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2025-02-13 South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT YouTube / BOE Live Stream transcript source: youtube BOE Meeting 2/12/2025 · passage 1

e e e for for for C for sure e nothing wish the let's see [Applause] this first all right please introduce yourself and trot her out let's see what she looks like hello I'm Timothy te project architect with Sil petrielli you can take it out and hold it if you like uh good evening I'm I'm Aris stalis I'm a landscape architect uh principal of AR Studio we're located in Gort sure we're here today to present the um B commun School pathway designs and we would like to share with you how this project has evolved from schematic designs as we move forward into construction documents um and what you guys have in front of you is um ais's um revised PL the first page is showing the two proposed Pathways and the the two following let see 17 pages are the the initial schematic design um so the first page is is where we where we are now and the the way we arrived um this the design we have today is based on um the feasibility of um construction and and cost um essentially the the the first pathway um show you guys hey John so uh hold on hold on one minute would it be easier for to bring them in the center and lay it out and let them do their thing in front of us what do you want to do is does that work for everybody so everybody can see or is everybody good where they're sitting matter okay all right I just want to make sure okay so this uh pathway was originally um lined more more in front of the building we shifted it off to the side and this is a lining with the Contours and the grading of the site and it's um it's eliminating the need for retaining WS it still has a similar design as its approach but it's off to the side the stairs are similar in that we're rebuilding them and shifting them off a little bit so sorry one thing to add when don't we do that um so by doing that one we're taking away the mass of the existing ramp that's out there and all the concrete and now we have you know we carried some numbers for landscaping of this slope um depending on the level that we want to do there and it it focuses to that large Oak there on the end to make sure that's preserved and we move away from that um to keep that it does look to remove all those those someone call them Evergreens they're crime hemlocks that just don't want to be there anymore they're in really bad shape I say just cut them down you might have to adjust the fence a little bit to deal with the grading but the idea is so that this this pathway here is because it's just for accessibility and emergency it's just very subtle out of the way you shouldn't be notice it so that's that's why what happens is just making something soft and simple on side okay can I ask a question yes okay so the pitch of that walkway is is is a gentle slope so there's no need for handrails no need for handrails it's under 5% yes and what's with the chain link fence is that pre-existing M yeah there's an existing fence there so instead of just trying to force it one we have to get what the exact Topography is but one if we're going to replace part of it you're better off replacing almost all of it because then if you do one section and the suddenly you're like why did I leave the old section so it's a 4ot changling fence yeah yeah the land of them might as well what's it purpose I think that's a ball fi up on top there yes the Bas the baseball field is up there and that fence has just always been there there there's a field and it's really if you have in there's a gate that really isn't used on the corner of the building in general you know when you have play spaces you kind you want to fence it in so children don't run out erroneously um because you have the traffic here because kids are quick they move fast and especially if you have 25 30 children on the field it's easy for one to some disappear you know so that's that's a reason to keep the fact okay I do thank you okay um so the the other walkway which I when we get into the costs I have confession L I didn't carry the cost to remove the existing ramp and rebuilding the the existing stairway here but we did carry a contingency and we're always very conservative with our numbers but what we're doing with the accessible ramp is pushing it that that way and again we can keep that under 5% so we don't don't need hand rails we may need some 18in high curbs to help hold back some of the soil so it's not drastic we the steepest we like to have Earth is at a one on Three slope which anything steeper some people do it but we prefer not to we like to go flatter um so that that's why this scheme here it's just a gradual Loop down to here so it's very simple again trying to hide it and with some simple Landscaping we can which the type of landscaping we propose is things like native brasses like panicum which are essentially once they're established you don't have to do anything um so that's what this one's here what you see on the drawing is had been from the historical drawings and oil tank that I kept on there just in case there was a question but that's not there um so it's been abandoned it was never installed right there was a proposal it was a proposal so um so yeah that's much yeah again we're um because of the grad slope there's no handrails and it's and like side we're pulling this pathway away from bus can and I think also gets rid of all of those heavy concrete walls it takes away all the heavy railings and it just starts soften in the building so you're not looking at prison feeli ter you're looking brutalist yeah the Brut that's that's that's the new term these days well well that was it's an old term from 68 but yes it seems to become popular again yeah the brutalist thing is we we don't do that so um yes so that so this is our two options that you're talking about here yeah well okay they're not the the current options because they're each different so it's not two options it's one option for for each location one option for got to get my English corre I owe you a too and if it ever stops snowing we'll get you too I had one client once they said we don't care that there's ice and snow that's my guys do what I do um anyways the U let me go through the the cment what we have right now um you know again we I don't think some of these things are necessary like Sil fencing cuz in theory they can come in and get out so quickly that you need it but we did carry some so just for getting the site ready we carried about almost $8,000 for demo which is just removing the walks and any trees we carry about 15 right now um there'll be some earth work and aggregate for the walkways that's about 6,000 uh the walks themselves we carried as concrete walks um I figured around the building there might be some Miss miscellaneous walks needing to be replaced uh and we carried uh some high concrete curbs so that's at 50,000 really the concrete is where your a lot of your costs are and you know we're carrying $18 a sare foot for concrete now um it it not long ago I was carrying 12 so that's how numbers are coming in um for the stairs over there carried $111,000 to build that um let's see fencing it's coming in at about 50 bucks a 55 linear foot so we have 11,000 there for fencing um we broke down approximate quantities of what we might plant maybe like three large shaped trees uh maybe six smaller trees part of the landscape plan whatever we do we want to review with school administ as well as the police department because we've had projects where later on this was before people got ridiculous um they' come in and everything was cut down and the police say we want clear visibility of everything so it's however they you know what their needs are for security so that that's going to be a part of whatever Landscaping we put in and then en overhead and profit we carry a 15 we at we held a 10% contingency at this point and we added some escalation now the one thing that's not in the cost and and I was thinking about that as I got here is any kind of um materials testing that might happen when the work is done because when I look at this concrete it's I mean as concrete goes it's not that old I don't I don't think it should have fallen apart that quickly um I don't know if you agree with that but you know sometimes it's just 20 30 years old you got to remember something too we don't know what the method of poror was we don't know if they put calcium in it we don't know if they overworked it you we don't we don't know what the thing 8 in slump or one in slump who the hell knows and we know some of it was lack of Maintenance because they popped the corners because they never cocked them appropriately yeah yeah yeah so had water inion things but you know if I love concrete as a Z cuz it lasts I mean can last a really long time so if you do it right um but that's why I was thinking if I don't know what you're you know how you carry those kinds of things test and cost and you know as part of your spec I would definitely include concrete testing yep I would I would strongly recommend that at least one set of tests are the the footings I don't really care much about but out of the walls and the uh and the walks and and the sidewalks I would get a a set of cylinders mhm yeah so one one special inspection it's 1250 what one one special inspection yeah so we had a set of plans earlier don't remember when but they had