So, our ability is more of like a it's more practical. So, we it's more of a proof of concept is what we were going for. We wanted to say we can take something that's big, make it smaller, make it practical, make it doable. >> And cheap. >> Make it cheap. Cuz these things they're ranging from expensive to even more expensive. I don't know the number off the top of my head, but >> Yeah, so like that survey event, we wanted something like when it comes to entrepreneurship, this would be local like not local but in the state. So, we'd be able to sell it hopefully to other people if we were able to mass produce this to high schools, complex centers, and we kind of were thinking that it's cheap for one and it's what people need in their high school, we feel like. Cuz this can bring so much attention just to any sporting event or anything that you can do.
May I have a motion? I'll make a motion. Second. Brian's first, Jared's second. All in favor? Opposed? Passes 5-0. Moving on to superintendent comments. We have a fair amount of stuff tonight that we have to go over, but we'll try to do it quickly. Uh Kim, is there anything with our regarding finances at this point or do you want to wait? Um finances are on track, our appropriations are evening out. I have a lot to talk about here in just a few minutes, so that's all I'll say for now. And consolidation updates? Do you want me to talk about early learning [snorts] center now? Okay. So, Central Noble has reached out to an architecture firm to assist us with the renovations to do the work to be able to make the moves for the Central Noble Early Learning Center rooms. Um we are working to establish kind of a timeline for that work.
Um, also I want to mention one of the great things Jake does with uh recognizing his staff is his traveling varsity jacket which he awards to a staff member who is going above and beyond for students and the student community on a monthly basis and they get to take a picture with Jake in their jacket and they love it and it's just a part of that recognition that really builds that teamwork and strong sense of pride amongst his staff. So for his leadership reminds everyone that feeling valued and appreciated matters and the recognition can have a lasting impact on school community. Congratulations Jake Rodriguez Awards like this don't come lightly. It's not overlooked. Uh community that we have here in Crown Point is the reason that we can do our job. Everybody, thank you so much. What an honor. Thank you. registered comment on educational issues.
And you'll say, "Well, there's only 33 people." These are stackable and then many of the students earn more than one associate degree. Most of them go and get their AGS degree, associate of general studies, but then they may get a degree in business administration or criminal justice or whatever it may be, but really proud of those students. They accomplished a lot and and I thought it was well done, Karen. You were there. Was it? Yeah. So, that was that was just wanted to give them a little bit of a shout-out. Uh and then secondly, the kind of the question I noticed during the two action action items with these two studies that we're going to have done. I mean, I think does this not make sense to kind of get that information wrapped this all together with our safety and security study because one's looking at all of our facilities and where the needs are.
Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor? >> I passes proposal for center. >> Yes. So, um also uh part of plans for um we have we would like to finish off the rest of the painting project at TZ. It's something we use bond proceeds for to help to continue to kind of chip away at the needs. And so up to this past fall, most of the common areas um some of the Um the gym, the cafeteria have been updated and painted nice and refreshed. Um this proposal from Flora Brothers who's continued to uh do all that work for us to finish off essentially the rest of the school uh over the summer. We're going to prioritize um classroom spaces um uh primarily because teachers having to take things off the wall uh during the summer and we don't want to have to bring them in after teachers have spent a lot of time putting things back on the wall.
So, maybe post this session the link to Beyond Plastics, you talked about another link as well, and you have the studies as well as, you know, some of the reuse stuff we can actually post on the Energy Audit Action website. And then, you know, as long as you can get that at least as a basic resource for you guys. Yeah. And there's also like washing soda is [clears throat] another laundry um substitute. I use the sheets, and it's old. They actually have They're plastic, too. Yeah. And it's too fast dissolving. >> Well, actually, they're not good at all. They're quite durable. Okay. So, dry Not dryer sheets, but what like the washing sheets? They They have Yeah, they have They have do plastic in that. It dissolves in the wash. So, you don't see it, but it ends up in the wash. Microplastics. And then it's getting into your water.
