001Good evening everybody. I'm sorry that we're running late. My apologies. I think this is our last official board meeting for the school year, which is hard to believe. Um, but I think it's true. So, I think it's exciting for some of us. I mean, I don't want to sound like we're excited. It's the end of the school year, but I think we can say we're excited. It's been a exciting year. I think everyone's looking forward to summer. So, um, yeah, we can say that. Mr. Angley, can you please take attendance? >> I need to steal this. >> Joe Abdella, >> Jesse Leeman, >> Vicky Salon, >> no. >> Stephanie Colnik, >> Angela Machulo >> here. >> Alex McDon >> here. >> Justin Angley here. Jen Pod >> here. >> Jane Sergeant. Pete Tagley. Mary Weber
002>> here. Christine Wick. >> She will be here. She's at the eighth grade dance taking pictures and she will be here shortly. Yes, it is. Um we do. Thank you, Alex. Um so, uh with excitement, we are our next item is introduction of our new director of facilities. So, Mrs. Grant Good evening. Short people. I'm very happy to have this opportunity to introduce the newest member of our central office team, Mr. John Calhoun. John was a unanimous choice of our hiring committee. When we learned that Donna Liry was retiring, we knew that we'd be looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, a seasoned facilities manager with demonstrated success in public schools who was also willing to come out to our corner of the state. While we received over 60 applications, only a handful of
003the applicants had the public school experience we were seeking. As it turned out, we found the needle we were looking for right here in our own hay stack. As John and his family live in Washington, only a bit more than a mile from central office. While John Claus Washington is home, he has spent his career yonder. First serving as the facilities manager for New Milford Public Schools for 20 years, followed by 10 years in his current position as the director of facilities for Shelton Public Schools. We're looking forward to welcoming John on July 6th. He's here tonight to meet you. But before I step aside and turn the mic over to him to say a few words, I did want to share with you all that Bill Murphy, our senior head custodian at Shap Valley
004School, has been acting as our interim director. And I wanted to publicly acknowledge the amazing job Bill is doing and to thank him for stepping out of his comfort zone to help us through this transition. John, the floor is >> Thank you very much. Well, I had um prepared to talk about my my history and my past. So, um I'll try to add lib a little bit. Um I'm John Calhoun. Um and I'm I'm thrilled to be your new director of facilities here. Um so I was asked to talk a little bit about myself. So this is a journey for me that has come full circle. I was born nearby in Bham. I went to Lichfield public schools. My dad grew up in Washington, Woodville to be specific. He was a graduate of Washington High
005School right here in town. So, um, I started my career in facilities in New Milford public schools. I spent 20 years learning the trade. Uh after that, former co-workers that worked with me in New Milford reached out to me and asked me if I would come down to Shelton um to uh to help them out down there and where I've been for the last 10 plus years. Again, um every school district has its has its nuances and um I spent uh that time learning new buildings, new people and especially new politics. um my exper that experience has taught me even more valuable lessons, ones that will greatly assist me in my future here at region 12. Now that I'm here, I feel my journey has come full circle. I became a Washington depot resident in
0062018. And since then, I've always considered working for Region 12 my dream job. So, you can just imagine when they called me how thrilled I was. Um I've never lived closer to my place of employment than I do now. I'm not quite sure how it'll handle all the extra time, but uh this close proximity will, like I said, will serve me well, but also the district as I'm only minutes away from any situation that could occur in the district. Um, finally, I'd like to thank all of you on the board and in the administration for giving me this wonderful opportunity. I look forward to serving the board and the school district's needs starting in a few short weeks. Thank you very much. Well, welcome aboard, John. We're thrilled to have you. Be careful what you
007wish for being so close. We're thrilled. Um, next up are our recognitions for parah of the year and teacher of the year. Okay, good evening. And in a minute, we'll uh bring up our teacher of the year and our par of the year. And you're going to get a commemorative box as a gift here. And I just want to reassure you before you come up, there are no ashes in those boxes. said, "I don't want that to be a source of any anxiety for you." You know, um, this is another treat that I get to do. Some of the stuff that I get to do is just so exciting and wonderful. Recognizing our students and our teachers are right at the top. And before I get into the specifics of these two wonderful candidates, let
