you know yeah so earlier you got a problem go later you got a problem yeah i think that would frankly i do think that would be difficult to give us time to prepare for that because i do want to put some real thought into how we would facilitate to get to the goals that you have for the meeting um and my schedule is you know fairly booked over the next week or so that so that would only give me you know a few days to do it so i'm i'm starting to think you know i wonder if it would be helpful for you so this next meeting in july july 1st having the informational stuff so if we can get the dda if we can get somebody from parks to come speak and then maybe we talk a little bit more about what what you really want out of this facilitated session and what maybe we have planned for it you know we could kind of come with you with a proposal basically and then shape it a little bit more with the discussion that we have on the july 1st meeting and i know that's not meeting your goal jeff of trying to get something done in the next 30 days but it might actually be better if we did hold it off a little bit longer to be able to give it some more thought i think jeff and frank and then erica yeah i mean i i certainly respect the views of of heather and others uh about the timing uh obviously i i feel a great adventure maybe than some others i'm not saying other everybody doesn't feel a sense of urgency i i do think we have the ability to do it within the next 30 days i think robert black is somebody who's offered pro bono to help be a support so he can take some of the load in terms of providing support off of heather and and camilla and i i would just ask the question is there any reason why we couldn't have this on a weekend i mean i'm happy to do it on a weekend i know where other people have family obligations or they need you know relief from the from the week and so forth but is there any reason why we couldn't do it on a weekend i think heather may be the one that has i would prefer not to do it on a weekend yeah i i i i i don't mind meeting on weekends but i i do want to be uh you know heather is here as a as a paid employee of the city and i think we need to be a little uh respectful of her um fact that she that we don't want to ask her to take up a lot of personal time although if you're in meetings every night uh you're pretty much doing that already so and i mean if i it's not that i've never done it before it's my preference now if we need to do it you know it's something that we do i think we did it for the past saturday meetings oh frank um two points uh i i don't know if there's any reticence to engage with robert black he doesn't have to be part of the actual facilitation but i think he's a tremendous resource to help camilla and and heather uh frame this out uh i know there's issues about if you start getting outside people involved it might involve an rfp i want to avoid that for this this activity um but just to look at robert as a ready willing and able volunteer resource and if involving him actually in the facilitation it becomes an issue then just use them as a resource the second thing i is there any reason we couldn't have the facilitated session on the first i know and i agree with erica we do want to hear from these other parties um what my sense is that this facilitation is is the important thing to move forward on and maybe have that be the southern substance of our april excuse me july 1st meeting um i don't know just an idea just a question to that point is there is there any reason uh from a structure standpoint we couldn't do the facilitated discussion on july 1st and take action on july 1st around the formation of the subcommittees is there are we prevented i don't think so okay yeah i don't think so but uh related to that time do you know if there's any issues with having an outside volunteer consultant help with facilitating i mean i mean i think it's up to you i think one of the things that that uh that we've talked about before from a public uh participation standpoint is um making sure everything is uh is open and and available to people mr black's very qualified is there someone else right i mean that's always the question so so i realize it slows things down but that is the way you typically work is to usually cast the net to be as inclusive as possible but i don't think it's prohibited no particular as a resource i think particularly as a resource i think you could do that if if you and camilla feel that way and and the council haircut yeah from my perspective i mean i if there's if there's desire to do a facilitated section um session on the first as opposed to um something else i you know during the learning session that's i don't have super strong opinions on this um i did think that heather had a good suggestion of spending this month um working with partners to figure out what exactly is what are specifically what do we want to get out of this how is it going to be framed how do we use this time productively present that to us um you know hopefully get something on the calendar so for then for july that we are already committed to and that we then have the time to kind of do this process properly and really get the most out of it i thought that was uh that that made sense we've also talked about wanting to all to get together at the space physically um and i don't know that that um needs to be facilitated um i do think there's some benefit in having us all there and walking around at the same time i don't um think that i think we could almost schedule that for some weekend and not have to have staff present to walk around with us if that seems fine but if not um you know we could schedule it for some for some evening when we know that there's um i can see you know who's on commissions here you know maybe that's something that could happen on the 23rd or something like that that we try to try to present an opportunity for us all to at least be at the space at the same time um to meet one of our goals and i did just get word back from the clerk's office that we have the green light to do that so there's some question about whether we can do that because of the open meetings act but it it sounds like we can so we i just need to notice it um so we're good to go and as long as we can find a time that everybody can go and do that yeah and uh i i guess i want to also support um um heather's suggestion i think i realize it feels a little bit slow but there's real um in working here on on a topic like this we tend to bounce the the the council's develop bouncing between high level vision stuff and detailed stuff and working through the methodology that she's describing i think will help you get there in a organized fashion and maybe just more efficiently also you may want to cons uh we can check with the dda if you're interested in the next meeting um having their discussion around the deck occur at the deck on site right maybe that's maybe we just do that that evening um if that's helpful because you you you well you could walk around on your own you could see what they mean on the water system for example it's a crazy system that happens to be installed and why it's challenging maybe seeing that may help you get a better understanding of why it's not a small feat to put water somewhere tom i think that's a really good point one thing i do think were feels like what we're we've got uh certainly a lot of interest in these learning discussions of which i would put you just what you just suggested in that category but then this facilitation it seems like this is going to take really our entire two hours if we're going to do it on july 1.
cedric is known and loved by the bound community congratulations melissa and cedric at central school we have two special winners to share with you a gifted instructional assistant amy wasserman who funds creative ways to engage her young learners and student assistant specialist kara ennis who meets the needs of the students staff and parents with her warmth and her thoughtful counseling skills congratulations ladies cutic school we have two incredible staff members to recognize first our spectacular maine office secretary lucy reed who is dedicated over 20 years to our district and elizabeth rielle o'connors a gifted esl teacher who treats each new esl family as her own thank you lucy and beth for your service to architect community i'm excited to present frost elementary school staff award winners for this year first our support staff winner donald whitmer school safety and security officer who is loved and admired by all of frost students and second our amazing teacher of the year ashley sachs who uses her creativity to prepare exciting lessons for the fifth graders in fact my daughter emily was one of her students so i can attest to that fact congratulations to these top fine individuals are very fortunate to have them at frost irwin school is blessed with two amazing staff award winners for 2021 first teacher of the year abby salgado who promotes healthy lifestyles in her fun and fabulous physical education classroom equally amazing is our support staff winner vikki dabari who makes every day a little bit happier for the staff and students at irwin school supervising lunch and recess congratulations to these incredible staff members lawrence brooke school excellence radiates from our two award winners first fifth grade teacher christina hoover who brings literature to life in her language arts classes and jessica acosta a former east brunswick high school student turned talented educator who has worked with our special populations for the past six years congratulations christina and jessica for everything you do for the lawrenceburg community memorial school holds a special place in my heart and those two staff award winners positively contribute to our school community our school of the year is christine simple who peels her heart and soul into making her classroom an exciting place to learn our support staff winner donna anderson also helped happens to be a retired east bronzing teacher but now dedicates her time to working as a student of science school aid congratulations to those fine winners it is with great pleasure that i share one store for elementary schools two staff award winners for 2021.
to say we made it would be an understatement 2020 and 2021 challenged us with adversity but we powered through it and for many of us graduation seemed to be a distant dream that wasn't even possible however i believe that we all share a unique characteristic that has brought us here today an unrelenting essence of strength determination and grit can be found within all of us and rather than envisioning our future i'd like to take a moment to reflect on the past and to focus on an obstacle that we have all overcome in high school we often feel that it's important to discover ourselves to find out who we truly are and what we really want and in doing so we sometimes lose our friends significant others and even ourselves and although that we know many of these events won't matter much in the future in high school it can feel like the problems that we face are as if the world is ending and it's only been the second period of the day while we know that many of these moments won't matter much in a year or five years or even 10 years from now it's important that we realize that these are the events and experiences that shape who we are and who we become in the words of oscar wilde education is an admirable thing but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing worth knowing can be taught life grants us these amazing opportunities and experiences that we get to learn from we make mistakes and we learn from them we go through painful times and we learn from them and everything that we've learned goes far beyond what the classroom could have ever taught us luckily i know this class is strong enough to withstand the challenges that will be thrown their way and with each challenge they will become more equipped to prevail through the next even when it feels like the walls are caving in please remember that these events are what motivate your character to grow adapt and thrive there will always be a silver lining in the darkness or a lesson to be learned through the pain because when we experience our lowest points we are open to the greatest changes as i close i'd like to remind everyone of the words of drew barrymore life is very interesting and in the end some of our greatest pains become our greatest strengths [Music] slow down you crazy child you're so ambitious for a juvenile but then if you're so smart tell me why are you still so where's the afraid what's the hurry about you better cool it up before you burn it out you've got so much to do and only so many hours but you know that when the truth is [Music] you can't be everything you want to be before your time although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight tonight too bad but it's the life you lead you're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need though you can see when you're wrong you know you can't always see when you're right you're right you've got your passion you've got your pride but don't you know that only fools are satisfied dream up but don't imagine they'll all come true [Music] slow down you crazy child and take the phone off the hook and disappear [Music] the whole life waits for [Music] waits for you [Music] [Applause] it is now my privilege to recognize the valedictorian and salutatorian to deserving members of our senior class these awards are the highest academic achievement a senior can earn during their high school career we will begin by recognizing our salutatorian who will come forward to accept this award please join me in congratulating the salutatorian of the class of 2021 miss caitlin stauffer [Music] [Applause] we will now present concord high school's highest academic honor for the class of 2021.
she was highly involved in establishing the kindergarten model at darcy school in 1990 and taught there for 21 years when the district moved to full day kindergarten lynn moved to norton elementary school where she has taught kindergarten for the past seven years lynn is the quintessential kindergarten teacher she's fully committed to meeting the unique needs of young learners through developmentally appropriate practice her strengths lie in understanding each child individually assessing where they are in terms of social emotional and academic development and teaching to enhance development in both areas she establishes relationships with family families excuse me and fiercely advocates for her students lynn is also a special colleague who effectively collaborates with fellow teachers a true team player over the years she has served on numerous committees including the scientifically scientific research-based intervention committee principal advisory and safe school climate committees she was also recognized by the board of education for her leadership as captain of darcy's relay for life team for many years lynn will be remembered for her kindness and care for each of her students for effectively preparing her students for first grade and for her deep connections with families and her loyalty and commitment to the professional learning communities of doolittle darcy and norton school congratulations on your 34 years of service and thank you on behalf of the cheshire public schools congratulations on your retirement [Applause] congratulations uh the next honoree isn't here this evening but again i'd like to acknowledge her anyway diane may stow diane graduated from albertus magnus college with a bachelor's degree in math and earned her bs plus 30 from southern connecticut state university she began her teaching career in amity regional district 5 where she worked until she started her family when her children were little she worked as an ia at doolittle elementary school and in 1999 diane was hired to teach math at cheshire high school over the past 22 years diane has taught algebra 1 2 geometry statistics and ap statistics she has served on numerous committees mentored student teachers and has been a class advisor diane is passionate about her subject and her students she believes all students can succeed math and makes them believe it too diane has a great sense of humor and her classes are welcoming and at the same time challenging students in her class gain confidence in their abilities to master difficult concepts while the moment is bittersweet diane looks forward to spending more time with her husband children and four amazing and beautiful grandchildren who are a constant source of joy congratulations diane [Applause] the next honoree uh again is not with us this evening uh it's terry shulman terry earned her bachelor's in textile marketing from the university of rhode island and masters in computer science from the university of hartford and a six-year degree in educational leadership from central connecticut state university terry began her career teaching in farmington and then moved to canton public schools where she taught 7th grade math pre-algebra algebra and geometry for 16 years terry joined the math department at chs in 2001 and has taught algebra 1 algebra 2 geometry and pre-calculus she has worked hard to infuse technology into her lessons and expand students understanding of mathematical concepts she's been an active member of the associated teachers of mathematics in connecticut as well as the national council council of teachers of mathematics having presented at both conferences terry attended conferences annually to bring new ideas to the classroom and make her lessons meaningful and applicable to real-world situations she has served on the cheshire curriculum council mentored student teachers and was a class advisor terry looks forward to having more time to follow her other passion of directing children's theater in retirement congratulations on your retirement and thank you for your 20 years of service [Applause] our next uh honoree is also not here andrea sedorik andrea holds a bachelor's in nutritional science from the university of connecticut a master's in public health from southern connecticut state university a bachelor's in earth science from southern and a master's in education from the university of new haven being an educator was a second career for andrea she worked for about 10 years as a clinical dietitian before making the career change to education andrea was a university of new haven intern from 1998-1999 chs and was then hired as a science teacher in 2001.
