001[Music] all right you want us to do the go Le Right add agenda close I think we should okay all right so attendance nor is here by remote Y and um everybody else here uh for added agenda items I think we have any added agenda items but we are going to just go ahead and vote that we're probably going to go past 9:30 I'll just make a motion is it is is it yeah what do we have to say 9 or 9:30 9:30 9:30 I'll just make a motion now hopefully we won't but if we need to go past 93 s all right so motion made by Heather seconded by Betsy all in favor any oppos motion passes car for the record official for the record okay that's all right uh next we have our
002minutes um in the packet from March 5th make a motion to the special special meeting minute for March second all right so motion made by Fran seconded by Heather was there any further discussion of the minutes from the special meeting from March fth that are in the back in anybody have any questions or just wondering if we can have the list of pros and cons attached to the Back event I WR on that's fine so the pros and cons that were I think included in an earlier packet I believe about middle scho I'm there somewhere I have them okay this one Min is me on page two my name is laborious it's e e I know Leb thank you all right the motion has been made and seconded all in favor of um approving the
003minutes as recommended with slight changes I any opposed all right motion passes and then we have the March 12th I'll make a motion to approve the March 12 2025 regular meeting minute I'll second all right so uh Courtney made the motion and Heather seconded um and we fixed the thing that I mentioned right yep at one point there was just that mistake with a name but that's been um amended already was there any other um notes or questions about the minutes from March 12th all right hearing no further discussion all those in favor right any opposed motion passes um I don't believe we have any members of the public do we have any public participation at this time I think norina is the only one on Zoom or teams or whatever we're calling it Google
004meets um we don't have any other public participation all right thank you everybody and next we have our student W report I just want to say she did a great job over at um S Hall before the board of Finance we really appreciate you doing that and speaking out and in support of the budget we appreciate that at the elementary school the grade four band performed performed to a Full House alongside the middle school and high school band at the alltown pop concert it was very cute we we enjoyed watching it as high schoolers it was making us feel very sentimental about graduating soon us seniors broadb school students and families continue to read complete activities for our one school one book The Chocolate Touch um the safe School leaders also went to go read
005them first chapter of that book and kind of introduce them with some activities depending on what grade level they were in the March family mileage club met on March 17th many families attended and had an opportunity to exercise to get special thanks to norian Farmer for help running the event we plan on holding the April event outside at the middle school on March 13th the seventh grade took a field trip to the Connecticut Science Center on March 14th they celebrated Pi Day with engaging activities focusing on pi to everyone's amazement Zoe Nick namara recited over a 100 digits of pi the eighth grade is running a fundraiser with top staff participants earning the chance to race on inflatables on March 28 students in grads 5 through eight who are a part of the band and
006chus showcased their talent at the alltown Pops concert as 12 looking ahead students will take part in the March incentive event on March 28th which will feature an exciting student versus staff basketball game at the high school 17 dedicated students from East Wister High School spent over two months preparing for the Westfield State University 2025 model Congress and their hard work paid off our students proposed all four bills which all passed committee scrutiny on Friday March 7th and full Senate in house debate on Saturday March 8th myself and my friend my best friend Christina Kai introduced a bill to regulate unhealthy chemical additives in food Casey Max and Zoe ruff OS legislation to lower economic barriers for local farmers entering supermarkets Ava Carter and Mickey vong advocated for the installation of safety gates and and
007subway stations to prevent Falls onto the tracks Liam towers and Cooper King Champion to Bill to make epinephrine Auto injectors more affordable these outstanding legislative efforts were supported by extensive research and idea development from Kylie kais Cassy kais I young Janna suusi Nicole Brown Jonathan corsetti allies Taylor Ellen Marshall and Tim Mian notably Liam and Cooper's bill was awarded runner up for bestw written Bill the model Congress offer students a unique opportunity to engage in structured debates on some of America's most pressing issues fostering appreciation for civil discourse respect for diverse opinions and a platform for the next generation of leaders who will make their voices heard these students continue to not hide their Panther Prime and exemplify what it means to have self-awareness be a responsible Citizen and a lifelong learner and this year
008East wisor had the most amount of kids we there was like five or six other schools there and the second largest school was nine kids last year we brought I believe like nine or 10 but this year we brought a full 17 so that was really nice you did very well all of our school we were the only school to have all of our bills passed so and we got to stay overnight which is also super fun thank you very much you are definitely free to go as we understand it's already a later night and work to do so we apprciate dedication yes Norine I just wanted to congratulate her on her fundraising for the um for the shot puding pit thing that she did thank you great job I can't wait to come see
009it we got all of our gravel in this morning and spent four and a half hours today spreading all the gravel and putting in our wooden barriers and screwing them and sledgehammering them into the ground but to go home and do all my homework don't fall asleep that's all I but thank you dor thank you very much all right next on the agenda we have our list of upcoming meetings and events was there anything that you wanted highlight oh yeah just a couple things uh reminder tomorrow is the second uh charity basketball between um the high school basketball players versus the PD that's 6:30 uh you can purchase just tickets at the door um you can also go through parks and wck with Melissa or um the police department as well but you can buy
010at the door as well um also um talking about the track and the great work that uh marel and her peers did um we are doing the rededication of these wsor high school track um honoring um George croft's Legacy that is at 2:30 um and then um on uh sorry on April 8th and the track their first track me um starts at 3:30 um yep and it's uh it's against Ellington and my understanding is George cof was from Ellington yeah and then last I know I said board policy review uh March 25th um uh that was the intent when this uh first went out um but that meeting is really going to take place uh April 1st at 5:45 uh before the board workshop with the board Finance can I just ask I don't know
