09-08-2025 Board of Education Meeting

001setember 8th regular board of education meeting. Can we please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible. >> Welcome everyone. Um, the mission of region 15, a collaborative community committed to excellence, is to educate every student to be productive, ethical, and engaged in a global society through proven and innovative learning experiences supported by a strong community whose decision-making is based on the best interest of all students. We'll start with our new student representatives, um, Miss Victoria Southlo and Miss Liza Murphy. And there's a third person who can introduce herself, Daniela. and William just Hi, I'm Victoria and one of the executive board representatives here and over the past um I've had the opportunity to get

002involved with clubs and I'm excited to get more involved. >> Great. Thank you. Welcome and and we appreciate you being here. Um and if you have any questions, feel free to let me know or any you know obviously you know Drunk Jones is also a very great resource too for you guys. So thank you for joining us here. I appreciate you. >> Great. >> Y um next we have our welcome back to school um region 15 presentation by superintendent. >> Presentation is going to be like extremely short. So, couple new things just to queue everybody in. So, this year with our student reps, um, one of the things that we started is to have a junior with the idea that now there's some succession planning. That junior will have a year under their belt as

003they move to a senior and we'll kind of have a secession plan. Um, the other piece is that you'll see the um audiovisisual structure of the media center has shifted. Um, tonight will be the first night that we're doing this kind of live production. um and with the added bonus of having Zoom participants in here, which we didn't actually test those this way. So, um thank you Tom and Shannon for um helping us test the audio piece. Um hopefully this will make it easier for audience members to hear, but also for board members. No matter where you're sitting, um you should be able to see and people won't have to keep moving around during meetings. But there might be a little bit of a learning curve. So, so far so good. Um the other piece

004that I would just say that we had a really smooth opening um this year and if you remember last year when we had floods and roads that were washed out uh just 180 degrees from where we were. Um I wanted to just thank the teachers and staff that came back to the buildings and um the renewed energy that we start each year with. I got some more um audio. Uh, I also want to shout out to the custodial staff and the 12 month staff that just did a tremendous amount of work this summer uh making sure that our schools were ready uh to open. Um, I want to thank all of you for your continued service and and volunteer work uh as board of ed members. I do think there's a lot of good work

005that's in front of us. Um, we're dropping right off tonight like no rest. We're going um right into the work that has to be done. But I I just think that um we're in a place with experienced board members, you have experienced administrators, teachers. Um in a time where school districts are struggling to fill their spots, um we we open school with a 100% of our teaching positions filled. Um we had a very the smallest turnover probably in a decade as far as teacher recruitment this year. Um and it was just a really smooth process. So all of you had a hand in making that smooth. the community had a hand making that smooth. When we can pass budgets uh first time around and when we start the fiscal year u kind of at full

006tilt, it mean it means a lot of consistency and um just the ability to move with the natural cadence of the school district. So, thank you all for the work you did to make that happen. Any questions? No. Next, we'll move to the LMES playground discussion. Um, and that's going to be led by Superintendent Smith. >> We're going to start with a little um walk down memory lane. Um, bear this out. some extra copies um for anybody in the audience. >> No, >> there is some Oh. Oh, yeah. There's they're right here because I didn't hand them the wiring. Anyone in the audience wants to grab one, you're welcome to come. >> Yeah, Jen has some to send out there. >> So, a couple things to um just start with any concerns. All of our

007playgrounds are reviewed. Um every other year we do a certification and safety uh analysis by Childscapes. Um, in between those, uh, every other year, the staff perform routine checks multiple times a week. In addition, we have staff on playgrounds every single day. So, anytime there's anything that didn't show up in that uh, audit that gets raised. Um, and then every other year, we have a mulch replacement cycle. That mulch is really the soft ground underneath that, um, has uh, required thicknesses that gets kind of replenished on a regular basis. So, the timeline on how we got to tonight's conversation, um, this all kind of started around January where there was some, uh, the tall slide, one tall slide at Long Meadow started to show signs of aging and started to show some, uh, breaking of

008the brackets. Um at that time we started with creative recreation for an estimate and this whole thing started as a slide replacement just one slide out back. Um and then we started that conversation with the PTO's again we'll get into this a little more but historically the district does not have kind of a slide replacement process and that's been done in partnership or at least under the last administration it was done by uh PTO. So we started that conversation in February. Um when we started digging into that a little deeper, there were additional issues found not just on that slide but in the kind of structure that that slide connected to. Um and so at still at that point we were talking about repairs. Now you're talking about a 30-year-old structure. As we started to

009dig into this with uh the manufacturers, what became apparent is that we had to start looking at customized brackets. things would have to the the parts that we needed were no longer manufactured, so they'd have to be custommade. When you start getting into custommade um hardware, the cost escalated and the conversation then shifted to is it worth bandating and spending exorbitant amounts of money to breathe life into something that was 30 years old and then what were you going to do as the next piece failed and the next piece failed and would we just be kind of chasing this aging structure? And so, um, when we got to around May with this, and none of this is fast, right? Like you talk to a vendor, they're like, "Oh, I think we can get those parts."

010And then two or three weeks later, they come back and say, "Actually, we can't get those parts, but but I know a guy and maybe they can get them." And so, we kind of went down this journey for a couple of months of still trying to look at what it would cost to just replace that slide. Um, and then by the end of May, it started to become pretty apparent that we weren't going to be able to just do this piece. But, um, in May, there was a a meeting at Long Meadow where the PTO and Mr. Wormouth talked a little bit about how one slide was not really realistic and we had to look at a bigger piece. Um, and so in June and July, we had a couple of vendors start to work

011with us on what it would look like if we replaced the aging equipment. um kind of as a unit and I have some pictures coming up where we'll kind of give you a better handle of of what we're talking um and then when that happened it's been um a long time since we purchased playground equipment and when you start look at the scale and the cost of the equipment it just starts to become pretty extreme um and the fact that we're talking about equipment that it's already failing um that's where we started to engage the conversation with the board that we didn't budget for this replacement this year, but um I don't think that um we can at this point say to the PTO's they have to raise the amount of money and have it

012done in a timely fashion. So that's kind of where we engage the board and and kind of how we got to tonight. Um so what we're talking about is the section in red here. Um, that's the front section. Those big slides, that one on my right, which I think is on everybody's right, um, is the one that started failing. Um, and we were going to try to replace and maintain that structure behind it. And then when you started to look at what that entailed, the structure behind it, um, or that it was attached to um, just wasn't salvageable. Um, on the side view, there's that green box. That's the structure behind it. That small slide. um that pass inspection that is as of today safe and operational and um functional. >> Yeah. Into that um

013in so when this is some of the hardware that we started looking um this is after it failed but it had started failing. Um and these are those brackets here. Um and you can see kind of all the cracking in the platforms and how they attach. These are the pieces that would have had to been custom made. Um that became extremely cost prohibitive and really not worth it to put, you know, a $2,000 bracket on a 30 structure. Um so side view wise, this again is the damage structure. This piece behind it is the is the section that is in good shape. What we were hoping um is that we'd be able to salvage kind of these monkey bar sections. Um and then in the end, um we were able to salvage some of it

014and then the rest of the structure is just down. Um as we had like yellow caution tape up there, the conversation especially as you saw those brackets that were had failed. Whoops. These here um there's a liability risk after you know during school we could make sure no one went on it but on weekends after school we couldn't protect it. Um, and at this point, whether or not we knew it was not fixable, so we removed it before school started. Um, and then that's kind of how it looks today. So, we mulched over all of the previous space. Anything that was dangerous, that was broken was removed. >> Just like that. So, >> somebody else asked that question. I I said probably about 40%. So, if you look at Whoops. Um, so if you look

015at this here, the front part is what was removed in that red section and everything behind it is still there. Uh this is what it looks like today with the front structure removed and all that was fresh mulch. Um so we now had two vendors come out um and look at the section that was the the cost to replace some version of the section that was removed. One uh Ben Schaefer Recreation is on the state of Connecticut bid list. Uh that means they've already met the bid requirements and pricing structures. Um the other one has not, but they came out today. We haven't actually received their quote yet. Um and they're the ones that um they kind of offer, they call it a grant. It's really kind of a end of season discount. Um that's

016matching. So um that would be based on whatever cost they gave us or they give us which we haven't received yet. The first vendor um was I say 75 to 85,000 because there's some options. So one of the questions they had for us was removal. Well, we've already taken care of that. So removal is not going to be a cost of the new structure. Should we do that? And then there's a spectrum of how it's installed. Um if we have parent volunteers install it, they're estimating it's about a $10,000 cost savings. It isn't like IKEA shows up and drops off a box with instructions. Um there still are foremen that show up and um make sure everybody's doing the right thing. It's all certified. It's walk through. Um and the major structural things like cementing

