Amity Board of Education Special Meeting - February 2, 2026

001with the hair dryer. >> Good evening everyone. >> The Emin board of education special meeting for February 2nd, 2026 is called to order. Please silence your cell phones. I remind members, staff, and guests to respect the business nature of our meeting. Comments may be made only when recognized and applause is appropriate only in recognition of an individual or group honor or special presentation. Thank you. Please stand for the pledge. [cough] >> I [clears throat] pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Uh item three on the agenda uh is on page three, approval of the minutes. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes of the January 12 meeting 2026? >> Motion

002by Megan >> and second. Uh any corrections, changes? If not, can we call the roll? >> Um, this Cloud Ingram, she she says, "Do you see her?" >> Yep. >> Miss Jakut, >> y >> Mr. Jak, good. >> I'll come back to them. [laughter] Dr. Kunakron, >> yes. Miss Lombardi, >> yes. M. [cough] >> Yes. >> Mr. Davis, >> yes. >> Mr. McDonald, >> yes. >> Dr. Delay, >> yes. >> Um, Mr. Reuse, >> yes. >> M. Schlake, >> abstain. >> Miss Schustster, >> yes. >> Mr. Young, >> yes. >> Can you just test the audio, >> Miss Jay? >> [clears throat] [snorts] >> How about now? [music] Okay. All set. >> Okay. Do you approve the minutes from last meeting? >> Yes. >> Thank you. And Miss Claude Ingram is not >> she she

003indicated she may be late. >> Okay. >> All right. Well, motion carries. >> Motion carries. Thank you. Go on to number four. uh the uh full board will recess at this time uh to uh participate in a special uh amity finance committee and board of education joint meeting. So uh with that the chair calls a recess and we do go into recess. I will pass the chairmanship to the chair of the board of finance at this point and he will run the meeting since it's technically a finance committee meeting. >> Okay, great. Thank you Paul. Uh so I call the amity finance committee special meeting to order and we will begin with the update on the superintendence proposed to N627 budget. It's pretty scary to Do it. All >> [snorts] >> right. Okay. Good evening,

004members of the finance committee and the board of education. Um so, uh this is um going to be sort of a budget update. um kind of operating off of January 12th when I first presented the budget to the Amity Finance Committee. Um and it um the the same budget was presented out to our three town committee. So we're sort of um operating after all of that has happened. Um I am going to go through a little bit of background information as well because I know members of the board haven't actually seen the budget yet unless they were um watching any finance committee meetings or coming to the town meetings. So, just a quick background. Um, we're sort of at the um kind of second to the bottom bar at this point. Um, we have essentially

005as a district built the budget. We've looked for as many cost savings and efficiencies as we could um find. We have um looked at ways that we can um uh either perhaps defer some uh projects and ideas or uh ways that we can um shift money from one thing to another in order to lower the budget. Um I have been out to the boards of finance in all three towns um and received feedback from there you go uh from um at least one of those um towns specifically. But then of course I'm willing to listen to members of the AFC tonight [clears throat] representing their town and um ultimately the next step in the process is for the AFC to recommend a budget to the board of education. Um so our budget drivers um we

006do have a significant decline in debt service and we'll talk about that and how it's really kind of helping to [clears throat] mitigate budget increases this year. We have our contractual salary increases, medical benefits, um work that's built into our strategic plan that we want to continue to move forward with um because we believe it improves our instructional programming for students, transportation, technology, uh special education, personnel requests. Um our enrollment is increasing by 66 students. Um it's not enough to add any >> [clears throat and cough] >> um additional positions or say we need new teachers. As I said when I was out at the towns, it's really different than the elementary districts. If you saw an increase of 66 students, you'd probably be looking at other classes um within the grade levels. But for

007us, we just kind of absorb that. Um there are um also some questions about unfunded state mandates. Those always come in July, right after the legislaturator is done, and then they say, "Hey, go do these three things. We're not paying you to do it." Um and then some uncertainty around um state and federal revenue. Um although we did at the end of last week start to get some updates coming out of um the federal government for where we were going to see some um increases in education funding, also where we would see some decreases. So that picture is starting to get maybe a little bit more clear at this point in time. Um so again on January 12th I presented to the AFC and subsequent boards of finance um a budget increase that is 2.21%

00821% higher than um where we currently are um for this fiscal year. Um again, sort of from a perspective uh standpoint, that is the lowest in the state. Um whether you're looking across all of the districts or just within DURB. Um what this budget is supporting um is going to be um increased academic instructional time and choice through a revised middle school schedule. Um that will include an additional world language option, eighth grade electives, and then increased health and PE for our middle school students. Um the budget supporting the development of career pathways and increases in dual enrollment classes, including an education career pathway and a health sciences career pathway that will lead to certified nursing um assistant certification. The budget's supporting an additional opportunity for access to advanced in high school mathematics with a

009summer geometry class. So students who feel that they want to um uh improve their uh chance to take AP calculus and AP statistics, the most advanced level math before they graduate will have kind of a second on-ramp other than where they are placed in seventh grade. Um, of course, we have our contractual obligations to continue our excellence in academics, athletics, and the arts. Um, the budget supports curriculum and instruction through a STEM instructional coach, uh, continued dedication to curriculum writing and revision and the, um, implementation of that revised curriculum and our ongoing work on highquality instruction and professional learning. Um the budget supports the textbooks both physical and online that we need to um instruct our students, supports student activities, specifically funding for our um newspaper, The Trident, which has always been self-funded, and then

010coaches in two growing academic [cough] programs, [clears throat] um specifically tennis and girls wrestling. Um the budget supports pupil services including a teacher for increased enrollment in our sales program which is our program for our most cognitively impaired students. Um it includes special transportation out of district placements including any that are rolling up to us from the elementary schools and specialized one-to-one support for some of our students. Um the budget supports a lot of technology including student devices, classroom management software, um the extra things we have to add for technology, um our infrastructure, end of life, specialized lab replacements, security cameras and software and the Prometheium boards that we use in our teaching environments. Uh the budget supports our annual furniture replacement that we allocate to each of our school principles. It supports some um

011ongoing um maintenance and repair to the high school, an art classroom um modernization, um repairing our sidewalks and our asphalt, um the statutory HVAC [clears throat] inspections, and the budget begins to address um the potential bond in 2027. [clears throat] So, um kind of going on to the issue of bonding, uh the debt service, as I mentioned, has a significant decrease. Um the two yellow um columns at the very top represent the current fiscal year and then the fiscal year 2627 that we're preparing the budget for. Um we are looking hopefully to go out to bond and we would start to see the impact of that bond rolling into the budgets beginning in 2728. So that's why the green arrow is there because the numbers that are on this chart may very well change following

012um that bond referendum. >> [clears throat] >> in looking at the bond. And again, please know that this is very preliminary because we still need to bring all this information back to the facilities committee [clears throat] to get their feedback on what we are and aren't going to include. Um but um sort of at the top of the list is HVAC replacement and roof replacement for the middle schools. Um we also are looking at the potential for um including the library media center renovation into this bond. Um all of these things are reimbursible um from the state up to a certain percentage. Um we are looking to upgrade the lighting at [cough] the schools um for their stage as well as the um high school auditorium. Everybody's sort of um transitioning over to LED lights

013and um a more modern um stage light. [cough and clears throat] There are athletic field upgrades um that are identified at both the middle school and at the high school. the high school specific to the baseball and the softball fields. Um and then we would like to at the high school um replace the PA system and the lockdown system. If you remember and if you've been reading the weekly updates, we're currently in the middle of that project at the middle schools. And so then we would like to transition that work to the high school as well. And then some um locker replacement [cough] um for repairs. Uh so throughout this process just so that um our board and AFC knows what we have reduced so that way you can sort of um figure out how

014we've managed to get to this um this place in September and November when we had departmental requests come in. There were several things that we immediately um reduced off the bat either because the timing wasn't right. We didn't feel that we needed those because we had other ways to [snorts] sort of um address the issues that uh we were hoping to solve with these. Um the one that I will point out because um it does sometimes become a a a talking point is the junction of the [clears throat] Trumbull VOAG bus. Um so just from a historic perspective and members of the board will remember this. We used to send our students from AMD to two different VOAG programs. If you lived in Orange, you went to Trumbull. If you lived in Bethany or Woodbridge,

