View Motion

Order ID#:

Motion ID#:

Original Meeting Date:

Lead Motion Maker:

Original Motion Content:
<p>WHEREAS: School Councils play a critical and valued role in the Cambridge Public Schools by assisting school principals in planning for and implementing best practices that enhance the achievement of all students; and</p> <p>WHEREAS: The School Committee seeks to support our schools and our School Council members by ensuring School Councils in CPSD:</p> <ul> <li>follow uniform policies and practices while being able to adopt practices that best serve each school community;</li> <li>are inclusive, diverse, and equitable spaces that reflect the diversity of our students, with representation from parents/guardians, caregivers, secondary-level students, teachers, and community members; and</li> <li>function as they should under state law and regulations and are supported to do so; and</li> </ul> <p>WHEREAS: The School Committee is grateful for the work from March - June of 2021 of the School Council Working Group, which included a diverse group of parents/guardians/caregivers, students, family liaisons, teachers, and administrators, listed by name in the Handbook, in partnership with the then-newly formed CPSD Family Engagement Office, and is grateful for the subsequent review of the handbook by the CPSD administrative team and for the additional input and feedback of members of the CPSD community who reviewed draft versions of the Handbook; and</p> <p>WHEREAS: The Communications and Community Relations Subcommittee of the School Committee has convened multiple meetings to review and revise proposed versions of the Handbook resulting from this process and is satisfied that the attached version is ready for full implementation, with regular review with the aim of continuous improvement; therefore, be it</p> <p>RESOLVED: That the School Committee approves the attached <a href="https://cdnsm5-ss5.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_3042785/File/departments/administration/equity/cps_school_council_handbook.pdf">School Council Handbook</a>; and be it further</p> <p>RESOLVED: That the School Committee notes that at the time of this motion being submitted, current law related to extending certain state emergency accommodations, which, among other things, extends the provision allowing public bodies to continue holding meetings remotely without a quorum of the body physically present at a meeting location and to provide “adequate, alternative” access to remote meetings until March 31, 2023, has not yet been further extended, and therefore the language in this handbook will be adjusted to ensure compliance with Open Meeting Law as in effect of April 1, 2023, if this provision is not further extended.</p>