017in the main columns are still done by a contractor. They're not just >> Yes, this is only to replace the 40%. Not the whole thing. Um this is kind of a design. Uh I know the colors are a little bold. the colors are not locked in. Um, but this is a schematic of what that 75 to 85,000 buys. Um, which would kind of again those two front slide structures if you remember with um that little bridge that's what this would replace. Um, and then a little bit of a history. Um, it's really interesting is when you go before 2014 um there's not a lot of documentation. Um and so in 2014, my understanding based on the evidence that we have is that um the playground at PEES, which was original to the school, was a

018wooden structure and would no longer meet uh state code for playgrounds, um the splinter farm as Mr. Martino called it. Um so it wasn't um failing like the one at Long Meadow was. And my understanding is there was a lead time of a couple of years that people had. Um, in 2014, Long Meadow also bought a playground. The preschool playground that's in the back of Long Meadow was purchased by the PTO. The cost of that was 10,000. There was a $1,000 grant. U, we do have some emails back and forth. the pees one the district does not have a lot of emails on because the district as far as I can tell was not that involved in the acquisition um of that if so the the district doesn't have any records um the long meadow

019one the district was at least involved in some of the uh back and forth um the capital plan prior to 2019 the district did not have a capital plan we created it for the first time in 2019 19. Um, as of now, we've never put playgrounds on that capital plan in part and we pulled uh pulled some districts in our region. Playgrounds last 30 to 40 years in most cases and they come with the building. So, when you build, for example, if we're going to talk about the potential to build a school, that playground would be built into the scope of the school and qualify for reimbursement. So, um, in some districts they have, say, a 30 to 40year school replacement cycle, and so they replace the playgrounds with the new school. Um, and so

020they don't have a lot. Um, I didn't find any districts that had playground replacement as part of their capital plan, but they would do, um, they would reach into capital reserves to do it. Um, or in some cases, what's happening now is, um, there are districts that are looking to upgrade and make them more universally acceptable. uh accessible and so they've put in some money in their town bonds to do that. Um in 2122 we created an operating capital budget. Um as part of our annual budget we built in some of the mulching but as far as major repairs or maintenance on um playground equipment we have not built that into our operating budget in the past. Um both MEES and PEES have had equipment added to their playgrounds specifically connected to students with mobility

021challenges and some of the special education programs we have within those two schools. Um the swing that was added this summer um to me the district did purchase. Um, I talked about the playground mulch and the infrequent need and that I think answers a lot of the questions that I received over the weekend from board members, but I'm happy to entertain that. Yeah. >> One second. Um, before I just want to finish before we get to questions, >> are you all done? >> That was that's it. Y >> can you explain what your recommendation is to the board? >> So, I think I guess I'll go through what the three options as I see them. Um, one would be to kind of follow the PEES model which was to say to the PTO's you have

022to raise the money. Um, I do think that will take multiple years. Um, the second option would be for us to go to capital reserve and make a transfer from capital reserve into the operating budget and have the district fund this as a replacement. Um and then the third would be to to build this into the um operating capital for next school year. That would mean that um this year um the this would be what the Long Meadow playground would look like. Um while this is a nice piece of equipment, Long Meadow is the second biggest school in the um in the district. um on any given day there's a hundred to 150 students that are on this at a time. Um and I think that it it's um it would be a long year

023for us to say, you know, um we're looking at probably an 8w week to 10 week lead time even if we place an order tomorrow. Um so I guess that's a long way of me saying that the best option I would say we have a capital reserve for a reason. Um, if this was an air conditioning unit, we would make the transfer and we would say that school needs the function of an air conditioner. I I don't think this is an emergency, which is why if it was an emergency, we have the authority to say, um, we're going to make the purchase and tell the board afterwards. Um, so we didn't see this as an emergency. This is a little bit of an in between. It wasn't on our capital project list. It wasn't on

024our summer list because it wasn't really on the radar. We were trying to repair it. So, um you know, we didn't want to make any assumptions and we thought it was um worth the board discussing uh really which of those three options you want us to follow. >> And so before we get into a discussion about are there any clarifying questions for Josh that board members? >> Uh this one here. Oh. Um this was the idea that it's uh >> should provide guidance on the most desirable direction. >> Um and I'm just gonna if you don't mind I'm going to close this because I can't see Tom and Shannon. >> We got Heather and then we got Steve. I have a lot of questions. A quick question just right off the bat. As it is

025right now, it is safe. The children are using it. Right. >> That smaller section is safe and Tuesday it will be >> safety issue that was another one of the questions I was asked is the section to the left that's not there. There's a section of grass and construction equipment out there that seems to be um getting people up that because that's something that was started and not finished. What can you talk about what that is right now because that's part of the playground as well. >> So if you remember when we put in the portables, one of the cost-saving measures was to build the portables on the existing blacktop but we took the blacktop from the students. So that equipment which should be go actually I didn't go over there today but >> so

026once the final so we've extended the black top that was over by the basketball hoops has been extended to make up for the black top that we lost with portables. So that should be completed actually I thought it was completed already. So should be completed the next couple of days and then I put >> because I know there was a lot of I went and looked at it but I know there was a lot >> of construction equipment >> on actual brass because obvious stuff so we increase that that >> in the end it won't be additional. It'll kind of restore where the port >> Yeah. >> that that is part of the plan. >> Yeah. Yeah. Um, I swung by over there to take a look at it just myself. I saw structures that

027are still there. I saw the red swings that several hoops. Um and so my question is do children >> the basketball so they have access to the field as well to play. >> Yeah. Depending whether permitting. >> Yeah. >> When do they please stop going outside? >> Never actually. Yeah, I mean try to any day that you know there's not a weather alert or uh we try to make sure that students get fresh air and time outside >> hardcore >> um if we go out to bed and do this and also the whole thing that was pretty installed too. >> Yeah. So the remaining section is um obviously was installed the same time. Um, we had some some conversation that we thought that'd be about 150,000 when we were kind of like it wasn't a

028>> I know you have a picture of everything that you're thinking it with, but I would like to see us look into possibly having modular thesis instead of inter. If one thing fails, it doesn't take out a whole section that cost 70. Could we do a self-standing slide? Could we do self-standing? Um something more like PES. I mean PES is not interlocking as well. So to me, I'm thinking maybe we put a replacement plan maybe whatever. That part's not what I'm thinking about. It's more they have one to replace. Why don't we look at something different like pieces? Um, my big thing right now is equity all of the schools because if you look at Gainfield and their structure that that's not that great and it's pretty old too and I realize that elementary based

029over $100,000 that um the structure that was there before I don't believe is original structure I think that was also rebuilt by parents almost um that that was replaced by parents as well in PTA. together. So, I would like to get I mean I'd like to give it a lot more thought and then also what's their plan going forward because if we spend this much money on one school the other schools are going to say but pay what about us? Um which is that's the equity piece to me. So I'd like to look at it that way. And also um mobility issues. Are we replacing this one piece that's going to one piece of the students and exclude another? should we be looking at something that's um accessible to all the kids? So, I don't

030want to just say, "Oh, yeah, that's let's replace what they have." In 25 years, our needs have changed. So, tonight feels premature to me to make any kind of big decision. Um, but I'd like to kind of look into a lot of options because I think we've only known about this for a few months. I wish we had known about it back in, you know, January, February. on January and February was 13,000 and kind of a small we're happy to follow wherever I mean I think one of the challenges one of the challenges is um it's cost we we could you know the uh the ac universally accept accessible playgrounds become extremely expensive we can certainly price some of those out and we're open to that for >> the modular piece can take >> also

031yeah also just Yep. Got Shannon. Shannon, you have your hand up. Very fancy. >> I was trying to make sure that uh you know, I didn't want to kind of jump in. So, right, Heather, I hear you on the equity piece. Right. Mees just built a kindergarten playground um that the PTO fund raise second. >> Hold on a second. >> You weren't going through the whole thing. Can you start over again? >> Sure. Can you hear me now? >> Yep. >> Okay. So I wanted to acknowledge right Heather's comment about the equity piece right of all the different schools but perspective as a parent and a board member right so MEES put a kindergarten playground in probably 3 years ago that was fundraised by the PTO and wholeheartedly have no problem with giving funding to

032another school that you know potentially other people's like my children don't attend or any elementary school at this point. I've been a big advocate of us, I think you guys remember from five or six years ago, having us fund playgrounds for children. I think this absolutely needs to be fixed by us this year as soon as possible. There are many children on that playground. I get it, they have black top. I get it, they have space, but children are on these playground equipment all the time. And I don't think that it would be unfair to other schools to say like this is a problem. It's our biggest schools. We have preschoolers there. We have all the way up. There's kids that go there after school for different events. I mean, my kids play on that

033playground even though they don't go there before basketball. So, right, I don't think it's that much money that it's going to create a huge issue for us. But, we should definitely, my vote should be that we should definitely fix this and not be so concerned about the equitable piece right now because different schools when air conditioning unit breaks, we don't say, "Oh, that's unequitable to another school." We fix it. Um, and we should put something in place for schools that we're not going to upgrade to make sure that $75,000 isn't sitting on the parents. Josh, I think the audio went out in the feed of the people calling in. I can't hear if anyone's talking. >> I was just going to say that too, Tom. I was like, I can't I can hear you. I