011if you said it or not I don't recall but the charity basketball game where do the funds go uh it funds scholarships for um summer camp at parking R okay thank you goes into that new fund that we had to make right um I don't know uh student I think it's parks and okay it's not it's a different thing K yes go ahead nor I have one April 11th athletic subcommittee meeting says it's at 11: I believe we meet at 9: 9:00 am all right thank you for that clarification we will uh make sure that that's reflected with meeting invites were there any other um questions I just did want to clarify because I felt like there have been some discussion the 1st or the 7th but our Workshop is April 1st with the um
012Board of Finance at 7M so yep I will not be able to that okay all right so Courtney and car will be able to yeah yes Tuesday okay all right thank you everybody and again we appreciate this list I think it kind of helps us leave a larger picture and keep track back at some of these states sometimes all right did you have next on the agenda we have update on the school Renovations project um sure I mean between myself and uh Denise I think we can give an update um last was it Tuesday we met with um uh gwwo the architect CSG along with uh uh Jason uh who's here um uh Joe did you want to take the Le Den sure okay so um The Architects also had a a sub contractor that
013is coming in to help with the legislative process that we have to go through it sounded like he was the expert at that so we they're fully engaged um first they presented a plan for the BR school and um I think we all will be encouraged by that um it looks like everything that's needed for the broadb school to beated will fit in uh Patrick was given some homework assignments um one of them was to see if maybe we could reduce a few class sizes so that it would create the more classes that we needed but still address the need for um some smaller classrooms so um it looks like everything will fit in the school uh from a preliminary point of view um and um we'll we'll get more definition on that next Monday
014the ad hoc committee uh should be getting um more in-depth plans from the um from CSG and The Architects so um I'm very encouraged by brck school I don't know about Patrick and Jason but I thought I thought no it was pretty close they they had to do some homework with rearrangement and of some rooms as far as the placement and we also found out um they found out and reported to us um that uh because FRC um by legislation needs to be in your Elementary School you can count those population as your enrollment so certainly that will help with the square footage as well too so that was a positive information uh to find so really the tweaking at this point is we feedback from Mostly Patrick I think I had a couple I
015had I know I had a comment about the traffic thatting in the morning um J had some and Patrick had some that they're going to just maybe flip a couple classrooms where they are stuff but it really looks pretty pretty good um the middle school high school um they presented two renovation options and a third that would be um on Newville um I guess the challenge with the high school is the way it's set up with and our absolute commitment that the middle school will be separate from the high school um if you think about the simplest way I could think about it is all of the things that would be shared are at one end of the building so how do you get the middle schoolers through the building and not F the high
016schooler VI versa so the two um renovate to new plans that they showed us really didn't seem to address that real well they may come back with something that is more um we were pretty adamant that it can't be that the there is no Crossing with two um but um then they came up with a third plan and um if you can visualize the high school was on one side this is this would be a new high schools on one side middle schools on the other and ideally what we would like to have had in this building if we had it you know the in the regular high school if we had it is all of the shared pieces would be in the middle um here cafeteria space would be like the kitchen in one
017spot and two you know cabs um Patrick Ken was given a bunch of homework there about um finding um what shared spaces would be um and he's given that back to them and they're working on that and I'm sure they'll have a more detailed plan it was really just boxes that showed high school here Middle School here in the boxes of shared um spaces there um they assured us that we could fit everything that they have in prams now um into a new school and if it comes in as a um more affordable plan we would get the same reimbursement if I understood that correctly is that correct yeah so um that was that was a good part of the day and from there we went to just just to add to that I mean
018one thing I would encourage is they are going to present that and a more refined version of that based on the feedback based on the homework at the next adoc committee so certainly like we could try to answer your questions but really um what we would do is encourage you to attend that meeting because you really get the information firsthand and whether you sit at that board or you're public I mean you have the opportunity to ask the questions at that time yeah if you possibly can that was my last scribble is if at all possible please attend because um it will be an important meeting you see what what we can about um we went from there gr capital and Patrick if you want to know sure I can start it I I think
019I I speak uh for all of us when uh we went the meeting we met with us Senator anoir Jamie Foster and um Carol Hall um and so it was the same group including um Samantha from CSG um and I I think we're all car off a little bit off guard because uh in the initial Direction the meeting went um uh the concept of um uh potentially uh combining with uh like um approaching Ellington Public Schools was brought up by Senator anir as far as um had there been conversation or considerations as far as um reaching out uh to Wellington um as far as a combined um High School um and um my I'll just speak for myself not necessarily for Denise or Jason but my understanding was that we were really tasked to do
020that as part of the process before being um placing them in a position to Advocate on our needs with our current um um constructions so um I did reach out to the superintendent the next day Senator anoir had stated that um um he was going to uh reach out as well I waited to the next day I did uh speak to the superintendent um who said that um he would be uh um he would speak to his board there was no like elaborate back and forth conversation was kind of information um he did say he hadn't spoken to uh Senator anoir hadn't spoken to him um in the past asked about uh the concept um basically was going to do his homework and that follow up with me um there been no additional um uh
