At the Board’s April 11 Policy Committee meeting, the final version of a district Equity Policy was discussed and will now come for a long-awaited vote at the Board’s next Regular Meeting.  Bethany Silver, the Superintendent’s Chief Performance Office, stated that the draft policy had not been shared with any community groups for their input.  It can also be assumed that it was not shared with any of the Student Governance Councils due to the fact that when Board Member Johnson suggested such an engagement, there was no contrary reply from the Superintendent’s team at the meeting.

The April 11th committee members also discussed revising the district’s Student Attire Policy (Policy 5140).  Chief Performance Officer Silver stated that the revised policy, unlike the Draft Equity Policy, had been shared at a family/community event and “lots of feedback” had been received.  The revised policy adds “clarity” and other points requested by folks at the event.  As to paragraph #10 of the policy, Board Member Ledger asked how decisions will be made as to claimed religious exemptions to policy requirements.  Ms. Silver stated that there are administrative regulations which cover this and HPS staff will be fully briefed on these regulations.  During the discussion on the policy, it was learned that dress code violations accounted for 2% of school policy violations.  Board Member Johnson asked for 5 years’ worth of data regarding student’s violating the district’s “uniform” policy.  Board Members at the meeting recommended no changes to the Student Attire Policy.

The policy on term limits for Student Governance Council members (SGC) is getting a makeover.  The number of terms a member will be allowed to serve on an SGC will be increased from 2 to 4 terms.

At the Board’s April 10th Finance Committee meeting, a proposal from the software company DecisionEd for a $58k contract renewal will be passed onto and approved at the next Regular Board Meeting.  DecisionEd software allows for multiple pathways for delivering classroom and student information.  Chief Performance Officer Silver stated that the DecisionEd dashboard will be available to the Board, parents and the community.  Board Members Rigueur and Walker questioned if any comparison shopping had been done regarding this type of software.  Ms. Silver stated that she wasn’t involved in previous contracts with DecisionEd, but assumed there had been.  I’m betting there was not.  Mr. Walker stated that the Board should have certain, standard criteria to employ when evaluating the renewal of a contract.

The Board needs to hold contracted third parties to account.  After watching the grey, lipsticked data presentation by ESS, organizations receiving contracts from HPS ought to be held to specific data benchmarks, with payment from HPS dependent on the organization achieving certain benchmarks. 

Questions concerning the contract extension for Dillinger RAD, a student data management software, by Members Rigueur and Walker centered on the prospect of bringing this technology in-house.   Chief Performance Officer Silver stated that the “project management” aspect of the software is 70% of what Dillinger RAD is about, and without available staffing, HPS could not pull that off.  The technology portion of the contract accounts for 25% of the Dillinger RAD services and by leveraging other HPS technology, there is the possibility of integration for in-house use.  Deputy Superintendent Paul Foster stated that the district is “thinking in the same direction.”  However, Mr. Foster stated that they must consider the balance between the expertise HPS has in-house with the external expertise provided by the vendor and would the demand for an in-house team justify its existence.  Mr. Foster said a renewal here would however provide the district with time for further thinking on this issue.

Tech week at the Board of Education continued as a contract extension was presented to the Finance Committee for Allovue, the district’s budget presentation system.  This company’s sales pitch says of their system: “Innovative education financial solution to maximize student outcomes.”  HPS has been using Allovue for 3 years.  Overstate much?  Hartford Schools Chief Financial Officer Phillip Penn stated that acceptance of Allovue has not been universal.  Within HPS administration it is more widely accepted than by users from outside those offices.  HPS Board members have access to this system for up-to-date, dynamic budget information.  Mr. Penn stated that the 3-year plan consisting of three 1-year contracts, allows HPS to do some comparison shopping, a duty he stated that is “owed to the taxpayer.”