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Gain any money that way? I'm just concerned with the $620,000. It's completely unrealistic that we're going to stick to that with special. I think the one thing to to that might make you feel a little bit better on this is that this 620 or last year it may have been we kind of known it was a half a million that was being held in contingency to to help us out. Um we we really on a high percentage knew we were going to start the year behind the eightball and have to tap into that contingency. Putting this money in the this was the big discussion with the board of finance. Putting this money into next year's budget now makes us whole and really builds us off our actual from this year as well as what we need. So um no and I I I don't anticipate to be honest that we would see such a significant overage that we've seen the last few years.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
you know, we had this this town and board of ed strategy, you know, hold it in contingency and it's just not working for for us anymore. So, now we're, you know, kind of going back to funding um actually funding where we're at. So, I but you wait and see and there could be puts and takes, right? There could be students who, you know, talking with Bill, right, that come back. There could be students that move out. There could be student new students that do have all the transportation costs, you know, for next year. Are those in yet? Um, you know, there's all these questions and yes, we're, you know, putting the 620 in to fund this year and next year, but we've had two additional outplacements in a two-month period. Um, and those will be in next year. So, I just I don't know. I And those are accounted for.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
Yeah. So, those Yeah. So, those are part of that 620 is that that uh that outplacement that recently occurred. Um, and I think I I do listen, I fully hear your concern and I um to some to some degree I I I absolutely share your concern. Um, I think what this does is really um ensures that based on all the information that we know today, right now, I don't know who is going to be moving into Brookfield in six months. I don't, you know, any of that stuff. But based on our current student population and um what we know about where where when I say we, I don't mean me at all because I don't know any details about the students, but what Mr. Roland and his team know about um where they feel the needs of those students are tracking. Um this this should cover anything that we are are are aware of right now.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
Um and the difference is Erin I think um last year and the you know the last few years things like um you know we have you know two students that likely could you know could qualify for transition. We don't know if they're going yet or not. We are not including them. this is this is this is is inclusive of those like we have you know two students that that are going to qualify for transition and so much to to the point you know I'm just using that number I'm not saying that that's the number I'm um you know we we and so we're including those cases um and uh if if if a student may qualify you know there may even I think I believe Bill and his team have even go gone so far as to have those conversations to to deter determine whether or not that is the path that that you know the family wants to go.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
If it is we can we know we can include it and if it's a hard no it's not going to happen then we don't. So it we're trying to get all the information we can and make the best decisions based on that. And I think um you know funding this if it pri last year this wouldn't have been funded even though it would have been likely to happen that we would have known and then we would start in September and say we have you know this number of transitions and this student that was outplaced in you know March but the budget was already you know so now we have all that included in the budget and I think it's a pretty solid solid number. I'm happy that the you know whatever we had that were possible known are in the budget. I think it's smart, but um you know, and it it's nothing against anything outplaced, a child being outplaced.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
I mean, if they need to be outplaced, they need to be outplaced. And um I I just like I said, I mean, we have no idea who's moving in. We have no idea who's moving out. And I think it's a really slippery slope. I think Oh, sorry. Go ahead. No, I I I I totally agree. And I I hope that I made like a strong enough case. Well, I didn't, but I mean, I hope I made it very clear to the board of finance and selectmen that, you know, while we do need to fund for known students or at least students that we know have a high likelihood of of, you know, incurring certain programmatic changes and transportation and they did, but I was still, you know, very strong that like, hey, there is always going to be unknowns and those unknowns have historically been very expensive.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
And so to have those changes happen midy year and to have absolutely no backs stop from the town means that in the middle of the year we're going to be cutting heavily into our budget if that is the case. So I mean I hope the I hope the public hears that. Um but that that is the situation I think that we're in. But yeah and I think I we did start to sort of preview that conversation at the board of finance meeting. Um and um I think I had mentioned too that you know when we do have um sort of a an the reverse of a contingency, right, which which is a reduction in um you know, salaries uh for teacher turnover, a $200,000 reduction in salaries of current staff that we have employed today. um you know when every other area of the budget is budgeted very tightly um you know I mean if I if I'm forecasting even our you know our oil use to to each for each building by month by the number of gallons and it comes out to let's say $83,000 I'm not putting in $85,000 you know like I'm putting in $83,529 so so we we do have to be cognizant of that um because I I know that there is a a desire to be really tight and lean in the budget.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