008me just say that if there's a profession that's more selfless than teaching, I don't know. I I haven't discovered it. There are other selfless professions, but I can't think of one more selfless. And teachers, they just give of themselves and power educators, our whole staff give of themselves constantly in order to make sure the kids grow and they're always in the background, never in the spotlight. Um, but when their students get that award or make that growth or have that serendipity, they feel it vicariously and things go on. and uh all the other wonderful things that we need that are so important like medicine and law and engineering and business and the arts before you have any of those things you got to have teachers and paras you know before the doctor comes the science
009teacher before the person plays the cello conerto comes the music teacher so it's really important that we stop and acknowledge the foundational role that our educators play in our society and helping it move forward and I'm really happy to help celebrate that here tonight and And I know that the appreciation we feel for our teachers, I hope we express it enough. I've worked in other districts. I've always been lucky to work with really amazing teachers and um but those other districts, they don't have you. They don't have our teachers and I know that and it feels great to be to be among you. Okay. So, I'm going to start with region 12's um teacher of the year this year. Um and this year, as always, the teacher of the year committee received many nominations. Um,
010and the committee is made up of four of the most recent recipients of the award. So, it's a good committee to have the right perspective and they carefully deliberated and considered each nomination and the amazing contributions of all the candidates. It was a very difficult decision, but the committee determined that Sarah Fiola's creativity, skill, and dedication to the students and staff of region 12 rose above the rest. Miss Fiola teaches kindergarten at Washington Primary School. Here are a few of the reasons she earned this honor. And I believe what I'm about to read now is in the words of her colleagues. Um, this is what her colleagues say about her. Miss Fiola consistently demonstrates an exceptional ability to meet the individual needs of every student. She meets each child where they are and thoughtfully adapts
011her instruction to support their academic and personal growth. She builds a strong desire to learn in her students by empowering them to take ownership of their education. Now, that warms my heart because we're in the middle of a program called Leaders of their own learning. And this is what we want to see. She helps see themselves as oh leaders of their own learning. Okay, here it is. Fostering independence, responsibility, and selfm motivation. Miss Fiola fosters a strong sense of community in her classroom. School is about belonging, creating an environment where students feel safe, valued, and included. She is highly attuned to the developmental needs of her students, ensuring that her teaching is age appropriate and supportive. If I had a teacher like Miss Fiola, I might have amounted to something. I just She exemplifies strong
012leadership through her meaningful involvement and contributions to the school community as an active member of the climate committee. Thank you for being on the climate committee. She helps cultivate a positive and inclusive school culture. And in addition, she serves as a mentor to new and early career teachers, providing guidance, encouragement, and practical support as they develop their skills. Her strong ability to build relationships to build strong relationships with colleagues strengthens the entire team and her leadership is both influential and deeply valued within the school community. Isn't it nice that her colleagues can say those things about her and that we can now welcome her forward to be recognized for this for this award? Now, I'm going to double down on what I just said about our power educators because they're all that and then maybe
013even sometimes push further away from the spotlight. So, there's an increased selflessness there that that that is just a beautiful thing. um uh and um makes me want to just sing from the mountain tops how lucky we are to have these folks doing such a hard job for the benefit of our kids and watching our kids grow and the relationships they build with these students to help them blossom it's just incredible. So this year the region 12 para educator of the year committee also received multiple nominations. The committee was made up of administrators, teachers and two most recent recipients of the award. They again also carefully considered each nomination and all the contributions of each nominee and had a painstaking deliberation and it was a difficult decision again but the committee determined that Lorie Del
014Torto's composure, resourcefulness and collaborative spirit arose above the rest. Miss Del Torto is a power educator at Washington Primary School. A few of the reasons she earned this honor follow again in the words of her colleagues. shows up every day with a calm, steady presence, even in difficult situations. She doesn't falter. She meets each moment with patience, professionalism, and always a genuine smile. She's very involved in her students day and ensures that all students are successful. Lori is the example of a caring and professional parah. Her desire to help students be their best shines through every day. She's an initiative driven person. She needs little or no direction to create innovative, engaging, and thoughtful activities for her students. She sits on our school safety committee. Thank you for doing that. Where she brings a unique
