001We'll start with roll call. Mike Bullyer. >> Mike Bully. He >> Mike Sharon. He >> Joe Kleti. He >> Kirsten Erlinson. >> Kirsten Erlandson. And >> Pam Fington Carrie Fino Drew Gin. >> Gabe Marks. He >> Amy Roman Marro >> Scott Soyette >> Scott Soyet handover >> uh Briana Adupoku she's not coming and Heather Summer from Hebrin. If we could all stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> I 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. >> So, I think most of us are aware about um the tragedy that the Ram family um suffered over the weekend. Um Eric Brooker, who was a freshman, passed away in a motorbike accident. And earlier in
002the week, uh we also lost a 2024 graduate. Um, so if we could just take a moment of silence. >> Thank you. >> So, I I just want to thank you, Heather, for starting off the meeting with a moment of silence to recognize um Eric and our recent graduate. Uh and certainly it's been a tragic some tragic events. Uh it's been a difficult day for RAM students and staff. Um you know the losses are being felt across our school community. Um I just want to let the board know and the public know obviously we remain focused on ensuring that students and staff have the support that they need in order to be successful in in order to make sure that they could keep doing what they need to do for students. Um, and I also
003just want to make sure I again reiterate the importance if if if families are feeling like their students need additional support, we are we are fully prepared to to provide that support. Um, and to that end, I just want to thank uh the teachers and the staff and the administrative team, our partners at AHM Youth and Family Services for the support that they provided to students and each other today. It was a very, very difficult day. Um, and uh, we got through it, but we got through it because of the people who were here to help us get through it. Um, and I know it's not over. We're going to continue to struggle. Um, but I appreciate everything that people did. So, just wanted to say that. Appreciate it. >> Okay, that brings us to
004um, public comment. Hein Andover, and Marvel community engagement and attendance attendance at board public meetings is welcome. The public comment segment of the meeting agenda is set aside so the board may receive public comments. Procedurally, public remarks will be limited to three minutes and citizens will be asked to identify themselves. Because the board is limited by the Freedom of Information Act to discussing only matters on the agenda, the board is not permitted to engage in a discussion of the comments presented. I've asked Gabe Marks to um be the timekeeper for for public comment. Is there anybody that would like to make public comment? >> Aaron Edber, Andover, Connecticut. >> Go ahead. >> Uh, so my name is Aaron Edber. My friends call me K. Uh, as a recently separated employee and taxpayer, I've decided to
005join this meeting this meeting as well as uh future meetings uh to speak. I further will be creating a Facebook page so the public can begin to understand the waste that I see day in and day out during my time that I saw during my time at RAM. I believe since co the general public, parents and community have lost interest in what has become a runaway train of spending by the colossal failure of a board and the superintendent to the tune of millions of dollars. Families are struggling. Where is the humanity? Today I am asking why. When I spent countless days performing maintenance task in the main office of the high school, I watched secretaries on the phone for hours. why we needed to build the taxpayers for four more new security guards. Are the
006secretaries too busy to answer the intercom? Where's the oversight? When some of their phone calls ended, they would say, "I'm going to lunch." This was day after day, not just one day. I was in there changing light fixtures for weeks at a time. Our solution to mismanagement is to hire more people. And why has $40,000 slipped out the door under everyone's nose, but our business manager has time to worry about other schools lunch programs? Let's stop our bleeding first. Why did we need a second full-time middle school receptionist all summer when the one we have spends 50% of her time running around playing interior decorator? I believe we need to reignite the public interest in attending these meetings and asking these questions. As a taxpayer, I plan on doing just that. This is a runaway
007train with no oversight. It is time to trim the fat. I look forward to speaking at the next meeting. Thank you. >> Thank you. Is there any Sure. Ethan Spanel, is it on? >> Oh, all right. 22 Rivendell Road. Uh, last week the boys cross country team celebrated our senior day and we had a wonderful event on Tuesday and I thought the board should know uh as we recognize all of our seniors in our athletics, sometimes cross country is overlooked. However, uh we had an earlier than usual senior day because we only have one meet at home this year and our usual tradition is to celebrate that last home meet as our senior day. Uh it was a great event after the meet. Uh we had parents and grandparents and aunt and uncles up there
008to celebrate our five seniors. Uh I do need to thank uh the parents, all the parents for helping organize the food and making sure it got there on time while I was running around trying to organize the meat. Uh, I need to thank Tim Landry who who helps me pick out gifts for kids in the school store. Uh, I pay him for them. Don't worry. They're not they're not donations. Uh, and I do need to thank uh uh Eileen Lrina, the one of the manufacturing teachers who helps me personalize the gifts um just by lettering their names on each of them. Uh, she really gives her own time to help me do that each year. So, I want to recognize that. But overall, it was a great day. We have a long season ahead of
009us and I just thought the board should know that it was a really wonderful event. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else have public comment? >> Okay. All right. Um, are there any items that we need to add or delete to the agenda? Oh, we're good. Okay. And that brings Oh, the student representative report. >> Okay. Um, recently we've had our open house on Wednesday, September 10th, welcoming new students and parents. Uh seniors are also now preparing for college and other applications, you know, working up for jobs with the recent I mean the upcoming workshop this Friday. And we've had our sports start up again. Cross country uh girls and boys soccer, our girls volleyball team and um our football team. Um volleyball and soccer both played games today. And last Friday we
010had our boys football team play an away game in Rhode Island last Friday. >> Okay, great. Thank you. And so the uh board chair report um I was able to attend the convocation which um I've done in the past. I really like it. It's a lot of fun. Um there was a really great video that was really enjoyable. Um the service teachers received their service awards during it. Um we also Conn will speak about a little bit later had two new awards this year um that he'll go into detail on. Um it was really great. I know it's in the middle of the day or the beginning of the day and it's hard for some board members to get there, but if you ever have the opportunity to go, it's it's well worth it. Um
011went to the open house. It's this is the beginning of my lasts. So that would be my last open house. um for my kids. Um we followed the the students schedule um little little flashback with the bells ringing and having to get up and find find the next classroom. But there was also a lot of um exposure to some of the clubs and activities that students can get involved in. So that was really great. Um I don't know that my daughter thought that when I went home and said, "Why aren't you doing this?" So, you know, she's like, and the last thing I wanted to remind the board members of um the Cape Caps convention is November 21 through 22 in Mystic. The 21st is a full day and the Saturday is a half day.
