answers that

12 some people bring to the table.

13 There is an enormous amount of data

14 that is available to you. The key in terms of

15 making that data available is that now we go into

16 conversations with schools. The conversations

17 are not punitive. It is about how are we going

18 to support you in this work. What do we need to

19 know together? What is it that you know that we

20 don't know? What is it that we can support you

21 with because you are struggling with how to do


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1 certain things? How do we, together, address

2 this issue of kids coming in in midstream? How

3 do we tackle the issue of some grades that have

4 continued to accelerate and other grades that

5 have slowed down? That's the work.

6 In a context, by the way, that has

7 enormous integrity which we can say with greater

8 assurance than any other district in Maryland.

9 So, that's the work. The results were

10 disappointing for me because I was expecting a

11 huge bump. But, in the context of the work that

12 we've done, I think that we're doing enormous

13 good work and the people in the schools are

14 working so hard. They need so much support and

15 recognition. Every conversation should be about

16 how we are going to push our schools forward and

17 how we are going to continue to celebrate our

18 kids. That's the conversation for me. I thank

19 you.

20 I love this kind of thing. I could go

21 on for the next two hours. I know you all know


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1 that. But, you get to hear me in Executive

2 Session. The public doesn't necessarily get to

3 hear me in the same way. So, I think that this

4 is the only conversation that, I shouldn't say it

5 is the only conversation that matters because

6 that would be unfair to many aspects of our work.

7 I think it's a conversation that matters so much

8 that everything has to connect to it. Even when

9 we think it makes no sense or even when we don't

10 have the answers, we need to connect it somehow.

11 So, thank you. (Applause.)

12 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Thank you, Dr.

13 Alonso. Thus concludes our CEO remarks for the

14 evening. We wanted to pull that particular

15 presentation, that was an informational

16 presentation on the MSA's, toward the front end

17 of the meeting to benefit from the larger

18 audience and also to inform the public. Cleared

19 the room. Happens every time.

20 Are there any questions regarding the

21 informational presentation by the Board? I know


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1 we've dived into this information before.

2 Commissioner Stone?

3 COMMISSIONER STONE: Thank you very

4 much for a very thorough presentation. I did

5 have a question about subgroups and whether or

6 not we would be receiving information, for

7 example, about students with disabilities and

8 things like that?

9 MR. ALONSO: You have that already.

10 COMMISSIONER STONE: We do?

11 MR. ALONSO: Yes. It was part of the

12 first deck that was sent to the Board.

13 COMMISSIONER STONE: Okay. Thank you.

14 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: We'll next move from

15 our CEO remarks to public comment for the

16 evening. We do not have any organizational

17 public comments but we do have a singular general

18 public comment and that would be from Ms.

19 Truhardt.

20 Again, public comment being for the

21 purpose of providing testimony before this Board


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1 with an allotment of three minutes for

2 presentation. Whenever you are set.

3 MS. TRUHARDT: Thank you. I love

4 having the opportunity to address my government

5 because I have a lot of questions. Thank you for

6 the presentation, Dr. Alonso. I think that was

7 important.

8 But, what you didn't tell us is how

9 those outcomes are going to translate into

10 changes within the business model that you have

11 here. I think that part of the conversation is

12 important as well. So, I look forward to that.

13 In terms of the 4,000 chronic absent

14 students that we have, I think that is really a

15 challenge. As you said. I hope to be hearing

16 how we get them back into the classroom.

17 The other point you made about

18 suspensions is critically important. Children

19 have to be in the classroom to learn and we've

20 said that on numerous occasions. So, if that has

21 not filtered down throughout your organization, I


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1 the scientific world. So, for you to decide to

2 award a contract to Cricket to put cell

3 technology on top of a school building, I think,

4 is a bad choice.

5 So, I'm asking you to vote not to award

6 that contract. The $29,000 that you get from

7 that is not worth risking our children's

8 opportunities and their future.

9 As far as I'm concerned, it's a really

10 easy choice. Those three schools where those

11 cell towers are about to be installed are in the

12 bottom fifth of achievement. So, I expect you

13 are going to do everything to eliminate any

14 barriers or problems that could be hindering the

15 learning. So, putting a cell tower on a school,

16 and it's already there so I don't understand

17 this. Take it down. If I've got to go take it

18 down, I'll go take it down. Right now, at this

19 point, it's wrong. Thank you.