retaining walls yes so so those gone away yeah when yeah when I looked at it um uh my uncle got out of the business so that's why I don't promote retaining walls yeah no it's just trying to get away from that because any retaining wall is just so labor intensive um so if we could do that that's why the walkway on that side we just push far away um okay so there was a bunch of them in here there was you know bunch of retaining walls with with with all the the shrubs cuz you got 200 shrubs in there I'm like what are you putting 200 200 shrubs I well 200 shrubs you'd be surprised how quickly they go if you come in for example um one plant which we use often in school settings it's called a low grow sumac you know it it grows to about anywhere from 4 to 8T wide but when you space them four feet on Center it adds up really fast that's more of a ground cover I thought but it's yeah I tried planting some of them and I had some little insects came in and annihilated them I'll just mention that to you they wiped them out we've use them and you know they they've done really well in in in in school projects so it is true that something always can come in and Destroy something so generally a place like this you know we plant things the deer won't go after um and and where are you proposing putting those the plant well some would be on the slope um kind of any place to kind of you know essentially soften the look of the school and then two maybe just reduce maintenance and help kind of control how pedestrians kind of move towards those spaces I'm a grass guy it's a lot cheaper it is and the maintenance is far simpler and those are son of a to clean in the in the fall it's that that's why clean the garbage out of them they're they're Troublesome in maintenance for the facility at the end of the day they are highly Troublesome garbage that sticks in them the leaves everything and you can't clean them out it's hours of work what what what was it that you were saying what so when when all the garbage blows into them blows into what what into that ground cover it is oh ground cover so difficult to clean the leaves everything sticks in them oh it's it's it's that's why I never use jiper oh yeah because Juniper is I mean when I was young you know we did that and it's just it's it's a pain so I never speci juner it it's what people used to use I have a couple questions um you had mentioned about you got the cost of Sil fence in here ability if you don't need it the Assumption of that's a $2,900 credit back to well it's not a credit you just wouldn't spend consider so and with that same line of thinking if you need all 200 shrubs we're just you know the board of bed's going to get built for the actual use you wouldn't be buying okay so and then from like I know the board votes on this tonight so let's just say we vote Yes we move forward once you put site plans into zing have a permit what's the estimated time frame from beginning to completion we don't have to go to P&C oh you don't okay okay okay we only go to building department there's building department okay so then all right so with that so you pull a permit so what's I'm just curious what's the time frame like from beginning demolition to completion three months four months I know weather also project I I think the construction is it's a month okay it's you know I mean this is this is demolition you know for a week and do your forms and pour your concrete and you know the concrete pour for I mean a set yeah I think it's a month I mean let's be generous and say six weeks yeah and weather the original intent was try to do it over April vacation but that's not going to happen so we're probably going to do it in June right so he's got a couple of months to to to find his drawings get our big prices in line up a contractor and then pull the trigger okay so tonight we have to pull the trigger on whether or not we Pro um to proceed which I'm a based upon what I've seen I see no reason why not so I agree with you I'd rather spend money on plants and retaining rules yeah and and and the thing is everything we do it's you're get you and and especially the people that maintain it get a look at it so it it's not just okay you have to do this because I put it on the fans it's basically this is your your home your schools and so you understand what you're getting and it doesn't become a problem later so it's money wisely SP but I I I will say one thing I'm always trying to promote more plant material and pollinators at schools just so children are exposed to those things and and that you just said an interesting thing thank you is there any way is there any way to include a perennial poy garden and like where the ramp area is on either side of that ramp oh we can we can easily have perennials on this Hillside but it so the first thing with any of perennial gardens is one The Establishment period is critical to make sure it just establishes because our weather is weather can be so crazy that when it gets planted when you think there's enough rain it just they off so they have to get established once they're established the perennials we always propose are native and can take the drought conditions and then the perennials as from a maintenance perspective in theory is very easy because one uh you should leave them up during the winter because it provides a lot of habitat value you leave the leaves in the bed itself because that I wish I brought my information sheets about essentially that provides a ton of habitat value too and then once the pretty much apples are blooming is when you can if you want to remove all the leaves because that's when all the insects that are burrowed in and things like that have pretty much kind of left so um and then you can cut it down so that's the maintenance should be simpler it's just because people like to control nature that's why everyone Cuts everything up and tries to leav so there's that push called leave the leaves so it's it's a it's a different approach to make but yeah you could easily have the orientation of this is is perfect to have a perennial garden because it's south facing and you can have everything from I would include that I I I happen to be a firm believer that stuff and having done one or two of them uh I just love seeing the the butterflies and the uh and the pollinators all all year and we need help yeah it's amazing how it it cre so much life comes in and uh and there's so much learning opportunity um that you know we've done done it in other schools at Discovery magnet in Bridgeport a teacher there she just is always bringing kids out there and it's it's just an active classroom instead of sitting here the way you really learn about life is getting your hands dirty that's I would I would I don't know where are you thinking John up with the the ramp on either side of the ramp you know it's instead of putting in you know a lot of uh shrubberies just turn a couple of those areas into uh you know you can interspace two or three uh you only have to be 10 by 20 they don't have to be the entire length yeah it it it's it can be quite simple and um once we have plans we can bring it you can say oh it's too much come back this yeah I but that's I I think you know K isn't you know only because she has a valid point you know how much would the kids actually see it but again if a teacher wanted to take a classroom out there as a as a learning tool I think those things are phenomenal should main well that was that was going to be my next question you know what are we what are we throwing on Kevin I mean my man's got his ple but that the idea of these perennials they're they're they're not they're not maintenance free but they're pretty much maintenance free you know it's it's if if you take care of them and and taking care of them isn't a lot of work it's it's a lot less and it's it's a slightly different mindset of of Maintenance and they're not that expensive the cost isn't all that I mean a perennial itself I mean installed is basically 2426 a PO so what do you put on an average bed planting wise quantity wise I mean it's that they they get spaced anywhere from 18 in to 36 in on Center that's why I said you do a couple of patches you don't do the entire thing but you do two or three spots you maybe throw some uh wild flowers printing of wild flowers in there well I would do the seeds Okay because you pretty much say this is what we want so you know what's there um because there's the few weeds you know you're going to get mug wart that comes in that's evil um sorry uh you know you'll get you'll get the weeds in there um and it's that's that's the other thing is teaching people how to deal with that instead of throwing a chemical down now you're just controlling it um it was just an idea like I it's because there there's just so much um research that shows Once you're exposing exposing children to a lot more nature and having them out there you know symptoms for example on ADHD are reduced um they're just learning better it's it it's it's it's it's better for the kids I could reduce HD it's it it it can be tough but some schools really it it works well and it does it is another way to engage parents as well um I'm just saying that instead of putting in conventional perennials I I think the poor idear I would rather see that myself personally I don't know how anybody else know you know it's no it's no cost benefit there's no you're not going to save money you're not going to spend money it's just a swap