034can't hear them. >> Correct. Yeah, same. I don't think they can hear us now, Shannon. >> I don't think so either. second over here. She's on the line. >> Second. All right. I think we're back. >> Uh, I hear you, Josh. Yep. >> Okay, >> we hear you or can you hear us, Shannon? >> Yeah, I can hear you. >> Okay, great. So, before it got cut off, Sally had a question. I'm gonna have her repeat her question and then um Josh can answer >> I cannot hear the question if Sally's speaking right now. Yes. Okay. We still can't hear you guys. >> Can I just follow that and see like so then what what's after the eight week like >> we have none of that discussion eight weeks to get construction started. >> It's

035not like a process for you know a month. No, it's it does help fairly fast >> and that's based on the picture that you already have. Not if you wanted to modes and also um we have another different design >> and we can look at modular pieces. Um, I I didn't hear what what the question was or the answer, but the end of it sounded like a question I might have. So, was it about delivery times? >> Yeah. I don't know why you can't hear us. >> I I can hear you now, Josh, but we were we had silence after you passed it to Sally. So if you can hear me right now, Tom, delivery times are about six weeks to get equipment on site and then about eight weeks or two weeks to schedule

036contractor. They did a parent build, you have to kind of coordinate the install of the main structural pieces and then I would say probably two weekends or so if you're doing a parent bill to get that done. Let's just say again I'm making a little bit of assumption something we've done in the past but you're probably talking about I'd say like a 10e journey to >> so if we decided by October one >> yeah bill would be taking place in December >> okay >> right >> what happens if the ground is closing theoretical >> nobody nobody's We had a discussion with another vendor today. They're pretty comfortable digging in the depth of mulch. We have like two and a half feet. So frost line's pretty far down. >> So if it's okay, I have a

037comment. And then um clearly just going back to >> Can we Can we fix the echo? That might >> Yeah. >> Are you hearing the echo? Yeah. I would. Shannon and Tom, can you Shannon can you just tell? >> No, no, no. Oh, no. They hold on one second. Barely, >> but there's still echo. >> Yeah, you just got very quiet, Josh. Quiet. More quiet than it's been the rest of the call. >> It is, >> right? >> Yeah. >> Oh, you know what? Thank you, Sharon. You know what? Hold on a second. >> We'll give this one more shot and then I'm just going to convert to phone calls. Um, can you hear me now? >> I can hear you. I can hear you. >> Yeah, I can hear you. >> Yeah, but there's

038still there's still the >> Okay. Yeah. Can the audience hear? Okay. But there's still that echo. >> Can you adjust now this the TV? Yeah. Drop. >> All right. Can you Can the audience hear? >> Okay. All right. Are we good? Tom and Shannon, can you guys hear? >> Yes. >> All right. Now we Shannon Tom. >> Yeah, we can hear you. >> Yes. All right. We can hear you. Yeah. >> All right. Great. All right. So I don't remember where we were >> six to eight weeks on lead time like the build it turnkey solution probably a title. >> Okay Sharon. Okay sorry >> a couple comments for my questions. Okay and I appreciate all the work you know supporter of region 15. Um, I also want to applaud the previous efforts that the

039PTO and the family on fundraising and building uh playgrounds and mobile. And actually when when these emails started to come in and this topic conversation came up, I was extremely surprised that it was hitting up the way in which it did. Um, I actually feel that playgrounds are fundamentally important particularly for elementary schools. Of course, they need to be safe. That's without question. Um, I really am struggling with the time it's taken for it to come to the board as last month and the objects in the community that this is coming to us that we we're delaying the decision. Um, I recognize that the price point and the conversation has shifted like all things in these times when it's related to budgetary items. But when I think of how many nights I spent away from

040my family at budget meetings, at budget workshops, at conversation, questions, capital plans, PTO advisory, this topic has never come up. And I would like to implore the entire region if there are any issues that are fundamentally important to our students to bring them to this board as soon as possible when it's appropriate because we're now in a situation the start of the year and it feels very reactive. And the other piece of this is the emails are coming in like the board of ed known about this and not making any movement. And for me personally, I was not able to attend the retreat where an arguer this was presented. I learned about it when I started. >> It wasn't present the 8:15. >> Y >> um so thank you. Um so I to I literally

041learned about it because people in the community started writing it beginning with board members. Um I do not feel that the PTO should be um burdened with trying to fund raise something that should be provided to our students as part of the quality of their education. I agree with Heather that we should explore options as long as they are timely, but I am concerned about the equity piece and that is we're talking about PES GDE. We're going to get a new school hopefully, fingers crossed. So, I'd like to think that there's always going to be some level of inequity just because, you know, people at LMS got a new school 30 years ago where the other two schools didn't. So, things do change and we're always working to make sure it's equitable, but we're never

042going to be able to get there 100%. Right? So I want to kind of kind of bookmark that but kind of backseat that a little bit because right now from my perspective I'm sitting here saying I really wouldn't understand out of these three options. I only see two that are really viable. Um I'd like to implore that moving forward if there are any sizable issues. Oh and I have to say I went on tours 100% of the schools last year and they never saw the playback and it was never raised to me. So, so for me it's a pet peeve right now that this is coming so late in the day. Um, so however way we move forward, I would like these types of conversations much more proactive than reactive. Um, and to Sally's point,

043I think we really, realistically need to understand what our options are, what the timelines are, and what the contingency plan so we can be very clear with the community when their kids could potentially get into fully support. Um, and I'm sorry, I'll get off my soap box, but this these this was really hard um when I start hearing about this stuff so late um when it's really been a conversation since January. And I'm not saying everything. Hope you come to the board. You guys are confident. You run your shops. But again, I feel like it's another example where the board is put into a very um uncharacter un uh where we are acting very reactively. >> I just like to say like until August, this wasn't an issue where we felt the board needed to

044get involved. We would have just fixed it. Um, it wasn't until we couldn't replace it for what we would consider like operating dollars. This was a $20,000 fix and if the PO had 12,000 to put in, we would have fixed this and we would have moved on. Um, and honestly, we probably could have done that. You know, I think the conversation was didn't make sense to spend $30,000 to band-aid a structure that was aging. So, this wasn't on a plan for um capital. this wasn't on a plan like when we took your tour. There's lots of stuff in the district that is kind of more on our radar as far as failure. um the the kind of rapid pace that this moved from salvageable to not salvageable is really what took us on that journey

045until, you know, I think it was August 15th when I put in the the weekend update to the border that we kind of hit a point where we had to we we shifted from a break fix to a replacement and we didn't budget for it, which is why we have a capital reserve account. um most of the time actually I don't know that we've gone to Capital Reserve for much since we've been here. We really worked on building it. So part of the reason that we kind of put it onto the board for discussion is because I do think not just in this case um so far our capital reserve has been part of like roof replacement and coming up with a cycle on how we were going to build and spend the capital reserve.

046It hasn't been emergency break fix. Um, and I think that's where this shifted um, and why kind of the runway um, was short and and why we u, and actually it's here tonight in part because of the timeliness and because board members wanted this conversation short. U, you know, >> I think that's fair. I think everybody wants it as possible. I guess from where I'm sitting and why I see a timeline that started the conversation in January to explain why that is, but it's also how focus. I hope this is clear, but I also think that this should not be a PTO responsibility. This should be a line item in the budget and we should ensure that we've got these types of equipment and and services for our children. >> Um, I'm going to have

047Tom go next if that's okay. Um, he's been waiting. So, go ahead, Tom. >> Hey, everybody. Can you hear me? All right. >> Yep. >> Okay, great. Um, yeah, I'll I'll echo some of Shannon's thoughts and uh, you know, I understand how we got here. Um, another thing that I've said is that, you know, the presentation tonight and the information was very good, but I feel like prior to tonight, um, I had ve it was a very peacemealing uh, reveal of the facts we need to, I think, kind of make a decision here, you know, which started with a a paragraph from Josh back in August, but then, you know, we got subsequently more, but then I learned things through some of those parent emails. Although I do agree with you, Shannon, it, you know,

048it it kind of made us look like we were holding this up. You know, I learned some things from Marian's responses to the parent emails that I didn't know. Um, you know, it sounds like some board members have had conversations with Josh and learned other things and then we got the presentation tonight. So, I I do finally feel like I have the full picture. However, as I understand, we still don't have all the quotes in and that's a misunderstanding I had. I thought we had two quotes in hand. So, like clearly, I don't think we would take action before we have pricing. Um, but you know, that being said, I think everyone is trying to do the best with a with a difficult situation. And I also echo a lot of what Heather said, like

049I would like to explore modular options. You know, if if we have full units that go down if part of them go down, then I don't know that that's the future of of playground replacement for us. I think we maybe need to look at some, you know, smaller pieces that, you know, if one piece goes down, it's easier to repair because it's not interconnected. Um, you know, the other thing I would like to say is I um the timeline is something that's been on my mind because one thing that's really important to me is I would like to try to address this without touching our capital reserves. We've worked hard to build them up and in my mind, you know, I view those capital reserves as our stop gap if we have something catastrophic. You

