But I, you know, I I think I'd be worried about the >> the integrity probably of the block, but uh but no, so um over um Christmas break, um Havstick Designs, which is an acoustical engineering firm, came in, um did a bunch of acoustic testing in the gym, which again, we we knew that was something we'd have to take a look at. I think it's it's it's certainly worse than I what I expected. Um and and so they came in, they've provided us a report um back and recommendations about acoustical panels because again now the the gym is just now a big square block, you know, with with no um no soft edges at all. There's no roundedness to it, you know. Um there's a there's a gym just west of here in a town that's the county seat. I can't mention it like as a rival.
Um I think parents are passionate about what they want in their school. So, if there was someone really vocal about what we wanted to spend, we had those bylaws, right? We we all always have that to fall back on. Um and as someone in finance, you know, there are accounting rules and Janice and all that kind of stuff. So, I'm used to following all that kind of protocol when we're talking about budgets and finance or forecasts and costs and things. So, >> thank you. >> My question was, how will you balance your loyalty to your individual community with the needs of a regional district? >> Good question. Again, I think it goes back to that, you know, being able to take your parent hat off, right? So I take my Boston hat off and you know I understand that this is a district to school committee um and we have to think about what's best for all um all of the kids in district.
But um any questions for uh Lewis Lewis? Thank you very much. Well done. >> Time. >> Thank you, Louie. >> Thank you, >> Principal Chad Jackson. Uh you're going to tell us about uh a safety conference you went to. Would you re um introduce everybody, please? >> Sure. Uh thank you for having us back. Um Chad Jackson, principal to my right, assistant principal Brennan Sullivan. Um, sorry. That's it. Thank you. Thanks. You a few other members of our team will introduce as they come up after. Uh Brendon and I are going to talk about uh the first part of this presentation um about our trip uh to school safe con conference in Texas back in November. Um we'd like to open the presentation by sharing some strategic outcomes uh of our attendance uh at the conference. Our goal here is to demonstrate how these national insights are being integrated into our building leadership model.
At the middle school cross country championship in 25, a student won placing first overall. We had four students in the top 10. And I'll say this, you want your high school to be your flagship school in the district because that's the pinnacle of where our kids end up. Canton High School. Canton High School was one of seven high schools in the state of Connecticut named a school of distinction this year per the next generation accountability system. Kent High School was ranked Connecticut's 23rd best high school in the US News World and report and number 10 in the Hartford area. CHS grade 11 students completed the next generation sty standards which resulted in 89.9 of students of our students at above or at or above proficiency. The score was the highest in the state of Connecticut. our combined SAT reading and math average of 1087 for the class of 2026.
We are also very excited to be partner partnering with Magnolia Elementary with a couple of exciting projects. This is our second year. We are doing a science collaboration with a steam museum event at Sierra and our Sierra Earth and Science students will be delivering lessons to Magnolia students. We're also super excited about our audio technology students first official DJ day at Magnolia for their light up the night kindness dance on February 19th. I want to thank Magnolia Elementary for their support and continued collaboration. I also want to announce a new club opportunity starting at Sierra with our lunchtime Sierra spiderweb club on Fridays. The Sierra spiderweb club grew from the student interest, excuse me, the student interest in continuing and sharing their experiences in the Sierra Spider Lab class and introducing others to the opportunities the program has to offer. Lastly, we have our second blood drive tomorrow, February 11th, at Sierra High hosted by the American Red Cross.
And nowadays, you build individual stall units that students can go in, they can change, they can take showers, they're more comfortable in those those spaces. And actually, we have some examples here. These are some of the renderings that we have that can show what what can be. You know, this was what was on the left and what can be on the right. Those individual stall units. >> Yeah. And you may in the 28 years we've been around, 90% of everything we've done has been in K12. So yeah, kind of understand the schedule, the traditional schedules, the 12 month schedules. >> So the question is, do we do our own work? We are the designed build contractor. So we do our own engineering, architecture, we are general contractors, but we subcontract the work out and we like to subcontract the local communities and really the best the best deal and the best uh value for your your school.
So you're looking at two different You're looking at two different Yeah. moments in time. >> Correct. by the time this comes out, you know, tax revenue hasn't been totally um dispersed. >> So, they're they they're they're looking at the audited or their unodit. >> So, when they're when they're trying to do their comparison, they they would like to do it audited versus audited. >> Okay. But audits aren't due to the state until March 31st. >> Okay. So when they send this out in January, they're jumping the gun >> because they also they so they call us >> um throughout the throughout the year because there's the other auditor general's report where they the district spending report where it shows you the different categories and how much percentage we're spending in each category. So they call us up all the time saying, "Hey, you've got this versus this the previous year.