problem and we can give you a list so you can kind of get familiar and say what is this you know you can kind of look them up yourselves and see anybody got more questions I I just want to clarify so this is like a budget these aren't like this this this is this isn't anywhere near ready to go to bid no no working sheet this is an estimate we we making sure I understand what it is this is this is just a this is the give you some idea of what we're looking at we're not we're not looking to spend $400,000 we're looking to spend $150,000 now he says 174 it could be 210 it could be 110 you just don't know what the number is until it comes in but it's their best guess I'll just point we're at we're at 133 the 32 Grand is is like 24% of the work so that's a generous Landscaping yeah and that that's what I'm saying a starting I'm just saying yep we get pull back no that the whole idea is you have the numbers you see where it's all going and you kind of understand the concrete you can't get it you know that's what it is so any else no we we'll talk about this later in facilities oh well we're going to vote tonight no I know approve the money but we'll talk more in depth about this okay so everybody's happy with the the concepts that been presented and they can go ahead and start producing uh final working drawings everybody on board which option are we going with that's the first page with the first picture showing two different locations yes so that sheet which is dated 12125 that says walkway concept A that shows for the one on the North side the northwest side and and the one that's right here at this doorway and that section just kind of shows what probably will the kind of earth work that happens on on that side on the northwest Rim kind of how we have to raid things out again from a maintenance perspective I actually prefer like a one on four slope because one on Three is tough to M the one four is just 20% that's that's easier to maintain so that's what we strive for once I'm at one and three I'd rather put in apprentic card cuz then you're not fighting with mowers and things like that so unless anybody's um against it I'd say go ahead and start producing working drawings um I'll get you I promise you I'll get you the Topo in the next week or two good Lord willing and it doesn't snow anymore it is winter this is what New England's supposed to be like yeah this this is typical winter you know I'm supposed to have a crew up tonight on the highway we cancel so you just just deal with the weather and let's go from there serving probably the toughest in the middle of the summer but I don't disagree with you I would rather do it little um and J any more questions or does anybody have any more comments thank you chairman very much appreciate it and look forward to seeing final working [Applause] hey question for you can you leave one of those big sets of drawings I've got so here no no no they got the big one that's yeah that's a 10 scale what you're looking at that's like 30 scale so I like the bigger ones okay that's fine it's yeah in construction now everyone uses those pads I don't disagree with you I still use standard size drawings all right thank you very much for coming SE you're on get take your name and address and talk for the races excuse me Melissa BCS PT president1 Ro us um so last week last Friday night we had our sweet sweetheart F here in the school um so huge thank thank you to to Janette Sabo for organizing event to all of our volunteers who stepped up to help out um we had the DJ we had a photo booth we had pass some cafeteria with snacks for kids the kids look absolutely horrible all dressed up for their night in Hollywood dance um at the last PTO meeting uh the board decided to donate proceeds from the event to help victims of the LA of wildfires so we're going to be doing proceeds to um world kitchen and they have been feed writing War meals to people who have been displaced and um the Pasad Humane Society whove been helping animals been disclosed by the um tomorrow is our February meeting it's going to be on Zoom the links have been going out almost monthly was just posted on our Facebook page um um so that's going to happening tomorrow on Friday um the PTO purchased um popsicles from the cafeteria for each student um we purchased the Popsicles from the cafeteria to help with any like allergy concerns and things like that um their Bry is aware she has the nutritional information so if any parents have any concerns questions about allergies or anything like that reach out to her and she can provide that information um so Spring Fling uh the planning for Spring Fling has has been going on but it's really starting toing up up um the event is scheduled for May 23rd um and we are looking for some businesses to help sponsor the event um the links for potential sponsors should be up by this weekend um Amber Durkin is our coordinator for the event so if you have a business and the links AR up yet you can certainly reach out to her and will information and she did provide a list of some of the things that we are going to be having this year just to give you an idea um we are going to be having entertainment with three face painters airbrushers magicians a NASCAR style with racetrack um this jockey make your own s'mores we're going to have bounce houses uh food from glasses uh granded pizza a taco truck or a burger a taco truck ice cream truck and cupcakes and a DJ so she always outows herself every year um so like I said if you have a business that may be interested in help sponsor the event um look for our links are get in contact with Amber and um coming up on in March as well is going to be our Bingo night on March 21st um so we details will be coming out for that probably next week or so thank you anybody have any questions thank you very very much public comment policy the Board of Education welcomes public comment individual groups May address the board concerning any subject which is within the B's jurisdiction three Ms will be allocated to each speaker in a maximum of 15 minutes to each subject matter the speaker is requested to State their name and address anybody from the public going once going twice sold Amer okay approval of minutes there seven minutes including packet has anybody had a chance to look at them changes errors omissions alterations I'll make a motion to approve there's a motion on the floor to Second approve and seconded by aming any discussion all in favor I okay so the minister approved that's right committee reports curriculum Angel uh the curricular committee met on Wednesday night and uh we had a presentation M scaran the fifth grade science teacher she presented on the amplifi science curriculum um there was a great presentation I think and G some insight as to what's going on with the team Summit and the curriculum they're using really across the board for science um we also had an update from skel about the professional development um in January they had their data team meetings um we had an update on the meeting fluency and um data analysis professional learning with the literacy how um and a little bit of their coaching had with the amplify science as well um and let see um Mr and Mr re are working on updating the curriculum section on the website um there was a curriculum section on the website that um as they've made changes really those changes haven't gotten to the website because it's been work in progress so now they're working on uh plan to get that updated to provide resources for families um and some of the to the percum and those resources available I think it's a project if I remember correctly that they're going to try to work on for the summer to get that up and running starting next week but it's going take still takes some time because we're still working on all the curriculum and trying to provide the appropriate links Tak time I miss anything was all right anybody got any questions comments errors hand misss thank you and finance Amy you're on okay finance committee met last night in the zoom in your packet you'll see the op budget 2425 summary as of theend january5 under general education you'll see the salaries is status quo from last month benefits is also status last month services are also status quo from last month um it was reported the latest update on our claim is um not the greatest we had hoped we are only going to be receiving $832 after we paid the $5,000 deductible that has to do with the server situation supplies is now showing a deficit of $2,840 representing some software upgrades that were not anticipated such as an upgrade to e finance additional cyber software and training on school Messengers other is also status quo from last month and this makes us having a surplus in general education at the end of January of $ 56,600 Transportation costs were decreased we had to increase the forecast to include higher legal fees and tuition for an outplay student which was not anticipated supplies and other remain status quo from last month special education ends the month of January with a deficit of $54,900 under operations and overhead salaries remain status quo from last month benefits is now showing a surplus of $20,000 due to adjustments made to workers comp and unemployment and all other operations in overhead line item projections currently remain status quo from last month operations in overhead ends the month of January with a surplus of $16,100 as of January 31st 2025 you will see that our overall