State Board of Education Meeting - 3/4/2026

001It wasn't a good >> They do. That's great. Yes. Yes. Yes. Did that just say? >> That's my guess. participate. >> Good morning everyone. My name is Harris. I am sitting in as a interim pro town. Our vice chair Aaron is online with us. Um please rise. Aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice record show. We do have a form. Uh we're going now to uh public participation. Uh wherever Christian's record will uh call the names of those who have signed up. >> Thank you to those who have signed up for public participation. As a reminder, each public participation speaker is permitted three minutes to speak. I will call in brief of two. The first two

002speakers are Dr. Jeff Vance and Dr. Bora Mela. Good morning. My name is Dr. Jeffrey Vance and I am the interim director of the school of education at the University of Bridgeport. Uh I am honored to be with all of you today. Uh to not only introduce the school but also uh to very briefly explain who we are and what we do and how we care about the students and our work that matters so much to all of us. The University of Bridgeport has a longstanding service to education, mission and development. We offer programs leading to master's, sixth year and doctoral programs in elementary education, secondary education, education administration, and media reading. This academic year we enrolled 185 new students across our programs and we're proud that approximately 2/3 of those students uh can go

003ahead and enroll in us that reflects not just our interest but the trust in what we offer. But the measure of the school of education certainly is not enrollment alone. It's the educators and leaders we sent out into the world zone. I would like to highlight very [clears throat] quickly three alumni whose work reflects the impact uh of the University of Richmond. But first of all, Congressman John Hayes. You be among them who went from educated to elected official uh embodying the servant leadership we work to know every day. Second, uh Brian Pesh, Connecticut's 2026 teacher of the year, uh and the national teacher of the year finalist, earned his masters here at UB and then returned to teach at the very school he attended, um Rogers Park Middle School in Dan. Third is Dr.

004Damon Lewis, uh the national middle school principal of the year who reduced chronic thoughts of communism and expanded my loyal student access to business programs. Uh these three time stand together as a composite representation of the university. I am happy to serve as interim director. I am a graduate of UB myself and wanted to just introduce myself u my colleague Dr. and also say a few words, but I'm very happy uh to be here today research. >> Good morning. I'm Dr. Laura Mel. I serve as an assistant professor in our school of education as well as one of the program directors in our teacher preparation program and serve as the cave coordinator for initial teacher preparation program as well as being a Kate site evaluator. Um, I'm a former elementary and secondary teacher prior to

005embarking into higher education. So, we know that the University of Bridgeport is here to address our paper review and we understand that we received several areas for improvement. In the folders that were given to you, there's a brief narrative that addresses the work that we've already started towards these. We've done um significant substantive work. Um, we're currently in a transition process with our clinical practice program, looking at assessments, ensuring that we're aligning them to be reliable and valid assessments. That way, we are preparing teachers for how they need to be prepared. We're actively building the data infrastructure needed to systematically collect and analyze candidate performance evidence, complete our outcomes, and employer feedback. We are also in the early stages of launching the Connecticut Educator Preparation Consortium, a new acronym for everyone, which is a proposed

006statewide collaborative work with other EPS around the state of Connecticut with the intention of strengthening educator preparation across institute institutions throughout the state. Again, that is in your packet as well. This is to show that this compliance work is a genuine commitment to the quality of teacher preparation of our candidates and Connecticut's students. We recognize that our anti prompt questions today and we welcome them. Thank you. The next two speakers are Dr. Carrie Jones and Elizabeth Sk. >> Good morning. I'm Dr. Carrie Jones. I'm assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of Bridgeport and I serve as the K coordinator for advanced preparation programs. I joined UB in 2024 after 31 years as a public school teacher and leader in Connecticut, proud public school teacher and leader in Connecticut. I also want to thank

007you all for your work on behalf of the children, families, and educators in our state. Thank you for your I'm pleased to be here with Dr. Vance, Dr. Vance and Mela to share how we are strengthening our alignment across our initial and advanced programs. I will briefly address three areas of our program uh review example study did lack longitudinal goals and outcomes when case expectations this fall we partnered with our admissions team to standardize how application data are collected and analyzed on consistent academic year schedule. Annual edition summaries now capture candidate demographics and trends. And with consistent baseline data in place, we've established measurable multi-uric. We strive to increase enrollment of teacher leader candidates who identify as black and Hispanic currently about onethird of our enrolled students. We also seek to sustain strong admissions yield

008rates across our programs currently ranging from 67 to the 90%. The second point from our AFI uh list are quality assurance systems. We are building a sustainable faculty-driven system that connects key data sources, follows a clear annual review calendar and includes protocols to ensure calibration and reliability across the set. We are disagregating performance data by demographic categories to support valid equity focused decision making. This work removes us from compliance or continues. And finally, completer impact. We recognize the need both at our university and those across Connecticut for stronger access to prek12 student learning data that demonstrates the impact of our university trained educators. We are collaborating with higher education partners to identify effective models for collecting that data. And beginning this summer, as Laura, Dr. Laurel mentioned we will launch a consortium to gather and

009share impact data more systemically across our state. Our work is underway led by faculty and staff committed to preparing educators to meet new children and thank you. >> Good morning. My name is Elizabeth Sced and I'm Connecticut Education Association issues specialist. Prior to joining staff in 2022, I was an educator in New London for 28 years. In my role, one of my duties is supporting both field staff and members with certification issues and questions. I'm speaking in support of the continuation of emergency educator certification endorsements for the 2627 school year. These endorsements are import are an important tool that allows districts to fill critical teaching positions while maintaining high standards for student learning. The emergency endorsements play a significant role in addressing staffing shortages that many districts continue to face. They allow students to have

010access to certified teachers, preventing gaps in instruction. At the same time, we do recognize that this is a temporary solution, a band-aid rather than a long-term fix. It highlights the urgent need for broader systemic solutions to ensure that all schools have sufficient number of fully certified teachers in every subject area. CDA appreciates that the process requires the agreement of the local association applicant and the district ensuring that educators and their representatives have a voice in how these end endorsements are applied in their schools. We also value that only educators who already hold provisional or professional certificates are eligible to apply. This approach protects our newest teachers, those just beginning their own teaching in their content area, from being pressured or encouraged to take on additional responsibilities before they have fully established themselves. By enabling districts

011to fill vacancies responsibly, we're helping to ensure that every student has access to a skilled teacher rather than being left in a classroom without the guidance and expertise they need to succeed. In short, continuing these endorsements for the 2627 school year strikes a care careful balance. It supports districts in meeting in meeting immediate staffing need, respects the experience and readiness of our educators, and ultimately benefits the students across the state. CDA urges the approval of these emergency generalist endorsements. While we're thinking about growing our profession, I would be remiss not to talk about um take a brief moment to highlight the incredible work being done by CA's aspiring educators and Connecticut's educator rising students. I'm fortunate to work closely with both as the organizer for the aspiring educators program and as the chair of the

012newly established advisory council for educators rising as they become a CTSo. I also collaborate weekly with Jason Foster, the regional coordinator of Ed Rising. The passion, leadership, and commitment to the profession of all involved is inspiring. Educators rising students and staff are currently hard at work planning and preparing for their state competition and conference in March. Both educators rising and our aspiring educators are also eagerly anticipating their national national conferences in June where they will showcase their talents, deepen their learning and connect with future educators from across the country. The energy, dedication, and promise within these programs gives me tremendous hope for the next generation of educators. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our final speaker is Dr. Ann Marie Lorradi. Good morning members of Connecticut State Board of Education and Commissioner Russell Tucker. I'm Dr.

013Amry Miy and I'm usually here representing the Canadian Association of Research regarding illiteracy issues. Today, however, I'm here in the concerned citizens in the opinions I express on my own. House Bill 5217 aimed at changing the role of the United State Board of Education to an advisory B body only clearly weakens at the state level the ability of the average stakeholder citizen to impact education policy and seek redress or to report the outcomes of adopted policy and law. One need only be present at the public comment segment of a state board of education meeting to observe and understand the immediaccy of citizens needs and ideas that are presented direct directly to you. Compare that to the process of trying the Compare that to the process of trying to make a direct connection through an online

014portal with one's elected general assembly member who may or may not be familiar with the educational issue at hand. This bill will damage the ability of an individual and a small organization such as my own to influence influence educational decisions. A second consequence of this governance structure is that with every statewide election, there will be presented the opportunity of creating or eliminating curricula based on political or personal agendas or current media popularity. Further, the commissioner will lose a resource for defecting good policy to the public when such policy is called into question due simply to adversarial agendas. Even though the department has latently been required to implement some policies emanating from the general assembly, at least the planning and implementation remains with career DOE professionals and the war. All of you who in some manner

015are connected to an important aspect of learning, whether it be the impact of nutrition on learning ability, understanding the most current developments necessary to career preparation, or as experienced teachers and administrators. The commissioner will be required to consider political outcomes when making decisions about teaching and learning and students well-being. Unfortunately, I was unable to participate in the public hearing on 227, but I did listen to the entire meeting. I was dismayed that only two people expressed concerns about this change. I am writing to my representatives, one of whom luckily [clears throat] is on the education committee, and will be encouraging others to do the same. I hope that in some way the board will be able to convince members of the general assembly that this bill is not in the best interests of Connecticut's students.