20 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Thank you, Ms.

21 Truhardt. Questions, comments or observations


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1 from the Board regarding the testimony? If not,

2 thank you. You'll obviously be here for

3 deliberation for that particular Procurement

4 item. In fact, we now turn to the action items

5 for the evening.

6 First, we'll start off with appeals and

7 hearings. One item that was pulled from the

8 Consent Agenda was 6.11, I believe. Case number

9 1112-158066.

10 MS. TURNER: Good evening, Mr. Chair

11 and Dr. Alonso and members of the Board. In case

12 matter referenced as 6.11, it is the

13 recommendation of the Hearing Officer to modify

14 the discipline to a 30-day suspension and

15 assessment for needs for services as set forth in

16 the report.

17 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Questions that would

18 be permissible without getting into the substance

19 or the confidentiality of the individual?

20 Questions? No?

21 With that said, we'll entertain a


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1 motion for the approval of the Hearing Examiner's

2 recommendation for modification of the expulsion

3 to a 30-day school suspension. Is there support

4 for such a motion? Hearing none, we'll entertain

5 a motion for modification of the recommendation.

6 COMMISSIONER STONE: I'd like to move

7 that we reject the Hearing Officer's

8 recommendation and accept the decision of the

9 CEO.

10 MS. TURNER: That would be correct with

11 the caveat that the Board has discussed the

12 reasons for the rejection of the Hearing

13 Officer's recommendation pursuant to its quasi-

14 judicial role in closed session. And, that is

15 reflected in the minutes.

16 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Fair enough. We

17 have a motion. Is there a second in support of

18 the motion?

19 VOICE: (Inaudible. Speaking away from

20 microphone.)

21 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Okay. With that


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1 7.1. I'll ask my fellow Board members to remind

2 me. We'll remove that and circle back around.

3 Oh, nevermind. We're back on track.

4 Item 7.01. Narrative, Cornerstone, A

5 Bright Idea and Media II, print design and

6 interactive media services requirements contract.

7 To approve a competitively solicited requirements

8 contract with three firms, Cornerstone, A Bright

9 Idea and Media II. The estimated annual amount

10 is $1 million. The contract is to provide print

11 design and interactive media services vetted

12 through the Engagement Office. Each job

13 requested within the contract is priced

14 individually. The three-year contract period is

15 July 25, 2012 through July 24, 2015. Questions?

16 COMMISSIONER HECK: Thank you. Define

17 for me the contract. Providing print design and

18 interactive media services for whom? For the

19 system? For the community? And, how does that

20 supplement or add onto systems that we already

21 have and that we're paying a lot of money for?


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1 MR. SARBANES: This requirements

2 contract gets largely to the printed materials

3 that we do. All the back-to-school materials and

4 those kinds of things. We've had this in place,

5 this is the second time we've done the

6 requirements contract. It's for really

7 departments, sometimes schools, but departments

8 throughout the district. This is mostly focused

9 on publications. This isn't like the phone

10 service or other things like that.

11 COMMISSIONER HECK: Are these new

12 vendors or continued vendors for requirements?

13 MR. SARBANES: Two are continued, one

14 is a new one.

15 COMMISSIONER HECK: All right. So,

16 it's many of the publications that go to parents?

17 MR. SARBANES: Yes. That's the bulk of

18 it.

19 COMMISSIONER HECK: Okay. I appreciate

20 the clarification because it really wasn't clear,

21 from the description I read, exactly what it was


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1 for. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The

2 calendars that go home at the beginning of the

3 year. The handbooks that go home. The

4 publications around the FARMS campaign.

5 Attendance things. There's a whole range of

6 publications that go home that are included in

7 there.

8 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Other questions,

9 comments or otherwise? If not, we can call for a

10 motion with respect to item 7.01. Is there a

11 motion for approval?



14 Heck.



17 Francois. All those in favor, signify by saying

18 aye.

19 SPEAKERS: Aye.


21 Abstentions or recusals? Motion carries with


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1 respect to item 7.01. Item 8.01. The narrative,

2 the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and

3 Learning at the University of Virginia. A

4 contract with the Center for Advanced Study of

5 Teaching and Learning at the University of

6 Virginia, this group will provide services to

7 city schools for the purposes of consultation,

8 support, implementation and evaluation of

9 Capturing Your Classroom, A Learning Experience.

10 The project cycle is an innovative

11 video capture and coaching process that will

12 allow teachers to receive structured feedback and

13 view their classroom instruction. Contract term

14 is July 25, 2012 through July 24, 2015.