budget is showing a surplus of $118,600 p8 and it was also reported that next month since we're at our Midway point they will be looking at a good going take a good look at salary projections and the anticipating we'll find some additional savings there at the bottom of the summary you'll see our prek account in January we received $1,650 199 in tuition payments and we also used $815 N4 to offset prek par educator salaries and this shows this leaves us with the balance in that account as of January 31st of 62,3 9853 and below that you'll see our 10 248a account in January we earned $737 182 in interest no money has been extended from this account yet this year and that leav us with the balance in this account as of January 31st of [Music] $424,950 um it was also a report on the audit update uh the good news is the have adust have adjusted our EFS excuse me they have audited our EFS report and supporting documentation and it was certified on January 31st which met the CSD deadline the Auditors have finished their field work for the board of EV and they're pretty close to being done with the town as well and as far as our budget for 2526 Mrs B did provide us an update and she I have to admit I think that's the the lowest um projected budget uh Surplus that I've seen in 12 years on the board it uh which means either we're getting it right or getting hammered on costs no the out of District placement now will we get money back in that with excess costs at the end of the year for towards that okay but K talked about that we we don't go back 100% we're getting no% yeah we don't ever get a full excess cost is not fully funded please tell your legislators excess cost should be fully funded uh we get a percentage back of that okay and it was that was from a previous filing that doesn't have okay okay have you noticed any um is there any impact or you project any impact with the changes with the laws on the SI time and all that Suba we're expect to see that do say you expect to see more of that like making a dent in yeah projections yeah but we've also had increased sub cost this year because we've just been hammered with as you can probably understand illness um you know there were some days where we had upwards of 20 staff that were out and we have to cover all those people with Subs so sub costs are higher I don't know just yet because literally has only been in effect for about a month um what the impact of the expanded Connecticut paid sick Le will have but definitely makes it more challenging to get sub because getting us up for an hour yeah apparently they're going to fix that this legislation session and put the exemption for municipality employees apparently I'm told by my guy been Hartford they realize they have a problem that's me no fix it what that doesn't mean no apparently it's two sentences and apparently the Bill's going forward I wonder when I see it no faith in the legislation no all right so we have to make a motion though moved at the Board of Education excuse me does anybody have anything else regarding finances just to remind everybody we're paying for the stair repairs out of that uh 248a account move that the Board of Education accept the report of expenditures and adjustments the 2020 board 2025 operating budget to January 1st 2025 motion Shan second Joo any more discussion all in favor I policy uh the uh policy committee met yesterday evening and we'll have a new set of policies on next month's agenda there are all existing policies five with revisions five with no revisions there's also one recommended retirement that's related to policy 3100 that's in our agenda this evening for second reading uh the mandated changes to policy 3100 involve budget practices related to the 10248 account and a policy coming next month for retirement duplicated that language and will no longer be needed um otherwise I did just want to mention that uh Shipman and Goodwin has been publishing comments on the poten changes occurring because of Washington DC and how the president's executive orders may impact Connecticut schools so been keeping an eye on it for policy purposes but for anyone interested uh in keeping up with these things you can read the lawyer Publications at their website Shipman goodwin.edu any questions that is not an action unfinished business approved for the first reading at the V regular meeting on January 8th 2025 the following polies are recommended for revision revision no revision many revisions 3100 board uh budget procedures and my item transfers policy 41526 Family and Medical Le Act uh do I have a motion to accept those I'll make a motion so move have a second Sean all in favor recommended revisions policy 1212 School volunteers student interns and other non-employees policy 5111 admission ages attendance placement policy 51 41.5 suicide prevention that is an action item do I have uh a motion to move the Beth Board of Education approving recommended Provisions sh Jo second any discussion favor I I move that uh no revisions recommended policy 0111 goal setting and long range planning policy 1112 news media relation ships policy 1140 distribution of materials policy 1170 recognition of students citizens staff and members of the Board of Ed policy 1210 School Comm organizations do I have a motion I'll make a motion second show any other discussion excuse me all new business bylaw funding the north campus ramp repair project this is an action item we talked about it we said we're going to do it we're going to fund it out of the 248 anybody need any further discuss I have one question knowing that the cost of materials is continuing to rise and never Chang going down if we I'm all for the project but we vote on 000 right down you're voting yes do you have to come back as a board if something comes in higher to allow for those funds we're recognizing that this is an estimate and that it's approximately 174 if it comes back in for Less no if it comes back in for more then we probably should have a discussion but well we got a $155,000 contingency built into this right so that's my hope is that we won't have and and I think we need to look at this a little they got stuff we have there there's a lot of wiggle room there's a lot of wiggle room you know as you said I'll take the uh I'll take the uh the sil fence out there's 8,000 right there temp temp fencing we can take all that out yeah you can there's a lot of stuff you can take out of it so my gut feeling is it's a good first step once they issue it for bid then we'll have hard and fast numbers and now looking at um uh and and now I think we'll be able to uh make a better determination for now we're using the 174 change as the uh as a St as the budget and I recognize like SE said there I guess another push behind my question was also to just want the board to be as transparent as possible to the community that you know we recognize that if there is more we're not you know it's not just going to be you making a decision okay we'll talk about that in a few minutes and to be honest with you I'm I'm very interested to see what is is coming back the construction industry is beginning to collapse down everything is everything's pulling back and everybody's at a dead standstill workwise right now so guys are pretty hungry out there right now yeah so that's I and there's some legit guys out we talk about the transparency thing in a few minutes I just want to process question so the process is we have to essentially vote on the 174 because we're saying willing to put what we estimated the money aside because we can't send it out to bid until we agreed that we are going to a lot the money we don't and then yes okay and then as as K said if it comes in for over that you come back to the board if it comes in for less than that we'll come back to the board but then it becomes easier I was just going to um make a suggestion that you add the word estimated expense for your purposes of being more transparent this is what our current estimated expenses are but it could be less could be more if it's more than that um the board would come back have another discussion and then vote as to whether it yeah good and we don't have to go that nice thing is we don't have to go to P right correct that's good yes sir professional fees you so you got the we already allocated that uh last wall yeah I forgot what the number was 16 16 ,000 and 9,000 we already allocated that that's already done so so so the architectural fees and the um the site visits and Kirk and the works is already done with with with the working drawing contract okay so there's a contract sign that includes the construction documents and the cor you know the the project management Soup To Nuts all the way through nine nine visit the Architects providing I believe was nine visits um to site then with each visit we'll get a report back okay and so all of that is in being paid for out of our regular 248a account it's coming out the 248a account yeah not our budget all right we decided we decided that's how we're going to do just back on Fall forgive me I yeah forgotten no no we originally agreed to do um the outside of the building we approved that money and then we agreed to do the working drawings for the ramp and with the working drawings came back his querk in the work state okay I just never saw the contract I didn't can get you a copy of the contract if you voted on it I don't know you want cop you want s you want a copy okay get for it it's it's okay I just just