016Thank you. That concludes public participation. >> Thank you. >> Three on the agenda is executive session. Uh Kristen, would you uh >> I hereby move that the board go into executive session for the purposes of reviewing and discussing a written legal opinion from our legal director and further move that our legal director and our chief of staff legislative liaison be invited into executive session. >> Second. All those in favor, please signify and I >> I moving to room J. I am sorry. Food disorders like to use a two choice. Either way. Yeah. >> I would have to take I was talking to his leader. >> He'll always be detention that keeps [laughter] >> Oh, we have a long history. >> He has this whole video about like the background. >> Yeah, I know. >> The

017glass is right in there. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. I'll just checking for sound. >> I don't know. What about yourself? Oh, there you go. Ald. >> Yeah, exactly. >> They're looking for the commissioner. >> Okay. You can hear me though. I'm I'm saying it's saying I'm muted, but you hear you are not muted. We can hear you very well. It works. I'm back. Back in business. >> Okay. Thank you. We are back in session and thank you for your patience and uh we're moving ahead to consideration of minutes of our last meeting February 11th. Can I have a motion please? >> So move second. >> Probably moved and second. Any uh corrections, additions, deletions, >> concerns hearing none. Seeing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposion, it is

018number five, the report of our chair, Aaron. >> Thank you, Mr. Harris, and good morning, everyone. Very short notice and uh report this month. Um I want to point out that our two student members and Dr. Carlson went through executive nomination committee last month. Um, superb job by all three. It always amazes me when my stu their students go up there and their backgrounds are just outstanding. If you haven't had a chance to view it, I would highly re recommend that you do so. I agreed with you, Dr. Carlson, that they were a hard act to follow, but you did excellent as well. Um, so I look forward to Dr. Pitkoff being up next. Um, I'm guessing sometime later this month or in April. Um, and that really concludes my report. Excellent job for all

019of them. Committee reports. Um, Miss Gabel, Mrs. Garbela, academic and standards. >> Hello everyone. Um, the academic standards committee meeting was scheduled for March 10th. We have canceled that meeting canceled it because there is literally nothing that is timesensitive urgent either in terms of an action item or in terms of an information item and that this was also done in consultation with the staff. I would encourage members as I did at last board meeting that if you have any area of interest with respect to academic standards and assessment to please let me know any of the committee members know or the staff know so that we can proceed in terms of thoughtful agendas that help inform the full board. Thank you. Accountability and support does not have a meeting this month but does have a

020meeting on April 28th. Mr. Harris, finance audit. >> Good morning. Uh again, finance and audit. We were scheduled to meet on February 24th and well everybody remember we were inundated with snow, >> right? >> And everybody was still digging out. So, our meeting was uh postponed and we are meeting next Wednesday, March 11th at 10:00 a.m. >> Miss Spur, legislation and policy. >> Good morning. Uh our last meeting was on February 11 and we continue reviewing the CCB's uh proposed revisions and we'll continue to do so at our meeting today. Uh we will have a meeting at 1:00 or uh is immediately following the adjournment of the state board of education. We will be in room J. Room J for our meeting at 1:00 or whenever we finish NRC system. Dr. Pritchard. >> Good morning

021everyone. I just thought I'd give you a quick update on how our lottery has gone for our incoming ninth graders for the 26 27 uh school year. So, as of March 3rd, we have nearly 9,000 applications for uh CEK schools, which is astounding uh for about 3,500 slots. Um so we have uh extended offers to uh just under well just over 3,300 students and have a 94% uh acceptance rate which tells you that students really want in. Um everyone who did not get selected is put on a weight list. Um those weight lists vary greatly from a couple of dozen students at some schools to several hundred students at others. I will tell you that Bullard Havens was our largest application pool this year. We had over a thousand applications for 230 slots. Uh so

022if you're on that weight list, uh your chances are very slim. Um whereas at the other end of the scale, a school like Windham or Vinyl um had, you know, a couple dozen and and students may find their way onto the weight list. So that's less than 40% of our applicant pool getting into CEX. Um, and we're finalizing uh that process now as we go. So, as you can imagine, I'm getting a lot of questions from legislators and from the governor's office about what to do about that level of demand. Uh, we really are at capacity. Uh, we had 11,700 students this year, probably a few more than we could probably feasibly fit. Um and so uh we're starting to look at some other opportunities to work with comprehensive high school um in after school

023programming and looking at things like our Bristol model which allows 11th and 12th graders to come uh to our school during the day for their training uh opportunities. So looking at some other things, one such opportunity is in the governor's proposed budget which would provide us with some uh resources to provide additional adult training opportunities uh particularly uh evening programming that currently is not funded by the general fund. Individuals who want to come to our programs at night uh or after after hours are paying their own way. And so, uh, the governor has put in some resources to, uh, start to expand those opportunities. So, we're hopeful that that will make it through the legislative process and, um, that we'll be able to start experimenting with some expansion opportunities. The other thing that the governor

024put in the budget that I just wanted to mention is, um, resources for us to start to hire our own pareducator workforce. Um, currently all of our PAR educators are hired under a thirdparty contract by CRE in partnership with some of their other um, RS uh, partners and uh, so this would give us a little bit of money to start bringing and to our own services budget. We'll see how that makes it through the legislative session. I've been asked, you know, if that's economical. um and I have suggested that that's not the question we should be asking but whether this provides a greater opportunity to integrate and uh services for our students. So um that little there's a little bit of money it's not a lot to start with um to start to bring on

025that workforce. It will require us to create a um state classification because that doesn't exist right now um and to do our own uh hiring. So, uh, it would be a multi-year process if we were able to bring the entire para educator workforce, um, onto, uh, our personnel budget. Um, I am hopeful that this would create that pipeline that the commissioner and the commissioner of labor have also worked on to think about the apprenticeship programs that if we can bring peross in that we can also build them into our teaching workforce. So, those are some of the things on the the CEX. Um, this is I'm happy to answer questions if there are. >> Thank you, Dr. Pitchard. We we do not have a report this month from the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities. So,

026I'll move on to NASBY. We've had two meetings since our last board meeting. We had one with um on HQIM with uh Miss Record and u Miss Gabela which was a very interesting meeting that will continue that Connecticut will continue to um look into that and participate in our highly um qualified instruction material that we have here in Connecticut. This past Monday we also had our member exch our monthly member exchange. Um thank you again to Dr. Pitco, Dr. Lavis and Miss Record for attending. Um a lot of discussions of course over funding um when we had our federal update. Um many questions there. [snorts] Um a lot of questions over AI. In fact, most of the breakout sessions across um the country were on AI and so we'll continue to monitor that what's going

027on with other states with AI. Um and I would say the other um highly one is curriculum um that was discussed. So that ends my and NASBY will have their next um member exchange in April. Um and to to finish with CIRC, there is no report. There wasn't really much of a change from our last month's meeting. So we um we opted to move and you will have a new update um at our April meeting. That concludes my report and the committee reports and I'll pass it over to you, Commissioner. Good morning. [clears throat] >> Thank you. But before we do that, with the board members with your permission and to help increase the flow of our agenda, I would like to move item number 10, the consent agenda uh to be presented after second

028>> favor. Hi. >> Thank you. Uh good morning uh chair Benham Mr. Harris uh and all the board members. Uh good morning to all of you. Uh the commissioner's report is in your packet as usual. uh relevant boards to different priority areas is identified and you have the state board finding plan priorities aligned uh are there for you. You'll also have so you'll that will be a regular feature uh that you'll always get as a reminder uh of the work that we're doing together which is really important as is uh the focus before strategic areas are in the slide too right again uh that you can see in last month you received a comprehensive presentation on career pathways and uh my neighbor here uh Miss Burr uh made her strong interest and request that we

029continue to hear that information uh with you. And so later this morning, you will be hearing directly uh from some school leaders talking about what this looks like uh on the ground. Uh so moving that forward uh slide on slide three, you do have um again com my commitment to data transparency. Uh we do have the community focus areas uh that we're working on that are aligned with the state board plan. And so again the feature to share that with you and now I've added in the our enrollment data uh it is a reminder constantly of the landscape for yes uh the landscape uh of our our demographics of our student population in Connecticut and I always say that we have you know in this case 49764 very good reasons for the work that we're

030doing every day focused attention supporting educators at the entire system. Uh and so that information is there for you as well. We take a look at the agency initiatives for the month. Uh first I wanted to share with you that the department has partnered with CIRC uh and the rest alliance to provide updated state guidance for multi-tered systems of support. You hear us in the education world talk about MTFS and what is that really? A monetary system system of support is a framework or models that includes tiers of instruction and other kinds of support so that all our students can make progress by getting the kind of education uh that meets their needs. potentially it offers students who are learning uh who have challenged uh social emotional behavior difficulties personalized instruction or support that matches

031the level of help that they need to to stay on pace with their peers. So you have different tiers of support and so that is the work we're we're working on. uh we've done this guidance now for many many years and it is now going to be refreshed and updated and so they're working uh with circ and the rest alliance and the department to move that work forward. Uh next uh area in my report I I mentioned uh the fact that we're truly in legislation session season uh and I just really want to pause. We're fully engaged in response and participation and I I really I want to pause uh and appreciate the staff in the agency uh publicly thanking them because what you don't see behind the scenes is a 247 uh work uh

032that they've been doing. I'm literally going to ask them to stand uh if you're in this room from the department. You've been engaged in this work. I really am. Don't look at me that way. Uh, and and I mean that and I'm doing that purposefully purposefully and publicly because when I say 247 it means weekends, but it means Sunday night. It means Saturday all day. And that is the work that they've done and to date we we've reviewed 40 that's 40 education related bill proposals and that we've provided testimony and 34 of them across eight different committees that includes education that's a labor that's children's that's governor government oversight all the places that you probably not think of education related proposals uh that they're there Laura watches for all of them a lot but I

033really just wanted to do that. I I couldn't couldn't be more proud of the commitment of the team because it's not just about writing proposals. It's about thoughtfully looking at legislation trying to determine the impacts not just the impacts on the agency but what is the impact on school districts and the work that we're trying to get done and how do we remain focused uh in getting that work done and so that is what uh the team what we've been doing and so I just want to appreciate uh and let you know that is what's happening. So when you get a 14page or 15 page uh testimony that I think is now out >> no >> for today uh that is what it takes behind all of that and it is us sitting back saying

034oh wait a minute how do we do this how do we navigate do we agree do we disagree all of those kinds of things to make sure that we can be thoughtful uh in what it is that we're we're putting there we don't take it lightly so I I really just want to pause there uh and show my appreciation for them so I thank you all very much. Uh on the next slide five, uh you'll see that um I put some information there. We've been engaged with the US Department of Education, specifically our assistant secretary for the office of elementary secondary education who is doing something that's different. Uh my experience is doing roundts and the roundts bring education chiefs from across the country together. uh so we can have really good dialogue and ask

035questions and get answers uh and and to share information. And so at the last round table, uh Secretary um assistant secretary Basler shared the secretary priorities for upcoming discretionary grants. They're being very thoughtful, I believe, about how they're going to put their grants out there for those states can apply for. And those are the their uh funding priorities that you see on the screen. And so as you take a look at those funding priorities, you'll see that evidence-based literacy is one of the federal priorities. Uh it's about structured explicit uh teaching aligned with research. Uh so literacy is one of the priorities. Uh the other is expanding education choice which is not education food force but uh it is about making sure every student where regardless of where they are uh have choices uh for

036participating in education. That's how they present it. uh meaningful learning is the next one uh about core instruction especially in mathematics uh and and finally career pathways and workforce readiness. I wanted to share that with you because those priorities should sound fairly familiar to the priorities that we're engaged with here for the board priorities and for our focus areas. Uh, and I share that because I think it positions Connecticut very well uh when uh uh those uh grant opportunities uh presents themselves uh nationwide for for application. So I wanted to share that with you as well. And finally, uh, statewide, uh, we I was pleased to join the governor, our mayor in Manchester and superintendent of our Manchester public schools and other local leaders, uh, as, uh, the governor wrote out or talked about the