050know, that that would impact our ability to have school. You know, Shannon brought up an HVAC unit. That's an excellent point and and honestly I'm I would still like to see I know we're having a survey done on our HVAC units. I still want to understand our liability because I think that is the biggest liability that we have as a board, right? We might we might need to replace a million-doll unit this year. We don't know. We're kind of waiting for one to go down. So that's why I'm really hesitant to touch um Capital Reserve. I think we can all agree we should have working playground equipment. I'd like to see it as part of our budget planning, right? And if we can fit it in this year, I know some things from our budget

051were shifted to summer projects. So, I think, you know, not all of that 575 is spoken for, but if it has to go into next year, too, the timing is interesting. Like, best case scenario, we have parents working in the middle of December. if any of our other capital projects are a a guide, things don't always happen according to schedule, right? What if it snows? What if we have a couple weeks of rain? What if a part gets backed up? You know, so for the I think realistically, if you're thinking about we order this, as Jeff said, October 1, my hope is that it's ready for the spring, but we don't even know that. And then at that point, why couldn't we just build this into next year's capital process? The last point I'm going

052to make is that, you know, one of the reasons I I feel strongly about that is what we do here sets a new precedent. The precedent right now is that PTO, you know, for every project that that we have in recent history has donated every dollar. So, if we're going to change the precedent, we need to do it in a thoughtful and thorough way and honestly one that I would like to see formalized into policy. Um because otherwise it does feel very reactionary as Sharon said and I don't want to set a precedent for what happens if a piece goes down. Well, LMES, you know, you wrote a check for the for that piece in 3 weeks. What happens when that happens at NES? If a piece goes down next month, what happens if a

053piece goes down at GES? Then we're really going to have a conversation about do they go without a playground piece for two two or three years or do we replace something temporarily while we're waiting for a new school. So I think there are a lot of ramifications. It's not as easy for us to just say write the check. You know, I would like a little bit more time to investigate those modular pieces to understand how we could build this into capital planning and to see how we could formalize it as part of a plan moving forward so this isn't treated as a one-off. >> Okay. Thank you, Tom. Um I have Heather, then Sally, then Sharon, but I would like to give Josh and and Joe an opportunity. Can you talk about the whole modular

054thing like did you consider that is that even like what do you think about that? >> Yeah, our journey started with repairing what we have and then it grew to it is in worse shape than the original estimates. Um we talked about putting this on the finance meeting on Wednesday and then the board meeting on the 29th. what we heard from um school u personnel and from board members is that that timeline um pushed things out even further, which I don't disagree with. Um and you know, we could have pushed this through as an emergency and reallocated operating capital. Um but as I'm sitting here, not all the board is on the same page. And so it would have been easy for me to send an email saying in in May, hey listen, this is

055worse than we thought we're going to pivot and just purchase it. Uh but our step one was to try to repair what we had. So to say modular a like we could look at modular, we could look at accessibility. Um cost is going to go up exponentially when you look at that. I don't know about timing. Some of the modular stuff um is probably a call to the vendors and to to pivot, but smaller than the wall. >> And I would say like you're also looking at a life expectancy of like 25 to 35 years. So it's not like like the reason this is failing is because it's 30 years old. Um, the Gainfield one actually I can't find any records of. Um, and nobody, including people that have been here for 35 years, remember

056any work happening on that one. So, I'm not saying it didn't. I'm just saying we have no, you know, human um, record of it or uh, paperbased record of it that that we can find. There's nothing in our financial systems um, going back at least 30 years. So, um, the Gainfield one I don't know about. But I mean, I think some of this is um listen, I can move pretty fast, right? We also talked about and on Wednesday's agenda is the parking expansion at Gamefield. Like we could move on that as well, but we heard clearly from board members that you wanted discussion on that. And so, um, I did not want to kind of jump the turn style and usurp any board conversation. So, we kind of both slow rolled it to try to

057find the repairs that fit into the structure that was clearly established. Um, this is a pivot and we did want to give the board air time on that. So, I do think one of the things that we're looking for is some um parameters, guard rails, conversations of where where is that line? How how when do you want us to run? When do you want us to put put it on agenda? How much information do you need? Tom's point about additional information coming out is partly because we had different questions and people are in different places. So, you know, I do think tonight was kind of level setting and making sure everybody had the same information. Uh, which we try to do on a regular basis, but this evolved a little quickly in the shift from

058repair to to replace and the board level conversation. >> Heather, then Sally, then um Sharon. >> Well, I think my struggle too is we're using And while it doesn't seem like it's an emergency, seems like we should have something. >> The only reason I'm not going to cut you off. The only reason I'm using emergency is because if it's an emergency, then the administration has the ability to kind of jump that stock. >> You didn't treat it like that because that's why we're here. >> It's here tonight like because all of a sudden kind of how like explain um they couldn't use the piece. parents are, you know, playing. I want to make it clear, it's not a safety issue. We're missing some playground equipment, but an emergency to me is that HVAC that capital

059reserve most of the time would be we cannot open schools because we have a sink or something. That would be something that to me is an emergency. This is a major and it's it does impact the kids and it does impact it doesn't shut down a school. So I think to me it's okay to take a second and read and say okay what's the best option for us? Is it to just do the thing that replaces it or should we look at something else like engage in the look at the module? What's going to last the longest? It's the emergency. We need to make a decision tonight that rubs me play a little bit because it's not an emergency. There is still place to play there. You know, there's another there's another structure there, too.

060It's not just the preschool. There's a smaller lot behind there. Correct. >> No, there's two. there's another playground. >> So not that that's Yeah. So they have multiple. So I think to me it's >> we need to do the right thing whatever that thing may be but the emergency piece is revenue. >> Just be clear the administration isn't calling an emergency. If we did we would have skipped this process. So I just want to be clear I >> was your point. It's not >> Yeah. It's not a and and here's my here's my point. This is a both and like Tom said it's not a we need to have a policy for it. It's not a one-off. It actually is a one-off and it's a we need support. I think it's both. And the reason

061I think it's a one-off is because that fourth grade class there, my son happens to be a part of it, but there are 104 other students who are also a part of it. It does not fit anywhere near on that. I mean, it's it does become a safety issue when you try to cram that many kids onto this. So we push kick take this down the line. We'll put it in next year budget make a policy they're going to be graduating and and it's going to be you know ribbon cutting on the day they have to move off ceremony. So like to push it off really does make a big difference I think for a very large that's our largest grade across any of the elementary schools anyway. Um and so it matters. I mean

062I think it matters to them to have that space. I do think it's a one-off and I do think again I'm disappointed we didn't hear about it earlier but that's so I just echo that but I do think that And then yes, I think getting something that we needed going in November versus January one day maybe there are you know what I mean that might be harder like I I I don't think that figuring out if modular makes sense or not. I think that would probably be pretty straightforward for people who know what they're doing in terms of do we have the space like what would the cost be and then I think putting up a piece it's also fun where it's connected right that's that's the that's the kind of group play right where

063they're running across the bridge someone's up here someone's over there that I think you lose with the modular but I do think that there's a really large group of kids class in particular that this would be a big deal and and I do think that for them I want to persu I'd like to just clarify my reactive term because I actually think we need to move quick and to Sally's point um I do not at all feel this should be kicked into next year but I do think a reactive decision is not how this board operates right but we do need more information on what the options are the associated costs and more importantly the timeline. So that to me is what is missing from this component to really be able to say yes we

064need to add because if the module is going to take a year to do I'm replace I think that there's certain pros and cons that have to be evaluated in that side by side option one option two option three and for me that's the piece that's missing I've aired my grievances about how this came to us I appreciate the work that's going into I appreciate the work to try and fix it and remedy it. I am a huge advocate that we do this sooner rather than later. I think it's a big mistake this week last year. We think about what we did with the budget last year over $300,000. I am very concerned we start kicking this down. Will the playground at whatever cost actually make it in that budget? I would like for this

065ASAP. And the reality is our capital plan, there's a a myriad of things that could go, but this is one of them. And I wholeheartedly feel this is something that the school and the we just forgot to just that the end is also that like I think there needs to be some policy that for the future in terms of how we go about thinking about this place. That's all. Oh, I did. Okay. Sorry. I got all riled up talking about. >> So you're just just so I understand your point Sharon that you'd like to do it sooner rather than later but you need some more information. >> I need to know what the options the cost and the associated timeline are because I the modules are out if to me that's not implemented in 427

066right and if it's coming in at a cost three times the size. I'm just throwing that out there. That's probably not the reality. So to me that's about level setting expectations and ensuring that we're being as um careful and we can make a decision that would benefit both sides financially responsible timeline the students all of that. My big issue that I sorry I got on my soap box was more about um the optics over how this came about and again wanting to have known about this sooner later. Um Tom has another Oh Jeff um and Steve. Okay. So, how about if we go Tom, Jeff, and Steve. Is that okay? All right. So, Tom, you're up. >> Thank you. So, yes, I agree. I would like some more information, too. Um, and, uh, here are

067the things I'd like to see. I'd like to see what the what the other quote is. Um, that we're still waiting on, of course. Um, I'd like to see an exploration into modular pieces. You know, maybe they're more expensive, maybe they're not. I guess it depends on the number of pieces you buy. So, I'd like to at least explore that. Um, I'd also like to see um, you know, a revision or a look at our capital plan for this year. And if we were to spend some of this, uh, into our capital plan, like what would the superintendent suggest as um, changes what we've currently budgeted for? And again, I know there's some money like the LMS blacktop project was in last year's capital plan. So there's 25 grand that is not spoken for, right?