she can takes two seconds to print it or email look at the next time I stop the see okay okay so is there their payments processing through the 10248 account now for the the architect engineering stuff yeah she'll get those uh we haven't paid them yet we haven't paid them yet but yes they will okay they usually won't submit a bill for something this small they usually won't submit a bill to the working Jo it's a very small project I AG yeah on larger projects there's there is a stipulated Ironclad payment schedule you you produced you you pay 5% of the fee at the completion of the uh preliminary design you pay 25% at the completion of 50% drawings you pay 90% the completion of 100% of work you know there's there's a stipulated Fe this is too small to do that okay all right so we don't need to include that in the motion we're just going to this is just 174,000 change for the uh estimated cost of the north west stair ramp replacement okay just makeing sure need add something no that's fine yeah I I mean I question to whether they were going to CK The Works charge us for the things and then whack us with special inspection and I would have been at that point timeout I don't need an architect to come here and look when I'm getting special inspection yeah his report is is far more detailed than what the architect is going to give us but there's no special inspection to this point except for we'll do the one slump and core on it on the concrete P so then the motion we have before you is do we accept the 174,000 change is the estimated cost to do the Northwest can for Northwest stair ramp replacement I guess would be the best way to put it Amy and then Sean second any further discussion all in favor I I and everybody understands that over this it comes back administrative reports K you're WR so in your packet um you'll see that you have your enrollment summaries for the last several years uh as of January we have received three additional students making our current count 435 we just keep moving in uh Personnel update uh Nicole stole instructional Aid has resigned from her position and she's not planning to return to BCS following her current maternity leave Kayla Le Point um our part-time social worker is leaving the Connecticut Behavioral Health Organization uh that's who we get our current social workers from through our mental health Grant and she's been replaced by Nicole cat uh she's joined our team Mr Joseph Dua our physical education teacher is resigning from his position to take a full-time job in Trumble that will afford him not only an increase in salary but an opportunity to do some coaching as well uh he did uh just share his decision with the staff but won't be shared with the students until after today um and information about that will go into the family newsletter this Friday Tom already has something ready to go to inform the families of that his uh last day is expected to be March 7th he's giving us the full 30-day window for that um we also have a par educator vacancy that we now need to fill as a result of what is called according to the Labor Department job abandonment we had an individual simply stop coming to work yep uh by way of budget update at this time there is no new information from the insurance company regarding the increase for the upcoming year so the proposed increase is still currently at 88 which I recognize is not an acceptable number um and it is driven primarily by that insurance increase um during the presentation to the board of Finance Leslie baloi hope I said her name correctly shared that she did start the process for us to get additional information from other insurance providers should our current one digital number not come down to what is a more pable number for us um so we're working on that right now they said it would take about two weeks tomorrow is that twoe deadline but our original one digital car um carrier also indicated that they would be back to us with updated numbers in midfi February so I'm hoping that they'll come through with something next week and I can provide you with an update um in addition to investigating those other insurance options we do have to consider other measures to potentially reduce that budget increase so looking into all of that that's what I have on the budget um not on the agenda but something that I know we did touch upon I'm sorry I forgot that we talked about this at our um curcular meeting because we often hear about the alignment to Amity so this week our administrative team uh had a chance to visit Amity and do a learning walk so we're working on looking at the dispositions for the portrait of a graduate uh for the Amity students and really just taking the time to go over to the Middle School see what the students are actually doing connect it back to like what are some of the things are sixth graders are doing right now what are they being expected to do now that they're seventh graders and working um with the Amity team on that so that's really helpful for us to see what things we can bolster um to make sure that our students are able to meet those requirements for Gra graduation under the new portrait of a graduate question so what I wanted to say this this this format for the budget that we got by email yes I found this very useful okay because it's in the same format as we get in our monthly report type of things and uh the detail on the salaries was also very helpful although I didn't know which line they went in so it was sort of a puzzle that I didn't get all the way through but when I added them all up they came pretty close so um I wanted to say thank you I think this is a really good thing but there was I had a question about non-recurring expenses and uh you know so there's in the facilities and maintenance there's these blue comments that I also found useful uh there's 40K added for Capital what does that mean so if you recall when I was presenting the budget I put in $40,000 so that we could address some different repairs and maintenance around the building getting some new doors and some other things to make sure that we're no longer going to be in a reactive space with maintenance because we've had so much deferred maintenance on the building we trying to move forward with money in a capital line item to do uh maintenance projects okay so do you anticipate doing 40 Grand each year yeah ideally okay well that's where I'm just trying to make sure that we're not that this this doesn't have nonrecurring expenses in it okay that's what I'm trying to get to that so that we can have a consistency in in our budget level that doesn't go yes I don't know if the number will stay at 40 because that's again something that might Flex a little bit if we have to do some other offsetting in the budget but to have a consistent number all the way through and identify what projects will be covered with that okay so General facilities and maintenance is that number minus 40 Grand no no General facilities and maintenance is different than the capital line well that's what I'm trying to get to all right so facilities and maintenance line is 212500 and 40,000 of that is for Replacements small replacements for example we've falling around with the train pipe and tomorrow yeah what we were trying to do if you remember when we started this in in October we talked about having this item in there because we didn't want to capitalize we got to do the hair handling we I'm not arguing doing it I'm just arguing how accounts look so what I was going to try to get to was routine and non-routine okay so if you have a facilities and maintenance line that's routine that means the regular stuff that we always do and you always got to do and you have a non-routine line item okay for the 40 Grand okay then you you can track better how you're doing in your routine stuff and that was my comment okay to try to separate those out so that it it's clear um the purposes of the money and then there was this this backup server storage and HP switches is was that a replacement that's those are all the servers that went down at the beginning of the school year okay so that's like another one of those things that you know we had to budget for but I don't think we're we're not going to be doing that every year correct okay so you know not I don't know how much of the 111,000 is attributable to the backup server storage thing or switches whatever all of it all of that expense to replace that equipment you know maybe we could do the same type of thing okay and still allow for things to fail of a significant nature but have it be routine and non- routine so that you know we're still budgeting budgeting correctly but we know if our routine expenses are getting out of control okay I will take that back to the business manager and there's there's also this replacement storage server that's another line item in here there was a few of them that caught my eye that you know we need to try to make sure that the the budget doesn't get inflated by you know a onetime expense that is not going to be continuing on on an annual basis okay I will say that the capital Improvement line is a separate line item within the building and Facilities budget so that is separate it's it's combined there for you I don't see there but in The Ledger it's separate okay would be helpful to see you here for me anyway and and not to to sound like a a jerk I'll try not to but I did so many budgets in my life so uh I'm just going to offer you an example of one