015perspective to the team and always has recommendations that improve our school and our community. Finally, she's a complete professional and a kind, supportive, dedicated colleague and paracher to our students. She always presents as positive and as a problem solver. And again, how nice it is that your colleagues can say those wonderful things about you. And um I know you're uh humble, but nevertheless, come up now and have a moment in the spotlight. Well, thank you both so much for all that you do for our students and we really appreciate it. Do we take a few minutes for refreshments? >> Should we? >> I think we should just take a quick break for refreshments. I think that there's some homemade cookies, so we don't want them to go to waste. So, we'll just take a few
016moments. I think I see a few that maybe want a few cookies anyway. Okay. So, we'll just take a few moments to thank our teacher and pair of the year and we'll um Yeah, sure. Um Okay. >> Right there. >> If we're if we're out on time, I'm going to crash the middle school dance. I am. That should be fun. >> Unbelievable. I have that second time. Second time, right? >> Yeah. >> Let's see what I can do. >> Jeez, that's the second time, right? In a row. Okay. Oh my gosh. Okay. Okay. So now moving on to public comment on agenda items. Is there anybody who would like to make a comment on nothing? Okay. Okay. Seeing that nobody has anything to say the consent agenda. Are there any comments on the consent agenda?
017Nothing. Wow. Fantastic. Amazing. So, now we get to see the year- end presentation. Year in review, Mr. Ben Allen. Heat. Heat. Heat. That's wonderful job, Ben. I always love your videos. Thank you for doing that. Okay. the um moving on to reports and uh recognitions. Um as we know there's a lot going on the last week uh couple weeks uh graduation was Saturday. I will um Don will speak more about it but it was first of all it was a perfect 10 for weather. It was remarkable. And just to say that um Angela and Justin and Vicky's um three boys uh graduated and um what a perfect uh graduation to celebrate class of 2026. I would say that um the speeches were amazing and I would say uh that our valadictorian and saludiatoran were amazing.
018They were really amazing speeches, I thought. Um, and so proud of both of them for their speeches. Um, Jo is it Josephine? She was incredible. Um, and spoke so beautifully and brought me to tears. She was remarkable. So, it was just a perfect day to see families celebrate our students and to see our students so happy and um, yeah. So, it was a great day and that's all I have to say. And we have our Thursday is our eighth grade celebration. So, we're looking forward to that. And I think uh that's it. >> I can't add more to what Jen said, but it was a very nice day. And usually I stick around long enough to talk to folks in the crowd and I say, "I hope you enjoyed the ceremony." And most folks said,
019"I really did. I think families enjoyed it and had a good time." And it was great to be able to celebrate our kids. Um we got lucky with the weather for sure. Um, and Jen, like Jen said, there will be a middle school. Um, I call it the soaring ahead ceremony. I'll look forward to that. And we also have alohas for each of the three elementary schools that I visit. I went to the Booth and Burnham ones last week and I'll go to Washington Primary this weekend. Of course, there's a reason they chose that word aloha from Hawaiian, which is a very pliable, flexible word. It means hello and goodbye. There's a continuity there. doesn't just mean see you you're gone. It means you know we're still in touch but you're moving on to the
020next step now and to see the littles do that and to be there for those ceremonies is really nice too. Um and uh on my report tonight there's one just housekeeping business item that I have to tell you about on a lot of these things that I report um on a yearly basis and tonight it's about the teacher evaluation plan. So every school pursuant to state law has adopted an evaluation plan and it comes in different incarnations. When the federal or state law changes, the evaluation plan can change. Right now we're in a period of stability. State law changed the Connecticut plans several years ago and region 12 adopted one that was certainly approved by the state. I believe in it as being very useful for to support our educators and also evaluate them. Uh
021and it's there's a committee that uh that Carrie um uh presides over. It's another one of the great structures that she manages here for our schools. And the committee has union folks on it and teachers and administrators. And every year they take a look at the plan and make sure that it's what we want, that it's working for us. And if not, we talk about how we might change it. But I think this year we're in a state, like I said, a state of stability. There are no big changes. if there were, they would come from our team and we would then forward to the state for approval. But right now, um, we think we're good and we have a plan that's going to help drive teaching and learning. And at the end of each
022year, a teacher gets evaluated just simply on a single point rubric of whether they met their plan goals or not. And our teachers have and they get sent to that all that gets reported to the state, which will happen shortly. um uploaded from us um each teacher's evaluation, an administrator evaluation to the state. Um and if there are teachers who um are in need of extra support, the plan creates a space for that too. And we have a process agreed upon with all our stakeholders about how to support teachers up through um tier two and three process to help them get where they need to go. That's my report. Carrie, can you think of anything that I forgot that you wish I would would report? Okay. Thank you. Uh moving on now to um the