015you went to Nanowak. it didn't seem appropriate that our children were being offered these sort of separate programs and couldn't take advantage of um uh the same um a science program. So after considerable research looking at what was offered at both of them um AMD um designated Nanowog as our a science program. So now all of our kids go to Nanow but we grandfathered in the students who were in trouble because we weren't going to take that away from them. We knew that over time that population would get smaller and smaller and at this point we only will have one student attending Trumbull VOAG next year. Um one student is not worth the $48,000 to provide a bus. So there is another mechanism built into this um the state statute for how we will reimburse

016that family for the travel to Trumbull. But we were able to eliminate the Trumbull Goag bus this year um in November through December. This is where we really looked um and did kind of the line by line examination of the budget where we were able to reduce um redundant requests or where we were able to look at um requests and put them in to a five-year cycle. So say we aren't getting them this year but we'll get them next year. Um we were also able to look at the historical um use of some of these line items and make reductions in things like dues and fees. Um we identified some things to actually um be put to the end of this year. Um specifically the tennis court repairs. We figure we're going to need to

017do those before tennis season. So it's going to have to come from end of year money this year and not delay it until the 26 27 budget. Um in January we um started to get some additional information in um so we had both the oil and gas um bids uh go out that we go in with the consortium with the town. So, we were able to make adjustments in those prices. Um, we were able to start to account for the out of district tuition. Um, and if we saw that we were going to have students who were not going to be with us next year, we could eliminate the cost of their out of district placement. Um, you'll remember we got a new copier contract and that saved the district um, some money. [cough and

018clears throat] We're starting to account for the solar credits that are coming in for the project that we're part of up in Ansonia. Um and we were able to eliminate some duplicate technology. Um where the biggest shifts came in um January that um we did um after conversation with [clears throat] Mr. Goodwin reduce his request for the part-time athletic trainer. Um it was more valuable for him to maintain those two coaches for those growing programs um than um to have the part-time athletic trainer. Um I am also going to show a proposal where we will um we are recommending to reassign a health and PE teacher from the high school to [clears throat] cover one of those middle school PE teacher requests. Um I will say the one piece of feedback that I received from

019the tours of the boards of finance was um Woodbridge asked if I could um potentially while they were appreciative of the low 2.21% to 1% budget. They asked if there was some reconsideration to maybe not ask for quite so many new positions. And so this is um in direct response to their hope that we would be able to um to look for um other ways that we could accomplish the same um new positions but without hiring every single one I had asked for. Um we did have to add some additions. Um, we uh added some uh rental uh fees in for portable lights for the um Bethany parking lot for when they have kind of their large um uh evenings with lots of families up there. It's a little dark over in that field. And

020um we actually um used to get the CEN line um into Bethany for free and then the state um had to make some changes and told us we had to now pay for it. So we had to add some things in um as well. Um so I just want to speak briefly about the impact of the reduction in the health and PE teacher. Um because it is a little bit of what's the you rob Peter to pay Paul kind of situation. Um so I just want to make sure that the board and ASC has a full understanding of this. Um our graduation requirement currently um for health for PE is um you need to have one and a half credits of PE and one full credit of health. Um [clears throat] the way that our

021health and PE is structured right now is in ninth grade they get a half credit of health and a half credit of PE. Those run sort of opposite each other. Um in 10th and 11th grade currently PE is offered for a full year. um it occurs two times within the 4-day cycle typically opposite the student science lab when we can get the schedule to work out and that's most of the time and that results in um about 66 credits of PE that students earn in 10th grade and in 11th grade. So overall because the way we're structuring it right now with the full year PE opposite science they're actually getting 1.82 82 credits of PE as part of of what they are they are earning. Um what we are um suggesting under the reduction proposal

022is that each um year they would get the 0.5 the half credit of PE in 910 and 11. And the way that that would um occur is instead of being a fullyear class the 10th and 11th PE would become a semestery year class. They would meet three times over the four-day cycle. Um, and more than likely students would end up with a study hall that's opposite their science lab, but it would also give [clears throat] us um opportunity in that time to put in some special education services or intervention services. So, it's not necessarily going to be blank. It's just going to open up some time for us to do some of the other things we do for kids. Um you can see if we make the reduction um the average class size based off

023of next year's enrollment would be about 25 students in PE classes for 9th grade um and 22 for the 10th and 11th grade PE classes and about 25 students for 9th grade health. Um and you can see how how that compares um to the class enrollment in our our current model. Um, I can't really tell you what the 10th and 11th grade health is because um, those are electives. So, it's sort of hard to tell because we're not really sure what kids are going to to pick. Um, but this is what um, the impact would be from um, shifting one of those health and PE teachers down to the middle school. Um, just a few budget drivers. Our contractual salaries are up 3.87%. Um, health insurance, we're currently estimating increases at 10%. We should have

024that uh number coming through in the next probably [clears throat] week or two. Um, so then we'll be able to kind of really shore that one up um while maintaining the 18% reserve. Um, transportation overall is up 8.3%. Special education transportation, which is different, um, goes up anywhere from about 7 and a half to 15 and a half%. And then out of district tuition is ranging from about 4 to 14% increases. Um personnel fiscal impact as I mentioned um instead of requesting two health and PE teachers this budget proposal does request one with the reassignment from the high school which as I said necessitates some scheduling changes at the high school. One world language teacher that would be shared between the two middle schools. a contracted service to provide the CNA program. Um, one special

025education teacher for our sales program, one STEM instructional coach, and then the two assistant coaches. Um, when you again compare the budget request where it currently stands, which you can see the cat's out of the bag, it's 1.54. um to where the contractual increases are. Um that whole idea that the budget is coming in lower than the contractual increases shows that there is savings elsewhere in the budget because such a significant portion of our um budget is driven by our contracts and our medical benefits uh for our personnel. Um so alto together you can sort of see the history of the budget requests. Um but we have cut 830,000 from our initial requests that we started with in September. Um so as of right now the budget being proposed is a 1.54% increase over the

026current year budget. Um you can see uh its uh [clears throat] impact on the three towns as individuals. Obviously if we were the lowest at 2.21 we are now the even lower lowest at 1.54% [clears throat] um in the state. Um, and one of the things that I do look at, and again, I can't tell the towns what to do with the March credit, but I do know some of our towns take the money that they save in March and apply it to the increase that they're getting in the subsequent year. Um, so you can see what the prior year March credit is and then what that variance is and if towns are doing that, then you can sort of see where there may be that financial impact. Um, you know, Woodbridge is relatively close

027between credit and what its variance is. Orange obviously is in the negative. Um, so they'll get the credit plus their budget will go down. And then Bethany is the one that's still the variance isn't quite matching up with with the credit and has the most impact. Um, upcoming meetings, obviously here we are. Um, we do have a meeting on February 9th. That's a regular AFC meeting. Um, and it is possible members of AFC that if you are consent with a 1.54 and I know some of your boards of finance have met again and will be meeting this week, you could vote to recommend the budget at the 9th meeting um instead of waiting until the 23rd. Um, if you don't do it at the 9th, we will have another one of these meetings on February

02823rd. The board will need to approve a budget on March 9th and then we'll have [snorts] our public hearing and then ultimately our referendum on May 5th. Um before I go into questions from AFC, um I actually um received some questions in writing. Remember I said we'll put the questions together and we'll kind of draft them with the [clears throat] document that anybody can refer to, but I thought it was a good chance to share those with the board right now. Um and so one of the questions was what has been the impact of unleveling on middle school student performance? Um and so um please bear in mind this is only one year's worth of data and so I can't really um say that this is we're seeing a whole bunch of trends or anything