um so we do need to figure out our priority here and i want to alan and then alice both have her hands up here that's well i want to i want to persevere that july 1 we have our we have a formal agenda structure i think a facilitated discussion is really some some way to go back and forth and have a conversation where we begin to have some sense of how we are working together and who we are in all this and i would like to see a a professional facilitator uh robert maybe somebody else who would do this as a contribution to our effort i would say the uh the day thursday the 24th but i would ask that heather put out a doodle to see whether there is a better date before the first of july or before that uh thursday so we would have a week before our july meeting to put anything on the agenda that would come out of that facilitation and uh that we not delay this further i think it's very good if we could have the dda give a uh discussion for us and other in the parks commission and learn from all those people but i think this is for among ourselves to see how we feel that we are joining one another that's what i see and that we each put out some kind of initial statement of our sense of priorities and that could be drawn more inclusively together for the benefit of everyone so that's what i see in a facilitated discussion uh rather than that we have a set of questions predetermined that we all we all have our questions that we have put out there already so yeah i could i that's that's the way i feel that we should do this sooner if there's a better date let's do a google google group or a doodle thing whatever that thing is to see if there's a better time that could include more people you know and not that not to delay it and not to confuse it or compromise it with the july meeting and it may be more than two hours i don't know alice you've had your hand up um this uh at the moment we're past our nine o'clock um time we have uh there have been people speaking multiple times for multiple lengths of minutes and i hesitate to even talk at this point because i cannot quite figure out where we're going at the moment because we have conflicting [Music] ideas of what we should do next and how we should do it i don't have much confidence at this point that a facilitated meeting would get us any further and or if we combined them in the next meetings agenda that we wouldn't have the same situation that we had from last agenda where we didn't have time for one of the major discussions which we have taken up tonight so i i don't have much to contribute here except to ask everybody to think about how we can conclude this meeting with something decided and save our comments perhaps for written thoughts or something that we can look at much like we had tonight where we if you know if i had been able to i would have looked at them ahead of time but uh so that's i have concern about our usage of time at the moment i think that's pretty fair um frank and i'm gonna make a suggestion after you speak frank um i i think there's a certain level of frustration this is our my accounting rights our fourth meeting um and i think we're getting to know each other we're we're making some progress but i i think there's a feeling that a facilitated process is i understand it i i will admit that most of my education and this has come from from robert but that uh i i think we we need to need to press forward with that and i i don't know if it would be appropriate to ask you adam and camilla and and heather whoever else to to you know offline wrestle with this and and decide what's going to work i mean when you when we look at heather's schedule and other considerations you know this has to be workable and that was part of my reason for suggesting you know july 1st for this but i understand other other things need to be done as well but i i'm just trying to figure out a way to how to move this forward uh from this from tonight to a decision that that could be relayed back to the to delegate to you and and well and heather to work this out and probably alice too of course so i'm gonna make a suggestion that uh what we do is we do an offline and we can do a doodle poll we can also uh you know reach out and check and see if there is a possibility of the last week of june doing something in terms of facilitated discussion if that doesn't work then i'd like to uh have uh the group buy into doing the facilitated discussion on july one and then subsequent to that in some time some period you know between the july and august meetings we do the learning session on site um and so that way we've got some flexibility it seems like the order of operations here that folks are coalescing around is we need to do the facilitated discussion in order to take steps forward learning session is also very important but but should come after that facilitated discussion um and so if if there's i'd like to see what folks feel about that type of um approach makes sense to me i agree good okay any objections okay okay okay so uh so with that then uh heather camilla and i will touch and alice will touch base offline we'll figure out schedules if something can be scheduled the only week we're going to try and target is that last week so that there's ample room for for heather and camilla to work on the facilitation piece um and if it doesn't work we'll publish the agenda for the facilitated discussion on july 1.
first our support staff winner lori o'connor an instructional assistant who puts a tremendous amount of pride into her work every day and fifth grade teacher kelly stalling who expertly teaches math science and social studies with an unmatched passion congratulations ladies middle school the teacher of the year is our incredible media specialist lenoir catalano effectively known to her students as miss cat a woman who even the confines of her virtual existence this year could not extinguish her warmth and her connection to those students provides a support and exciting place for students to explore print and digital media our support staff winner is head custodian taser barsby who is called a mentor and a motivator by his colleagues and a hero by the pta congratulations to lenore and taser our hammer shoulder superstars and at churchill junior high school our support staff winner jeffrey uh jeffrey sedlecki who dedicated 35 years of putting the needs of churchill students and staff before his own so i guess he started right after i left there taking great pride in maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment our teacher of the year ashley fuzek makes history come alive every day with a tremendous passion uh for to inspire of lifelong learning congratulations to both jeff and ashley east brunswick high school has selected two outstanding staff award winners for 2021 our teacher of the year sarah murphy pairs meaningful instruction in literature infused with her passion for social and emotional growth support staff winner maria wood has an infectious smile and a deep enthusiasm for her work as a maine office secretary congratulations to these fine staff members with great pride i introduced susan lachino as the administration building support staff winner for 2021.
we do have a tie for this honor this year so both students will deliver the valedictorian address we now ask that the co-valedictorians come forward to accept this award please join me as we recognize the class of 2021's co-valedictorians miss emma gingrich and miss justina riffle i would like to begin this speech like almost any other commencement speech with wow we made it we're here unlike in other commencement speeches however our class has faced some unique challenges that deserve to be addressed i took you back to fourth grade when the district decided to cancel the annual fourth grade trip to indy the year we were supposed to go clearly i'm not still bitter about that we had a little respite and then the infamous landfill fire of eighth grade we got smoked out of the junior high and sent home early how often does that happen then freshman year in the spring of 2018 the great floods hit we thankfully weren't as flooded as some other area schools but the yellow creek field and lower track were basically swimming pools if you thought we would get off easy sophomore year think again the polar vortex in winter of 2019 left us stuck at home for several days all of this led up to our junior year however in which the summer started with a huge construction-related flood in the music department then some seventh graders hacked the internet which got us sent home and then the obvious mid-march pandemic shutdown unless you've been living off the grid and only come into town once a year to buy oats you know how insane these last 15 months have been we missed out on junior year spring season for sports which is an important time for scouting we missed out on music performances and prom and awards night ceremonies and spring break vacations and human interactions we had no end date in sight and we were left in limbo when school started again there were still so many unknowns the hybrid schedule left the high school feeling a bit like a ghost town and i know so many of us yearned for the school year to just be over the senioritis covid school mixture did not help yet we persisted and if we hadn't we would not be here today now i want to be sensitive to some of the other struggles people in our class have faced over the years most of what i've mentioned seems pretty trivial looking back on it some of you have faced real losses throughout your school career like the death of a classmate or family member or struggles with illness and so much more these are not insignificant and we need to acknowledge this added pain a class has been through so much and yet through it all we have still seen so many successes even just managing to get up and exert some effort in class is a success one of my favorite teachers would say that being in school is a choice and i thank you all today for choosing that i think it's fair to say that we are truly made stronger throughout these hardships and i can say with confidence that this class will bring tenacity flexibility and perseverance to anything we choose to do nothing in life will seem too crazier out of the realm of possibilities now i know it's cliche to say in this type of speech but i'm proud of you i'm proud of us i really am we have been given so many opportunities to just check out throw in the towel but we didn't and now we're here thank you all we will be forever bonded in the shared wacky trip of a high school experience i would like to begin today by thanking everyone in attendance from friends and family in the audience to teachers and staff making this possible you have all influenced us in ways you couldn't imagine without you we wouldn't be where we are today thank you all after a hefty amount of google searching and stressing on how to give the perfect speech i realized that maybe the most memorable speech would be one that was so horrible it was good so after reading through many do's and don'ts on how to give a successful valedictorian speech i've decided to ignore all of their advice and actually do the complete opposite so follow along the webster dictionary defines commencement as an actor instance of convincing beginning so i might feel as if there's an end to a race and reality is just beginning and it's crucial that we push ourselves more than ever i have worked so hard for this and i cannot wait to succeed now it while it might seem like it's time to relax it is time to push ourselves more than ever whether we're heading off to college joining the workforce or military or so on speaking of relaxing i cannot wait to go to the beach this summer think about it we just got out of this high school and you're really gonna this negative energy carry on sorry guys that wasn't good don't read word for word don't make it about yourself don't read too fast don't get distracted don't be negative don't apologize these were all things i was told to do not to do yet i did them anyways so now you're probably what the wondering what the point was of potentially giving the worst speech concord has ever heard well here's your answer as i was originally writing this speech i was so set on following each individual rule and outline that i lost sight of how i wanted to give this speech and almost gave an unoriginal successful speech that was given a million times before now sometimes in life we just feel like this we have this need to follow expectations of what success is and dismiss our own wants to please others expectations i do not want to see anyone here today live life pleasing others and forget what success means to you because success is not defined by a college degree or wealth just like how the success of this speech is not defined by the following the do's and don'ts what success is defined by is the fulfillment and happiness you receive so live your life how you want to because if you find something that gives you purpose and you persevere you will find the success that most don't because as albert schweitzer once said success is not the key to happiness happiness is the key to success thank you all each year students have the privilege to select a teacher who will address the graduating class at their commencement ceremony this year our seniors have chosen mrs sheila uretnik for this honor it is my pleasure to congratulate and introduce you ms sheila eurednik [Music] good evening thank you dr kendall i'd like to extend my gratitude to superintendent dan funston the school board administrators colleagues parents grandparents and most importantly the graduates i am so honored to be with you you have changed me forever to the class of 2021 you are amazing what an incredible four-year journey you've been on while high school can be challenging you have faced unprecedented circumstances your presence here is proof of your resilience which is essential in overcoming obstacles and life is going to continue to throw the unexpected your way i challenge you to add love alongside your resilience an increased measure of love in our life propels us forward increases compassion and fuels personal growth let love lead you in three areas of your life first when deciding a profession choose what you love to do whether you love to dance repair cars repair hearts write solve mathematical equations or cook do what you love and you won't have to deal with that feeling of dread the night before you go to work but what if you don't know what you love or what you want to do and every time someone asks you so what are you going to do after high school and your stomach starts to turn just breathe it's okay go find what will create a passion in you and then your job won't feel like work because it becomes a fluid enjoyable part of your life second apply love to your interactions with other people simply recognize that each person you come into contact with has their own story love them where they are in their life that doesn't mean you have to like everybody or agree with everyone but realize that love fosters kindness forgiveness does not judge love increases compassion our interactions with other people no matter how brief will have a positive or a negative impact think of what happens when two stones are thrown into water in close proximity to one another the ripples created by each stone eventually overlap and they affect one another likewise we have an impact on everyone we come into contact with let love lead you be kind be compassionate be forgiving finally learn to love yourself that's the hardest one if we tear ourselves down how can we lift other people up if we can't recognize our own worth in the world how are we going to move forward if we can't forgive ourselves and learn from our mistakes how are we going to grow once you learn to love yourself healing happens loving yourself is like a prequel without it finding your passion in life and loving others is going to be so difficult let love lead you and apply that love to every area of your life i am so so proud of you and i love you congratulations class of 2021.
andrea has taught earth science astronomy advanced placement environmental science and additional earth science electives she was asked to create the science learning lab at the high school a program that has experienced considerable growth over the years in 2003 her ap environmental students won the rookie of the year team award at the connecticut envirothon andrea served on the strategic research behavior initiative committee the strategic planning committee the science curriculum council committee and the health and wellness committee link crew and was also a nia co-chair for curriculum she was a co-advisor for the young democrats spent many years tutoring students with special needs and recently had the opportunity to work with the oasis occupational academic social independent skills program andrea's strengths lie in her ability to engage students with different learning styles and needs she is inclusive and kind and make science interesting thank you for your 20 years of service to the cheshire public schools and congratulations on your retirement [Applause] our next honoree is not here her name is uh kathleen spignacey kathy earned a bachelor's degree in early childhood education a master's in health education and a sixth degree from southern connecticut state university kathy worked as a head teacher in the new haven uh young women's christian academy a substitute teacher in the cheshire north haven and stratford school districts and as an instructional assistant at highland school before joining the cheshire public schools and an interim teacher at highland in 1991.
