diamond now are at 100 thank you and there are 13 more eligible that we're aware of that have not begun the registration process but the school is working to connect with them and that puts us at around 171 that we're expecting which is still our projected enrollment at this point of course a lot will happen over the summer and progress or lack thereof we coded and the public health information obviously will affect that as parents washing things very closely just for reference point front year we have 181 students to start the year and we actually have 183 enrolled right now and that's something we always talk about it watching that uptick in enrollment so we're in close attention to that and I just like the thing this is diamond for getting that update to us extended school year enrollment update the board is well aware that for our students with special needs there are a number of students who qualify for services over the summer and I'm happy to say that about 170 that qualify 165 that qualify about 160 are enrolled we're running a virtual program at this point this year the parents the super majority of parents were very excited to hear that that was the way it was going to be done it is a synchronous program and there's a lot of live instruction so we're really excited about that and of course that starts July 6th after the up to the holiday break and we're really excited about seeing how that works out on the special education administrators working with dr.
Zelena to do that and that's how that would roll out but that they do participate on on that portion of it and that's how you did ask them to prioritize so when we were there part of the process in submitting their priorities no that's true too right and then dialogue and in the press thank you forgot because it's been such a long drawn-out right thank you you never make everybody happy right no I know marriage you know what I guess I'm saying that you mean when we had that initial shot over the bow Thank You Courtney we said that administrators look guys you know what what do you gotta have that you can't live without I mean basically and I think Kevin and they they put some things sword and we were turning mindful of trying to give him that and I think the board that's been on for a while has heard from our teachers who need some hands-on folks to help us with kids for so many of them so you know we've had to reallocate and rebalance and things to do that and I think that in itself was the highest priority I can tell you particularly k5 and at the middle school give us some folks with hands on so that's a week that's what we did and then we worked our way back down to try to make the bottom line work Wow as I went as we tried to close the gap question sure um if I had this right uh-huh our contractual increases this year just what we're obligated by existing contracts to do is 2.7 and the budget increase we're getting from the city is 1.2 so we're a million five short of meeting our our existing obligations that we did not one thing new based on the budget the city of Danbury is proposed it's actually more than that because that's just the staff in contract increases so we talked about the mate and it's carry forward budget I would I would say it's closer to four and change almost five million dollars because it includes all the bussing and so if what we call our turn the lights on number if nothing else were to change we need about five million dollars so that's right yeah thank you yeah I'm sorry one more thing sure just I know I've mentioned this to you before but the the sca adjustment being the only kind of adjustment with schools being closed for three months mmm is that correct so now how do I explain that because that is complicated it this is saying that everything would if pretending Coco had never happened which it definitely is happening then what would we need to roll the budget for next year the the savings this year you're seeing as part of the city fund balance so this is proposed for next year's budget it's two million dollars because of all the ups and downs mainly because of Kovach closure that's why we're seeing that City fund balance so the only impact to next year's budget that's going to be like a decrease related to kovat is because of SGA we front-load of those savings but actually the transportation costs are going up because in addition when you look at the maintenance budget down below this is accounting for a 3% increase to the to the to the transportation you know so we're counting for the contractual increases we're saying all things being equal our busing would still need to be the same for next year and then we're gonna whatever we're gonna do is going to either have to fit within that or the city's gonna have I mean the state is gonna have to come up with more money for busing because it's just not going to be possible yeah thank you I forgot yeah it's it's weird with what a great crazy year yeah okay so when we talk about this so one of the really important things that rich brought up is okay braiding but but how what does that do for you next year and so all of these funds that I'm highlighting here are one-time funds so that total is six point five four five million when you add these three things together so this is what rich is calling the cliff and I'm calling planning for future contingencies and it's the six five four one-time money but with ongoing there's some ongoing expenses so we need to account for that and I'll just say that more carefully like in a budget world if if our operational budget is $100 then it's a hundred this year and next year and the year after that until something changes so we call that the base fund and it's kind of ongoing expenses when you have a one-time funding stream usually you just like to buy one-time thing so you buy you buy you know what you know some fixtures you buy books you buy things that you know are one-time mate in nature so we broke out the one-time funds of six point five and we said okay about one point six of that is one-time expense and about one point nine is one time because it's just increasing the reserve so it allows us a little bit more confidence and fiscal prudence but then you have ongoing expenses in there of 2.8 million I'm breaking them out here so you can see what those are these are all the things that make up that ongoing expense of 2.8 million but we're saying that portion of that can be shifted to next year's Alliance increase so all things being equal if the city was still in dire straits and the state still in dire straits we can still pretty likely count on getting another 2.7 million of Alliance money of which some of these things we're doing next year could be shifted into a lion so I'm showing here of that ongoing expense about 1.8 could be funded with Alliance and that would leave us with a million dollars that we need to fund next year's priorities for this year's priorities for next year so when I say this year I'm talking about the upcoming fiscal year 2021 and then 21 22 we need another million the mayor is aware of that he's supportive of this approach to the extent that we're able to next year you know he's committing to helping us with this budget so the future is uncertain but this is a certainty something that we know and it's a risk that rich wanted the board to be aware of when we thought it was important to share with everybody I don't know does anybody have questions on this I've got a quick question Cortney sure thank you for breaking all that down and especially on the one-time funds that that sort of paints a clearer picture of what we're doing as far as you know the multi-year budget here the matrix money that we were talking about before is that a one-time or is that multi a I always confuse that it's supposed to be multi it's supposed to be an ongoing commitment it's not just a one time I think I heard K ten years then that's what I think they threw out last year I don't think we should count the first year we can get input sure should we did using this year oh yeah I'm on it to pay for our brand valise you know so and and dr.
Shepherd said earlier we're have been going down that road and we will continue going down that road we recognize that that kids needed to be have equitable access to to any course that is in their best interest to take we made changes to that end we may change the English honors selection as well and I want to add like in in addition to our work with the community and then certainly and got into our kids on fund inequities racial inequities just a social emotional support that were able to provide now with the work that's been done over the past few years so so here it is back to the back of the slide in with regards to equitable access to higher level courses we're moving towards basically data-driven recommendations for higher level courses as opposed to teacher recommendation so there's more objective hey oldie teacher recommendation still does play a part of it but we're trying to make it as objective as possible however I need to add here because we cannot deny access just because someone doesn't get a teacher recommendation or because someone doesn't score high enough on the test we have a class them whether it's an AP class was DLC making recommendations so junior high continue to adjust their windows we rolled in the smarter balanced interim assessments in place of I ready for the winter time across the board second all secondary English teachers after they get an assessment they're asked to fill out a survey to provide feedback for that bill for next year's revisions ok 1885 refined protocols and we will continue to do that and also examine how to better utilize the interim test become available and more widely used and then just real quick I don't want to leave special education out because the particular Gail Olson and Dana Feingold I've kind of enjoyed high power at the secondary level well kind of led the charge and implementing the use of common goals and IEDs and leading to common assessments to measure those goals they definitely do new programming language live we've seen high high success rates of moving our special education students reading skills about at the elementary level they know work on a continuum of assessments they piloted that this year so students are assessed on the skills the next skills that they need to progress rather than by what grade level they're at and that we're calling that a pilot because we're also talking about doing that at the elementary level and that kind of pilot that we did with special ed it was extremely important okay I already mentioned we assessments for evaluating people's and refining the language that teachers use when they're recording the parents what doesn't a mean - a zoom in a bog moderate/severe setting versus the generalized setting and how do we progress okay then I got thrown out just real quickly kind of enclosing for Spanish teachers at both high schools there's an amazing group of people they are self-starters like we literally give them money to get release and put the room for them and they they come up with a Spanish one and two assessments that unfortunately did not get to be administered this year because of it but they meet them and they were common yeah Spanish Spanish one started to teach two school years ago and the Spanish to was ready and they're just stopping running that's all I have for you really I wanted to speak brief I know you've heard this on before but to make a long story short the goal have you thought that what we do need to keep refining okay so what we brought before you this evening is a resolution that would allow our senior classes at Chico high and Pleasant Valley High School to carry over their school class ASB funds for an additional period of six months due to Tobin 19 many of the events that will plan the end of year school would not be participate in their yearbook delivery for instance was delayed so the request came from school citement from the leadership school leadership and be it work with our auditor in autograph they have reviewed this and made one minor recommendation so is our recommendation of the board would adopt this resolution allowing Perry or ASP pension to see in class four period no longer six months to be useful to class activities specifically and noting that this is also then suspends current board policy but is not pretty impressive moving forward on second the motion okay any further questions by anyone about this Kevin pretty straightforward it seems okay we have a motion by dr.
wells brought up so many possibilities the sixth-grade Moore's Hill trip some of you go all the way back to kindergarten so what is your favorite memory at Wildwood and I'm gonna take myself off the screen and we're gonna give yourselves about a thirty Seconds to a minute to do that you well Thank You Katherine music sharing about the sixth grade ukuleles what was your what was your favorite memory from this year do you have a favorite there's so many to choose you know this looks grade it had such a special place in my heart and when I think about the opportunities that I had to just spend time with them and the cafeteria they don't know that see they don't know this about me I walk in it and I watch them and I see them being happy and I see them having fun with their friends it just means so much to me to just watch them be themselves and I think the cafeteria because everybody is together in a smaller space I get a chance to see that I also watch them on the playground - I have they do have such spirit and their voices I would really I always like going into their classroom and just see how spirited they were in their discussions with their teachers and that's something that dr.
