Rather than it being given the thoughtful consideration it deserves by looking at the long-term impact this change would have on our students. I urge you to carefully consider whether this change truly aligns with our district's mission statement and commitment to supporting the success and growth of every student. Thank you. Our next speaker is Amy Arndt. Good evening, Superintendent Kim and members of the board. My name's Amy Arndt, and I'm here tonight as the mom of a soon-to-be second and fourth grader at HC Storm. Um and actually I want to mention who my second grader had Mrs. Cesaroni and we absolutely 100% support her staying on um in her role. She was amazing and I don't think we can really do any better. Um but I'm here to share my concern regarding the proposed increase in class sizes for the coming school year um for the fourth grade school class.
Any questions about that one? Okay. Next, we have uh 2:120E2, and this is a website listing of development and training completed by board members. The next one is 2:125E1, and that is board member reimbursement form. The form that's in here is the form that I was talking about in the last uh uh discussion topic. The form that's in your packet is the uh the template the formatting got a little bit thrown off, but that will be corrected. Um and this is the form um one of the forms that you would get as part of the uh triple I conference if you wanted to go. The next one after that, very closely related to 125E2, this is the board member estimated expenses approval form. So, this one is before you go, this is the one that we would have you fill out. The other one is if you have uh expenses that you would need reimbursed directly.
It's probably more than 10%, so I would say it's probably closer to 4.8. So, I think this decision is is really sound. You guys have put a lot of time and a lot of work, and I really appreciate it. What's the What's the controlling factor in determining the rate? Is that based off of property values? Is that based off of ADM? Is that just a the move Well, the the biggest part of it, you know, with IDEA and um federal grant money, is all based on enrollment and how many kids we have. That's one of the reasons it's very difficult to to guestimate on things, because enrollment and your special education programs can fluctuate greatly from year to year. But, it is, that said, the revenue stream for special education is not going anywhere as far as I'm can discern. I mean, it's going to be supported if the federal government is not going to pull the rug out.
The only lone goal ball that entire quarter was Taylor. >> Yep. And I think she scored that goal the first minute and a half into the quarter. And I think the Spartans had possession for maybe the other you know, they must have possession for 11 minutes. Now that 11 minutes, I think eight of them they were just standing around outside, so Minnechaug's going to have to change something up on their defensive front. Can put a little more pressure on the Spartans, but we will see fourth quarter action. Down to the last 12 minutes for the Class A Western Mass finals. Ball is up as O'Connor comes up with the ball. O'Connor gets the ball up to Kozub. And Minnechaug will start their offense. Sergentinko with the ball getting the ball over to Taylor. And Minnechaug is offsides, so it should go to the Spartans ball.
My message, do you want to take care of this yourself? And then you get the four minutes and the lunch and everything. Or do you want me to take care of it? I could take care of it. I'll hold you accountable or you do it yourself. >> [clears throat] >> Uh we have a few that are um pretty broad and vague issues. What this is an example of disruptive inappropriate behavior could mean basically anything. Um but we have a process where we really want to work with the teachers to get better at uh helping our students hold themselves accountable, mature, uh be successful in the classroom. Um really it starts with the teacher referral and the consistency is very important there. Uh we'll work with the students, we'll conference with the students, we'll find out, we'll listen to the students. The first thing they want to say, "Oh, you're not going to listen to me.
Right and maybe >> like what it not just what it takes but like you know that that other piece like is this feasible in 10 years before our building roof and boilers go? Well that's why I was saying have somebody from the city come and give us a little thing because that's because MSBA is going to come in and say oh of course you can do this. We have all these grants and this is you know we're we're ready to guide you through the process but are we guidable at the moment? I who knows so. Right and it's like they cover you know a certain percentage but there's the rest that we're on the hook for and we need to have a when do we think we're going to be able to like you when does enough debt come off that we could bond again that sort of thing.
I do want to say because it has to do with um central office and and I did write this down. When I arrived 2 and 1/2 years ago to Canton 3 years ago and I came back and there wasn't a business manager in place. There wasn't an assistant superintendent in place. There wasn't an assistant to the assistant superintendent in place. And there wasn't an assistant to the business manager in place. While there are and there has been staffing adjustments in this budget that was proposed, and I thank the union and the board for engaging in a retirement savings, which generated over $250,000 in retirement savings. The district has worked carefully to to the staffing and responsibility with the normal trend. What I can share is that prior to my arrival the town oversaw payroll for the school system. The town oversaw benefits for the school system.