and then we'll work on the uh the on-site learning session between the july and august meetings and uh and if if it does work to get it earlier then we'll we'll do the july 1 onsite learning session so and we'll let you know ahead of time as well thanks for taking that on what's that thanks for taking that on so i think that gets us to you know cup through a couple of agenda items uh and really the next agenda um are there any other items that i don't want to cut people off but uh being conscious of the time uh are there anything else that we want to bring up before we get into public comment well i do want to see in this facilitated discussion that the drawings that stefan has been working can be presented okay sorry what was what was that last request the drawings from who stefan trendoff yes and i think that uh alternatively uh things like that we that's one of the the kind of thing we need to make uh a place or a space for uh that is appropriately proportioned to the time and purpose of our situation and any one person who is not from the public we need to have clear what the relationship is that person to our our committee commission council whatever we are i think it's probably really best is i found facilitated discussions are really based around a trained process and so we really do need to in my opinion really empower camilla and heather to develop what this process is going to look like for this meeting um and and how the information is shared together i think we hear alan and alan you can send over those drawings but i do think we want to leave it up to uh heather and camilla to determine how that's going to work my opinion okay uh unless there is this note that i have a growing concern that people have different ideas of what they want out of this facilitated discussion so i'm a little bit worried that we're entering into the premise really without even well not i think not everyone can have their personal vision in applied to this so we have we'll be leaving some things out and sometime out but we will be able to have another one at another stage uh it's not a one-off kind of thing agreed okay great fair enough so we'll treat this as this is getting us started in some way somehow and kell and i and others will figure out how to do that thank you very much yes okay uh anything else uh or are we clear to move into public comment all right uh heather do we have anybody who would like to comment um no actually we don't have anybody in the queue at all okay um they didn't get mad and go home well we're actually we're improving slightly unless there's any other items i think we've got a good action item uh everybody here is clear we do have three people who are not here uh and that's very important um to remember so we're gonna have to keep them informed of uh this shuffling of the process a little bit here um so um unless there is uh anything else uh could we have a motion for german so moved exactly erica uh all in favor of a journey all right say hi bye all right any opposed okay motion carries thank you everyone yes thank you adam thank you
susan joined the special education department in 2015 and quickly proved to be a valuable resource for staff and families known as the backbone of the department by her administrative team we all feel fortunate to have her congratulations sue and across town at our support operations building is a support staff award winner who is described as an excellent conscious and caring driver april montefusco joined the district in 2008 as a bus driver and her colleagues will tell you how valuable she is as a resource in modeling safety and customer service for all of our students congratulations april i'm so honored to read the names of our staff members who are being recognized for 25 years of service of the district first darren amy an incredibly gifted art teacher from churchill junior high school leslie anderson a passionate and creative science teacher from east brunswick high school sherry kagnina a caring and talented elementary teacher from central school the one and only ruth chang our spectacular supervisor of world language esl and bilingual education faith chin an incredible instructional system for memorial school who recently retired joseph satari first a devoted english teacher and now the principal of warstuffer elementary school peter elkins our incredibly creative math teacher from hammerschool middle school michael finnegan phys ed teacher to the stars at lawrence brook elementary school terry four our caring and skilled secretary in guidance at the high school gail freiburg another amazing secretary in the main office at warren store for school denise giorgenti our thoughtful and helpful system support specialist in the information technology department nancy orzolski first a bus aide and now a dedicated bus driver for our district eileen pincus our sweet and sassy instructional assistant from memorial school sylvia rosenberg a gifted art teacher and artist from frost school diane schenkel our incredible student assistant student assigned school aide at east brunswick high school carol smith recently retired wonderful secretary from the curriculum department christine smith devoted first grade teacher at central elementary school carolyn sowell another dedicated student assigned school aide from east brunswick high school recently retired laurie ann spinelli a unique and incredible spanish teacher at hammershould linda sterziak our wonderful and helpful information technology specialist karen celeski a caring and skilled special educator from lawrence brooke school our recently retired principal from churchill junior high school mark suter and kim tobin our creative and hardworking cooperative educated and cooperative education teacher from east brunswick high school and we are so grateful to all of you for your service to say this was a tough year to achieve excellence would be an understatement but our staff and support staff and administrators and central office staff do the impossible do the incredible every single day pandemic or no pandemic but especially during a pandemic and we are so grateful and so proud of all of you thank you so much we now have a resolution of commendation for our student representative anthony lippo anthony lippo has served as a student representative on the board of education for the 2020-2021 school year and whereas anthony has faithfully attended meetings offered insight as a student of east brunswick and effectively communicated the board of education's actions to his fellow students now therefore be it resolved that the east brunswick board of education recognizes and commends anthony lepo for his time in service to the east brunswick board of education may i please have a motion move by laurie second by leewoo is there any discussion i would just like to say and then laurie i see raise her hand anthony again being a student rep on the board of ed is an awesome responsibility and and um can sometimes be intimidating and to do it in a year where we were completely remote is outstanding you exhibited a poise well beyond your years and we so greatly appreciate your contributions we will miss you and we wish you the best of luck laurie yes and i want to say that i actually got to meet anthony in person last night heather and i were able to see him in action um and to actually speak to him live in person which is very exciting and just for the rest of you for the 131 families that got to experience um how wonderful and well-spoken he is at that ceremony last night you are going to do wonderful things my friend you are an inspiration you really did take a year that it was so hard doing everything virtual and you still got us excited about what was going on at the high school and the things that you and your peers were going through so i thank you for that and i'm so happy i'm sorry it was the end but i'm so glad i actually got to see you in person i'm going to say i knew you when heather i just wanted to echo what uh laura said it was an absolute pleasure to meet you in person and i also wanted to say as i sat there last night and thought about it it's exactly what president becker said it is a large responsibility to be the representative to the board and then there we sat last night to find out that he's also president of nhs which is in itself a huge responsibility and task in a regular year and during such a challenging year to pull this off as such an accomplishment and then this as well so congratulations it here's there's no ends to what you can do and manage and look graceful under pressure with and i am sure you will do amazing things uh victor dr valensky i just wanted to say uh last night we extended an offer to tony to return to east brunswick to a live board meeting uh to come to go to the cause so i hope he takes us up on that when he's home on break and i thought you were going to say we extended tony the option to repeat senior year and stay with us we who give it the diplomat can take it away only kidding in but you know president becker since we are running out of room those kinds of decisions we have to let them go you know we just do that's true we have to make room for the next class on to college for you sir yes uh all those in favor opposed abstain motion carries tony was there some word you wanted to leave us with you want to wait for your wrap-up report at the end of the night well first of all i just wanted to say thank you for the commendation but i can save my farewell speech for my committee report thank you very much we look forward to it our next resolution of appreciation is for our incredible pta lori would you please read the resolution whereas our pta spent countless hours supporting our 11 schools and more than 8 300 students contributing greatly to their school communities and helping promote a positive school culture and whereas our ptas fundraise extensively they may give technology and playground equipment fund mini grants to teachers provide scholarships and so much more and whereas the ptas generously arrange for and fund special programs authors and illustrators music and dance history and science assemblies and workshops that enhance enrich the learning environment for our students and whereas all those involved in our ptas are wonderful examples for our students modeling good citizenship and the importance of doing one share to make the world a better place now therefore be it resolved that the east brunswick board of education gratefully acknowledges the incredible support of the ptas and their dedicated service and devotion to students and staff thank you to bau monroe pta and president jessica todd central pta and president courtney blumig chitic pta and president andesa churchill pt and president jamie wasserman east brunswick high school ptsa and president for i think seven years now her last lisa clark crossed pta and president christine wall hammershould pta and president wanda miller irwin pta and president nikki taflowski lawrence brooke pta and president linda graham memorial pta and president brianne murray and warren store for pta and president sarah rubenstein and further be it resolved that the east forensic board of education would like to extend a very special thank you to the pta president the president of pta president's council jamie wasserman who has supported and encouraged the ptas in all of their efforts i please have a motion moved by barbara second by levo is there any discussion laurie i mentioned it but i just wanted to uh make sure that everyone realized lisa clark is leaving us this year her younger child is graduating and it's been i think i think i said seven years but she has done a tremendous tremendous job lisa you will be missed you have big shoes to fill um i know it's because we both went to high school and college together we're both proud eb hs and muhlenberg graduates um and your children as well so hopefully we might follow in our footsteps but you're amazing and i i think none of us can thank you enough i just wanted to make sure that you didn't slip away without mentioning how much you've done for this district and you've seen a true pleasure serving all the schools and my kids have really i mean just like you and i laurie just i mean we did well our kids are doing well it's an amazing district to grow up in and it was wonderful returning and just meeting so many wonderful people and i just can't wait to see the what the future holds for east brunswick so thank you everyone thank you lisa any other discussion uh first time ladies first dr volesky i have something to say and then you can um as a former pta president um so i was pta president when i ran for the board and i remember asking uh some of the current board members in in terms of time commitment what's a time commitment for a board member and they looked at me and they said you've been a pta president you were on the pta board for six years before that don't worry about the amount of time because you are putting in so much time hands-on time as a pta president the board will seem like a walk in the park compared to that i'm not sure about that last one however i do know how incredibly time-consuming this is and hands-on and being at every event and being ready to step in at every event and when you don't have enough volunteers being ready to step in on the events that you're already stepping in on it is time consuming it can be stressful but it is ultimately so rewarding and your schools are just lucky to have all of you dr volesky and then barbara i'll let mrs reese go first no i'm sorry barbara i didn't see your hand before i posted no no worries dr velesky you can go first well thank you i just wanted to simply say that you know recovering from a pandemic in a school district is is a pretty big lift and it takes an entire team of people and some of those unsung heroes are being uh recognized tonight our ptas and pta presidents who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes at their individual schools to create environments and opportunities for our students to have social and interactive experiences and in some sense of return to what may be our new normal but to have those experience and begin that process of recovery i just can't thank them collectively enough because they have worked tirelessly through the pandemic and continued to to think about the students what the students needed and how they could make that experience the best they could possibly make it so thank you very much my hat's off to all of you barbara i just wanted to echo what you both said and really the ptas are do such an amazing job uh i was fortunate to be involved as a president of the first pta but really these folks in the pandemic year you can't even uh imagine what what they went through to make simple events even happen and i wanted to thank lisa as well uh i mean i know her uh not as long as lori but i just want to thank you for she was always watching out from me at frost and and really she watches out for everybody and i thank you for everything you've done and uh you know all all of our pta uh uh boards uh presidents and the boards do so much and a little special shout out to jamie wasserman president of the pta council it's it's a it's a tough job it's a lot to do and she does a lot i don't know how she fits what she does in a day to be honest with you so i thank you all from the bottom of my heart as i know we on the whole board do thank you all those in favor opposed abstain motion carries edu lisa this is only till we see you again your grandchildren perhaps moving on to our board of education agenda can i please have a motion to combine items one through three so let's move jeff moved by jeff second by lee wu is there any discussion is does the roll call vote will the secretary please pull the rule this is true yes mr sismar yes with an abstention on number two for the may 20th minutes noted mrs guass yes mr winston yes president becker yes motion carries moving on to our community programs agenda we have one item on the agenda can i please have a motion for item number one move by heather second by laurie is there any discussion suzanna i just i just have a question then um i i love the variety of the enrichment programs the wide variety that's that's listed there i was wondering are any of those uh going to be offered over the summer mr giuliana is joe on here uh he is mr crotchfelt can are you able to answer that question yeah so i'm sorry um yes the nutritional programs are going to continue i believe that was the question the the the enrichment program oh i'm sorry uh yeah we're going to do in person and also uh offer the virtual enrichment over the summer where there are community programs ann marie is trying to drum up as much business as possible so we can recover and also offer as much as we can to the the students as we uh get back to normal yeah i just think it's great to be able to do that you know the kids have missed so much over the past year and to be able to um you know do do some more of these things over the summer i think that's great thank you it's a great great blog i think at some point we had also talked about um taking some lessons that we learned during the pandemic for community programs and also for extracurricular activities and maybe possibly combining them with some kind of remote or virtual experience because there are students who were able to participate in community programs or extracurricular that wouldn't have been able to if they were in person because then maybe they had to get home to watch a sibling or a transportation issue or whatever but we did hear from a variety of people that express their appreciation for having the opportunity to do something remote that they wouldn't have been able to do in person so i think we had talked about perhaps inserting some of that into as we continue dr valesky yes president becker and that is as willie aries and thank you for bringing that up that is one of the areas that we plan to utilize what we've learned during the pandemic and utilizing technology uh to to draw a larger audience in uh at the convenience of you know just using the technology to gain access for all of our students it builds equity across our our district community as well barbara yeah if i remember correctly from our community programs meeting uh ann marie was working on just just that like you're talking about and um in fact with some of the adult programs they've actually had more folks coming we were recognized by the state uh because they were able to come through the virtual classes when they couldn't make it to the in-person it's like a combo in person and virtual and she had been talking about just like what you're saying to combine some of the classes in the fall so the parents who are unable to make it and to come back to the school to pick up uh can take the kid home or what have you and they do it from home or let them go on the bus and then they can do the class from home thank you thank you barbara all those in favor opposed obscene motion carries before i ask to combine items on the curriculum and instruction agenda tonight is there anything anyone would like separated out see none can i please have a motion for items one and two on the curriculum agenda moved by jeff second by laurie is there any discussion this is a roll call vote will the secretary please call the role this is true yes mr sismar yes mrs yes mr hong yes blacks mrs lax yes am i muted yeah we heard you now i'm sorry thank you mrs reese yes mr winston yes president becker yes motion carries before i ask for a motion to combine items on tonight's facilities agenda is there anything anyone would want separated out seeing none can i please have a motion for items one through three move by second second by barbara is there any discussion all those in favor aye opposed obscene motion carries before i ask to combine items on tonight's financial services agenda is there anything that anyone would like separated out see none can i please have a motion for items 1 through 17.
thank you mrs your redneck my name is dan funson superintendent concord community schools class of 2021 on behalf of our staff and the entire concord community i wish you congratulations and good luck on the road ahead before you leave our campus today i'd encourage you to take a moment today to look around at all those who love and support you we're also very proud of what you've accomplished so far and excited to celebrate your future achievements families thank you for sharing your students with us and for your support of concord schools tonight i have the privilege this evening to introduce our school board seated at the far left of the stage is mr jared sponseller next to him is mr tim yoder next to mr yoder is mrs kelly barr next mrs jennifer davis speaking to you this evening is mrs kami wait president of the school board who has prepared a message to share with all of you thank you mr funston and wow it's really great to see all of your faces this evening as i thought about what to say to you tonight it was a balance of wanting to acknowledge the last 16 months and all that came with it and also not wanting to because well it's been 16 months of it and that has been full of every emotion known to us we've probably even combined a few and made up our own emotions put those emotions the last 16 months with together with graduating and all that that brings and well that just feels overwhelming so i thought of a few quotes and phrases that came to mind one is from nelson mandela who said that courage was not the absence of fear but the triumph over it a brave man is not he who does not feel afraid but he who conquers that fear friedrich nietzsche gave us what does not kill you makes you stronger this one i said a lot to myself when i was your age my senior year was turned upside down and like many if not all of you i had no choice but to roll with it and keep moving forward if these 16 months have taught you anything please let it be that life happens and it's not always pretty sometimes it's out of our control we do however always have control over how we react to our world it's okay to feel afraid but don't let that fear control or stop you and make sure that you look for a way to be better and stronger on the other side of whatever life has given you in that moment another phrase that comes to mind is don't let your past define you these 16 months have happened to the world they don't feel like it now but they are a blip on the radar of your life they do not define you moving forward basically i want to empower you to keep tapping into that grit dedication and passion that has gotten you this far know that if you keep focusing on those things the things you do have control over not even fear can stop you we are all very proud of you and what you've accomplished through all of your years here at concord and on behalf of concord school board of trustees i congratulate you and wish you all the very best this evening the school board members will present diplomas to the class of and student names will be read by assistant principals mrs amanda whitaker and mr travis swanson we would like to remind everyone that graduation is a time of ceremony and recognition of significant achievement signifying both an end and a beginning it is the culmination of 13 years of hard work as each graduate's name is read applauding is appropriate as it is our hope that each and every individual's name is heard by their family and friends therefore we ask that everyone refrain from making loud and disruptive noises and lastly to the class of 2021 so much has been said about the challenges you have faced over the last year don't get me wrong we know it was difficult but what hasn't been emphasized enough are all the mountains that you have climbed since you were merely five or six years old seriously reflect on how far you have come since sitting crisscross applesauce on your favorite carpet square in kindergarten while your determination to finish your high school career in an ever-changing world is admirable it is your character that will be remembered through all the ups and downs it has been your kindness humility and graciousness that has set your class apart kindness humility and graciousness remember those words because in all that your future holds your actions will always be gladder than your words enjoy the next chapter in your lives and rest assured that you are ready to take on the world so before we present your diplomas to you we would like to recognize our top 10 seniors we do have a tie this year so we have 12 seniors we would like to stand to be recognized as being in the top 10.