ruby have ordered manipulatives and other supplies and basically a learning booty bag for the students that they'll be able to pick up and bring to their houses and be able to work virtually with their teachers so we're really excited about the program this summer BHS graduation update just so everybody knows for the public but the board as well we are going to have a parade to start off the festivities which will be staged and began at whiskey near ratted around 10:15 at 11:00 a.m. sharp the parade will disperse from will leave whiskey near up route 25 anybody in the public who wants to stand on their lawn and wave and do those kind of things please do we will then all cars will enter the student lot from their remaining socially distant and/or in their cars and staff police security it's going to be great our graduate graduation parents are there it is going to be wonderful with our volunteers and the kids will walk in as a senior graduate with their parents 15 feet apart and process music decorations through the from the student walk to the gym through the school to the auditorium where we will have them receive their diploma name announce everything live streamed and videotaped and edited for later on this picture with a backdrop and it's just gonna be a heck of a celebration I think like I was saying before the meeting I think a lot of the celebration may be something that we incorporate going going forward in the coming years people are really excited about at this time I'd like to just our parents on the board of eighth graders if you would like to share a little bit about today's whisking year moving up event there's a little parade going in there at the at the school and picture opportunities so it was a great celebration it was so nicely done it was very evident how much thought and care and planning went into making it such a special experience for our eighth graders I really can't think of anything I would have done differently or anything that was missing it was just perfect and of course we would have loved to be together inside or at least with a bigger crowd of people but you could really feel you could really feel just all the care that the staff and the teachers and all the volunteers have for this class of eighth graders so I am very grateful through everything that went into it it was really a magnificent experience I agree I echo everything that Deb said it was really smoothly I just appreciated all the effort from mr.
sell had those discussions with the mayor so we hope to have it I got it so we'll say that thank you yeah I actually have a follow-up on case question what impact is not getting that 550 this year having this year's budget and which yeah and this is why we had to pause and reach out to you guys again to the board again it decreased the amount we had available for reserves really you weren't using any it decreased the city bundle we're in a unique year in that we had excess money this year right because our opponent yeah and so because of that it all of our city fund balance this year is being used just for reserves right we're not committing to anything above and beyond this so were we to get the extra 550 this year we would have put a bigger insurance was it herbicide so had we gotten a 550 the fund balance would be 2 4 instead of one-niners yeah and if you look at the old document you'd see that yeah okay thank you yeah so any other questions I know this is all kind of a lot of information to take again and I'm wondering if folks want to pause for a minute and if there's anything else you'd like to know before we you know before we and if and and if it not right now if something occurs to you over the next few days please you can feel free to reach out to me or any of cabinet with any questions you have why don't we move on court well you know that's all I had doctor cell and you know I also had showed like a summary of the old hold right and versus the new plan which I can send to anybody but I think I think it's it's kind of a lot of info you don't know if it's I did send it to Joe and I sent a portion to Rachel if folks want want that information I'm happy to email that to you as well why don't you send that to the whole board said okay okay I guess that's just want to thank Courtney for an unbelievable excellent job entity to the board members this has been horrendous work in progress putting this project together it's putting it together and then the unanswered question until we came up with the terminology for it I call that a cliff is how do you spend you know basically nine million dollars when you're only given you know 1.1 and a half million dollars so I said we're gonna have to come up with a clearer schedule that demonstrates to the board you know how this is done which i think is extremely important schedule to accompany this particular presentation but for a person coming on board for the first year to be inundated with a challenge at a virus and then you put together a budget which is different than any budget we put together before congratulations to Courtney I hope you appreciate and still want to stay with her he can take any other position there because I think you've done a phenomenal phenomenal job so thank you thank you rich I mean it was cabinet really in your help so thank you all very much Thank You Courtney Thank You Courtney thank you we'll move to the to the executive session so what I understand we have to go to that email and then yeah okay email leave this meeting go to the email sign on for the executive session okay are we gonna do that right away you want to take like a five to ten minute break or no break okay it's a no it's 8:05 so by 8:10 you
Kaiser a second all those in favor please say hi alright okay that resolution passes our next is an informational item on the state budget okay this is really a prep prep this for what you will receive a week from tonight and we have to completely budget as a reminder typically we have a public hearing over the budget in conjunction with the local control accountability plan and then we bring those back to you for approval anatomy the state waived the requirement for the two meetings related to the El Cap and the budget so you'll actually receive just the documentation for the budget and the El Cap next week on the 21 however we are in a substantial amount of uncertainty related to the state budget so my intent is about eight quick slides to show you what we know today relate to the state budget that will inform the basis for our budget that you will receive on the 24th plus what we expect going forward so okay so in a typical year this is the time line January the government provides this proposal we have the tax deadline of April 15th in Maine the governor comes out with what we call the media brief eyes which is sort of Lee is the basis for the development of our local budgets what we didn't see is usually negotiations that are taking place between the Senate assembly and the governor's office with a constitutional deadline for the legislature to approve a budget by June 15th and then between June 15th of June 27th the budget goes before the governor to governor's office and he really has three options he can approve the state budget as presented he has line-item veto power where he can actually send the budget back to the legislature that's a typical year so the governor's may revise actually proposed to use a third of the rainy day funds because it's 10% cut to education through the local control funding formula rely heavily on cash to pearls which poses a challenge locally related to management of cash the state doesn't call it cut so or they actually do we don't and one of the key elements the governor's proposals are a trigger off that these cuts would go in place and if the federal government quieted assistance dollars those cuts would be triggered off and be eliminated the governor also proposed however to put money into pers and sters we do offer reduce our cost for those areas and then also some increased funding for special education the level of education funding in the 86 OSU model so that was the governor's general framework Bruce proposal I want to show you what that does but she's been unified what you will see a week from today and is fairly dramatic because if you lose nine point 1 million dollars and we have not really acted after maybe budget cuts or any other activities you will find it just cutting to the bottom line right here next year once we get into 2021 in this the year 21 22 we will not make our reserve requirement from the state at 3% and again that is if the governor's proposal and maybe were to go forward that's what this would look like not only do we not make the reserve requirement you can see all the different reserves as the board has put in place you can do Shari having fiduciary responsibilities you put in additional to person one time dollars we would go through all of those as well the next slide is just an example and I put it in there to note that when this first occurred we started immediately talk about a plan in which we could survive this type of pen so this is not it has not been a recommendation yet but an idea could be if we took action early enough and made some budget reduction cuts we use or millions around number and we were able to work with our departing units for furlough days which was one of the things that was offered to us back in 2008 you can see if you make these cuts early enough you can survive and right here we just donate our three percent all the way up to the twenty two twenty three fiscal year so the point of this being is that the sooner we react to a cut in state funding the more likely we can survive a ten percent cut but as things are for me changing dramatically the legislature did in fact approve a budget on June 15 they do use rainy day funds even some additional one five dollars they actually proposed and passed a cost-of-living adjustment in two point three one percent okay to take twelve k-12 education however there is an expectation of federal dollars and then there's a trigger on if those federal dollars do not come in then cuts can trigger on because the federal timeline is October correct their budget is so there is additional one five dollars for discretionary dollars for Patrick Cove in additional cash to squirtles these began with the governor proposed a hold harmless for average daily attendance which you can imagine is a lot of uncertainty for us and then does continue with the governor's putting dollars towards person stirs and helping us out reducing this cost here's what that looks like if we kept all the expenditures the same and we just simply changed that cut the governor proposed we would do substantially better in 2021 still with a positive change in fund balance and then we see out 22 23 deficit beginning because there's no increased revenue but we still have increased cost to keep the lights on that person serves wraps up again as well so if the Legislature's version we would do just fine so here's where we are today though the governor legislature really are negotiating in good faith so we are hearing that there is no animosity between the governor and the legislature they just ran out of time quite frankly so we actually do expect them to be a budget approved by both the legislature and the governor by June 30 however we are concerned about the federal assistance right and that really provides us with this idea to beat your cuts and what that could look like we don't receive those federal dollars we continue have concerns regarding the impact of come in whether that's the federal and state economies not doing as well or coming back student tenants as we already mentioned it will be interesting to see how that comes back for us an additional so we will combine two more than ever a 45 day update to the budget if not sooner once we have a final version and then cash management will be a challenge so you are believers board members were here in 2008 how the council rules in place we'll go back to that world and we look at tax rate offenses the patient notices one of the ways in which we can manage our cash so that's just a kind of brief look at what we're expecting and what we've seen from the state we will provide a detailed budget next week however again the frustrating part about that is it's based on the governor's proposal which is really worst case scenario doomsday we know we have a different proposal that's already been approved actually specifically the governor has 12 days after June 15th June 27th is the actual date but we have seen historically I'll tell you we're not alone almost every other school district is doing this and you use that governor's being realized so what you're also going to see on 24th is a resolution from Butte County Office of Education or if they ask us the passage which notes all the different impacts that we have seen related to code it and then actually ask you to note you understand you have to do shared responsibility to maintain a district that is solvent for three years and then you would outline cuts and timelines for those if needed and so we drafted that revised and slightly from the county have them review it again they're good but you will see that for the first time which you have not seen before because again the budget does not make any money for the what is the sense of the state as the legislature and the governor are going to actually get close enough that we would have a reasonable idea of what might happen because both of them seem to be relatively depended on the feds doing something positive and that seems very can you say we are hearing that the negotiations are going wealth or education that education has been a priority and that date budges is currently being discussed is moving towards the governor proposal actually of planning for the worse than us in essence and not not putting dollars in expecting the federal government bailed us out however there will be in cuts under areas not education so at this point I'm philosophical question if we are developing basically two the state gets it together by the 27th and on the 30th we already but forecast a budget with the trigger off right that's what that's what the stage is currently working for it is a trigger off budget so that if the feds jump come through with the money and stuff with our bargaining units are we also looking at maybe two scenarios and agreements that okay this is what we're agreeing to but if it goes the other way this is this is what we agreed to do if it goes the other way I know that we discussed the issue of furloughs with both groups so the demand because if because it's a mid-year impact anything we can do to be prepared to respond to that quickly seems to be in our best interest to survive [Music] before that worst-case scenario doesn't prepare for the worst so