068And I'm sure there's some other projects, too. So, I would like to see if we didn't touch capital reserve and if we did it in capital, what would that look like for our capital plan? Um, and then finally, I guess the last piece, and I don't know if this is information, I don't know who provides this, but I, you know, I would like to understand, Josh, you did say in your emails that the PTO is willing to contribute something to it. You know, I do think it's hard to go from zero uh or 100% contribution to 0%. So, if there is a willingness, you know, maybe there is a solution where, you know, uh, we're not completely flipping the switch again as a one-off case until we create policy on how we handle this. Um,

069especially if there's this request that it's got to be immediate. You know, if you're not going to let us work it into next year's capital plan, then maybe the PTO can help defer the cost this year so we could get it into this year's capital plan. So, that's information I would like to see before uh we make any further decisions. Thank you. >> Thank you, Tom. All right, Jeff. And then Steve. All right, a couple thoughts. Um, one, this board has a tendency to move slow. So, I think we should first commit to having whatever that plan is signed, delivered by October one at the latest, forcing us to get the information, make the decision, get off whatever we're on, and sign. Otherwise, it will be December before we make a decision, and it's all

070going to just get kicked out of that. Don't that decision I think needs to have to do with style cost and timeline and not just timeline to get it timeline to go live. There are variables. It's going to cost an extra five grand to get it live a month earlier. Might be worth it and not be talking about parent volunteers. Does that take longer? Does it take shorter? Saves 10 grand all those those three factors. Um so we need a playground ASAP. I think it's embarrassing we ask the PTO to pay for any of that kind of stuff. And I know that's been a historical precedent, but I just thinking about it from the outside, PTO paying for a structural functional thing. They should be spending their money on other stuff like events and activities

071and other ways to engage the school group. That's just my soap box. I just think we should not even consider PTO as a resource. I think it was a gift that we've been given for years. It's time for us to take ownership of that. Um I think it should come out of capital reserves. That's what they're for. and that should be considered in the budget for the next year for future versions of this which are likely to happen. But capital reserves are for was not expected until August. That's why you have a capital reserve. And yeah, if you guys want to tinker around with the budget and say, well, we can use some of capital reserves, but we can actually save some money here, here, and here. That's that's your per burden. That's what you

072can get creative about it. But playground ASAP decision by 101 signed no later than that. and no responsible. >> Okay, go ahead, Steve. >> Um, what's the first meeting on uh I think the scope of the criticism of the timeline is being overdone. Um, if there are criticisms of the timeline, that's what the superintendent midyear and final year reviews are for. Um, I agree with Heather that it's not an emergency. I agree um that the PTO should not ask for it. Although certainly if they want to you know add a bell or whistle or something with some money that's fine. Um I do think it I don't think we can get it on the plan radar. this doesn't happen again. I agree with Tom about the president and I agree um Tom and Heather really

073answer this explicitly, but I mean yes, we could wait several months to see what else comes up because there's there's a limited amount of money and so we've done this now, you know, something comes up later that is an absolute must fix immediately emergency, you know, and we've spent this money. Um, I don't think it's going to break the bank uh to have seven or 80 grand and so um I'm hoping we can wrap up discussions. >> So you're like October one or you like tonight? >> I I'm not October one. I think it's addressed, you know, we could look into it quickly. >> Okay. All right. Um Yeah. >> 29th >> I would ask to like design there's like four different versions of what you saw. I mean there's climate walls. There's all kinds

074of stuff. So I mean I don't know if we want to >> this is a little bit this is a little bit problematic. >> Yeah. in terms of like we need a recommendation from the administration. That's the best way to work from this. Like if the board is going to get in the weeds, we're just never going to get anything done. Um and the the reason why the board's at this level is because we're talking about possibly using capital reserve and you need a board motion to do that, right? There's a reason why the administration should be able to pivot like they need to and be able to make these kind of decisions that the board should not get involved. Like I think it's a fair question to say have you looked at modular is

075that a good idea but in terms of building a climbing wall or whatever the board should not get involved with >> Josh PTO as far as I >> yeah like I think the the administration and the PTOs are fully capable of um getting to that level of detail. I have not heard much from John and Heather Dwire. Um so I'm totally putting you guys on the spot but um I don't want to spend forever tonight. I want to be able to see if we're going to do a motion tonight or we're just going to kind of kick this off to the the September 29th meeting is going to be a big meeting. We're talking about the Gainfield PMO feasibility study. We're having the whole feasibility committee come and we're probably going to be having an

076executive session. It's going to be a big night. Um we could always add that um add this discussion to that, but it's going to be a heavy lift that night. Just FYI. Go ahead, John. Okay, John. >> I don't think we have to do anything and ask the BTO if they were no. >> Okay. Okay, go ahead, Heather. Um, I don't need a lot more information. I'm I'm I'm ready to say we could transfer some amount of money or allocate some amount of money tonight to get this project done. What I'm hearing is that even if we did this picture right here and added this to the playground, like that that's not fixing the playground and closing the book and we never speak of the LMS playground for another 30 years. I'm hearing that there's

077other pieces that are going to stay and live there and are going to need to be addressed. Um, and that possibly this isn't the last part of this project. So to me, this is a this is a break. Um I to me this actually does look magic. It's a smaller piece of what we've heard going to be a separate structure. Um I think you know I I don't want to get too in the weeds with that but you know I I have talked about you know work design and how involved we want to be in that. I really do think that should be a discussion with LMS teachers, administrators, you know, the people who are going to be using that playground, the people who understand the needs of the students in that school. Like I

078don't want to I don't want to be comparing one piece of playground equipment to another. I think um you know, Mr. Wmouth and his team are people answering that question better than we can. Um, so you know, I'm I'm ready to move on this only because I'm very cognizant of time and um, you know, already November to me is if he to start a project like that, I wouldn't want to um, you know, I just wanted to say it was great making absolutely Um, you know, I don't know that we need like a policy policy, but I'm certainly happy to um for us, you know, as a board or for the administration and the PTO's to come to an agreement of how this is handled going forward. To me, you know, what PTO's has always

079been good at is um providing what's nice to have. Um, and to me, the playground is not nice to have. It's been felt that should be our job. our job is maintenance and of you know our facilities. Um I wouldn't want to say like no pizza like just to play off what you said Jeff like and I know maybe you didn't mean this but I don't think we cut the PTOs out of it and we say no you know don't worry about it. I do think it's like important for PTO's to be involved, you know, have that fundraising to be able to do that community building around a project like this because I think people get excited about it and it's an opportunity to add more than just routine maintenance to the place. So, um,

080but you know, I'm happy for the administration and the PTO. So, I'm ready to go. Um, but I'm >> um, just a quick question before I get to you, Sally. Is there a dollar ask that the administration is asking for? >> And on that point too, you know, I I think we floated this part a may not be able to um, contribute to this project. I would just want to make sure that they are a like whatever they would or wouldn't give to this project they are able to continue their year's plan. Not a big PTO, they only carry a year budget. Like I wouldn't want them to say, "Oh, we can't do this party. We can't do this cultural enrichment. We can't do this event because we've contributed to people should be." If it's

081an app, then I think it should be an app that maintains, you know, the PTO's regular. So there >> Yes. And what you have in front of you is a schematic drawn out by a vendor that's been out on site. Um, Mr. Warmouth and the PTO have seen that. It's not like, you know, this wasn't um a graphic we downloaded and handed to you. This is um it has cost estimates for it. It has prices where you get into the cost. It's there's a couple of variables. One of them being the installation piece. One of them was the uh the tear down. So we the conversation piece we had was 85,000. It could very much be less than that. Um and >> could be more than that. >> Well again what the board could say

082is a motion that said something like up to 85,000 from capital reserve and you have to stay in there. Again that's your choice. Um, and this is part of our struggle here is that, you know, and we heard by October 1st, the next board meeting is the 29th. So, you know, like hurry up. Um, so we're happy to do whatever. If you want more schematics, you want more drawings, we could want to look at different models, we could do that. You want um Long Meadow to weigh in, they have. Um and so like this is where like I hear your frustration and I appreciate it. Originally we had talked about putting this on finance having a initial conversation and have finance bring a process. Here what we were asked to do is accelerate that which