she began at chapman school in 1992. kathy has been highly committed to her profession from the beginning of her career her strong desire to learn as evidenced by the many professional growth activities in which she participated she frequently collaborated in reflective peers attended conferences and read professional journals she served on numerous school and district committees over the years and was a representative of the education association of cheshire in 1995 kathy was honored with the educating for high performance award for her work in developing a cooperative learning math lab at chapman she chaperoned nature's classroom for years and is and her students raised salmon for release in local rivers each spring kathy is known through the district as an always positive team player willing to tackle new challenges never seeking recognition kathy has an innate capacity to relate well to her students and works tirelessly advocating for and empowering each of them congratulations on your retirement and thank you for your 30 years of service to the church of public school and our next honoree is here this evening i'm proud to welcome mara weed to the [Applause] podium mara earned a bachelor of music degree in piano pedagogy at lambeth college in jackson tennessee and went on to complete her elementary certification in memphis state university she earned a master's degree in early childhood education at southern connecticut state university and her sixth year degree at the university of new england mara began her teaching career teaching music appreciation at the middle school in elementary music and drama at schools in tennessee before relocating to connecticut in her early years in cheshire she taught music rotating among chapman highland and doolittle schools before settling at chapman full time teaching second grade in 1993 mara moved to the general education setting at doolittle where she taught in the first second and fourth grades in 2016 the opportunity to teach music became available at doolittle and mera returned to her first love teaching music this switch was a positive one for the entire school because so many events were infused with student performances and beautiful beautiful music she challenged her students with difficult pieces and her students responded with wonderful harmonies and exceptional performances whether her students performed at town meetings holiday or year-end concerts they were prepared confidence and joy were evident in their faces and conveyed through their voices mara was the driving force behind the purchase of ukuleles at doolittle and has taught hundreds of students a beginning knowledge in playing the uke mayor has worked on numerous school and district committees including the safe school climate committee technology town meeting and principal advisory committees and was a representative of the education association of cheshire a professional educator in every way mayor will best be remembered for showing students that change is good in and out of the classroom as well as instilling a love of music in children congratulations on your retirement and thank you for your 38 years of service to the cheshire public schools congratulations thank you [Applause] so that includes our uh concludes our recognitions for this evening um this next bit of our our show is very compelling viewing but you can watch it at home too if you wish i i thank all of you for coming tonight and i'm so excited to be able to see you in person recognize you in person because you're all certainly very worthy of that worthy of that acknowledgement congratulations again to all of our honorees and thank you for coming congratulations on behalf of the board again congratulations on honorees and thank you have a nice evening lucy uh we had a pleasure seeing you this past year good luck in your post graduate endeavors and don't be shy let us know how things are going and let josh congratulate him as well and thank him for his service take care thank you lucy i didn't realize i thought we had one more to go but we could just call her back i guess so up next we have uh section three which is audience i'm not sure if we received any correspondence yet um we did receive a couple of items one was a question about we have had an uptick in cases at doolittle elementary school unfortunately you know we've experienced this at various points through the year at different schools and it's unique that it is occurring now it doolittle when the vaccination rate is higher and the prevalence rate is lower but um maura esposito the executive director of chesapeake met with amy o'brien and the nurse doolittle today renee zemitti and they didn't identify any issues at the school level and unfortunately you know these things do just creep up in pockets and i think one of the things that we've recognized is that we've shifted our uh policy from a 10-day automatic quarantine to five days you can be tested and return at eight so we have identified more asymptomatic individuals that would have otherwise never been identified in the past so uh mr esposito thinks that's probably one of the issues that we're seeing here but um we are closely monitoring it and working closely with chess per cut to make sure it doesn't become a problem and then the other question we received on the covid line is when we would be returning in person obviously we're in person tonight which is great um with a limited capacity crowd given the number of people that we had attending for recognition but i indicated that we're hoping to return at the very latest by the start of next school year uh to a more typical in-person meeting with the audience seeing as we don't have many meetings left this year and i know the council plans to do that soon later this month hopefully thank you it's just business meetings we do have just for the record we have school modernization meetings next week with wide open outside so yeah i know andrew is going to talk about yeah just just because you said it we don't have me sorry yeah no no more business meetings you're right so yeah this is not our first and personal meeting since uh three turnout just last month and we were trying to schedule in as the equipment was made available because not every location has the ability to have in person with uh the board and the members at home in the same room so tonight we lucked out those town councils had their meetings so we had to take advantage of this but anytime the first night we actually had public care so you know pretty guy lines recommendations we're getting to that point so yeah i'm hopeful we have you know wide open but safe meetings uh continued on into the summer because there'll be a lot of stuff going on this summer and just a reminder to the public in case you are watching everyone's out there you can send us emails questions comments uh during the meeting to cps covet 19 at cheshire.k12.ct.us and we'll check on them again by the time the superintendent gives us update later in the agenda up next we have our cassette calendar in our boardville packets we have uh extend calendar two items one is approval of 2020 2021 22 tuition rates and the other is the approval of 2022 board education meeting schedule there is a motion on this with someone like to make a motion and then we can discuss if needed adam thank you i'd like to make a motion that the cheshire board of education approves the consent calendar as presented is there a second ten seconds any discussion or questions seeing it is none the motion is the cheshire board education approves the consent calendar as presented all those in favor may be unanimous thank you up next is our reports of the standing committee starting with curriculum uh unfortunately both ann and faith had uh committed this evening but we did meet uh tuesday evening uh it was a short meeting um marlene team walked us through a new textbook that is being purchased depending tonight's approval we discussed the new textbook which was envision algebra 2.
by heather second value second by libro is there any discussion on any items i don't think that was well i know that wasn't me i think that was lori i'm sorry oh in terms of motioning sorry i i can see your face i couldn't see the bottom of glory's face i didn't see her lips sorry laura can the minutes please reflect that it is noted that mrs lacks moved the uh package and her lips okay all right uh this is a there's no discussion correct so this is a roll call vote will the secretary please call the role mrs chu yes mr sismar yes mrs ross yes mr hong yes mrs lax mrs lax yes you're not hearing me again yeah i didn't hear that's why i didn't hear you before either on the first go round it it seems like it's very quiet i'm so sorry i know that's why i didn't hear you either laurie mrs reese yes mr winston yes president pecker yes motion carries can i please have a motion before i ask for a motion to convert can combine items on the food services agenda can i please ask if anyone would like anything separated out seeing none can i have a motion for items one two three move by laurie second by heather is there any discussion all those in favor opposed obscene motion carries there's one item on our hr agenda tonight can i please have a motion for item number one move by laurie second second by heather is there any discussion will the secretary please call the role this is true yes mr sismar yes mrs gloss yes mr hong yes mrs lax yes mr winston yes president becker yes motion carries we have one item on tonight's staff development agenda can i please have a motion for item number one so moved by the u1 second by laurie is there any discussion all those in favor aye opposed abstain motion carries before i ask to combine items on our student services agenda is there anything anyone would like separated out seeing none can i please have a motion for items one through three mobile second by laurie is there any discussion the secretary please call the roll this is true yes mr sismar yes mrs gwas yes mr hong yes this is lax yes this is rhys yes mr winston yes president becker yes motion carries before i ask for a motion to combine items on tonight's transportation item agenda is there anything anyone would like separated out seeing none can i please have a motion for items one through 10.
well those seniors please stand [Applause] we also have students who have enlisted in the military and who will be serving our country in the coming years will those seniors please stand to be [Applause] recognized and lastly we'd also like to thank those seniors who put together tonight's slideshow and with that said at this time i dr lisa kendall as principal of concord high school certified to the board of education of concord community schools and superintendent mr dan funston that each of these students have met the graduation requirements set forth by concord community school board in the indiana department of education and are now eligible for receipt of their diplomas we will begin tonight by honoring two members of the class of 2021 who passed away during their time at concord high school both families will be presented with an honorary diploma the first honorary diploma will be presented to the family of lexus marvin at a later date the next honorary diploma presented tonight will be to the family of christian heyer his cousin marissa will accept his diploma on his behalf we will now pause for a moment of silence in honor of these two members of the class of 2021 and onto the remaining graduates justina j riffle [Applause] katharina irene crabill william e nicholson [Applause] rebecca ann klein caitlin abigail creek isabella simone freeland conrad isabella marie ivanelio abigail e lake stephen m simons vanessa solis jeffrey alejandro amador spradling jordan m aldridge jasmine marie howard riley elizabeth brennaman tayden charles kane vanessa renee kreitney mckenna delaine dufrese [Music] anthony j ernest amber marie fox jindarian jonathan greer [Applause] beck a spataro joel b cray monica baylen alvarez madison aaron loke grayson d mast bailey m morrison haley r robinson aiden m ross eric riley schwartz tristan michael shank jackies devonte shepherd brendan thomas stockman kylie renee wilson kat e williams morgan ashley workman cole d hershberger logan isaac kidder savannah catherine lane aaron william zoo griffin williams sword out [Music] kendall melinda sword out [Music] enrique francisco acosta janae starr acosta jimmy adame jacob brian streeter lucas a adams hernandez christopher jesus aguilar lorenzo antonio aguilar galindo jessica albino kayla sophia alley amaya diaz michaela a anderson mariano angeles valedis madison ann arba even arika perez andrea and avila jennifer e barkena romero alexander veronvera michaela r bartlett parker m bowman samantha barr haley elizabeth arms guillermo bernal luna nya megan oakland christina taylor bull karina nicole bolero nitzi chavez payton m fish [Applause] olivia michelle frito delilah gomez braden michael goss brendan johnson caitlyn nicole kiefer ariana vanessa martinez austin jacob moss gabrielle leo calvo payden anthony rohr wyatt c stringer dalton j sweinhart gracie paige tucker lorenda ann eulek divine joy booth megan dean booth [Music] michaela alexis borsch caden matthew bohr carson nicholas boyd isabel caitlin brandley cameron m boitis brandon cabrera carmen alexandria calderon jasmine rayne caldwell fernanda calvillo logan parker camarillo esmeralda campos tessie arlette campos vladimir cromono molina paulette castillo chloe jude cataldo jane marie centeno erica paola valencia autumn rain charles akira ray clark alexandria jadan conant ashley anay contreras ariana liasia cook [Music] bryce steven cook [Applause] [Music] sarah a cook riley l cooper raquel yasmin cortez logan a corn cassandra abigail cramer cody a crawford sydney noel cole diana s cunningham deasia latrice curtis dustin k darby fabrizio andre davila natalie crystal davila melissa delgado vasquez mahali b denny hope olivia demos [Music] august c hassler [Music] rachel isabella ducharme margaret elizabeth doll langston narachay elias kane michael elliott carson eugene elanic josue d escalante [Music] mia abigail gay samira constanza ferrando [Music] evelyn e gaetan [Music] mi lady e garcia jacob esparza pedrosa rose g george jessica herron diaz [Music] angela gonzalez [Music] danilo gonzalez mejia jesus gonzalez torres summer s graves beatrice guardinari katie a gutierrez liliana o gutierrez orozco evelyn arlette guzman jenna brie hall rose hardesty william r harris [Music] corbin l hartpins anthony j harvey brooke drake m hathaway aaron james dolph emma ruth gingrich caitlin diane stauffer jessica sotelo allison nicole veli jayden marina rigsecker john riley mcecron brian reyes gavin j smith [Music] evelyn rose tynerdt [Music] kira paige wilson angel vin truong adriana marie smith isabelle grace brunner madison ray copsy kendall and crouch [Music] carly mckenna lance sydney marie poindexter marisa nicole pro brook i watson cassandra aaron lynn hedrick paulina herrera ethan w johnson [Music] [Applause] carson m hobday daniel friedman darion dwayne hunter barnes nyla anissa ethel lee jackson janelle e james colin nicole jester andrew t bondurant [Applause] stephanie claudio divine johnson madison marie jones [Applause] preston allen canopel patrick brogan kelly c aaron o kennedy [Applause] lindsey lee kish ryan a kittch lauren j khan [Applause] john maher kalarian kreider seth r lamb kagan bennett layman [Music] haley m lise gabriella yamas [Music] arlette luvano giselle luna walter a luna navaretti colin m mccauley ayanna macon salvador e mares liam alexander martin abigail marie martinez abigail elizabeth martinez alicia martinez eileen martinez francisca diana martinez jorge juan martinez karina y martinez alana nicole mccain [Applause] odette medina sergio medrano hernandez brianna i mendoza b mendoza paola di mendoza neves daniela marisol menendez rodriguez colin dale miller ian michael miller mason tyler moore natalie grace moore tyron jerome moore [Music] morris griffin reed moss ethan a moya aaron m mario [Applause] carlos a negretti zoe k kneader brayden john newbern destiny e novak lilly fuschen nowlan john a ocampo jasolin susanna ochoa zalaya alison elizabeth olmsted eric v olvera arturo orozco catherine ruby ortega perla i ortiz ordonias yvonne palacios jason a perez miranda alexander f perez bermudez sydney grace perez miller nathan e peterson hannah may imis bailey r phillips dakota lane choir [Applause] [Music] adrian lee rockowski montoya julese ramirez andrea j ramos dante t reed diarion l reeves and reuben requinis alexia m rivera emmanuel rizzo [Applause] ethan c robinson [Applause] madison page robinson ashanti alexis rogers [Music] brianna natalia romero kevin giovanni ruiz cruz [Music] susie m saylor samantha salas guzman destiny salvador abdil santiago cruz aaliyah j sheretti marissa elizabeth schmucker bryson drew schrock [Applause] jake ian sir javier j cerna ashton r seifert leslie naomi sierra faith and simpson [Applause] jaspreet singh isaiah r singleton [Applause] kaylina r slack ariana smith spencer a smith malachi a stalhansky tyler j stroup [Music] daniela j suarez milian terum taryn m tarman nicholas thane jarrett j tubes andrea torres edwin miguel tovar michaela e valdez andrea soliansky valdez medina jose a valenzuela jaime r valenzuela sonora [Music] payton lee vanshoyk gustavo angel vasquez [Applause] alexa villa gomez emily vite charles lewis walker keeley e whedon preston t wilkins calvin c williams [Applause] jackson david williams caleb joseph womack [Applause] minway yep rachel marie yoder devin c young sebastian zarco ruvacaba joanna zalia aguilar kimberly zendejas alexis chiquito just will the seniors please rise ladies and gentlemen as the student body president i now present the class of 2021 and declare them graduates [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] how i'm not much for somebody with some super human gifts some superhero some fairy tale bliss just something i can turn to somebody i can kiss i want something just like [Music] this [Music] oh i want something just like this [Music] something [Music] want something just like this [Music] something [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] just like this [Music] hear a knock on the door [Music] make yourself at my home tell me where you've been [Music] sometimes [Music] welcome to [Music] welcome to my house [Music] close the blinds let's pretend that the time has changed [Music] sometimes you gotta stay