15 Questions? Commissioner Heck?

16 COMMISSIONER HECK: Thank you. I'm not

17 clear from the information I received. Is there

18 a monetary value to this? Is this a grant? I

19 don't see any monetary value to it. The contract

20 term is one year but for how much?

21 MR. PARKER: The contract amount is


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1 $100,000. It's funded by a Race to the Top

2 grant.

3 COMMISSIONER HECK: Okay. That was not

4 clear. So, it's an RTT grant of $100,000. Okay.

5 Dr. Santelisas, fo you feel that this kind of

6 video technique will help in terms of the

7 professional development of teachers?

8 MS. SANTELISAS: One of the early

9 trails of feedback that we've been receiving from

10 teachers is that it is providing them with an

11 opportunity to view their instruction in ways

12 they haven't before. One of the things that

13 we're doing is linking this work with a lot of

14 work that has gone on with the project with Gates

15 that has been national work around teacher

16 evaluation and improving teacher practice.

17 So, the University of Virginia has done

18 similar work that actually has a fairly extensive

19 research base with it which is what is included

20 in the procurement.

21 COMMISSIONER HECK: Do we have any


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1 idea, even as a ballpark figure, how many

2 teachers this might be able to help? Is there

3 any way to know that?

4 VOICE: At this point, 14 schools have

5 opted into the project and are going to be

6 participating. At any given school, we're really

7 only looking at teachers who are in 4th through

8 8th grade math and English language arts. So, in

9 a ballpark, depending on how many teachers are

10 randomly selected from that pool of all that are

11 eligible, we're looking maybe between 50 to 70

12 teachers and about 15 to 20 mentors from those 14

13 schools. So, this is sort of a small pilot

14 implementation to see how this goes.

15 COMMISSIONER HECK: Can those videos,

16 are they proprietarily owned by the vendor? Or,

17 do we get to keep them and use them and use them

18 moving forward? So, you're spreading out the

19 cost as you are using it for PD.

20 VOICE: Yes. They will be owned by

21 Baltimore City Public Schools. Initially, when


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1 they are captured, they'll be owned by the

2 teacher so that we have some protection over

3 sharing. But, they would be us and not the

4 University of Virginia.

5 COMMISSIONER HECK: I appreciate the

6 detail. Thank you.

7 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Any other questions

8 or comments? If not -



11 Heck.


13 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: A second by

14 Commissioner Francois. A question from

15 Commissioner Stone?

16 COMMISSIONER STONE: So, while I have

17 no real issue with the camera piece, is it

18 inextricably linked with the MET Project?

19 MS. SANTELISAS: No.

20 COMMISSIONER STONE: In other words, we

21 can do whatever we wanted with it but we've


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1 chosen the MET Project.

2 MS. SANTELISAS: Well, no. I should

3 publicly clarify. I referenced the MET Project

4 because, nationally, they've been doing work with

5 a number of districts particularly linked to

6 teacher evaluation.

7 We went with the University of Virginia

8 because a lot of theirs has been related to

9 teacher development. So, my reference point to

10 the MET Project was more to give the Board a

11 national context.

12 COMMISSIONER STONE: So, there is no

13 relationship between this?

14 MS. SANTELISAS: No.

15 COMMISSIONER STONE: Well, that

16 certainly strengthens my support of it.

17 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: With that said, we

18 have a motion by Commissioner Heck and a second

19 by Commissioner Francois. Are there other

20 questions? If not, all those in favor of the

21 approval of the motion, signify by saying aye.


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1 SPEAKERS: Aye.


3 Abstentions or recusals? Item 8.01 thus passes.

4 Next on the Procurement action item list will be

5 8.06, International Baccalaureate Organization.

6 To increase the estimated annual amount of the

7 IBO contract by $100,000 in order to accommodate

8 participation in the IB middle years program.

9 The annual fee for middle school can be as much

10 as $20,000 depending on the number of subjects

11 and the number of students involved in the

12 program. On January 10, 2012, the Board approved

13 a three-year contract with the IBO to provide

14 services solely to City College. Contract term

15 is September 1, 2011 through August 31, 2014.