And that's a time devoted to either intervention or enrichment based off a specific skill. Part of the literacy summit that we just did with first grade was trying to connect intervention opportunities within our core curriculum because at this age in particular, the phonics instruction needs to be explicit and systematic. A lot of the research coming out says that um up to 95% of students are able to learn how to read. Um and we need to push that and give them as many opportunities as possible to display that they're they're ready to they're reading. >> Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Awesome. Well, um, this is so exciting. This is incredible and and I appreciate the the way you're presenting it is is very, uh, tempered and that we're not happy and we want to continue improving and that's true, but man, we should also celebrate this. I mean, these numbers are incredible.
Uh so responsibilities of auditor as us as the external auditors and then uh district management. So fraud communication. So as part of the annual audit, we inquire about knowledge of fraud or non-compliance. Uh it's a standard audit procedure we do every year with various uh uh different employees as part of our normal audit procedures but uh ultimately the annual audit is not geared to detect fraud and ultimately the responsibility of fraud rests with district management and the board and the day-to-day operations. But just know as part of the annual audit, we do ask about that and if we become aware of anything, we can integrate it into our audit procedures. Uh and audit responsibilities, we provide reasonable but not absolute assurance as part of an annual audit. Uh so audit adjustments. So please report this past year there were no uh audit adjustments that were due to an error or uh an issue related to the financials.
Okay, >> that's the the whole premise of this entire calendar. Otherwise, the calendar would go as normal. >> Yes, correct. >> So, so we are we are going to use >> Paski day, I guess. >> No. So, I'm going to share those results. >> Okay. Go ahead. I think >> No, that was good. Trying to understand. I was trying to understand why we were talking about this. >> Yes. Yes. Sorry. No. will add for the public because there are schools around us that are in session on, you know, Palaski Day or Veterans Day and so there are some criteria that goes with that. Um, but every school that is in session on one of those five holidays had to have that same hearing that we had. And so we as a district never asked for that, but any school that is in session had to have that hearing that we had.
just can't say the word, but there's gym they have a do ceiling for example that you know impacts the acoustics of that gym um or you see acoustic panels in other gyms and things like that you know um so they they gave us some recommendations on that um we talked through that I was able to get um a quote um on they they're recommending wall panels and then um panels up on the ceiling um and then was able to get quotes for those um and and then worked with a contractor about the install and what that might look like. The wall panels was something we could do relatively quickly, but it was also like, hey, you need to order in the next three or four days if you wanted to try to do anything like before we host basketball sectionals, for example. Um, and it just I didn't didn't want to just make this knee-jerk reaction, you know, without kind of thinking through that a little bit.
Um there's obviously going to be um conversations about what we do for Berlin, what we do for Boston. I think it's about having a conversation about everything and thinking about how do we prioritize things? What are the most urgent things, right? I think those are more practical conversations. Um, I think people can get passionate about their talents and their own kids, but you do have to think about, um, how do we spend most effectively, how are we going to, you know, put the funding to the things that are going to have the most impact on the most students. So, I I think it comes down to, um, my finance background really allows me to have a very analytical, you know, standpoint, making these types of things. Um, again, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to have some emotionality or or things that I favor, but again, like, you know, as a as a parent, I'm allowed to have that.
Uh we're going to provide a highlevel overview of the process we have launched uh to help ensure that Greater Lawrence Technical School remains a leader in both school safety and student accountability. >> Good evening. So a major takeaway from the conference was that safety protocols are only as effective as the uh leadership that's driving them. We attended as building leaders because the national standard requires executive oversight of uh to set the vision for safety. This allows us to provide the necessary support resources in clear direction to our operational teams including our safe office and facility staff. And one of the big um points that we're trying to emphas emphasize is that safety is not just a department. It's a buildingwide culture that must be managed from the top. Uh one of the critical uh takeaways from the conference is that shift from reactive discipline to proactive building management uh systems.
