and so we've been residents and registered voters for 25 plus years I'm now 65 years old and retired I spent the vast majority of my adult life in a career as a professional real estate manager with businesses and investments in the city in New Haven I bought my first apartment building in 1984. I became a licensed real estate agent in 1987 a broker in 1989.
The way it's written now, you need to get three quotes. So someone has to call call these vendors, maybe three, maybe four, maybe five. Call them up independently, make sure everyone has the same specs, wait for responses, make sure they, you know, respond in a timely manner. With our um e- procurement system, it goes out to everybody simultaneously. We're not making phone calls and tracking, well, so and so didn't respond to me and so and so didn't respond to me. Goes out all simultaneously. You can ask questions uh on hypro question and answer period. All the responses come in uh come in uh the the buyers can't open the solicitation until it closes and so they get all of it one time. I don't see how doing it manually is quicker. The rules are exactly the same. The mechanism to put out the solicitation is a little different.
and then lastly I just wanted to highlight the budget calendar again tonight we're reviewing the first review of the capital budget February 22nd I've mentioned this a few times but we're going to take a second review of the mnl budget we will have a compensation increases um a proposal on that as we wrap up our meet and confer conversations we'll also have more numbers than what I had in the first presentation as we've gotten some of those renewal numbers in in several of those additional numbers that are going to be key into having the overboard feel comfortable giving us tenant approval on March 8th to issue contracts um on March 8th we'll also take a second review of the capital budget unless I get any questions on any of these specific areas I do only anticipate bringing a summary back um but I'm happy to cover any additional areas at length um if you do have any questions April 5th we will ask for attendive approval of the capital budget in which it allows us to issue POS for those long-lead Capital items you can get ahead of those lead times with supply chain shortages Etc and then again in June will formally propose and adopt to approve the fiscal 24 budget so I don't know if you know but um the AEL did pass Senate and House today um well Senate this earlier this week in-house today so um with those funds um what exactly are we expecting to receive and will there be um are you able to provide any information on how we would spend that money to ensure that it does get down to the classroom level and to teachers yeah so the aggregation yeah I did see that today is great news and it's an exemption for fiscal year um 23. unfortunately we'll be in the same case next year but the aggregate expansion limit is not additional funds um it's a cap on spending your your current budget so we we are not um basically now we do not have to cut 19 of our budget so we'll continue as we are we've already passed an operational budget this year and we'll continue to allocate funds as we have budgeted um as you know we we in our budget conversation we set aside uh 22 million and carry forward to address the Agri expansion if we were to have to reduce our budget come March 1st with that being Exempted for this fiscal year um that money will still sit and carry forward and we'll look to potentially utilize some of it as we've done tonight in the fiscal 24 budget um again we're not we may not be privy to to holding that larger carry forward going forward into the next fiscal year um because we are we are getting to a point where all these 110 fines are now being utilized um whether it's via the transfer whether it's invested back into the classroom um and so I think on the on the 22nd I'll I can dive deeper into that but it's not additional money it's just money that we do not have to cut anymore so um we will continue to move forward as our operational budget was approved so um can you explain a little bit um what AEL would the per you know what it is and and just the fact that so the money was there we just couldn't spend it um just so those that don't understand all this stuff that was happening what it was about yeah so it's the Agri expenditure limit um stems back from a 1980s funding formula that's in State Statute in which it created a formula to analyze whether districts um should be capped on spending the problem with that formula it was created in 1980 and it didn't take into consideration the number of legislative changes that have happened since then so the main factor is the classroom site fund um after when that was approved in legislature to be moved into the budget instead of a proposition a voter approved a proposition those funds then then became um non-exempt and became a part of the formula so that just moved 800 million dollars into the formula um in addition there's been several investments from the governor's office into into increasing K-12 funding all those funding increases have added on top of the formula and so we're increasing this funding ceiling but still following a 1980s formula and so um yes you know the this year districts exceeded and as a whole the Agri expenditure limit the spending cap by 1.3 billion I don't think that was the intention of the legislature and Governor Ducey when they approved all these K-12 increases to then come back and Cat and reduce Us by 19 and so I think that the formula is broken uh personally and that um unfortunately it's still in statute and it creates a two-thirds majority or or voter approved to to change that and so this is going to be an ongoing issue but um it's I guess hopefully that explained it but um and I think the other component to this is this is a one-year fix this hasn't been long-term fixed so we will be right back here again next year with needing to address this um one of the things they talked about tonight or or today is is it a permanent fix is needed but it's probably going to require voter approval to amend the Arizona Constitution so there's a lot of work that needs to happen in order to address this so while we don't need to make a Cuts immediately this year the same formula is still in it's a just a relief for this year the same formula is still in place we'll need to be discussing it next year should they not fix this at the ballot so we could potentially see some sort of prop in 2024 to change the Constitution one of the biggest kickers is too if if this did take place and there was no exemption that we would have to cut 22 million in budget capacity our property taxes are still the same and so our community all our taxpayers are still being we don't you don't get a reduction in tax rates so by Statute we we still have to pull all our same property taxes so then now all your taxpayer money is going to sit in cash in our bank account we just can't have budgetary authority to spend it it just it's completely mind-body to me um and so unfortunately yeah that that's all because of this 1980s statute and so um I it's hard to explain but I think that's the best visual is that it's budget capacity that we can't spend we can we still have to budget and we'll still have the cash but we have to we would have to reduce our budget capacity and then it resets July 1.