16 Year One of the contract was $65,000. Questions?

17 Commissioner Heck?

18 COMMISSIONER HECK: Thank you. Okay.

19 We're going to accommodate participation in the

20 middle year program with this procurement. Is

21 that correct?


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1 MS. SANTELISAS: Yes.

2 COMMISSIONER HECK: Do we know what

3 schools it will be?

4 MS. SANTELISAS: Yes. We have a

5 process whereby we will identify up to two

6 schools a year. The district will support those

7 schools for a particular number of years in the

8 early stages. A great example, I guess the most

9 recent example is Mount Washington

10 Elementary/Middle submitted their proposal to

11 become an IB middle years program and we are

12 supporting them currently. Thomas Jefferson

13 Elementary/Middle who had an elementary IB

14 program also applied internal to the district and

15 is expanding their IB program from elementary to

16 middle grades.

17 This coming school year, by January, we

18 will have identified what additional two schools

19 will be selected for the middle years program.

20 COMMISSIONER HECK: So, does this mean,

21 like in the high school IB program, the middle


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1 schooler, when they are promoted to the 9th

2 grade, do they get a certificate? An IB middle

3 school certificate?

4 MS. SANTELISAS: No. Actually, the IB

5 program varies significantly within the middle

6 grades years to what's more commonly known as the

7 program that occurs in high school.

8 So, that middle years programming, the

9 reason why there are a number of middle schools

10 that are interested in it is it's a way to have

11 all students, unlike the diploma program where

12 students self-select which track, either

13 certificate or diploma. The middle years

14 programming is designed to target the entire

15 middle school population.

16 COMMISSIONER HECK: Really. Okay.

17 That was my interest. Because, there are some

18 questions about the effectiveness of the IB

19 program on the high school level. Is that a fair

20 statement?

21 MS. SANTELISAS: Well, I won't say and


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1 MS. SANTELISAS: Yes.

2 COMMISSIONER HECK: A six-fold

3 increase. See, I studied math because I sit next

4 to Commissioner Francois. So, I did not hear

5 about that. That is very encouraging.

6 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Hence our slight

7 bump in math this year.

8 COMMISSIONER STONE: Thank you. I

9 recall in January when we had this discussion,

10 that was the concern and that's most of my

11 question.

12 I don't understand, and I think that's

13 great, by the way. That we were able to do that.

14 That was something that the Board had discussed.

15 So, thank you.

16 The other thing is, when you came to us

17 in January, that money was for school year?

18 MS. SANTELISAS: It was to cover, I

19 believe, September 1, 2011 to 2014. But, what

20 we're asking for now is an increase to cover the

21 additional middle years expenses.


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1 COMMISSIONER STONE: So, we are

2 expanding the number of students?

3 MS. SANTELISAS: Yes. And, the number

4 of schools.

5 COMMISSIONER STONE: I mean the number

6 of schools, as opposed to we underestimated what

7 it would cost.

8 MS. SANTELISAS: That's right.

9 COMMISSIONER STONE: Okay. Great.

10 Thank you.

11 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Commissioner Hike-

12 Hubbard?

13 COMMISSIONER HUBBARD: Just a

14 clarification point. When you started speaking,

15 you said that we are sort of helping schools

16 pilot this in their first year, will we continue

17 to fund this? I know with City College, we are

18 continuing to fund that year after year and it's

19 a commitment that the Board has made to support

20 an IB program as an offering of a big portfolio

21 of options for our students.


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1 So, I'm just asking what is the

2 continued support for middle schools that we're

3 going to be asked to do or is it more about

4 expanding to the other schools?

5 MS. SANTELISAS: That's a great

6 question. The way we've designed the funding

7 moving forward is that we'll provide accepted

8 middle grades schools that want to implement IB

9 middle years programming and we'll support them

10 on a gradually decreasing basis over a three-year

11 period. We were very committed to that during

12 the discussions with the CEO. We wanted to

13 support schools in getting them started because

14 we believe in International Baccalaureate. But,

15 the schools would have to plan accordingly for

16 that expense as part of their ongoing commitment

17 and support of the program.

18 COMMISSIONER HUBBARD: Just to clarify,

19 that means that schools are actually paying for

20 the continued support themselves? Or, is it

21 after three years, they have the capacity to


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1 operate the program without the extra support?

2 MS. SANTELISAS: A combination of both.

3 For example, a part of why we're continuing the

4 support at the high school level is because of

5 the expense of exams at the high school level

6 even after initial professional development for

7 teachers is completed and initial curriculum

8 alignment has happened.