029like that. Um but this is just comparing. So the one two three four those are the four performance levels that students can achieve when they take Smarter Balance. The graph on the left is sixth grade and the graph on the right is seventh grade. Um, and you can see there's some shifts of um, students. Um, I can't say if you know some kids go up, some kids go down, but this is probably typical of what we would see. Um, and we usually do see a small um, decrease in students meeting that 34 as we go from six, seven to eight. It's kind of part of the design of the test. >> Is this number of students? These are numbers of students. Um but what was more important and board members will remember this that um

030we our kids tend to perform very well. Um they score threes and fours and then the the the story doesn't lie in how many threes and how many fours we have. Um you'll the board members will will um recall maybe that I said what we really wanted to look at was the growth of students because that's really how much they improve by being with us. And um one of the things that um that happened um is that the students who perform the highest so the level four actually made the most significant growth by being in the unlevel classes for that first year. Um and this is both in the percent of the target of growth that they achieved and the sheer number of students who were achieving their growth target. Um so again one year's

031worth of data can't really say that there's a whole lot more I can interpret. It's just information that we have right now and we'll look at it again after two years worth of data. Um we see the exact same kind of pattern in eighth grade. So um you know we do see a shift I think maybe between the the twos and the threes um as we look from grade seven to grade eight um in terms of performance but we see that exact same um growth outcome with the students performing at the highest level. Um and obviously you know there's sometimes there anomalies um the the level ones who achieve so much in in 203 24 um seems to be sort of an outlier of data but um that's where we are as of right now

032that um we're not really seeing a um detrimental adverse effect to um our most high performing students which I think was one of the concerns that we had brought to our our um attention. >> Can I ask one question? Mhm. >> So I agree with what you're saying about those at the highest level of performance and I realize it's one year of data, but this would imply that those kind of in the middle may be being harmed is that it it could or it just means we have to change how we're doing our instructional programming. And I think and and we have some again kind of with the middle school schedule, we have some other things that we're building in to continue to address those needs. >> So, Jen, can I ask um can you

033tell me um did you look at this year's eighth graders who are now experiencing the unleveling when last year they had leveling? Did you look at seven and eight? So that's that's what um the growth is look that's what the growth it would look at where the student was in seventh grade and how they progressed to eighth grade. So >> and so you're you're looking at what growth is for eighth graders across >> current eighth graders versus their performance as seventh graders last year. >> So So how I'm reading this is that 2425 is which year? I mean I'm looking at So our eighth graders now are 25 26 >> correct >> right >> so this is data from last year right because they haven't taken us back for this year so this is data

034from last year's eighth graders >> so we're not [clears throat] look so we can't see what's happening to this year's eighth graders >> no not until they take the smarter balance in May that's why I said all we have is one year's worth of data >> right so we won't know how that >> how that looks until next year, >> right? >> Correct. >> Okay. Thank you. >> I guess my concern or what I would want to continue to monitor is I had and granted I was not a board member last year, but this is just my observation from watching what all was presented was the idea of unleveling was to kind of close the achievement gap. And if I'm interpreting this correctly, this may have actually expanded it. So I think I think what

035it's done is it the threes and fours are okay. We do have to look at at at what's happening for our students who achieve at the lowest level. But that that doesn't necessarily rest just in the classroom setting. It's also how we provide intervention services or special education services because that's where many of those students tend to also land. >> What fraction of the people are in one and two? Um Shannon, do you know that it's like >> what percent are in one and two? We just have to flip who's in three and four. >> I don't remember off the top of my head. >> If we go back to the chart before, isn't that number of students? >> Yeah. I mean, you can calculate that out sort of. >> So, so it's 27 and

03672, right? Like >> so roughly 100 >> about 100 students. Yeah. >> Out of the 400ish that we tend to have. [clears throat] And are you only looking at the ESPbacks? >> It's the only thing that we really have. Um well, so we can look at the Apple um testing for world language. Um but the science isn't [cough and clears throat] a good comparison because they take it in fifth grade and then they take it again in eighth grade. So it's we can't do that same type of analysis that we can do with Smarter Balance. and they're really, you know, again, we need something that is valid and reliable. We are looking at data like um how many kids get recommended to level one, two, and three classes in the high school when they go

037into English and social studies and science. Again, social studies and science haven't happened. That's still occurring next year, but we we didn't really see any shift in the number of students who were recommended to their English level classes. Um, so the the smarter balance is going to be our most valid data point that we have to show if we're having an impact. >> It just concerns me because kids that don't test well are not going to >> Yeah. >> That's going to, you know, so you might not see anything from them because if they don't test well Yes. >> Either way, you're not going to know. Yes. >> More day-to-day >> test to test, >> right? If you see data shifts, are you going to consider um putting levels back in? >> Can you repeat

038your question, pub? If if you have if you see data shifts that are concerning that you the is there going to be consideration to um reconsider and level >> um I think yeah I think if we [clears throat] have enough data that says that this is a horrible experiment we'll have to we'll have to look at that um but at the same time part of this recommendation is because it is considered best practice across middle schools across the entire country. Um, and you know, it's about opening up that opportunity for students to move on into higher level classes without tracking them as an 11year-old. Um, so there's I think we'll have to have a philosophical debate around that when when and if the time comes. But I'm really I'm actually I was very surprised by

039the outcomes of this first set. And like I said, I think that the needs that we have in the ones and the two performance, we're already talking about what we have to change. Um, and some of that middle school schedule reconfiguration is going to help us to address some of that. >> I just want to point out that maybe we are exa this this graph on the left is exaggerating the issues. You look at the graph on the right, those numbers are really tiny. So I don't think we should over react to what is going on in the >> but that's out of 72 kids. So it's >> I get that but you look at the numbers 10 and six and 14 like you know these are really tiny differences. So I I don't know

040how to think about >> the state has two ways of measuring this and the one on the right is really true that that is actual kids. The other is kind of a numerical >> that just makes it look so big but it's really nothing. So I think we should interpret the graph on the right and say that directionally it's going okay. [laughter] >> One last question just [clears throat] this is looking at English math whether you want to call it leveled or tracked or whatever terminology you want to use. I realize it's apples and oranges in terms of subject but because it's still tracked is it like what does that look like? >> Um does that make sense? We can certainly look at that, but um I have to think of the best way to

041do that because you have to pull you have to look at where the kids which track they're placed in I think before you can do the same type of comparison and that in and of itself may already create >> the differential >> a difference that we that that you that you can't account for necessarily. So that that's why this English honestly is like the the one that's cleanest because math is already could have some different performance based on which level they go into. >> I I have a couple suggestions as we continue to collect data and and to look at this data. [clears throat] Uh looking at percent increase like differences in the percent increase for each for kids that are um at level one, two, three, four like sort of understanding trying to get

042understand trajectories a bit and comparing those trajectories like current trajectories to like past trajectories. So, do we see that 5 years ago kids that were at level two um you know had I don't know small percentage increase and now we see like the increase is bigger the whatever score they get on the ESPback. The other thing I think just visually would be um informative to look at is to look at this as a line graph. So as we collect data so that we can see if those gaps are actually closing or are they widening. I don't think we have enough data to make any conclusions right now. But I think line graph and looking at trajectories and looking at like the percent increase among kids who like were in level four last time, right, versus

043level one. Uh I think those can looking at the data that way can give us a better indication of sort of if gaps are widening or or um getting [cough and clears throat] smaller. >> Can I just as >> Mr. Chair Mr. Chairman point of order? >> Sure. This is supposed to be a finance committee meeting. >> [clears throat] >> But can I that's what I was going to explain as to what so the reason I asked the question is that >> a bunch of people not a bunch FTEEs were added to support this initiative and so again this year we're looking to add FTEEs and from a financial perspective this is a people business that is 80% of the budget is driven by staff and their salaries and benefits and so I just think

044there needs to be more um you know we're doing this in order to impact this result. We need to then see the data for the accountability of are we getting the results that we expected in from the investment of people and so that is the why this is connected to a budget discussion >> in in response to this in the budget if we take away the positions >> what happens to the scheduling change >> um it wouldn't go forward and so one you know and we we we can revisit the scheduling change but um But for people who are familiar with um the middle school schedule, there's a period called academic success, right? And it meets every day, eighth period, and all the kids are in academic success at the same time. Um what that