012So, if you um can go, it's the sessions are really well worth it. Um and Jessica in Col's office can help you out with that. So, >> it was great last year. >> It was really good. >> Yep. just I I can have Jess has pushed out a couple of emails about that I think to board members, but she could get one more, but we we are getting down to the point where we've got to get registration sent in. So, I'll have her send another note out. Um, you know, obviously, as I said earlier, we we've it's been a very challenging day. Um, I will say I with the exception of what we've been dealing with over the past four uh 24 hours, um it's been a a really positive start to the school year.
013Um, you know, you mentioned convocation. We had a lot of fun making that video. Um, not going to show it at a board meeting. It's kind of in the cone of silence for some reasons, but >> now we have something to hold over. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, but uh but if board members are interested in seeing it, I could arrange a private viewing. Um, but I but admit some of the administrators said, "Hey, could I get a copy of that video? I want to show it to my spouse." And my I was like, "It doesn't go anywhere. Show your spouse." Michael Serus was a star. Where's Michael? He was He was >> That was really good. >> He was a star. That was fantastic. Even my kids, >> I was the only one
014you got recognized. >> Even my 20-year-old kids when I showed it to him, they go, "Oh my gosh, that guy was hysterical." So, uh, but but I think, um, again, convocation, um, you know, I've really tried to make it be a positive, uplifting, good way to start the school year and I and and I was really happy as I think that, uh, you know, we were able to achieve that this year and I appreciate everybody's involvement in it. Um, you know, uh, just a couple of things to share as far as other positive notes that the the, you know, Kirsten, you had mentioned not having access to the home field. I know that has been a challenge for you, for our student athletes who are not having the, um, as many experiences on our home
015field. Uh, but we are progressing. >> We're at the tail end of it. >> We're we're on time and we're looking good. We started Eva sent me a picture earlier today. >> It's turning red magically before our eyes, but it looks really good. Um and so we are um we are optimistic that uh you know in about basically two weeks, the beginning of October, we'll be able to provide access to our student athletes to to get on there and start utilizing it. So hopefully those away trips won't be quite as frequent in the coming weeks. Um I I do want to mention just and and and and thank the board uh there we do have some new positions in the district this year um through the board support because and I and I wanted to
016thank the board for these new positions because they have been um really really wellreceived our safety officers. We did hire four safety officers. Um I I am hearing from the administrators and I've heard from teachers and staff how positive of a it's a great change. I think people feel comfortable. People appreciate the fact that there are, you know, safety security personnel who are keeping an eye on things like door access technology and and uh um you know, doing things like patrolling the the hallways and patrolling the perimeter of the building and and then and and in a day like today when we knew that there was going to be media coverage uh here kind of lurking in the background, we we they helped keep uh those reporters. They're here. there a presence to make sure
017that those reporters don't come onto school grounds. So, um it's I've just again heard great feedback about about those positions and just wanted to let the board know that. Um and then another position that has really benefited student athletes uh is um the fact that we now have our own athletic trainer. Um for the past year and a half, we have had inconsistent people like one person one day, another person another day, and it's just been this revolving door. We've we've had athletic training needs being met, but it's been peacemeal. Um, and having a full-time employee who is in that position, how it's just been advantageous for our student athletes, coaches, uh, and and obviously that's what we're looking to do is we're looking to put things in place that that benefit our students. Uh,
018so I I wanted to mention that as well. Um, there's just a couple of uh, uh, technical things that I need to share as a part of my report. We did make some changes to board policies. uh uh and in accordance with uh board bylaw 9311. I have to just report about those updated policies. The board has already been informed about these changes via email. These are policies that are either cleanup um or you're cleaning up some some um things that just need to be cleaned up. Whether it's the numbering of the policy, whether it's wording of things, or it's either legislatively driven and and being recommended by our attorneys. So those policies are um a green it's really exciting stuff. green green green cleaning policy has been has been updated. It was in the
0193000 series which is business. It was moved to a 1000 series which is community um and it's more appropriate uh uh location to put it and we've made some minor adjustments up uh in language to align with legislative changes. Uh we had a policy uh for pesticide application. It also used to be in the business section of the 3000s. Now it's in the community section. Again, it's a more appropriate location. uh and we did make some um housekeeping um changes um to that policy. We also have uh took two policies, our uh state school climate plan and our bullying policy and as we were required to do by legislation, we adopt we we merged those two and now we have a uh Connecticut school climate policy which is um uh in the student section. Um
020we also have two other uh policies from the student section which is uh 5125. We updated our confidentiality and access to student educational records as well as policy 5530 student privacy. Both of those changes were legislatively driven and uh uh and recommended by our our schoolboard attorney. So, um wanted to make sure I I did uh follow through on the bylaw and report that out at a board meeting. So, um that concludes my report. >> Okay. So, that will bring us to the student program spotlight. >> All right. So, I ju I just keep going. So, as as Heather mentioned in her comments, we did make some changes or or I should say additions to uh convocation this year. Um the first one is we we did recognize a RAM or region 8 teacher of
021the year. So before joining the district, I was very aware of the strong reputation that the district has um as being one of the best school districts in the state and uh we wanted to make sure that we were doing things to recognize the teachers and staff who who who make us that great and brought the teacher of the year into the district. The program, the Connecticut program dates back to um and is meant to honor and recognize teachers from each school districts in the state where you identify one Connecticut teach uh Connecticut one teacher in your district each year. Um the idea of identifying a teacher for RAM isn't just about honoring one individual. It's about recognizing the incredible work happening in every classroom and across both of our schools. By shining a spotlight
022on what uh on what on one teacher each year, we're really celebrating the profession as a whole. The collective effort, creativity, and commitment that define our district. My hope is that this recognition will serve as a reminder to all of us uh that the work we do matters. It is valued and it makes a lasting impact on student lives. This is the first time region 8 has participated in the teacher of the year program. Our faculty nominated 14 outstanding educators from their district to be considered as the district 8 uh regional school district 8 teacher of the year. These nominations went to our teacher of the year committee which was facilitated by Mary Roseme and I appreciate the work that she did with facilitating that that committee. Um it was the committee was composed of