037investments, some of the investments and specifically for this press conference, it was investment, the 5 million investment to expand Connecticut behavioral health pilot program from seven to up to about 20 districts, 4 and a.5 million to establish a statewide Coaching Network. You heard about this in the budget uh last month uh when Jessica presented and $7 million to to continue to expand our learner engagement and attendance program. So, uh, it was great to to be a part of that and to hear directly, uh, the beauty of this first conference was hearing directly from Manchester and them talking about what these programs look like on the ground, uh, as they're implementing and not just what they look like for implementation, but the results uh, that are being uh, seen through the investment. And then the uh

038other press conference that we had was uh with the governor uh again in New Haven, the mayor in New Haven, superintendent students, two students that I'm standing with are going into education, which is great uh in New Haven, but we're going to be able to talk about uh the governor's proposal and the belltoell policy, cell phone policy uh for K12 students. Uh that is also a governor's proposal. And so to talk about that, I want to just share with you uh if you've not read the bill that under the governor's bill, cell phones and other personal technology devices uh would be powered off and from the beginning to the end of the school day. Districts will work with their local school boards or their families, teachers, students to determine how the policies implemented in their

039schools and determine what would happen there. Uh districts maintain the ability to decide if devices can be used for instructional purposes. Schools will have communication protocols that support communication with families in the event of an emergency. And certainly students who require devices as part of their IEPs, their individual education program or healthcare plan will continue to have those accommodations protected. So that is the proposal. We shared last week the numbers of school districts that already have those policies in place. Uh and uh it was just good to do that uh in front of students. I got a question from a journalism student that was there in the lacrosse as well. So, um, thank you. Wanted to share that. So, uh, transitioning to hearing from, uh, the regular updates, going to switch things around a little

040bit and start with our guests in the space. I'm going to ask uh Superintendent Jeffrey Newton uh Eastland Public Schools and our 2026 Superintendent of the Year uh will be joining us along with Tom Gerard uh superintendent for Waterford Public Schools and Principal Henry K principal Line High School. uh have them join us. As I mentioned earlier last month, last month uh you've done a presentation on career pathways and what's happening. In our presentation, you heard directly from students that were embedded in that presentation. And today you'll hear directly in the voice of school leaders, a spotlight on workforce and career readiness as it sits uh with them at the local district level. So just brief introduction by Dr. Hughes and then we'll hear from our center first. Thank you, commissioner, and good morning board.

041Um, as the commissioner alluded to last month, you heard us talk a lot about workforce and the programming. We thought it would be excellent to hear not only from our superintendent of the year, but his colleague next door um about the work that they are doing in the district relative to workforce. Um, just a brief background. Uh I saw a Japanese team present two years ago now the caves caps in workforce and they've recently been hearing a lot about the partnership um with pumps district and in Waterford um this cooperative in the region of southeastern Connecticut where they are advancing some career opportunities. So that's all I'll say. I'll let them describe the programming and what they're seeing as opportunities for students in that portion the state of Texas. Thank you very much first of

042all for uh for having us. Uh we're excited to join you this morning. Um we uh want to hit a couple of of high points. Uh one most important fact it was interesting to hear you know with the kinetic technical you know education piece uh the need um for uh you know more interest the greater interest and not other spaces. Uh and that's the work we're trying to do uh in house in in in our school systems and collaborating uh unique opportunities uh creating unique opportunities for students. Um in uh East Lime our pathways program uh started a few years back. We've noticed and I think every district has uh a number of um students that aren't necessarily as interested to go out to college. Those numbers have declined. East Lime and Waterford both have

043prided themselves on on having a high a high high uh graduation rate and students that go off to a two or four year college but those numbers are declining much more interested in the trades uh and that's become uh a strong part of of our focus with our work in these lines over the last few years we've established over 30 different partnerships whether they be local partnerships um partnerships with colleges Yukon for instance that supports our EMT program um partnerships with um automotive shops in town, uh, hairdresser shop in town, um, but the National Guard. We've had a number of creative partnerships that have come forward that have allowed our students to expand interest uh, and see um, opportunities uh, outside of the college. So, with that being said, I was going to turn to

044Mr. Kid, who's our high school principal. Um first he's gonna talk about um you bring me those programs that are loading money out of it. Mr. Sure. >> Thank you. Um and thank you all for for having us again. Um and I just yeah just going to highlight um some community partnerships that really have expanded real opportunities for our students at East Lamb High School. Um really this is a network of relationships. Um, we've learned that expanding opportunity for students doesn't always require new facilities or major capital investments. It requires networking, uh, alignment and strong community partnerships. Uh, Jeff just mentioned one really strong example is our collaboration with Burman's garage in Niantic. We have students who train inside a working automotive uh, shop in an early morning class that's co-taught by the shop owner

045and one of our own teachers. The use of the facility is donated. Community organizations help offset the costs. Um, so our students are really gaining authentic hands-on experience that directly strengthens their post-secary plans. Um, we've applied that same model across other areas as well, partnerships with General Dynamics, electric boat, students participate in workforce training programs, and regional hiring events. Um, seniors have been hired before they graduate. So that's really a direct connection between a high school diploma and meaningful employment. Uh in healthcare, our EMT program operates as a regional hub. Um students from neighboring districts attend like Waterford and Old Line. Um hospitals are providing patient hours, um patient contact hours and equipment, and the National Guard has even chipped in and provided advanced training at no cost. Um so students graduate from our EMT

046program with dual credit and industry certification eligibility. Um in you know um newer partnerships we began a partnership with the Padagans Art Center uh and have also begun to flesh out a future educator pathway um via our work with Ed Rising and other area schools and dual enrollment as well. Um we also have uh roughly 70 students who are applying this year for our career concentrations recognitions um which show that our students are actively seeking these sorts of programs that are tied to real outcomes for their next steps in life. Um so really uh these programs and these partnerships have helped us um connect with a wide range of learners in new ways. And what we've learned really is that when students can clearly see the connection between the work that they're doing in high

047school, their diploma now, and a tangible post-secary plan, engagement rises, families lean in, um, and students see their future selves in the work that they're attending to in high school. >> Excellent. I'll jump in a little bit and uh try to avoid any redundancy. One area I want to hit on is the support that we get from the state department of education in regards to Ferkins funding. So we receive a lot of support uh through the department on our base application for the Perkins base but as well as the supplemental grant and those funds are certainly vital to the continued success of our career pathways and clusters. Similar to East Line uh we've developed uh viable pathways in manufacturing. You heard East Line talk about EV. We're an official EB partner uh ship school at

048Waterford High School. Now, um EB just bought a mostly vacant mall in town and will be a very large player in town. Uh their engineers come to our CTE courses work with our students handinand. Um you know, and as Jeff talked about the uh reduction in two and four-year school, but there's also a body of students who do want to go to college but can't afford it even despite the community college packed and whatnot. um the necessary uh income uh for them is important and a lot of these employers are starting to kick in dollars uh for students. They're hiring out of high school. So, it might not be college right now, but it doesn't mean it's not uh never. Uh beyond the manufacturing pathway uh we're developing, we're in development uh with an automotive

049uh and logistics uh pathway which we'll talk a little bit about in our partnership. And certainly as you all know hospitality and culinary has a very large presence in southeastern Connecticut uh and has allowed us to develop partnerships with big players like Oatson uh as well as some other local partners southeastern Connecticut manufacturing manufacturing which is a a small uh midsize company. Uh so we're also looking at what's called crosscutting clusters meaning career clusters that apply to a variety of fields. So such as marketing and sales. So even if you're uh chasing a pathway in the automotive and logistics, you're going to have your own business. You have to know something around marketing and sales. So those cross cutting uh clusters that cut across uh business sectors uh is extremely uh vital. Going back to

050the college piece, C our partnership with dual enrollment with CT state for a lot of these CTE courses is excellent because students not only are gaining employment after high school, they're also gaining credits if they want to pursue college down the road. But I think one of the things that we're doing in souththeastern Connecticut, and I'll let Jeff and Henry expand even more, is for the last two school years, Waterford High has been sending students to East Lime High School first period nearly every day, uh, to take some of their CTE classes, specifically in the area of EMT. And East Lime High School has been sending students to Waterford High School that same period in the morning to take advantage of our automotive and logistics courses. Um, this is a partnership uh forged over many

051conversations. It takes two innovative high school principles. Our high school principal Kirk Samuelson is back running things in the district and his school this morning. But um it's that kind of creative thinking as enrollment across Connecticut has has obviously declined and our high schools get smaller. um the effort to appeal to our communities uh still remains high and I think uh looking at innovation around how can we do more with the same amount of resources but I'll I'll kick it over to Jeff and Henry. >> Yeah and that uh that partnership uh as uh superintendent Jared mentioned uh is a uh something that that really grew out of a lot of back and forth. We have an MOU between the two districts uh established in our legal council uh as well. So there's red tape

052with it, but it can be done. Uh and we're we're looking to expand it and uh use that first period block to do other classes uh next year as as well. Uh so it's it's been a great partnership and uh really appreciate being able to do the work. >> Just want to say thank you to all three of you for sharing the on the ground experience. I hope the board is hearing the degree of partnerships and relationships that are at the core of this work. As a state department of ed, we hope to make highlight the work that's been done at a local district so that other districts can learn from that practice how to navigate how important it is to go to multiple businesses in the region on a day-to-day basis uh to support

053students. It this is the level of work that it takes uh to create those new and innovative opportunities for our students. So, thank you very much. Thank you. >> Appreciate the opportunity. >> Questions? questions. Bonnie, >> my name is Bonnie Burn. I have the Aggra Science seat here at the state board of education and as another another program area that is, you know, faces a lot of the same challenges that there are never ever ever enough seats uh to help young people fulfill their desire to explore careers to see what kind of, you know, workforce opportunities are out there. I just want to commend your schools for getting creative. Uh that kind of flexibility is something that I hope that we have a lot more districts learning from your experience and moving forward to get

054that done because I truly think that's the way we're going to start to allow young people to really find careers that they can be passionate about. So kudos to you for your flexibility and your innovation. Really appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Uh I want to echo that. Um, I was a product way back in the olden days in the 1990s of a cooperative agreement between Cromwell public schools and Portland public schools that allowed me to travel from Cromwell to Portland to take dual enrollment calculus and physics. So to hear that you folks are doing that now in the CTE space is incredibly exciting to me and I would absolutely encourage you to share thatou and your best practices with other particularly small districts that only that have one high school that um I think