this is for the cheshire high school uh the cheshire school math department give us a presentation um we actually saw this on may 11th but we didn't vote on it uh we'd like to get this voted on so it could be purchased and be in place before it started a school year and essentially that was the only item the motion was made it was passed so that being said i think we have a motion and i just lost it one second do we have a motion type to prove a textbook all right there's okay i guess i'm getting ahead of myself no i usually go on display right and then we yeah sorry i'm trying to bypass the process so so the textbook will be on display for at least two weeks uh my guess is do you anticipate us uh the board voting out during the summer or the start of the school year june 30th awesome so if anyone is interested in that envision algebra two book please feel free to contact the central office to take a read i uh i am not a math fan so i'm not going to read the book but but uh i know a lot of folks out there that are so so thank you uh up next is reports of finance mr gripple thank you mr chair um i will uh turn control over to mr massiana for a according to the packet a brief update thank you good evening ladies and gentlemen this finance report will be very brief this evening because we did report at the last business meeting we we do not have the the numbers for may just yet and there's no medical benefits report but what i did want to let the board know is that we are getting everything in order for the june 30th 7 30 a.m business meeting where we'll be closing out our books everything is looking very very good for the operating budget and the grant closeouts which which we review and make sure that we're going to be fully in compliance with the grants jeff marlene greg gibbons and and heather from my office we meet weekly just to review where we stand with the budget and so i expect no issues we will absolutely meet our operating budget and our grants for the year so we'll hear more about that you know on june 30th and in the coming weeks and that is the finance report for this evening thank you thank you mr maciana that was very brief excellent oh tim yes thanks adam uh yeah just so typically at the end of the year i mean a common thing that could happen is you end up under spending on salaries per se and then we end up transferring money over to maintenance we have old buildings we all know that um have is it possible to have any funds left over transferred into the medical benefits trust fund yes okay the way the year is shaping up you know we will and as we get closer i'll continue to report you know you know to the board as updates are happening i know we have a finance committee meeting on june 10th i believe um but at this point i do believe we will have some funds that we might be able to transfer to the medical benefits trust fund to close out the year i don't can't give you a dollar we're not that close yeah no just so the so the public understands where i'm coming from on this is that the the budget correct me if i'm wrong here the budget has basically like six rows six buckets six major account categories and typically money could get moved from one account to another like i was saying into a maintenance for summer work to do but the medical benefit trust fund is not within those six bud six buckets it's not within the normal budget that's the reason why i was asking it just moving it out of the operating budget into another trust fund correct that's all thanks vin you're welcome thank you um uh moving on uh we have the approval of engage of engagement of uh clifton larson allen to perform student audit activity accounts um i'll make a motion so we can uh enter in the discussion um and uh just for reference this was a topic that we've been discussing i guess well for the latter part of a year i guess and uh we uh had our final discussion uh last month and um so this is the results um and i guess as a part of that we it looks like we went out for an rfp right uh back in the earlier part of this year to to get our final cost uh to see um what what it would be to conduct this audit um so i move that the cheshire board of education approves the appointment of clifton larson allen llp to conduct an internal audit and internal control and operational review of the student activity accounts at a cost not to exceed twelve thousand dollars ten white seconds great um is there any discussion on the motion seeing none oh yes uh nothing it's uh it's long overdue but uh as adam mentioned i we were working on this with vincent davidson before covet and of course kobe hit so this was not a something that we wanted to take during the past pandemic now that it's over so that does this a little bit i think we get this done and update our 25 year old policy uh but that being said it's one of just uh transparency that i mentioned last meeting i've actually worked with uh bloom shapiro which is now also this company not worked for them but in various private businesses i've used this cyber security arm and i.t assessments and even a company i work for now use lights bloom for financial audits i have no personal stake in this i have no financial stake but just transparency i am very familiar with the company uh so i will be going voting in favor of motion but just my folks know that i do the company very well yes tim so just to be clear the accounts that we're auditing do those fall within the normal annual audit they do they do yeah this what you're going to get from this twelve thousand dollar is a much more detailed first of all let's start with a review of the the policy as mr peregini uh stated is is dated and then they'll compare what we do to the policy and then they'll you know do a review of transactions they'll do a verification of balances in the accounts you know they'll confirm the reconciliations are are being done properly uh and then they will issue findings and a report you know would you know that would ultimately be issued to the board or to the finance committee is where i assumed this would would run through first and so the audit that's done annually you know by in this cla our our our auditors you know they do some test transactions but it's much more limited than what this engagement will provide okay yeah thank you i i think this is an important thing to do in terms of um accountability transparency just having a better understanding of these accounts and i do have one question does this incorporate so sports will be included here does it incorporate uh coaching permits at all or review that okay just financial okay all right so we're just hoping we do come back to that at some point but yeah i suppose i'm going to support the motion thank you is there any yes where is the 12 000 going to be allocated from well we will um encumber it you know from this year's operating budget funds so we'll be coming out of our budget thank you is there any further discussion seeing none call for a vote all in favor it is unanimous thank you next up is uh discussion possible approval of revised agreement with performance environmental for cleaning services uh mr massan would like to shed some light on that sure so this is uh really a follow-up the board of education approved at their meeting on april 29th the extension of the contract that we have with performance environmental who does the cleaning services for our buildings and actually very successfully for the past um eight years what the board approved at the last meeting on april 29th was to extend that contract with a an increase of 5.28 percent about 38 000 at the board meeting ms hamm you know requested that we consider or we ask performance if they'd be willing to extend the contract for one more year so 22 23 which would be the final extension that would take us to five full years of contract with extensions with performance before we have to go out to bid again and so i did go back to performance environmental i spoke to the ceo steve sadler and he came back with a proposal that's before the board this evening so if we were to extend the contract one additional year the price increase would be 27 192 from the 21 22 contract that's about a 3.59 increase so that is lower than the 38 000 that we'll see as an increase for next year you know mr sadler offered a discount by making the commitment for two years at this time the other items that he pointed out which is detailed in the memo that the board has is that you know one the connecticut minimum wage will increase another dollar this august and then the following july so that impacts his cost of labor obviously and the other uh point that he made is that you know their cost of you know supplies and products that they use in our schools you know has been skyrocketing to use his words um but he recognizes that um he would like to have the opportunity to add that final year to the contract at this time and so that's why he's offered a discount and in looking at the numbers you know the the base contract increases with performance environmental if you consider that the first two years of the contract they locked the price they actually gave us a lower price than the previous contract that we ended with so i think that from a price point of view performance environmental has been you know very responsible and have have done a good job with the pricing and they've done very very good work cleaning our schools they've been very responsible during this pandemic they successfully supplied dayporters you know across our schools which we are still using today i know many districts didn't have quite the same success in attracting dayporters to do intraday disinfecting and cleaning so i certainly you know would recommend that the board take advantage of the opportunity you know approve the contract extension for the second year at this price and then we will go out to bid at the you know before the contract expires in june of 2023 so that's that's the recommendation tim thanks adam yeah i mean i think it's uh i think it's important to go out to rfp every few years if we take this out to five years i think it makes total sense to lock in the contract the only the the only thing i have hesitation on is the supply chain issues and the inflation that's being seen right now i mean when did you talk to him was it a month and a half ago before that was visible to everyone in the world or and just did you have a conversation how it impacts it this is a contract but i i just kind of wonder yeah we went back and forth but i talked to um mr sadler late last week so it's pretty current discussion and you know we did negotiate back and forth a little bit to get you know to this number so i feel comfortable okay you know it it's um i think it's quite attractive frankly okay all right thank you you're welcome uh what i'll do is i'll um i will uh make the motion that we can enter into further discussion how's that um uh motion that the board of education extend the contract with performance environmental llc from 7-1 2022 to 630 2023 with a base contract cost of 976 dollars is there a second on that andrew all right um so um is there any additional discussion yeah tim yeah just clarity on the the base price is that is that like an assumed number of hours at a given rate so more hours equals a higher price basically well it's it's not the base contract includes a school a scope of work to clean all the buildings you know daily when school is in session as well as to do the various spring break winter break and summer cleaning so they have to meet the scope of work within that base contract price if they if we request additional work like we need detail cleaning in a classroom that's built separately but this scope of work covers all our needs for the entire school year in it are the needs pre-coveted or mid covet or postcovid no they're they're pre-covered okay so the the scope of work hasn't you know i should say the scope of work hasn't changed the products that they use and the depth of cleaning has and they didn't they didn't increase the price per se for that they just gave us a general increase for the next two years at at this point for expected labor cost and and product increase is really what it comes down to thank you you're welcome yeah i just want to say appreciate you going back and negotiating um and going from a 5.28 increase to a three point five nine i think that that's a great deal for the district it's a no-brainer and faith isn't here this evening but i think that she would appreciate that greatly so yeah thank you yeah i will definitely support this uh we're not the only um school district looking at the long-term cleaning service needs because the cost escalation has been going higher and i do it is unlikely we'll get a lower price if we went out to bid after the next extended year but i do want to so thank you vincent for following i do want to thank faith for uh bringing this idea to the table i don't think we really thought about it so she's not here tonight but i'm sure she'd be happy to know that uh the results came back very favorable so so thank you for working on this my pleasure i'm also saying that that i feel that the extension is um uh very favorable for the school system and reasonable actually considering uh the price the the price of commodities and how how quickly they're going up i'm glad that uh our vendor feels secure in in this type of uh agreement so um that being said is there any further discussion um all in favor of the motion not opposed it is unanimous motion passes thank you and finally we have a discussion on the increase of school lunch prices um mr massander would you like to do an introduction thank you i will be taking taking this one i need to do a little bit of preference uh for this item though i want to introduce you know to the board uh erica biagetti who is our new food service director who will be replacing madeleine decker who is retiring at the end of this month um so we're pleased to welcome erica i just wanted to give you a little bit about her background since this is the first time she is here in front of the board and she looks a little bit nervous although that's not typical for her so erica was hired we formed a hiring committee and she was selected unanimously by the committee not only for the excellent education experience and skills that she brings to the table but also she has a very positive attitude and a winning personality um she's not very shy although i'm not sure what to expect tonight and you know in the time she's been here since april she's already you know really lived up to you know our expectations across the district she earned a bachelor of science degree from uh johnson and wales in food service management she was previously prior to coming to cheshire she was the director of dining services for the guilford public schools since 2014 and she also worked as an assistant director in the milford public schools before that and before that she has food service industry management experience and food distribution restaurants and hotels i know she's a firm believer in the importance of school nutrition for children and she's been actively involved in the school nutrition association of connecticut and she is currently serving as its president and her term is expiring shortly so she's a true advocate um you know for school nutrition and doing it well and i will tell you that you know we served on a panel back in 2016 together at the school nutrition and the connecticut association of school school business officials joint conference and i do you know remember erica from from that session and i'm very very happy that you know she agreed uh to join us when we made her the job offer uh so with that we're gonna tag team a little bit i think erica you you could stay there so there is a recommendation we're bringing forward tonight um to approve an increase in the school meal prices um and i'll just talk a little bit and then if there are questions you know erica and i can address them the school lunch prices you know we do revisit them annually but we don't raise prices until we think we need to and we did so back in 2018-19 was the last time we increased prices we are dealing with at this time though a couple of things one the connecticut minimum wage you know has gone up a dollar per hour and we'll go up another dollar this august and another dollar the following july so you know that has clearly affected our labor costs um and it has since the minimum wage started increasing although we didn't raise any of the food prices since 2018 2019 school year and also the current cost of food and the materials we buy to package and provide meals to our students has increased so you know we believe that um it's important that we make sure our prices reflect current costs including labor that said school lunch will be free for all students next year okay so even though we're recommending to raise prices you know families will still be able to get breakfast and lunch at no cost to them for the 21 22 school year but we still believe the prices need to reflect current market prices and so that's why we're bringing this recommendation forward this evening and with that erica maybe you just want to run through you know what we're raising and not raising sure good evening everyone nice very unique situation welcome i almost feel like dr fauci is sitting in like a board panel over on the other side um so we are looking to make some um minor increases for breakfast um actually i'll start from the beginning so we are going to keep the milk price the same um that has been a stable market going forward we are looking to increase the breakfast at only the high school by 25 cents the high school does have an expanded offer menu for breakfast so they have more options than the other two schools currently have as well then we're looking for lunch at the elementary school in the middle school to both go up 25 cents and the high school to have a 15 increase in both tiers tier one and tier two and that's for the different line options and the elevated meal options and then we are keeping the teacher meal um the teacher and adult lunch the same at the five dollars this is actually something that i have been speaking about with snacks and probably about for a month or two at a lot of our meetings and different things going forward is about increasing lunch prices so it's something that a lot of directors throughout the state are having the same discussion [Music] um sure and just one thing i know it looks like um mr white has a question but you know part of what we do when we look at school meal prices is not only do we look internally at our costs but you know what are other districts charging for their meals and so part of the survey that was done revealed that we're we're certainly not up at the top in terms of price and we're not in the bottom we're really kind of in the middle across the categories which we think is a sound place to be tim thank you so if kids were paying for meals um does anybody or how many students actually use cash at this point or would use cash call pre-covered