021communication um and then uh just get clarification on that so there's discussion about combining East W with elington well that it was um it was asked had we had any conversations so that was kind of like how the meeting started High School only y um like when speaking about yeah not the elementary um it was about the high school project um specifically and talking about their needs for a new school as well so I mean really I mean again there was no conversation between myself and the superintendent but there's really only two options to do that like if you do combine you're either regionalizing um or you're tuition in um your school um your students um I mean one of the differences is when you regionalize uh your board has like each board has a
022joint representation based on the population when you tuition in assuming that um East Windor being the smaller school is tuition into um Ellington you're basically just paying like whatever you agree upon U the per pupil but you have no representation um so again there was no conversation as far as potential models it was and we were kind tasked to bring it back to the board as far as gang input if there was a desire to engage in such conversations too I don't know if that would would you say that's accurate Jason Denise yeah I clarify a little yes please okay um so so we met with the legislative delegation about a third of the way through Senator AR brought that up um it was not well received on our part um and not something we
023were really looking to I mean I'll tell you my my train thought was well if this is going to be a condition on on getting any increased assistance from the St getting increased assistance from the state um Patrick did agree to talk to Scott nickel um I I understand that they did have a conversation he just kind of elaborated on on uh the super high level of that but really that's not something that that interested in pursuing um and over the course of the conversation as we explained more about what had been done to date and what the project what the the project is developing into um Senator R back off of that he that was not a contingent you know this you have to do this this is have you had the conversation there
024was no was not a carrot and a stick thing it was really just you know I could make a conversation happen I can make an introduction um my takeaway was and and the instructions that we gave to to CSG was continue on as we are you know we're we're well down a road we're not changing at this point um especially against you know I mean to to P Point what are the terms of that you know I mean if we're just tuition students in that's a bad deal for us um if it's a a regional basis that's a years down the road solution so that's a bad deal for us um but I mean it was I would say we were there probably two hours oh yes um it it was a it was a
025long robust conversation about um all the things we're trying to do what we're looking for in terms of assistance from the state whether it be square footage waivers or or commission reim not Comm uh Construction reimbursement costs um it was it was a good meeting we did not get any commitments at all out of any of the three of them um but um it was important that that at this part of the process uh because we're hoping to have something to take to voters we're hoping that we're going to be able to get some reimbursement costs um there is a process that we're going to have to go through um that they know what's happening um and that was really at the end of the conversation it was well what you're ask and I'll say
026I'll speak for myself the the whole notion about you know speaking to nickel and and Ellington I kind of lost what the ask was I mean I was back on my heel saying like well you know I guess I guess we'll know in a couple weeks but we just want to like let you know um but I thought it was a good day overall I did I will say I walked away and this was and maybe I my understanding is different is that um the three of them were very confident that through current legislation there will be space waivers of some sort associated with special ed programs um that we would B that F and the tuition costs yes and there's active legislation now it's going to affect everything across the state in that space
027there was no commitment though whatsoever as to what type of a space waiver that would be you know whether that's 1500 feet or 15,000 square fet there was absolutely no commitment about that so to update um I was at a social event last night and Senator onire was there and he asked if Patrick had spoken with um the superintendent and I said that I knew that they had had a very brief conversation but that was all and he he kind of clarified a little bit his reasoning for um from a state perspective being a state senator that um having two districts both going after schools both small schools um would much harder than than advocating for one joint that was his that was his reasoning behind it um he did not seem to be hard
028selling anything but what he did say is he was going to have he had a conversation with the superintendent that I think was after Patrick had spoken with him but he he said that he would be contacting Patrick and um asking if the superintendent and the chairman of both school districts would be able to meet and he would be a part of that conversation as well so that's the next step I guess that's an interesting ter in just in terms of timing you know how long will that take because because that is that is a concern in terms of getting people together to even discuss it is it gonna bog it down is it going to bog it down which we don't have the luxury of that time we don't have the luxury of time
029I'm very concerned about time um what do you think do we have to go through the if he's recommending those steps do we have to go through those steps parallel paths we we just march on as we're doing whatever we got to do over here you do over here but we are just so that's so then that's good information so then is it it coming on the board to then say our preference do we vote on do we actually vote on I mean so myself Kate and Denise talked and we intentionally did not put any vote because you're getting the information the first time but we did want to kindly well we want get like what people's initial thoughts were an appetite and you know if it came down the line you know we put
030it to the vote if at future but definitely not today that wasn't the intent because understanding that you'd be digesting this information for the first time oh but we were trying to you know we did want to uh hear people's like obviously I think across the board we we have our own um uh thoughts but certainly you know didn't want to speak on behalf of the entire board but again I think we have to be hog of that whole time frame like moving forward and if in fact um just just from my perspective you know if in fact um we need further you know to actually have something on paper that says that said you know that we not interested in doing that I would not want to wait you know two weeks out to
031actually actually have that vote um or that discussion Among Us right I just I think that um because it was just an initial conversation between two superintend the other superintendent needed to go back to his board kind and talk to them before we take next steps and then if we do want to have a meeting but it would definitely come back before this board BR you had your hand up and then I think noren may have a comment as well I just wanted to say that years ago this um option came up to regionalize or to join with other schools and I recall that the outcome of the question was that first of all no one around us wanted us because we didn't spend enough money on our budgets and then in that discussion um