Um and so so so we have to we have to be thoughtful of that. Um and and and in the conversations with the board of finance um you know they're they're very generously acknowledging that this this funding is needed um for special education. Um and also acknowledging well we're going to reduce our contingency now because you kind of are taking it all up front. Um that does leave us in a in a bit of a um you know if we have two two students move it now we could have two students there's so many you can play the the dance of the what is it imaginary horrible thank you um uh you know everywhere and and as I pointed out at the at the meeting too you know you could have a roof blow off the middle school you could have you know pipes burst in the high school and what was the other thing there's something else and and those are all true things that happened this year right and So um boiler fail.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
Yeah. And the boiler fail, right? So we've you know and we we have and that's why we always have to adjust you know sort of priorities and prioritize where we are um where we are spending um this money. And so while these all these budget changes under consideration um this may be something that looks like very manageable and doable today by the time September 1st comes around. I could be asking for budget transfers because we are aware of different needs that you know I need to make sure that we have more money here and so I've got to pull it from somewhere else and so and that that's just part of having a really really tight budget having a tight budget and and you know addressing needs as they come you know we we can't we don't have a crystal ball unfortunately um so that's okay now that we've talked about that nauseium um can we talk about the CL al section like I think that's something that I'm not interested in cutting.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
Um I don't think I don't know why that's a consideration and I don't think class size should be the only consideration for that. If anything we need to be adding to lessen the class size and to provide more support at CLES especially given our test score. So um was there any other changes that were considered? These are the only changes right now that have been considered. Again we wanted to get through this meeting tonight. So then the board could say, "Hey, John, can you come back with a plan on April 9th and we will come back with a a further detailed plan?" And a little feedback like that is very helpful. So was this a proposed section that was added or that's currently what we have? So this current year we have 51 sections. When the budget was given to the board, proposed to the board and the board adopted it.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
It was with 50 sections. as we've looked at enrollment right in the school and tracked it and looked at the changes again in real time life happens um there's an opportunity to have one less section in what grade um that is to be determined by the principal I don't want to give that away at this point to be very honest with you we need I need to have that picture in order to really we can go through that and we could have Dave here and we can go through that absolutely the other thing is like I said this is a draft to let people know that we and we talked about this with the board of finance before we even talked about it with the board at that meeting on Thursday night is that this is how we can get to that number. If there's a different way uh a way that with the principles when we sit down and go through this that we get to this we have to get to this number.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
So somebody's not going to like something that's proposed. That's just let's be clear on that. Um we can have that discussion. So I heard right away from Joy that you don't like that particular idea and that's an absolutely fair point. I don't particularly like it either, but we're trying to find ways to not impact students as best we can. And if we go from 20 in a class to 22 in a class or 22 in a class to 23 in a class, whatever it might be in a particular grade as we look at the numbers based on the numbers we have now, then those are decisions we we would put forth and make. Yeah. So, if you can come back Yeah. Absolutely. or or be more specific with our exact numbers to date right now for at the elementary school or across all buildings. That would be important.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
Um then we can make a more informed decision regarding that and then possibly some other considerations per come back with a recommendation of a plan and then we can have that discussion and then or several plans. Yeah. Well, what's the board want me to do? because I'm not I'm gonna be honest with you. It's not realistic to make 13 different plans. I tell me what you need, what you want, and we will come back with a plan. I mean, I for one I'm not um I have a hard time supporting cutting a teacher. No, she's retiring. No one's going to lose their job in this section, not filling a section. So, to be clear, the retirement is the reason we're not adding a section. Like so no two separate things, right? So the retirement doesn't affect the section. That's I think we're asking we were contemplating giving the given the enrollment numbers actually reducing a section which might mean if this retirement wasn't to occur there might be a reduction in force.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
