FCSD BOE Discusses Mid-Year Student Well-Being, Achievement Data

FULTON – The Fulton City School District Board of Education met in person last night, Tuesday, March 8.

During the meeting, the board discussed a number of topics, including the presentation of mid-year data regarding students’ well-being and achievements.

During the public forum, community member Wallace Auser, said he disagreed with an article published in Syracuse regarding a Fulton basketball game that alleged the city of Fulton is racist because a student held up a Trump 2020 flag.

“I guess it was mentioned that maybe these actions made someone feel unwelcome… that is a very subjective standard, and it should not be the standard of any code of conduct because a subjective standard is very arbitrary,” Auser said. “I think it’s important for students to engage in civic activities. I believe it’s the state [that] encourages civic engagement. This appears to be civic engagement.”

He asked the board to make a public statement defending the Fulton students involved. Superintendent Brian Pulvino later addressed this.

Immediately following the public forum, the BOE meeting began.

During the superintendent’s report, the board discussed Music In Our School Month, including the Quirk’s Players presentation of “Bye, Bye Birdie.” The students gave the board and attendees a sneak preview of part of this musical in the auditorium.

“From what we saw, it’s going to be truly outstanding,” Pulvino said.

He then reminded families that Parent University is scheduled for Saturday, March 19 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in person at G. Ray Bodley High School.

Director of Student Support Services Elizabeth Tiffany said there will be a resource fair, children’s activities, family activities, and a miniature taste of Fulton with food from local eateries. More information on ParentU can be found here.

Pulvino then gave the mid-year data report for student well-being and achievement. Beginning with missed days of in-person learning through Week 20 of the 2021-2022 school year, he shared that in the whole district, 1,892 students have missed at least one day in school.

There have been 725 FCSD employees who needed to take COVID leave days (when they are required to isolate or quarantine.) This is an average of one per employee.

Pulvino shared a graphic of the last grade all students experienced a typical school year prior to the pandemic. For 12th graders, that was 9th grade. For Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders, that has never happened as they entered school during the pandemic.

Tiffany reviewed the students’ social-emotional and developmental health data from the BIMAS-2 screener. She said that for elementary students, student conduct, social awareness and relationship skills are relatively low risk, but there is relatively more concern with self awareness and self management – being able to identify how you feel and knowing what to do with those feelings appropriately.

On a secondary level, students rate themselves, and Tiffany said that does show more accuracy of their well-being. These students also show the need to have some intervention when it comes to self awareness and self management.

Tiffany then compared total major referrals through to Week 20 from 2017 to this year. She said there has been a decrease in this number from when students were in-person full time.

She also compared the district’s chronic absenteeism, when a student misses 10% or more of the school year, which would be nine days or more in a 20 week period.

“The biggest takeaway here is that COVID has had a really substantial impact on both our attendance and approach to our attendance,” Tiffany said.

Last year during the height of remote learning, there was a higher number of chronic absenteeism, 45.29% This year, that number is 30.81%. In the first half of 2020, it was 21.85%.

She said teachers do provide materials for students to do from home during quarantine or isolation to make sure they are getting exposure to the lessons they are missing at school. They also check in with students and families.

Director of Literacy and UPK Renee Hendrickson then shared data regarding the district’s academics. The K through Grade 6 reading level data is compiled using DIBELS, which is used three times a year with benchmark scores.

At the beginning of the year 64.46% of students in grades K through 6 were in the “below” or “well below” benchmarks. Now, in the middle of the year, that benchmark percentage is 56.4%. The highest percentage of students in the “below” or “well below” benchmarks is Kindergarten.

Director of Instructional Support Services William Mecum presented the data for the Fulton Junior High School students’ academic achievement, saying below 10% of students got a 0-64% in their classes. He also compared students with an IEP or economically disadvantaged.

He also presented the data for the high school students. In the first quarter, 9.47% of students got a 0-64% in their classes. In the second quarter, that percentage increased to 12.59%. He also compared students with an IEP or economically disadvantaged.

The next item of discussion during the superintendent’s report was given by Chief of Operations and Innovation Dominick Lisi regarding “Let’s Talk” on the district’s website. The purpose of this portal is to allow community members to ask questions or give feedback. As it evolves, there will be more buttons to address other topics that will be directed to other resources to answer questions.

Pulvino then talked about the budget and gave some updates. Multiple employees presented a breakdown of how the federal COVID-19 stimulus funds are allocated as a refresher from the presentation at the board meeting a few weeks ago. As of March 4, over $2.9 million of the funds have been spent, with the largest percentage on instruction. This number does not include salaries encumbered through the year’s end.

He then moved on to discussing the state’s health department guidance update regarding face masks in schools. The district made face masks optional beginning March 2. Testing is still available for students and staff.

Pulvino also gave an update on the district’s capital improvement projects, including the new fire alarm systems at GRB and Granby Elementary, which are almost complete. Lanigan Elementary is next in line to have a new fire alarm system installed.

He then presented the proposed administrative organizational chart for the next academic year, which includes the addition of a director of early childhood and the realignment of duties or title for six positions. The purpose of this is to align better with the district’s strategic coherence plan.

Lastly, he commented on the basketball game on February 22. He said the district shared a letter to the community on the matter.

In the letter shared on March 4, Pulvino said “At this point in our ongoing investigation, it appears that the display of flags was directly associated with an incident at the High School the week before the games. Flags were brought to the games by students who intended to express their belief that their first amendment rights were infringed upon at school. Based on interviews with multiple students and families, it also appears that the display of flags was not intended to target the schools with whom we were competing. However, while it may not have been the intent, the impact was that visitors to our school and members of our own community felt unwelcome. This is contrary to the goal outlined in the FCSD Strategic Coherence Plan to ensure that all feel welcome and part of our school.”

He said since the letter was shared, the district has communicated with students and families, with a focus on educating students. He said the students need to feel safe to share their beliefs, values, and experiences.

The board then moved on to approving the agenda items, which can be found here.

The full meeting can be viewed here.

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