032it also claim is to when it comes down to say you are regionalized being a smaller District we are probably going to end up at the will of the larger District yeah and so either way you slice it we lose so that was my takeaway from what those discussions here Nori did did you have something I feel like I yeah um getting a Vibe you had some comment yeah um the kind of wow um wow um I can understand the concept of it I personally my personal opinion on it is that um something like that is a pretty major decision for us and we have to look at it from a whole lot of angles and I don't think that I don't think I I kind of agree I agree with Jason that we need
033to forge ahead with what our plan is and perhaps this is something we can maybe get a working group together or something that within ourselves I'm not really sure how comfortable I am to have all of a sudden Ellington Board of Ed chair our chair Patrick and superintendent out there having this conversation when we haven't even seen this on the horizon um it's kind of a big nut for us and having had no prior conversation about this other than it being thrown to us because we want to build a school seems to not be the right way for me anyways to look at it you know perhaps it might be something that might be a good fit but I don't think you should be TI to our possibly building schools it should be done as
034a separate situation about what are our populations and where do we see ourselves going and what's best for East Windsor's kids and East Windsor's taxpayers I appreciate that norin thank you heather did you yeah I I agree with um a lot of what noran just said I mean for me my initial thought is um I agree I think we should just keep going on our path um there's a lot of things to take into consideration first thing that comes to my mind is if I were a parent of a child down in Warehouse Point would I want my child kind of us calling out there would we have to have conversations with other schools like would all our kids be able to go to that one school there's just that's a huge conversation and I
035agree with laen um I yeah I think we all need to have conversations before we entertain other people having conversations about it and I think that we're on a path that we already have a lot of things going on I think we just need to keep going on our path and see what the outcome is and we have a conversation about it out I do want to clarify I don't I don't get the sense that anybody thinks this but um uh the senator and the representatives did say that our making a decision not to do that did not just I them going forward with funding for us that as well too so that's an I'm sorry that's an important factor and and for me it's almost I mean I don't know how people feel here
036right now I mean I know from my indiv individual perspective even a stra i me you'd have to convince me at this point why it would be beneficial yeah right now I personally if you ask me right now I want to move forward with this we put too much time into it we've we've uh had a lot of community members kind of do this um my again my personal thing is let's move forward I think moving forward is is for certain the way we need to go but I think also if there is leaning for for the two supers and and chairs to be together just to clarify they come back to the full board and and then we make you know decision an actual decision don't see that there's harming i s request you
037to attend meeting I think you have to that's but could we again I'm just gonna again like a dog little bone here just in terms of kind could there be a timeline for this in other words I'm very very again concerned you know if it's a month out that you get the superintendence I mean that just cannot work that's not animal at this point yes I would think the message has to go back that it has to be very soon would that be okay like within a week we need just happen within a week I mean you're talking about I don't know about a week but like we can try and keep it moving forward and obviously the other thing would still be moving forward we're not slowing anything else down is what we've been
038saying but it has an impact like we don't move fast on that at all yeah I mean that's that's a conversation that that's at best plan C you know I mean that's at best yeah so you don't need plan C until A and B are already depleted we're still on course for plan a go to plan a and if that doesn't work go to plan B and then figure out if you need plan C well it depends on how quickly the senator put it together if he's going to yeah well um nonetheless I think that's a conversation that doesn't need to happen until after June 30th when we either know we have a plan or don't if we don't have a plan by June 30th you have the benefit of more time yeah but the
039the courses we're aiming to have something before June 30 so scheduling is tough right now I think we should stick to our course and if like you just said if this doesn't work out let's have a different convers yeah and just for clarity and um it's basing on the word just in all honesty typ of thing I didn't know until Denise just said this about Senator anoir saying to meet with both superintendent and both chairs like this was like last night so just for clarity Norine I knew about some of these other conversations but as far as that meeting between those you know four or five people that's new to me right now too um so I just wanted to clarify that um and be transparent about that I knew that there had been the
040discussion with Senator anir originally through Patrick um for him to contact the Ellington superintendent but it hadn't gotten further than that so as we said this is the first time it's coming before this board I appreciate people's input on it but we'll kind of be you know moving forward obviously with the ad hoc committee and then figuring out how that kind of fit in yeah I would say the biggest takeaway is next Wednesdays ad hoc uh committee with uh gwwo and conceptual designs and just encouraging everyone to attend because that's really where they'll keep you formed yeah and kind of seeing that presentation from the um architects because the larger group hasn't seen that yet I think that'll be really important well I mean what they put together will be the first time we're seeing
041the refine yeah yeah so so I think those are definitely the next steps all right thank you everybody next on our agenda we have the financial report and there was information in your packet as well as Ryan so this is uh you know I feel like a broken recer but I mean there's nothing that stands out right now we're we're working towards the end of the year um working hard on the New Year budget um the fy2 financials see these excuse me are the same ones that the finance subcommittee looked over we kind of dove in in depth in some of the lines um I don't have anything um you know pressing to report right now I don't know if anyone has any questions did anybody have any questions about what was in the package