023equal representation of teachers from the middle school and the high school as well as members from each department. It was this committee of teachers who worked to identify our region 8 teacher of the year and uh who will act now as our representative this year um representing the many exe exemplary teachers in our district. Um I'm excited to begin this new tradition at RAM and I look forward to it being one of the many ways uh we recognize and celebrate the excellence and dedication of our staff. With all that being said, I would like to now ask Dr. Michael Serusi, our middle school principal, to the podium to introduce our teacher of the year. >> Tell me short my speech. There's about five pages. >> I suggested. >> Um, so I have the distinct honor
024of introducing Region 8's first teacher of the year award recipient this evening. Our RAM teacher of the year has been in the district for quite some time. I've always been impressed with him since I started here 17 years ago. What impressed me the most is how this person is able to build a strong rapport with his students and is often the teacher they turn to for support and guidance when needed. Students frequently have commented to me and others how much they enjoy his class finding both interesting and challenging. He is a person who has forged strong ties to the school community and consistently goes above and beyond for his students, for us and the community at large. Colleagues have noted that the Veterans Day program at Rand Middle School wouldn't happen without this person. He
025brings home the importance of the service of veterans to every student and staff member. More importantly, it's a day that veterans feel valued and heard, and it's coming up, I believe, on November 10th. He has received many accolades from his work, but most importantly, he is recognized as having a kind and compassionate soul. He is always willing to help others when needed. For over 25 years, this person has been and continues to be an extremely dedicated and respected educator and individual. It is my honor to introduce Mr. Carl Jansis as region 8's teacher of the year. Thank you. I'll try I'll try to keep it short, which is not my strong suit um as a soul studies teacher. Um one of the things that that we think about as as educators is is the idea
026that it's a calling. Um you know, much like nurses and and military personnel. And you know, usually I'll follow that up with a snarky comment about why we don't get paid enough because people call it a calling. Um, but today was was one of those moments where where you see that. Um, I saw a lot of teachers who were struggling with um the loss of a student. And you know, you see it behind the scenes when we're in the teachers lounge and we're talking and um the ability of the teachers to support one another and then for those teachers to go out and support students even though they themselves are are are in pain. um was one of those clear shining moments where you don't understand the the depth of the love that these teachers
027have for their job and for their students until a moment like this happens. Um so even in the midst of tragedy, I saw some wonderful moments of love and compassion from this staff. Um and I know as a board you don't often get to see the trenches of the teachers. Um, you know, if if I have anything else to say, it's just that you have a staff here that is amazing. Um, so, uh, we appreciate every support that that you give us. Thank you. >> So, we have uh another um recipient that um we're going to introduce to you in a second. Uh but before we do, I wanted to give some context to the cleric hand kindness award which is is in our agenda as an award that's being recognized tonight. Um I wanted
028to give you a context, some background and meaning to the award. So Claire was a custodian who worked for the district starting in 1975 after she graduated from Ram High School. She was very well known for showing her kindness to everyone that she encountered each day when she came to work. Our teachers and staff could attest to the fact that she used to come in sometimes a couple hours early before she actually started her shift and she would circulate and visit everybody and just check in and say hi and how you doing and just spreading her kindness everywhere she went. um when she retired last year, I had uh intended my plan was to actually she she retired in the in the middle of the school year and my plan was to invite her to
029this year's convocation so that we could all show her our love and appreciation for the contribution she made to the district as well as for that kindness that she showed. Uh but unfortunately, Clare passed away unexpectedly last spring shortly after her retirement. uh even with her class or even with her passing, I felt it was important to recognize her at convocation and to keep her legacy alive, her kindness legacy alive in the district. And to that end, uh we decided to create an annual award to recognize a member of the RAM staff who displays the kindness that Clare was known for. So the recipients of this award will embody traits such as empathy, patience, helpfulness, positivity, graciousness, fairness, and humility to name a few. Their kindness is not occasional or situational, but rather a constant
030presence that lifts morale, builds trust, and simply demonstrates kindness to everyone that they encounter. And I think again people who are here that know Claire, that that's that's who she was and that's what she was about. Uh while we have every intention of having a nomination process, nomination and selection process for this award in future years, um because of the timing of her passing, uh we weren't able to do that this year, but we wanted to make sure, but I really felt it was important to recognize someone at this year's convocation. So we thought about the kindness uh that we each the administrative team and I talked a lot about the kindness that we saw in CLA and we identified a recipient for this year who we feel displays those attributes every day when they
031come to work here at RAM. And at this time I would like to invite Mary Rose me to the podium to introduce the recipient of the first ever Clare Hand Kindness Award. Good evening. Uh Claire was one of the first people to welcome me to the Ram family when I was a young teacher in the in the '9s. And that is what we are. We are a family. And Heather, I appreciate you using that word because um it is what makes RAM a very special place and it's what makes days like today very bearable. It was my honor to be able to present the first Clare Hand Kindness Award at our convocation to Eduardo Mateo, an individual who, like Claire, always seeks to help wherever he can. He genuinely cares about people around him. He
032checks in to see how we're doing. And when he asks how you are doing, he genuinely listens and cares about your answer. and he listens always with empathy and with kindness. He also shares his humanity and his joys and his sorrows with a trust that is at the heart of our family. He's filled numerous roles and like Claire, he doesn't seek attention or commendation. He just steps up and steps in to make all of our paths smoother. For this reason, he was selected as the first recipient for the Claire Hand Kindness Award. Congratulations, Eduardo. Please stand and be recognized by the board of education. [Applause] So um what we uh so at convocation both Carl and Eduardo received a token of our appreciation and recognition of receiving their award. Um we also actually had plaques
033made that actually are hanging now in central office and um it one plaque is for teacher of the year. The other plaque is for the kindness award recipient. And each year the uh the person who uh is recognized for those things, their name will be added to that plaque and and it will be uh stay in central office. So uh I appreciate Carl coming in tonight. Um Carl certainly no stranger to everybody. He's presented to us on many occasions at board meetings which we appreciate. And Eduardo, I appreciate you being here tonight as well. I also promised them both that they did not need to feel compelled to stick around for the rest of the board meeting after they were recognized. So, thanks guys. We appreciate you coming in. Certainly stay if you'd like to,