So, we weren't even close to to those standards. Um so, in summary, the response actions we have will unequivocally and substantially improve the existing soil and groundwater quality at the site from the current conditions. So, we're we're cleaning up the soil as part of this project. Um this improvement in site conditions will translate to improved surface water quality down gradient of the site. Um and the closure at the site represents a regulatory finding of no significant risk to human health in the environment. Um that's that's a um short summary of the you know, um with the contaminants and compounds we found, where they are, and the concentrations. Um continuing on with supplement number three, there were some questions about the the vapor barrier. And I'll circle back to soil management plan momentarily. Um there were questions about the vapor barrier and, you know, concerns with stormwater leaking into the groundwater.
So, um, but I can mention now that after finishing in the top seven at the most recent New England regional competition, two of the sailing boats have qualified for nationals and this is hosted by the Intercolastic Sailing Association. I think that I see Mr. Christopher Foley is here if he wants to talk about this. But u one of the things that I think is worth noting is that um it really is a a unique uh opportunity for students that go to high school here in Dartmouth to participating in a sailing team on a sailing team. And often when I mention this outside of Dartmouth, people are quite surprised and excited that we offer students the opportunity to participate in a sailing team. So it it is a it's a unique experience that students here have and I I think that that is something that's worth celebrating and I think again this year having this recognition and the opportunity to compete at the national level is something that um is to be celebrated and we'll be looking to see how they do.
Go back and look at all the webinars regarding ESSER funding. And one of the things that they said a district should be doing is building up their reserves from when this all goes away. Yeah. exactly what we did. I know people don't like to hear that, but that is exactly what we did. So, you know, does it mean that, you know, we can buy ourselves an F-529? I hate to say it, you know, if the trends on the vacancy savings continue. Well, we have 17 vacant seats right now, and that doesn't include 20 substitutes. So, that's the challenge, yeah. So, it's not a study hardcore, you know, sourcing. Quite honestly, we don't want it to. Enough, you know, up state. No, I'd love to see all 17 plus plus maybe at least 10 of these substitute positions filled. So, and then those other things really just depends on the space of the ship.
It's not any different than scaffolding for the kids, right? Um so, um in some ways, it's ironic that that's something I'd like to work on. You teach a man to fish rather than hand them one. Yes. I had to get out from that last fish metaphor, didn't >> [laughter] >> Anyway, um any other questions for Beata or Heather? And I've just gone back to your comment you know some of the challenges within the data and more and more based just trying to visualize how you would tackle the durations. So, if you know if you see tension among staff, kind of walk us through how you address that, right? You're breaking up. You got that, yeah. Just a little bit there. I I was just going to kind of throw a quick scenario that to kind of understand how you would walk through um just like a situation.
I should have kept it in. Um we were recognized by NextGen Personal Finance in 2023. We received their their gold star award for being one of the few high schools in Connecticut that actually made personal finance a graduation requirement. >> Okay. And we're not just teaching uh budgeting. And I shouldn't say just. We are teaching budgeting, and students are learning those skills. Um if you asked my class, "What is budgeting 101?" Rule 101, you know, don't spend more than you earn. Um but we go right? Basic >> No. >> [laughter] >> Oh, and we do. We look at we look at the national debt clock, but I then I get so nervous. I've got to I can't look at it for very long. But they look at it with me. Um so, we um we are getting into budgeting, basic money management. Students are learning about credit cards, using credit card debt, paying your bills on time, and preferably in full.
So all of that is going to happen. So again, um, although there's a lot here, um, there's a lot left to be done to prepare to get open in September. So again, I just I wanted to make sure that we were clear on that and and you know, we'll be confident in what we're doing and making sure that our district, um, puts those programs together and put them in place in the appropriate fashion. Uh, just wanted to to to directions, um, and speak to facilities, our director of facilities, our maintenance team um, has been incredibly busy over the last month uh, working within buildings, uh, working on a facelift at school seven in their gymnasium, working to get that area ready for their assemblies and and and their events. Um, so I thank that that group. Um, I thank our custodians for what they do daily uh, keep the buildings clean.
When you were freshman, everyone was talking about Snapchat and Tic Tac. Tik Tok. [laughter] You can tell I'm not part of that generation. Now, so much of the conversation around technology has shifted to artificial intelligence, already changing so much about how we work and live. Some people find the development of AI exciting, while others find it unsettling. That's to be expected when something so powerful is introduced into our lives. some people. But tonight, I want to remind you that you already possess your own powerful AI, ampi intelligence. It can be downloaded, coded, generated, or replicated by a machine. Your amphitheater intelligence is built through years of learning from teachers who challenged you, playmates who shaped you, coaches who pushed you, and experiences that helped you grow. It was built through the values of the promise of a graduate through thinking, discussing, questioning, creating, struggling, and eventually succeeding.