083again I understand that maybe not urgency maybe not urgency but certainly a point of interest. So we can pivot in whatever direction you want us to go in. Um but that schematic just to be clear isn't something that just the board saw. that was um shared with Log Meadow the PTO uh with Mr. Wormouth as something that would work as a replacement um and up to 85,000 is kind of the the working conversation with the vendor. >> Right. Sally, >> I mean what I'm hearing is that sort of philosophically most people agree with supporting some degree of funding for the ground. Coincidentally, we happen to have some LMBS um members in the audience of what what I'm one and I also think that I'm in agreement like I don't want to I mean it's funny

084to be identified CL well they're not like that's not my specialty that should be left to them and I think that the board we don't want to get drawn into that either. So what I would suggest is that we we maybe push that motion into the business part of the meeting after the public comment. Um because I think the question of like the PTO how much they'd be if they would be willing to partner with us. I think the answer to that is yes. But that might be a chance for us to to um uh to to pass something like 85,000 up to up to transfer of capital so that that could get worried so that we could get working on it. So that that could be happening because there's a chunk of weeks here

085that are really valuable in terms of lead time. Um so I would just suggest that perhaps we take advantage of the public comment and and move that to the business part. Okay, go ahead, Steve. >> Um, so after listening to Heather's comments and reflecting more on what Jeff has said, um, and I'm conscious of precedent, like just hearing this is going to go on, I'm already exhausted for when we discuss this together. So, I'm willing to I'm willing to tonight like let's just authorize up to a certain amount and just get that done and whenever the administration gets around to your finalizing plan. >> Okay. Um I haven't had a chance to weigh in. Um so um I I don't have a problem with the timeline of what's happened over here. Um I think that

086this was a slide that needed to be repaired. Um, and it kind of, you know, as typically what happens whenever you do any kind of like looking to fix something, things snowball and oh gosh, we got to look at this and oh gosh, we got to look at this and all of a sudden you get an estimate and it became much bigger than anyone expected and you know the fit hit the Shane in in August and we found out about it in August. Normally this would have gone to finance to figure out like are we going to use capital reserve for this? But a board member requested an expedited view of this. So that's why it's the first board of ed meeting that we're discussing it, which I could understand would like also kind of

087freak out parents who were like, why is the board of ed even talking about this? You know, why wasn't it just fixed? So I don't have a problem with the timeline. Um I think it's very typical for when something breaks down that always snowballs into something bigger. Um, I do think that the PTO should not be responsible for paying for um, equipment. Um, I think to me the LMES playground is no different than the PHS tennis court or the MMS uh, asphalt. There's no difference. It's a facility that we are stewards and we're responsible to maintain. So, I think that the the region should pay for the um, playground. I understand that it was a huge lift that PES did um to raise over $100,000 for their playground, but I don't think that was right.

088Um that they should have had to done that. And I think parents were really angry. Um I I went to the um ribbon cutting. It was my like my first year as a board member that they did the ribbon cutting. Um and I went and I was like, "Hey, this is great." And people were mad at me. And I'm like, "Why are people mad?" And like again, I was a new board member. I had no idea what was going on. But I remember they were angry. Um, so I don't think that parents should have to replace playgrounds. I think that's a uh school responsibility. The school built the playground. The school should maintain it and replace it. Um, I don't think that the board should be um delving into I think it's a fair question

089to ask about modular. I think that's, you know, something that you guys can look into. I think that's pretty a quick looking into. Um, but I don't want to get any further than that. I feel like the administration, LMES, PTO, you guys can figure out like what you guys need for a playground. Um, I think the region is responsible for doing a Ford level playground, not a Cadillac. If you want a Cadillac, that's where the PTO's come in. You guys are like the icing on the cake. Um, but you're not the basic um, you know, uh, brick and mortar of what should be there. Um, I think that's the region's responsibility. So, I would also be in favor of getting this done tonight. Um, the you guys have come up with the schematic. LMS has

090a schematic that they that's what they want. Um, I have to say I also agree with Tom. I hate the idea of using capital reserves for this. Um, because we back when PES had the issue with the playground, we did not have capital reserves. We didn't have a capital plan, right? So now we have a capital plan, a five-year capital plan. We have capital reserves. Our current capital reserves are in need. Um like at last year's budget presentation, which is really last school year's budget presentation, you had a list of all the other regions that had capital um reserves. And we were we are the biggest region regional district in Connecticut. And we have um very anemic capital reserves because we just started doing them. Other regional districts have much more than we do. So

091I'm I'm loathed to spend capital reserve money. At the same time, if LMES can contribute a little bit to help this project happen, um it's not worth it to me to argue $70,000 of our capital reserves to just put this to bed and let's move forward. So that's where I am. Go ahead, John. come from. >> Yeah, >> I um What do you think about that? >> Think there's a we could we could accommodate whatever we could put together like what would come out of operating um and how we would could make adjustments. What you'll see the packet went out today for finance. You'll also see that's not an interest bearing account. There's been about 30 or 40,000 don't quote me on it but it's in your packet that's been acred since um we've put

092that money in there. So, um, we also have last year's year end balance that we're going to have to it's not audited yet, so we can't do anything with it, but that's a conversation. Listen, again, I'm not a I inherited almost no capital reserve when I got here and um have worked really hard to build a process to replace stuff. Um, unfortunately, you know, while we've replaced a lot of broken stuff, there's still a lot of broken stuff to do. So, you know, if we can whether it's we pay some of it out of operating now and then see if we can reserve that um capital reserve for maybe at one of those projects and and hedge a little bit or if you took out of capital and look to still squirrel away some of

093the operating with the intent of putting it back in there. Listen, I'd like to think that you guys understand I'm a pretty frugal person and um repairing facilities is something that's important to us. So I can whatever you want to do I can make work >> well as a board collectively which is why we're here by the way because I don't I didn't want to just usurp and make that decision otherwise we could have done that. Um, go ahead. >> Would that me issue if we need to like not go to capital last year in September all expenses to capital. This same could happen today with the idea that we'll look at where we are today and kind of begin that journey and see what we can get inside without going capital. >> Okay. All

094right. Um I got Heather and then Tom has another comment. So go ahead Heather. >> I love the bank. I love the capital. Like Marian said when I started we were nothing in capital and budget free. We couldn't even get basic school supplies. Yeah. um like it was insane. We have a healthier capital reserve but it's not perfect. Um so same kind of thing. I hear what Tom saying and I bristle at the capital reserve piece of it. Um and as you said the agenda for finance has some things on it as well. I would really I would be more in favor of doing something if I knew that we were going to tighten the belts in other areas. um whether put off a little something else that's not crucial in like we have to

095kind of start to triage things a little bit more um triage things as we're thinking about them right now but this is that big of a we have to have some kind of and try to find it operating I I was feeling better about your idea too because I don't want to say okay here's a check um because tomorrow be writing a lot more. So that's kind of where I am. Um there's tighten our belt, pull a little here, pull a little there, have a little bit of PTO buy in. Um I come from a time. Yes, exactly. Over $100,000 they raised that. Was it right? No. Did they do it? Yes. But there was, as much as you're saying people were mad at you. That was an incredible community building event. Look at the

096parking lot prom. You had a $3,000 budget. Make magic happen. There was no way that was going to happen without parent PTO and community involvement. And with one email, there were probably 150 boxes on. And I think there's got to be some creative solutions. We can't just say, I don't know, I have a problem with just saying, here's a check. Like, let's do it right now. Maybe there's a we lend a little, we, you know, we'd still fund raise a little bit. Maybe if they've got stuff going on at their school and you don't want to deplete what they have planned for the year. I totally get that, but I don't want to lose that fundraising community building either. Take away the need, not just the need, but um the things that drive people. the

097fastest way to get people to do something that's hey we have this we want this and people buy it. So I don't want to lose that part of the year because I do think that pees playground was an incredible community building and at the end of it the kids that showed up that day they knew they were part of it. They knew their parents were part of it. It's like a it's a big deal to me too. Um but I dig. Okay. Um, so Tom, go ahead Tom and then Sally and then I'm gonna maybe wrap up. >> Yeah, I saw I think um the idea that's being again is um you know if we can find a way to work this out of uh the current year's operating capital, you know, with a PTO

098contribution, whatever that is, with um you know, some of the sound saved money maybe that we spent down already in this year's capital plan. To me, that feels like a good compromise where everyone's getting something that's important to them. This is getting replaced in a timely fashion. Um, we're not touching the capital reserve. Um, you know, the PTO isn't being put out. Like, I like that as a compromised solution. So, I would be happy to support that. I would have a difficult time supporting a motion taking stuff out of our capital reserve. I really, it's really important to me that we don't touch that here. Uh, and then the final note is, you know, yeah, let's get this solved, but the minute that vote happens clock ticking on what does this mean for the next

099one. So, I don't know what the plan is there. If this goes to policy, if this goes to PNC, if this goes uh to the uh administration, but I really need to leave here with a plan on Okay. So, what do we do for the next what do we do for the next playground? >> Okay. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, um I'm sorry. Um I am not ready to talk about whether this should go to PNC. not gonna like I I don't think that this should go to PNC. I don't think this >> no separate issue. I'm sorry, Marian. Separate issues. No, no, but at some point at some point we need a if we're going to ditch the president, if we're going to throw that away, then we need some kind of guiding principle on