of my budgets that I did one of the last ones because you know what I'd like to see is is some more historical actual numbers and continuing with this format again because it's familiar to everybody but um I'll pass this over to you at the end of the meeting I just bought a sample of of one of the many budgets I used to do and if you see a numbers but it's not hard to do it's just accumulating information and putting it in place so that we can see a trend now I'll be quiet I mean and I think I know we me and K discussed this the other day my concern with some of that stuff is once we increase our budget we can't go back or I believe the state cap is 1% yeah so my concern is when we add this stock when it's not happening next year that money is still in your budget within re as long as you can justify why a budget goes down so there have been years where you all have had we've had budgets that were like two or 3% and then we had like a zero you just have to provide the documentation as to why your budget has decreased so for example if we have a significant decrease in special education the maintenance of effort requirement might not be met in terms of what you're talking about in terms of the budget number not going back down but we would just explain to the State the reason we've had such a significant decrease in our budget is we've had seven or eight very high cost special education students transition out of the district so those dollars are no longer expended as part of our budget so long as you can document and justify why that expense has decreased you don't necessarily have to keep that money in your budget from year to year to year it's just it's just becoming my concern you know in two years we're looking at almost a million dollars and and that's very alarming to me you know because I I get where I'm I'm one of those people that my income is not Rising as fast as our budget I mean I know we discussed too if you guys actually look at the the staff paperwork they gave us and if you guys break it down I think the biggest thing that caught my eye with that is higher date and and I took something away when Tom brought the computer over at the last thing when he started showing the slide I was like okay I get this and it it was actually really good um but where my concern came down to that is we have an escalating cost of a lot of Staff 2019 2020 if you guys actually looked at that document really good and my concern is where do we go on the slightest scale I know me and Kay had a discussion I was like kind of like I I'd kind of like to know based upon you know where we are right now kind of what our sliding scale is so we're starting to look at our budget come you know a couple years from now what are escalations you know I understand the slide over thing and that totally makes sense to me now um but that's another real thing where we need to I would like to see that for the board I know we talked about K it's going to take a little time to see what our escalation is within our our contract and and where we're projecting we're going to be in three years I think forecasting our budget and our increas is it it's a real number and I understand there's a lot of things at play and you'll K ra some really tremendous points but I still think that's a valid number that the board really should look at what is our escalation of payroll it's a given if they're if their collecting parain gives them 3 and a half% a year then we can figure it out and the unknown is the slide over where they slide over they jump step and then they go over here it's a little bit unknown but I I truly like to see what it is budget wise I you know we we talked about it but that was something that I took away when I really looked at that sheet was I I put it all together and I was really kind of surprised at how much of our faculty is within the last five to six year hires they're nowhere near stepping stepping out am I correct steing up were they they max out maxing out so we have some teachers that have some significant time here and I'm sure they'll be retiring soon but I'm just kind of curious where we're going to stand in the projection and I think it's something we should look at especially with such a massive increase in our budget where are we going in the next two years it's a real number you it would probably be good to have a contract time when you're negotiating that's next year we start negotiations next year not for the teachers it's for the parent Educators next year they got what a three-year deal last time it was just something that Dawn me became a a real thing to me teachers we're in the second year we're not doing it's not the teachers contract that comes up next it's the par educator contract then the year after that it's the teachers so next year is the par Educators and the year after that the teachers okay I have a question concern about the uh Personnel update seems year and a half two years ago there was a lot of turnover in teachers and there was you know a lot of community upset about that now we're at a point where we've had especially in the specials we've had three teachers per subject in the past two years for everything except the Design Lab um it's kind of concerning um I understand that teachers leave for better opportunities and you know especially my opinion midyear turnover is harder to you know accept than you know if a teacher left at the end of the year and it makes all of your jobs a lot harder too um I'd like to propose that next meeting we have an executive session to discuss the the exit interviews and kind of see if we could find any Trends you know I know we've talked about salary and we had the teachers negotiation last year and that seemed to have helped a little bit but I think there's something that more that we could do and I'd like to kind of that one person complete the exit interview they're not required they're required that we offer them they're not required that the staff fill them out but I'm still happy to have the conversation yeah I mean I I have some ideas and thoughts that I think an executive session would be more conducive than an open meeting about that is it allow I don't know if that's an allowable executive SE ex personel session turnover I can follow up they're very specific if it's a specific Personnel issue that we had a discussion about a particular individual that would be an executive session a general like why are people leaving that's more of a public conversation that would have to happen so i' bring up the the topic now then do you think since teaters aren't required to have interviews do you think having the Board of Ed participate in the exit interviews rather than the superintendent would help her that's the personel side of things that is not in your purview it's in it's in mine we that's a bad idea we run the superintendent the superintendent runs the the principal the principal runs the school I really don't think the Board of Ed should be involved in Personnel issues that's not our job and I think it muddies the water very very hard especially in light of the fact that a lot of members of the board have children in the school system so you're not putting your finger at the scale it's no longer a neutral discussion it is a weighted discussion so no I'm not in favor having the board of V members uh uh sit in on personal interviews and to be honest you know I think it wouldn't make a difference anyway as an employee I mean just think about it from you know each of your your roles I can think about it from mine as a teacher doesn't matter whether I'm telling the principal the superintendent the assistant superintendent or the chair of the Board of Ed if I want to share why I'm leaving I'll share it but if there's a reason that I'm leaving because I'm unhappy with something or whatever I need recommendations for jobs I know it's a small community all the superintendent all know each other I'm shaking hands but it's a pleasure to work with you even if it wasn't and you know I think a lot of people in that Bo like if you're looking for that next job those things people don't want to say if that's even the reason it may to be as simple as it's you know money and or commute or whatever and they do share that piece and that's as much as it is I think most people tend to shy away from exit interviews because no one's taking a chance that anything they say is going to be held against them we we can discuss this a later date if you'd like but I think we're going off on a tangent here okay we're going off on a tangent what else that's all I have that's all you got Cheryl you're on director of special services thank you um Angela you did a great job with that I just want to add a few things um with the um curriculum being put up onto the website where um it is a process it does take time and just as we get things organized legislation changes and um it does take time to do all these things so we will get put up there whatever we can and as we complete them we'll put them up but it it will take us time um the other thing is um our science teacher curriculum coach attended a collaborative meeting with AMD middle school and Bethany to focus on alignment and I actually received phone call back telling me how impressed they were with our team and how collaborative and how effective the meeting was which was really nice to get that kind of feedback um in special education we're working closely with Amity to help um to them get prepared