You got it. Vanessa Anderson, the William A. Frey Memorial Scholarship. Va Ashraf, the Kowanas Club uh of Cheshure Scholarship and the Bosso Scholarship. You're on it. Gina Benzy, the Ryan Farley Memorial Student Senate Scholarship, the Cheshure High School Girls Soccer Parents Association Scholarship, the Cheshure Soccer Club Scholarship, the Rotary Club of Cheshure Scholarship, and the Michael Puciano Senior Memorial Scholarship. Yasha and Bisa, the Kowanas Club of Cheshure Scholarship. Emily Black, the Booster Club Athletic Scholarship, the Cheshire High School Band Parents Association Scholarship, and the Edward R. Aston Memorial Scholarship. Michaela Black, the Cheshire High School Band Parents Association Scholarship, and the Edward R. Aston Memorial Scholarship. Charlotte Balier, the Cheshire Fire Department, Cheshire Fire Department, William M. Grove II memorial scholarship. Wendy Kai, the Kowanas Club of Cheshure Scholarship, the Suburban Garden Club uh of Cheshure Scholarship, the Jenny Donovan Memorial Scholarship, the Cheshure Chamber of Commerce Business Women's Alliance Scholarship, the Pratika Foundation for Giving Scholarship, the Lombardo Family Scholarship, and the Balso Scholarship.
Um this class will be taken from three sections down to two, which is alarming to me, especially as the interventionist positions are also being reduced. This needs to change from a business conversation to a conversation about these actual lives, these children who in this particular group have already demonstrated a wide range of support needs. This is a conversation that needs to shift from budget and numbers to focus on the students, the teachers, and the staff. We need to hear how the school administration plan to support the teachers and staff while cutting interventionists and increasing class sizes. We ask so much of our teachers. They're expected to continue to challenge the high-achieving students, support struggling learners, and catch those falling behind. We ask them to do all of this while also taking into account their social emotional needs of all the kids in their class. Um please consider reviewing and accounting for the number of IEPs and 504 plans in this upcoming fourth grade class.
The next one is 2 colon 125E3, and that is resolution to regulate expense reimbursements. So, this is actually the exhibit that talks about the uh limit, the maximum allowable limit that the board has set for travel, meal, lodging, and expenses not to exceed $5,000. Um the >> I have a question. Is that the 5,000 just for board members? Yes. Okay. So, Okay. So, the 5,000, if all seven of us wanted to go there, 5,000 would be to use And if Dr. Kajitori and the administrative team, they have That's a separate line item. Uh-huh. Thank you. Um the next exhibit actually is the one exhibit of the whole packet that had some changes because this is part of uh issue 121, which is where the other policies that we're going to review tonight are coming from. Uh so, this one has changes um on page one.
Instead, um so that uh I don't know Those Those fluctuations what causes it to fluctuate? It fluctuates based on the exceptionality of the exceptionality. What What programs they're in, you know, the different programs they're offering special education world, all get different varying variables to them in terms of what the funding is. An example of that, Tony, would be a student that is IEP or is a specialized student solely for speech services, that's going to be your lowest funded student. Compared to a student that maybe is placed in a full-time self-contained emotional disabilities classroom, that's going to be one of your highest funded students from the state and federal. So, that is an ebb and flow constantly throughout the course of the school year. We have case conferences meeting literally daily, really deciding some of those things. So, You want to compare >> the general population where every student >> Right, we're at about the same amount.
Now the girl who was off for the yellow card just went back on. So that was I think Did you say >> No, her her time Yeah, she's off now. But they were they were offsides first, so the Spartans should start off with that ball. Yep. It's an unforced turnover for Minnechaug. Have very few possessions in the second half. Right now almost Kylie could just sit back here. If I'm coach Cal, I'm telling Kylie to hold on to it. I almost feel like yelling. Kylie, just hold it. Make them come up to you. Yep. Sorry, that's not very announcer. I took the I took the mic off to yell that, but I should I should be unbiased on that, but Coach Jeff coming out. Coach Jeff. I don't know And that one there, we should have just stayed back there and forced Minnechaug to come up.
You're just going to take what the teacher said." It's very important for Christa, Kate, and I to build those relationships. And early and often I will sit down for 10 to 15 minutes with a student to try to get to know what's going on here. Um, it's very important for us to communicate with home. It's very important with us to communicate with back with the teacher. If a kid gets sent out of class because they're disruptive, I want to make sure that that teacher feels supported. I will not send a student back without knowing that the teacher, the student, and myself that we're all on the same page. It's very important. Sometimes we have to hold off and set up conference before the next class period. Um, if it's a shop, I like to go down to the shop before I send the student back.