and in 1990 I became a principal president in managing director of Beasley Property Management Inc at the time I don't know if maybe too old these days but Beasley was one of the largest real estate companies in the the state of Connecticut uh that business serviced a wide range of commercial and condominium customers in Greater New Haven including Yale University's Investment Portfolio of 30 plus properties for a number of years I sold that business almost 25 years later in 2014 and the remainder of my real estate investment properties in 2017 when I retire in that career I spent the entirety of my time helping people make successful and mutually beneficial agreements and contracts for housing business locations and real estate related services many of those people were formed into Boards of directors where I supported organized and conducted their business as a managing agent now that I'm retired and have the time I desire to give back to my community in contributing these skills to the needs of the town of Bethany and I welcome the opportunity to do so as a member of the Board of Education thank you thank you so members of the board does anyone have any questions that they wish to ask it's time [Music] so I appreciate that willingness to give back to the town I'm curious why before today [Music] there seemed to be a need for a contribution to the board of education so I volunteered all right Angel is sure was well intentioned and had a change in job circumstances and so I wanted to step up to the plane and I don't have any kids I haven't had any children of my own but in the course of doing my professional career I feel like I've had hundreds of kids because I owned and managed apartment buildings in the heart of Yale so I came a role model I feel as a housing provider for hundreds and hundreds of Yale students that circulated through there from every corner of the Earth and uh you know I enjoyed doing that my basic principles were always Goodwill and equal treatment and I was very successful with it and so I can incorporate that perspective as well as a good understanding of how a board operates and its needs and its midis and its finances insurance attorneys I mean you get into or all these different aspects of of how to operate a school it's very similar to what I did so it seemed like a good fit [Music] can I ask um you've heard a little bit in the report at the beginning of our meeting today about the different domains in which we try to support and help our kids academic but also social emotional and other things um and we have to make decisions obviously in partnership with the administration about the priorities about where to put more time where to put more dollars where to put more attention what do you think are the most important priorities that we as a public school elementary school should be focusing on based on what you know of you know that the world today and Bethany Community School as it is I think you know the k-6 is a very important time period for kids they're little they soak up everything and so but Reading Writing and arithmetic is is you know the basics and uh you know to help them learn how to take care of themselves in the world so overall give them those tools the basics are are the most important in my mind now you know I have to admit I'm 65 I'm a little old school for the newer thinking that is then coming forward in the world of Education so you know I willing to listen and learn but I can't say that I'm an authority on the subject I think any of us are when we first joined the board or when we leave um can I ask what you mean by the newer thinking in education what are you referring to social emotional learning and those Concepts that come along with it um what do you foresee as some of the biggest challenges moving forward for this board you've seen different things of topics we've discussed as you come on to our board what do you what do you foresee will be challenging hmm getting up to speed will be a challenge okay so you know it's sort of all-encompassing but uh I've taken a lot of time to try to read through your minutes and uh your bylaws and uh you know 241 policies that's sort of a little overwhelming uh but uh you know so I can't say that I've narrowed down what that would be but I'm a quick learner and uh I would probably be better able to answer that question after a month or two I mean personal tones is more like topics are there any specific my question wasn't there any specific topics or areas that you think will be challenging but nothing comes to mind [Music] okay if there's nothing further from the board ah thank you very much you're very welcome um and so we'll move on to a vote um for context so uh Angel was Mr agorian was uh elected in 2021 his term goes to the end of the current calendar year this replacement is to fill the seat until the end of I'm sorry I lied his term would have gone to 2027.
you know, we're going into the to the electronic age and now we're going backwards. We're telling principles, teachers, whomever, you got to do the paper route. Call on the phone and get this information or I don't even know if anybody still has a fax machine, but you know, fax them the information or email the information. Why would you go backwards and making it more paper burdensome as opposed to less? Sure. But Bonnie, these are only for procurements for less than $100,000 and um subject to not less than three quotes for procurements of 5,000 to less than 15,000 and not less than three written quote quotes for procurements of 15,000 to less than 100,000. And you still have exception to that? I do. I do. The statute says the statute says 25,000. So up to 100,000 maybe 100,000 is not lot in the realm of construction but there are a lot of small vendors out there that would like to partake in u government activities and if they're not going to be given the opportunity to bid on it then how is this fair and how is it transparent?