045means is that our resources to support intervention are stretched across the entire school all at the same time. So one of the changes that the new middle school schedule does is it changes academic success to this wind block. And the win block is different for every single team which means that it occurs at a different time. So interventionists can access just a team instead of the entire school all at the same time. Um so that's again that's sort of one of those direct correlations of unlevel classes. Okay, level one and two kids need support. This schedule change is responsive to that need. Okay. Um, so there was a question about why we need an additional health and PE teacher. And if one person has that question, um, maybe others do. Um, so right now in

046the current schedule, PE is taught every other day at the middle school. And opposite it are band, chorus, and Chinese. Um, so kids get to pick one of those three. Um, and health, just because it sort of ties into the conversation, is part of the rounds. So the students get it for a quarter. in seventh grade and a quarter for eighth grade. Um the class cap size by contract for PE is 35 students. There is no class cap size for band and chorus because it can be as big as the number of kids who want to participate. And the cap size for health and mandarin is 22 students. Um under the proposed schedule, band and chorus would be offered as either half or full year electives, giving the students more choice. Chinese would be offered

047as a fullear elective. Even if a student chose Chinese and or French, they do not have to take Spanish. Um, and health and PE would become sort of a combined class that would be taught every day for a full year, just like math and ELA and science and social studies, but you still have the class capsiz of 22 students in health classes. So, what it's essentially doing is it's making health and PE like the other four academic areas. and you and and in the other four academic areas to meet the class size you need two teachers of that content for each grade level. We currently have two PE teachers and a health teacher. So that's why you have to add [cough and clears throat] a fourth [snorts] teacher in order to make this proposed schedule

048work. Okay. Um why has special education staff increased by over 40% when overall [clears throat] enrollment is flat to down? Um so the first this is going to take a couple graph [snorts] uh couple slides to explain. [clears throat] Um but the first graph I just want to show what the special education enrollment has been from 1718 to the anticipated 2627. Um so I would um say that special education enrollment is not flat or going down. It's actually going up. um and it has been um for quite some time and this doesn't even factor in 504 students um because I special ed is is the one that's mandated by law um but we we have seen a steady um uh increase in the um enrollment of special ed students and that's not unusual. Every district

049across the city is seeing the same thing. Um now there are just kind of like [clears throat] two primary reasons why we have create increased the number of special education staff. Um the first has been the creation of in district programs so that we don't have to send students to out of district placements. In 18/19 we created the transition academy at Alberta's Magnus College that services our students from at that point 18 to 21 years old. In 2021, we redesigned our sales program um to make sure that it had a behavioral therapy component to it. Um in 2122, we created the ATA program at UNH. That was driven in part because um state statute changed at that point in time and it essentially added an additional one to one and a half years to the

050time students would spend with us in the district. we have to now maintain them until the end of the school year in which they turn 22 years old. Um in 2220 sorry 2122 we also created our Spartan prep program at the middle school and then the following year that program was created at the high school as students metriculated onwards. So we have created five in district programs over the course of the past sort of you know eight years. um that is a big reason why we have the additional staff. The second reason is that we reclassified staff out of grants into the operational budget or into the special education area. So we had three reading teachers who are regular education teachers who were providing IEP services for our um special education students. Um that's kind

051of misaligned with expectations of the federal law. special education teachers are supposed to provide special education services. And so as these reading teachers um uh either um moved on to new jobs or left the district, we hired special education teachers to replace the reading teachers so we would be aligned with IDEIDA. Um we moved a school psych and an SLP from the grant to the operational budget. The reason why we did that is it then allowed us to get Medicaid reimbursement for the work that they do for students. So, it actually allows us to bring money back into the district through the Medicaid billing. And then we did have a school engagement specialist who was part of um uh ESSER money that slowly over the course of of three years kind of came onto the

052operational budget. Um so those are the two main reasons why we see the increase in staffing. [clears throat] Then of course there's just like enrollment increases like the one we have this year with the sales program. Um this isn't >> Could we get that in terms of numbers? What's the number of people in special? >> The last one was >> 40%. I'm just saying what's the total? >> I do not have that, but we can get that answered for you if at some point. >> Thank you. [clears throat] >> Um so Mr. Brandt often shows this slide. I haven't really pulled it out yet. Um but he does a hypothetical where if the students in our in district programs if we transported them to the least expensive out of district program what it would cost

053the district. Um so it's roughly about $3.7 million if these kids were going to out of district programs as opposed to staying in district. So there is some value even though it does you know result in more personnel in creating in district um programs. Um what is accounting for the stable or rising cost of outplacement sped when in district programs have returned or maintained students in the district? Um so the good news is um you can actually see over time that the percentage and the real number of students going to out of district placements is going down which is exactly the reason why we create in district programs. So um that's the good news. Um but the cost has gone up. Um in fact um the tuition rates for out of district placements increased significantly.

054I think right now looking at the kids that we have the average increase over their um span with us is about 11% each year their tuition will go up and it varies kid to kid. Um special transportation costs also increase more than the regular transportation costs that was on our budget driver slide before. And 59% of our out of district students are actually placed by another district. So they come to us already with an out of district placement. We didn't get a say in it. We didn't get a choice. They just show up on our doorstep and they're already in an in an out of district placement. Um on the right hand side, these are actual real students that we have and this has been the increase in their tuition from the first year that

055they were with us in AMD to where we're budgeting them for 2627. So you can see there's variability um amongst these kids, but some of these um costs, like I said, go up significantly depending on the program that the student is in. Um there is a ton of legislation, like if you want to get involved, this is a great one. There is a ton of legislation out there trying to cap out of district tuition, trying to limit how much these places are charging us and how much they increase by and also to give us more reimbursement as a as school districts. So, if there's a place for advocacy and it has a direct impact on the budget, this is a good one. We we advocate for it as superintendent. Mr. Brandt does it as as

056a a pupil services director, but it is it is a a um a real need across the state and we recognize that. Um the other sort of thing and I will make sure you have this slide because it's really tiny to read but um these are like real numbers, real kids and what their out of district cost placement costs run us. Um, and I think that it's sometimes difficult to wrap heads around placements that are $170,000 or $240,000. Um, they they are appropriate for the students and for their needs. Um, but they are a significant budget driver. Um, and [clears throat] you can see sort of what we've budgeted for, what we think the real tuition is for the current year, and that what we're budgeting for for [clears throat] next year. Um, and I'm

057happy to to share that in a more user friendly format when we need to. Um, has [clears throat] AMD's 8 to9 transition enrollment changed? Uh, is it comparable to other derby districts and what makes Orange enrollment change more than Woodbridge and Bethany? Um, so three questions all rolled into one. So we have three slides. Um, [clears throat] so the first one is looking at the grade 8 to nine enrollment. That's the black line. And um very faintly you can see the trend line that is going with um with that there is variability from year to year. Um and by the way this is the percent change because counting real students um doesn't always work because we can have bigger classes and smaller classes. So this is the percent change from one year to the next.