So. Exactly. Uh great. Appreciate these and yes I I love the idea of having those a sort of like early on PD for this new group just to ground and orient us as we're starting to do the work. So thank you for those suggestions. Um that's all I've got for folks. Any last bits before we adjourn? Are we going to remain virtual? That's my intention. >> two meetings? >> Yes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for the question. Okay. With that, I make a motion to adjourn at 9:58. So moved. Second. All right, roll call. I'm Chair Sexton, I'm a yes. Yes. I'm sorry. Member Denice? Yes. Member Webb? Yes. Great, we are adjourned at 9:58. And
The town oversaw accounts payable for the the school system. And the town oversaw the buildings and grounds for the school system. That is four positions. And what was happening prior to the new CAO's arrival is there was a lot of mistakes that was happening in accounts payable. And there were a lot of mistakes that were happening and this is no disrespect to the individuals that are in those roles. There were mistakes happening to payroll. There were mistakes happening in the buildings and grounds. And there was mistakes happening in the benefits. So when there was a problem with payroll for the Board of Education it wasn't the superintendent or the business office that was at the local level for the school. It was the former CAO that had to correct those issues. When the new CAO came on there was discussions about how do we transfer those individuals to the Board of Education budget.
Tama Kaplan, the Booster Club Athletic Scholarship and Cheser Lacrosse Club Carrie Brown Girls Lacrosse Scholarship. Andrew Kavanagh, the Lois Row Memorial Scholarship. Ava Sone, the Dual Middle School Scholarship and the Cheshire High School Girls Outdoor Track Scholarship. Tyler Chisooki, the Cheshure High School Band Parents Association Scholarship, the Henry Percussion Scholarship, Addison Coffee, the Ray De Louise Friends of Softball Scholarship, the Cheshire Travel Basketball Scholarship, and the William A. Frey Memorial Scholarship. Carly Commune, the Cheshire High School Girls Soccer Parent Association Scholarship and the Cheshire Soccer Club Scholarship. Ryan Crowley, the Christopher Wilby Memorial Fund for the Arts and the Parent Teacher Organization Scholarship sponsored by the CHS PTO. Julia Carella, the parent teacher organization scholarship sponsored by the CHS PTO and the Megan Melch Memorial Autistic Scholarship. Emily Dusa, the St. Bridget of Sweden Women's Society Scholarship and the Cheshire Lions Club. Travis Daily, the William A.
Speak to the school psychologist. Speak to the third grade teachers about this current group. Speak to the interventionists and paraprofessionals who work with these students every day before making this crucial decision. I've always been so proud of my son's love of math, a subject I always dreaded. I found a particular study about increases in class size being linked to significant decline specifically in fourth grade math scores. I could stand up here and quote studies specifically about increased class sizes detrimentally affecting learning until I'm blue in the face, but it is already so universally understood that you don't need me to do that. As a parent, I want my child and every child in this class to continue loving school, feeling supported, and having the opportunity to succeed. Thank you. Our next speaker is Frank Kosmac. Hi. Um I kind of find it funny that we have support staff and interventionists who pull the kids away from electric electronics, give them a safe space, make them feel important.
There's some notes in here. So, I'm sorry, I should read it what what this actually is. So, exhibit 2140E, this is guidance for board member communications including email use. So, there's on the first page you'll see there's a couple of updates about public records and how they're stored and you see an email for communication. Uh that's at the top. And the next one in that um first page under number one talks about uh not being able to respond if, for example, I send an email to the entire board, we're required to put a board member alert so that you know not to reply all. And they also suggest, which is actually a great idea, that uh we send if I'm sending, for example, something to the board, that I uh send it to the board as a blind copy to the board so I can send it to myself blind copy the board and then if a board member responds they can't accidentally reply all because if you're blind copied you can't do that and I could let board members know in the context of the email that this is going to all board members.
Yeah. You still get that basic grant for every student, and then if they have an exceptionality, if they're a special needs student, you get additional funding on top of that. And that money is then used to provide the services that are available to the kid. And actually we become very strategic as we go through these conferences and list and put put it in the actual document because those documents are one of how we get our funding. So, we And sometimes with conferences you have to do them not once a year, two or three times a year depending on the needs of the student as you get them in the room, you just you just never know. So, one independent Are we going to get over the normal IEP all those classes? But we still have people from outside the district? As we do now, um and we do have special needs students that do apply for out of district transfers.
That's the father in me as Pellegrino drives one in. She'll be getting herself an 8-m attempt this This time she'll be getting a more favorable hash mark on the 8-m. Cuz yeah, she's had a couple from the left side, which obviously difficult as It's a little different spot here for her. Ava Pellegrino winning. She's all right as officials talking to Minnechaug player and it's just taking more time off. Pellegrino goes in up and over. Ball gets stick checked away. Minnechaug comes up with it. The ball comes loose and guess who's there to pick it up? Mac Whitworth. Whitworth with the ball and we'll see we'll see what Minnechaug decides to do again as they kick the ball all the way up to McKechnie over to Marino. And now they're beginning good job. Yeah, now now you'll be able to open up some seams cuz now when you can drive in, Marino turns around and drives in.