and so it's a it's a fun budget game I guess but um I wish it was a smaller dollar amount but uh you have a different idea of the fun then um but yeah I hope that member van helke I hope that kind of uh summarizes the the issue at hand and how it's going to be an ongoing issue until something um changes statutorily in the Arizona School District funding formula vice president Anderson I want to quickly go back to the print shop in the warehouse um this has also been kind of an on-again off-again we we weren't using our print shop for some time then we started using it which allows our district and our schools to be able to print certain things in-house and make it more economical for them than having to go to an outside printer for whether it be programs whether it be something for the classroom banners from so it gives us the ability to keep things in-house as well at a reduced cost to our district and our schools they're not having to run to Staples to get certain things printed at a higher cost so when we weren't using our print shop and we saw the the difference in costs then they revitalized the print shop and and started doing it in-house so it does help all of our schools our district so there's an additional cost savings elsewhere that helps um helps the schools actually during the asbo orientation there was a vendor not well they're really not a their vendor but they're also a school district and they have they they pretty much made a business out of it and they they print for all districts and print all the books and I thought it was a great idea and a great way to bring in Revenue um so I can definitely see that thank you yeah that's Deer Valley Unified I know exactly yeah that next year we anticipate not having to um in terms of fund the district within the operational dollars uh they will be fully self-sufficient to maintain their machines going forward with the amount of business that we've accrued um it's a Miss Reese's point that from external customers and then we're still supporting our internal customers so um they will become fully self-sufficient next fiscal year and so it will be in a sense its own business and operating um through its own fund outside of District operational dollars which allows us to put that money back into the classroom or other areas so foreign because we're going through this in the district I work in um we are having to implement a second like authentication for logging in and per the liability insurance and I didn't know if that's something that's coming our way and is that well it doesn't have to be answered today I just want to we'll put on the ear but is that something that's going to be an expense to us because we're going to have to do some upgrades or any changes for the district vice president Anderson members of the board will introduce Jim hasik who ours our our technology director who we are so happy to have in this district and as I say this today even um he sent out a valentine message to our employees today about being a sweetheart and updating their password with some of these additional components that are part of that multi you know part of our security before Mr Pacer gets started yeah those changes are stemming from our insurance our renewal and in order for our insurance company what they have stated to us to be renewed next year for cyber security they were requiring six additional or six main points of emphasis that the district needs to adopt in order for them to reassure us um and so Mr Pacer can talk about what that is expense wise but I think majority is mostly just adding new steps good evening um what you're referring to I believe is a multi-factor authentication MFA also known sometimes as 2fa that's kind of a an Antiquated expression for it but yes we will be compliant at the start of next school year all of our employees will be using MFA we will be utilizing a Microsoft authenticator that's a that's a tool that is already purchased by the district as part of our Microsoft license we do have a need to use a another Pro potentially use another program called Duo for some of our additional software like visions and our VPN so when when teachers and other staff log in remotely but we currently have a license for duo as well so it's just a matter of implementing those uh those software pieces the IT department has a meeting on Friday this week with the trust to talk to them about our phishing tests which are quarterly a quarterly requirement starting next year as well as penetration and vulnerability testing that we will be coordinating with with the trust as well so all of the requirements that the trust has asked us to put in place we're proactively working this week to make sure that all those things are in place and we have been working throughout the course of the year to uh to Prime the prime the pump for MFA and we'll be ready with MFA at the start of next school year you're very welcome okay thank you Mr Moore um we'll move on to 6.2 the information item on amendments to policy j f a b d a emissions of students in foster care good evening vice president Anderson tonight we want your consideration to some of these revisions that align to Arizona revised statutes and asba important points and updates include definitions being expanded and explained in more detail for example children and Foster Care means placements and Foster Care Homes foster homes of relatives Emergency Shelters residential facilities Child Care institutions in pre-adoptive homes this applies whether or not the facility is licensed or not another definition that was clarified is the school of origin this is a school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement into foster care they will remain in the school of origin for their duration of the time and Care unless it's determined that this is not the best thing for the child and then point of contact the district assigns a district employee to serve as the point of contact and ours is Miss Melissa Garland she's doing an amazing job in fact when I reviewed this policy with her in detail she was like we already do all this stuff Sherry we already know this so it is best practice she will coordinate activities and programs with Arizona Department of Education in the Department of Child Services transportation is provided in collaboration with the state and the local welfare agency an enrollment preference will be given to children who are in foster care the district's point of contact will work to do everything in the best interest of the child so these changes are in alignment with the mckinney-vento homeless Sac of 2001 which was amended by the every student succeeds Act of 2015.
however this replacement is not to fill the entire balance of the term but rather until the next election next election is November with the winner of that election to be seated in January uh and so the uh the Mrs Bradford uh if confirmed uh will be in this position until January and then the um we'll have an election in November to fill the balance of Mr igorian's term which would be to 2027 so that would be a four-year term different from our usual six so that's the process when we're when we're filling a vacancy midterm any questions about process okay then I will entertain a vote to uh accept and approve to approve uh the nomination of Mrs Susan Bradford to the vacancy on the Bethany Board of Education the motion we need emotions I'm asking for that motion and is that let's make sure we get this right I asked for a uh do you have we have it lit here so let's all right so the motion that I am requesting is that the Bethany Board of Education appoints Susan Bradford to fill the Bethany Board of Education vacancy created by Angela goyan's resignation with the term expiring at the next town election on November 7th 2023. thank you a second Lynette thank you uh can I ask for clarification Sue this motion says with the term expiring on November 7th that implies that the individual who is elected on November 7th would be seated immediately rather than in January of 2024.