058Overall from grade 8 to nine we lose about 3.75% of our student body. Um the reason why I included grade 9 to 10 is that line is trending upward because we know from our experience that kids will go out of district and then it's not what they thought and then they come back to AMD. Um and so we see that change typically happening [clears throat] in our grade 9 to 10 transition. Um and that one's going up about 75. So in general between those two years we lose about 3% of our student body. Um, how does this look compared to other derby districts? Um, so there we are. Um, and we're kind of all over the place. Um, this particular graph I only looked back the past four years because it's not easy data to

059find and it's hard to sort of put together. Um, so that's why it shows us at the 6% um, decrease because we had that sort of very big drop in 2122. Um but if you look and figure we're in kind of the more 3% um we sort of shift over a bar or so. Um so we're not the the best at maintaining our students. Um we're not getting more students and and again Trumbull I wouldn't be surprised. They're a VOAG center. They should be getting more students coming into their district. Um, so, you know, there's a little bit more behind this, but I'd say again, we're not falling outside of some some we're not we're not an outlier. Um, when we look at our tren um our our decrease in um enrollment, >> what's region

06015? >> Excuse me. >> What's region 15? >> Um, that's um South Middlebury. >> Middlebury Southbury. >> Yeah. >> Um, >> so what makes Orange enrollment change more [clears throat] than Woodbridge or Bethany? We don't have the information when the students go to private [clears throat] school placements, but we do have the information when they stay where we still have to transport them. Um, and you can certainly see that Orange students opt for um, Platech and VOAG in far greater numbers than Bethany and Woodbridge. Um, I would suspect Plate there's a proximity piece to it um, that sort of drives it. And again, I mean, I'm you you hear me? I'm touting trades all the time, and I don't I'm not surprised that people and students are going into trade fields. It's a very reasonable

061place to have a great occupation and a good future. Um, and so to have a trade and technical school right there, um, that's convenient certainly, I think, is part of this. Um, so this isn't the whole answer, but it's certainly one piece of what makes um, Orange look a little bit different than Woodbridge and Bethany. And so with that um that is the end of the presentation to AFC answering some [cough] questions but [clears throat] I am happy to entertain more questions at this time. >> I have one last question. Okay. Um in the on the revenue side of the equation what we're anticipating getting in special education grants is up almost 40% for next year. So I'm just curious like with the assumptions behind that and driving that and how confident we feel about

062it and if it doesn't materialize as expected what our plan might be well is based on the actual students that budgeting for and what he expects the their cost to be and then we apply the state formula four and a half times what our threshold will be. We try to index that for what will be set next year. We don't know what that number is. And then um I believe we were at 60% of that cost because we haven't been fully funded. So, and if you look dive into the details of that chart in very fine print, there is one very expensive student that was just added and I'm sure that is part of what is driving that 40% increase. >> Okay. That was just something that stood out as like, >> yeah, >> we

063could be in trouble if that doesn't show up as expected. >> They raise their hands. >> You want >> It's me. >> You want to take over? >> Can you hear me? >> We can. >> Okay. Um, so I know there is a presentation for each of the towns um of the budget by the superintendent. Do we have dates for that yet? >> Uh, they all already happened. So um I finished up um my last one in Woodbridge last week. Um and or this week last week was last week. Um so but um you know [clears throat] I don't know if um Mr. Neza I know Mr. Nezo will get some feedback from Orange on Friday. Um, and I don't know if we have any feedback from Bethany or you're still sort of processing and

064working on everything. >> We're meeting tomorrow. >> Okay. Um, so yeah. So, so the towns will start to give some feedback this week. >> Sorry. Isn't there a forum before the referendum that's open to the public? >> Yes. So on April in April, we have our um our public budget hearing. And so it's at that that truly anybody can come and ask questions and speak about the budget. >> Okay. And that's just at the board of ed meeting, not in each of the towns. >> Correct. Yes. >> There is one in there is one in orange. >> Orange invites me to theirs, but and but the other two towns I don't go to because they figure AMD's public forum is is appropriate, >> right? And I don't know when the orange one is a date

065yet questions. >> Um I think I actually asked this before so I apologize but your uh school engagement specialist that's a full-time person. >> Yes. So it's it's so she's a um a clinical social worker um and she works directly with the families of our students who [cough and clears throat] are chronically absent um and really she visits their home. She um tries to come up with she's part of our student attendance review board committee trying to come up with plans to get the students to come back into the district. um later this evening when we go into the executive session I have some data to share about that and why the program is being effective. So um yeah >> I guess I'll wait it it'll be very appropriate then. [laughter] Okay. >> I have

066I have one point. >> My experience over our last uh my last six years on the board has been that uh the administration with your leadership has brought to the board uh budgets that uh I think could be acceptable to uh almost any school district in the state because uh they were done extremely well. And uh we as board members uh felt that uh they provided uh top quality education for our students yet no one was happy with them and we asked to cut even more. I I think as we do budgets uh we can always find some cuts in the budgets. What the board here has done though, and it's stated this over and over and over again, that cuts that are made should not be a negative for the education of our students.

067And uh this is the first time I've actually seen, and I'm I'm referring to physical education now, where we've taken something away from students. I don't know how that fits in. I haven't had the opportunity to look at that. And that concerns me because it wasn't done for educational purposes. It was done for financial purposes as far as I could tell. Uh and uh we haven't done that uh before. So u I don't know why where I am with that. Uh but I think there needs to be a closer look as to how it impacts students. uh we've had students taking physical education and I think you mentioned with the middle schools we're now giving uh at the request of many parents more physical education but taking physical education away from high school students when

068that may be something that a lot of our high school students really feel they need uh that's a concern. So, just wanted to make that comment and uh see uh examine it a little bit more carefully and see what it does to the uh students uh how it impacts students as far as their physical education goes. Uh for those of you who don't know, my wife taught physical education for more than 30 years at the high school. It's uh and I coached for 40 years of swimming. So uh physical education to me is an extremely important part of our curriculum and we are living at a time now when the kids are spending more time sitting and doing nothing uh well working on computers uh and I I think it's important that we consider that

069and make sure that we maintain all areas of our uh high educational [clears throat] standards. Paul, when can we un when when are we going to have a conversation around the proposed middle school schedule, especially since we're asking uh for more positions? So, I'd like to understand a little more about that um and the impact and the changes. For example, when you're talking about changing health from a quarter to a full year and what does that look like and what is the reasoning behind it? >> Point of are we still in a finance right now for questions and not comments to Dr. Correct. So, you got a question. >> My my my my point was that we're taking stuff away from the students for the purpose of reducing the budget. And that that's my why

070I said that >> unless there's time for comments. So >> right [clears throat] I just want to understand when we are going to talk about the middle school budget I mean is it um the middle school schedule since there's going to be an impact on the budget >> only from the standoint >> or is that another time? No, but that that is a the middle school schedule, >> right, >> will impact the budget because it indeed requires additional uh positions, >> right? And we're talking about >> take away from those positions. We take away >> You're right. And to to your point, we're talking about Jim in health and I'd like to understand what how these decisions were made in addition to the request for another language and I understand wanting to offer Mandarin and

071French instead of for students who want to take Mandarin also are required to take Spanish. So I understand that that makes complete sense. [clears throat] I'm just would like to understand a little more about >> so we can so we presented it in November um the middle school schedule as part of that very first round of budget presentations we can resurrect that presentation again for the board um when the chair thinks it's an appropriate time I'll defer to him as we make our our board agendas but we already we already have that presentation >> it was given to us not opportunity to ask questions >> yeah so >> so I have many questions was so I had what a clarification about uh Paul's question. So the shift from 66 to point or point 66 to

0720.5 in the uh what does that mean in the number of hours that students [clears throat] are going to be in 15 to somebody who knows the exact hours of.5 to 66 >> I I don't mean to ask it as a difficult question but like you know so that we can get a sense of the magnitude of what it is that we are talking in terms of student >> we can we if something >> it doesn't have to We'll get back to you. >> It doesn't have to be, but I think almost everyone would probably want to know that. >> And just maybe to that question, it sounded like we're going from >> a full year meeting twice in the rotation. >> Yes. >> To a semester meeting three times in the rotation. >> Yes.