And then I did have another question that kind of and let me preface this by saying I'm not I am very much supportive of this. I don't want to give anybody the wrong impression of this, but I I I am also curious because I I do know that there in the past have been members of our community that have been, for lack of a better words, uh not supportive of this. And um I'm curious uh from Mr. Man or from anybody else um in because I'm I I'm I'm always I'm always thinking about messaging and how messaging is received and u always trying to uh look for ways to avoid things exploding. Um and um uh trying to uh figure out like you know do because in the past we have had uh some very very vocal uh groups that have sort of stormed the board so to speak for whatever situation that was their particular thing of passion.
Uh it's it's a little bit of each of the departments, and you'll see when you hear from the rest of the cabinet members here uh what the work is in involved there. And then you'll have your opportunity to sit in where your schedule permits. I know that you're not getting a paycheck for this, uh but to sit in at meetings or opportunities with liaison meetings so that you can learn more about each cabinet member and their department. So, with that, I will say that we have all of our sites listed here. And with 12 sites plus our maintenance building and the admin center, we've got plenty of property to manage. So, there's a lot to do at all times. And then finally with our strategic plan, we're excited you'll get an update on that tonight uh or we're going to tell you about the end of year.
Can you remind the board are there correlations between students who have zero to one contacts and their performance at school? Is you know, are they more likely to be underachievers with less contacts? Um not always. There's not a direct correlation. We do look at the GPAs of kids in those buckets, but it's actually it's not it's not consistent. We didn't have the same pattern at both schools. Yeah. So, we just took that as a data point that it was. So, like I think they were actually opposites. >> so. Um at South we found our students with the highest GPA bands and the lowest GPA bands to be the most connected. And students in the middle in need of like some areas of attention, but I believe that North was reversed. So, we've kind of just left it as a pause point for right now and a data point to track and monitor.
There shouldn't be both. Um I'm sorry that it's been like that, actually. Um I do like the standards-based again for elementary. I do think that once you get to middle school there is a certain type of like you you have to grow up a little bit more, right? Because when you get to middle school, we're preparing you for high school and then preparing you for college, right? So, where you get those actual grades where you're earning those actual grades, right? So, I do like the standards-based. I guess my only question that I wrote down is that because I do think of when you're looking at the standards-based, how are we measuring it so that the students that are on the lower end are not falling through the cracks, I guess. Because I know that the students that are maybe in the middle or on the higher end those students are more likely to succeed, right?
For the coming school year the federal guideline uh for the amount is $4.16 which we are well below that currently. Currently it's uh 310 or sorry 320 and 330. So we are um coming to the board and asking for um approval for to raise the price 10 cents across the board to meet the federal regulations and meet the guidelines.
>> Yeah, we ended up flying it at senior day about last Friday. Last Friday and it got a lot of attention and they loved it. I mean, they were all >> All right. So, we hope to see you guys at the ribbon cutting for the new athletic complex. We hope to be able to fly it there and so >> So, you guys are willing to come back and do that. >> We'd love to. >> And Gail, we want you to be there. >> When is it? >> We don't know yet, but we want to make sure that the building is done. But when I visited, Mr. Whitlock invited me to another class and I was late for that and I stumbled up upon this class and learned about this and they they usually do it in the arena gym and I said, "Oh, I wish our building was done." And you both told them, but I think that hey, they come back um so we could launch it for a ribbon cutting in our new building out there.
And as a reminder, all of the renovations that we do for these daycare early learning center rooms will be paid for from a grant specifically designated for early learning. We'll keep you in the loop on that as we learn more. Um Mr. Tiger, see you on Friday. What's going on there? Uh just a quick update on our Cougar Nature Academy. Dr. Wyatt has given Jody and I the green light to kind of pursue that. So, Jody, jump in here, too, if you have anything, but uh we've been gathering information, interest from parents of incoming kindergarten students. We have about 20 that said, "Yep, I want to be a part of it." We held a parent meeting last week, and at that time we had 14 uh commit by signing, "Yep, I want my child to do the outdoor learning program." So, I think we're in a good spot to make that happen for next year.