The Senates last summer, maybe two summers ago, talked about transparency and equal opportunity, and we've just taken a step backwards. How we how would the DOE guarantee that not the same three vendors are going to be called or not the same vendor is going to get the business over and over and over again? And parceling is a real issue for us in this um you know, portable bathrooms or or any bathrooms if it's We we can conceivably see that there could be a greater risk for parceling going over your $250,000 limit. If you're going to paint a whole school or even certain buildings of that school, one is 200,000, another one is 100,000, another one's 50,000. Collectively, you've gone over your 250, but if they parcel it out, this job is under 200, that's job under 200. And that job is under 200. So when we talk um superintendent come please.
so we appreciate your consideration of this new and updated policy foreign thank you Miss Richards any comments or questions regarding the policy I was able to speak with Miss Garland prior to the meeting just a fortunate run-in and I had a question regarding language of for group homes and she did clarify that Foster and group home care following her the same spot yeah my students sometimes the language gets confusing or or it changes right yes okay thank you thank you all right thank you um we'll now move on to 6.3 uh we'll be looking at possible amendments or approval amendments to policy gbg CB staff health and safety Sarah who's in the back good evening vice president Anderson and members of the board the um policy for staff have been safe sorry for staff health and safety what we're looking to update is there what you see in that blue this is based off of legislation updates we have adopted from asba and the recommendations to remain in alignment with the statues so in that blue area it states that the school district shall not require a resident of this state to receive a vaccination for covid-19 or any variant of covet 19.
is that okay because that might be so it's unclear to me whether the person who wins that election is Seated on November 8th or on Jan on January 1st when everyone else is [Music] hmm does this in accordance with an ad in accordance with state statute Paulette you have clarification right okay so I propose an amendment to the motion which is instead of saying with the term expiring at the next town election on November 7th I would propose that it's a with the term expiring at the end of 2023 in accordance with state statute that creates flexibility to uh follow whatever guidance forgiven so John Paul do you accept that friendly amendment to your motion okay just following the rules all right motion has been made in second and any further questions or discussions hearing that I'll call for a vote all those in favor please indicate by saying aye okay any opposed any abstentions motion passes [Music] congratulations Mrs Bradford so process I'll invite you to so you'll need to be sworn in at Town Hall I invite you to arrange that with the first select moment at your convenience uh between now and our March meeting and then I invite you to uh make an appointment at the board of education office with Mrs Carpenter and she can Orient you give you phone numbers and everything else and uh we'll we'll take it from there and we look forward to having you join us here at the table at our March meeting thank you okay uh we have no new new business and so we come on to our administrative reports beginning with the superintendent sure I'll start with the enrollment update update uh in your packets you still have the historical enrollments you can compare month by month to the 20 to 21 school years kindergarten projections at this time kindergarten enrollment for fall of 2023 is projected to be 55 students so we are still anticipating three sections currently there are 45 students pre-enrolled and nine of those were not on Sue's original enumeration Personnel update so I'm Miss Katrina Potts was hired as our new music teacher Mrs Potts comes to BCS with over a decade of teaching experience in both Massachusetts and Connecticut schools she actually joined our team on February 1st 2023 and then uh Mr reedswale is working with Mrs Potts once she gets uh settled in to revisit what we offer to students for before and after school music activities for the remainder of the school year we had a paraprofessional vacancy and that vacancy has been filled by Michaela snow Ms snow was working here at BCS as an ESS paraprofessional substitute and she did such a wonderful job that BC has hired her to fill that vacancy and we are thrilled to have her on the BCS team are grade 4 vacancy our next Personnel update is a little Bittersweet to report and the information is being shared with permission from the classroom teacher Miss Carrie McLaughlin was his fourth grade teacher who was recently diagnosed with a chronic illness that will prevent her from continuing in her teaching position prior to becoming the fourth grade teacher here last year Kerry served as one of the instructional aides in the curriculum Department at this time the news was shared that we had at the time the news was shared we had a part-time instructional Aid position open very similar to what Kerry had come from here at BCS and rather than lose a quality educator in Miss McLaughlin we all agreed that it would be wise to transition her back to the part-time instructional Aid position that she had here at BCS as part of our DCS team and no sooner than we posted that vacancy created by Miss McLaughlin's transition we received several applicants interested in the position here at VCS and the team began their interviews at the end of January at this time I'm very pleased to announce that we have found an excellent teacher from our very own community Mrs Brooke hemperly she will be our new fourth grade teacher Miss hepperly comes to Bethany from Hamden where she was actually the Camden teacher of the year for their district and she will begin her term here uh in Bethany on March 6th I'll have her my official report but since there was a little bit of uh action earlier in the week uh you heard spoiler alert if uh we had a little bit of a water situation here on Monday and as much as I love Mr bartolini you never want to get a phone call from your facilities director before 5am then there's no snow it's fine for me to call him that early but when he calls you and says we have a situation it makes your heart skip a beat a little bit we had a pipe burst in the ceiling of our nurse's office sometime after Saturday afternoon around four o'clock because we had