042for the um financial report or norin did you have any comments as far as Financial subcomm um no we went through it in depth at our last meeting um two weeks ago um and um on our schedule for April will be the projections um the quarterly projections to see where we're going so um there may be more information coming at our second meeting in April after we meet about it at the first meeting um as far as starting to come to the year end close is there anything that you want to di particular I a question I just could where's Ryan there he is there he is I um on page 13 I don't understand the food service and the numbers here can you explain to me what what this what this means so we
043we didn't have anything in there we don't have a revised budget then the actual is right um 180 right we've encumbered 2,000 and then I I I'm kind of not understanding these numbers so there there hasn't been budgetary numbers in there throughout the year only because we're you know we kind of um kind of do it as we go if you will um only because we haven't had real historical data for Food Service um but I am working closely with witson on the the projections so B basically this is saying state revenue that's what we've brought back from our state reimbursement from csde yeah um keep in mind that is probably two months behind on state reimbursement so you always you claim it for the previous month and then they're also behind so there's a
044lot of Revenue coming in still um miscellaneous revenue is uh any money coming in from like pay schools um so that's like um uh the money that gets collected if uh like someone wants to buy something extra like I want to say a bag of chips but something extra um and then uh Cafe wages salaries that's uh to Food Service workers Food Service management that line has always been the um well for this year it's essentially what we're paying witson so that's a contract right with them correct so in the P that that encompasses everything so that's our food cost that's our management company costs that's any kind of like fees anything that's we've always just had like the one online there is kind of like a catchall if you will um and then the
045additional two that you will see that we added since the last um meeting is the food service equipment and then the Food Service software so what those are um for the state um because we had carried uh you know a little bit in excess of what they suggest that you carry in the fund balance for Food Service um just because years past we didn't um accurately track that account as well um we had to spend a specific amount down okay um so that is um uh I I broke it out into other Lines Just again for like Clarity just so it's not kind of like um stuck into other lines um so what'll basically happen at the end of the year that'll come out of like our fund balance if you will um to spend
046down um our excess funds to get them in line with with where the state wants them so the equipment one that is um we did uh cafeteria tables yeah um and then the software one um down below that is um a new POS system um that we have coming in just because we've had a sortly outdated POS system so that should improve a number of things as well POS is on purchased yeah and food service has been separated this is a new you know with that new contract and having it all done separately it's kind of a new that's why there aren't historical numbers that isn't the way has been at fast yeah that's how we did the last couple years is we just kind of um like attracted as we went um now I
047will say witzens do have a really good accounting team I have been in kind of a little bit of contact with them so after the first year here um I'm going to work with them to kind of actually plug in some some budgetary numbers at the beginning of the next fiscal year so well we you know that's under a contract so will that be under kind of a contract line eventually what so they're a contract right we're contracted with them for Services food food service management but it's under foodice food service is a completely different entity than the rest of the budget um yeah and uh different um uh different regulations um and self-sufficient so it pay the Food Service pays for itself um so there is no taxpayer um like supplement to that budget
048in years past it was believed um that was the case it's unclear based on the accounting whether that's accurate or not um but today we can say it's self-sufficient based on the revenue kind to wash in other words what you say even if it generates Revenue it's not like you it's not enough to well you you can't you're not allowed to like like use it like any other so you would have to use it for Capital Improvement specifically to cafeteria yeah oh thank you so the money always stays there and as far as the like point of service or point the sales um software so that can be to like scan the the students IDs when they do purchase like chips or cookies or also just to scan their IDs when they get lunch to
049keep track of how many lunches we're selling every day and that P on the back end in there but for the software too so I mean the the reimbursement model like the amount of data that we have to submit to the state for reimburse meals is is pretty intensive so hopefully that'll help a little bit there too just um for reporing to the state that's part of what that is in terms of improving as can I just say for the report that um I am so believe this year that we didn't have to go through the budget process saying we don't have historical data we're not sure if it comes you know you we should be very proud of how far and Ryan and Patrick you should be very proud of how far you've come
050to be able to report clear clean numbers and we don't have to hold our breath when the board of Finance asks us question going forward thank you apprciate thank you we appreciate it and the finance committee Kate yes I I have one more thing it's not really about the budget itself but everybody can see it in there um The Family Resource Center the F FRC is um get $100,000 10000 plus th000 a year from the state of Connecticut I think I sent everybody an email um the governor's budget proposal is um taking that money his plan is to take that money and put it into a block grant program with six other agencies and cut the funding throughout all of it by 133% which essentially means we go from this guaranteed $100,000 we've been getting
051every year to having to compete with a whole lot of people for it um which is could be a real problem for our our FRC which is a really great program um I sent an email out to um all of our reps and I also spoke with Jamie Foster and Carol Hall yesterday when I saw them and um expressed to them to please not do that um to try to get that FRC money um held where it's currently being held and keep going going the way we've been going and all of the frc's because we're not the only ones who have one um so if anybody gets a chance to reach out to any of them just a short email to ask them to please try not to have that happen because um if that
052were to happen it's going to cost everybody who utilizes those programs a lot more money for child care for summer camp or all kinds of things so um reaching out could be helpful okay I appreciate that noran and thank you for um sending that email to inform us and kind of keeping an eye on this so we'll yeah keep an eye and see what happens on the legis um people would want to email um about that that would be appreciated or if anybody you know again as of us obviously see some of our save reps at different times if you see someone then you want to have a conversation we would appreciate that all right thank you Norine for um bringing to our attention okay next on the agenda we have the Personnel report which