9 One of the heaviest ongoing costs for

10 IB is actual scoring of assessments because they

11 are all hand-scored by two to three individuals.

12 So, on that note, we will continue our support of

13 IB at the high school level. But, what we have

14 said to all schools is that you have to plan for

15 how to support this effort ongoing knowing that

16 the district will support initial investments in

17 teacher professional development and initial

18 application to become IB certified.

19 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Commissioner Stone?

20 COMMISSIONER STONE: I'm glad you asked

21 that question because, although that's not a


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1 discussion for right now, that's under the

2 current way that we fund schools. That it would

3 be a diminishing tier.

4 However, we could choose, if we decided

5 to centrally fund programs like that, just like

6 we do for many alternative programs throughout

7 the system that don't have diminishing revenues,

8 whether it be legally mandated or otherwise, so

9 it doesn't have to be that way. It's just how it

10 is. I hope that we will have that discussion as

11 the budget approaches.

12 MS. SANTELISAS: Certainly.

13 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Other questions or

14 comments? If not, we can entertain a motion with

15 respect to 8.06.

16 COMMISSIONER HUBBARD: So moved.


18 Hike-Hubbard.

19 COMMISSIONER STONE: Second.


21 Commissioner Stone. All those in favor, signify


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1 by saying aye.

2 SPEAKERS: Aye.


4 Abstentions or recusals? Item 8.06 thus passes.

5 Next is 8.08, the Success For All Foundation.

6 The contract with Success For All in the total

7 amount of $60,000 per participating school to

8 provide the Success For All reading intervention

9 program. Contract term is August 1, 2012 to July

10 30, 2015. This was removed from Consent by

11 necessity of a recusal. For the sake of full

12 disclosure, they were a client of my firm at

13 least as recently as 2004. They may still be on

14 the books. My necessity of a recusal takes this

15 out of Consent.

16 Are there questions? If not, we'll

17 entertain a motion for approval.



20 Heck.

21 COMMISSIONER HUBBARD: Second.


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2 Commissioner Hike-Hubbard. All those in favor,

3 signify by saying aye.

4 SPEAKERS: Aye.


6 Abstentions? Recusals? Two recusals, one

7 opposition, that takes three out of the picture.

8 So, do we have four? Just in polling, the poll

9 was in favor of approval. Commissioner Hike-

10 Hubbard, Commissioner Akchin, Commissioner

11 Francois and Commissioner Heck. There was one

12 opposition, Commissioner Stone. There were two

13 recusals, myself and Commissioner Wood. So, we

14 haven't gotten to five yet.

15 MR. ALONSO: So, we'll have to re-

16 approach it with Marnell here.

17 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: We've re-polled for

18 the sake of new math. We are at the requisite

19 five. Just for the sake of the record, the five

20 would be Commissioners Heck, Francois, Stone,

21 Akchin and Hike-Hubbard. There are two recusals,


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1 myself and Commissioner Wood. Item 8.08 thus

2 passes.

3 Next on Procurement is 9.03, Notables

4 LLC, Breakfast Packs for School. To approve a

5 competitively bid requirements contract with

6 Notables LLC to provide breakfast packs to city

7 schools in the estimated annual amount of

8 $600,000. The period of performance is July 1,

9 2012 through June 30, 2015. Questions?

10 Commissioner Heck.

11 COMMISSIONER HECK: Thank you. Just so

12 that the public understands, the breakfast packs

13 for schools, are these the pre-packaged, in a

14 box, nutritious breakfasts containing cereals, a

15 health bar and a fruit juice?

16 MR. PARKER: Yes, sir.

17 COMMISSIONER HECK: The concept was

18 originally brought by Tony Geraci?

19 MR. PARKER: Correct.

20 COMMISSIONER HECK: So, I just want to

21 make sure that's what that is. The kids can


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1 actually eat these in their classroom while

2 instruction is taking place.

3 MR. PARKER: Exactly.

4 COMMISSIONER HECK: Thank you for the

5 clarification. That's all I needed to know.

6 BOARD CHAIR DUKE: Questions? Now we

7 can entertain a motion with respect to approval

8 of 9.03.



11 Heck.



14 Commission

Baltimore City Board of Education 7 24 2012 Board Minutes

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Transcript of Baltimore City Board of Education 7 24 2012 Board Minutes