or does everybody use a card no we do there are which i'm not 100 sure exact cheshire numbers but there there are still overall students who do use cash um it's probably decreased maybe about 70 percent um to online payments but there's still a good 25 to 35 percent of students who use cash and they can use cash for buying a single bottle of water a second meal a la carte um there are all other options besides just the school mail that they sometimes use their cash for okay yeah i was just i'm looking at this going in increments of nickels and 15 cents 25 if everybody was on a card i would just think if it's eight cents do it eight cents on an annual basis but you're not there at this point right now you know they might be having to count out some pennies nickels yeah no i don't wanna i don't wanna make it complicated i'm just thinking if everybody if everybody has that card at some point then i would just strongly encourage that they use electronic payments yeah okay thank you um so by increasing the um the school lunch price does that also affect our reimbursement rate from the federal government it does not so your meal prices have zero reflection on the reimbursements that are set forth by the connecticut state department of ed and or the usda those reimbursements are set um in both houses prior to the usda reimbursements rates are being reviewed currently for the next school year but they have not been finalized at this time the usda and the state are still looking for further guidance is what we hear so do you feel like we have a good handle on the program for next year like there won't be as many surprises as there were this year we are very hopeful we've been advocating strongly on the snack side that um they were extending this waivers that we're currently serving for all of the school year rather than going two to three months at a time which is what we incurred this past year so whatever they set forth and the guidance we get is what we'll have for all of next year and is our participation in the 100 is that voluntary is that mandatory um student participation is voluntary no i mean our our participation oh in the program yeah do you yeah you mean in the in the week but they have 100 free lunch is that is that a volunteer like do we volunteer to do that or is that so you can opt out of serving and then you would just have to charge for meals at these prices um if you were to approve this increase or what the prices are currently you could opt out of the program and not offer free meals if you didn't want to there's different sets of guidelines that we follow to be able to offer the meals at no charge if if we didn't if we did if we opted out would we return back to our former you know where we had you know we had our almost identified a population of need that would always participate would we revert back to that if we didn't participate yes we still um even with um participating in the free the meals at no charge of what we're participating in now free and reduced applications and their statuses are still being applications are still accepted and they're still being processed so it wouldn't change the fact of what they still need to qualify for them even if the meals are free for all right now so it's two different waivers free and reduced um applications and that income base based on snap and all those benefit levels those stay currently all the time the free meals for all is the usda giving us a grant that is a like a big umbrella over all of us saying it's been coveted meals are all for free [Music] if i can add i'm sorry just one more thing because i know you know adam you know part of your question was uh you know what's our p l gonna be like for next year and um at this point i'm confident that we will you know be at least break even next year a lot of what happened to the p l this year really had to do with participation a number of students not being served meals but that you know the p l for the second half of the year you know has certainly started to rebound because we have much more student participation we're providing breakfast to all students at the end of the day as they leave and again those are all considered reimbursable meals so i think next year no pandemic status i think will be will be fine and you know food service you know here in cheshire um you know we've always had a pretty healthy reserve and we've had a profitable you know year in terms of you know revenue exceeding costs year over year it's not really an accident you know we've had talented food service directors that have managed us through that over the years so this was truly an anomaly for us um and i would say that we're kind of fortunate as a school district but again it's not an accident it's it's a very well managed program over the years so a couple questions i think you know i think behind it one adam's question is you know by offering by participating in the free meals program are we going to incur a 500 000 gap like we saw this year and i i'm gonna say no but but just to circle back in that in a second so the the number of meals served is what we get reimbursed on and they it's safe to say eric i know you just got into this raw you know you familiar with everything that we didn't have as much meals served because kids were not in the same school and or the meal pickup program wasn't as popular as it was when we were full uh is that that's what to say so there's a few things that going that it wouldn't explain the whole debacle but i just wonder well it was we had less students in school because when we came back to school we had about 25 percent of students that didn't attend the high school our largest school only had half of the students in four days per week right so we lost a day and 50 of our students um some students were bringing lunch as opposed to taking our lunch and then you know another factor is students were not purchasing any of the a la carte items so when we started the year was uh pretty horrendous and you know we reacted to it obviously but as the year progressed all of those things came back on track so now only about 10 of our students are not in school um yeah and and so you know again i want to rehash the last year but work so you know i'm planning for the past year right you had to purchase supplies materials packaging and you have labor employees you know they had it show up and the meals are not where need to be those costs 10 is what's causing expenses that we incurred for lack of so fast forward to the upcoming school year unless there's another recurrence of what we saw over the last you know 14 months where we go full remote and we're back into the situation it sounds like to me if that were to come up you can plan for as best you can and unnecessarily hit that same situation we had last year so i'm not too worried about this recurring again the question i have is so when we say meals are free for all students it's regardless of need so you know as a parent you know my daughter you know in in high school i don't have to fund her meal card right so does that mean i mean i'm going to anyway because i can't afford to but and we're not and again as long as the meal is served the reimbursement we get back from the government will offset those costs right so that is the expectation and we are hopeful that they're actually going to increase the reimbursement rate for next year to give us even a little bit more um push like a little bit more funds so that we can i think a lot of what we faced in food service at the beginning of this year for low participation is the uncertainty students came back very uncertain they felt um they weren't sure what to go through they weren't sure what was going to happen i think coming into next year i'm much more hopeful that we are going to be able to build the participation off of the free meals that we need and that we would be at a break even um or positive because we're not overcoming the hurdles we had at the beginning of the year we're already seeing participation very high right now so it's really great news it's i had school lunch all this week and it was delicious and i saw lots of students no i think this is very positive i mean i was going to ask earlier uh which answered my questions i know a few years ago it might have been neato when she was on the board and we were talking about you know was there were families that you know couldn't afford to pay for meals every day and we talked about the process about recruitment payments but this puts a lot of families at ease if they can't even without having to go through the snap and income process you know it's one less hurdle for them so they at least give us a peace of mind that they're getting a meal if they can't afford to otherwise yes but things are good that's the whole reason why we did the whole free um thing in the past anyway was for that population so yeah i i don't have any other questions but by the way welcome thank you i will have erica just you know talk a little after this this piece of business is done i do want erica to give an update on some of the other things that she's working on some of which will help participation we're hoping for next year and i do want to clarify also that full meals are free to all students but if a student purchases an a la carte item like a water or a second meal those items are not free it's just a full reimbursable meal as we say right sounds okay just says let's make one more comment or well i guess uh just uh so um so they're the the premium the premium level meals or the snacks are will be available for next year and that parents should be prepared to fund that account if their students wish to purchase those additional items yes okay thank you okay um well then i will make a motion um a move that the cheshire board of education approves an increase in the school meal prices effective with the 2022 school year as follows high school breakfast uh increased 25 cents elementary and middle school lunch increased 25 cents high school lunch increase 15 cents do i have a second uh andrew um is there any further discussion on the motion tim thanks adam yeah i'm gonna support this motion i'm i'm not really a big fan of lots of different federal programs um but the fact is is it's there and i think it benefits a lot of uh people here in town so i'm gonna support this thank you any seeing no other discussion um all in favor of the motion is unanimous thank you quick update quick update and then i'm done um so i just wanted to give uh just a couple things that i've been working on since starting so one item that we do have coming up is on june 16th which is also the last day of school very exciting is we are doing a summer send-off 14-day meal kit pickup for all families with children 18 years or under so they'll um pick ups from 10 to 12 and they get a large cheese pizza chicken tenders waffle bites sweet potato tots lots of really good items the full menus on the website if anyone wants to see it but just saying we're doing that which is very helpful we had pick up yesterday and we had over um 225 um meals picked up just yesterday on wednesday so it was really great we're very hopeful um for the 16th as well we're also doing um upgrading our software for um school lunch to a mosaic in a meal viewer it's a cloud-based software it's going to operate a little bit more efficiently for us it's also going to boost our menu planning opportunities which is going to give families a online menu app that'll have they'll be able to see the nutritional information the allergen information there's a really fun feature that has little faces so the kids can like and favorite their meals and the faces have all these like funny little sayings on them they're adorable so cute um but it makes everything more at ease so families can have it on their phones they can see it on their desktop it's going to give a lot of access to families to see what the menu is as well as allergen information so that if they have any uncertainty they can click an allergen and it highlights everything they cannot have so it'll empower a student coming up in line to know what they can and cannot have for lunch and it quickly links to my school bucks which is our online payment system so they don't have to bring cash in it's a very nice feature um the last one is i'm working on the menu for all of next year and we are looking to offer some new recipes new items including building a panini line station at the high school as well as it's expanding their salad and deli bar options um so the high school kind of getting a little remodel it's minor very minor remodel was probably too big of a word we're moving some equipment around it's very subtle um but i'm really excited and very happy to be joining the team and i'm looking forward to next year thank you great thank you very much how much flexibility do you have in developing the menu do you get to pick out because okay so how's do you see a lot of changes coming or i'm taking we're going through everything that's currently offered seeing what are some student favorites and then i had some different items that i was using previously in other districts and we're going through and doing some recipe development and trying like kind of uniting the two items the two menus together so i am we're i've been talking with the managers already and it's very exciting oh andrews wants to know if you're going to do uh coal oven fire cauliflower crust pizza yes how did you know i just got that recipe the schoolbox account is currently in arrears thanks tony yeah with regard to um the meals do you buy anything do you source anything locally or have that as a goal so i do have that as a goal i'm not i know that madeline did do some local farms and so um sourced some things here so i'm looking to figure that out within next year and be able to bring in a lot anything local that we can so as i learn more about cheshire and what we've got available yeah i guess i'm not even thinking just cheshire because you know we just don't but connecticut in general okay thank you in the whole tri-state area yeah yeah thank you yeah yeah i'm glad you uh asked that tim i i was contacted by a member of the cheshire land trust preservation and i know they're thinking about clever ways to use some of the the farmland for educational purposes i think it let that persona but uh i think ice farm is one of the uh properties that you know farms i would reach out to them to see i mean any i mean we have so many options here i i think you would get a lot of support from from our folks in the community just a heads up on that so i'm glad you're looking into that i think that concludes the finance report thank you adam and vincent up next is policy mr gripple again um let's see uh we held a let's see who is today is the uh city of third you're welcome and your microphone's still on just just so you know there you go perfect um so uh i believe uh june 1st we held our policy meeting it's i i think the shortest policy meeting we've had in a very long time uh i i had uh technical difficulty myself and so the meeting didn't even start on time which was kind of fun and uh but overall we reviewed policy 5141 student health services where we had a just a more informational discussion about tuberculosis and the physical examination um extending the fiscal examination uh certificate the 13 months so we did not change anything and we moved that policy uh to a second rating um and uh finally we um moved uh policy 6159 um instruction individualized education program special education program um to a uh or to a third reading for the board's consideration um and that's uh changing uh the age uh in which a um qualified student can receive services uh from uh let's see the exit age was 21 and now it's up until their 22nd birthday per state statute with that said i would like to make a motion that the cheshire board of education give a third and final reading to policy number 6159 iep special education program and direct the superintendent to put said policy into immediate effect do i have a second on that motion tim uh is there any discussion seeing no discussion uh all in favor of the motion is unanimous oh jeez sorry about that everyone the motion passes and that ends my policy committee report mr chair thank you thank you adam up next we have our school modernization update sure we're getting off easy tonight here um so i continue to push the word out to the community about the school modernization report on my modernization mondays on the various facebook social media platforms that exist here school modernization report is available on the district website and also on the town of cheshire's website under the school modernization tab for the full report um but more or most importantly are three information sessions which are going to be held which are promised to be one hour sessions with some fun door prizes i'm not exactly sure what those are yet um and they are as followed this coming monday evening june 7th at 6 pm at norton school following tuesday or tuesday june 8th 6 30 at chapman school and then wednesday june 9th 7 p.m at dodd middle school each of these sessions will be as i said an hour long where there'll be a presentation about school modernization where we what school modernization is where we were where we are as well as followed by a question answer period um again they'll be short they'll be informative so please please attend do read the report before you come so you can come prepared with some questions i don't know if the superintendent wants to add any sort of information about door prizes or any fun activities that people could expect uh i think you've given an adequate teaser mr martelly we want people to be surprised and excited all right with that that's all i have on school modernization thanks andrew i just want to also add there's been some dialogue between uh superintendent solo and his office and uh town manager and as well as leadership and town council unleashing board of ed we're gonna have an administrative uh session just talk about planning for a bigger meeting between the border van town council so uh you know by hopefully by june 10th when we move to project we have some updates on that but i do know just want the folks in town to know that both bodies are working towards this goal so it's going to be a busy summer but we're we're definitely all invested in this forward so thank you andrew okay there are no other standing committee reports in our packets we're not in number six we have approval of minutes uh we do have minutes from the board education uh meetings held on may 20th in our packets um we can call for a motion and and discuss if there are any changes so is there a motion mr grippo uh move that the board of education approved the minutes from meeting held on may 20th 2021.