053is on page 25 of your packet behind the financial 45 46 um did anybody have any questions about the personel report it does include um statements for spring coaches for spring Sports as well as appointments transfers resignations and any questions and then uh new business for discussion we have the series 6000 um from BPR do you want to kind of update If this just for this is just for first review um committee I mean we all kind of went through this a while ago uh 6,000 was discussed um so I you guys all have it in your packet it's if you guys have any questions um let us know um and then I think I mean next time we bring it it should be um yeah we s the 5,000 because when we did it
054it's taking a little bit longer because that one was a lot thicker to do the formatting um hopefully we'll have that um by next meeting if not definitely in the second meeting um in April and then um in between BPR will be meeting to essentially develop how to like go about um doing a second final reading of the policies to do essentially like a swap out um so we're getting pretty close yeah and I do appreciate the work that BPR has been doing on this and Justin to kind of get this um get these all back on back I know it's a lot to tackle in this way to look at this many um but a lot of these were really kind of out of date and needed updating um so I do appreciate the
055work that I just have one question it's just kind of a comment and it's really for probably Patrick and darl and that is a lot of times in a lot of the policies there also the procedures um you the procedural pieces behind attorney implementation and I know all the ones and the 6,000 are new so I guess what I'm asking is I I'm sure most of them are some place right in our in our possession somewhere but I just want to make sure when we're looking at these that that we have you know something that's behind them that is procedural okay thank you no thank you all right so if you have any questions you can let know y okay I have a quick question yes I think um it's it's the 6150 the parent
056and family engagement policy for Title One students and I should probably know the answer to this question Patrick Who falls under Title One um all our all our schools um okay um yeah um so this is something so perfect example of this policy when we do adopt this this is something we should be doing so when we adopt this policy we will be doing this okay all right but Title One is everybody okay I wasn't sure if it was a a certain segment of our it can be at one point um uh years ago it was just our elementary that was Title One um eligible and then over the years as you can imag it's based on the need of your students has those needs transition to middle school then Middle School became title one
057and then eventually high school but as um all three schools are currently um Title One eligible okay so so once we approve this policy as written all of these things that because it's like four pages long um would kick in at that point like the compacts and the whatevers across the board okay thank you you're welcome question um when I first got on the board we had the old policies in place and BPR used to get updates from PA that would address new laws and stuff now we don't and and then they would come to the board for approval but we haven't done any of those kinds of updates in a long time are they so shman go would have their the same now um cave does it for like like anything like if it's
058optional if it's recommended whether it's uh mandated um Shipman good one really focused primarily on the law so they're really sending the ones that are mandated so so anything that's a new law yeah something that passed last year they're incorporating it into this new policy they will um yes so it may come out um typical like legislation will pass there's obviously some time to interpret that come out you about six months later so we'll continue to get yeah correct BPR will have to continue to meet like this legislative session I'm sure will uh lead to some new policies and we'll have to uh continue to always adopt revise M good we will do that rather than C correct for I will say they do streamline it um where like uh c will send them periodically
059um um not might get like several this month you might go a couple months without getting them um uh shiping and good will like basically do it like once a year or every six months and it's uh very stream get that y thank you you w no it's a good question all right was there anything else about that or people the homework would be to review those further if you didn't have a chance to prior to and um get back to Heather or Justin if you have specific question yeah I would say um I just to speak to that too really you could email um myself or Jessica just through the transition uh we've taken over the policy part just moving as far as next year so if anyone does have anything on policy um
060um certainly um myself we're just going to um have really kind of taken that on going forward okay all right so next on the agenda we have our um healthy food certification which is a specific motion that we have to make every year regarding um food that is gone through the Food Service no I was just given it's on the agenda healthy food certification but some motion Jessica just wrote out that it has to be specifically worded by state we don't get we don't sign no nobody signs it it doesn't have to be signed per se for this one it's just specific wording in the motion correct and there are two copies so you could read one and then pass the other one around um there's nothing needs to be signed once the minutes are
061approved I believe we send them it's the same every year all I did was change the dates I just was looking for it in packet not knowing the only thing that's different is this one has P for next year yeah and so this and it regards in terms of like the food that can be served during school versus after school right that one in terms of that typ of thing all right so okay what number one reading both at the same time or doing one and then doing the other one and then the next Motion One East winter Board of Education pursuant to CGS section 10- 215f certifies that all food items offered for sale to students in schools under its jur jurisdiction and not exempt for Connecticut nutritional standards published by the state of
062Connecticut Department of Education During the period of July 1st 2025 through June 30th 2026 this certificate shall include all food offered for sale to students separately from the reimbursable meals at all times and from all sources including but not limited to school stores vending machines School cafeterias culinary programs and any fundraising activities on SCH phaces sponsored by the school or Nono organizational organizations and groups all right so Heather's made the motion do I have a second I'll second all right Heather the motion and fr seconded did anybody have any questions or do you have a chance to review we do have to do this every year it's just like a procedural um vote I understand I just don't know why it wasn't an arch okay all right all in favor any opposed all right motion