for our students that are coming with IEPs um coming up to am Middle School in Bethany and some of them might be starting in summer if they go to extended school year as well as those who are coming in the fall and we'll be having transition type meetings um to plan for those in with families as well so make sure that we can do it as smoothly as possible any questions reach whale you're on all right we've been busy um so on the 16th of January we had our Winter concert um really excited for Mr Fortune I think you know he was able to really put on a great performance with the kids for both um the the band and the choir it was very uh it was very cute I had a fourth grader who came up to me and she said Mr Ewell do you know that we're not going to like introduce anything the curtain is just going to open and then we're going to start playing it's going to be great and she was like so jazzed and it's just it's it's one of those things like I I was thinking about sitting in the back of the auditorium like there there's so many times when you go to you know a show at the bushnel or something like that or or somewhere where you're in a professional setting you're seeing someone at the top of their craft and I think the joy of what we have is we get to see the kids work through that progression all the way through and and I think it it it was just a joy to see those kids working so hard and then having them with their first like finished product for many of them so um Miss nathman and the climate committee are working on um a words matter campaign really thinking about the impact of our words both as um students as a student Community as the teachers and the adults around them and then as a greater community in the impact that we have in the things that we say the way in which we convey them and the impact of those words uh so really looking to try and um keep a positive Spin and think about really impressing upon kids like the intention and the impact could be really different we have to think about what were the words that I said what was the intention that I had with them what was the impact that they had and how can we be really positive and intentional with those uh our January community meeting uh was a great success uh our kindergarten team was really wonderful working with their students getting them presenting and Mrs Morrow's class um really had a hit with their um their presentation to honor uh Lunar New Year uh problem of success so uh I had this crazy idea uh in previous schools there's this program called kids lit quiz um it's basically if you took reading and you made it a competition and so uh I went to the fifth grade because we weren't going to start with the sixth graders because the competition starts kind of January February uh and it just felt like we weren't going to be able to get the sixth graders in a spot to get them ready so I went to the fifth graders and I went into their lunch one day and I said look I've got an idea I want you to read a lot more like a lot like at least a book a week maybe more who's in I'm going to need some people and I thought I'd get like five brave souls and 26 kids signed up and that became a real problem because we were not prepared for 26 kids um so Jackie reuter in fifth grade we didn't know we're like oh gosh what do we do now we can't kick we can't be like let's read more no not you um like no you're not allowed to read more so um so right we were like oh no what do we do now so joh deasio Jackie reuter uh and I have been coaching the kids uh once a week during their lunch period and they've been true to it so I said to them I said listen this is like a baseball thing my son broke his hand second second scrimmage of a of a season and we went the entire run of that season every practice we went to every single one I said if you're in you're in you're committed for the rest of the year you're in with me they've shown up every week they're working hard they they're on their third book already um that's great yeah I what kind of books are they uh all sorts so the pro so the challenge with kids lit quiz is they don't tell you what books you're going to be quizzed on it's just you have to be very well read across the board so we're starting with a lot of things like series Classics uh prominent authors and so we're really trying to get the kids um jazzed on different types of books and then getting them out of their comfort zone because kids what's the age group uh you can go down as low as you want but you're just going to get completely outmatched so you need time on task right so we're going to be working with with our fifth graders this spring um and then in the fall we're going to have like Invention Convention has our like BCS Invention Convention and then we send kids to the state so we've got six teams of four or five kids uh we're going to have our BCS kidlit quiz um we're going to do that and the top three scoring teams will go and represent us um as sixth graders next year in January it usually is either over in central uh West Hartford or simsberry is where the regional competition is book reading is finish fifth graders yeah okay yep and they're doing book A Week theyve got uh like rules we started with the view from Saturday uh they had a book by Avi Ron found a whole bunch of like kid adapted Classics that they're looking at um but it it runs the gamut we're going to be looking at like kid adapted versions of Hamlet and you name it so are these like paper books or are these U yeah yeah no no they're doing they're doing physical books we got we got groups of five and then books yeah oh listen I'm I'm a you know I'm a a a I'm a a both a digital native and a digital immigrant at the same exact time so I I I love my my geek out Pad but I also have a giant stack of books but there's so much of that I know it's just inundated yeah and they love it so they're they're going and I mean they're and then they're what they're doing is they're creating their own their own quiz questions and quizzing each other and going so cool we we convince kids to read another like 60 books a year wonderful yeah um oversold it a little bit um speaking of Invention Convention just uh has been going really well um so miss W's been working with them we're going to have our school-based one on March 11th there it is I am signed up to judge I should know uh really excited with that I should remind that we actually have some kids that went to the state um and we actually have two students who are going to Nationals they had their invention um that was a it was a carbon monoxide detector that would open um the the windows remember it's amazing um drama club uh sorry green team is uh working with PTO we've got some ideas around uh food waste diversion so um Haven Harvest has been working with amid high school and so we're going to be looking at non-p perishable foods um that we can get kind of out of the waist stream and connecting with them there's just some hoops to jump through but really cool thing to connect with our Green Team uh the drama club uh so I've been working with Aaron Stevens who's uh a mom here with us uh she was kind of second in command really kind of running the show as second in command good person to have uh and she has taking over drama club this year we're doing Disney's Moana Jr super excited about that uh scripts and everything are in uh we just sent stuff out to everybody we're going to kind of have kind of teered levels because we found that like having everybody was great but also having everybody was overwhelming so we're going to start with the um fourth fifth sixth primarily and a couple of third graders probably mixed in for about five weeks and then uh first and first to third grade uh joining in as The Ensemble with a goal for two performances by the end of May uh really excited about that um we get logos and everything it's a it's a whole thing um the BCS Super Bowl uh raised $315 for the BCS care closet so uh staff members made all kinds of soup last Friday and then for five bucks a cup you could go and get any kinds of soup that you want uh so we raised another $315 for the care closet speaking of care closet opened at the end of January um and kids have been using it um so um and like using it responsibly so that's always your Terror like you're like hey guys here's a whole cabinet of free stuff and they've been really respons like they chapsticks went um Vaseline and chapsticks are the two things that we've gone through but we've had a couple of kids that have come in and they're like I didn't get breakfast we're like no worries here's a box of cereal um you know I've actually seen a couple of kids who've been kind of walking out with like a couple noodles are a thing of the um mac and cheese single serving meals um so really good stuff there we're excited um we've been in talks with a couple other people um you know depending on how successful it gets um maybe thinking about expanding the idea to have multiple stations around town right the I think the challenge is it's good for kids here in the school because they have access but also like you know Community idea as well uh we had our winter staff party in January uh we had two teams that competed in faculty Feud I have some issues with the way in which the scoring and the questions were done but that's neither here nor there as a participant we had a lot of fun uh and we will be back for a further victory in the future um and then uh you might see in the