034but no pressure. No pressure at all. Um, so I I will just say I was sitting in the convocation watching these words get announced um and listening and the one thing that struck me that I shared with Colin was the teachers were all whispering trying to figure out who was, you know, they were listening to what was behind this award, how it was um determined and you could see them kind of saying, "Do you think it's this person? Do you think it's that person?" which to me, you know, showed that they valued it. And um and then when they announced both, you know, your names, I'm the auditorium erupted. People were like, "Yeah, that was like the right person." So, it was really it was great to watch. Okay, back to business. Uh we're at
035item nine, the consent agenda. We um it is enclosure 9.1 in your packet. It's the approval of the minutes from the August 18th, 2025 regular meeting. Do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So move. Scotty. >> Scott. So a second. >> Go ahead, >> Gabe Marks. >> Okay. Any discussion on that? Okay. All in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? Anyone abstain? >> Okay, that brings us to new and unfinished business. Um, >> yeah, sure. I'll So, I'll just jump right in. So, for 10.1, we just entitled it state required superintendent reports. So um the administrative team uh and I are altogether too familiar with uh updated in updates in legislation that are that are uh we are informed about each and every school year um coming out of every legislative
036session. And one of those changes um this year were three reports that um are now required annually um or at least the time being because these things change certainly from from week to week or month to month. But but uh the state is now requiring that um the superintendent report to the board information about attrition uh workforce development programs and community- based organizations providing support services to students in the district. So there's three memos in your um in your uh board packet. The first one is enclosure 10.1. It's a memo from Amanda Craraven, our human resources generalist, uh, to me, and it provides, uh, a list of staff who left their positions during the 2024 2025 school year. Tried to compartmentalize them by, um, uh, more administrative, leadership positions, and then teaching positions, para educators,
037and other people in that group. Um, and then we moved into some non-union, unaffiliated, and admin assistant and custo custodial positions. So, uh, that report is there. I could certainly take any questions if anybody has any. >> Seems like a fairly large number to me. Is this somewhat typical or is this >> I don't see it as being a large number. Uh, I I don't um Okay. You're you're you're talking about um again from a teaching perspective, you're talking about five positions out of 140. That's like I think 3%. Um we don't like turnover obviously. We try to avoid it whenever whenever we can. Um, you know, but again, I don't I don't personally feel like we have a significant turnover in this district. Um, >> what's the total employment of the district? >> Uh,
038I can tell you that teachers is 100. Well, as of last year, because I got these numbers earlier today, 140 teachers and 41 PAR educator positions were in the district last year. There were some clerical positions, but but again, just those are the look two largest groups. I can give you the specific amount uh inclusive of PAR educators and uh non-UN not affiliated and clerical staff and custodial staff. I can certainly provide that to the board >> mostly just curious. >> Sure. I will go on to the next one. Uh the next one is 10.1B. This is a information about our workforce development programs. The the memo that I provided has a high level of detail. I won't read uh everybody here is capable of reading and I certainly won't reread them. Um the when
039we looked at the language of what was required to be reported out on um where where we landed was really we have two programs that that I would qualify as workforce development programs. The first one is our work experience program that's designed to help students with disabilities gain uh um employable skills like skill uh you know confidence, real world exposure to to jobs. We have job coaches go out into um uh programs where these employee u I'm sorry where the students are working um and support them so that they can um learn some skills that that make them employable. Um and it's a great program. On average um about 8 to 10 students per year participate in this program. It's it's really rewarding. There's a lot of local businesses that support this program. We have
040CVS, we have Colbrook Village, things like Flower Girl, uh Gina Marie, AHM Youth and Family Services. um at Kinderama here at RAM. Um so it's it's a great program for our our students um who who are involved with it. And the second one is our manufacturing for industry course uh which is a part of our youth manufacturing pipeline initiative. Um it's a it's a it's a two class. So it's only taught one semester of the year. It's taught second semester, but it's a double period. So it actually counts as a full year credit. Um and and essentially again it it it it really is is designed to to to build the skills and abilities for students to to to leave the program and have employable skills working in the manufacturing field. Um it's it's a
041great program. Um and and uh we're super proud of it here. So um I can certainly happily try to take any questions. Uh we have oh and we have about 13 students are signed up to take the class next uh semester. I can certainly take any questions. Not hearing any, I'll move on to the last one. So the the the last one is community- based organizations providing support services to the students in the district. Um this is a an important partnership that we have today is clearly uh demonstrates the importance of that partnership and it's with ahm youth and family services. Um, you know, in the wake of of getting a phone call last night from Penny about the tragedy that happened yesterday, um, I spoke to the administrative team. I spoke to Penny. I
042spoke to Christine Hartwig, Michael Serusi. Uh, my next phone call was to Tresa Gardano from AHM. And she said, and she was driving home on the Merit Parkway, uh, coming home from Long Island. It was 10 o'clock tonight, and she said, "I'll be there at 6:45 tomorrow morning to be a part of the meeting." Um, they provide tremendous services outside obviously of of things like that. uh you know in in helping out with with with dealing with crisis that take place in the in the district. They also provide staffing uh to to that work. We have a a counselor that works in the middle school, counselor that works at the high school. They do a ton of programs for our students um and and which are incredibly beneficial to them. So uh AHM is the
043community- based organization that that provides the the supports to our students. I will happily take any questions if people have any. If not, I have fulfilled my state required reports for this. >> All right. Um, that brings us to 10.2 discussion related to bonding timeline and proposed projects. It's in again enclosure 10.2 in your packet. >> So, I'll I'll start off and then I would certainly invite, you know, Mike, if you'd like to jump in and kind of provide some context. And, you know, um, we had a meeting a couple of weeks ago. We had a joint finance and facility subcommittee meeting. Um, last during last budget season and in the previous budget season and the previous budget season, I I I have talked each year that I've been here about the fact that we
