J.R. Smith Elementary Community Council Meeting Notes

Meeting: Thursday, May 5, 2022

In attendance: Ryan Brown, Denise Marshall, Kristi Davis, Erin Sabey, Liz Heywood, Edwin Clements, and Leticia Heredia.

The general public is always welcome and invited.

1. Molly talked about the Little Library that J.R. Smith opened for our students at Deer Mountain on Tuesday, May 3rd. Over the years, we are always trying to help these students feel included in our school activities due to the long distance from the school.
2. J.R. Smith Elementary is a Targeted Assistance Title I School; what this means
   1. When 50 % of students are free/reduced lunch, the school is considered a School-Wide Title I school. Less % of free/reduced students qualify as a targeted assistance Title I school. Money is given to those schools to assist the school to help these students (and other students.) Most of our Title I money goes to hire Ruth Carrasco, our Spanish-speaking parent liaison. We have many Spanish-speaking parents at our school. Ruth is an integral part of our school!
3. Share Data – Molly shared data – see attached
   1. MOY Acadience Trends – Non-ELL students reaching proficiency = 68%
   2. ELL students reaching proficiency = 37% (approximately 1/3 our population)
   3. Ryan explained the Tiers of Instruction Tier 1, 2, and 3 exposure. Give more exposure to every student as needed.
   4. This data shows the need for an interventionist for our ELL students.
      1. Erin asked how this data would compare to last year’s MOY 2021.
      2. Liz commented that there could be a COVID correlation to this data. The gap got bigger for the students who were out of school for a while.
      3. Erin asked if other at-risk students in our data have consistently lower Acadience Scores. Ryan answered that students with lower economic status and those with IEPs tend to have lower academic scores.
      4. Erin asked if the interventionist and aide were different people. Ryan…ELL interventionist plus one aide to help with reading intervention. (The other reading intervention aide money comes from Title I funding.) Will we be able to find someone to fill this ELL position? Yes, hopefully. We have been able to fill our certified positions. The classified paras are much more difficult to find and fill positions. Erin offered to help our community council spread the work to fill these para positions. Molly mentioned if the community council could spread the word that we need subs as well, that would be very helpful. Parents could come help by volunteering or helping to be a substitute.
      5. Liz asked why the need for subs is greater this year? Ryan answered…being in a symptom-free school at the beginning of the year was hard. If a teacher’s kid is sick, they may have to stay home. Also, ongoing professional development and training time during school hours multiple times a year. Possibly more mental/emotional health breaks for teachers.
      6. Liz asked what the process is to be a substitute for J.R. Smith. Ryan answered we contract with Kelly Staffing Services for our subs. The process through Kelly could take some time. The sub only needs to go through these processes once. Molly said we are pushing for more subs….social media blasts, more choices for people willing to be a sub (only sub in their child’s classes), etc. Erin said a person she follows on Instagram talks about substitutes and the need for subs. She is very inspiring. It is called Karen Says So.
4. Reviewed proposed budget of:
   1. Trustlands
      1. Hire a certified interventionist for approximately $92,000
      2. Hire an aide to help with intervention for approximately $16,000
   2. TSSP
      1. Stipends to members of the leadership team $14,000
      2. Half-time certified instructional coach $55,000
      3. PBIS supplies $2,000
      4. Read Live Fluency $5,000
      5. 95% Materials $6,000
      6. 95% Product $3,738
      7. Literacy Materials $4,000
      8. Literacy Committee $1,000
      9. IXL for fourth grade $1,700
      10. FRAXS through Reflex for math $3,300
      11. ELL Materials $2,000
      12. Literacy Month Book $2,000
   3. Title I
      1. Hire an aide to help with intervention for approximately $16,000
      2. Hire a Spanish-speaking parent liaison for approximately $55,000
5. The main goal for next year:
   1. No student moves backward, as demonstrated from EOY to EOY assessments.
6. Voted on the proposed budget
   1. Erin made a motion to approve. Liz seconded the motion.
7. Voted on a proposed amendment to use $5,000 of projected carry-over for the librarian to buy more books.
   1. Edwin made a motion to approve. Molly seconded the motion.
8. Meeting adjourned. The next meeting will be in the fall of 2022.