055that's a wonderful model and I would love to see that rep replicated across other district partners. So thank you so much for highlighting that. Kudos >> other comments. >> I can sorry >> I I would love to explore how to build on what you have uh with the the tech high school system, you know, Roso and others because there there is a lot of uh discussion right now about how to engage comprehensive high schools and starting from zero would really not make much sense for any of us. would really welcome the opportunity to talk and bring our principles into the conversation. >> Thank you. >> Just one more note of thanks to the the East Line team in particular, David Pulo, who is a member of our credential advisory committee that supports the state department

056with our work in industry recognized credentials. So, I just wanted to publicly acknowledge that and thank him for his efforts and your support in >> Oh, I give a lot of thank yous. Uh-huh. But it truly is uh really so amazing to be able to highlight and spotlight this work uh and again taking it to the board and we'll be looking for other opportunities uh to get the work out there because it's too hidden uh honestly right so folks are thinking nothing is happening uh because somehow we've not really worked hard enough to make sure strategically enough to make sure that this information is there. So this is the beginning uh and we'll be able to do that and most school districts as well to do that but backing up I talked about all our

057student is choice is making sure that they see the options that's available to them and bringing it to them and working with your community as well. So, thank you for doing that and we'll continue uh to find spaces and make spaces for you to be able to share that good work so others can learn from it. And appreciate the fact that we can show the board it's gone from what's written on a page as a strategic focus area to work that's actually happening and impacting students lives and families on the ground. So, thank you very much for being here for that. Yeah, if we can thank you commission for your support and the board support and you know this is something with with funding continuing to have funding to help offset you know some of

058these costs uh is a big thing too. You know we pay each other some tuition dollars as well um in minimal but but there is a cost with all the so you support really good. Thank you very much. >> [clears throat] >> uh the next presentation moving back to uh the Hartford uh update on Hartford public school system operations. I'm going to have the team uh to come to the table. Uh and we'll also have um Dr. Hi can say what we talked about sports and have both of you uh do your updates for us and for the board. I know updates are in your supplemental packet and so on. Morning everyone. It's great to be back. I am Keith Morgan. She's your chief planning officer for the agency. I will be brief, but I

059have to be out. It's been a busy month uh for our accountability support a lot of meetings for projects. Um I'm pleased to tell you that under the heading of improved special education from general ed supports on February 17th as met with members of the superintendent executive cabinet who are responsible for academic and special ed teaching programming to the district plan for strengthening core instruction and multi-tered systems of support ands heard earlier. HPS is building upon the literacy model structures and data analysis protocols to develop a robust coherent behavior in our grade 12 literacy system. Uh in addition, APS continues to revise its MTSS guidance for schools and support evidence-based tier intervention. That was the 17th of February. On February 20th, AS met with HPS special education leadership to review progress towards addressing special education

060staff vacancies to fulfill the special education compensatory time that was owed. District currently has 20.6 special education teacher vacancies. in reports that they've been attending over 40 external events and networking opportunities since July in order to expeditiously fill those needs. Um, in addition, HPS has made some progress in addressing the compensatory education for students with disabilities by implementing a sophisticated tracking system. It's managed by the central office leadership to monitor school progress towards fulfilling uh comparatory time requirements. Um and finally the district has reported 1,168 parent contacts related to compensatory time and further that 52 students have completed all compensatory time over for academics related services as a result of applicants um under the guiding I'm sorry under the oposes uh fiscal and grants management [snorts] also on February 20th uh deputy commissioner Hughes chief

061turnar officer Melissa Jenkins and CST staff uh met with PS chief fiscal officer Chief Richard and leadership team in order to provide a status update on each grant strategizing program. It should be noted that HPS has addressed many recommendations uh specific to full grants management. However, they did request additional support in building the capacity of their staff to ensure grants are aligned with the needs. As a result, an outcome of the meeting is that CSD to provide HPS with support enable HPS to align funding to grant purposes and identified student need. And finally, and under the heading of staffing uh shortages on February 25th, our uh chief talent officer, Shana Tucker, met with HPS human resources leadership. Um pleased to report that HPS has developed for a strong recruitment strategy and has been able to

062reduce the number of pair of professional vacancies from 35 down to 25. Um, in addition, the district will develop its staff retention strategy, which includes a revision to new teacher orientation programs along with implementation support for school leaders. Um, and finally, HPS will also leverage BST support, implement 45 and 90day state interviews to ensure that it is responsible to the changing needs of community hired staff in [clears throat] order to help with retention. And that concludes my report on Harford. Thank you uh very much. I also want to recognize our superintendent part of the public school is here Dr. Townel and you'll see him later. So, thank you. >> All right, Dr. Hughes. >> All right. Thank you, Commissioner. So, we'll switch topics to Bridgeport. Um so, in your packet, you'll you'll have the update

063for the last month, and I'll just few key highlights. uh not nearly as much work uh that's been going on in Hartford uh this month as with Bridgeport, but still some pretty significant focus areas on uh the fiscal side of uh the district. The commissioner um under her leadership uh we met with the interim superintendent and his team as well as our technical assistance team at public works to identify those cost efficiencies. If you all recall last time, uh, the board had just requested an increase year-over-year to their budget. And so, we wanted to make sure that in light of a very short and a late start to their budget process that we were continuing the work in district of looking at all efficiencies. So, a lengthy um set of items that we've been working

064through on a weekly basis. We've had three and actually I'll meet again uh later this week with the superintendent around uh his team's attempts to look at all of those cost efficiencies to find funding um that that still might be available. There are four big priorities that the district is zeroing in on. You'll see them uh one two three four in that first page. Payments to private providers of special ed services. Costs associated with transporting students in district during the school day. reliance on uh contracted services for pair of professionals and then contracted uh service reliance on contracted services for filling daily certified and noncertified sub absences. These are big areas of increases year-over-year that we're assisting the department um the the district uh to be able to find cost efficiencies. Additionally, um, in the

065realm of human resources, we've been, uh, supporting the district, particularly public works around revising many of the HR policies that have been flagged in the, uh, 2025 forensic audit, uh, conducted by Flip and Larson. And so, uh, public works is really helping them develop those structures and, uh, those policies would eventually go to the board for review within the, uh, regular and special ed instructional area. Um if you recall last month I reported that we directed the uh technical assistance team to make a visit to university school a private provider of special education services. Um subsequent to that the district is now directing all site visits to occur and in the last month they've conducted eight um of these site visits using a uniform checklist that's been developed in partnership with our technical assistance team

066of special education and the district. So they are really taking a look at all the schools um and the services that are being provided to students. They should be doing this annually anyway but we are accelerating and drawing their attention to that effort and the district has been uh taking taking that charge. Uh the final piece uh operational efficiency and effectiveness of the the Bridgeport board. Uh we are still uh expecting that the Bridgeport Board of Education prior to posting for the superintendent vacancy that they will have those bylaws passed and uh the evaluation I'm sorry the administrative evaluation policies in place such that they can best represent any applicant that they have good solid governance structures in place prior to um conducting their search. And that concludes my Can you just let us know

067will bridge board be using a search firm search consultant but they're going to do it on their >> that is a good question we can update the board as we get more information relative to that question I bring it up now through is that a search consultant able to help them in this process of getting as far as their violence? >> Yes, absolutely. They have an existing search firm and we've also they are aware of I know other internal local state um search firms that they could utilize as well. >> They will be making a decision at some at some point. Yes. >> And we have um Dr. bit off recommend one of our uh technical assistance team members uh will be under that process. So that will be my lawyers uh and direction with

068the move as they're moving forward. >> Yes. It's very >> Is there a calendar in place for when the policies that need to be updated will be brought to the full board for a vote? there was discussion and I believe I saw a draft agenda um to include the bylaws uh but there was some disruption with snow as well in the last couple of weeks. So I I do believe it is um their agenda to move forward uh review of those biomarks. I don't know which agenda it is and if they have a count their target date. >> I was just curious are there um in Stratford our board meetings are at the end of the month. So will there be the end of March or have they already had their board meeting? >> Um

069I I would have to check on they usually have a boarding early in the month. >> That was my Okay. that this might be taken care of before our April meeting. >> We will see. >> And not to be [cough] [clears throat] saying not to be busted and I know Dr. Hughes skipped over it, but potential savings for some of the work they've done already nearly a million dollars. So, you know, it's important. We're not just it's not just an exercise, but we're truly looking for an assistant within efficiencies. I know there's advocacy for funding, but I'm also focused on what are you doing with what you've got and we got to make sure that those resources are being invested appropriately as well. Have a separate question um for Hartford. Um I noticed on the

070last page of your report the reference to the fact that um there's still exatory hours um in the thousands for students to be receiving. What is the timeline for getting those hours to those students in need? >> That's a very good question. Uh just yesterday I was having conversations with our liaison the kind of building support team leases with the district. Um they are really developing as as is mentioned already and has been mentioned a very um complex tracking system that identifies the exact compensatory time at each location so that they can engage those conversations to accelerate the work. Now is there a timeline on each? Um really this is as soon as possible but we also recognize that there's an infrastructure that has to be uh built around that and they have to maintain

071the teacher staffing levels that were a barrier prior to and the district has done a great deal to uh encourage kids in special education. So maintenance of staffing will allow for the compensatory service hours to be delivered. district has also done a lot of creative things to afford time to teachers to be able to meet the compensatory uh time obligations such as uh professional learning time frames to be utilized to plan, coordinate, document and make sure that they're addressing compensatory hours. Um we bring teachers up from duty periods to make sure that they can provide those services. So they are deploying everything at the at the now to be able to meet those demands and hopefully uh they can be supported with maintaining the staffing levels to be able to uh meet that obligation over

072time. >> Is this something that can be pulled into or be run parallel to extended school year? Um perhaps I would have to get more information on that because I think that there are specifics around the extended school year that would apply. It depends on each individualized students uh uh program that that piece. >> Thank [clears throat] you. It's just alarming to know that there's students out there that are owed still thousands of hours of assistance for their learning. >> Yes. and and that we are paying attention and B is going to be at the table. I don't know Brian, do you have anything else uh to add to that when we move on to that but thank you very much again keep you informed uh of what's happening and I also hear Miss Record's

073question. I also like to have targets and deadlines so folks are working towards something versus so that's that's my message back uh that we need to pay close attention to timelines that we're working towards as well. Thank you very much. Uh we'll move to our update on special education assistance review and Brian is coming to the table and uh Captain why don't you join Brian as well just see what you are sitting in front of this group uh as our new bureau chief uh supporting special education work and I want you to see yes thank you commissioner good morning everyone as Katherine's making her way up just I had mentioned and just to respond to the question as the deputy commissioner mentioned uh for students that have extended school year services the compensatory services can't