next one is recovery is what I'd like to introduce three people that is for the district Mickey Posada principal with ice and advisor is our payment provider Katie Dobson who is our bond counsel with Jones hall and not to report by an RTA expert Redevelopment Agency expert of Dante Puccio with a public economics and this is really being brought to you as a relay to the potential final purchase of the light-touch building and this is specifically financing to complete that purchase and many options there up so this is information there's no action we were asking you as a board to take we want to provide you the information on how we finance that purchase and then on the 24 we have our final update on our due diligence and then at that point if you decided and property then we would ask to take the official actions as a board and also remember as a cheaper unified corporation for finance purposes so that's generally have a lay this out and with that said I will see slide and presentation along with your presentation [Music] the estimated presented back in February when the estimated variance associated with a level structure would be about five hundred sixteen thousand with an escalating structure but maybe start a bit lower if you can let me jump in for the board so your reformed the purchase of the property of the building and the property is 4.8 billion we originally talked about two million dollars in additional infrastructure process kind of where we have been up to this point this represents actually three million dollars in infrastructure costs and some what is related to the availability to ongoing of revenues in fund 42 that we would use to basically service that Desmond keep you mentioned furthermore moving from a 25-year term to a 20-year term or closely aligns to the number of years we should continue to receive payments in fact 42 yes they definitely another 19 years but as a reminder this is always been viewed in art it is a short term financing tool that we can repay after three years [Music] but [Music] sure take questions for Mikiko Thank You anyone Tom or Cathy any questions for Mikiko online if you have any questions regarding the use of $2 and they hear me there will be a resolution on the next agenda as well they would expand our use of party a passenger dollars beyond specific area boundaries so in part of and the approvals next week and a specific resolution to do that because as a reminder redevelopment areas were created and some restrictions on spending some of those dollars because areas were part of the original agreements quite BRT tante I believe you helped write the art ease and she knows that crap well for the County Office of Ed and for the community we wrote the agreements maybe nine three for the greater Chico project area but the agreement we prepared for Chico unified [Music] the district decided wisdom substitute for the RDAs agreement which paid a lot less money in the district and so the it's a fight agreement but it's not nearly as financially rewarding to the district yes but we contract the district executed 1993 only covers one of the five redevelopment project areas the agreement payments are one one of the past foods that you receive there is another pass through that is actually very that you also receive by statute from that greater Chico area but neither of those pacts bruise from Greater Chico are proposed for use with this finance that's because the contractual Constitution greater Chico are restricted in a way that makes it difficult he used both agreement past rooms for the light touch site and the statutory pass throughs from greater Teatro the district is already using and its entirety pay down the district's 3% 15 and restricted maintenance account obligation that would otherwise be payable solely from general month so so Kevin and the superintendent have already stepped to soften the blow for whatever they happen now in state funded by already injecting 3 plus million dollars a year to reduce to free up that same amount of money in the district general fund and so those two questions are not available for Lansing there are 4 statutory and 1290 respirators that aren't available and as Kevin mentioned they have statutory geographic prescriptions but when one reads if skewers tattoos apparently one discovers but certain findings and determination by the Tobler will allow you we use the AP called tiny cracks grooves anywhere not just within say the boundaries of each of those four project areas which are not part of the Greater Chico project area they are the southeast Chico project area southeast Chico added area central Chico and Chico Airport which are four different pieces of dirt in the city of Chico that have their own tree called project areas and that the ad called from those four project areas that will be used to but these the financing decode is going to do and still allow you to continue to use the 2% bastards from greater Chico generate write down the cost of our RMA use the Equality of India that University to use for other purposes that security system certain other improvements at different Saudis so we appreciate very much Dante your expertise that you have provided to us on this what question I have is and if you could may have asked this before but I didn't write down the answer is is there any chance that this funding is going to be cut off I understand it runs through 2045 is there any mechanism that would allow for it to be cut off or decreased well under the existing rd a dissolution wall which 2012 as amended by cleanup legislation you know great bills like prop 13 or the RTA dissolution law inevitably have to agree clean up bills or given the RDA dissolution law the answer is no but [Music] obligations fiscal 1920 as year one as Mikiko said we currently project we'll continue for 19 four years that's out to 37 38 and Kevin is Mikiko would like to do a 20 year of financing so shall we say the pass-throughs would take care of the first 19 years but given a plan this might play this out for the full duration financing rather to use that to use the property disposition proceeds paid not for financing after a few years but then even in the worst case that let's say that for whatever reason property disposition the excess property were put on hold it's it's very likely seemingly like that the past two amounts for these four project areas I just mentioned central Chico chief lawyer for Southeast Chico and southeast Chico had an area will grow over time and will exceed the amount of debt service on the keep of problems and so one thing Kevin may want to consider he certainly I'm sure with our help we would be monitoring the situation is to the extent that the pastor is in the future get bigger and bigger compared to the debt service he could always Bank the excess you save up for the 20th year you know if the whole world went to heck we couldn't take until 20 years from the forecast to pay off the last year and still never touch the general fund never divert any any resources from the classroom or the staff or the needs of the students and just rely on the past on these four pass throughs to pay this thing off and still probably have a lot of extra money left in the bank in the 20 years so even though the district general fund is the ultimate premise the source of repayment is exceedingly reliable and 19 years is 45 19 years is long enough as I said to save up any excess if we had 20 and pay off the 20th year never touched on and stick around so we see that this all pans out [Music] we know that we appreciate him we sure do the other issue that came up was when we were talking about the budget the last time around there was some idea of that some of this RDA money could be used could be freed up to to help our budget or other budget well for cash flow yeah it all transparency Dante continues to educate me but indicating further that my interpretation of those four project areas I thought it was more restricted in use so that's why we really only used it for things that we felt benefit the city overall that's why security is one of those items however Dante points out there is really more flexibility we could use those for more the are I may support we currently use it for so it doesn't mean these dollars to have to specifically be used for this purpose and we could use those if the world got really bad to pay for maintenance costs so that's the full transparency that this is not the only use of these dollars is the statutory pass-through from greater Kiko and that is already in its entirety for the indirect benefit of the general fund by picking up it'll three million a year plus and increase over time so you're already using fourth of your pass-throughs help the general fund and to the extent that you know let's say that your property disposition on these other sites happens on schedule in the next three or four years Kevin if there's still a need to add more RMA support at that time then you could switch over the eighty 1290 passes that would no longer begin but Nancy because Mikiko would have paid it off early and as Kevin said that you could add to executory greater Kiko passengers and further support the district general fund now let me say one final comment about this however all the pastures were talking about are effectively restricted to educational facilities and it was only in 2015 that the Health and Safety Code was revised and the ED code was revised to expand the definition of the civil who include our eminent routine annual maintenance and so it's the use of the statutory classrooms from Greater Chico it is only made possible for the benefit of the general fund by the 2015 staff Authority redefinition facilities who include not just site acquisition and new construction and deconstruction and modernization and bird maintenance it was the previous active great definition of facilities in this area of law but also to include our RMA and that's where you get the big federal benefit from using the statutory ater Chico pass-throughs can't use the contractual pass through the greater Tico that way you can use Stampede going pass through in here any excess a default on any passes that you don't need for for the financing or other purposes could also be used for maintenance because it would fit with our facilities definition okay well thank you very much we appreciate you appreciate your your participating in this meeting it is very helpful so Kevin point out Katie Thompson is on the line in case I made this wrong but again but you will see if the next meeting will be the actual documents what our presidents use and the seating are examples of those but you would receive the actual documents that would represent what we talked about this evening so this is table one last PostScript if we next week you'll also receive a resolution that without that resolution there are lots of geographic restriction resolution be a default landing craft to come to your craft the unrestricted you can use almost for if you wish or any portion of them okay that we will move on to since I was just for information human resources 20 and it is two positions [Music] this point does such a success I move approval which is 1 0 discussion questions alrighty all those in favor please say aye passes unanimously next step the next one is resolution 15 13 - 20 honestly it's a much bigger one when koban the cogut shutdown started [Music] so these are the one position that is the campus supervisor or supervisory supervision of Endocyte hours but so Jim we've had a request that we speak louder with it no far away from the life thing is there anything else that you do here you have a question in particular about got your table clarified so effectively the 2019 2020 school years over and so we are eliminating these positions for this current year right ending June 30th but they will not be refilled for the it's in 2019 20 because we're not enjoy it so I'll second any further discussion any questions it's not all those in favor aye passes unanimously all right we will move on to the next this is just a first reading of a board policy that has to do with eligibility and so you will have the opportunity to read this and if you have any suggestions or concerns or comments - please let Erica know and the rest of us know at a time so we can well she doesn't if you have suggestions for changes Nelson does give them any one you have suggestions for changes please for those directly to me and okay send us any suggestions of - right now how they shall share them with John Shepherd and it will be seven ated to the rest of us and that way if there is anything major we'll have a heads up before the next okay that looks like all of it any items from the floor or in addition did you get anything miss Burke okay your public comments that erica has tracked any any announcements from okay you have a couple one I do all of our Kubek meetings now figuring out how to make this work and if you noticed we have new equipment and it is so much better than it was the last time so I [Music] will Erica probably work either July 6 7 or 8 and will look for some morning times for the board to start having discussions of units school options and then also the board can expect the board can expect to see for me it's that time of the year where we start thinking about workshops what would be ideas that you would like to see for workshops next year as well as who would like to serve on different committees so I would send in that already sounds good okay there's no part of your business you
