So time has flown. Um, but I I will say my reasoning running for the board. Um, I think are lend itself to some of the things you're saying. Um, I am pro public education and I believe that the teachers in um, public education deserve a lot more credit than they receive. There are a lot of nuances to being a teacher that a lot of public members, community members don't get to see. Um because there's more than just teaching kids to read and write and to do math and to um build it is it's a lot of nurturing and um behind the scenes preparation that teachers don't get the credit for. And so I'm emotional for teachers, I guess. I don't know. Um but I will say that um to my fellow board members, I want to thank you for all your support and understanding. There is um no understanding I think from the public as well when it comes to the dedication and time it takes to be a public school board member.
Uh, and with that, I'd be happy to to answer any questions as I know there most likely will be. I have a question. Uh, Mrs. Potter, you probably might have some as well. I do. Okay. So, um, in the quote, I'm assuming that this is also going to include the transportation center. Correct. So once we build the transportation center uh there we will we will go back to citywide and discuss how that will be fit in. All of the the contractors knew that uh we were going to uh be having them work on a transportation center but without them actually seeing it uh and getting the the lay of the land they would only be able to provide an estimate. Um, I happen to think uh that with our current staffing uh that uh uh we we we currently have a a half-time position that that is paid for that could probably go to a full-time position that could take on some of the responsibilities at that new transportation center.
For our project, we decided that we wanted to try to host an art class for the kids that are in our TLC program. We wanted to learn if neurody divergence has any effects on uh the creative aspects of your mind and how to plan a um a prosperous event. While doing research, we found out that most of the famous artists were claimed to be neurode divergent. Um to research event planning was kind of difficult. So we decided that the best plan of action was to just go through trial and error. The first thing we did was go to Mr. for sure who has helped us so much throughout this entire project and she suggested that we go see Miss Feldy and ask if we can use the art room for our project. Then we had to create posters to advertise our event and let people know when, where, and why it was happening.
I initialize. They see it. They'll see it on because they're screen. They're logged into diligent also. Yeah. But how come? Yeah. Okay. Carried. Um, and that could run in that because they started I'll ask I can ask Lindsay. Maybe they don't like the public wants to see the vote. Because if they have to see it live, that makes things complicated. But if they don't have to see the results of the vote and like who voted on what until after then because after you can publish the minutes and it'll blast it out to everybody what the minutes are and then it'll say who voted on what and what passed, what didn't. But if they have to see it live, then we're missing something in the software. I don't I don't Maybe they don't. I don't know. We've never done this. I know. So maybe I'll ask Lindsay if uh that's what is supposed to happen.
None of our experienced wrestlers who's been wrestling forever even knew what we were talking about. Will grabbed a kid and hit him and put him right on his back with it. So, that just shows like how smart Will is um to be able to just bust it out like that without any practice or anything. Will was a great addition to the team this year. He battled some injuries, but he was in the practice room every day through everything being a leader uh to our underassman, and we're super appreciative again to have him. Ladies and gentlemen, Will Livingston. [Applause] High cross to the left. [Applause] Okay. invite our science host. [Applause] I'm here tonight to honor my science bowl team. Um, at the very beginning of the year, um, I let them know that Anderson Science Bowl team has never placed in the top 10 in the state.
So, it would be a lot of fun for the French students to be able to have these little tasks to do and practice their language um skills. So, they would be doing all kinds of stuff like um toboggoning. That's 7:30 p.m. the first night we would arrive. Uh they would be going to Chateau Frontanak, the area. That's the big chateau that everybody thinks about. There's a big wooden tobogon run that they would go to. And my, by the way, my son, who is now a senior at Maynard High, went on this trip, um, when it was run, the last time it was run, and they had a great time. Unfortunately, that was the year, if you recall, um, that there was this huge freeze where it was like -20° here and it was like50 up there. So, I don't know if you remember that that was a year we had no peaches and stuff because all the buds were frozen off in February and it was pretty bad.