074um conflict with those but absolutely can be divided >> in addition to as long as their schedule's worked out with the family and uh summertime is a a really good opportunity and so we work with the districts to ensure that there are systems in place to organize that across tools and locations. >> Thank you. >> So, uh thank you very much. As you know, we've been coming to you now. This is our second month post our Weststead um report on our systems and we want to zero in uh just uh concisely today on complaints uh and our our process around complaints. And so, Brian is put together some slides. Uh we hear our communities, we hear from uh all of them. And as you know, this is something that we're doing, but I wanted them

075to focus on that uh this month with you. And so a few slides, Brian and Katherine. >> Thank you so much, Commissioner. Uh so the next slide should look familiar to you as the commissioner mentioned our ongoing work related to the recommendations from the West Evaluation. And we're highlighting that section there around ensuring effective accountability and improvement. Um, as you probably are aware, within our dispute resolution system, we have a continuum of uh, options for families and uh, which include administrative special education complaint, mediation, due process hearings. Today, we're going to share a little bit about complaints. If you recall in the West Ed report, there were um through the focus groups and information we received from our interest holders, there were concerns around timeliness of complaints. So our next slide will show you our

076current data up to date uh where we have received 189 administrative complaints. There are 33 active where our investigators are actively involved with those. Um there have been uh issued complaints that have issued that resulted in corrective actions for our districts. That means there was a violation of either state or federal law in 57 out of the 79 and you can see the 22 that have been resolved uh without corrective action. Our next slide breaks down issues that we've received and probably not to anyone's surprise. The top issue that we received are around implementation of individual education programs and failing to implement as well as issues related to IEPs. This data is critical to our team as the information is brought back and this helps to inform our guidance and technical assistance to districts as

077we see needs arise throughout the year. The next slide uh will show data related to our timeliness. Uh the timelines that we report to the Office of Special Education Programs on an annual basis require a 60-day turnaround from when the complaint is processed to the issuance of a report. And as you can see, this year we're at 95%. We did have two reports that resulted um that were late as carryovers from the 2425 school year and this is a testament to the systems that are now in place as of August of this year. So, this is really kudos to and uh I'm glad that Katherine's up here as our bureau chief. Uh Katherine's almost coming up on an annual anniversary here for us with it Department of Ed, but one of her primary tasks was

078to support the dispute resolution system specifically around complaint investigations. Um and our consultant who is uh responsible for that system, Jen James, has been implementing the system with regularity and we are now processing complaints to investigator in one to two business days which as you can see has resulted in the improved um outcomes uh for our timeliness as well. Since December of last year, we've formalized our process for sufficiency letters. That's information that's sent to the different and the parents when there are any issues related to the substance or the topics that are brought to us. As you can imagine, we receive complaints that are outside our scope at time. So, we want to make sure that parents get that information and have the right avenue to resolve their conflict with the district if it's

079not through the Bureau of Special Education. Uh we also have ongoing training for our complaint investigators and have tapped into our national technical assistance centers for training and support. But I really like to give a shout out to our complaint investigators. Um our next slide shows you the increase that we've seen over the last several years. This is a national phenomenon. So, uh, we Katherine and I had an opportunity to meet with our state lead at the federal government yesterday in the specialist programs and he said that this is, uh, happening across he checked in with us on our complaint process knowing that this has been a national issue and what's not shown here on this date for the 26 27 data and to date we have received 30 more complaints than we did last

080year at this point in time which reflects another 20% increase. Um so um it's something to be aware of and to pay attention to um as as well as providing support to families and ensuring that they know how to access uh our department and our processes to resolve these disputes. But we're happy to answer any questions. First of all, congratulations on the improvement on the timing. That's the evidence of success. One quick question, Ryan, is uh July 1st to February 27th received the 189. How does that track previous years? >> Last year at this time, the end of February, we had from July to February, we received 159. So back at that 30 plus >> and and you're speaking in a more timely manner. >> Yes, we're very proud of that. Our investigators are working

081very hard. >> So uh thank you. And uh on the far slide you see we've talked about and we've heard with this before hiring an attorney that's going to be working out of the legal office uh working with uh attorney mckon to further strengthen the system and for those watching we're not we had a report but we started to do the work and we're continuing to do that. So I'm not resting on great job 95%. uh that really awesome work. Uh but the deal is we want to make sure that we're 100% but it's beyond that. It truly is what is it that we're learning like why are these complaints coming and what can we do because ultimately it's not also it's about improving outcomes for learners. And so it's there is a piece that's

082compliance phase but it is not outside of what are the outcomes uh that we're working. How do we work with districts based on the complaints that we're getting and how do we get into prevention? How do we prevent the complaints from happening? Uh what is it that we need to do? That's a big part of the work as well. Uh but thank you to the teams that started out at the top and thank you Brian. They stood up as well because not only are they doing this, but they're also responding to the proposals and build proposals. So all of that's happening at the same time gives you a sense of the complexity of the work that we're trying to move forward in the but thank you very much. Thank you. And final report will be

083from the alliance districts. uh we sent you that report maybe a few weeks or so ago and he is just going to do some highlights of that report because I think it's important that we know that as well there could be an M um so um this uh report this study was required in legislation uh I referenced there uh it required us to report on the effectiveness of the alliance district program and make recommendations forming the alliance program. Just to give a little background, the alliance districts uh is 36 districts as of now. Uh it started off as 30 in 201213. That was the first year of the program. Then included 33 after 5 years and then included 36 after uh after another five years. Um so so that's the that's essentially the program to

084to gather information. and we reviewed lots of documents and data, but we also talked to several stakeholder groups. Uh we conducted focus groups with superintendents. We also spoke with school business officials because they are the ones who handle the resources at the local level and also with municipal leaders because this really connects to the the local municipal budget. the um I just want to ground this in some key what we call fiscal facts. Um and one of the things we learned doing this and and by the way I this is not something just the performance did on its own. I have to acknowledge uh Jen Webb and Melissa Jenkins in the turnaround office as well as um Deputy Commissioner Hughes and Irene Paresi who used to manage this work along with Bernice Seavoy on my

085team who sort of worked on this uh this over multiple years and even when Kathy Dempsey was here she was actually involved in this um so because it couldn't have happened without all of them. Um the key part here to note is that the alliance district program um is not additional funds that the legislature is allocating. The alliance district program is essentially a portion of education cost sharing or ECS funding that all towns receive. There the difference between something called entitlement and rent in how the department handles it. And title lints are really just paid out on a set schedule. There is no application. Districts don't apply for ECS funds. They just get it's just paid on a set schedule. Grants, on the other hand, any anytime you hear the word grant, it means that

086the the recipient or prospective recipient has to apply and have us submit an application, tell us how they're going to use those funds, give us a budget, and that gets approved. and only then can they access the funds. The entitlement is very different grant. So essentially what the alliance district does is it takes a portion of the ECS funds which are really entitlement and it says okay now we're going to give this as a grant and the moment you do that [clears throat] the district now has to apply for those funds when in the past they would have just gotten it directly. The other difference is that in the case of ECS, it goes directly to the municipality. Alliance district funding goes to the board of ed. Now, in the fiscal side of things, the

087board of ed is not a fiduciary. A town, the municipality is the fiduciary, but they end up creating a separate account in their accounting system where the alliance district funds grow. and the BOE now has more control over a portion of the ECS funds they didn't have previously. Okay. So, I think that's really important to know that this is not additional money. It's a portion of ECS, but it gives the department more controls because it's now functioning like a grant. Um, I can't cover all of this. I need like two hours. So, I'm just going to go through really quickly on the high level points. Um, so what did we learn? We learned that giving a set aside to the board of ed directly even though it's money they may have already gotten is actually

088a good thing. We've had many successes and probably and there are many districts that have improved uh you know several alliance districts have exceeded prepandemic levels etc. 14 out of 38 national blue ribbon schools that we have nominated actually came from alliance districts. though successes can happen and they do happen. We have lots of schools of distinctions and so on. The other piece is the way the statute is written is that the alliance district funding is really an increase over increase in ECS over a certain base year. And what happens is if a if a town got 10 million and if the next year ECS is 12 million that 2 million is essentially the alliance district portion and if that 12 million increases to 13 million alliance district becomes 3 million the nonalliance portion of

08910 million goes to the municipality. So essentially what's happened over time from when it was started is that the alliance portion has increased every year. the non-alliance portion going to the municipality has stayed flat. So ECS today is about 2.45 billion. Okay. 13 14 years ago in 201213 the municipalities got 1.9 billion. Today they still get around 1.9 billion because all the increases have been pretty much going to the alliance districts and all of those increases are going to the alliance district grant. The alliance district grant used to be 39 million when it first started in 1213. Today it's 536 odd million. Okay. So from 39 million to 536. Essentially all the increase went there. Um [snorts] go to the next one. I mean there's there's lots of uh pieces here to cover but I

090can't I can't do all of it. But you have those slides. Um, students with high needs, they're more prevalent in alliance districts. That's true. But that disproportionality is reducing. More of them are now in districts across the state. And you heard this, more ELS, more students with disabilities, pre- reduced price meals. They're there. You know, students from low-inccome families are in more and more districts across the state. Alliance district still disproportionate but not the way it was 13 14 years ago. We also have multiple systems for district identification and support. Alliance district is one but then we have something called a priority school district as well which has a dedicated state funding and that's a whole another story. But essentially what happens is how we identify these districts the rules vary the grants vary the

091the what we can use it for varies. Essentially, we're siloing money and creating multiple ways of supporting districts and they have to apply for these funds over and over in different pots and we're reviewing different grants, different processes and so on. So, there's redundancy and birth. Um, another sort of important point is that the alliance district designation in statute, there are many many references to alliance districts, over 30 of them, not just in education, but in other areas. Um, and and uh these may include things like loan forgiveness for educators who work in alliance districts. So part of our recommendation is that you know be very thoughtful about touching the statute because you touch you you can't just change the alliance program know that it has lots of downstream ramifications here. And I mentioned how

092we went from 30 to 33 to 36. That was because the legislature modified the statute which really didn't allow for a district that was improving to exit the program. So once alliance always alliance is kind of what I think. So we essentially came up with a few recommendations. Big picture recommendations. We said you know reimagine the alliance district. Let's call it something else. Let's move away from that old term. Um but let's have money going to the BOE directly. That's a good thing that that we found that that's actually worked. But maybe we can identify these districts um in a in a different way uh that's more consistent based on both performance and need that we limit our supports not to 36 districts but to a smaller subset of them. Intensive supports go to a

093small subset of these districts. Everyone else maybe gets desk monitoring you know and that's okay. that's suff that could still work and that we can utilize existing data systems to streamline the work for districts. Um that we could consolidate um you go to the next one. If we can consolidate u the priority districts into the opportunity network so that we have one system of district identification and support not multiple systems multiple pots of money and so on. and and this would take a lot of rework and a lot of thinking. You know, it's not a quick uh quick sort of fix here. Um and also maybe allowing the SDE to retain a small portion of those none funds for providing oversight, technical assistance that we currently don't have. Uh and then we could maybe do

094some uh incentive uh you know, incentives for improvement, things like that. Uh maybe having successful districts serving as mentors. I mean, you heard from East Line, Ted and and Barford. They're not alliance districts, but the idea of innovation is happening in alliance districts and they could learn from each other and we could do much more there. Having them serve as mentors for each other. And lastly, uh we said, you know, stage these recommendations. Don't um give it some time. Let let these things get discussed. Um and also encourage those networks to maybe use their funds for state directed evidence-based programs because sometimes these decisions as the money has grown we find that the alliance program is basically paying for staff because when it's such a big part of ECS they just have to cover staff.