023treasurer's report. >> The only thing I have to report for for both finance and operations was to welcome John on the team and I think he will be a great player on the team and I have no other report. Thank you. And um Agra Science uh committee Mary, >> there's no report. >> Okay, thank you. Curriculum, >> No report at advance. Joe, >> uh our board of directors met on June 4th. Um we approved three items related to the Head Start program which include a grant renewal application as well as the self assessment plan uh self assessment and improvement plan and enrollment priorities. Uh, their EV charging stations are almost complete at the Lichfield office with a final hookup to be the last step in that process. And demolition of the church structure at the
024Grove Street um building, which is their Head Start and early learning center, is slated for late June, early July. There's been a hold up because of uh asbestous removal. Um, and then we also do not have a meeting until August. Um, and that's all I have. >> Okay. Thanks, Joe. Um, where am I? Uh, labor negotiations is nothing. Um, FNO, are you gonna do you have anything to share? >> I have nothing to share. >> Okay. Um, policy. So, we just met earlier tonight to discuss policies regarding nepotism and conflicts of interest. Um, Don will get more into this later, but the gist of it is that um the region 12 bylaw didn't match the shipment model policy. So, uh Don Shell's proposed changing the wording to say that region 12's policy no longer no
025immediate family member shall be a superintendent or building level administrator. and the committee agreed. That's it. >> Thank you, Justin. Uh the long range planning committee met tonight to discuss year three um and what that will look like. It was a very exciting meeting um and uh just really excited about what that will uh what will unfold um for year three. So uh yes and uh old business we have nothing to discuss new business first read for policy 4212.8. >> So just to follow up on what Justin was telling you about you know from time to time I review our policies and our regulations and our bylaws and when there's a change in the law I bring it forward to you or when there's another discrepancy I bring it forward to you. And I noticed
026this strange thing that we have. Now, first I should say, you might recall maybe six or seven years ago, we moved away from the ceilings because there's quite a cost associated with those. I think it was the right thing to do and instead we adopted the shipment and Goodwin model policies which is more cost-effective and they're dead on. They just they all recapitulate the law and you can have access to them and all the um revisions for a flat fee every year of like 1,500 bucks. So, it was a good thing. But when you do it in one fell swoop, it's sometimes hard to make sure that everything translates perfectly. And the problem I'm trying to fix right now is we have a policy. It's a shipment model policy that was adopted just wholesale without
027probably reading it. And it says that no family member of a board member can work in the district at all. Okay. But then we have a bylaw that obviously is related to what our um policies used to be or at least I think so that contradicts that. The the the bylaw says that uh while family members of board members can work for the district and then it goes on to qualify how that would work. Board members recuse themselves from votes related to that person. The relationship is declared and all that. So I said this this is these two are not in step with each other. And then I thought what do we want? What's right for our district? And so I brought it forward to the committee to see what they thought. What I think
028is that within reason we have a history here of making um certain opportunities available especially to alumni of our school. Um the most common way this comes up is somebody will graduate from Chapag let's say and decide they want to be um a substitute teacher or an intern or do their student teaching here. have some relationship with the school that I think we've honored as part of our obligation as a you know to take care of our our alumni. Um and the kicker for me is at the top of the shipment model policy itself there's advice that says boards don't need to have this nepotism policy by statute. It's up to the board. So I my conclusion is that um we've always been friendly to doing in in an above board transparent and appropriate way
029to having certain relationships with folks even if they're related to a board member. Um and that's um that's clear from our our bylaw, but that when the shipment model policies were wholesale adopted, this one just snuck in. So my proposal is I don't think there should I don't think there shouldn't be any boundary. I suggested to the committee that we redline it and read that no family member of the board of education could be superintendent or a district level administrator. Now, I worry a little bit because Mary Weber and I are both from Jersey and I don't know if we really trace back the family tree what I'm going to find. So, I could be shooting myself in the foot here, but it's probably going to be okay. I think that that level it's fine.