a custodian here in the building and Monday morning so we're very grateful that the water was contained sorry Tom primarily to the main office um no impact to the teachers or any of the student classrooms who didn't lose instructional materials or things of that nature and thank you to Fred and Kevin and Kyle and Steve who were here with us at five o'clock in the morning cleaning up the mess and getting everything situated and I would say around 11 30 12 o'clock we had the water back on most of the office cleaned up and we're ready to go and back in business for it's not because I like a long weekend but we had a situation on Monday we're grateful that it was not as bad as it could have been yes no issues about residual water damage removal vegetables that was the question yep and then the last thing Dr Pinger alluded to it a finance report just by way of an update on the professor of dollars or the specific project that we have our Pavilion is looking like a pavilion um and we're really grateful I'm really grateful to the support and guidance and I don't know if he's still here from Rob white with all of the troubleshooting and everything I don't know if anyone's been outside but take a look at the Pavilion we hoping that it will be up and running and ready to go for our sixth grade graduation so that so that it's working the team are not out in the field making big round circles in the grass to for people to even join after graduation so we're really excited about that part thank you any questions for Mrs Berger discussion on any of the points that she's reviewed okay hearing none we'll move on to our director of special services curriculum and instruction so first I'd like to talk about our professional development that we have coming up on February 17th we'll be having Margie Gillis come to work with all of our teachers and the focus will be on the science of reading and we are currently planning a full day of professional development on March 17th to be responded to the feedback that we've received from setup regarding curriculum Andrea Hubbard and I will continue to work on the waiver for the science of reading and that's due on February 28th so we're in process of doing that now and this is the most exciting part for me to share is that we finally received notification about the mental health Grant and I'm pleased to share that Bethany was selected as one of 20 districts out of the 92 that applied for the competitive Grant and Bethany will receive a total of three hundred sixteen thousand twenty one dollars and fifty cents over three years this will have an incredible impact on our school Community as we'll be able to provide a full-time social worker for three years congratulations well done yeah and then on the special education report we applied and received a ten thousand dollar stipend Grant from the State Department of Education which will support our work with CT saids which is the new computer program that houses all of our individual individual education plans and just as I've shared each month we continue to have many referrals to special education in the past we've used the excess cost funds to address any of those overages that are due to an increasing questions for Mrs Kiesel our discussion okay oh three years what's the end game at the end of three years so we would be looking to hire through an agency so that way we would address our needs at that point but that's why we're not hiring the info in-house person it would be through an agency with knowing that the funds would be ending unless the needs continued so we have a different structure for a point and then we the board would make a decision at that time Administration make a decision at that time as to whether there's a sufficient ongoing need that it needs to be budgeted or two weeks do we know if there's like longevity to that they haven't said anything about that there are other grants that should be coming out that is forced to be applying for [Music] about potentially talking about the reading waiver at some length at the next uh to elaborate a little bit more is that something just because it was brought up absolutely yeah we um we're in process on it right now and it's a pretty lengthy process so I will have definitely a lot more information about that and if I can just give a little background you tell me if I'm if I'm incorrect so that where this comes from is the state passed new legislation that said all schools must purchase a reading program approved by the state they didn't approve any of the reading programs that the schools actually liked they approved three that are quite costly and that our team doesn't think are effective or good and so the waiver is to request permission to not purchase a program we don't want is that correct which is completely independent from our internal discussions of what is the best you know resources program curriculum to help our kids right right so they had originally approved about eight they're now slowly approving a couple but they have approved two more programs are waivers um you have to do the waves so they've approved a program okay um the waivers to get to continue with what you're doing currently um would allow you to continue with that if they do not approve that then you would have to file for extension while you determine okay the costs jump in so the costs run anywhere from 50 000 to 93 for a school our side and you guys know yeah that's perfect for the gym the the challenge that we've had and I know Cheryl has talked about it in our career and stuff committee meetings and I know I've talked Ad nauseam with superintendents first they don't tell you who the districts are that are currently using there are 12 districts out of the 169 districts in the state of the state if I happen to know one of those districts is Ansonia superintendent has been very vocal about the fact that he has this program and it's not not that great like if you look at the school when you look at them and I know their hard-working folks in Ansonia but he's been very vocal at a lot of our meetings saying you know I have this program see what I'm what I've got as far as my scores if there are other things for you to consider by all means consider that we only know about him because they won't release the names of any of the other districts so that we can say oh is it is it an Avon a Simsbury like what are the districts who are the districts that are using these programs so that we can see what their return on investment can that be done in former electric caps and superintendents choose to relate they can but they're not okay so do we know