095So we actually see kindergarten teachers, second grade teachers, etc. in the alliance budget. It's no longer like an innovative kind of concept. It's just supporting core operations. So we felt like if there would there would be a way to incentivize a portion of that for evidence-based programs that would be good. So I could I mean this is there's a lot more to this but I've just given a little high level. >> Thank you very much uh and for that. I wanted the board to I guess we sent you a report but wanted to have that information as well. We can continue if there were any questions specifically on that one. Um all right. Oh >> I just have one question. Um, Benzene, I appreciate the report as usual. Um, I'll table my like technical questions,

096but I do want So, you mentioned that total, you know, if you think about total ECS funding as the sum of regular Sorry. >> Yeah. >> You think about total ECS funding as the sum of the the regular ECS and the alliance district. You mentioned that it's grown. Can you remind me the numbers you gave from the 2012? >> I'm I'm thinking roughly like 1.9 billion to about 2.45ish billion. >> Okay. And that and you you kind of pointed out that that in most of the that it comes entirely from the the alliance funds. >> Well, essentially what you do is you calculate the ECS >> Yeah. >> appropriation and then you decide what the increases are that becomes the alliance portions. I see. Okay. So all the increase essentially become >> Yeah. And much

097of the ECS increase has gone to our highest need districts. So that's why you you know the non-alliance portion essentially is I guess a theme that I that I guess has come up to public now but we haven't been talking about it here is that when we um like I assume you're talking here about nominal dollars right >> yeah so we're thinking I mean in some ways what this is doing is just kind of keeping things where they were the districts that received these funds mostly um given that each dollar last month anyway just my my standard nominal versus a real dollar crusade that I'm I'm waging in these meetings. So, thank you. >> Yeah. No, no, that's Yeah, those are those are >> Yes, I know. And I know there's lots of discussion happening

098this session. So, we're gonna >> Yeah. You know, I know that's on everybody's radar now, but I wanted to make sure that it stayed on our radar as well. That's >> so we we just uh you know, we were asked to do this report and we worked very hard as legislators not to legislate changes before the report happened. Uh where we can now have all of this information in the mix uh for them to to consider. So, thank you all. Uh that was uh the report. I appreciate the staff work that has happened here. and turned it back over. And the last thing I'll say yesterday on the 3rd was my fifth year sitting in this role. And so um appreciate the word offering the outcomes for that based on the outcomes that we're receiving

099and the impact of the work that we're uh we're doing here. And so I just want to thank you all and thank the staff uh for the work that they continue to do. Back to you. >> Thank you, Commissioner. Um >> um Commissioner, in your report you referenced um the Belltobell cell phone ban that's in the governor's proposal. I'm not sure question. There may be a long question, but I I know that there's also a darkest 149 that is a different cell phone bill. I'm wondering if you could just talk briefly about where the two bills are in relation to each other and what that reconciliate process is. >> Uh so I'm not sure how they're going to reconcile it. Um but we did in our testimony share some concerns about that particular bill. Um

100what's for example the governor is still as I mentioned earlier allow uh students with IEPs and healthcare plans to be able to have access if necessary. That's not in that bill. um the the other bill that you're referencing, the issue of districts having the opportunity to to develop local policies around this, especially about emergency uh contact, not in that other bill either. So, what we've done is to share uh the differences in our testimony, but I'm not sure yet what the education committee will do as they vote out this bill with or will they use one versus the other or consolidate them and watch that carefully. >> Thank you, Now we have uh remember we move the consent agenda item number 10 um to this place right now. So can I get a motion on

101the consent agenda? the >> second move and second it. And does any board member want to remove any item that agenda? >> Hearing none. Seeing none. Any uh any questions, concerns? Seeing none. Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. >> Opposed. It is so ordered. To item eight, uh, requiring action. Uh, item A, it's the approval of commissioner's network extension year five for Mcdana Middle School in Hartford. I have a motion. >> So move second. >> I'll put move and second. Dr. Make standing. [clears throat] >> Good morning, vice chair, chair, and members of the state board of education. The commissioner's network is the state's most intensive school improvement strategy established to support schools facing persistent academic and operational challenges. Through the network, schools receive targeted resources, increased flexibility, and

102close partnership with the state department of education. turn around all this to implement evidence-based transformative improvement strategies aimed at improving outcomes for students. Today we are bringing forward a request for a fifth and final year in the commissioner's network for Mcdana Middle School. This request reflects both the progress of the schools and the importance of providing focused time to fully embed effective practices so that improvements are sustained beyond the network. I normally do not read blow and I normally follow a script, but I would like to say with McDana Middle School and Harer um that they've demonstrated tremendous progress specifically around students receiving L and ML services. I also believe the leadership has been commuted to making these practices transformative and I hope that over the next year we can visit the school to understand

103deeply what we could learn and what we could share with other schools in the alliance landscape. At this time, Jennifer Webb, the bureau chief, will walk through specifically some of Mcdana's successes, and their use of the commissioner's network funds to sustain their rationale for the request for an extension. >> Good morning. Almost afternoon, we're almost there, but um it's my pleasure to introduce the leadership team of McNuttic Middle School, including Superintendent Dr. Andre Tonsel and principal Marjgerie Rice. Uh since entering the commissioners network in 2022, Mcdana has made steady and meaningful progress in strengthening instruction engagement and school culture. For a bit of context, Mcdana serves approximately 316 students in grades 6 through 8. 81% of the students are eligible for free or reduced price meals. 28% are identified as students with disabilities and 41%

104are English learners or multilingual learners. When the school entered the network, the initial audit identified significant challenges. There was low academic performance, high chronic absenteeism, elevated suspension rates, inconsistent instructional rigor, and high teacher turnover. In response, Dcdana has implemented a focused turnaround plan that centered on strong differentiated tier one instruction, targeted professional learning, inclusive practices for special populations, and the intentional development of a positive achievementoriented culture. Today, we're seeing the impact of that work. I'm so proud of Marjorie and her team. I've worked with them now for about six years, and to watch the school, they have transformed. So academically, McDana demonstrated growth across nearly all accountability indicators in this past year. English language arts performance increased by four percentage points and math increased by 3.1 percentage points. Even more encouraging though is that their

105academic growth accelerated. ELA growth rose by 11.1 percentage points and math growth increased by 4.3 percentage points. We also saw that meaningful progress for multilingual learners. 22 students exited services in 2025 and progress toward English proficiency and literacy increased by 16 points which is strong evidence that their tier one instruction and aligned language supports are becoming more effective. While chronic absenteeism still remains an area of focus trajectory is positive. Their rates decline by 10 percentage points from 45.8 to 35.8%. This improvement reflects expanded home visits, strengthened mentoring systems, and a more strategic use of their power hour in the virtual academy to re-engage students. The Mcdana method instructional framework has now expanded across all tiers and is reinforced through professional learning that's focused on differentiation, integrated planning, and culturally responsive instruction. The Wednesday enrichment block

106provides structured time for datadriven collaboration and responsive professional learning. Importantly though, there is greater staff stability over the past two years, which has strengthened consistency in both instruction and culture. They have clearer tier one expectations, reinforce behavioral systems that are aligned to PBIS, and they've expanded their mentoring structures to contribute to an improved climate, stronger relationships, and a more predictable classroom environment. As they enter into their fifth and final year of the commissioner's network, their focus now shifts from implementation to sustainability. We want to ensure that these systems are fully embedded and they continue beyond our network support. So at this time, I'm going to turn it over to the Harvard public school leadership to share more about their year- five plans. >> Good morning, chair, members of the state board of education, and commissioner

107Russell Tucker. I'm Superintendent Dr. Andre Townsel. And our motto is simple but powerful. We set the bar, beat the bar, exceed the bar, and ultimately raise the bar. I'd like to share on behalf of McDonald Middle School and Hartford Public School do want to express our deepest appreciation for the opportunity to participate in the commissioner's network. Since entering the network in 2022, Mcdana has demonstrated measurable progress in academic growth, English language proficiency, leadership effectiveness, and system coherence. We have eliminated all BOO standard indicators on the yearly audit and now have the majority of standards graded proficient. Most importantly, the gains reflect not isolated program, but we've strengthened our systems. Our request for a five-year extension is strategic. It's about raising the bar in the academic return on investment in talent. We will continue to refine

108our team teach co-eing model. We will deepen our coaching cycles for tier one instruction and we will continue to get better with regards to academic achievement in academics. We will deepen implementation of the Mcdana method instructional framework with particular intention to increasing rigor student discourse and alignment of multi-tered systems of supports to to improve cycles in climate and culture. We will formalize and scale our coordinated attendance and mentoring systems to further reduce chronic absenteeism and increase student connectedness. In operations, our priority is sustainability. We will embed data and assessment literacy across leadership and teacher teams to ensure that continuous improvement structures are developed. This extension represents a final phase of capacity transfer, moving from supported turnaround to durable internallydriven improvement. We are grateful for the partnership, the accountability and the investment of the state that

109the state has made and to our students in a year five extension will allow us to fully secure the gains achieved and position Mcdana for long-term success beyond the network, ultimately continuing to raise the bar. So, thank you for your consideration and your ongoing support. First of all, [clears throat] congratulations. See that everything is moving in the right direction. Still got a long way to go. Moving in the right direction. Um when we do these studies with improvement at middle school, I'm alwaysing about a third ideally of your student appear at the end of the year and go to the high school. So at that numbers change with the students but here is that you're changing the culture of the school changing the activities that will go on in the future. So I noticed on