main hallway out here um our class has been working on their um Black History Month posters really great stuff um looking to honor um and research notable figures of color in American history um and they're doing kind of uh kind of categories by grade so then they can share those out and then um as we look to the Future uh last year for women's history month coming up in March we had done um some things with classes where they had taken their um bulletin boards outside their classrooms and kind of done something similar and then we'd had kind of gallery walks through the whole school I was actually walking with uh I had a second grader who earned principal of principal for an hour we were going upstairs and she's like I remember going upstairs we did this to look at some stuff on the walls um so I was like yeah you did um so you know so I think some of those are really they're great for the kids to actually research but also for them to have some like connection across um BCS kids update our enrollment is 22 students right now between full-time and kind of part-time or Flex kids um we really haven't had a big change there hasn't been much of a shift as we've come into the the late winter um or looking into the spring um and staff remains strong we've been well staffed even when we've had a couple of people abson um we have a couple of staff that are on tap to to jump in and just be um subs and that's worked out perfectly fine we've never um had an issue where we've worried where we'd be underst staffed uh moving forward we've got midyear conversations with our staff around uh their goals that we're going to be working on there read Across America day we're celebrating with Buddy classrooms um we're working on an opportunity with the Connecticut Sun we're hoping that will come together we've got some really good things in the work there um and then uh we've got women's history month and Invention Convention and then we'll have another Board of Ed meeting and we will remain busy so that's what we got going on I understand you're doing sixth grade orientation to the junior high yep the yeah the Middle School yep so they're they're getting all that set we've got we've got that Jay uh Dr Tracy has been getting all that information to us and then in parallel with that so it's kind of like the sending out and the bringing in um we've got everything coming in for kindergarten kindergarten orientation same thing we're doing like we did last year with the the screeners for the kids that have got the bur babies in between September and December so looking at all of that and getting that said as well since you mentioned I had a few people ask me do you know if um that night is supposed to include the children or is it parents only that's a great question at the middle school I don't have any answer I remember when I went it was just parents I would yeah I'd expect that it's yeah it was just parents no no children please have them stay home I I ultimately to me it feels more like an it's as I understand it it's more like open house right it's it's a it's a adult it's an adult facing event okay thank you Tom yeah okay uh was behind the chairman report there's a couple of words that have been beat to death the last couple of years and I really do have a problem of transparency uh being one of them but in the interest uh the Fiasco of the whether or not to hire a director for the board of uh for the um Park and rep program that occurred a couple weeks ago about two weeks before that happened I got a phone call from Jamie Sterling and well and the reason I'm bringing this up is because Jamie brought up at the meeting he brought up something else too and I'm going to set the record straight because again it was half truths he called me and Camp Argo in R was uh was not getting their lease renewed and there was a panic going on among a lot of parents and he wanted the Bethany bard of Ed to do that and an after school program all kinds of stuff and I told him I said well Jamie you know a I'm one person I'm I'm the chairman of Board of Ed but this is something I have to bring back to the Board of Ed I am not going to make that decision we're not going to run Camp Argo I'm not going to make that decision unilaterally that goes back to the board of a and our next meeting is the 12th well he wasn't really happy with that so then I said on my cat and I said um for a better explanation of why please call K and so he did and K explained The Facts of Life to him and The Facts of Life are Staffing use of the facilities there there are any number of reasons why we can't do it there are any number of reasons why we shouldn't do it and the bottom line was I told him I said I will bring this to the board at the February 12th meeting if you want to show up and make your case go right ahead but I'm not making that decision saying yeah I'll commit to Bethany Board of vet to running Camp Argo for the summer school program K responded to him with an email that's not quite how it came out at the meeting and I just want to understand something everybody on this board to understand we are are committed to Dy my own personal views are just that they are my own personal views they may be strong about some things they may be weak about others some them might just may not care but it is wrong for me as the chairman to say yes we will commit without at least discussing that with the board so you will never get from somebody in this town oh I talked to John PA he said he's going to do it it ain't going to happen anybody who wants to do anything that contains anything to do with this school has to go through me K and the Board of Education it's not just me or not just K so please understand that and that's what happened and like I said there were a number of people I guess were trying to Camp Argo ended up going a NRE if I'm hour Park yeah I park and uh that seems to be a better solution Kay can go into a detail if she wants to or not trying to set up an after school program and trying to set up a summer school program is a nightmare for US Staffing and use of our facilities but it's a decision that has to be made by the entire board it will not be made by me so just understand that in case came back to anybody that's what went down he called me I says uh-uh I will bring it to the board I'm not Mak a decision but I will have c k explain to you what the issues are because Kay and I have been over these issues a number of times with the after school program after parking bued I say anything different anything wrong just you know it's the interest of transparency but I will never make that decision unilaterally unless it's something that's way up that it just has to be done but it's not going to happen us it will come before this board because we are a committee of nine and everybody deserves the right to be heard and to have the decision discussed okie dokie I just thought i' get that out there it kind of wrinkled me about face no I'm not going all right public comment um and oh excuse me correspondents by do we have any correspondents we do we do oh somebody wrote to us I will read this it's a little long so bear with me but it came through on January 13th it was after our last board meeting um from a parent Ramia and her name will be in our notes um in the minutes you'll see them next next next month um she's from 51 humiston Drive in Bethany and she writes dear members of the Bethany board I am writing to express my deep disappointment regarding the board's decision to reject aali as a holiday for Bethany Elementary this decision feels particularly disheartening given that as of today January 13th the Amy board of education has approved dwali as a holiday for the middle and high schools leaving only Bethany and orange elementary schools as exceptions dwali holds profound cultural and religious significance for my family for many families in our community recognizing this day would not only honor those Traditions but also provide an invaluable opportunity for students to engage with and appreciate the diversity that enriches our district it is troubling that while other schools have taken proactive steps to include this holiday Bethany Elementary has not followed suit this decision creates challenges for families especially those with children attending both elementary and middle middle or high schools due to differing holiday schedules it also appears that Bethany is hesitant to lead on this decision and is instead waiting to see what other schools do such an approach misses an opportunity to be a front runner in promoting cultural inclusivity and understanding festivals like dwali are not merely days off but opportunities for un Unity cultural learning and acknowledgement of diverse perspectives within our community I strongly urge the board to reconsider its stance in the future and reflect on the broader implications of this decision aligning with Amity and Woodbridge is critical to fostering equity and inclusivity across all levels of our district thank you for your time and attention to this matter sincerely Ramia we'll discuss it again next year at the calendar time okay um now go to public com ain't nobody here Melissa Melissa is here when did she become nobody sorry about that you I'm not going to go there I just don't want to get um all right that brings us to the uh adjournment portion of our program all in favor of [Applause] Journey you know I get sure

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