what percentage of schools have decided to go with the program um what I can share is that uh in the aces region and in the skaza groups specifically every single district is applying for a waiver so every District that has been represented at Gaza has applied for a waiver how long is the waiver for like if you apply for that and it's accepted is this something we have to reapply for over and over again do we know they haven't really said fantastic and they also haven't been the challenges they also have not given us a definitive date because there's one person at the state who's reviewing all of these waivers that are going to be submitted by these other districts and so typical for Connecticut right and they're averaging 60 plus pages long each waiver and they haven't given us a time frame for when we can expect an answer which has also been a challenge because here we are talking about budgets and if I know that the waiver is due on the 28th of February but you might not give me an answer until April maybe May I might have to come and say hey guys you know that Surplus we'll take it we might need it for the reading program that we're now being forced to buy and then the town can have everything what happens so that's the other question what happens if there are many districts who are just kind of like what are they going to do if we don't do it that's if I was going to give the superintendent and the director of special services and instruction would you tell them hey guys [Music] don't sign the certified letter okay can they potentially withhold Grandpa there is nothing in the legislation that indicates that they can't take money today [Music] you know there are some districts that are like all right so we'll buy one set like literally one side of the book so we can say check the box we have it if anyone comes and visits our district we so it's a one-time buy-in for the program there's not a yearly support cost for it too for updating it yeah so that's just to get our foot in the door it's always an end game there's always it's the consumables it's the renewable s so then again I would recommend that maybe we discussion with my instructions to support directly special services if we don't get the waiver okay TTFN is one of the rules [Music] we're not spending that kind of money on something I don't think Winnie the Pooh said that I think that was some other bear [Music] okay anyway so that's thank you for that update on the waiver process and to be clear that is independent from a process of continually revamping our own reading instruction you know curriculum yeah thank you any further questions from Mrs Kiesel or comments on any of what she's reviewed [Music] okay did you read 12.
So when we talk about um good clothes for procurements or or goods let's talk about goods. So if you wanted to buy um a gross of pencils for two 257 schools and it cost you $100 per school. That's what 25 000. So you'd have to go on here as it is now. I think for for our senator chair the uh looking at goods for example um we are we are very much in our high schools and our throughout K12 we're looking at aligning our curriculum to u provide our students authentic opportunities that will help connect them to industry industry opportunities and and real life authentic learning. um for that purpose. Uh many of the equipment and such um are above $25,000 and uh that that price hasn't changed in some time. I I I know as a principal um it in looking to purchase these kinds of equipment for example uh with with healthcare uh schools are looking to purchase an anomal table and that provides students in health real opportunities to engage in um uh um in diagnosis of different different uh diseases.
and B impose any requirement to wear a mask or face covering anywhere on the school district's premises except when long-standing workplace safety and infection control measures that brings in other communicable diseases it's not just the kova 19 piece may be required and you can see the long list of standing workplace safety control measures those are the updates we're looking to make thank you questions comments concerns thank you so much thank you okay now we'll move on to our action items I'm going to excuse me I'm going to change my screen for um uh actually I'm 7.1 the recommend forgive me I'd read the recommendation correct thank you I apologize um the recommendation is that the governing board waived the second reading of the policy and then approve policy j f a b d a admission of students in foster care I move to approve a second Miss Reese and all those in favor aye aye motion carries 4-0 thank you we'll move on to agenda item 7.2 I'll stated properly this time I moved that the governing board waived the second reading of the policy and then approved policy GBC B staff health and safety nice second thank you all those in favor aye aye motion carries four to zero okay uh agenda item 8.1 this is where we talk about future agenda items um are there any items that we would like to have brought forward or anything requests regarding future oh did I miss something president Anderson members of the board also will have some of the transportation one that was moved we'll be coming back we have the board president asked that we moved it because she knew she may not be able to make it here tonight yep and we have several things coming forward to a strategic planning and connected with normal business kind of things that are are typical for this type of year obviously as you saw on our calendar we're getting ready to go right into Staffing contracts and hiring okay and following that for Hard dates or contracts and rehires or approvals that is coming those are coming in the next several meetings because we're going to have that we're going we're aiming just as you've seen to have these contracts out before spring break as we always have done okay everything moved and approved which is what we're we're your team is working very hard to get all of this done and ready so that we can get that risk secure okay all right anybody else not this time okay all right well there's the fun part I move that we adjourn the meeting second all those in favor I motion carries four to zero thank you everyone I hope you have a wonderful evening