063passes and then we have motion number the East Windor Board of Education will allow the sale to students of food items that do not meet the Connecticut nutritional standards and beverages not listed in section 10- 221q of the Connecticut J statutes provided that the following conditions are amend number one the sale is in connection with an event occurring at the end or of the regular school day or on the weekend number two the sale is in the vocation of the the sale is the location of the event number three the food and bever items are not sold from a vending machine or school store an event is An Occurrence that involves more than just regularly scheduled practice meeting or extracurricular activity for example soccer games school plays and Inter Scholastic debates are events but soccer
064practices play rehearsals and debate team meetings are not the regular school day is the period from Midnight before the 30 minutes after the end of the school official school day location means where the event is being held and must be the same place as the F beverage s all right motion has been made by Heather can I have a second second by Betsy all right all in favor I any opposed motion passes thank you you read that with such feeling story time story but I was thinking next on the uh agenda we have our leaon and subcommittee reports uh again we've kind of gone through some of these with our updates I would say we've already heard about facilities unless there's something else that I'm unaware of we've kind of talked about financials and um
065VPR for f Council um today and had a presentation from sorry can you remind me of her name oh Adena Raider and talented and gifted Adena and Raider about a talented and gifted program which really exciting um about 5 to 10% of each of our grades it we start um looking at it in the fourth grade and then goes all way to a where that they go out go into the high school where I found was the programs steps um and it was just a really great conversation and they have called Discovery Destination Imagination which is like a a really cool project that groups of kids get to do and they get to choose with then it's just takes a lot of creativity a lot of communicating with their friends and their own challenges they
066don't get any um input from the teacher besides just being there to support what they do and and um they take basically that whole year to prepare for um when they get to go and do this presentation um and have all their hard work on to fruition and lucky for us we are one of the only schools in ktic kit so thank you and then I don't know if any you know no it was a great feels great really and then she did also touch on like if kids don't necessarily qualify for the get them talented they have other things like the math yeah and then we have phical performance ly L things so there are kids that are still very bright and that are smart and then maybe aren't quite in that 5% they
067still are getting offerings as well which is really nice but things that challenge them yeah really great at math but maybe they're not quite so strong and they didn't kind of qualify and they're still getting the extra to it's nice because they're recessive each year too which is another keep kids like on the radar they know they kind of want and see stuff changes and stuff it was great I was very I'm very impressed like the last curriculum we had where we talked about music and this one here I just it's it's very nice to see all the great things we've got going on he's very qualified I'm I'm familiar with the renoi model and so when she was talking about that model and what she was doing you could um she was very clearly
068um you had real practice with it which was really good yeah were there other leades on or sub commmittee updates that anybody has from other boards or commission I mean we have Finance last week but we've already talked about that so Norine did you have anything that you wanted to add far as that part of the agenda uh PTO had their bingo it was quite successful lots of people there it's always a funfilled Friday night um the I would say that Mr Fields needs to learn how to be a better bingo caller he was trying to do all these really weird things that take hours and he was like no that's not how you do it Mr Fields but he's learning Mr Ryan is a pro bigo caller um I think their next event is
069coming up in the beginning of May it will be their um the special person dance which is always a big hit as well so that's it say for club and they're currently running their uh Crispy Cream doughnut fundraiser so if uh anybody wants to buy a box of donuts for $15 a piece and so that running that's running for the end of the week and uh if anybody interested Girl Scouts are out and B selling copies all over the place so if you see a girl you want to buy some copies buy them down buy her down all right next on the agenda we have public participation once again I don't think we have any public here in the room with us um and Norine is our loan person online so I think we're good
070with public participation uh do we have any miscellaneous do you have any I do I I have one um uh darl myself received uh invite uh to participate in a forum Friday April 4th um from 10 to 11:30 at the Legislative Office Building um that will include the commissioner of Education Russell Russell talker um the Connecticut state department um Ed Reading Center Director uh legislative uh leaders who uh sponsored this work in literacy uh experts um from the state uh we are one of one of two or three districts asked to participate um based on um the positive things they've hearding our l work um and the invite came from Conan and the Connecticut Commission on women children seniors Equity an opportunity as far as hosting event they said we've been told of the implementation
071work underway in East Windsor has been impressive that's awesome yeah that's to hear really NE really good news yeah make sure repres know by to did you have any other mislan no uh we'll include the email correspondence for the next packet like I said I came in uh today I just have a question yeah um looking at the top of the house um any thoughts about or any hearing anything about what may happen as a result of the possible disbanding of the Department of Education I think there's something in the correspondent there is so theing that it was the very last page on page 55 I believe um but I don't know if Patrick wants to speak to that further no I mean really the only thing we've been getting as correspondence such as the
072one you have in your packet um as we continue to get uh such correspondence we uh include we'll continue to include it in the packet but that was the latest that we received I'm sure we'll continue to get updates okay and we decided that we were going to talk about it in the summer maybe we'll have some more solid information yeah good news yeah and to find out whether you know even if they have certain reduction in Force if if funding is done through different departments where we're still getting funding or kind of to figure out see how it shakes out because I didn't right now happen so um just in terms of the F frc's and the after school so I um I was with some State Department of Education people the other day