Unlike the sudden and unsettling proposals to alter the redistricting plan and possibly close Greenfield Middle School that Mayor Dorger has recently made. With respect, Mayor, the way you have introduced potential budget cuts to school to the schools and proposed large-scale redistricting without input from those who would be impacted is irresponsible. Your approach has been destabilizing to our school community and I fear that we may lose excellent educators and families may choose to send their children to other districts because our city appears disorganized. I urge you all to give Miss Patnode the ability to lead in the way that is most beneficial for our community, our students, our family, and the staff of GPS. While none of us look forward to budget cuts, I feel confident in Superintendent Patnode's ability to include all stakeholders in the decision-making process and ultimately make the hard choices in a way that causes the least amount of damage to our schools and community.
We had some connectivity issues again at the end of March which reminded us that our network needs some new updated hardware ASAP. We received a quote for the equipment installation and we are going to put the order through. Approximately 83 thou $83,000 will hit the budget and about $13,000 of that will be offset from grant funding. A good chunk of the remaining cost will come from savings across other departments. You'll see that the reflected likely you'll see that reflected likely in April or May's finance reports that will have an impact on how much of a surplus we will have at the end of the year. Lastly, we did receive our insurance claim checks from Perma for a whopping $82065. Then at the bottom of the report, you'll see under our prek account as of March 31st, the balance is $60,667.77. And in our 10248A account, as of March 31st, our balance is $417181.
Congratulations, Jake. That's all the awards, right? Yes. That we have for this evening. So, everyone who wants to join us for the regular part of our meeting. You're welcome to stay if you would like to leave. Now is a great time. Congratulations everybody. Thank you. very much. Thank you. All right. Comments from the audience. Anyone remaining who would like to make a comment? I don't think we have any additions to the agenda. Correct. Correct. All right. On to routine business items and the approval of minutes. We have a motion, please, to approve the minutes of the March 13, 2025 board of education business meeting. Second.
But within ourselves, some or maybe even most of us face the problem of not being able to choose our courses to our liking. I've been a resident of Danbury for 10 months so far and I love the city. I was confused about how the school systems here functioned leaving me confused and lost. I was put into the academy of art, engineering and design to start of school and I wasn't very convinced that this was the field that I wanted to pursue in pursue a career in because the classes to me felt difficult and uncertain. This led me to requesting a change to the communication and design academy in order for me to take a step back and rethink my college choices and decisions in the future. I chose this particular academy because I wanted to explore the field of communications closely as a personal interest but I always wanted to pursue a career in healthcare.
And just to point out, one of the critical pieces of the ARCOR program that I think is very has been very effective. This is almost I don't want to say forced differentiation, but it creates the conditions where I can have a child in first grade, first grade reading level and fifth grade reading level in the same classroom and I'm able to get toolkit lessons through an assessment that shows where I'm at in that snapshot in time. So I can meet the student where they're at in small group instruction and help move that student forward. when I look at the growth across this assessment and then we look at the growth across I Ready, we're we're on to something with this differentiated model and it's quite exciting to see. So, thank you McKenzie for that. Oh, um yeah, please. So, we had something really exciting happen uh last week at KSI.
And what we need to pay attention to if like a student with disability has a suspension or so many days of suspension and you know is it an in-house suspension out of house suspension manifestation determinations all of the legalities around discipline and students with disabilities. Thank you. Welcome.
Go ahead. Yes. Okay. But the second topic is the fact that Morel has no lockers on campus. Um I'd like to find out why. Um our principal was fairly new, so he didn't know the background of the reason why. Um I've had to buy a second backpack to fit all of the items my son has to carry with him each day because the first one, which was 33 L, was way too small for everything he has to carry. Um so my son carries around 19 pounds all day. And this is without hardbound books. His backpack has a binder, a music book, a daily planner, multiple notebooks for each class, a Chromebook, lunch, snacks, a 302 oz water bottle because the only refill station is only available during lunchtime. During the winter, you can add on a jacket and an umbrella. And on other days, he carries a second bag to hold his PE clothes in when he has to bring them home or sports gear for after school sports such as soccer cleat, shinguards, and uniform.
My intentions were communicated to the players and their parents toward the end of the season. The reasons for doing so are coincidentally correlated to this situation with David as well. Many years ago, I was treated unfairly due to the actions of of a couple volleyball players who behaved criminally on a waking. It led to the end of my coaching season, heartache for the other players and emotional trauma. Shortly after this incident, another coach was who was respected and admired in his community and for his contributions to the girls basketball program was ousted and despite support from the majority of the team and parents was released from his position. Now once again I am witnessing unfair and unjust treatment of good coaches because of the sensibilities of teenage girls. The 2024 season was for us for volleyball was difficult and coach Mills and I were the only two actually experienced volleyball coaches who applied.