report so an update on steering we met on January 19th a significant amount of archives not only creating the presentation but also really thinking about how we take that data not only to be able to present to you Paul which is important to really think about what we're doing with that what we can learn from that and how we're then Translating that into our practice and bringing it to other committees like our climate committee or others to really think about what we can do to improve the school so there's been a lot of time dedicated to that we presented to the curriculum committee on the first and the morning first we also presented the certified staff at our morning our subcommittees continue to work with the greater staff they did that at one of our January staff meetings on the 25th and we are continuing to move forward with those three subcommittee focuses of equity high quality instructions and social emotional work as far as BCS events uh we on the 27th uh celebrated Martin Luther King Jr day at our community meeting and we're very blessed to have a special guest of Morgan tuck who has far more accolades than it is possible for me to be able to list out and she was amazing former Yukon star a member of the WNBA and now an assistant GM to the Connecticut Sun resume but she came and it was wonderful we had two students who had actually done sent out surveys students collected different interview questions um went and interviewed her behind the scenes in our BMN Studio she came and presented uh to the students at community meeting took pictures uh with classrooms with students it was really just a great space for kids to be able to kind of have her as a special guest kindergarten was wonderful and presented around kindness and Martin Luther King Jr uh just recently we had our winter and holiday staff party on the 27th as well which was a great chance for our staff just to get together and not talk about school um we just finished as we shared here our winter benchmarks in January and we are now um taking that data and translating it into action uh for our students and held uh around case reviews just after that to discuss students uh who currently received here at intervention um and those students who have been brought for consultation from uh staff members or any additional support and then finally uh uh just on Monday night I had the distinct pleasure to attend the elementary celebration of Arts honoring two wonderful BCS students uh Charlotte winter and Angela so very excited to be able to celebrate them at the Aqua Turf and then things that are upcoming we've got uh we're bringing back our buddy day connections between our older and younger students really kind of getting back to that spot where we're not keeping everyone separate in their classes away from each other and really trying to build that community and connection across grades definitely something that was really popular and I think beneficial all students free pandemic and we're trying to get back to a lot of those great things uh Friday we're having our soup herbal um where different staff members are cooking soup and then uh stashed upon a practice later are donating five dollars to get a bowl and that money is going to go to the Woodbridge food pantry which also serves Bethany so we're really excited to just have a little bit of fun with that also for something that's a really good cause back uh just a huge thank you to PTO for all this amazing work um and they are also sponsoring a popsicle day next week which is super fun um and then we are just going through our process and meeting with certified staff for their mid-year meetings uh discussing all of their goals and their progress on that and being able to look at how we will be moving forward so that's where we've been where we are and where we go thank you questions from Mr Reed Swale or comments on any of the issues that he has reviewed [Music] hearing then we move on to Chairman report the only thing I have to note is that we will be having our board open Forum in late March or early April we have not yet selected a date we usually try to do this on a Wednesday evening and the Wednesdays through that period are difficult because of conflicts with parent-teacher conferences and other meetings so we don't have a date to propose this evening it's at least mostly my fault uh and um I'll discuss with the administration and we'll suggest some dates to the board and coordinate that via email so that we can get it on the calendar I got nothing else uh correspondence do we have any correspondence to review this evening okay uh and so now we have a second opportunity for visitors public comment I'll ask if anyone here wishes to address the board here at the end of our agenda yes please come forward same ground rules [Music] definitely is I'm so sorry about exactly and the last thing I want to say is I'm so touched tonight by how important everything is that you as a board are you doing and I just want to thank you you can show up and not just a few minutes but the committee meetings and the phone calls and the email that I know how much work it is I really hope that the Contin do you need me to start over Okay thank you very much thank you thank you anyone else wish to address the board before we close our meeting this evening everyone my name is Gina texier I live on high-end Court in Bethany my daughter is in the preschool so I'm really new to this process but as a former teacher I find that this meeting has been very interesting I do also want to thank everyone for your time and commitment I have no doubt that everyone in this room is committed to doing what's best for the students so thank you for your time and and commitment to this board I was wondering Chris if you could share with with us what um what you what site or authority you looked at in your conclusion that the replacement process um that you used if you could share that site with us that would be great here at section 10 219 of state statute 10-219 is that sufficient reference for them to find it [Music] I think that's I think that's what I was looking at too [Music] I have them here I'll invite you to come up after okay thank you thank you on your read 58 North hummerston Drive I believe the state statute 10-219 I read it too because I was curious how our process worked and who would be nominated so when I interpreted it I thought it was that it only had to be Republican if there was a minority and I believe that there is not right you're even so I was kind of confused as to why we only had could have that one nomination so that's why I think we're looking for some clarification on why it was only that one party was there an additional [Music] on your read so we were just looking for some clarification is there another statute or another other bylaws that clarify that so we will review I have the statutes here but I will say that prior to that it is also our past practice for at least 15 years to that we will