044are uh each year we're getting closer and closer to the need to to to look at making some significant investments in the districts with regards to to facilities and and and infrastructure. and um we continue to get closer to to that um and and and really um achieving what we need to achieve in the time period that we're going to have that that we're going to need to get those things done. Uh we really are not going to have a choice other than than than bonding out projects and to to to uh finance those projects. And so during the summer um EVA was was great and arranged a meeting with uh representatives from UNISAT. It is a company that helps school districts and municipalities um go through the bonding process. They kind of give timelines
045and they um and they support school districts going through that process. The the other side of of of the process is working with legal representation who has a strong understanding of it and making sure that we dot every eye and cross every tea from a legal perspective because it is a very spelled out prescriptive process that we have to go through and we we can't make any missteps when we're going through that process. the the the first few pages of enclosure 10.1 is a document that was provided to us by Munistat that really um would be uh could be applicable to any year. It provides a timeline of of of kind of the steps that would need to be taken and and the approximate timeline when they would need to be taken in. Um, so
046you can see, again, I'm not going to read the entire document, but you can see it spells out, um, you know, what we would need to do, uh, you know, in a meeting in January, what, uh, we would have to set dates for public hearings to be held and, um, you know, and and refer projects to planning and zoning in the town where the district is, where the project is located and, you know, just go through um that process. And again, there are some places where it says 2026, but I want everybody to understand it's it's this could be applicable in any year. it could, you know, we could do it this year, we could do it next year, we could do it the year after that. Um, it spells out that timeline. And we
047we had a representative from UNISAP uh be present at the meeting um to kind of uh provide some some um not just with Eva, but when we met with facilities and finance the other week. Um and and again, the more I hear it, the better it is for me because I have to hear some things tied, you know, quite a few times to to have an a real good understanding of it. Um and uh moving on um it on page three, it provides some information about um current district debt. Um an important context to have when we consider the bonding process is when we will have our debt paid off from the um construction project for the high school. Um and I think that's at the end of not this year, but the end of
048next year. >> There you go. Next. Yep. So, so that's at the end of 2027. Um, and that's an important component to think about because um, again, I think we need to have a lot of conversation around this. But I think from a strategic standpoint, it it we would best be served if we could essentially complete our payment on our current debt and essentially then just assume any payment on on new bonding that we we end up having to do. um that I think is a is a more seamless way to do it from a budgeting perspective. That way we don't have a dip in our budget and then a spike in our budget a year or two later if we delay the bonding process. Um I just I think that that's something that we
049need to to think about. Um and then the last page of of uh the that enclosure is a just some proposed bonding projects. One of the things that I will um point out, but I'm sure that board members noted it when they looked at their packet, is there are not dollar amounts associated with with these projects um because we would have to go through a process of having um having these projects costed out by us. They actually have uh organizations and companies that are I think they're called cost estimators. Um and and we would have to secure their um uh secure their services and and and say to them, "We need you to give us cost estimates for these for these because um you know, even if we were given a price tag on some
050of these projects a year or two ago, um they would be out of date and and wouldn't line up. And and I think it's critically important that as a board um we don't really we don't give a number until we know what that number is going to be. Um because if we start saying oh well this is going to cost us this number of millions of dollars and then that number changes at any point in the process I think that um I think it will could potentially hurt public trust that they have in the board. Right. So so that's we don't have any numbers associated. What what we did include on this list of projects uh Michael Schllayhoffer who is who who is here on the meeting virtually and can certainly answer questions if board
051members have them is the current age of the item. And then we also included the estimated life uh expectancy of the projects. And you could see at some of our uh bigger ticket items where you have uh high school roof replacement, middle school roof replacement, we have things like solar system. Um we have things like boilers and chillers which we've talked about a lot. We are really um uh we are really at or past the life expectancy of these things. And um I I think the board needs to really be strategic in how we approach this. Um we do know that some of our neighboring towns are going to be uh likely going to be going out to bonding. There are some needs in uh that I know of in in Marbor. There are some
052needs that I know of in Hein um that uh I want to make sure that we are strategic in the timeline and the process that we utilize to to go to bonding because I don't we have to do what we have to do in the best interest of the district. We have to make sure that we don't put ourselves in a position where we are 30 years uh at some of these things. And now what we're doing is just we're putting band-aids on everything that should have been replaced uh many many years ago. Um so hopefully I captured the conversation >> running out of things to say. >> Yeah. >> So >> um I mean all I would say is that the systems that were considering replacement are are telling us that it's time. It's
053not just simply we're hitting a 20-year time frame. A normal roof would be replaced after 20 years. We're starting to see roof leaks. We've had to actually pay for repairs. Um I think there was a bathroom that had a leak where the two bathrooms back to back had to be repaired. So it turned into quite a costly repair. We'd rather avoid those repairs and be proactive to get out in front of some of these larger items that that could cost you significant investment to repair other adjacent systems. >> So that's that's really the approach. Um it's a guideline, right? these these life uh terms that are defined by the manufacturer or by the industry. So I I think we use some of the data that's been collected right the monitoring the health of those systems
054and we use that information to establish an appropriate threshold for what's included in the in the list but it's uh unfortunately not things that we can afford to pay for out of our existing budget. So bonding becomes necessary and I think one of the other things about bonding that's interesting is that we can establish a profile for that payback as well which is something that I I learned when we had discussions with Munistat. So if we look at um towns within the district that are considering bonding um based on the timing of our bonding activity perhaps there's a way that we can dovetail uh some of the payback such that the impact is not that great to some of the to the contributing towns. Yeah, I I'll say Eva and I were kind of watching
055the news this afternoon. Um seeing because I I'm looking out my window and I'm seeing a reporter out my window and then I'm watching on TV at the same time. It was a very weird thing. But um but one of the news stories that came up was I won't give the name of the district, but it's a relatively close in proximity district that is uh trying to do a a bonding project of $240 million, I believe. and and um the reason that that district is where they are, it's it's because they need to basically redo all of their elementary schools. Um and the reason they are where they are right now is because they haven't done their due diligence. And I'm not saying it's anybody's individual's fault, but they haven't done their due diligence of