Yes. I'll ask Eric Delgado to come up for transportation. Okay. Okay. Thank you, Madam President. Um, I first like to nominate um our lead trainer, um, Brisa Quetta, as excellent staff um, for the employee of the month. Um, Brisa, please come up and receive your blue apple. And I have to tell you, her being a lead trainer trying to get um our district rolling with our students and our school bus, she has a very uh challenging role because we want to ace all of our tests. So, we thank Brisa for making our bus drivers strong. Thank you. Nice. Okay. And my second um she started as a bus monitor. Um since we uh were without a dispatcher, she came into position of answering our telephone calls, our heavy complaint telephone calls from our parents. But due to her cool, calming demeanor, she actually has great success with um leaving parents satisfied with the answers and the quality of uh customer service she provides.
And so that gets tough because then you can't fund all your projects. Uh but now your bonding capacity uh come third Monday in August or 91 that far right column is estimated to be about $220 million. Again, you you didn't ask the voters for that amount. You asked for substantially less. And so your voter authority then is $70 million. That's what the voters uh approved for for the district. So this is the last slide. This is what we call a tax impact page. Uh it has uh several columns. I've labeled the columns up up top. So column two is the district's uh projected assessed valuation. Um you have the 2425 that's actual at 11.3% growth which is column 3 shows the growth rate. Uh then the next year 2526 that's coming up. That's the number that we just got for you. We don't expect that to change.
They are graceful, expressive and spiritual. Each region has its own unique rhythm, customs and style and together they dance to the heartbeat of India. India is often called the land of spices and for a good reason. For from turmeric to cardamon, cumin to red chili, our kitchens are full of colors, aroma and health. Spices aren't just for taste. They are part of our wellness, our ritual, even our history. They add life to food and warmth through the tradition. It said you can smell Indian food before you see it. That's the magic of our masalas. From the royal hyderabadi biryanis to the colorful Indian thali with curries, rice, chapati and sweet, each meal is a celebration. And don't miss our tradition of serving food on banana leaf especially in South India. It's natural, eco-friendly and has a spiritual significance too. Indian food is not just about sharing.
You think that um the community understands, but they really don't. And there's a lot of preparation, understanding, reading. Um there is a lot of researching and and there's a lot of talking to each other and consulting and consensus. And it may be easy for you guys to think that when you come to an official board meeting that we've all we just all get along and we have we're always in agreeance, but that is not the case. If you go to a cow meeting, you will see things much differently. It takes us hours to get through some material at times and that's um shows our differences as well as our passion for our viewpoints and our perspectives. But in the end, um I've been proud to serve with a board that is um in favor of public education and teachers, pro- teacher, pro- student. Um because I have three kids that will be products of district 26 and have gone on to be very successful students.
Uh so I don't think it's going to be a huge additional cost to the what's provided in the bid. Okay. I mean, I think it's important though that we see what their estimation is. Like even just seeing the layout of the transportation center and what I mean, they're going to know what needs to be cleaned within the transportation center. I think just seeing that as part of an estimation would be important for us so there's no surprises. Okay, I agree. Um, and that was actually one of my questions as well. and and if I didn't know if that was included under alternative maintenance. So, the alternative uh maintenance uh uh bid was if we wanted to have an additional uh maintenance worker uh staffed through the uh the contractor. Right now, our maintenance uh worker is employed directly with the district. Uh we wanted to know what our options were in regards to that additional maintenance uh uh worker if we decided to go that particular route.
So we put together a bunch of posters and had Miss Matsy hand them out to the parents. After we were done with that, we went to go see if any of the craft stores would donate. So like Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and Joan Fabrics. Unfortunately, none of them could because they said that they had to talk to corporate and it would just be a long process. But Dr. Pauls was super kind and she offered to pay for all the supplies so we could hold the event as soon as possible. And we are actually, like she said, holding it this Friday. We're so excited. We learned that neurode divergence does have a creat uh sorry does have an effect on creativity, but it's a positive one. And we're so proud that we got to learn and see how other people can connect with us. We also learned that event planning has multiple different aspects of it and that it can be difficult, but it is possible for people, even young people like us, to hold successful events.