110all the massive statistics on improvements, you talk about the teacher turnover rate, but there are no statistics there. I was just wondering if you had any quantitative information you can share with us how stable is staff at this point because that's going to be critical. Okay. So, thank you for the question and thank you also for having us. Um, being in the network have been amazing and transformative in terms of support. Um, we actually over the past three years have not had teacher turnover aside from just last year at least one one classroom teacher. Um, we've been retaining our staff, holding on to our staff. Um we are nearly fully enrolled and we are fully staffed and we are holding on to our team and they are the most committed group of individuals and they

111are committed to moving forward or just the best children and just for reference it's a very small staff. It's about 15 staff members. So when one person leaves it is a huge impact. So there's been a lot of work done to really stabilize those structures. >> When five people leave, it's a bigger impact. So that's fair. [laughter] In any school system, there's going to be turnover. Um school, people have lives and I love the answer. Thank you. Thank you. Just uh one comment from uh from me because I was a part of that team that came in to visit and uh I was [clears throat] equally impressed with uh what I saw uh in the school and education has taken place evident and um easy. [clears throat] Okay, you've heard the motion. All those in

112favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposions move. Congratulations. >> Thank you very much. >> Item B, approval of the emergency educator C certification endorsements for the 2026 27 school year. Oscar and [clears throat] >> good afternoon. So moved. Second. Second. Please proceed. Afternoon, interim chair uh Harris and board members um the talent office. We come to you again our fifth year um to present to you the uh approval of emergency educator certification endorsements. I will now turn it over to Dr. Kay Manardi, our unit coordinator for the certification bureau. Afternoon state board of education members. Talent office is seeking approvals to extend the emergency temporary authorizations for the 2627 school year. These emergency authorizations have been critical in supporting public school districts with filling open specific positions, especially those 2 and point4

113part-time positions that would normally go unfilled. Since first adopting these emergency temporary authorizations in 2021, 961 emergency endorsements have been issued to 740 educators. Our public school districts continue to regularly express their gratitude for the flexibilities these authorizations provide. And since first adopting them, several districts start contacting the talent office in January to see if they will be continued for another year. If approved, these authorizations will only be issued to those educators who are appropriately certified, who have completed the beginning educator induction program, and who agree to engage in this assignment. Happy to answer any questions you may have. And thank you for your time today. >> 961 emergency that's reflect multiple years. >> Yes, this is this is since 2021, correct? No, >> I meant the the difference between 740 teachers receiving 961 endorsements

114are teach are some of the teachers getting multiple >> correct if they if they're able to. So some of those teachers might be elementary certified as well as holding a secondary teaching certification. So if the district needs them in different places, they allow to have that flexibility to do that. Correct. >> One other um that 538 your vacancies statewide or exclusive of special how many of these vacancies were filled those emergencies? >> You know that that is a really great question. Uh we actually don't have it set up in the EDS. um how many open positions have been filled with that? I mean, that's definitely a a number that I can get for you. >> Yeah, that would be a gauge for me about how that fills these >> and I think it would be

115great for me to connect with a G2 to help answer that question because sometimes our districts are are just filling these positions and they're not necessarily updating the EDS. So, if that's the case, then that makes it challenging for us to manage. >> I could definitely get that for you. Great question. >> I'll answer that question partly for you as I am someone who is currently serving under an emergency certificate. So I just want to highlight that this is of huge value to districts not only because um of the 2s and point 4s that sometimes need to be filled. Um my school right now has three vacancies for science teachers and they've been unfilled. And so this semester um I'm now teaching chemistry though I'm certified to teach physics. My schedule has changed with my

116agreement. Um and so I am someone who's teaching under this C and I am the next best person who should be in front of kids to teach them chemistry um after they've had months and months of just a substitute teacher who's not certified. Um, so this is uh a continuation of a huge benefit to districts um for the vacancies that we just spoke about. In my district, what they did was they divided up the courses that are left by the vacancies, redistributed them to the remaining science teachers, um, and I volunteered to pick up three sections of chemistry. Um, so thank you for bringing the proposal forward. I'd also like to echo what was said in um, public testimony. this morning. This is just a band-aid. There is a huge problem on our hands when

117I know my district isn't the only district that has three science vacancy states, science, STEM field, CTE fields. We need people in the pipeline in those EPS and this can't be the solution to that problem. But thank you for bringing it forth so that we could continue to help districts with this to that too. I I I completely agree and commit if you don't mind I'd like to speak to that. Um this may be something that working with the ed prep and certification board we want to consider putting in an adjusted regulation with a goal of a pathway to certification. So that way it's the teacher because we have had teachers that have been issued these emergency authorizations that later sought out the cross endorsement and now are duly certified in certain areas. So it

118might be it may be encouragement help our districts place these but then a motivator for our teachers to expand their teaching licenses. So I couldn't agree more but with the right safeguards in place it may be something that we may be able to adopt. >> Thank you. That was my central question is six years of renewable is there any kind of structural solution? >> It would have to come through regulation. Um you know as you know the practice board is currently engaging in rewriting out large sections of the ranks. So once they get to those sunset deadline rights it can be something that we could consider adding language for. >> Okay. [clears throat] Hearing none. All those in favor of this approval, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposions. So ordered. Thank you.

119Item C, adoption of CCB's 2026 proposal regarding sunsetting regulations. Can I get a motion, please? >> So moved. Second. >> Probably moved and second. Perfect timing, right? We're just talking about uh good afternoon officially uh everyone. Thank you. Um so as stated before, I probably have about 21 pages of regulations. Uh most of them are sending regulations that we have amended to align with current law. Um as well as adjusting for modernization. These have gone through an ad hoc committee our board um as well as LPDC and now before you and through that process we've also had a lawyer in the comment group in DC has assisted with this work was SDE um and SEO um so before you you had uh what is the equivalent of three badges six seven and eight because we

120can count um and um how would you like to proceed to go through equal one or is the Um, I think the last time was that we had to accept them and be moved on to the legislation. >> I think and then vote. >> I'm sorry. >> I said they said keep moving uh and then they'll do the vote. >> Okay. >> So, you don't want to vote on the this badge first and then go into legislation. two separate documents. So you can vote on this vote on this. Take the vote on this. >> I appreciate all those lightarted smiles around the table. [laughter] Those in favor, please signify by saying I. Hi. >> Item three. >> So moved. >> Second. [clears throat] >> All right. This is for the initial certification via alternative routes.

121There was [clears throat] just uh some added language. You can see there that it would include a new teaching kind of uh res teaching residency service under a temporary 90 certificate and other requirements of the program to allow the flexibility given option there's a question >> any questions in favor please signify by saying I post entions carried me. Reiss is of the initial certification with time served. >> So moved second. >> Thank you. So [clears throat] because we removed provisional um from the certification process with a 10-year span and what we wanted to do was ensure that anybody can go into education should they serve two years maybe three years or more. Um and then they had for some reason got the profession and then decided to come back. Those years will be considered as

122part of their time served and deducted from their 10 years to get to professional. only [clears throat] have to do the remainder as opposed to starting the clock over again. That's what that is at the end there is to provide them with that flexibility so they're not restarting that they have unreed before >> questions on the card [laughter] in favor please signify by saying I I >> abstensions. Thank you. >> Thank you so much for um allowing the flexibility and having us come forward. I'm hoping that you know we're almost very close to the end. We're in the ed program approval process uh for the regulations and hopefully when those are done, we are done with the regulations for the time being. We'll have a leaner, neater, modernized version of our regulations. Thank you. You

123have anything under financial? Okay. Item 11 discipline in Connecticut. You have the floor, sir. who was in and out of room talking with some legislators and answer some questions for them. >> Um so I uh I can talk to you about the what we call actions to turn the curve. um uh she is much better at describing the rates and tiers and going out into those but um why don't we talk about the data lay the ground sorry Um we have more than one choice. Um so this is our annual discipline report that we have submitted. So I'm not going to belabor you have the full report. You have the executive summary which highlight the trends. um you know suspensions um the total number of suspensions has decreased um and is now similar to prepandemic

124levels. Uh in school suspensions have decreased and expulsions have decreased. Out of school suspensions are slightly higher than prepandemic levels. Um some incident categories are lower in 2425 than in the prepandemic baseline year 1819. Particularly, we're pleased to see like school policy violations which are like the discretionary uh more discretionary category that's declined almost 10%. Um in some other areas but some categories are showing increases like property damage, drugs, alcohol, tobacco that seem to have increased. Physical verbal confrontation and weapons um category have also increased. Um incidents reported for marijuana possession or use has increased um nearly four and a half times from 2122 when we had 261 incidents to over,00 incidents. Um but the those for the electronic nicotine delivery systems ends or vaping vapes and ecigarettes um far exceed those coded as marijuana

125like almost 2,800 of those incidents. So um in terms of disproportionality, we still have disproportionality between um between the uh racial ethnic groups. So um you know, disparities remain in black and African-American students getting significantly suspension at greater rates than white students. So for example, one out of 24 white students may get at least one suspension, but one out of eight African-American, black African-American students get a suspension. one out of 11 Hispanic Latino students get suspension. So I mean those disproportionalities have reduced but they have essentially they still exist and this is a pattern that's not just in some districts it's prevalent in more districts than not and males receiving suspension receive suspensions at a significantly greater rate than female students as well. Um perhaps the the the most striking change after the pandemic was

126the middle school grades, the increase in those middle school grades. Um there is improvement in those grades. So that's that's a little heartening to see, but still elevated in those middle school grades that we still continue to see. Um and uh we're still seeing suspensions among our preK through two students. the number of in school suspensions um and out of school suspensions combine combined is lower than in 201819 about 17% lower. Uh so that's good. Um but it you know but those incidences are still occurring and and those are by statute limited to uh those that are violent or sexual in nature that endangers other person. So that statute is still in place. Um but we still continue to see some of those suspensions. I think um I'll I'll essentially turn it over to John

127to discuss the report does get into like all the things we're doing right around this. If I could just mention one thing on schoolbased arrest that is something we're required to report in this report and that is included in the report but we're in conversations with our partners at the court support services division CSSD because they actually maintain what I would consider more of the authoritative source on schoolbased arrest data. our data come from what districts report to us. So, we're in conversations with them to potentially share that as the schoolbased arrest data with you going forward instead of the district reported because the numbers aren't essentially comparable, [clears throat] but we feel like their numbers are logical now to because they're actual arrest data. And the part of the reason for that is when