Morris was talking about is like how they are leaders and how much we're learning from them and in this graduation we were thinking about that we didn't do our tradition where we had each of you do one-minute speeches but mr. Henry did this assignment called farewell combs a few of you were brave enough to videotape yourself and share your farewell poems of graduation and in the assignment mr. Henry was asking you to think about how you felt some of your thoughts as you're making this transition in life to the middle school this transition to young adulthood so thank you for people who put you in the chat some of their favorite memories and now we're just gonna take a few minutes to hear a couple of these farewell callings you ready miss st's I'm ready okay here we go hey Wildwood my name is meadow and today I'm gonna be reading my farewell poem called moving to middle school so let's get reading the feeling of changing schools quite interesting into some pretty cool so many challenges for us to face so many opportunities for us to chase moving schools is like moving to a new country so many bumps and turns meeting new people is a part of this adventure students may even be under pressure middle school is tough in every way but students can work through things and finally cheer hey as this poem comes to an end middle school will be the new trend this is my farewell column it's called break as they fit on our porch enjoying me on a summer breeze listening to my mom's acoustic guitar a moment of perfect serenity with little returning to the hectic covered lifestyle in the screen and the schedule but for now I say enjoying the break the transition is scary but I will push through we will guide ourselves on this journey and we will not be alone so many before us so many to come we will push the end will always just be a new beginning we believe elementary school you will enter a new school and start over again it's all the memories for before like geese migrating to the south kids will go to the new school for migrating geese and learn these things as they continue to migrate school high school to college will always I agreed away just to start over again the caterpillar is in egg just starting life like a human in preschool it hatches it makes friends and it is happy while nothing is changing some things change of course it tastes some risks has some fun on some nights it loves it just like elementary but then it realizes it must move on it goes into a cocoon like summer vacation and it doesn't know it will happen when it comes out but then it comes out a full beautiful butterfly barging into middle school Wow so let's just yeah hmm snap it up snap it up those are poets true let's just take a few seconds to just absorb those words the beauty of the words they chose and just see metaphors I love metaphors so thank you that's the first group of poets missus T's will have a second group coming up a little bit later so great to hear their voices he could speak in two voices we have something new because young people are really leading the way in so many ways in our world today and this idea came from just I was doing an interview with a couple of students from our football team landed more to Cincinnati comments and I went to high school I mean we went to our house they both Iran and were stylist and I actually went to wildly about their community service at the Amer survival center and in the midst of the interview I asked them a question I said well you know you're in high school now so nice graduating Landers going into eleventh grade what would you say to your sixth grade self as you move to as if you said if you could go back in time and say something that would really help you and the words that they said were so inspiring that I thought we should play them at graduation and then I we even asked a couple of other Wildwood graduates who are moving on what would they would say and so we have a few graduation speakers from the high school I think and Catherine you know doing a shout out because she's backstage so I'm just looking at her and my screen so Catherine thank you so much we could not do this technology without you but on my schedule I have Julia Feldman and sinai' first the first two people okay she's nodding her head on my screen so Julia Feldman went to Wildwood and as you'll hear in her speech of course her brother Josh is graduating today so it's extra special and then tonight pollens many people knows tonight because his mom Keisha has been the co-director of a half our after-school for many years and said I helps out both in the summer camps and during the year so let's listen to these amazing high school voices hi well anyway how exciting being someone who just graduated myself I understand that it is hard graduating the way we are graduating which is at home staying safe think healthy and social distancing due to the circumstances the world is going through right now but that doesn't mean we don't get to celebrate every achievement that you guys haven't shaved throughout your wildwood experience remember to look back on your memories and be so happy and proud of everything you've accomplished first off I want to start by congratulating the entire sixth grade class of 2020 and Joshua my younger brother I love you and I'm so proud of you and Chiarello's he's like my adopted little sister I love you both I'm proud of everyone however I know so many kids in this class because of my younger siblings and I am so happy to be able to give you advice my piece of information and that is to be yourself always be yourself you should be happy that you're unique that you dress different that you look different be proud of your ethnicity be proud of where you're from be proud of you and you always should be I know it's not always easy but believe me just like Wildwood says you are a bright star shine bright and no star is exactly so thank you guys for letting me share information with you thank you guys for letting me give you advice and once again congratulations to the beautiful smart intelligent class of 2020 all right um I think a piece of advice I'd give myself my sex here itself would probably be to you know utilize all the opportunities are to get help on where that schoolwork academically socially whatever I think I'd also tell myself just to you know be more organized and you know be a little bit more confident myself and what I can do and I'd probably tell myself just to trust myself also a little more I think it's really important to like you know surround yourself with like the right people and you know just put yourself in the best situation to be successful oh yeah that's it's not you know hope you all have a great transition into the motor school that was so honest and true oh my gosh I need that advice I think yeah what stood out for you Misty's well because I think it every time we hear people speak at this today we should take a minute to listen and say okay what we really stood out at home and here with us what stood out with you well you know it's I'm thinking of when I was in 6th grade and how both of those pieces of advice would be so important and being true to yourself is it sounds easy but in 6th grade going into seventh grade it's so hard to not let other people try to tell you who you are I love that and then taking advantage of all the help that we're trying to provide so often people push educators away thinking that they've got it they can do it but you don't have to do it by yourself you can do it with help and and there's nothing wrong with that Sanai is true his statement was so true absolutely so here we are together and with with our families and and our families are ready to support all of you as you move on to seventh grade and so right now this is the time you use the word assess things that I noticed that Kathryn and music defined she looked it up for everyone verklempt for Clement my favorite words I love that word no I couldn't find it on the banner otherwise I'd put it up there but how do you define verklempt because we're about to get verklempt I tell you right now with the slideshow that slideshows come in it's the one is for clip to you where Clint is I think it's a Yiddish word isn't it yes I love you this word I don't get towards and it embodies the word in the word it's an overwhelming amount of emotion where you have hard time I feel for Klimt when I can't get my words together with the emotion is so much that I just can't get my thoughts organized it's a it's a beautiful feeling actually because it's usually coming from a space of love exactly our hearts are just so full that whatever Klimt so here we go I'm just looking at it and yeah this is it this is the offer went about 10 minutes or so so I have my handkerchief ready get issues because this is the annual student slideshow that Catherine from Catherine Runyon some technology is put together so let's just sit back and enjoy it you're broken down an entire who living lies on the merry-go-round you can't find us by sitting so we're gonna walk it out [Music] Mountain we're gonna walk it out [Music] the game [Music] [Applause] [Music] the silence is it by and it feels like it's a getting hard to breathe and I know you feel like die but I promise we'll take the world to as we bid adieu [Music] but that we have each other now but that we have each other [Music] we I'll rise like the tangy otherwise uh in spite of the egg I will rise thousand times [Music] we'll do it about it time the game [Applause] [Music] you [Music] although this way you keep stringing us [Music] there's no your [Music] don't pay no mind to the demons they fill you with fear the trouble it might rise you down you get lost you can always just no you're not [Music] [Applause] [Music] always be found no you are yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Oh [Music] Oh you [Music] do you feel verklempt definitely and I'm sure that all the families so one thing about doing it this way is that I do feel like the love that we have for all of you is is bridging the gap the physical distance you're there with your families but the love that necessities and I feel but then I can see how many staff members and other people around the world are just circling you look love sixth graders and parents and Families oh my gosh those baby pictures beautiful it is did you notice mrs.
Ronda and the rest of a great staff and all the parent volunteers it was just it was really nicely done okay thank thank you Amy and that really appreciate that I wanted to just share from the letter communication that I sent out yesterday regarding what's going on with kind of an update on school reopening I know we've talked about it quite a bit and you know what dr. Brill what's the status I get a lot of that what are we doing you have any inside information share with you a little bit about locally what we're doing and then certainly can answer questions anybody from the board has any so some of this may be a little bit rudimentary but I wanted to just remind the public that we've established the school reopening committee made up of a variety of our stakeholders including parents students teachers administrators representative from our different unions and two representatives from this board and two from the Board of Finance we've been meeting over the last few weeks in fact we have a meeting first thing tomorrow morning which will be our final meeting prior to a waiting for the July 6th update from from the state while the team has made suggestions regarding the various instructional models for reopening it's all based on our public health information and the directives we have now public health information as we all know continues to change on a daily basis the administrators will take the input and suggestions from our non-educators stakeholders and be working on that all summer long and we're going to try to turn around a plant as quickly as possible because as we all know waiting till July 6th all of a sudden you blink it's mid-year in the last week of July and people need to know what's going on and so we're going to be working very hard on this the other piece I really want to emphasize I think sometimes people in the public think that I know sometimes I get credit for having a heck of a lot more authority than I do we we as a school system absolutely do not operate in isolation we have requirements regarding reopening that have to be in a line one with health and safety regulations that comes from starting with the federal government for the Center for Disease Control to our State Department of Public Health and certainly working directly with the Brookfield Health Department who would have to greenlight our plan and allow us to open it it could not be just me saying in assurance that we'd have to work with dr.
T's on the chat line they were replicating what happens when we're in the gym so this this Runyan catherine has it set up so you see the baby picture first and everybody in the gym shouts out the name of the student they try to guess who it is and I think that was happening in everyone's home it was gorgeous I cry every year so moving right along so we have a couple more high school students it looks like we do but let me just yes oh actually we have student voices first I'm sorry so we had a we have four more brave students who wrote farewell poems and I love the way the chat as is just putting out encouragement to people for being so courageous so let's step out of the way here and hear the voices of Wildwood sixth graders and their thoughts about moving on in a poetry form ever-changing falling falling gliding in the wind changes transitions wild to the middle school constantly moving from kid teen adult I am dancing trampled by the rain brought up by the light constantly moving in this transition there are thorns that / card and flowers that smell nice and buds get too blue everything constantly moving sometimes they'll be twirling like an acrobat twisting ever-changing I create my own path never follow come sometimes it's hard constantly moving go into the middle school I will never fall my story always being told going up going down I'm sure excited overwhelmed always changing but sometimes I wonder why I can't stay the way things are do I have to counter encounter these thorns am I always changing but I remember them I see the flowers see the Sun continue dancing twisting and turning be always myself hey guys I'm gonna be reading my tailbone it's coffee unknown the unknown can be difficult but life is ever-changing when you growing up there these times he must accept change and push forward my time is now even though it's scary it can also be exciting you can look back and appreciate the paths and the memories made being must not lose sight of what's to come meeting new people and making new friends both challenging and heartwarming accepting that everyone is experiencing the unknown as give me a shirt there are new teachers to impress but wouldn't they don't like me new adventures to be had but what if I was put myself out there more school it to be done but what if I can't handle it everyone has these questions about the end note and that is something but dwelling on it will only make the inside a word I'm choosing to be positive transitioning to middle school a quite daunting task am I really ready some might ask learning balk is daunting too but if you take it slow you can get through it you can grow it's going to middle school it's like learning the next movement in the piece and if you practice your skills will increase new teachers new classes you're building new friends tales of homework that never ends a real first day of school that might never come to be my time and world farewell Wildwood farewell morning walk even if most of us skip key to hang out with miss moss farewell Rachel sunglasses I'll always remember the time I skinned miss elder with you ferrule miss moss I hope that one day can pick up my graduation present from your classroom you're the best farewell Jaime even though you didn't give me a nickname I'm still waiting farewell miss come oh you're the only person I got to talk to you about Danny Phantom with farewell mr.