030But certainly I think morally, legally, practically to say that um just because somebody's related to a board member and they want to come and do certain functions here that don't really implicate um an un an unwieldy abuse of board power, we should support that. So that's my recommendation that we bring our policy in line with what our bylaw says and operate in that way. That's what I advanced to the committee. Of course, I can answer questions now. >> Yes, Mary. >> I just wanted to say years ago when I was on the board the last time, the chairman of the board, his wife was the secretary for the um for the principal of Shap. And there was there was no problem with that. And when he had to vote on anything that had to do
031with um raises or you know any anything that had to do with contract, he would just recuse himself from it. And it was just and it was fine. It worked fine. So I I I think this is a good idea. >> Yes. And the bylaw I think m puts the right guard rails on the situation by requiring a recusal and any relevant vote and by requiring that the relationship is declared at its inception which you're always going to get from me when a new employee comes on. I give you a personnel report and I identify them. So we we I think we've got the right um safeguards in place and um I don't feel at all like we're um shucking and jing or doing anything un on it. I think we're getting back to what
032our policy used to be. A question um I am under the impression that to recuse yourself is a something that the individual does and it can't be required by any other entity. Um >> well, >> so I mean in theory a person would recuse themselves if they had a conflict, but I don't think the board can say you have to recuse yourself. I don't think that's allowed. >> Well, I'm going to defer to you on that, Alex. The policy just lays out what I guess what is best practice and you know what would happen if somebody didn't comply with that. I don't know. But I think that there's two things, right? There's the black letter requirement of law and then there's what you do to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. So I feel like
033our board members would probably in such situation like that look inside themselves and do the right thing and and if not I guess we could cross that bridge when we come to it. But the policy does say adopted by this board the pol the bylaw I should say does say that in any vote in any vote that's relevant to the family member the board member shall recuse themselves. That's it. Okay. So that what I'm what I'm suggesting is that because I wanted to wait and talk to the committee tonight and see if they agree with my proposed red line, which is to at least set a boundary. I don't think you'd necessarily want your superintendent or a district level administrator related to the board. That gets a little bit dicey. So um Right. Yeah. So
034Mary, I'm hoping that we don't have any Yeah. Yeah. But um what I'd like to do is get create that red line and then bring it back back to you for a first read at the July meeting. Can I ask about the date now? Is that okay? By the way, can I ask you all a question, please? I'm sorry to be a pain. I have to ask you for a favor. Um the operational the organizational meeting right now for us is set for July 20th, which is usually fine for me, but this year that's what my family vacation down in New Jersey, Mary. And um yeah. Yeah. So, I was asking people to check their calendars if you >> you go to the same family reunion. >> Yeah, we got the same t-shirts. No. Right.