move by laurie second by jeff is there any discussion i had a quick question of course just uh i i understand this is just you know renewal stuff are there any new bus companies listed on here that we didn't have in the past no it's all the same that's correct these are all um bus companies with which we have had contracts um we will see we have a batch of routes that do need to go out for bid but we'll see what those okay thank you you're welcome any other discussion all those in favor opposed obscene motion carries and this brings us to our committee reports information items including the clause of the board and tony we're going to start out with you good evening everyone i'm very happy to report that the restrictions regarding in-person ceremonies has been lifted a little bit and as a result there has been a slew of events in-person events specifically um there's an induction for language honor societies math honor societies and um in-person events for science honor society and as mentioned by mr squash and series and slacks who were there yesterday there is the in-person induction for national honor society um international club has also hosted a virtual collision which is normally one of the biggest events this year but it still had its virtual counterpart where there were a few cultural dances songs and even a fashion show so uh international club was able to make that dance and that big event still uh a part of our year and seniors have a few events upcoming with senior awards athletic awards and then the ptsa once again has come through the big event and giving us a senior night on june 10th so thank you to the ptsa for that and of course tomorrow is prom which is extremely exciting graduation requirements or at least graduation restrictions have also been lifted and the thing that appeals most to students in that is uh now families can bring up to four members so before it was kind of a difficult conversation a problem that a lot of households face deciding between which parent and which siblings would come and this is a very timely improvement considering that now was when a lot of families were just deciding who was going to come and now a lot of the family can come so that resolved a lot of problems in households and when the news update went out earlier today a lot of people in my class were like hey now now my sibling can come now my dad can come instead of my mom and my sister so it's a really good improvement um and yeah there's just been a lot of events which is kind of weird to say because normally i'm always talking about what could have been or the virtual counterparts but there's a lot of in-person events and it's almost a little bittersweet but it's okay because uh we're looking towards the future and the future looks a lot brighter and that's the sweet part and i guess the better part would have just been what could have been this year but i get to say now something that i've been waiting to say for the entire year which is that we're back and that's a really good thing to say especially considering that we're hitting the ground completely running and as i mentioned the sweet side is that uh i get to experience some of this at the end of my senior year and at least the next year looks considerably brighter which is good to hear at least after having a year that it was a little bit darker than normal i believe my replacement for next year is on call nora if you want to introduce yourself and quickly say hi that would be cool i don't know i believe she's here i am here she is i'm looking right at her welcome nora hi thank you for the introduction my name is norah hennessey i'm really excited to be working with you all next year we're excited to have you thank you for accepting the responsibility and we look forward to hearing from you tony i'm sure that my invitation to the prom got lost in the mail becker i was actually uh we talked about this month ago but you have a great time anyway thank you president becker i i wish i wish uh i was i was hoping that you would come as my date but i i've realized maybe you'd be a little too busy you know it's a friday night i'm sure no no actually don't don't eat tony she's gonna show up now she's gonna i'll be asleep by seven tomorrow night but i hope you and everyone else has a wonderful time i'm so glad we're able to have a prom this year a lot of students are very excited that was the end of my report i quickly just wanted to say thank you to everyone on the board for giving me a really warm welcome each and every night that i gave a speech uh i greatly appreciated this opportunity to speak in front of the board and to engage in a dialogue with everyone and i also appreciate the board entertaining and listening to my own opinions and any ideas that i diverged in my report it has been truly my honor and my pleasure to have served as the student liaison to the board of ed and i know that nora will do just as good as a job is not if not better than i will so you guys will be in good hands and i just want to say last of all thank you you have been an absolute pleasure and delight we wish you the best of luck in whatever you do you are just gonna soar man you're gonna do wonderful let us know let us hear from you we always say that to board reps and then we never hear from them again so um please let us hear from you because we really would love to hear how you're doing and nora again we look forward to having you join us and i'm sure you're going to be a wonderful addition to our group are there any committee reports information items or political of the cause for the board mark yeah we just experienced memorial day i hope it's not limited to that day and we never forget the sacrifices including the ultimate sacrifice that our troops and veterans have made over the years so we can speak freely and share all the freedoms that we enjoy in the best country in the world so thank you to all the current troops veterans and their families thank you very well said mark thank you for that jeff i believe you had your hand up yes and uh on this night of recognition well-deserved recognition among staff and uh you know teachers i think we left one off and i just want to throw it out there and if there's a way this could be added at some point that i would like to offer a resolution of perseverance to our students for this year and then a graduating class of 21 i would every every teacher and every staff member would recognize tonight i it's so well deserved and who they do it for for those kids and what they did over the last year being able to at their ages at in everything they were used to having their world altered and the grades have been great the experience was i think they got something from this that could never be taught ever ever again and will absolutely serve them well throughout their life so i personally and hopefully this board will at some point recognize the class the entire student body this year along with the graduating class of last year because they deserve a resolution of absolute perseverance thank you jeff also very very well said and now i'm going to have to rewrite my graduation speech because she just i think i was going to say very well said very well sorry no worries barbara no charge i just wanted to wish tony well and you know i i didn't get to see you in person yesterday i was uh uh running around a little bit in the bleachers but i wanted to tell you because i wanted to you know uh see if i wasn't from the you know with my husband but i i wanted you to know that uh you are so well spoken you are so articulate and intelligent and you're gonna fly like everyone said everywhere you go you're gonna shine and we thank you for being here and you always were a wonderful connection to the student body you explain you know explain your thoughts so well and we appreciate you being here all the time thank you so much it was a real pleasure to finally see everyone in person and not everyone but uh miss gloss misreason i've missed lax yesterday so i wish i'll see you i i i will say i will see you again in person you promised i will come during my break ms lex i promise and we'll see you at graduation anything else for the prom vicki i just asked him for come back on thanksgiving great i'm over the prom i'm done promised like so yesterday on to graduation or next year's prom nora we'll talk um heather i just wanted to say it was a privilege to attend nhs inductions last night um especially in person and if we could order that weather again for graduation that would be stupendous because it really was perfect for the gathering i i was surprised as somebody who's you know been teaching through this experience and gone through a lot of graduations how emotional i felt about watching students line up to take pictures together in front of the high school banner and talking and doing things that we often take for granted but the thing that i was proudest to see was the number of families that lined up and wanted to speak to dr valesky a great many parents came out of their way and commented to ms locks and i and some waited to speak to dr valesky and they wanted to offer their thanks for his leadership through this challenging year um and they were just so appreciative people spoke about the ongoing communication and the comfort they took from what he shared with the community and in a year where so many of the challenges were just rapid and fast flying and so urgent all the time and people's concerns were loud it was wonderful to see people take the time on their children's special night to come share their appreciation with dr velesky which i know we share but it was i was just really moved to see the community want to take the time to do that as well anyone else okay seeing them we do have a need for oh lori i'm sorry if you said something i'm not the only one who can't hear you i promise i know i i don't know i keep hearing thunder maybe it's my who knows um so yes i'm not going to beat a wonderful event last night i wanted to tell you guys quickly about another event that lee when i attended the week before last was the unveiling of the plaque for the lost souls memorial over the community arts center i would highly recommend you taking a look they're going to have a memorial there they're going to have some education classes um about the 137 uh lost souls they do an annual this was i think the fourth year rightly with the fourth year they read the names yes um and leewa and i got to be part of it this year and read it was very powerful um i think the youngest was a two-day-old baby um so it's just an unfortunate part of our our town's history but it was something that was nice to see that the unitarian church had taken on and um all the support that they had in the community um it was a it was a solemn but beautiful event so i would suggest that all of you uh get over there at some point take a look um they are looking for um some fundraising opportunities as well if you'd like to help in terms of the uh educational portion and maybe it's something we can incorporate um here as well i don't know how many um our courses at the high school talk about this particular event but it'll be something that should have some more light shed on it so i just wanted to let you know about that thank you so much lori thank you so much for bringing that to our attention very well said anyone else i'm looking i'm looking okay now we have a need to go into closed session whereas the board of education must discuss matters which are not appropriate for discussion in public meeting and whereas those items are listed in tonight's agenda the length of the closed session is estimated to be one hour after which the public meeting of the board shall reconvene and action will not be taken can i please have a motion to go into closed session move by leewoo second by laurie is there any discussion all those in favor opposed abstain motion carries thank you so much for joining us tonight please stay safe have a good evening board members please log out and log back into closed session you
there a second mr martelly uh any changes or edits to the minutes i have none seniors are none that the board education approved the minutes from the meeting held on may 20th 2021 all in favor passes unanimously thank you correspondents uh uh secretary helen is not here to see anything but we we did get a couple emails uh ironically one over more day weekend for mr bestor uh talked about student data privacy he uh referred to the board a blog link that talked about um you know how the uh increasing use of online services and etc even by younger adults or students uh want to be mindful of the broader concern of of data privacy and security not necessarily related to our systems um so i did respond back then thank them for the article and you know if any questions on our policy that uh you know definitely bring to our attention but uh he just wanted you know really put an awareness out there that uh you know students have access to more than just the systems in our school you know their personal phones at home just be mindful that uh in this day and age of cyber attacks you know the information's comp can be compromised so heads up on that so thank you and after someone i believe you received an email from from a parent asking about the mask mandate in our schools and why it's necessary i apologize i forgot the the kind lady's name i know you responded to that uh i think it was last week correct yeah the question was about whether students would not be able to wear masks or be able to stop wearing masks in school there is an executive order that requires students and staff to wear masks in the school buildings and monday and through working with chester cot particularly in light of the heat that is forecast for next week we are withdrawing the mask mandate for students outside unless they are in close physical proximity for an extended period so uh that's with the blessing of the health department yeah and just for for record that was from miss sweet and and mr besser thank you we have your your correspondence and then we'll be included in our in our meeting minutes for reference uh outside of correspondent we have the much anticipated superintendence report dr sullivan it's all you mr perry genie thank you for acknowledging the excitement that is the superintendent's report hopefully we'll nail this uh quite quickly i like pavlov's dog i created a powerpoint used to doing that on uh our virtual meetings uh so i'm just gonna try and walk through real quickly i did leave a copy of the powerpoint for each of the members of the board and it will be available on our website tomorrow um just a quick update of our current status with uh kovid19 impact in our district uh this is really the lowest we've ever had with one notable exception at doolittle um and it seems like each throughout the year as i've been intimately connected to this you know each building will have a really bizarre kind of like blip on the radar and then you know subsides but uh right now we're dealing with uh some cases it do little um and maura esposito the health director met with amy o'brien the principal today and renee zamidi i think talked about that earlier and um so i think we're on the right path there hopefully that you know is resolved and by the start of next week we've talked a lot about the emotional impact of covet 19 and the fact that january we had over a thousand of our uh 4 200 students who were remote uh 25 of our students were remote on january 27th and the idea was very scary that you could miss 17 months of school at least the the interpersonal interactions and the academic experience so our administrative team really jumped on contacting families seeing what we could do to support a return to school and i'm really proud to to share that i think between the efforts of our staff the the commitment of our families the the current health uh status that we're down uh 600 less remote students than we had in january so and 300 less than we had just a month or so ago so we're down to 10 percent remote and i think that's a great uh sign for our return to school uh spring of events our dc trip that we made with over 200 students to uh uh washington last week was really awesome for our students at dodd middle school our eighth graders it was really a taste of normalcy for them to be out and enjoying each other's company it was great um tonight we're celebrating the junior prom and tomorrow night our seniors have their prom so it's i wouldn't say normal um but it's uh certainly much more like normal than it has been in a long time and our kids it's so rewarding for us to see that with our kids so really exciting um i mentioned the heat next week um and how we're shifting the the mask requirement i would want to add though i i am concerned about the health self safety and welfare of our students and staff the forecast is really insane next week as cold and rotten as it has been this past weekend twice as hot this week next week temperatures in the mid 90s for a protracted period starting sunday through friday so our buildings um won't take long to heat up with the brick and we're gonna monitor that um i we may have to adjust schedules where our non-air-conditioned buildings which is everything but highland may have to um dismiss early uh at some point i you know i hate to do that i know the disruption it creates for families but we also don't want to risk the health and safety of our little ones and masks and buildings um so uh there's a chance for that and i'm just you know trying to give the community a heads up on that um as a parent i know i would appreciate it the uh the other conundrum we have is that we're starting to collect chromebooks because we have to inventory thousands of chromebooks and fix them and everything else in preparation for next year so the possibility of us using remote instruction during that time is is dramatically reduced so um depending on the day the time whatever we may not be able to go there it may just be like an old school weather uh early dismissal um but i just wanted people to be aware of that another event i want to give mr martelly a shout out we attended the uh ribbon cutting ceremony today for reread books in the watchtower shops there they employ a number of our our current and former students and are a great partner for us and so it was a real who's who of cheshire folks there as mr martelly was there this afternoon at that ribbon-cutting ceremony so thank you for doing that um cheshire graduation as lucy mentioned we're on right on track excited to be having a relatively normal graduation ceremony with four tickets per graduate outside and we're praying for good weather on june 16th we administered the school climate survey to parents and students and staff as well throughout the months of april and may just highlights participation numbers for parents were generally lower than uh in 2019 i think we had about 800 parents uh participate which is generally pretty good but um you know we always want higher participation uh the pandemic had an obvious impact on perceptions of school so for example when you look at 70 of parents reported at the middle school that their child seldom or never participated in extracurricular activities this year that makes sense to me i mean it just didn't have them i think one of the challenges we faced at the middle school was it is trying as much as it was great to be in school every day it's trying to not move when you're 12 years old and move between classes and i think that was a real challenge that you know you may pick up on in the results there and then again where the places where school was most normal at the elementary school had the most positive experiences so what we do is take all this data review it in buildings based committees in a district-wide committee and develop plans to support continued positive climate for our schools into the future all of the data that we have is available on the cheshire public schools website under district information you'll see a heading that says school climate plan and a safe school climate plan and all of our data is available there um so i would encourage people to check that out and certainly reach out to marlene myself any of the administrators if you have any questions and then as um andrew said yes we do have school engagement uh school modernization engagement meetings coming up the next three excuse me monday tuesday and wednesday next week i've sent out a few emails we'll put the times on our website and locations colliers is the representative firm who's worked with the school modernization committee there'll be a representative there from colliers at these meetings and we hope to really educate people on where we are to date and then you know where we're seeking to move forward what the next steps are and so we certainly appreciate any parent feedback that we can have or community feedback teacher feedback in that process we welcome you to please attend those those meetings and with that that's all i i have for the superintendent's report thank you jeff any questions from the board uh adam dr solon uh in regards to the uh the outbreak of doolittle do you have a breakdown as to uh percentage of asymptomatic versus uh any symptoms do we get that kind of information it's a good question adam and i i don't have that i don't i don't necessarily catalog that whether the individual was asymptomatic or not but what in my conversation with miss esposito today what we've seen is we shifted from a 10-day quarantine period to a five-day quarantine then you can be tested and return on eight days and that picked up a couple of asymptomatic individuals that we wouldn't of otherwise necessarily known about which is good i guess you know that we want those people identified not returning to school asymptomatic with any potential for spread but what we've seen throughout the year is that doolittle this may have been the second incident of we had one that we can identify doolittle that may have been a in school spread that would be the second um potential in school spread in the district what are we 170 days into school all day um so you know that's still really good i would say over the course of the full year but when we've had a few uh positives it it does i mean we investigate because we're concerned but we feel like not we i'm not the medical expert but more esposito feels pretty confident that we're in a really good place i mean it's tailing down we have less than six positive cases so um at the moment so we're we're in a decent place it's just uh something we need to investigate we did um and and uh just to follow up the the school uh climate survey that's online we can get that on yeah all that information there the the surveys the the results from the surveys open-ended questions um are available on the website and is that under the usual format we had to put you have the pie charts in the beginning and then you have like the written comments at the at the end like that's the okay thank you yes mr tim so thanks for working with maura to get the masks removed for at least outside particularly you know during recess but i do have one additional question to the playgrounds the cones that segregate the classrooms are they allowed to come down i apologize because you emailed me about that okay i was in washington last week and i know um marlene had some information for me and i neglected to reply to you so i apologize for that and i don't recall it off the top my head do you remember that thank you so the playground that you're inquiring about is a smaller playground and also for the younger children so they put up some cones as a visual for those kiddos because they're so young i get it the back playground is much bigger and students can self-monitor a little bit more but i i checked around and um from all of the the playgrounds that one tends to just be smaller outside for the younger kids so i have to i have to i have to share the bad news that the cones are staying okay thank you at least for just a couple more weeks that's okay thank you any other questions see is there and then thank you dr sullivan for your report uh on their old business we don't have any old business on a new business i have just a quick update for a chair update and then i'll talk about the upcoming meetings i uh i actually had an opportunity to visit miss wilderman's uh culinary class at transfer high school two weeks ago yeah almost two weeks ago on a friday and how we got there was interesting and uh and chatting about something say hey why don't you come in during our you know our culture foods awareness and and uh and i i just i had a blast that class those kids were awesome uh we we did a uh uh an old dish an austrian dish from the wash factory when uh when that was open marcus we did chicken schnitzel with potato pancake and bean bundles and you know i was going to equip earlier you know have we put that in the menu earlier this year we were cleared that gap no problem because we uh i think there were about 20 or so kids that and i think and i i think miss william just pulled kids out of the hallway they started smelling the cooking and just came in and we had i think almost 52 pieces of schnitzel gone obliterated all the pancakes were gone the beans were gone the sauce was gone it was like it was awesome so uh so i just want to thank her and when i got home this evening i had a nice uh handwritten note from from the students thinking experience so uh i i think we have many future top chefs in that class uh and uh there were two young ladies i forgot their names um they have never sauteed anything before so or sauteino schnitzel so they started out you know very cautious by five minutes into it they owned it they sauteed everything they you know they were like it was it was great it was uh so i mean shameless plug here if you know if you have kids if your students like mine are uh treasure high school ham take advantage of that program because uh if nothing else it builds up the self-confidence and you know and cooking and and and also seeing as a possible career path there's a lot of as you know erica uh a lot of avenues and different career paths and everything from business related to you know the to the food line so i just want to thank miss wilderman for having me there and hopefully they have too much of a mess behind so uh but that was it other than that um we do have some upcoming meetings while uh everyone is off and graduating on vacation we're we're we continue working and we're not complaining about it but it's fun stuff so upcoming meetings on uh thursday june 10th at 6 30.