Sullivan the other piece about that is that oh and I already mentioned about July 6th at the State Department of Education will provide updated guidelines and/or requirements or restrictions for how we might be able to open and that final meeting is is tomorrow with the with stakeholder group for the reopening team so a lot of good work going into it already if anybody's interested we have a link on the website we've actually just recorded the meetings rather than eight minutes so they're up there anybody wants to look and we'll simply see how it goes tomorrow and you can get the information we have an avatar the final piece I wanted to share is I was able to participate in a governor governor Lamont mountainous ball this afternoon as we know today we enter phase two I think everybody knows that and the plan is from mid-july to enter phase three but right now it was some great public health news hospitalizations in Connecticut continue to trend down identified cases continue to trend down and fatalities continue to trend down and at this point from what I was told on the meeting 95 percent of businesses can open the majority of those open I guess at 50% capacity I'm sure there's exceptions to that with the requirements still being a mask out in those establishments and of course the social distancing we've all learned about over time so that's my report I don't know if anybody has any questions thank you for your time you're on mute Rosa okay thanks any questions for dr.
Henry shout artists please stop there is no finish line you're staying the car into the woods my neighbor has two rabbits and Oh goodbye miss Karl I'll come back to finish Bob and I hope he doesn't get lonely goodbye wild hood where I made good friends ran through the halls in a dinosaur costume drag my friends out of the nurse's office back to earth and probably a lot of more weird things unless you probably oh my Peas I have a song for you it's alright to cry crying gets the sad out of you it's alright to cry it might make you feel better feeling all this love this is all good tears it's all good crying oh there's no sadness right that's right Rosen greatest songs I got about crying from happiness oh my god that we lost a little bit of the sound at the end I noticed that a couple of poems but we'll make sure that we get the words out and get the poems and up on the website great alright so thank you to all eight of the students and I know other people have farewell poems and if you want to share them we can share them on the website with people too but thank you to the eight people who were willing to share during this graduation beautiful voice and now we'll be able to hear from the sixth grade teachers to say Nick alright let's hear it we could not do it without you sixth grade teachers so let's hear what you have to you I think that we are waiting for the sixth grade teachers and she's the Miss Runyon's gonna give me a thumbs up to let us know that we're ready you thank you very much sixth-graders it has been an amazing year thank you everyone for all the hard work that you put in this year everything that you've done we've really come together as a crew it's been spectacular it's been an amazing year you've made the most of what it could be and you know despite everything that's happened you guys have really pulled together and had an amazing year welcome everyone to graduation on a Thursday it has really really truly been a pleasure to be here this year at Wildwood it's been amazing I know that there's been some challenges that we've gone through and I think that you know if we always kind of stay safe we won't necessarily grow and I think that we've since we've been challenged we've been able to grow and to think in different ways and to move forward so as we kind of move to our next stage think about those things that although we face challenges this year we did amazing work we did amazing accomplishments I wanted you to kind of think about that a little bit as we kind of move forward [Music] also with that right don't separate on the challenges you guys have had an amazing year leading up right you had a great elementary school career so please take time to reflect on that and also write to be able to look ahead to the future and being down at the middle school wherever that might be whether it's down the hill whether you're going out of state maybe you're gonna go to private school or something that's okay take take what you learned from us in yourselves this year and let that be kind of a sounding board Phaedo move forward and launch ourselves and know that no matter what from the bottom of our hearts we're all gonna miss you so so much you've made an impression on all of us hope we've done the same and we all wish you nothing but best wherever you go from here and we'll always be your teachers I hope you can stay in touch because I'm sure that we all love to hear what sort of accomplishments make so just know that you pursue in Congrats yes graduate so if we were in the gym mrs.
Berle okay subcommittee reports and up first is facilities okay so we met on the 3rd June 3rd and we reviewed the knee ask rapport and got clarity and more information on the items in the report for mr. Blandon mr. Caldwell and at our July meeting we'll continue to discuss these items as they relate to our 10 year capital plan mr. Kolb will give us some project updates so the middle school paving started on Monday June 8th with the concrete sidewalks and after graduation they'll tear it up and do the paving at WMS the fire pump generator is been commissioned and they're looking to close the project and schedule an inspection there's been roof maintenance at whiskey near and the high school there have been many chronic leaks and many tiles have been replaced about $10,000 worth of maintenance that has been very much needed I was taking place two sections of the roof at the high school were worked on as well mr.
DS we'd have all four of them lined up and everybody would be cheering them on yes because the sixth grade teachers really pulled together and gave so much to our students yes they did and I want to do a special shout out to mr. Henry cuz mr. Henry came in he knew he was coming in just for one year here at Wildwood and he gave it his all as our ela teacher and also teaching social studies and crude so Thank You mr. Henry you are shooting star and we're thinking of you in your new place wherever that may be and sending you off and feeling gratitude ready here we go one two three you feel it mr. Henry okay thank you so much and an honor to work with you yes so it looks like we have a couple more high school students yeah I know that joy and Landon are going to be sharing their messages from from high school they are graduating and now they can give their words of wisdom to our sixth graders all right so let's hear this is joy yeah McGee whoo whoo she did go to Wildwood on 3rd grade on okay and then land in if people know him is also the son of Kristin gorgeous that works at Wildwood and he's a member of our football team in our high school nice hi guys my name is joy Yama Gua and I remember standing exactly where you are six years ago when I graduated from Wildwood first of all congratulations on completing your elementary school education being in class of 2020 high school graduate I know that it's disappointing to not be able to have a traditional graduation ceremony due to the current pandemic however it's important to remember that graduation isn't all about the festivities it's a mark of everything you've worked for over the past seven years and a door to a new future I know that when I graduated from wild I was mostly excited to become a middle schooler but also anxious because I had no clue of what to expect I expect that for many of you the next few years will be filled with new challenges both academically and socially as well as self-discovery but don't worry your wonderful teachers and parents have prepared you with skills and knowledge to face everything head-on just remember when the new school year begins take risks don't be afraid to talk to the girl who's sitting alone try out for your favorite sports team sharing your unique views with your classmates and never be ashamed of who you are best of luck and I hope you all make the best of this Quarantine summer hey sixth-graders this is Landon or Jeff's I'm going into my junior year at the high school and I'd like to congratulate you on your elementary school graduation and I'd like to give you some advice that I wish I got when I was going into seventh grade the firt the first thing is keep an open mind because you're gonna meet hundreds of new people and you have to realize that a lot of them they're gonna become your best friends all my best friends I knew two of them coming into middle school and it's changes everything changes you just got to keep an open mind and remember to you know be kind and work hard but also have a lot of fun because the time goes by you so thank you Joey Landon Sanai and Julia to joining our graduation ceremony this s these were getting close to the end I think we are yeah and before we end we have another little tradition at Wildwood Inn and people will do this at their homes and that's recognizing that we're not only saying goodbye to our sixth-grade students but also to some families there are some bidden some families who've been in Wildwood for a long time I imagine a long time this is their last child that they know of this and while there aren't any more company were in the gym these families would stand up and we would recognize them that we're saying goodbye because schools are about these relationships these partnerships with families and we're saying goodbye but we're saying that there's still part of Wildwood even as they move on as a family so you know who you are and we love you and you can always come back and talk to us as a family and you can enter your last words as a family into the chat to say a little farewell that's a great idea that's something that we couldn't do if we were in the gym you couldn't do it because happy news your sight but now we can hear a message from them and we can put the share those messages if you're able to families are just so important and it's not just at Wildwood it's all over the world but I know that to honor families and everything that they bring so that we can reinforce and we can support and we can help strengthen the bonds that they are building within their children I just I'd consider that a huge honor and so for us to be able to to be trusted you help help your children grow and change that is a this just means the world to me and uh and we just hope that the every school you go to takes that and doesn't ever take it for granted because we understand how important the family is beautifully said it is a sacred trust and it's a perfect lead-in to the next part which if we were in the gymnast as these the families would stand out and they offer their blessings to the students but they'd have to do it from far away in this case it's a it's another opportunity for a turn and talk okay so sixth graders you have to let your family do this okay I know it might feel a little you know awkward but you're sitting together I hope and families parents and guardians I'd like you to turn towards your student and say whatever comes from your heart to wit them well and this s DS and I are gonna give you a minute to do that and sixth graders you're just gonna soak it up just feel it and we'll try to post things into the on screen as we see them alright so parents guardians you turn to your your beloved sixth grader and say whatever youth whatever comes from your heart we're going to disappear now for a few minutes you all right whoo and this isn't the end one thing I was thinking you know as a parent I wish you know all middle schoolers and high schoolers know that they can talk to their parents and I know you're a parent also necessities well it's the most important thing trying to build that relationship and sometimes students children as they grow older they feel like they can't talk to their parents but it's so important to try to keep that communication going as you get older I think what it comes down to is you sometimes think that you're gonna get in trouble if you talk to your parents about something but that's when you've got to remember that your parents love you and even if you've done something that might be wrong their love is stronger than any type of problem that will come just trust the love because it's there and if I could talk to my sixth-grade parent self necessities the advice I'd give to myself as a parent would be to just listen give less advice so I can do that with my grandchild I guess another kids you have another chance yes right okay right the next part so if we were in the gym we would try to get as many staff members freed up from their classrooms to be in what's called the receiving line to shake everyone's hand and give you hugs however in this distance world necessities we were able to do this with a video and we call it the fist bump video from the Wildwood staff and they're all going to be sending you fist bumps of congratulations I think miss Katherine is ready backstage here it comes sixth graders this is from all of us sixth-graders you're going off to middle school to follow your dreams you can do it have a growth mindset that's what we always say