In 2025, 143 students enrolled in a total of 222 AP exams across 17 subject areas. 47 students were designated AP scholars with 10 students earning AP scholars with honors and 14 others receiving AP honors with distinction. and 89% of our students earning a passing of three or higher on the AP exam. 32 seniors receive medals for outstanding academic achievement at our latest honors award show celebration and again a NAM foundation for the 15th year in a row. Kent High School athletics has 23 varsity sports. During the 202425 school year with 278 students participating in the fall of 25, four of our teams made it to the state quarterfinals and the girls soccer team reaching the semifinals and as you're aware, the girls volleyball team reaching the finals. In addition, the boys soccer team won the NC title. Canton is doing it and we're doing a really good job and we need to make sure that we share our story and the reason that I bring that up is a lot of these things that we spoke about cost money and they're budget related.
If you are someone you excuse me, if you are someone you know would like to donate, it goes to a good cause and the American Red Cross offers a complimentary shirt, snacks, and a $20 gift card for all those who donate. In addition to the shirt and goodies, if we reach our goal of donations by the end of the year, the American Red Cross also provides scholarship money for our graduating seniors. Please check our social media pages to get the link to schedule your donation appointment. We would like to invite all district board members to come and join us at our blood drive tomorrow. That's all I have for tonight. Thank you and have a great night. >> Right before your volleyball game. >> Thank you, Alina. Um I just want to start off by uh recognizing uh the Isuza High School uh not only the the sports uh but also the robotics.
>> I don't know if you hit on open book prices. Yeah, I I mean we can go into that when when the time comes. We we do we operate uh with a no full transparency, open book pricing, no change order guarantees. >> Well, both. Yeah. Yeah. And we can fully expose all those costs with you. Um and I'm just looking at the clock. I know you guys want to stop in about seven minutes and I know you have more people to go through. So, I may I'm gonna just jump through here. Uh, one of the other things we looked at is your ADA compliance in some of your restrooms. It needs to be brought up to date um on these as well. Um, these are some examples of some of your when you're doing the maintenance in there back and forth just over the years ceiling tiles and grid get messed up.
Is this correct?" you know, so they're constantly looking over those, but again, it's they're looking at stuff based off the annual financial report, which is where this is coming from versus the audit statement that we've already sent. >> It seems like a waste of money. It seems they should do it again. >> Why should they now spend money for everyone? >> So, and going to your question, Mrs. with us. There is a finance a financial risk action plan template >> within this auditor general report that we can use to analyze which we will do to look at every area that we're high risk to look at what can we do. >> That's what I wanted to know be a risk analysis how can we move into moderate instead of high risk. >> So there's an action plan template that will let us look at okay so we can project.
And I mean almost across the board, I mean there was there was like maybe one or one or two um that weren't. But also I just want everyone to realize like so if we look at like 11th grade high school mathematics and you go from 18.9% um far below to 8.1% far below. That's not a 10% decrease. That's a 57% dis decrease. Right? So that's over half of the students. Um, and that's incredible. Or if you look at the above level from 5.5 to 28, that's not a 23% increase. That's an over 400% increase. And so these these numbers really are incredible. And it's congratulations to to everyone involved, which is everyone. So appreciate all the work that that you and your department's putting in that uh school administrators are putting in that teachers and staff, parents and students just across the board takes takes everyone and it's it's really incredible numbers.
Uh so that's something if there was something that uh was a material adjustment required due to our uh detection, we'd have to notify you. Uh also as performing the audit, we had no disagreements with management over financial accounting reporting or other audit matters. Uh the representation letter that's signed at the conclusion of the audit is included in your letter to governance as an attachment. Um and we just are continually assessing uh to ensure compliance and uh ensuring our independence and we're meeting e our ethical requirements each and every fiscal year for under audit. Uh so I'm not going to dig into each report into detail but uh just some highlights. So the annual comprehensive financial report again that big one uh that includes the district's financial statements. So this is just a highlight of the different sections of the report. Uh the one that we're responsible for is the independent auditor's report.
And so here um are the staff results um by percentage of our staff members that participated. So we had about 419 of our 700 staff members uh that um took participated in the survey and by uh union membership 64% uh was CMEA 15% was ACME and then 20% were not part of either of the unions. And then here were our results. So by two votes 42.2 two said that they would like to extend the day. 41.8 said um use the flex holiday and then 16% said that they did not have a preference. And so um again very very close. Uh but our recommendation um to the board will be to go with the traditional keep our five holidays as they have always been and then extend the school year. And so, uh, we will be presenting this for, um, your recommendation for, uh, next week.