A newer teacher might be okay. That's not happening at this point because we ha happen to have a retirement that we literally just learned of in the last few weeks officially. That's an opportunity to stay with that plan and we don't have to go through the the riffing process with a teacher. That's all. Just to to clarify in terms of the other the 51 to 50 um you know we we've spoken at al at Cape and also here about the um adjustment to the scheduling for fourth and fifth grade and that is based on de not departmentalizing fifth grade that can um create a situation where we don't where we can reduce that section right so so that 51 sections can go to 50 without adjusting class sizes too much because or increasing class sizes too much because it would be with the adjustment in the schedule.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
So that's why all these things are integrated. So having an update on that because yeah I mean you've told us it's in the process of still working. Um but it is it is not going to be as it is now for sure. So then so this this is kind of the initial just to show everybody that there's here's one way of getting there. It isn't necessarily the the formal recommended way, but I wanted to put these out on the table so publicly people could see them. We've gotten some feedback already. So that's good. And and we're we're meeting um gosh, I think yeah, next next week I think we're meeting. So we'll sit down and go through it and say, "Okay, this is this is our number. We need to get to this number. How do we how do we fine-tune? What are our options?" We do this every year.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
This is nothing new. I'm not asking for 13 plans, but I guess to piggyback off what Erin said, I'm looking for considerations that not directly impact children, students. Um do the best we can. That would be my recommendation on the heels of it's a really tight budget, right? Absolutely. We will like we do every single year. I mean, you could have that for the April 9th meeting. That would be awesome. Of course. Thank you. And I think as a board, I think we need to start I mean, we're meeting Monday for healthy start, but I think we need to talk about the schools and the possible saving $250,000 or 28 63. I don't know. keeps 247, you know, um because there's possible funding there, too. And that and that's just overhead cost to that point. Yeah, I got you. Yep. I shared that with the healthy school start times.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
We met with um uh Allstar this morning and got confirmation on if we went back to a three bus tier system, which would mean adjusting the times, we would need three less buses, which would mean $247,000 in savings. That sounds like an important agenda item for our next We're talking about that on Monday night. Good. Good. Anything further on the budget? Right. Let's move then to uh second public comment. Mrs. Rice still up. Hi Denise Rice, Brookfield resident. I'm a little taken back by some of the stuff that went on, but okay. A student spoke at the last board of ed meeting and members of the table dismissed her statements. Some members would not even look at the picture and some were not even given the picture, but they were circulated around social media. The student showed the picture to the building administrator and nothing was done about it.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
If any one of us circulated that same exact picture at work, we'd be fired on the spot. But this child's forced to come to school humiliated with no administration to protect her. Shame on the board for not holding the administration responsible for circulation of the photo that has Brookfield Athletics across it along with the faces of two other athletes. Did the board confirm with the administration that the other students parents were notified that their children were in this photo? I bet not. The current board of ed liaison to Brookfield Cares should immediately step down because it's apparently clear by her flipping attitude that the board member does not care about child safety or sexual harassment. What is very disturbing is that you're all parents and this could have happened to any one of your children, but you chose to praise the administr literally praise the administration instead of showing a ch a child empathy.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
Two weeks ago, you showed your true character and lack of leadership for safe school environment. If you cannot take the time to see what's actually happening in these buildings, you should resign from your board of ed positions. Before the pre-written lawyer comment that is always said after I speak, I would like to just address something that went on during the 1312. While it's fun to hear Rosa always say the parents should not, you know, the same parents speak. Yeah, we do. I'm hush money mom. I got screwed. Point of order, Mrs. Rice. Thank you. Um, I think the public needs to know that we do not condone or accept that kind of tone or language. Um, some public comments, as you've seen, are disparaging and disrespectful um and make accusations against our our personnel. Um, and we we value and respect our district employees, and it's very important that the public know that.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
Mr. Korea, uh, Andy Korea, resident of Brookfield. Um, I value and respect every employee. There's a value, some of it's low and the respect, some of it is should be at is earned to be at the Geneva Convention level, right? So, I value and respect based on what they've earned. I went to the administration in 2019 when my child was being harassed and it harmed her. I came here November 14th when issues hadn't been resolved with my daughter for a week. I got a letter a month after telling me, "Stop telling us that we haven't done the investigations we were supposed to do for your daughter. We're not going to respond." And then I got told that I made a false statement about a federal investigation because I said the Justice Department when it was actually the OCR. It's a distinction without a difference. Okay.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above