073and they were talking about the budget and um now looking at that it looks better than it did before in terms of uh frc's and after school programs and a whole block grant that there may be going to go that got a lot of advocacy around and no don't touch our frc's they're they're a very very vocal group so that's so that is the good news if it if it and that's to what Norine was talking and that's what Norine was talking about yeah because that that will be very difficult and the other thing for us just um I I'm I'm hoping a consideration is that after the ad hoc meeting and we get more U more details and something to look at I'm wondering if we shouldn't schedule a special meeting for us just
074to look at that you know just to look at whatever we have as far as more specifics to really kind of digest it and take the time to get you know have a consensus on absolutely what we want you know barring all the other stuff that we have to do right now now so I'm wondering if we could do that shortly after the ad hoc meeting we could get we can ask the ad hoc committee for us to have um all of the details the the drawings we'd have some time to look at it and then we just we just say we'll be together for an hour and a half two hours can I can I ask that maybe Denise when we the ad hoc is gonna get their information for that meeting next week
075can we just have the whole board get that information I was G to check with Patrick and see if that was appropriate and CSG you know they may not want it all over the place because if there if details that need to be changed after the ad hoc meets now you got a I hear what you're saying because I that made sense but I'm just thinking if we want if we want a majority of our board to come to that meeting I don't think GNA see every them to not have what we're well and it's hard to see and to look at it's a tough call but I do understand I I agree I just wanted to double check and see if it's appropriate um whatever you I think the public should you know people
076that are in the audience I think it would be good to get the packet information ahead of time um Courtney and I kind of talked about some of those um yeah I mean it's not I me yeah I can tell you both myself and Denise have repeatedly asked for those materials ahead of time um it's going to be money yep um and then yeah um as far as that I I believe we're also when we get the final we're going to have to meet to discuss you will have to those so I guess I was kind of waiting for that and then if we can talk about Ed specs and Architectural plans that would be great but I was kind of waiting to yeah just to be clear they are two different documents yeah yeah
077I was kind of waiting to I guess get those final edecs because I knew we were going to have to meet on that yeah just speak clear we have anything updated on no no I understand but I'm just saying if we get it then we could have time together to keep the train going yeah yeah yeah so we'll look into that but I do just want to um raise awareness about trying to schedule meetings very quickly after other meetings sometimes we just you know we have to make sure that we're cognizant of other meetings that we already have scheduled and that we're cognizant of how much time we have to notice meetings or mention that you know we we asked to do um an agenda for special meetings yes okay so that's so we have
078to yeah get it yeah and that's a minimum of 24 hour a certain period of time to let the public know we're having a meeting as well and to have agenda so just to to for clarity in terms of scheduling things quickly sometimes that is a little bit hard to do with busy schedules but I agree that it is um important to keep to keep everything moving forward um just a question sorry I thought about asking this earlier when we were going over the calendar of meeting and events like that um not to add another meeting request to the list but I don't recall the the exact timeline that was initially presented but were we supposed to have a community Forum scheduled for March or April like what is that that and they didn't see
079that on the advoc agenda um it we have next steps so I would anticipate that be part of the conversation on Wednesday they are supposed to have the survey results so um I would imagine that would be helpful as far as um you know the focus of that BL too okay but I think without without what we're discussing next week to have a community noting it like in the immediate future but I just you don't want to we move forward in in the voting processes do we have and and I guess that's another thing for the end I mean is there kind of a time frame for a cut off to date application has to be submitted in June right but applic what I'm saying is startes not have to be done in June if
080I remember correctly then said it it'd be in the fall correct my understanding is June 30th is a date some leeway and extensions that you could go all the way into August okay the goal is not to utilize because you have to go through some Loops okay um um but I mean um it is possible June is well I'm just kind of want to head for yeah I I just get nervous you know kind of the timeline has already been stretched or broken right and I guess what I'm thinking about is you know is there is there a drop down thing that we need to have as far as decision making or we cut bait and we wait you know that's the thing it's a good question next week yeah I think that's something the
081adog committee would have to have to talk to as well Norine did you have any I'm sorry I lost the thread slightly but did I ask you if you have anything for miscellaneous or do you have anything for miscellaneous I just want to touch on what Betsy just said um and I I Now understand there's two different things there's the architectural stuff and the edpc stuff and I know we had seen the ects um I know I had sent in the Google Doc to Sam with a whole lot of questions about those ects um I'm not sure what's going on with them my concern is I I'm I guess maybe I don't understand the time timeline between ad hoc and us um I understand ad hoc getting it but I I think eventually it has
082to come to us for us to approve what's going on and I just um I I don't want to force anybody to any timeline but I think it's really important that we have a meeting that is specifically about all of that with us um where we not try to fit it into another meeting where we have whole bunch of other stuff to go on I think it's getting to the point where we really need to kind of concentrate on it as no I would totally agree Nori I think I was just saying I I was waiting for us to get those documents before we could schedule that meeting I guess that's fine Kate I I'm I think I'm just a little concerned with it's going to the ad hoc with these conceptual plans but we
083haven't really done the Ed specs yet which could change those I I'm sure it's just a little confusing on my side um so that's all okay thank you all right and just in terms of we do have an executive session coming too so I just wanted to move on we have correspondents I don't think there's anything that we need to specifically highlight everybody should have seen that in their packet and we already talked last one um did anybody have anything else before we do uh have a motion to go into motion all I would entertain a motion I'll make a motion to an executive session motion made by Heather second second and Denise all in favor I I any opposed all right we need to go into executive session um we need to stop the
084recording but we need to be able to have nor