128if if districts or schools call 911 and the police come for someone responds. Sometimes it's 211 through mobile crisis, the school isn't always aware of what happens, what transpires with that student once they leave, right? Sometimes they are arrested, sometimes they're not. So the accuracy of the judicial branch data, they track those those arrests. So we know the other thing we're trying to find out um from them that they don't collect at the end to collect is at what times are those youth arrests happening. Right? So, we're trying to understand, are these arrests happening as a result of something that occurred in school and they were arrested as a result of them behavior in school or is it something that happened off school hours, weekends, uh, nighttime, and the police responded to the school the

129next day and and made that arrest because of something that happened. I think that's an important distinction whether schools are essentially calling 911 for that or or that's just a place where the police know that students are. So in terms of um what are we doing said what are we doing about that? Um, I think some of the behaviors of classrooms are still seeing some of the effects of the pandemic, right? When we had students who missed a lot of that socialization time when they were in elementary school are now in middle school uh, and really not fully grasping understanding of what it means to to behave appropriately in a community. Right? So, that part of that is what's happening. Um we are convening um two communities of practice um for one for disproportionality as

130you mentioned the numbers um still show disproportionality for black and brown students um we're convening 29 districts those are the ones in tier three and tier 4 um both disproportionality and excessive use of exclusionary discipline. We're going to uh talk about best practices. We're going to look at their policies. Um we're going to assess um how they're implementing their policies. We're going to look at their philosophies around exclusionary discipline versus restorative practices and have some real conversations to to bring those bring those numbers down. Uh last time last meeting I believe we talked about the a couple of different grant programs that we're rolling out the rural health transformation grant. We'll be uh working in about 40 different rural health communities on behavioral health uh supporting the implementation of behavioral health systems uh for those

131districts. Um the governor's budget also includes $5 million to expand our behavioral health pilot uh which is very successful in seven districts in not just reducing things like suicidality and suicide attempts but really reducing uh the need for exclusionary disciplines out of school suspension in some cases reduce those numbers by half in a couple of our districts. Um a lot of work is happening in school climate. You know Dr. use reports to work on the uh the state board's uh goals. Um we are doing a number of things. We're we're working with the American Institutes of Research. They're going to help us strategize on how we need to roll out a framework for districts to follow in terms of um improving school climate. We're working with Advance in our Chef region schools uh to support

132school climate there. Um and our we have an internal school climate collaboration and innovation team that's also across the agency making sure that all the offices are from academics to performance students that we're all working uh collectively in addressing that work. Um I >> on the uh you know the these data are from the end of year report. So all the discipline data comes in by the end of the school year. So sometime in August, September, we'll get it up on its site October. Um, one of the things we're working on this year is we've asked all districts to submit their data three times a year. So they're actually giving their data in Novemberish time frame, sort of the first two, three months, then again in March, and then the end of the year. And

133we're going to actually provide that data to CSD staff who work with districts. So the alliance district folks when they meet our turnaround office colleagues when they meet with those individual districts they will actually have current year discipline data. sort of like what we do with monthly attendance but now we're extending that the discipline not doing it monthly but doing it on a on a quarterly or few times a year basis so that there can be some discussion during the year and see like how many power suspensions trending during the year so that there can be some more action taken so that's something that we're starting this year that report will be secure for the SPE staff to use it's uncertified data so it's kind preliminary, but we're making a working copy available so that

134they can support more. >> Charlie, do you want to offer something? If I may through the chair, just want to also thank you both first of all, but also lift up some work in partnership uh to revitalize our state's MTSS framework with with our partners at CIRC that will address uh or at least we plan to address the intersection with the behavioral supports and intervention which should have an an additional impact on disciplinary proceedings. If students receive the supports early, as John was talking about the mental health supports, we can mitigate that so it doesn't lead to a disciplinary action, particularly one that might be as severe. So these are all different integrated pieces that can support our district. Thank you. >> Yeah. And speaking there's a lot of that work that's happening in special

135education. Um part of what we're required to do under the individual disabilities education act um is to address uh the overuse of exclusionary disciplines suspension and expulsion in special education students and particularly the the use of that in special education with students of color. So we look at both of those and we have an immediate reaction when there when there are discrepancies and we require a corrective action part of the district. That's something that we do in with the special education. Um and then a couple of other things we're doing a essentially a monthly webinar series with um school uh social workers. We get in in at least 300 social workers and participate in those. Um and one one of the ones we we will be doing in the future is called beyond behavior strategies

136for supporting emotional regulation in school. Um and that's uh going to be largely driven by our friend Dr. Kedar who is a a developmental ped behavioral developmental pediatrician at Connecticut St. when we play with that. So, um, and then lastly, I'll just mention that we're we're ramping up our efforts to support alternative education programs. Often students are ended up in in alternative education programs and we are going to be doing site visits and some work with those to assess that the students experiences in those in those situations to make sure that they're in compliance with the law and that students are getting and I will pause it. Chris. >> Um, thank you for this data. Uh, very interesting. Uh, as a high school principal myself, I see that ninth grade has very high uh, suspension

137rates and also in um, when they transition from middle school to high school. Have you thought about a talking to uh schools about how to transition? And I know as a high school class I used to have nice way and I used to have uh groups and where I would talk about the school what we expect the climate and to parents and to uh and and this went on all year because every time we're having difficulty transitioning and being in kind of independent at the high school because they have to move around themselves, get themselves together. There's no one holding their hands really. Uh so I was just wondering if there's anything there for them for districts to uh help them with that transition because I it was not easy. [laughter] >> Yeah, I think

138it's point and it's something that we can take up in the community practice with with those districts because to your point those students are coming from the top of the middle school in eighth grade, right? and then now at the bottom uh and understanding what it means to be high school and again that the co really impacted that growth and development that maturity to the younger race so we are seeing that but yes thank you for that we will definitely have that >> I have two not related to each other questions um first the lens um using here is the legislation about school climate committees the three times a year data polar gang that you just referred to. Um, are those data that should be seen and discussed by the school climate committees as they

139do their work during the year? >> Yes, for sure. >> Okay. >> And then my >> obviously not individual student data on this, right? But >> aggregate data. I it popped into my head as you said that um there's a focus for the department staff talking specifically with alliance districts um but just want to make sure that on a statewide basis that those data should be made available. And then my second question um is about the as a high school teacher the obvious increase in student prevalence of marijuana. So, I'm curious to know when that is recorded as an incident, does it doubly count under the marijuana category and the ENS category or does it go one place or the other? >> They're mutually exclusive. So, it would go in one or the other. >>

140So, if I marijuana, where is it going to go? >> What category does the district how the district reports it? Um, >> the district has discretion. >> Yeah, they pick basically is it a marijuana or and >> is there an incentive for it to be one or the other? Is one considered more serious than the other? Well, I mean it's a marijuana possession as a criminal offense, right? For it to be unread, >> but you're just assuming that it was reported as marijuana. >> If I could just jump in a little bit. Um, so first of all, we would have to lean into a district's policy policy. The second is districts report on the disciplinary every whatever they call it in district. code of >> conduct what? >> Well, yes. But when they document official

141document and that document usually translates directly into data system process. So they should have they are required to do this referral sheets if you do um whatever the incident becomes right. So they're signing off that this is what occurred with this student. This was the infraction. Oh, other incentives. I can't speak to that, but I would say that the discipline policy should be guiding the district's the individual administrator's action in reporting. >> Yeah, it's just curious to me that the data clearly show that the ends usage far exceeds incidents that are coded as marijuana use. But I know students aren't vaping tobacco, they're vaping marijuana. >> So just to clarify um is that the ends category even though you know vapes are an example the ends u stands for nicotine delivery system. So >> so

142it's only >> only for nicotine dispensation. So if it's marijuana then it would show up marijuana criteria. >> That's the answer I was looking for. Thank you very much. >> I had one of my uh folks who was watching because I'm getting live updates. Thank you. >> Live updates are fantastic. Thank you. >> Exactly. [laughter] >> The comments. >> So I I'm looking at this with my pediatric lens and [clears throat] uh you know other than the the racial disparity issue, the middle school one a little alarming, not surprising. the uh in middle school is that emotional reactivity hormonal changes it's not easy as to Dr. mod suggestion that transition I look at ninth grade as essentially um you talked about behavioral health supports in general. Has there been any programs targeting specific sports for

143middle school? >> Uh specific to middle school, I'm going to ask actually Kim Terso in the back room to come up. Kim leads the school discipline work. Hello everyone. >> So the question was about specific behavioral support. >> Yes. Um so we are looking at more targeted supports. So for example, if a district is really saying the data after they disagregate the data that middle school is the issue, then that's where we will focus. Um if it's nth grade, that's where we'll focus. So we really are trying to be more intentional about our services, what we're providing based on need. And I guess what I was suggesting is if you're seeing it in high school, the origins are probably from seeing so from more of a preventative strategy or we're going to target those younger

144ages. You suggest the critical times that were affected by the pandemic, but also I yet to meet anybody who wasn't somehow affected by their experience. So, you know, putting our efforts towards that seems to be where you're going to >> I can't agree with you more and we've been having those conversations for sure. Um, and we definitely want to do more of a promotional preventative model rather than waiting until something needs in crisis mode. So, we are making those um adjustments. And I did hear that our deputy commissioner was talking about us updating um SRBI MTSS and that's part of that process. For sure, >> yes, thank you. Um, thank you both for bringing this report to us. Um, I just want to draw attention to the last paragraph in the summary to board members

145just to remind that the Connecticut does have um school discipline collaborative um that meets a few times a year um and I'm I'm part of that and any board member that would like to get into further into the weeds with this discussion um you know just let me know. But I'm not sure John if you know when the next meeting is. I know they had one or can I >> Okay. So, if you could um I know I get the the notices of them and I'll make sure that board members do because it gives you a very interesting perspective about what what is going on in different districts and getting into the weeds of this. So, thank you all for bringing this forward. >> Any other comments? Um so again thank you for bringing in

146the for again we started doing this report to the board >> 2012 and 2013 is what I was going to say uh because it is important that we're taking action and I also want to thank you and also to our districts because they'll be reporting information more frequently to us so that we can have actionable data if you follow what we've done uh with our attendance and getting that information in monthly that it allows us to be really proactive instead of just being reactive. And so using this data which the climate committees and all those will help folks to figure out how to do that. Uh but we see results when we lean in on making data informed decision and supporting our districts as well. So I appreciate that that move that is occurring and

147just to say best attendance in a Jan in January since we've been collecting data you should know that that trend is continuing and supporting that. So using that model, having data that we can work with our districts and support them on, having our internal teams working together towards the same goal, I think is what's going to give us uh the results that we're looking for. So I thank the teams for continue to do that and for your interest and engagement with this work as well. >> Thank you very much. >> That concludes our agenda. >> A motion move. We are >> always popular ones. Okay. So, today