keep on trying some of you who've tried to teach me how to do a cartwheel since you were very young and I have not given up here we go a sixth grade this is it well it might be the end for us but it's just the beginning for you and don't forget you you have a day and where you're treated really bad try to treat other people better than they treated you have a great great time in middle school congratulations sixth grade you did an amazing job this year congratulations sixth graders wishing you so much more sending you lots of love good luck this is how just a few of you this is k3 when you started kindergarten I know some of you are there some way or not and of course they I want to thank those of you who helped out this year's k3 friends through interviewing teachers or doing math games or all the other things you did too so sending you lots of love wishing you many many happiness looks great I just wanted to say congratulations and no matter where you go what you do we'll all be cheering for you and thinking of you it was really fun watching you grow up to the beautiful people you are today I'll miss you at Wildwood but I hope I see you around Hey it's grade just wanted to say congratulations on your fabulous career at Wildwood I'm so sorry we didn't get to celebrate with you and your families with the stage and the speeches and I wish you all the best and I hope you have a great summer congratulations sixth graders you did it alright alright sixth graders you've made it I'm proud of you congratulations let us know how you're doing next year stop by and visit if that's safe if not maybe you can send us a little video or something all right you made it congratulations congratulations sixth grader we'll miss you congratulations sixth graders we love you congratulations sixth graders congratulations sixth-graders hey sixth grade congratulations on graduation it's been a pleasure to get to know most of you I love all of you have a great graduation middle school here you come hey sixth graders congratulations on your graduation wishing you all the best in the future sixth graders so good to meet you so good to be your music teacher even for the little bit of time that I was there I hope you have a wonderful graduation and best of luck in the future I'll see you soon congratulations sixth grade you did it congratulations sixth graders I hope you'll be a force in this world for change and I hope you have all had a great year you guys got this good luck sixth graders congratulations sixth graders good luck next year and we'll all miss you sixth-graders congratulations we are so going to miss you in the halls of wild hood but I know this next chapter in your life so that the middle school will be wonderful have a blast congratulations congratulations you rock hi class of 2020 I'm so proud of you congratulations congratulations sixth graders good luck next year in the middle school hey sixth grade graduates Massey woods here just want to send you a huge congratulations on this very special day we could not be more proud of you you have worked so hard to get here keep it up and in the meantime remember to choose kindness take care of each other and read a good book bye babies congratulations sixth grade way to go congratulations sixth graders way to go I'll miss you I know I will congratulations sixth graders you did congratulations sixth-graders way to go congratulations sixth-graders good luck in your next adventure we'll miss you congratulations from Miss Riley way to go 6th graders we love you remember to always sing your song I'm so proud of you congratulations high sixth graders congratulations and good luck at the middle school hey 6th graders go for it congratulations sixth graders miss woods is so proud of you we love you and you will do great [Music] congratulations 6th graders you are middle schoolers now good for you congratulations 6th grade are so proud of you way to go sixth graders congratulations congratulations you rock hello sixth grade congratulations congratulations sixth graders I'll miss you you did it congratulations I'm so proud of you Felisa - Yonah sixth grade was so proud of you uh I love it Nick did you know it was gonna be that wonderful I I didn't never seen that before I like surprises too and you know it what came through and what we always do a graduation is we recognize everybody's contribution every staff members contribution to the lives of these sixth graders so the fist bump was a way to do that a lot of people who wanted to make sure that they wanted that the sixth grade knew how much they can't exactly and it really takes a village each staff member has so many different relationships with students and so they each support you so we're all here for you and this is the time to say goodbye but it's not really goodbye because so many of you I think just about everybody who's in the Amherst area is coming to our school to pick up their diploma and the 50th anniversary t-shirt this is special edition that it was designed by a sixth grader Malcolm and so his t-shirt is his design is on the t-shirt and you'll be getting the complimentary t-shirt courtesy of our PG oh and as the family that necessities they'll get to walk around the buildings one last time as Jordan said so many people love that morning walk when I will be here and other staff members who could make who can make it in their schedule twenty-four different shifts so I think every no so this is it this is there they are officially shooting stars so everybody we would be human if they were walking out on them but we can do it distance with a screen each of our sixth graders in the middle school do it with us everyone come on picture them in the middle school what would you wish for them being necessities oh I I wish for them happiness I wish for them growth I wish for love yes and as as those high school students and be true to yourself be yourself that's what we say it Wildwood be who you are and let it shine ready here we go on the count of three one I think they got it I think okay I hope they eatle it this is it so now they're marching out and we'll see you soon here at Wildwood let's celebrate - some music some dance music this is the time you can have a dance party in your house [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] see you soon everybody can't wait
Cole will update us on the two open head custodian positions and we reviewed the new kovat cleaning and sanitizing protocols specifically as it relates to summer school and we'll definitely need additional staff and equipment to adhere to this criteria and that's it okay any questions for joy all right Thank You joy okay up next is Finance we had a rather short meeting on the Finance Committee this month really the sole topic was the update on our financial status for the current year and then the discussion of how that imply implicates next year this year's forecast and you guys have a copy of the current outlook in the consent agenda is we have been projecting about a five hundred and sixty thousand dollar under run this year and that lightened a little bit to about four hundred and eighty five thousand dollar under run so that's a that's a notable I can't say it's worsening but it's it's a lesser than under run from where we were and it was driven partly by reimbursement from the state the state is actually reimbursing special education coverage and a lower percentage then we've seen historically or we are we out looked and then and I was about a third of it and about a little over half of it was was some exposures in our health benefits costs mostly driven by people who didn't retire and it's interesting about that is speed you know people retirees get health coverage but they pay for it and if they don't retire then the district pastes eighty percent of it in the employee paid twenty percent so it was just a financial exposure to us reason it's a sensitivity point of courses for the finances counting on us to under run this year because that's how they're paying for some of the copán related things going on for both the district and for the town and so we prepared discussed at our meeting and then prepared answers for the board finance which has happening the following day and that went pretty well I thought so more deplaning asked their questions they got answers and and mister post even reported at that time that there's breaking news that actually takes it back the other way it will will continue now further under runs so we're on the last month of the year we're on a landing pattern toward well under running our budget calling the final number has been challenging and and we'll just continue to work it that said we're working with the the town purchasing agent and with other members of the town to procure the co bid related items that we need to open district up for next year and if you remember we counted on some pulla heads for certain items so that we would use that as part of our budget solution and those are also underway so all the pola heads and all the covered related purchases are being actively worked in terms of the budget for next year the Board of Finance did approve our budget actually you know there was a little bit of a Swizzle between a grant fund and and some other items that actually allowed us to put a little bit of money into contingency and we recommended to Ken that he leave that money about $40,000 give or take in contingency right because you know we've got so many unknowns going into next year so that was the entirety of our discussion I expect that the next couple of months we will be really focusing on on how the year closes and then the impact of what whatever method we choose for opening the schools what that may have on us and it could go in a lot of different directions I did board I just will highlight to all of us that we're gonna have to be very light on our feet in the months of August and September and October as we see what the opening plan looks like and figure out what that means to us budget wise because you can picture situations that means we'll spend more and other situations which means we may spend less and we have to go we'll have to deal with that in a very active way as a bit work so I expect we'll have a discussion every board meeting so that's the report and can I take any questions okay back to you madam chairman thanks Bob all right you have to eat consent agenda I move that the board approved the items on the consent agenda is recommended we have resignations a second thanks joy okay one favor I okay thank you on to new business we have the approval of field trips for the 2021 I can't hear I'm gonna have to sign back in okay so Eric you gotta let them back in okay can I go okay is uh yeah you can go ahead and make a motion yeah I will move that the board approve the attached list of field trips for the twenty twenty twenty-one square as recommended by Brookfield high school principal mark for lambda second okay thanks joy everyone get a chance to take a look at these perhaps I think they're pretty good the standard ones any questions on those and we went ahead and just made the motion do you have any comments the field trips okay thank you I do not I dropped out there inside every sign in so no standards field trips clock with tomorrow today standard field trips nothing fancy annual things we work on okay thank you any questions on this okay so favorite what let's hope they get to take field trips next year on favor all right motion passes thank you on to approval of field trips for these sports for sports for the 2021 on school year okay I move that the board approved the attacked list of sports field trips for the 2020 21 Squier as requested by athletic director Steve Baldwin second Beckham oh joy got it all right any questions or comments on these okay so all in favor aye okay motion passes again thank you right on to the approval of design development phase okay I move that the board approved the design development phase of the new school project as presented presented by tech town architects as the basis for the construction document space button thanks Bob I got one though I think everybody has was either there last night at the MVC meeting or has watched back the video so does anybody have any questions or anything about that presentation that you know we can that we can discuss here because essentially what we're voting on now is the end of design development there's not going to be any major changes after this so you know pretty I think Tecton did a really really nice job presenting the building and it was the first time that I had seen all of the the renderings kind of together in one space and I got really excited seeing all those photos and are not photos but the drawings and I think it's going to be a beautiful building so I'm pretty excited about it and I think they've done a good job bringing the project to this point so I'm interested to know what you guys thought so does our vote here tonight preclude the come back items that they have on the facade and the design points on that or is that kind of within the edges of the design that they can continue to work on yeah I think they can continue to work on little stuff like that yeah I think just you know the the overall the footprint of the building you know is gonna be pretty much set in stone now where it sits on the on the site and things like that so yeah so one of the questions I have is for dr.