100how do we handle this moving forward, but it's separate from tonight's >> Okay. All right. So, go ahead, Sally. >> So, I trust Josh and Joe to be frugal and to cut and I don't really know how you put that into a motion. I mean, and and and if you want to get all the coupons, >> if you want something to get something moving, I don't understand how saying, "Oh, try to find it somewhere like how that even logistically works with making a motion and getting this done." >> Yeah. >> So, I I would actually I'd like to put a motion on the table to go tonight and then we I would like to move that we we authorize moving up to $85,000. >> Okay. I I You're not making the motion right now though,

101right? So, so because you mentioned before and I think it's really a good point. >> I know. I know. Hold on. It's on the agenda we have possible action on here and I do think it be better to move the action to the regular business requiring board action section so that we are able to hear public comment um before we do any voting on this. So, can I out of an abundance of caution, can I have a motion to move the possible action on the playground to the regular business requiring board action section of the agenda? Can I have a motion for that? Thank you, John. Do I have a second? Okay. Second by uh Jeff. Is there any discussion? Have to keep talking about it, but >> I know I want to hear public

102comment. So, I'm going to do roll call today. Um, so John, can you say your name and um I Okay, great. Thank you. Sally, >> you don't want to move it? >> Well, well, I want to do it now. Yes, I want to move it. Yes. >> Okay. IC. >> I Manzo. I >> Okay. Tom and Shannon. >> Shannon Kavalo. I >> Tom Marks. I >> Okay, great. So, we're going to move that to the um the business uh general regular business regarding board action, the possible action. So, next item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes. May I have a motion to approve the June 8th, 2025 regular meeting of education minutes? >> Number six. >> Did I skip? Oh, I got it. The goals I just totally checked that off. I'm

103so sorry, guys. All right, backtrack. Item number six on the agenda. Um we touched briefly on this at the board of ed retreat. Um but there were not a lot of members uh there. Um so the gen the general uh feeling of the people that were present is that our board goals from last year are pretty good and don't need to be changed very much. I could see um everyone has that in their packet. This it should be in the packet in front of them. Um, I could see we could add um to the fiscal stewardship and planning section. You might want to add GES and PES because that's going to dominate a lot of our um meetings this year. But other than that, does anyone have any changes that they want? Are we good

104with the goals basically as they were from last year? You're good, John. Thank you. Except we're we'll add we could add GES and PEES to the 5-year capital plan to bond review. >> Yeah. >> Yep. Okay. Fine with him. Anyone else? Because this is going to also be a vote later on. Tom, Shannon, you guys have anything to say? >> No. >> Okay. All right. So, we'll revisit this when in the regular business. Um, I'm I've asked for a motion for approval. Um, so we could um approve these goals with the addition of the Gainfield and the Palm School study, right? >> Building project. Okay. Yep. All right. Any questions? >> No. Okay. All right. Now, we could go to the approval of the minutes. Thank you. Um, may I have a motion to approve

105the June 8th, 2025 regular meeting of board of education? >> Thank you, John. Do I have a second? Second by Heather Rogers. Any questions, comments, anything? All those in favor? >> Oh, you roll call. Sorry. Go ahead. Another bar I >> Shannon Kaval abstain. >> Tom. >> Is that an I? Yeah. Okay. That was an I. >> That was [Laughter] >> All right. Next. May I have a motion for approval of the August 19th, 2025 special meeting of the board of educations, the board of ed retreat. >> Thank you, Heather. >> Second by Steve. All right. Roll call. >> John abstain. >> Sharon. Heather. >> Izzo. I Shannon Sharon. Tom Marks. I >> Okay, great. It carries. Thank you. Uh, next information and proposals, we have policy and curriculum committee, Miss Heather Dwire. >> Uh,

106this evening we kicked off the first meeting of policy and curriculum here. Just want to thank our special guest, Mr. M. Guest Cook, Mr. Platy, I believe, Mr. Walsh, Mr. Nelson for coming and Cheryl work that has been done over the summer. Um, next uh meeting we will be talking about elementary court and both of them. >> Thank you. Any questions? >> Oh, I'm sorry. It was this whole first grade thing. Also, part of this giant thing of papers in front of you that we have policies that are read. Um hopefully we didn't have a ton of questions today because this is third grade and um I hope we save all your hard questions for our second reading. Um but happy bedtime meeting now that's it. >> All right. Great. Any questions for Heather? No.

107Okay. Next we have PTO advisory committee. Miss Sharon. So I want to um start by sending my apologies to school advisory committee because I was unable to attend all the meeting. The first one school year was the one that I work through the most to kick off the school year. So please accept my apologies which I cannot change. I appreciate you all. I will be there at the next meeting. Um but from what I gather that the uh committee met on the 4th. Um, of course it was a welcome back to school discussion. Um, but there was also some conversation regarding recommendation of calendars and relative organized events. I think there's been some feedback in that space and there's really um an interest to ensure that there's as much as possible not a lot of

108duplication of activity across the different schools so people can kind of spread their time as efficiently as possible. There was also some conversation related to the PTO grant structure and streamlining that process as well as the of the ASOS for school events and I believe there was an initial discussion over school future and playgrounds u which of course was extensively discussed earlier tonight. So um the next meeting is October 9th 9:30 at central office and Mr. Smith if there's anything I missed or misspoke please feel free to correct me. Oh, you did a good job. >> Great. Thank you, Sharon. Next, we have the superintendence report. Superintendent Smith, >> like I've taken up a lot of oxygen this evening. Uh, so I would only add that as we lean into the work of a portrait

109of the learner, I wanted to commend the board on being effective communicators, productive collaborators, and innovative problem solvers tonight. >> Thank you. All right. Next we have board member comments. Any comments by board members? >> Hey Marian, this is Tom. >> Okay, Tom, go ahead. >> Quick, uh, you know, first of all, uh, congrats to everyone on a successful school opening. Um, I've heard nothing but good things. Thank you as always to our, uh, administrators, staff, and teachers who've done, uh, you know, again, an excellent job. Um, a quick secretar's uh, report. Um, so we did have another meeting in between the two minutes that we approved tonight. Um, but they were not on the agenda for tonight. I did bring that up to the chair and I've been told that'll be at the next

110meeting. So, I didn't want anyone to think we forgot that, but I did check and they are on post on the website. Um, also on the website, um, there's a cool new feature if you're into this kind of thing on the board of ed where I saw a little sliding carousel that has the most recent, uh, agenda for the most, you know, upcoming meeting and then the most recent minutes. So, I don't know who made that little judgment on the website, but I see you and I appreciate it. >> Great. Thank you, Tom. Any other comments? Okay. Uh, next we have comments from citizens. Um, the board of education will recognize citizens from Mbury and Southbury. And citizens are asked to state their name, their town of residents, and to limit their comments to three

111minutes. Um, in accordance with region 15 board of education bylaw 9325A, speakers are asked to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the dignity and privacy of others who may be affected by their comments. While it is not the board's intent to stifle public comments, speakers should be aware that if their statements violate the rights of others under the law of defamation or invas invasion of privacy, the speaker may be held legally responsible. And when you come up to the podium, there's somewhere you can find your name so that it can be accurately reflected in the minutes. And I will have like my phone going and keeping track of the three minutes. Um, so it's really it's it's I know it is awful, but it just keeps everything uniform. That's what we

112need. So, anyone who'd like to come up and make a public comment, we welcome it and we are listening. My name is Kathleen and I just want to say I'm really thankful for all of you. I really appreciate everybody's thoughts and it really shows to our school and that's something that's actually really important because I've talked to a lot of parents and and children really the kids as well. this playground is very very important and when you looked at that when we looked at that picture I said I'm imagining that 105 strong group of nine year old running around on it and it's it's a lot it's a lot um so I really appreciate that this is uh up for discussion one a couple things came up my my thoughts started to change as I

113listen to you all because a lot of things that I wanted to say were already discussed and I really appreciate all those comments um parents that I have spoken to and myself I definitely strongly feel that the playground should get that money should come from the board of ed from the budget wherever that comes from I don't know but um however certainly the PTO is happy to support that I agree with some comments that were made that it's like the nice to have thing we can make it better if we can help with that we are having um and and with two than that. It absolutely does affect what we can provide throughout the year. We do not carry a large amount of money over each school year. We budget enough for programs that that

114we have planned on paying for. So there there isn't this large surplus that we can say, "Oh, sure. Here's here's $50,000. No problem." It would take quite a bit of fundraising and cutting to do that. So I we people will we can fund raise for this for sure. We can absolutely help with that. But uh I think from what I heard from both parents was that the the amount of money that was being asked for from the PTO was too low. That was it was not so much of how is it how did this get missed or or what was the issue here. It was more so of okay we have it started to break and we realized it was started as a slide and we're like okay we can yeah we can help pay