uh that this is how we fill nominations I recognize past practice is not the same as statute yes I would like to if you have rules or processors follow whether it should be formal and not just informal this is just how we do things so that's my expectation of our processes that we're actually following thank you [Music] anyone else yes please [Music] uh Melissa zaldo 191 Beacon Road um I it is known that I volunteer a lot I volunteer with the PTO I volunteer with my church I'll be at me to anyone to volunteer for anything I'm just a little disheartened that this is the most recent nominee Brandon I know she said she volunteered but this is like there's no experience here I'm a nurse I know what my experience level is I certainly wouldn't volunteer for something I don't have any expertise then I'm a mom you know there's just I'm just rather disappointed that this was the best nominee that the Republicans could come up with nothing against her but they're just nothing when she spoke that spoke to me to her experience of what she could possibly contribute to this board to the school to this um I I know it's a moot point at this point but I just wanted to share that I'm rather disappointed in this nominee thank you anyone else wish to address the board this evening before we close our meet can I make a comment can I make a comment no not in business public comments [Music] okay going once going twice done uh thank you all very much for coming this evening we are adjourned I think we can do better today coming
diseases and such and problems with the body. Uh that is that table is well over $25,000, but it definitely provides our students and opportunities to connect to to industry. And so when we're looking at at school level, looking at providing these kinds of equipments for students to be able to transition, uh raising the procurement threshold from 25,000 to 100,000 definitely helps to expedite that process. So, superintendent, how is being able to purchase a $26,000 table um by going on to an electronic version by then just going to people on the telephone? Oh, sorry. I didn't hear the So, how does buying a $26,000 table um now that you want to bypass going on it electronically, I mean, how does it make what changes that warrants you to now be exempt? Um schools are at at that point if if the uh special worries um it would allow schools in the the um uh many different opportunities for them to purchase these types of equipment but they can still purchase it on the it it does the problem that exists that you have to go up to 100,000.
Maybe I should ask you that question. It it is um very complex for the schools and it does take um an inordinate amount of time. How much more time would it take to go on? We heard Bonnie say that it's simple, you know, you hit the boxes to versus calling up people, they're not there, you got to leave a message, you got to get the message set. How how does it make it easier? Unless you decide to go to one person, you already know who you want to buy it from. No, no, it it um it it does take time. It is not it for in my experience, it is not that uh it's not that quick. What is not that quick? it it may take u months to get uh things completed in in my experience. Okay. What what system do you use? Um currently at the schools um we do we do the um the we do all go out and secure the the bids for the three um check that not bids the three quotes.
No, what system are you using or taps? Oh, one sec. Well, I ask um deputy to grow. You saying wait minute you're saying you have experience. So I want to know what your experience. So my experiences have been So what what programs are you using that is taking so long? Uh when when we go out and we're looking at purchasing these kinds of equipment, um we do engage with our um uh business managers to help that support us at the schools. Those are our complex area business managers. And so um as there's many things going on at the schools at once uh they help us to navigate the process to to ensure that we're following all of the the procedures. What system are you using? I I don't I don't know the exact name of the system. I'm sorry I don't So there's only there's what did you say?
Heps and hypo. Hypro. Okay. H is for construction and hypo is for goods and services. So you folks use hypo. So how how cumbersome is hypo compared to getting on the phone and trying to call people. Is it okay senator the phone? Senator Curt, I used to be go so I'm really up on and I have a concern about um you know slip slipping and sliding every department want to get exempt because yeah it is cumbersome but the process, right? And if uh want to get exempted, I'm going to say no. Yes. So if I say yes to you, I I have to say yes to them. And that's a problem. So share with me on why you should say yes. Peru, deputy superintendent. Thanks. U be on both sides of the table. Now the DOE has some very specific uh procurements that are probably not uh for the rest of the executive branch.
That's the first and foremost, right? They're buying different things. So does uh same same with uh so I I I see and understand and appreciate uh state procurement offices standards but a procurement code is for everything. I mean there's no cookie cutter. I mean right it's for all and is for all. So when it's in construction and we're we're renovating um again like one building is fine. Um the reason why sometimes on the neighbors especially when they go up for the procurement they have hundreds of buildings uh because we have 4,000 of them. Um having the the knowledge of a similar contractor on island or someone that did work at DOE on the same campus for consistency is important as opposed to putting out the bid for three and get awarding the low bid for whoever it's going to be. There's a lot of inconsistency.
So that also leads to parceling and fraud. True. And I don't disagree with the state procurement office airport does the airport bundles the airports you know they get around the the threshold by extending the contracts and I've seen that happen at uh as well and I don't know if it's happened at BOE but it's a privilege that we would have to be very mindful of and like I said I appreciate the chief procurement officer's concern for partially because we don't want that. Um, so I I think we we need to work with this state procurement office to figure out how the uniqueness of a DOE campus uh uh and the uniqueness of making sure that the changes that we make are consistent especially on the technology side. We just can't it's unlike a state building when we're just renovating it. It's one time and it's very concise.