056upkeeping their building along the way or their buildings along the way. And as a result, they've got a huge just a huge price tag that I think is going to be hard for taxpayers to swallow a $240 million, you know, bombing. Um, and and obviously we're a ways from that. But I just I think that, you know, it's important to think about, you know, being timely and being strategic because we don't want to put ourselves in a situation where this list is is only going to grow over time, right? it's just going to get longer and longer the the the more that needs or the further we go beyond those life expectancy of things. Um you know I think the the facility and finance committee talked about um you know this being such an important
057topic because it is so so significant is to look at potentially having a special meeting, right? To to to um plan a special meeting where where this is the the the one topic of conversation. Um, you know, we could potentially have somebody from UNISAC come in and talk to to to the board as a as a whole and kind of walk through that process and give an opportunity for um timelines to be provided and questions to be answered. We could certainly engage with Matt Ritterder and and have Matt is a is an attorney who um uh who really specializes in this process and and he would be the one that we work with to to to navigate the the legal aspects of it. Um, you know, that that is something that we as a as
058a combined facilities finance subgroup said this is probably the next step because obviously this is an agenda item for you know a board meeting with a lot of other agenda items but really there it's it's important that there's just some focus conversation on that. So you know that's I think what we are going to be looking to try to accomplish um you know as a next step with regards to >> the bonding process. It's a lot to digest. So, >> it is. Yeah. And I wish we could say here's what we think it'll cost, but we really have no idea until that pricing, that cost estimating is done and we can figure out what is the total sum of what we're looking to to execute. >> And then, you know, we looking at funding for
059the cost of the cost estimator and um so because obviously on that >> we I don't want to give a number and have >> Yeah, I don't know if we have one. Yeah, we don't. Um, but we >> It won't require funding. >> It will not require bonding. >> Well, that's good. >> Well, the other thing that I'll say just because I think it's important to say it publicly at this meeting is the fact that this list would be longer if we didn't use strategically use our reserve funds to to to accomplish many many things. Like think of the work that's been done in the fields. Think of the work that's being done right now in the track. if we didn't have if we didn't strategically use the capital funds that we have available as
060well as the the reserve funds that we have from from any type of surplus from a previous year, this list would be longer and and it would be more expensive and you know so by doing things like the athletic field improvements, by doing things like the track resurfacing, by doing the things that we did to 316 north and south fields, like it this board has been very engaged and thoughtful about how we approach this like and Even one of the things that we had thought about and I I I won't even say I don't know if it's on there or not is we had we talked last year about um the need to address the uh the loading dock and I talked about how in such disrepair it is. Um that might be on this
061list. Yeah, it is on the list but but but if we address it this year then it goes off, right? So so and we'll continue to to to try to do things like because we can't delay things like that. Um so certainly take any questions um for either Eva, myself, Michael Schlayoff is attending virtually if if anybody has there's a few things on here that are you know 23 years I don't know 40 year life expectancy are those things that we are seeing real problems with. I mean, I think one of them was that that stairwell, >> the main entrance sidewalk, outdoor stairway parking lot, but there's still like >> Yeah. So, um can I just chime in? So, a lot of the um a lot of the concrete um is suffering cracks, crumbling. Uh
062it's not part of the crumbling foundation or any of that, but um they are they're just there are problems in their large areas. Um I don't know if you've come in through the main entrance of the high school, but it has been peacemeal. Um I don't want to exaggerate, but like a million times over. Um and to the point where it's questionable as far as ADA access through there because of the pitches going to the drains. Um, so we're just like looking at replacing the entire um front engine sidewalk and then the sidewalk or the stairwell, I'm sorry, that goes from the back of the middle school, middle school to the high school. Um, it's a double set of stairwell and the stairwell is actually sinking down um to the point where it needs to
063be removed and replaced or there was also the possibility of just eliminating it completely. um as a cost savings measure, but that's a bigger discussion. >> Do we have any sense of why something supposed to last 40 years is doing so badly at this point? I know 40 years is an estimate and it's kind of range, but >> I'm going to say lack of oversight during construction installation. Um a lot of the concrete was installed in the winter months. We moved in in February of um 2003. So temperature plays a big big role on the curement process. >> I had one other question was one of the lines in the table at the bottom. It's about eight or 10 from the bottom >> is about the generator, right? >> Yeah. Um my real question was
064just the um was not fully funding fully power middle school new generator. I that's what it says, but it says state funding and over budget. I didn't understand. >> So, the town of Hebrin, Andover, and Marorrow were looking into making us into a regional uh shelter. Y >> and they received state funding to power the whole facility. Unfortunately, the timing that we re or they received the funding to now, there's a gap because prices went up so significantly. Um, so they're unable to provide full power to the whole facility. So they can do full power to the high school and leave the middle school as is currently, which is just emergency lights and power um for whatever else might be needed for an emergency situation, just basically to get people out of the building. >>
065Yeah. And and part of part of the I'll I'll say problem with that really comes down to a matter of semantics. Um, and what I mean by that is when the applications were made, not not by district staff. So, the application for this grant was was done by by people from the town who were advocating for this project. We were supportive of it. Um, but within the context of the application, they used Ram High School, Ram High School, Ram High School. And in in the application documents and and and when motions were made by the board, it was Ram High School. and and the state basically said it says Ram High School, it doesn't say region 8 or it doesn't say Ram High School and and the the feedback that the people from the town
066side said we always just we just call it Ram. It's just to to us it's a single entity, right? And and so that has made it challenging because we initially had gone to the state I think we talked about this at the board meeting once. we had initially gone back to the state, we said, "Listen, can't you support this like and and provide additional funding. Um it doesn't seem likely that's that's going to happen." And there is obviously a distinct advantage for both the middle school and the high school to be able to fully powered in the event of a a power loss because otherwise we we can't function as a school and we don't want to have to send middle school students and staff home and say, "See you later. You guys go home."