035Right. I'm German. >> You don't know. >> I'm German and Irish. It's getting harder and harder for a young German Irish kid from the suburbs to make a living, let me tell you. But, um, could you all check your calendars and see whether July 13th would work for you? Whether you could hold that meeting on the 13th instead? And I'm sorry to put you through the exercise, but it would help. Long Beach Island. >> You would come by. Yes, there'll be hogies there for you, Mary. LBI. We don't call them hogies in Jersey. We call them. Yeah. What do you all think? Anybody have a All right. The I appreciate that kindness very much. Um, and also I'll tell Debbie that we're going to reschedule that July 20 meeting to July 13. That'll be our
036organizational meeting. All right. Thank you. And that's there are no further questions. That's the end of my spiel. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> So then we're moving on now to the first read bylaw. Is that the same one? And oh, it's the same thing. Conflicts of interest. Great. So then, uh, going on to consider for approval the price increase for school lunches as required by guidance from the National School Lunch Program. Nicole, >> why is everyone looking at me? >> Well, I hope I hope you know. >> Okay. Um, so there is something called paid lunch equity that is guidance from uh the federal government with respect to the national school lunch program. And you're supposed to look at your program every year to make sure that you're meeting the requirements of um a certain calculation
037that they provide. And what we have found is we are not quite meeting um that guidance number uh currently and one of the reasons is because we haven't had a lunch uh an increase to our lunch prices since June of 22. So um as food prices have increased um so as the deficit that we run in the cafeteria we still are running a deficit. It's growing because we're not keeping pace with the cost of food, which we all know has increased drastically in the last four years. Um, currently lunch at the high school is $3.75 and lunch at the elementary schools is $3.50. And in order to get us into compliance, we need to charge $425 at the high school and 375 at the elementary school. And what that does is it brings the average
038based on the number of lunches that we serve on an average day to $4 um 15 cents. And the guidance says that we should be right around 416. So um what the government is currently paying us for uh students who have free lunch is $4 20 $420 per meal. So when we serve a meal to a student who gets assistance from the government at advance is paid $4.20 20 cents. Um, and what the paid sort of the gist of the paid lunch equity is that they don't want to see a school who um is running a deficit, which we are and is charging less for a paid meal than a free meal. because that could be construed as we're actually taking some of the money that is to benefit the kids who need assistance and
039subsidizing the lunches of the kids who don't, which if you think about it does make sense. >> Um so it does require the board's approval to increase the lunch prices. >> Um the other alternative would be for the board to subsidize the lunch prices. So, if we were to continue to sell lunch at 375 and 350, Edvance would give us a print out every month of how many lunches were sold, and we would have to close the difference between the 375 and the 416 by making a payment into the lunch program. >> What is the current uh procedure? Does a student have to come in with $4.25 25 cents in cash or they do they have a running account or how does it work? >> So we at the it's different at the high school
040level than the elementary level because at the high school level students can walk through a line and purchase something. So at the high school level they can bring cash or a check or they can put money on an account through a program called my school books. So the parents can load money onto my school books and then as the students go through automatically debits. >> In the elementary schools that's the only process because um there's no lunch line there. So the parents have to put the money on the account in order to order the lunch to have it sent down to the >> plus you don't want to send two-year-old out with a pocket full of quarters. Has the board ever subsidized any school lunch program before? >> So, that's an interesting question because it
041it it's how you consider what do you consider a subsidy? And for me, if the program's re running at a deficit and we fund it to bring it back to even, then we've subsidized it. Whether we think about subsidizing 50 cents per lunch or $50,000, we've still subsidized it. Um, and the board has subsidized the school lunch program every year that I've been here. Just not through this method of we're going to charge the students 375, but the government requires requires them to pay 420, so we're going to close that gap. The other rule in the National School Lunch Program is that when you get to the end of the year, if you have a deficit, you have to fund the deficit. So that's how we've funded the deficit in the past is at the
042end of the year transferred the funding and since Ed advance took over um the deficit has been much smaller especially when we started with them it's growing again because of the cost of food. Um but one way um we have funded at advance what we typically do is we give them 10 to $20,000 per year and ask them to use that to purchase produce um and other items from local farms. So they have to buy the produce and the food anyway for the program. So the way we've requested that they use our dollars from the deficit model is to at least use them in something that we fully support and can get behind which is the locally sourced produce and other food stuffs. We get we have started to get things besides produce locally sourced.