we have a finance committee meeting of the whole we're going to be talking about the approved budget that was passed by a town council the same night at 7 30 there'll be a special board of ed meeting to adopt said budget it'll be 7 30 p.m on monday june 14th we have a quick curriculum committee meeting at 7 pm tuesday june 22nd at 7 pm we have personnel committee to hall executive session to discuss the superintendent's evaluation and on june 30th at 7 30 a.m we have the board of ed fiscal meeting um where as tim mentioned earlier is uh several accounts at the board of ed has to close out you know per various statutes so we're reviewing the our state of financials at the end of this year which has been challenging um and as mr martelly mentioned i'm going to put out there again we have three school modernization engagement sessions that the board is hosting beginning june 7th at norton elementary school at 6 00 p.m june 8th at chapman elementary school 6 and june 9th dot middle school at 7 p.m these will be in person outdoors under tents where possible adequately spaced uh so we hope to see you there and you know please bring your questions hopefully this will be informative uh for you all uh that being said that's all i have for new business and last item is a german do i have a motion to adjourn a meeting so moved is there a second ten seconds uh all those in favor it is passed the meeting is now adjourned thank you re1 that showed up earlier thank you erica thank you team marlene vincent carol ferstein the slate good evening you
how is it like awesome these are the veterans that have been doing this for years and years and years here all right just checking them all right i'm right you know i can just come over here are you sure [Applause] oh yep hey mark what's my uh which uh link am i using the one that says graduation this one right here yes this one right here is [Applause] started streaming six minutes all right oh how are you now [Music] okay right here [Music] is wearing makeup let me go tell everybody oh excuse me you work here oh that way right here great all right um oh um oh i'm just gonna hug it i is [Music] [Applause] do it this is yes [Music] [Applause] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] uh [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello wow [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] much [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] wow [Music] so good evening please remain standing for the singing of our national anthem and mr kevin hollister you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we have at the twilight's last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the peril is fight or the ramparts we watched [Music] rule through the night that our flag was still there oh say does the head star spangled banner [Music] and the home of the brave [Applause] thank you mr hollister good evening i'd like to extend my warmest welcome to everyone especially the graduating class of 2021 and their families you guys can sit tonight marks the 45th franklin county technical school graduation ceremony i'd like to take a moment to acknowledge some important people with us here tonight please stand and remain standing when i call your name or group and please hold applause until the end members of our school committee superintendent richard martin assistant principal john kerry cte coordinator matt west director of pps nathan may facilities manager joe mazewski and the maintenance crew who set up today will break up tonight jamie noel and mark matthews for technical support and landscaping instructors mark amsteen and kurt richardson and their students i would also like to thank kim ganguish-marsh our senior guidance counselor and sue smith my assistant admin assistant there are many other individuals who have devoted time in preparing for this event this evening i'd like to extend a huge thank you to all of them as well please a round of applause for these individuals to the class of 2021 congratulations you did it and to your families friends and tours congratulations to you too you've helped to shape the lives of the students in this class i know that they appreciate you would not be here without you you all for being here this has been a very difficult year for all of us but i am excited to see all of these faces it's so good to see faces it's so good to have a gathering like this and thank you all for for being here this is a huge huge turnout so thank you thank you thank you my hope is that in these dark times that they're finally behind us and that we are more resilient determined and grateful to those who are closest to us i'd like to share one of my favorite quotes with you a quote from steve maraboli he said we all make mistakes have struggles and even regret things in our past but you are not your mistakes you are not your struggles and you are now here with the power to shape your day and your future many of you have struggled made mistakes and maybe some of you even have regrets during your four years at franklin county tech those mistakes and struggles are part of the learning process part of growing up the goal is to learn from your mistakes and grow resiliency during your struggles those skills along with kindness and empathy will help you lead a healthy and happy life when you leave here today i hope you leave fcts with a sense of pride you've received a high quality academic and vocational education very few students across the commonwealth can say that you walk out of fcts college and career ready your skills are sorely needed in the world we live in have confidence in your abilities and do not shy away from the challenges you are prepared but if you ever need help you have teachers counselors administrators classmates and family members that you can call on we all benefit when you are successful that being said i hope you stay connected to fcts become part of our alumni association and look to support those students who come after you someday i hope if you have the opportunity you take on a co-op student and i hope that you remember that students will make mistakes struggle navigating teenage life and are not finished products please stay connected and give back to this community i want to tell you all how proud of you i am how much we appreciate your leadership and contributions to franklin county tech and how much you will be missed i wish you all my best in health and happiness congratulations my best in health and happiness congratulations thank you everyone what a wonderful day it is today turned out great beautiful weather great turnout before i start with the normal thanks to the school committee and so forth i want to thank one group that's been awesome this year and that's our teachers i've served on the school committee for many years and been proud to tell folks that i'm on the school committee at franklin tech but this year the teachers exemplified what they're here for they're here for the kids they're here for you here for all our students the administration and the staff this year really pivoted moved and worked with everyone to make sure you had a safe and secure educational environment while still getting to meet teachers and be here in person and the class has done a wonderful job not just the senior class but all classes this has been an extraordinarily difficult year all across our country and world and the school here pivoted and they worked together and the staff and students just took all the challenges in stride and continued to move forward and for that i thank you all also thank all my school committee members who i've not seen some in person ever and zoomed so much this year that when i went went upstairs and came down my wife would say how are things going and i'd be i'm all zoomed out and people really understand what that means and did i bring my mask with me oh no i forgot my mess don't worry i have six in the back seat it's like i'm without a mask tonight and it feels odd but it feels so great again i want to thank the students i want to encourage you to continue on your efforts of learning and on service to your community principal spanifino put it very well you're part of a community here at franklin tech please continue that wherever you go in the world if we all can make a difference if we all stand up and help just a little bit thank you thank you mr coopets at this time it is my privilege to invite richard martin our superintendent to the podium well once again congratulations to the class of 2021 i will confess over the last year and a half many of you have changed i get to now see your faces and go wow i didn't recognize that person with that person i got the problem the other night half of the people are going so that's that person you know it was unbelievable to see everybody face to face i would like to take a moment to be able to magnify what was said earlier in regards to our school committee they met all year long to make sure that they could approve and go through every initiative that allowed us to be able to have someone never realize i would like a standing ovation for our [Applause] schools [Applause] none of it would have been possible without our faculty and staff you know that we were the only high school that was in session in person since september our faculty and staff were here from september all the way until now and we can make that claim as the only high school in western massachusetts to say that it couldn't have happened without the care and love and compassion that our teachers have each one of you let's give our teachers a round of applause [Applause] as juniors we all had to adapt and learn to overcome new challenges you had to learn about remote learning not only to access your education but also to have a social life you will require the social distance where face masks adapt to new ways of schooling and socializing your prom sports co-op clubs and activities were all cancelled it was harder for you than anyone could ever possibly realize but in the end here you are today overcoming those past challenges and preparing for new ones and is seniors you are finally back at school but at the beginning of the year it came with new challenges every one of you had to wear masks social distance from one another hide behind desk shields and walk one way down hallways to social distances and to wear a mask while playing sports i'm out there watching sports games and people have masks and i wouldn't be able to breathe um but because of your perseverance frankly county tech was one of the few high schools to have a prom and it was outside underneath that tent that was sponsored by our school committee as seniors you started playing sports again but this time without a mask and finally we all started to see your smiles on your faces for the first time that were previously hidden from us and here you are today sitting next to each other and about to receive a diplomacy you have once again overcame and made franklin county tech the city of the hill that's shown brightest through the darkest of times the graduating class of 2021 proved we could overcome obstacles when working together it was a year ago that franklin county tech was again one of the few schools in western mass to host a graduation remember for those that saw it everyone was in cars row by row shop by shop and somehow we made it work proven we were beginning the pathway on our road back and here we are today proving how far we had come uninhibited by the restraints of cover 19.
welcome to joseph george middle school's 8th grade promotion for 2021 we are honored to be here today to celebrate the students promoting to high school please stand for the star spangled banner played by our very own 8th grader julian ayala [Music] three [Music] plan great job julian now please remain standing for the pledge of allegiance put your right hand on your heart ready begin i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you and you may be seated again welcome guests parents students and staff it is my pleasure to be here virtually today in front of your amazing minds of our future generation and the community who has come together as a village who will help to continue to push motivate and inspire these young minds students i'm so proud of the young people you're all becoming and i can't wait to see what your future holds i want to recognize that many of us are here today having gone through the last year and a half having dealt with loss with pain illness and many other emotions i want to take a moment to recognize that we may have people who are missing today for many reasons and we would like to honor them if you are missing someone today take a moment to remember a happy memory with them and hold them in your heart know that you are loved and appreciated by so many today we recognize the passing of middle school to high school a rite of passage as you make your way to becoming outstanding young adults and while yes you are here to recognize this promotion i think we also need to recognize the strength tenacity and perseverance you all have you have gotten through a full school year of distance learning no other eighth grade class has ever done this i didn't even do this your teachers haven't done this your parents it's different some of you found your stride and some of you may have struggled along the way but guess what you made it there were probably times that you felt defeated but there were also times to celebrate like today i want you to take a moment to reflect on the path you have made for yourself throughout your years here at george what were some obstacles and what were some successes now think about what you can do for your future self to ensure you take those successes and you leverage them and take those challenges and learn from them take those lessons with you and recognize the strength you have within yourself those lessons and self-affirmation will be tools for you to use as life throws us curveballs as it does many times and then if i can just leave you with one thing it would be for you all to know that you are amazing for who you are your personality your intelligence your strength and your tenacity stay true to who you are because you are truly amazing so remember those sentiments take what you've learned hold on to that know that you're strong and that you are amazing and you will always have a home here with us vikings so go vikings and congratulations to the class of 2021 i would now like to congratulate the student who earned the second highest gpa our salutatorian for the 2021 school year is jade gomez congratulations jade and now the student with the highest ranking gpa in her class our valedictorian is catherine austria guys congratulations catherine now catherine will share a speech with us first and foremost i would like to say that all glory and honor belongs to god for he is the only reason why i'm here presenting this speech to you all today i would like to present to you one of my favorite bible verses that has helped me throughout this year despite the many difficult circumstances philippians 4 13 i can do all things through christ and strengthens me he gave me the strength to move forward and succeed when i felt like giving up he gave me hope that there are still many more opportunities to learn and grow from my mistakes i thank you god for being there for me when nobody else was i thank you for never abandoning me i thank you for the knowledge and wisdom i thank you for all that you do and i thank you for all the blessings that you have given to me i thank you jesus for this wonderful opportunity and that i couldn't have done it without you hello everyone my name is catherine ashley austria guidance and i am honored to be the valedictorian of joseph george middle school class of 2021 i would like to thank you all for taking your time to watch the virtual graduation this year has been such a great year with everything happening but i would like to thank god for pushing us forward and helping us get through this year together i pray that my fellow classmates and their families are hanging in there and doing well my time here at george was definitely an unforgettable experience to say the least sixth grade fresh out of elementary school running to my classes thinking i'll make it from the dean all the way to the annex with only one minute to spare discovering the beloved staircase that held many memories getting it on the back of my head with this softball the name is really misleading because i tuned it excruciating headache for the rest of the day it was not fun racing to the lunch line whenever it was natural tuesday and loading up my tray with lots of jalapenos following trends such as being a biscuit girl looking my lack of these memories really makes me want to sing and i oop sorry and also being concerned about what i wore but i should have been more concerned who had the most bts photo cards seventh grade felt like a blur it just went by so quickly with everything happening like covet and the lockdown the few members i couldn't call were with my friends and i used to have piggyback races and i fell my butt in the moist mud playing extreme shoes are there when another group took our usual hangout spot and i got to play the guitar for one of our units in one of my favorite classes world music 8th grade i really wish i could have experienced this last year in person since this is our last year before high school it is unfortunate that we weren't able to make our last few memories together some of us plan on going to different high schools from each other if there is a memory i could recall from this year it would have to be making props for my theater tech class that was very fun thank you mr herrera and mrs chiara for making classes so fun yet educational if i am being 100 honest i am not excited about going to high school for there will be even more expectations i must meet more assignments and less sleep although i am pretty excited about joining clubs learning about new subjects and making new friends i would now like to thank my family for being so supportive of me throughout my whole life thank you mama for raising me to strive to be the best version of myself and for always praying for me thank you dad for always being there for me to come for me to comfort me whenever i had pretty rough days thank you to my older brother kevin for always teaching me so many life lessons about the real world thank you to my older sister kimberly for for always helping me throughout the day even though you are busy stressing out with school and thanks to my little dog angel for being my emotional support dog and not eating my homework especially since all the homework is online now thank you miss bigfoot for coordinating our school system leading the students into the direction of success to the faculty thank you for giving earl every single day working hard to provide us with an amazing education even though there are days we don't feel like working to the staff thank you for your hard work behind the scenes providing a good learning environment for all our students to each of the family members of the graduating class of 2021 for supporting us i thank you especially to the parents and guardians who sacrifice for us everything you think you see in me everything that i've accomplished everything you think i have is from the grace of god looking back at these three past years felt like a roller coaster of events there were many ups and downs but that is just how we all learn from each other i applaud you all for making it do this during this rough year everyone we did it we have officially accomplished one of the major early milestones of our lives today and i just wanted to say i am so proud of all of us and none of our work has gone to waste our next stop high school congratulations to the graduating class of 20 class of 2021 and may you all succeed in the future thank you good luck and god bless you all and enjoy the fun set once a viking always a viking so for the last time go vikings thank you catherine for such a beautiful speech and now on with the grade level awards these students have been nominated by staff for representing the viking spirit in the designated areas for english language arts kevin baginon and adriana torres congratulations for mathematics alejandra sanchez and fanny trejo congratulations for social studies angela nunez and moises salcedo congratulations for science kylie baginon and hananiah miguel congratulations for the language learner award michelle silvestre and hong do congratulations for physical education michelle silvestre angela nunez jasmine licia josiah basilio and juan ruiz congratulations for band jesse hawks for choir yadira cruz congratulations for visual arts daniela martinez angela nunez and fernando perez congratulations for theater hananiah miguel and julia delgadillo congratulations and the perseverance award dylan thomas marilyn rivas jasmine murillo castro christian guzman congratulations for most improved we have david morillo castro and marilyn rives congratulations congratulations to all of the award winners now to recognize students promoting with honors you will see these seals next to all of the students promoting who have earned a cumulative gpa of 3.0 or higher students who received a 3.0 to a 3.49 gpa will have the honor roll emblem as well as receiving an honors certificate students who receive a 3.5 or above will receive an honors certificate a gold cord and will have the high honor roll seal now on to the promoting class of [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] congratulations again to the class of you did it thank you all for attending and have a great day