067But hey, the high school's getting a full day in. So, um, again, it's it's that's one of the reasons that's in there. We and we've said all along and certainly Mike's been a part of this conversation, we didn't we didn't this was we didn't obligate any financial >> um resources to towards towards this project. So, >> yeah. So, the district hasn't paid anything towards this. It's all through through funding. It's the idea of expanding it to include the the middle school. If it's beneficial to the district, then it's worth considering tying into the into the system. Thank you. >> But is there any opportunity for the towns to contribute to that? >> That that's a conversation that could happen. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, if because the community takes advantage of the of the shelter. >>
068Well, that's just it. And I you know, when I first heard the story, my reaction was, geez, you got us in here. And kind of left us hanging. >> Yeah. I mean the the biggest impact I would say is the capacity of the shelter itself, right, which is just dedicated to the high school because you have to have um not you have to have running water, you have to have toilets, you have to have lighting, you have to have you know electronic locks and you know control over all of the systems that that exist otherwise you cannot call it a shelter. So the disappointing side is limiting the size of the shelter itself to just a high school. Um, in addition to that, you have to maintain all of your ADA access. So, elevators will
069need to be working, you know, all systems that that support folks with disabilities. So, it it might be a wish list item, right? But, um, it is something that we think we need to keep on the radar for for consideration as we march toward bonding a larger scope of tasks. Anybody else have any more questions on the bonding timeline? >> So, would you us to work on trying to like not anytime immediately, but I'm just like I think we should we have some board members coming on. >> Yes, I think it should be after that. And then will we have when do you think you're going to get the dollars? So, well, we're gonna have to So, that's part of the what is going to be a part of that special meeting is we're going
070to need to make sure that we have adequate funding for it, which correct me if I'm wrong, is going to end up requiring transfers and making sure that we have adequate funding. So, we can work with a cost estimator company to get a rough idea of what it might be. Um, it would be a rough idea. Then we have to make sure that since we don't have any of that funding currently budgeted, >> then we'd have to be at a time in the budget year, the current budget year to say where Eva says, I feel comfortable allocating X amount of thousands of dollars to pay for that process because if I try to spend that money now, she slaps my hand. That happens actually quite often. She keeps me in check. So, um, so >>
071can he sign the checks or nothing? There it is. They don't give me any of those responsibilities. So, I I I think if we look to like a Januaryish time period, we'll be in a better place for for EVA to feel comfortable to say, hey, you know, we're we're you know, halfway through the school year. Here's where we're seeing um you know, here's where we're seeing we may or may not have some surpluses and forward with with engaging with a specimen. But again, part of the that special meeting could be making sure that there are are dollars in place in certain accounts that we can pay for that >> and then a a motion to allow us to do that. >> So the when we in this I don't know how the order goes but
072um I had alluded to this at the at the finance meeting and facilities meeting that you guys had is understanding like if it's a roof Can we get the numbers on or maybe Mike can do it, you know, or has it how much have we fixed over the last five years >> and what does that trend look like as we're asking taxpayers, you know, look, we got to replace all of these things. Here's what it's costing us to not fix them. and it's trending in this, you know. >> So, it's a great point that that is part of what we talked about during the the subcommittee meeting was to put together the justification for why not just, hey, we're hitting a a timeline because a timeline, right? I mean, your car may be designed to
073last 10 years, but maybe you can stretch a lot more out of it. And that's that's a situation that I think we need to be in to both >> justify an action relative to a repair, but also substantiate the reason for it. >> Yeah. I mean, I I honestly think um we won't get it through a referendum if we don't do a really good storytelling why why we need it. >> I agree. >> Yeah. I think um and we talked about this at the meeting is, you know, making sure that people have a very clear understanding. This this turns into a marketing campaign, right? It's making sure that people have that clear understanding of the reasons why we need to to do this. Um I what I would suggest other from a from a timeline
074perspective is it would practically make more sense if we did if we had the special meeting prior to the January regular meeting when I present the regular budget. >> Okay? Because once that happens like that's what we have we have to once I present the regular budget that's all we focus on for for >> two months right >> so if we do something you know in the couple of weeks prior to that special meeting I'm sorry to the regular meeting then you know maybe we find that we have funding for the cost estimator or we can engage with a with a company and then the period of time that we are going through our own regular budget process maybe some of that cost estimation can can be accomplished. I I have no idea if the
075timeline of that is even feasible, but but like I'm from in a in a perfect world scenario that might play out and then we get through our own budget process and we can come back and visit the and and and then we'll actually have some of that information maybe as we go through our regular budget process. >> Okay. >> All right. That brings us Anybody have anything else before I rush on? Uh 10.3 is the discussion and possible action related to the RAM administrative association contract. It's enclosure 10.3 in your packet. Do we have um a motion to approve the 2026 to 2029 contract between the regional school district 8 board of education and the RAM administrators association. >> I'll make the motion. >> Joe Kleti, >> a second. >> I'll second. Amy Romanchuk and
076any other discussion on the contract? We're good. Okay. Um, all in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? Anyone abstain? Okay, motion passes. 10.4 is the first to read of uh policies. >> So just a a couple policies to go through his first reading study. The first one is a current policy. It's 3550 gifts, grants, and requests to the district. Um the the the primary changes that there's some minor language changes made to this policy. Um I brought it to the policy subcommittee, received some feedback from them. Um, within the context of the revised policy, there's some bullets on on the bottom of page one and the back of pa and and the top of page two. In the previous policy, a lot of those bullets were actually included within the regulation and not the policy.