073>> So, thank you. >> No, I can, you know, we can do it's a one sixth of a course. I I get that, but I'm just trying to think about what does it mean in terms of a time. >> You can get the actual hours 18. I think that was the case. >> 18 hours less >> of difference >> over the course of the school year >> school year >> course of the year. >> Yeah. Okay. Great. So should we >> one question? So Dr. Buyers >> explain the reason why we are doing the middle school change of scheduling. Is it man is it a mandate? Is it just following that? Um, you know, we we we realized there were um some shortcomings in the schedule and had a few complaints fairly regularly. One of

074them is that kids who wanted to take Mandarin also had to double up and take it with Spanish. Um, another was that kids who were not really musically inclined were constantly being pigeonholed into musical classes that they just couldn't stand. Um so we surveyed um teachers, students and parents and kind of took the themes that they brought back and really tried to build a schedule that met what they were hoping to see improvements. And um the other thing is our schedule it increases instructional time. Um so there's just a lot to teach kids. So anytime we can get more time face to face with them in classrooms. So it increases the instructional time. Um [clears throat] it does increase um PE which We had a feedback that the they would like to have more PE

075for middle school students. It allows a choice in the world language. So now kids don't have to take two. They can just pick one. Put back some electives for eighth graders. So that way as they start to kind of go down the path of what they're interested in, they get a little bit more choice. And you can't make them not take music, but I can make it so they take less music if they aren't musically inclined. Um, and then it gave us some more opportunities, like I said, to provide those intervention services. So, ultimately, you know, trying to fix things that we know are not working in our current schedule. Um, and to do it as as efficiently as we possibly could. >> It all sounds very good that we're listening to our client base,

076which is what we should do. They are they are the they are the clients of ours. Um, and the ultimate goal would be to improve their high school performance and experience and then move on to college. in life. >> Yeah. >> So, it's I mean it all sounds pretty good overall >> with the with the changes. So, that's good. >> Um my question is uh there are other schools that allow um students who are playing a sport to opt out of PE. Is that something that AMD does or something we could consider instead of reducing PE for everybody? Maybe only reducing it for the students who are taking the sport that semester. >> Um that's a that's probably a much bigger question to tackle at some point. Um and I I do think that um

077I I I don't know that that's an option to meet graduation requirements. Um Mr. Hower and I were actually talking before and there are schools that require far more PB credits to graduate. In those cases, they accept um athletic activities, but I think that there part of being able to do that is that they still meet the mandated graduation requirements of PE classes. >> I had a question. Um so the PE and the health is combined. >> Um so that yes so so if I am a teacher I will be teaching both PE and health to my my group of kids. Um >> it it just gets way into the weeds but basically um for every two days of PE that we have there would be one day of health. >> So actually they're getting

078two days of PE. >> Yes. So that's >> so it's not health every day for a year and it's not PE every day for a year. They're sort of together, but it's more heavily weighted to the PE side of it. Um the health part we've actually there is so much we have to teach in health and we keep adding things like I I think we talked at this board meeting about you know talking to kids about body dysmorphia that comes from looking on cell phones and things like that and all of this kind of gets lumped into health. So, we could always probably use a little more time with health instruction, but the the structure of the schedule will give them um kind of more PE and a little bit more time, but mostly more

079PE. >> So, normally they get how many how many times they hit PE in a week now. >> So, well, it's every other day right now. And so, now it's >> could be three times one week, two times the next week, something like that. >> Yes. So the new schedule would be less PE because one of them is going to be health. >> No, it it would be more PE. >> It would be more. >> Yes. >> But it's also it's more health. Is that correct? >> It's more more of both. >> So what's going to happen? Is the health is a current health teacher certified to teach? >> Everybody's dual certified health and PE. So you're going So the current um PE instructor is going to do some health and then so Okay. So

080health right now is a quarter. >> Yes. So right now so we're going to go from a quarter every day to all year long. >> No. >> A third of the year. >> You you'll have the health and PE are taught together. And so for in a four day cycle they will have PE twice and health once. >> Right. No, I understand. I meant that that is going to be in their schedule all year long. >> Yes, that is correct. >> Okay. So the second question is um with the new proposed schedule, did we as a district ask for feedback from both the parents and the students >> on the schedule that as as we've proposed it? >> Yes. >> No. Instead, we built the schedule based on the feedback that they gave to us.

081>> Do we not see value in perhaps presenting that to them and getting feedback? >> I I think until they actually experience it, it's hard to to get that kind of of feedback. >> Oh, I heard wrong, >> you know, because it's sort of on paper. Um, and so not being able to to and we and not being able to understand sort of the pieces of how it goes together. I don't I don't know that that is >> we can certainly do it. I don't know if it's it's >> helpful for us. >> Well, it might it could just be more confusing. Now, we do know that we have to share it with our parents and students at some point. So the principles and I have talked about that process but um >> feedback, >>

082right? I I I think feedback would be would be valuable because I'm not sure I understand you requested feedback, but I'm not sure how we're building a schedule and how many parents and students actually gave feedback saying that they want more gym or I understand the language part. >> Yeah. >> And more health. So, >> okay, >> we can figure out that through maybe your principles groups and PTSOs. It's a a small enough group that you can explain it and get feedback simultaneously. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, if there are no more questions, uh, can I have a motion to adjurnn? So, moved and all of us. So, we >> Thank you. give you guys a couple minutes to get your stuff together. >> Thank you for calling on that. I don't I tried

083to do the other business data as you [laughter] >> but I don't have their phone number. So >> I it's on Ed's site. It's just you have to research to get there. So it's fine. >> It's good to have it not district other >> I was actually going to like [cough] trying to find like their adm friends They automated it a little bit but it was it was not >> I know no kind of >> yeah the plate numbers that was like you know like they can just >> I think no they were they were as long That's a designated. It's not just like in the gym he's doing something. You know what I mean? Years ago, that's what they used to just go, "Oh, yeah." >> You know, >> and then they would throw

084out >> all had these. You put in so much effort. >> You're going to have to share your tablet. >> Yes, absolutely. No problem. Cuz I have the agenda so you could use it. >> I usually do that, too. I have to start doing too late. Too late. >> Hey, the board is back from recess and we move on to number five is student report on the other side now. >> Good evening everyone. So, I'm going to start with a brief update on what's happening at the high school. So, one of the most significant events um in the past month was the eighth grade openhouse which was held on January 28th. Um and the high school welcomed current eighth graders and their families to campus to introduce them to the high school environment. Um so

085from the high school perspective, the jazz band, chamber orchestra, and honors choir performed for the visiting students um which kind of showcased the music program and gave them a taste of high school performances. Members of the National Honor Society provided tours of the building um which helped students explore the campus and see like classrooms, labs and other key areas. In addition, um members of various clubs set up tables which allowed students to learn about extracurricular opportunities um and get excited about getting involved once they actually get to the high school. Um and academically [clears throat] the students completed midterm exams in late January as many of you probably know. Um, in terms of extracurriculars, 14 students participated in the 52nd annual Yale Model UN conference, um, which was a 4-day event that brought together students

086from several countries. And our students were represented in numerous committees and gained valuable experience in diplomacy and international issues. Um, additionally, our award-winning student newspaper, The Trident, has taken a really big step and added an online publication. So, now they have a website and it features current stories, archives of previous issues, interactive polls, and like contact information of the editors. So, student engagement outside the classroom has been steadily developing. Um, and this also includes like winter sports teams who have been actively competing in basketball, swimming, wrestling, and hockey. Um, starting with the alternative eighth graders perspective, students from both campuses recently attended 8th grade open house and gave them a firsthand look at the opportunities available at the high school. Um, specifically at AMSB, students have been challenging themselves academically as well. Several eighth graders

087participated in the American math competition this month um which allowed them to test their problem solving skills and represent AMD as a team. They also had a grade level presentation on the dangers of vaping by Miss Dah who was an outside speaker who has visited the school before. Um it was especially important for middle school students um to help them understand that vaping products which are often marketed to young people aren't harmless and can have serious health consequences. Um at AMSO the school recently hosted elected official day on January 30th. Um so 13 state and local officials along with members of the board of ed um visited the school to observe a typical day for students. Um, so this had student ambassadors and tour guides and they were able to highlight the wide variety of

088learning opportunities within the school. Um, AMSB will be hosting its elective officials day tomorrow on February 3rd. Um, finally, during the week of January 23rd, the seventh grade social studies students at AMSO participated in a workshop on West African drumming and jelly culture. So, Miss Pleasant from the Blues and Beyond led the interactive session which introduced students to traditional West African instruments um and teaching about the Monday people of Mali and Guinea. So, this workshop is kind of an example of how our school um is able to teach cultural awareness and equity while providing some hands-on learning experiences. >> Thank you. Thank you. Great job. Any questions? >> Appreciate it. we move on a presentation of the uh high school library media center design plans and uh we go to silver pet. >> So while

