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| | 1. | | Roll call.
Minutes note: Meeting convened: 5:00 P.M.
Members present: Kevin Ingram, Joyce Mallory, Dr. Desiree Pointer-Mace, Raynetta Hill and Aycha Sawa | | | |
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| | 2. | | Review and approval of the minutes of the May 24th meeting.
Minutes note: Ms. Sawa moved. Change "Ms.Pointer-Mace to "Dr. Pointer-Mace"in the minutes. Seconded by Dr. Pointer-Mace, as amended. There were no objections. | | | |
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| 0 | 3. | Communication | Communication relating to administrative matters of the Charter School Review Committee for the 2023-25 school years.
Minutes note: Mr. Ingram said that he has spent a great deal of time talking with superintendents across the state and their main concerns are teacher shortages.
Anthony McHenry - Milwaukee Academy of Sciences said the school has 97% of its students being economically disadvantaged with 75% of their students coming from the northwest side of Milwaukee and the most impoverished zip codes. Post-Covid, the kids returned angrier and are quicker to escalate to violence, as well as being sadder and sharing more mental health concerns. Their suspension rate was 17-18% and the middle school rose to above 25%, almost exclusively for fighting and the same thing is happening in their high school. Things are improving, but slowly, and their attendance rates are hovering at 88% where they had been in the high 90s. The younger children, ages 4-5, are also much more aggressive. They have teacher return rates at over 90%, but this year, the most teachers have decided to not return in the past 8 years and this year was the first year they were not 100% going into the school year. The greatest challenge is hiring in the specialized teaching areas, including special education.
Dr. Precious Washington - Darryl Hines Academy of Math and Sciences - a lot of teachers are facing stressors due to a lack of funding and resources.
Dr. Pointer-Mace pointed out that all schools face these same issues, not solely charter schools. Mr. McHenry noted that charter schools are providing a more appropriate, safe learning environment than the alternative; far too many schools are not conducive to learning.
Lois Fletcher - said students are still struggling with behaviors post-pandemic; they need time to un-learn and then re-learn. Students need to learn a feeling of safety and to trust others. It's a combination of stressors on students, parents and teachers and they still need a mental health component, which is exacerbated by frequent changes in teachers, particularly with 9-10-year-olds.
Dr. Joey Zocher - TransCenter for Youth, Escuela Verde - their teachers are becoming administrators, which also removes great teachers from the classrooms. Escuela Verde is a safe space and their numbers of students with disabilities and English learners are always increasing. English learners are coming from private schools, rather than MPS. Their LGBTQ students are also speaking up a lot more in school and wanting/needing more resources.
Jessica Whitaker - Central City Cyberschool is experiencing teacher shortages in middle school and attendance rates are also dropping. They have been working on providing mental health services and they also created a wellness team to support students. They have a group of third graders that have been very affected by the pandemic and they are needing a lot of support.
Judith Romelus - she believes students were affected by increased domestic violence and drug abuse in their homes during the pandemic. The school might by a safe space, but then the students return to their homes daily.
Preston Cole - Dept. of Administration handles the financials for the charter schools. The Office of Violence Prevention will now be the Office of Community Wellness and Safety beginning in 2024 and under the Dept. of Administration. The idea is for this office to support the charter schools.
Mr. Ashanti Hamilton - Director of the Office of Community Wellness and Safety (OCWS), said the focus is on prevention and partnering with schools to help students and families cope with all the stressors that were mentioned earlier. They had first looked at MPS, but the charter schools are facing the same issues. They are trying to create a relationship where there's a base level of data sharing to offer existing services to students. There already are some partnerships occurring, but more can occur. The tendency is to provide needed services AFTER rather than preemptively to assist in certain situations, but it all begins with the ability to share information.
All administrators present are interested in partnering.
Ms. Mallory asked if other student-related data will be tracked, as well as supporting families. She would like them to think of how to work with students in schools as well as how to support parents.
Dr. Pointer-Mace asked if the data will be shared on an annual basis, and, if so, students need to be anonymous and not marginalize groups.
OCWS is open to how the data is being reported out. Ms. Colleen McQuade noted that the state does have an annual report on many of these issues.
Dr. Aza Baylor noted schools may need to create a form that relates to a specific family's needs and stressors and might be completed based upon a student's behavior (such as number of absences). Mr. Hamilton does have a list of partners, which they are getting more of and he would also like to see a list of the schools' partners.
Dr. Desiree Pointer-Mace excused from the rest of the meeting at 6 p.m.
Mr. Cole thought a small working group should be created if folks are interested. Ms. Mallory agreed with that and noted that results should be tracked.
Mr. Ingram said that the draft contract in the file will be massaged on with the schools. Mr. Cole said the conversations will begin with the schools.
The vote will be on discussing the process and if CSRC wants to engage with this entity. Schools will be able to opt out; it is not all or none in terms of participation. Mr. Cole said this could also be a pilot project. Ms. Romelus said if schools participate they need to be invested as this will be a time commitment. "Success' will also need to be defined.
If a task force is created, Ms. Hill would like to have young people involved with a variety of experiences.
Mr. Cole noted that prevention is what they are looking for.
Mr. Cole said the Dept. of Administration has other offices that could also provide other services, such as Office of African American Affairs and Community Development Block Grant Office.
Meeting adjourned: 6:19 P.M.
Linda M. Elmer
Staff Assistant
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