Burrell right because as our our chief administrator of our district I think before we vote we want to make sure that your we hear your opinion on the design and that it meets all the educational priorities that we've established and sent out in quoting in great depth they were very complimentary but before we vote I want to hear from you yeah know the program requirements that were put forth and that you may recall approving that early last spring the educational specifications they were able to meet all those with the design of the building so that's the main piece and then obviously all the functional pieces that we've been going over from parking lots to site plan to the way the neighborhoods are designed the bridges they didn't get into that last night in the in the presentation but the bridges the outdoor bridges between the grade levels that makes it really interesting and cool aspects the what I'm really excited about is the architects and through the NBC we've stayed with the ABA compliant playscapes which was a really big feature that we talked about and actually met with some different parents about that and all the input from the user groups whether that was our custodial team our nurses our teachers our pupil personnel services group special education teachers just so many people have been a part of it in the vision now is coming into a reality and it was just very special to see last night so we're really excited Bob and we're ready to forge him over we're ready to go so I know your your team's the elementary principals and a lot of the teachers and a lot of building staffs were provided a lot of input have they seen the final product as proposed or and have they seen the presentation from last night you gotten any feedback no they have not seen that well they could go on the website and look but they have not have not sent it to them we just received the actual PowerPoint earlier this afternoon for mr.
choco we sent it to all of us actually so now that we have that Eric may have already posted it on the new school project website but the meaning from last night was posted first thing this morning and we can easily get those links out to the team but I just the day didn't offer me the time to get that to the folks yeah busy I will admit it's a busy time right now so it's been it's been quite a challenging year to say the least what that is you you believe this meets the requirements as we have as we've outlined as a distance yes yes all even and sweet yes I was pretty impressed to Rosa they they've done I'm so glad we hired Tecton yeah I agree all right so this is act this is um I think it's gonna be unanimous I think but it's gonna this is a big vote I mean this is gonna be you know the the biggest project this town's ever done so you know we're finally making some some real progress and construction starting is really exciting so does anybody have any other discussion comments questions on this before we bring it to a vote you know maybe I should just just step in want one more piece here that's just very important for everybody to know and again for the public as a reminder this is a very lengthy process when I first got here five years ago people people had told me John we've been working on getting a new school for 25 years so so it's it's been talked about for a long time we've started to take action years ago and we've been working diligently for four years now to get to this point look again magically we do not just we don't just magically have a put a shovel in the ground and get a building is going to take another two to two and a half years to get us in position where it's absolutely completely done and now we're starting to really work on those plans and while the students will remain at center school the students will remain in huckleberry and the students remain in the fifth grade at whiskey near just before they transition to the new school let's just say September 1st of 2022 which is a little more than two years away there's going to be it's important to let everybody know there will be inconvenience it's going to there's going to be construction there will be access road on the south side for the construction and equipment to be moved in and out and keep keep the kids safe but there will be interference especially during the 2122 school year because there's so much site and parking lot work that needs to be done in swing space just for parking spaces and then the demolition of the building over the summer of 2022 and then early in the fall summer and early in the fall 2022 when the kids are in the new building still working on the new roadways and parking lots of things so there's going to be a lot of work ahead and we're going to ask people like anything anything that's hard anything that's worthwhile it's it's not easy and it's hard to achieve so we have to be patient and we have to be supportive one another just like we've been this spring but certainly for happy are in different circumstances so I just want to make sure everybody knows this is still a long way away Construction good probably in December and then the first small bit of ground breaking will be in March or April of 2000 thank you great excellent points thank you okay so all in favor vote passes so Rosa before we move on I just like to make a comment too we have a lot of alumni and members of the public on on the thing I just will tell you if you're interested in seeing an interesting presentation on this go on the town website find the YouTube video section and look at the municipal building committee meeting from last night you can scroll through that there's an introductory business but when the Tecton architects get up they actually walk through some schematic of the building and and actually some artist renditions of different angles on the building what it would look like and it was a good discussion about about some design points but it's a school I think Brookfield will be very proud of so we move on food service contract extension I will make a motion that the board approved the extension of the Wits ins food service contract for the 2020 21 school year as recommended by director of business and operations can post second thanks Troy okay so explain this one sure the the district has a five-year agreement with wit's ins which was signed in 2016 the state requires us to execute a contract renewal amendment every year which basically gives us the the opportunity at any given time during the five-year contract if we're not satisfied to go out to bid again so this is a standard form from the state approved but it amends the contract to go one more year and this will be the final year of this five-year agreement so we'll be going out to bid again in the spring okay I just have a quite what um what is the percentage increase over lash it looks like it's broken down into two fees and management an administrative it's it's 3.2 percent and that's a rate provided by the state so that's non-negotiable yeah any other questions on this comments okay we'll bring it to a vote all those in favor aye okay thank you you're welcome okay an open letter to the community that we serve a discussion and possible motion so this is just an action we don't have a motion here but so what we have done in is drafted a letter John and I kind of worked on the original structure of it and then it has been edited and reviewed by board members and other staff members key people in the district that have really this has now become sort of like a much bigger sort of letter that's gotten a lot of contributions from everyone so this does this is a letter obviously that states our values regarding race and diversity and what I'd like to do first so that the community understands what exactly we are voting on I'd like to go ahead and read that letter aloud and then we can have some discussion from the board because we'd like to have this be sort of because they're going to be coming from the board and from the district some discussions so that hopefully on board board members feel comfortable endorsing this so I'm going to go ahead and read this first so an open letter to our community our nation is grappling with systemic issues it has struggled to address for generations individuals including citizens in Brookfield are feeling the need to act we are all disturbed by the events that have revealed how racism a lack of empathy and compassion and injustice have contributed to inequality among Americans action is required and like so many problems we face education can bring about long lasting change we are committed to ensuring the educational experience in Brookfield is part of the solution laws policies and practices addressing discriminatory behavior are commonplace our districts has thoughtfully designed to protect the rights and dignity of students staff and members of the community however we must enhance our policies by face in the underlying attitudes and beliefs that contribute to racism in both its intentional and unintentional forms racism has no place in brookfield schools as a district we remain committed to being a safe supportive and inclusive community we respect and value the diversity of our members and embrace opportunities to learn from and grow with each other recognizing and raising awareness about biases regarding race gender orientation religion and other differences and addressing these issues through culturally responsive and developmentally appropriate curriculum is important and foundational in a 21st century education we must educate our students to recognize racial bias within themselves and others and how to properly properly address it when it occurs it is the responsibility of a comprehensive education to ensure that the next generation understands the history of racism in the United States and its continued impact on the present our state Commissioner of Education Miguel Cardona has recently stated quote as adults and educators we must be proactive about making this a teachable moment by addressing issues of racism and inequity head-on and quote as a district we believe that actions make a greater impact than words the Board of Education and superintendent are scheduling a summer retreat to set specific and actionable objectives to address diversity equity and race in our districts educational priorities real change takes dedication and focus and we will use the summer workshop to build substantive actions some of which will have immediate impact and others that will grow and thrive over time civil and peaceful movements inspire unity compassion and action we are committed to ensuring all students staff members and families feel welcomed safe and supported only by teaching our students to humbly recognize problems to have the courage to reflect and show empathy and to solve complex issues can we help them create their tomorrow so all of you have a copy of that final draft of the letter so what I would like to do is hear from my fellow board member in sort of this open in public forum so that we can hopefully come together as a board put something out as one so anybody would like to go first go ahead Jen yes I'll go first I I feel like this is an important thing for us to do as a school district and particularly as a board because it's a way for us to say that much like a lot of the speaker said maybe we weren't aware ourselves maybe we ignored things before but no longer and the mistakes of the past are giving us an opportunity to do better we can all do better in the future so I'm proud to be part of a district that is able to strongly state our values because that's what our will guide our work if we can get together to say this is what's important this is what we want how we want to challenge ourselves every step that we make along the way can go back to that that those values that we've exposed so I actually support and I'm proud to be part of of that type of a letter to our community go ahead Debbie I was just gonna say it I fully support the letter as well I think it's very well-written and includes everything that we as a school district want to represent and reflect in our educational system I just wanted to build on some of the comments from the speakers that spoke tonight and I think you know one of the things that really resonated with me was I think it was Liz Murphy who said she really didn't feel like she there was anybody she could go to there wasn't she didn't feel that she could talk to anyone about what she was hearing and being exposed to and I feel like we really need to pay attention to that and you know yes there there are laws and policies and practices in place but I don't think I don't think those laws and policies and practices on paper are enough so we have to do whatever we can to ensure that our staff and and anybody else in the school parents coaches are not only listening but also maybe inquiring from time to time you know make maybe it's not something that kids are comfortable broaching as a subject unless someone asks them so I'm not sure how to do that but I think that's important go ahead bubs so in one of the edits of the letter as it was going around somebody inserted the word humbly in the last paragraph and it says only by teaching our students to humbly recognize problems have the courage to reflect and show empathy and solve complex issues can we help them create their tomorrow one thing I'm going to say is it's not just students it's us right and the administration we what I heard tonight was you can't walk into this discussion with any assumptions we have to be humble and are accepting the fact that we have racism in brookfield and we're not preparing our students to go out in the bigger wider world because Brookfield is a like any small town it's a microcosm and and we have we have students that go out in the world and they are our tomorrow so I think when we go to our workshop which I hope we're choosing dates pretty quickly because this is going to get stale but we are I think we ought to start with a discussion of we do have problems and we got to go we got to accept that we don't have a strong curriculum on on racism and we can deal with that we have to have processes and procedures that allow people to speak up and be heard when there's an issue and we have to be able to eradicate problems when they rise somebody said it today some of the racism is rooted in the families so part of what we also have to do is help students understand that they can be strong in standing up to racism which i think is very important so I say I think this is really important but I do think I urge us all to come into that discussion very humbling and and come out of that discussion with hard actions that we can be taking like on day one because for me the frustration with the whole discussion is there's a lot of there's a lot of noise there's not a lot of action yet and I want to the noise is important to drive action so I got that but right it's up to us to make it action right that's what if that's what small small town boards are about and and I feel really strongly about that great I wanted to know what one of the speakers said that really resonated with me and I agree is that like through our school system in our education I have the same experience you learn about slavery and then the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King and then it kind of ends there and racism is still obviously very prevalent in this country and it's continued to be and that's something that I think we need to really address head-on in our schools and not pretend you just because we had a black president doesn't mean this country is and still extremely racist we have a big problem and I'd really I look forward to taking the lead on that thank you anything you know I don't we do enough on civics in general I think we like to have one elected on civics and civics is current events it's what's facing us as we're doing I think that this all fits under that general topic and I do think we owe it to our students to have them not just learn history but also learn how do you deal with the work and the world as it is not the world as you wish it was so sorry I won't keep going Mike did you want to say something don't say it Richard I don't wanna I'm not gonna belabor it was cuz I everything again everything Deb you said everything Bob said everything Amy said is I'm just gonna repeat it all cuz it's great I just want to rehash the point of you know again I really agree with the with Debbie here same thing with Elizabeth II I'm sure there's no relation but as you probably know a few Murphy's that you should feel safe for your school period in a sentence I mean that that is very it is tough to hear that you can't go to a teacher or administrator with with an issue so you know as a parent as well that that does you know that at least strikes a chord so I think first and foremost we need to establish that you know establish that trust with with students and it's okay to come to administrator or teacher I mean for those problems that that's okay join yeah I think the letter is a you know the first step in promoting positive change and we can really you know capitalize on what we're facing right now and you know I look forward to working with each of you and you know moving ahead and making positive changes in roses is there an opportunity for me to speak at this moment yeah absolutely I want to make sure the board members have their their your turn I'd like to humbly ask dr.