043Um our program is not fully farm to table but we've started to try to shift that way. >> Sorry. And before 2022, when was the last time the price increased? >> Um, I don't know that because it was before me. >> Is it something I mean is it something that happens every 3 four years or >> I would say so I came in 2019 and the prices were what they were in 22 when we increased them. So for those three years they had held. What do you recommend? >> I recommend that we increase the lunch prices. >> That we re that we increase the lunch prices. >> I agree with that. >> I think that what we'd like to do is we'd like to see our program continue to grow grow and improve. And we
044have grown it and we have improved it very very slowly in very small steps. And one of the things that contributes to that growth and improvement unfortunately is financial, right? And the stronger we can get the program to be financially, the better offerings we can have and the more variables we can offer, especially in our elementary schools where um our hands are tied with respect to not having proper facilities in those schools to provide lunch. Um, and one thing that is in the works, Alex had mentioned it um at one of his uh reports, we did go ahead um and order warmers and warm transportation units to get hot lunch into the elementary schools. And our plan is to deliver hot lunch to the elementary schools every Tuesday and Thursday next year. So, we're hoping
045that will increase participation in the elementary schools. And we're working on the plan now for what the logistics of that look like. Did one year we offer I'm vaguely remembering that we offered free lunch for the first month or something like that? >> So no it was um during COVID the federal government picked up the tab for all students to eat for free. So for about 18 months all students ate for free. Would it make sense for us to try and you know prime the pump to say you know the first month you don't have to the lunch is free come come eat it and >> so I think co was a great example of of trying to do just that for us and what we saw was during co when lunch was free we
046were serving between 300 and 350 lunches a day so what we hoped is that would hold and we retain those customers once we went back to the um pay model and that didn't hold. It dropped off immediately. >> Yeah. >> So, I think we've tested that and it didn't work. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Can I interject though as a parent whose kids were all getting lunch during co the quality of the lunch was pretty poor honestly. And um and so I'm I'm very curious about this farm-to-table concept because trust that that did not show up in these in these lunches at all. Maybe it's in the middle or high school, but uh I I think that that's probably why there wasn't that much uptake from the families on that. Um and then what I
047would also say is uh in that regard when we move next year to the warm lunches I guess I think it will just be interesting to see how that might change if the fam because I think most of us could agree that packing lunch every morning is not um a very palatable task. Uh, but I I think it really has everything to do with is this is this stuff the kids will eat because otherwise there's a tremendous amount of food waste in the schools. And so I don't know that we would want to offer a free lunch program again or a subsidized lunch program again if most of it would end up being wasted largely again because of the the quality of the the food. The governor has um proposed I I don't know if
048he proposed or he did an executive order. I don't exactly remember that uh all school lunches will be free across Connecticut. That's what I have heard. >> Free breakfast. >> Free what? >> Free breakfast, not free lunch. I thought it was lunch and breakfast. >> Just breakfast made it through. >> Just breakfast. The free lunch and free breakfast has been talked about >> for several years since we came out of COVID for the state to take over that subsidy of the free lunch program, but it's never it's never gotten through. But they did just pass free breakfast. Um we still don't have guidance on what that's going to look like, how it's going to get paid, or what the reimbursement rates are going to be. But what we have heard and we haven't been able
049to um validate is that free breakfast is only going to be offered in buildings that did offer breakfast already. So while we would offer free breakfast at Ship Hog, the elementary schools would not be eligible because they were not serving breakfast. >> I that's that's all news to me. Um, also, Congresswoman Hayes is is promoting that that this is done, that we have free lunches because her her big thing is a hungry child cannot learn. And so, she's in charge of snack and and nutrition that uh she's really pushing for more to be done. So, maybe you might get lunch, too. So, are you looking for a motion? So, can I have a motion to consider for approval the price increase for school lunches as required by the guidance from the National School Lunch Program?
050Can I have a second? All in favor? Anyone opposed? Abstain. It passes. Thank you, Nicole. May I have a motion to adjourn? Second. Thank you.