My proposal to the chair was to find a way to kind of blend both models together. And so what I will share with you, I think, accomplishes that.

So, I'm trying to honor the work of Vision 2031, our strategic plan, MSBA goals, and a standards-based evaluation framework that's also developed in a SMART goal format as well.

Well, I first just want to say, I really appreciate the intentionality with which this was created. I see elements of how we've done this in the past, and really great infusion of new things from the transition workshop that we had with Barb. So, it feels exactly like it's hitting that hybrid goal. So, thank you for that.

I also very much appreciate the formatting, and it's very intuitive, and this is my first setting goals. So, I don't know anything different, but I really appreciate the way this is being presented.

And the one thing I wanted to name as a kind of caution, just thoughtfulness that may already deeply be on your and the leadership team's mind is, as a person with a background in higher education who deeply values liberal arts and part of my love of public education is the way that public school systems ensure that all students across our community, sometimes who have a particular investment that the ROI-- Like we might be investing a lot of dollars in an area, and it's really important for us to do that.

Just wondering if we want to use the framework and template that Dr. Thomas is using for his superintendent goals for our board goals. It is largely similar to what we have currently, which is three goal areas, and within that, we have goals that are aligned to those areas of practice. But I think there's key differences in that under each category, there's the goal, and then what I really liked, and this came out when we had the training with Barb Dorn from MSBA, of having key progress indicators. I think that's something new. We certainly have done that informally by our action items, and then mid-year we report are we doing those action items, correct? But these just feel more measurable, I guess. So wondering if we want to use this framework so that we are aligned with what the rest of the district is doing.

I would urge us to utilize the same format and structure just for that very reason. I agree with you.

I think one thing we may want to consider is, as the CNA and SIPs rollout, is to be at the governance layer there and kind of holding the system responsible for what are the needs and what are we going to do about it, right? Because there could be a world where we do all this work, and it sits on a shelf until we look at it another year. So could we have a goal that's like we really want to stay on top of it?

My wondering, Chair, if that resonates with the board, would you want us to essentially take that framework and draft a governance level goal format that aligns them to that, so that you're not reinventing something new? And that we have coherence because very... And this could be something done in partnership with you and maybe some other representatives to mock that, use that as the starting point.

So I just want to publicly acknowledge that the start of the school year has included, no pun intended, some bumps in the road and some challenges that I know have deeply impacted some of our students and some of our families. And as I shared in a post after our first week, that's something that I take full responsibility for. And I offer my apology to our families and students that were impacted by this.

One point that I feel very necessary to address is that for us, this was not a driver shortage issue as so much of what has been relayed in past few years in the media. Our team has worked tirelessly across the summer months to get our staffing in place. We've hired well over 100 school bus drivers and aides, and we really worked with the team here to ensure that they have the training on over 600 individual runs or tiers, if you want to call them, to make sure that the transportation system works smoothly.

The student tracking app really does help families. I always say, well, if you have good service, you don't need the app. But especially when you're transitioning to where we want to get to, you get a notice on your phone when your bus is within the range you set it at, and you know your bus is coming, and particularly on cold and rainy days, it works great.

But how much of an improvement have we seen, right? Are we talking 50% less late buses from last week to this week? Or where is it actually looking? I heard a majority of our routes are on time, but how big is that majority, right? 51% is a majority. Is it that, or is it 90%? Where are we?

This app sounds very helpful, and will, I understand, decrease the volume of calls and emails about late buses, but it's my understanding, based on what you're saying, that the app is only as good as the routes are, right? If the routes aren't done right, the app isn't going to fix the routes. So I understand you're going route by route, but I guess my question would be how are you working together to improve the routes?

We did receive a proposal from the high school, where Dr. Palmer and her administration did come up with some points in the proposal that we reviewed as a policy committee and decided that we just need just a little additional time to really propose a policy that works. And so we are still in a process of working on it. And so we are prepared to discuss that in more context at our September 29th meeting.

So just to be clear, because I did receive a few communication messages from folks today, that there seems to be a community belief that there already is a weighted grade policy that has been implemented. So just to echo what you've said, that is not the case.