115for a slide. No problem. And then it worked into as they're saying this huge amount of money that's in there. So let's let's figure out how we can help. >> Thank you. McNar speaking about today. Someone said earlier that playground in the working those kids are outside every day as long as it's not like right. So it's not about this break. 16 15th of December ready Friday those kids excited um and we don't have two playgrounds I mean we do but we have our preschool playground not like a also when portable few years ago that playground you have to remember that as well running And this year, you know, the construction really good. I really and looking forward to working with you. >> Thank you. >> Any other public comment? Okay. All right. Regular business

116requiring board action. Um, may I have a motion for approval of the 2026 board of education meeting dates? >> Thank you, Heather. The scheduling queen. Second by Steve Serriani. So, everyone has in their packets um the date for the you know the 2026 draft board of ed meeting. Um is there any discussion or questions? Anything? >> Yes. Yep. >> All right. Any other comments or questions or concerns? All right, then we'll do a roll call vote of this. So John >> Sharon I Marian I >> is this is this meeting dates? >> Yes. >> Okay. Yeah. I >> thank you. All right. It carries. Thank you everyone. Um, next, may I have a motion for approval of the 2025 2026 board of education goals? >> As amended, >> uh, move that the board of education

117approve the 2025 2026 board of education goals as amended. >> Thank you, Heather. Have a second. Thank you, Sally. Any discussion or questions or concerns? >> What was the amendment? I >> Romano I Sharon >> I Manzo I >> Shannon I >> Tom Mark abstain I did not hear the amendment I'm sorry >> the amendment was just adding the GES PEES uh building project to the facility quarter of the Okay I sure thank All right. So, that carries. Thank you everyone. Um, and next, may I have a motion regarding the possible action on the playground? >> Board of Education approve a transfer out of capital reserves up to $85,000. >> I can draw a second. >> Hold on. Hold on one second. You spoke way too fast for me. Um, can you can you just

118say that? I just want to make sure it's worded properly. So move >> capital reserve of up to $85,000 for the repair of the lung. You get that, Jen? Is that okay? All right. So because you're getting it the transfer out of the capital reserve. Um okay. Okay. So that's the motion. Is there a second? >> Second Shannon Kavalo. >> Okay. Second by Shannon Kavalo. Okay. So discussion >> will continue to whatever will be these problems that are signed in just I guess record as scheduled by either the administration or by finances or like if I if if it is discussed um you know priorities or something like that that's just oh you know I won't even ask it as a question that's just that's a I don't I don't intend to see this coming

119back the board >> okay >> all right any other discussion points >> can't see >> okay you definitely made the point that you would like to see if there's an ability to get it from our current capital account. Um, and I think that we've heard from Mr. Martino and Mr. Smith that they will endeavor in good faith to try to do something like that. Um, okay. >> Great. >> Well, and Mary and that's that's how I feel, too. Um, I would really really really like to support this. Um, but I would not, you know, I I can't support it coming out of Capital Reserve. So, you know, if this is the way the motion is worded, I'll have to vote it down. But I'm really hoping, you know, having not heard any objections to it,

120I'm really hoping that we would be able to pull this out of operating capital and then, you know, I think I heard in in comments that, you know, PTO contribution isn't off the table. So, I mean, between those things, you know, if I want to know what I'm voting on. If I'm voting on that, I would love to support it. If I'm not voting on that, then I unfortunately cannot support it. >> Okay. So, that Thank you, Tom, for clarifying that. The only motion on the table right now is for the board of ed to approve the transfer out of the um capital reserves up to $85,000. But there's like a understanding that we're going to try to see or the administration is going to try to see if they can have some capital account

121to defay or to to lower the 85,000 cost. >> Right. And it might not be 85,000. We're still waiting on a quote which is, you know, the funny part about this. You know, there could be way less I, as I understand it. >> Our way to having none of your playground. >> Yep. So, it's just up to Go ahead, Jeff. And then we got John. >> I just have a comment on the motion and how it's structured. So, I am hearing this a motion to enable this to take place. And that is the up to 85,000. The board is putting in good faith trust Josh and Joe to do their diligence to make it as reasonable and responsible as possible. But this motion from Sally says get it done and as we figure out the

122details down the way these are your parameters. If for some reason it's 100,000 then I said no didn't authorize that. But 85 or less allows them to put the wheels in motion tomorrow and get going. I I'm hugely in favor of that. But I just it's not that they're going to go tomorrow and take $85,000 out of capital reserve. It means that they have that leverage to do so so they can start the process at those details. You have to trust them to do their job. That's just I wanted to comment on how I'm hearing your motion which are say that funds would be budget um and outside contribution. >> I mean No, I'm I'm still saying P3 transfer up to 85,000 that amends that we prioritize um using capital funds capital um and any

123outside authorized up to 85,000 to spent money to come first from capital second whatever POS. >> I think we have to let Yeah. >> Okay. Well, then let's >> vote yes from motion that says up to 85,000. >> But I like that we're trying to compromise. So I feel like you've got a couple of us that would probably say go for it. Yep. No, no, having that parameter >> to give them guard. >> Well, somebody's got to make a motion. So, >> it my question was does it help to make motion? Maybe I'll just go ahead and make >> motion go. We spend up to 85,000 priority first coming out of capital. Second >> capital what >> capital operating >> second we have a PTO cash. >> Okay. So, there's a motion to amend as

124John said and it's been seconded. Is there discussion on the motion to amend? >> Yeah. Okay. John, can you say that again? We authorize up to 85,000 >> starting with taken out of operating capital. >> Good. >> That's what >> it's up to. Whatever can come out of that first. >> Okay. Second, whatever the PTO is going to contribute and third come out of you got that, Jen. Okay. Heather Rogers has seconded. So, now we're going to have a discussion. Yep. We're going to have a discussion on whe on the motion to amend Sally's motion. So, does anyone have any comments on John's motion to amend? Okay. So, we're going to put that to a vote and that has to be roll call. We are voting on John's motion to amend. John, what do you

125say? >> Sorry, Sally. Um, Marian. Yes. Ali, no. Marian Manzo. No. >> I shank. No. >> Tom Marks. Okay, I need to cut Gilly first. [Music] >> Hold on. Hold on one second. I I can't Heather you were an I >> and Tom was okay. So that means that um >> Tom, Heather Dwire, Heather Rogers, and Steve. So that's four South B one middle. Great. So that means it carried. >> One Middlebury for South Berry. >> One Middlebury for South. >> Thanks. This is >> Yeah. So the motion has now been amended. So now the motion on the table is John's motion, which Jennifer, can you read that? I'm so sorry to do this, but I just want to make sure that you have it right and that it's comporting with what John thinks. So

126what's the motion now on the table? No, now it's amended. So now it's the motion. >> I can't hear anything. Marian, if something's going on, I don't know. Okay. >> Okay. So, I'm going to repeat that. So, the motion is to to to trans to spend up to $85,000 on the LMES playground with priority coming from the operating budget, then LMES PTO contributions, then capital the balance of capital reserve. Yes. So there has to be a discussion. I just want to make sure doesn't mean we's money. >> Well, it just says priority just means it's autonomous choice. >> They're going to talk with them is how I see it that it's up to them to figure >> if the PTO it's $90,000. The PTO wants to put in $5,000. I mean that's fine. And if

127the PTO says zero, then that's then that's the answer, >> right? Do you guys hear that? >> Okay. Um, it's all together. >> I don't want to say that. Oh yeah, >> but I think that the one thing is if the 85 comes out of the opportunity capital, I'd be wondering if was compromised as a result of it not coming out of capital because we went through a really rigorous budget cycle, the $100,000 and now taking that was $150,000 I think was and now here we are another 85. And I get that we're in an interest bearing account, but again we're cutting from students in other ways by taking it this way. I'm glad there's going to be a playground. It's a lot of word, but I just want to make sure that people are

128understanding the implication of the budget line. And I don't really want to get into details. I think the administration can manage it. It's coming from over there. >> Okay. But just to just to clarify, we can ask like where the money came from in the operating budget, but they have authority to just do it. They don't need to come back to us for approval. >> And they could actually take it all the capital. They could technically take it all from the capital reserve. >> Okay. But but you understand the gist of what we're saying. >> Okay. So the motion on the table that has was is John's motion. So now do we need a second? >> No. >> It's been seconded. Okay. All right. So then we're going to have is are there any other

129comments or questions? All right. So, we'll do a roll call. John >> Izzo, I >> Shannon Shannon I. Thank you. >> Tom Marks. I >> Thank you. It carries. Thank you. All right. And just fitting for this meeting, I completely left off all the future meetings, so I'm gonna is our only meeting this. >> Good night. >> All right, hold on a second. I got the meetings though. Finance Committee is meeting Wednesday uh September 10th at 6:30 at central office. PNC meets uh September 29th at 6:30 at the high school media center. Also, we have our regular board of education meeting September 29th at 7:30. It will be a big meeting, folks. This is going to be a discussion about the dees pees building study. We're having the feasibility committee come and talk about um

130why they voted the way they did and we're going to have a discussion about what we have done so far um to endeavor figure out what we could do for next. So please everyone make every um attempt to attend. Um they have a motion to adjourn. All right. Heather Rogers you have a second. Sally, all those in favor.