089um Miss Cleveland is getting up to the podium just um by way of explanation so that um we all sort of understand why we're doing this when we're doing this. Um next next week we will be going to um present all of our plans to the um Department of Administrative Services. Um it's sort of um part of that process we have to do in order to receive the the grant funding for the project. Um before we go to do that, we have to show evidence of um both our building committee having seen this presentation, approved the plans and ratified the minutes of that approval. The board of ed also has to have all of the same pieces in place. So tonight is the presentation. Hopefully you will approve the plans. At next Monday's meeting, you

090will hopefully approve the minutes. so that we can bring them with us on Tuesday when we go to department of administrative services. So um so timing is is critical on this but um it is part of that process and so I am going to turn it over to Amanda Cleveland um for a very brief overview of where we are with the library and media center. >> So thank you very much for allowing me to meet with you tonight. Um some of you may have remembered the last meeting I was here was probably several months ago. Uh but in terms of the library media center, the overall goal was really to improve the student experience and to offer programming that was not previously offered. Um so the plan in front of you today that the overall

091goals as you can see as you're coming down the hallway is to really draw your eye to the media center. Um if you know the current one now it's recessed back. Most people probably walk by it without seeing it. So we're bringing that entryway forward [clears throat] and really giving you that path finding. So, as students are looking at their phones, they're going to see those arrows on the floor and hopefully um take a right into the library. We're doing an indoor and an outdoor so we're um avoiding that cross traffic of having students um uh crashing into each other as they come in. We're centralizing the media center desk um so that they have clear view of the entry and exit points as well as clear view of the entire library. Reorienting the stacks

092to have clear vision down the stacks to students uh taking volumes off the shelves. clear vision to the open table area as well as um adding in a glass partition and creating a quiet work zone so you can go and work uh at a movable desk with a tablet um or research other volumes. Uh we are relocating the work room to the back um upper left corner and then we're adding in a podcasting and recording studio. We're also taking the entrance to the tech services um out of the library and going through the hallway and we're reorienting and redoing the furnishings within there. Uh we are centralizing the um server system so that they are no longer spread out between two different rooms. So we're um compacting the HVAC system and really just making it

093a more userfriendly space. Uh from a high level just the pretty pictures. Um, so these are our best representation of what the end result will be. So you can see we're using a lot of um, lettering, a lot of bright colors in order to reorient everyone's vision into the library space. We're introducing some display cases so that whether you're showing art programs, if you're showing literature for upcoming authors visiting the site, it is bringing that vision right into the hallway. As you come in the library, we're introducing some stacks as well as some display cases within there. But again, keeping them low so that you can still see who's coming in and going out. Uh we are improving the acoustics. So number one problem that we have is that when it rains it's very loud.

094Some people love the water feature. Not everybody does. We're going to improve acoustics. Not only the treatments on the ceiling, but a lot of the light fixtures [snorts] to improve the lighting are also acoustic light [cough and clears throat] fixtures. So we're trying to have a dual purpose with what we're doing. Uh you'll see the centralized desk. We are going to introduce a ticker as you come in. You probably saw it on the first rendering. Uh but again, just giving that nice vision of everybody around the space. Uh you'll see the columns. We're wrapping those again in acoustics because again just trying to control the sound so that you don't feel like you have [snorts] to whisper. You need to be able to have a conversation and collaborate, but you want to do it in

095a way that's not disruptive to others. This is a good showing of how the stacks are oriented. Again, those acoustic fixtures on the ceiling. This is the vantage point. So, you're seeing that there's a kiosk right at the entry. You're seeing the entry and exit. Having a little bit of fun with the lighting. Um, giving some display opportunity as you go up and down the aisleways. This is a vision of into that study area. So, you'll see that is mostly glass. Um, but it is giving that sense of privacy, allowing the furniture to be movable. So, if you're working in pods of two or three or if you're working solo, uh the furniture is such that you can move it and collaborate. So, we have a couple different views. Again, acoustic light fixtures, just having

096a little bit of fun in the space. Uh in the back, you'll see that there are windows into the workroom so that anybody in [snorts] the back desk does still have supervision over the students in that space if for some reason the desk is vacant. Uh in terms of costs, um we wanted to do a pie chart just to give you an idea of where the costs are going because right now a lot of the vision that you see in the renderings, it seems like it's a lot of fit and finish. Um but in terms of cost, you can see the biggest piece of it is demo and construction and the items that sort of go under that. So yes, there are furnishings as well. We are doing an HVAC upgrade because of the humidity

097issues. So we are taking the library which is currently um cooled and heated through a system that also does the classrooms. We are taking off that system and giving them our own heating and cooling so we can control the space. Upgrading the lighting not only for efficiency but also to give it dimming and the brightness that it needs. We're doing uh updated technology. So we're doing screens. I said we're doing the servers. Uh we are moving the um the dis the disconnect into the building. um FFN. Um we're bringing those shelving down. We're making them movable. So when you do have a really large group of people in there, you can take those stacks and move them off to the side. And then there's just the general soft cost. And that goes in with moving

098expenses, A&E fees, commissioning agents, all of those things that have to happen in order to move the project forward. Um so I didn't read every single line item, but just so you have an understanding of sort of where all the costs are going to. Um so that's the end of the presentation. Um, I did bring the full set of drawings and the very large volume of specifications with me for anybody that would like to look through them. Um, but if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them. As far as budget goes, uh, we are still trending on budget with what was presented to the state at the time of the grant application. Um, so our next step tonight um, with your approval would be to get uh, the chairman's signature on the approval

099of the plan specs and estimates as well as the superintendent. So I'll toss it back for questions. [clears throat] >> Can you refresh me? What is the budget? >> Uh so we are 3.152 is where we're we're aiming. >> And can you how is that funded currently because this would not be part of the bond, right? So we want you want to take that >> we've put we uh the board has designated 2% that over the past several years towards the project. So we have the full amount to cover the project and we expect to get about 1.3 back from the state >> and that's this meeting that you're going to get the money for. >> One of the >> that's why you're going to this meeting. >> Yes. It's the approval to be able

100to go out. Can you explain that we have to have the money up front before the state gives us the money for it? >> Yes. It's reimbured. So, we have to be able to pay the bills as we go and then get reimbursed. >> Is there room for say large group uh presentations like if you had in I I wasn't quite clear like that like if you had a whole class that you wanted to bring in for certain presentation or >> Yes. Let me go back to the floor plan. I apologize if I'm making anybody Um, so what you'll see as you come into the library, right where those first arrows are pointing you, to the north of that is a dedicated library classroom. So if you want to have a classroom size instruction, you

101can have that there. Then as you come straight down, we have that whole area underneath the clear story that if you had someone giving a presentation up on the wall, we actually have four monitors um that can be used or you can wheel in a Prometheium board or a smart board. The stacks to the north will be movable. So, if you have a truly large group, um maybe you have a whole staff uh presentation that you want to give, those could be stacked off to the side, folding chairs could be brought in and the whole space could be used. So, the big piece was other than the individual areas where true quiet or secure work had to happen like the podcasting or the workroom, everything else was to be open and flexible so that at

102any time when you needed to have large or small groups, you have the ability to move the furnishings to do that. Yes. >> So I know you said you put in a new HVAC system for this, >> correct? >> So how does that work with the existing generator? >> So I I believe we are still tied to the generator. Um I can clarify that just to be certain, but essentially we are not looking to add any load to the building that wasn't already there. All we're doing is saying instead of having a a unit that is heating and cooling this space as well as 25 other classrooms who might have different demands. So they might have the heat running and it's smoking these guys out. We're able to control this and keep it heated and

103cooled just for them and then those classrooms will remain on their own. >> Um because um I know we saw furniture in the photo. Is that similar to the furniture I mean that you're going to have? Is that the furniture you're going to have? >> And we actually did a a point where we brought some of those pieces into the library and allowed the students to test drive it. The media specialists put little QR codes on them so the kids could scan them and give their real feedback. Um so we based our uh purchasing which we have not purchased yet, but we have based our package based on their feedback. >> And how durable are they? I mean they're going to going to need new um furniture in five years. >> Hopefully not. Um they