077The policy was very brief and the regulation was was quite a bit longer. Um, some feedback that I got from members of the policy subcommittee is that some of that regulation language was really more policy language. And so we made some adjustments. We took some took some stuff out of the regs, put them into the policy. Um, made a few minor adjustments to some of the language of the of those bullets and and you have what is in front of you in the redline version today. I think that accurately captures Scott. All right. Um, we can certainly take any questions if anybody has any. >> I just noticed I noticed before is that um the last line of the regulation repeats the last line of the policy. Right now we moved everything else but probably
078just want to strike the last line of the regulation. >> You got it. Strike that. >> Okay. Um thank you Scott. Um the next policy is 5128. This is actually a new policy that we're mandated by the state of Connecticut to adopt is a restorative practices response policy. Um this kind of goes co uh this this the adoption of this policy coincides with that Connecticut safe Connecticut school climate plan policy. So um uh the language of this policy was provided to us by our uh uh legal council through their policy u model policy um services and um I presented it to the to the subcommittee and and there was no questions or concern coming out of that. certainly take any questions if anybody has any. >> I just had a question like how does this
079um like the staff how does that what's the roll out of that look like? >> Yeah. So so it's a great question. So, um, there there were some things with regards to restorative practices that are actually there's language in that Connecticut's school climate policy that talk about the fact that we have to have training, materials, resources in restorative practices and utilize those things in district. And so, that's a conversation that I've had with Mary Rose who was our director of curriculum instruction. We want to make sure that we have those materials. We want to make sure that we offer that training. Um, I mean, the reality is this. We use restorative practices in this district. It's it's restorative practices, as I'm sure you know, are certainly nothing new. Um, but it's codifying that in a
080policy as well. Um, that's just a requirement coming out of that uh legislative change. >> Anybody else? Okay, that brings us to 10.5, which is the financials. Okay. So in your packet enclosure 10.5A is the uh financial portion. Um so at the end of the end of August August 31st 2025 um I have uh projected a net favorable position of 87,298. Um in coming up with that figure we dug deep because we had um staff movement. Again, with staff movement comes enrollment changes for benefits. In addition, from the time that the budget was set, we had open enrollment in May. So, we we turned over every rock. So, we felt comfortable with that that that is still available at this time. Um, as the board is aware, we also budgeted 100% for magnet school and
081bo um tuition for this year and the state um said that we're still at the 52%. I feel comfortable once we know what the enrollment is on October 1st to relinquish more money. So it'll be a little bit more. So the cost estimated it might be sooner rather than later, but just wanted to share that information. >> Um so the capital improvement fund um is currently that so that fund and the reserve for education is currently where the track replacement is being charged and as you could see if anyone noticed today we are on time. Um, the track has the the basketball portion of it has been laid. I guess it's a rubber mixture and now we're painting it red. So, I'm learning a lot and it's very pretty looking. That's all I know. Um,
082the reserve fund for educational expenditure fund, that's where our 2% um surplus goes into from the prior year. That is working on the ADA compliance for the middle school baseball field. Um we've had um some punch list items that need to be um finalized before we can close out that project. So um they are in the process of working around our current athletic schedule and school schedule to try to get that work accomplished. Are there any questions that the board may ask? Okay. So hearing none, we'll move on. So the 10.5B is the food service and I apologize because um in my process of doing this I really thought for sure I did not do the unodudited portion but I did so it's a repeat for folks but um so there is we ended last
083year with $39,183.37. Um on August 11th we entered into a new contract with our new vendor um which is Chartwells for this school year. Um we are also in the interchool agreement with Marorrow Elementary School for this school year and we also implemented a new point of service system. Um as part of this point of service system we are supposed to be able to accept online payments for um our families, students and staff can upload u money into that. Unfortunately that portion is still on hold as we're working out some minor um hiccups to get it implemented. Um, we did serve meals on August 27th for the middle school, I mean for the elementary school only. Uh, August 28th and 29th for the RAM section of this report. Um, we're still in the process of
084having our application. We have to apply every year to make sure that all our ducks are in a row before we can enter the claims. And that is still in the process of being reviewed by the state. And once that is finalized, hopefully before the end of the u September so that we can start entering our claims for September and August so that we can start getting the reimbursement from the federal government through the state. Are there any questions that the board may have at this time? >> How's the transition in vendors going? >> Um so it's different. Um it's just little hiccups and getting used to our facility because the main staff has been here but um it's the new leadership. So it's just you know and they have different vendors that supply our
085food andor whatever else we need. So it's just getting getting on the right time frame to get everything in place. This >> I think as with any transition there are bumps along the road and we're expect >> we're hitting bumps. Yeah. Um, you know, nothing that I don't feel is insurmountable at this point, you know. Um, >> I think it'll even out. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> When's the payment system supposed to be online now? >> I was really hoping this week, but unfortunately it's our legal team who's holding it up just right now. So, um, I'm hopeful that, um, I will have some more information, better information by the end of the week. All right. Okay. Are any additional questions? All right. Hearing none. 10.5 C is um the student activity report for the high
086school and the middle school and that balances with Webster Bank. Are there any questions that the board may have on that? Okay. So, hearing none. 10.5D is the short-term investment fund account. Um this is both for July and August. We had dividends for July that total two that we reinvested that total $2,618 and for August we reinvested the dividends of $2,1246. Are there any questions that the board may have? Thank. >> Okay. Brings us to item 11, committee reports. Um, facility safety transportation. Uh, we talked a great deal about the discussion that we had relative to the bonding and that was combined between the facilities and the finance subcommittee. So, unless anybody has any questions they thought of between the time we had that discussion and now >> you're done talking. >> Yeah. >> Is
087that too long? All right. Policy. >> We we met um a couple weeks ago. You saw the results here. Um the one policy that we made some real adjustments to. The other one was just pretty much okay. This the state >> Yeah. >> mandated one. Okay. >> But we are getting to the end of the big overall review and uh >> they're always going to make changes. There's always going to be new changes, but you know, getting through that >> uh you know, hopefully every decade or two process of revamping everything is is almost done. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Program and communication, >> we did not meet in September. >> Okay. Uh and then Carrie is on she's um the facilitator for CAD, but she was the one who asked me to remind everybody about
088the conference. um calendar uhformational items. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, there's, you know, uh two enclosures, 12.1A and 12.1B. It shows you different events that are taking place um at both the high school and the middle school. Um as Brianna said in her remarks, you know, we we we've got athletics that are kicking up, which is fantastic. We've got dances that are kicking up, which, you know, are fun. Um depending on your perspective. Um saw some rolling of the eyes there. Um you know, we we've got our first uh half or early release professional development day coming up um this Friday. Um so yeah, I mean we are we are back fully in gear at this point. It's good energy. So uh there's no discipline because we're only in September. So we report out a half
089day. What's that? >> Friday is a half a day. Yeah. Okay. Right. >> All right. Um >> so item 15 is we are going to go into um executive session um to discuss the superintendent's evaluation. So do we have a motion to enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing the superintendent's evaluation? Further move to invite the superintendent Colin McNamera into the executive session. Gabe Gabe Marks second. >> Mike Bolier is a second. >> Y. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? >> Anyone abstain? Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you everybody.