Ruby our assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction and personnel to share some of the hump we share some of some of the things we're doing in curriculum because it's been a lot of generalizations and statements made tonight it's important that we know where were where we are and in to the point Joe just made the letter is a great first step for positive action I think we've all loaded to that and the work we need to start this summer and then move forward but there are some things that I think are important for the board to know that are ongoing as we get ready to build and some of the you know I know in the first edits I think mr. belman had a statement in there about actions we might immediately see some some change on and so I think this is an exciting opportunity for dr.
Ruby - sheriff you a few items for you dr. Rubin oh thank you for the opportunity to speak so what's interesting and I don't know you know how many people know anything about me but prior to coming to Brookfield I spent the majority of my educational career in priority school districts so very diverse communities this is the first non priority School District that I've worked in since I began my career and one of the things that struck me when I came to rock field his number one what a lovely and caring community it was and I was really uplifted by the fact that that we have the opportunity to tackle curricular changes because they were definitely needed particularly with the changes in the standards in the state of Connecticut we no longer have a set of standards whereby you can introduce in the spring part of the year preparatory components to prepare students to do well on CMT tests or capped the the assessments that the state has chosen and I'm not sponsoring this standing here or sitting here as a sponsor of standardized tests they're just a fact of life and you know we're a public school district so we have to abide by those those laws but we didn't have curriculum that would support students in the type of endeavors that they would be challenged by both on state assessments and when they got into college and career so we've had amazing support from the board for the finances that were needed for curricular changes and necessarily we had to start with math and ela since those are two subjects that really impact all of the other subjects social studies is an area that I have advocated for for a number of years and we're really we're really challenged and we really must meet that challenge of developing what I would call civic competence and an appreciation of diversity not just in high school courses but from the very GetGo and we have been working on developing a standards align social studies curriculum that really gets at that very heart that starts at the kindergarten level so in our current curriculum which is quite old that we are addressing the same things over and over and over again and some of the speakers here who are highly articulate have addressed some of those same thematic kind of things that we know Martin Luther King day this day that day and we're just basically going through activities so our goal is to really develop a social studies curriculum that engages kids in understanding diversity diversity within their own families diversity within the community and diversity within the world through a study that begins in kindergarten and then leads up to the higher level courses that they take in high school and that is going to require them to have civic engagement so one of the other things that we're doing in terms of bringing diversity to the forefront and not just racism all kinds of diversity because well racism is critically important especially considering what's going on in the world today there are other issues that all of our children must be exposed to and that and I think that it was very well said by almost everybody this book tonight that is not just just the children and schools but it's the families and the community because if we teach things in schools about diversity about orientation about gender about religious differences and students are only getting that in school and then they go back into their homes and into the community we're not really providing a wraparound services for the way kids are thinking and we're setting up a dichotomy of messages that they're getting from three different areas from school from family from community so cultural responsive curriculum is something that's critically important to do and not as a not as just social studies but as integrated curriculum with literacy with our social emotional learning curriculum and with with the humanities so I received I wrote a competitive grant this year long before we had the virus epidemic and before we had the situation that we're facing that we're talking about tonight and it has to do it was a competitive grant a federal grant and it was really built around culturally responsive curriculum and supporting as you all pointed out it has to start with the adults so our teachers our staff our mental health providers have to understand what culturally responsive curriculum means and that involves communication so long before we got to tonight we were working on that long before we got to tonight we definitely have an understanding of the need for a diversity and civic engagement focused curriculum in social cities that's also aligned with our ela and our writing and so we have to bring speaking writing and listening skills into the forefront when we're talking about all this there's so much that I could talk to you about tonight about what we have been working on and what we've been advocating for in terms of financial support with our classroom libraries and aligning the literature that's in those libraries to support our ela curriculum as well as our social studies curriculum so I think that we can prepare documents to show you exactly what we're doing in this summer retreat that the superintendent is coming up with the other thing that I would share with you is that two years ago we're a year and a half ago I was placed on an SEO national SEO subcommittee of aasa which is the American superintendent's Association and we had our first in Nashville and this was at the topic social emotional learning and culturally responsive curriculum and I'm on that committee we were supposed to be going this June to a site this and an and over and over is a school district that's working with at school district in New York and a school district in Kentucky on social emotional learning curriculum and social studies curriculum that just has this focus that we're talking about tonight we were unable to go to the site visit so for the past three weeks and next week we're having virtual a virtual site visit so an hour and a half of working with the teachers from the and oh and the administrators from the end / public school and I'm working with them and in in the study group from these three states that are looking at how do you really revamp the curriculum so that it's not an activity based or an event based or oh we we covered that really engaging students in identifying who they are respecting who they are understanding who their community is and then going broader to understand what's going on in the world and taking it in a personal way for civic engagement so not just what is going on but what can I do about it and I think that's what we need to do so I look forward to being able to speak to you in a more coherent way with evidence of what we're doing so that you can chime in and I really appreciate it I think it I wrote down stuff you talked about you know the support of people in your group who have spoken tonight wanting to help us with that and I particularly picked up on something used I think you said artists so the last thing I'll tell you about is a project that kind of got sidetracked we're still working on it because of the virus we I wrote a grant last year that we were hoping to implement this year and it was 40 using the grant funds to integrate the arts into our social studies curriculum and the pilot that got approved for this grant was in the seventh grade social studies curriculum and it was on protest and the Revolution and so the curriculum that was designed for the pilot in working with arts for learning Connecticut was looking at this was probably very engaging for middle school students looking at graffiti and hip-hop music lyrics as forms of protest and we had artists and residents that were going to come in to whisk in here and work with our social studies teachers to really take this whole concept of protest looking at the Harlem Renaissance and what went on at the Apollo Theater looking at the whole hip-hop evolution looking at graffiti art you know through that lens of people needing to express how they felt about the issues that they were protesting about and so we were we were super excited about that because it aligns with our state standards it's it's engaging the arts it's having artists and residents working with our our teachers right in our school system and that's on hold right now but we I just got noticed and and mr.
Posca noticed the other day that we just received another $10,000 so we didn't get to spend our money this year so we have twice as much money for next year so we're working on this it's really very important to me and I can't wait to work with you guys in the summer hopefully you'll be around either through soom or if you're visiting Maureen thank thank you so much for going through that is really important to share because I think we're enough a good position for launch on this and I've said enough though I'll turn it over to Rosa as part of that I I agree I think we're in a good place to do something but you know I I would be remiss if I didn't say that everything you talked about dr. would be sounded great but I hear a lot of inclusivity diversity all of that isn't new I think we are in a completely new era and there is a very big difference between inclusivity and deliberate anti-racist training and I think I would just like to see some much more very deliberate anti-racist you know training or are parts of the curriculum you know not just sort of you know learning about each other and being culturally aware and all of that stuff which is which is all great but I think we need to do something radically different and I think that's that's the world we're living in and I'll you know I'll just you know I I too went to Brookfield and did not keep my sort of education in the real world until I left and I'm not a person of color but I am raising one and I do not want her going through the same school system without and coming out of that without that sort of basis of what the real world really is like and it's it's not always pretty and it's not always going to be even for people who have had diverse in inclusivity training you know education it's it's it's not always going to be a pretty environment for her either so you know I would like you know to see Oh something a little more radical and if that could just be you know kept in mind when you're you know designing some of these tools you know I think that would be a better way to go no I hear I hear what you're saying I'm just telling you what we've done in the past that's that's the what we've been working on what you're talking about tonight intern of racism that's what the Summer Seminar is gonna be about and that's work that needs to be done but my point was that we haven't been in a we haven't been an avoid of not dealing with diversity because if you look at the curriculum documents that have been in existence up until now that's really not in there except for what the students that the former students have shared right so it's a step yeah and to that point so we you know we dr.