104are all commercial grade. We don't do any residential grade furnishing. So, the trade-off to that is sometimes the sit might be a little stiffer than what you're used to at home. Um, I can't guarantee you that vandalism won't destroy the furniture, but from a heavy usage, it is intended for education and um high use. >> My other question, just one more is the lighting. Um, I think you said something about dimmers. I mean, are there different grades of light throughout the whole library? I mean, um, because you know, there's these lights that we have like this that are >> So, it will all be LED. Um that's the way everything is going now. Um the code also requires a certain level of control that when the space is in use, you can cut the usage

105back. So energy code requires us to do that, but it will be zones that if you had a presentation going on, you could leave lights on on certain areas or turn them out. >> Okay. >> So I know you said the furniture is all easily movable. I assume that means everything's like on casters. Some things will be on casters, others will be on glides because I'll tell you, the number one thing that goes on a chair is usually the casters. >> I was going to say, we got all new furniture in the Turkey Hill Library a few years ago and they had the stools with the casters and the librarian within a year and a half removed them all because they were either >> coming off or and I realize this is high school as

106opposed to elementary school, but the kids like to race on them. It >> doesn't change in high school. [laughter] So just um we also from a a weight perspective too that we don't want you to have to studio staff to move something. So we want to get it so that it's easy to shift but we realize that casters have a time and a place and it's not always best for the students. >> Any further questions? >> Just I just have a question about um how are you purchasing many soft items >> as far as like lounge chairs >> chairs and whatnot? >> Yes. So you'll see on the bottom all of those are upholstered pieces. In the center those are more of your hard plastic polyropylene type pieces. >> Um have and was there consideration

107given to toxicity and chemicals in >> we are not allowed to do those. So we don't do anything that's um on the red list. Um they're all commercial grade. Um we have to uh comply with high performance buildings. So, uh, we make sure that anything that goes on these pieces are not treated with anything that is not safe for student use. >> Thank you. [clears throat] >> The floor, is it the floor consistent? Is it the same all over or is it change? >> No, it's a change. So, um, in the center is an LVT, which is luxury vinyl tile. So, that is an easy cleanable piece. So, if students have water bottles, not that we're promoting food in the library, but if they happen to have it at those tables and it falls, it's

108easily cleanable. The rest of the library is a very durable carpet. Carpet tile. >> Carpet tile meaning removable, washable carpet >> tile. It's like this. It's exactly like this. >> So, for some reason there were to be damage, somebody their power cord sparks and it puts a burn in it. You're able to lift that one up and put a new one down. Um, depending on how long the floor has been down, that new tile might stand out if there's been high use, but it should Okay. Well, thank you so much. Very much appreciate it. >> So, I do have the uh the logistics of the signatures that I can't leave without today. >> Okay. Well, we'll try and get that done with you in a minute. >> Um, next is discussion and possible action on

109the approval of the uh plan, the design plans. Uh, we kind of had a discussion already, I think. So, uh, is there anybody else that wants to discuss among ourselves whether or not? Okay. If not, uh, we had a, uh, a recommendation for approval of this plan. Uh, >> yeah, we we approved the, uh, we approved with the building committee and approved the minutes for that building. >> Okay. And so, we would just need a a motion motion here. >> All right. Uh, could I have a uh motion? The Amity Board of Education approves the design plans for the Amity Regional High School Library and Media Center. Someone like to make that motion. >> Can I ask a question first? >> What happens if we don't get the grant? >> We were already awarded the

110grant. >> We already approved. >> Oh, we already approved. So now it's just getting this. >> These are all the pieces of the process that we have to go through. >> I thought you were going to get approval for the grant. No, these are just the requirements now that we have it. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. I'm sorry. >> Not a problem. >> Uh s uh sud motion. Do we have a second? >> Donna was the first in the recog. >> Okay, we're we're good then. Uh can you call the role? >> Miss Bradley? >> Yes. >> Miss Cloud Ingram? >> Yes. >> Miss Miss Jac. >> Yes. >> Dr. Kuna. >> Yes. Miss Lombardi. >> Yes. >> Mr. Reed, >> yes. >> Mr. Davis, >> yes. >> Mr. Mcdana, >> yes. >> Dr.

111Hol delay, >> yes. >> Mr. Rebuse, >> yes. >> Miss Schlike, >> yes. >> Miss Schustster, >> yes. >> Mr. Young, >> yes. >> Okay, the motion carries unanimously. >> Signing. >> Provided all this work gets done, all this paperwork's done, when are they going to start it? Um so the start date is best case scenario. Yeah. Um ideally it would start in the summer. Um so essentially when we go through the February PCR it can be anywhere between um best case 30 days, worst case 90 days to get approval to go out to bid. Um so from there we usually do about a four-week bid period and then once that's awarded getting through contracts and shortly thereafter we would start what's called pre-construction. So we get through all the submitts and shop drawings and

112hopefully break ground for the summer. >> And you get a minimum of three bids, right? >> Hopefully more, but yes, >> maybe September. >> It seemed like um probably like the best case sort of started us mid June. Worst case it was sort of more like mid August. Um so we sort of laid out what our plans would be if it was mid August and kind of how we will manage that and hope for the best. >> Yeah. [laughter] Okay. If it does start in June, would it be ready for >> Okay. >> We We would still be Yeah, we'd still be constructing for at least a couple months. [clears throat] >> Do we have an alternate site for our uh library media center? >> Yes, we do. >> Very good. >> Uh all right,

113number eight, the superintendent's report. We all have the written report there. Once again, very comprehensive. Very much appreciated. >> [cough and clears throat] >> Um yes and and in in the uh spirit of saving some time I will not belabor this. The couple of things I did want to point out um was we held the counseling department held its um firstformational night for 9th and tth grade parents um this year um and they um were given sort of an overview of the counseling [cough and clears throat] department and the developmental counseling program. Um but then they were able to choose three workshops of their choice. Um the topics included um building resiliency, alternatives to four-year college, um demystifying the college process, dual and concurrent enrollment, [snorts] um uh building a culture of attendance, graduation requirements,

114making healthy choices. Um so really and and th those selections came from input that was asked of the parents of what they would be most interested in attending. Um I just want to recognize um Amity Regional High School for being selected as a member of the AP honor role again this year. Um the program was created in 2023 and we've been recognized every year since that creation and it recognizes schools whose AP programs are delivering results for students while broadening participation. Um we had um uh Mr. Tim Klene back in AMD on January 8th for um our full day of professional development. Um but he also spent time working with our reflective intelligence facilitators for day two of their training. Um those individuals really took um their training from that day and turned it around

115and into um uh some professional learning experiences um at the faculty meetings that were conducted today. And so far feedback from that has been um been fairly positive and I think that's good enough for now. Um you can read the rest of the report later. >> Thank you very much [snorts] appreciate it. Uh next uh number 10 uh superintendent's midyear review. Uh I am not going to uh provide any uh special information in the chairman's report. So we can move on to this uh area with the one exception that we'll be meeting next week uh seven days from now. That's our regular meeting uh for the uh month of February. Uh and in the executive session we'll invite Dr. Buyers for part of the session and [clears throat] then we'll take some time to discuss

116among ourselves. Uh the unfortunate thing is uh the people uh who are viewing uh cannot be viewing in executive session. So we'll say good night to you all and congratulations [clears throat] on uh looking great. >> Thank you. >> And uh then I hope you're feeling better >> and >> thank you. Yeah, we're doing good. >> Very good. >> Thank you. asking. >> All right. So, uh with that, uh we have a motion to go into executive session. Motion second. >> Uh all those in favor? >> I ladies and gentlemen, we we will come back after this. Um there's supposed to be a uh public comment session, which doesn't appear like there's anybody here to do that at this particular point. So, >> Mr. Davis, does the motion have to include an invitation for Dr.

117I'm sorry. Okay, got you.