001We have a new elected board. >> Oh yeah, we're going to move your mic. >> All members have been sworn in and duly elected for a term of two years. Uh therefore I'm going to call the meeting to order. First order of business tonight is the pledge of >> allegiance. Pledge >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible. Our second item tonight is the election of board of education officers. Uh we follow Robert's rules of orders. Uh does not require a second. Uh but I do uh I will ask for a nomination for uh board chair. >> Okay. It's an absolute honor to nominate Jessica Lefredo for chair of the Rocky Hill Board of Education. As both a teacher and a mom
002of three kids in our Rocky Hill schools, Jessica brings a really special perspective. She knows what's happening in our classrooms because she's there every day, and she knows what families experience because she's living it, too. Jessica leads with heart. She's thoughtful, patient, and always focused on what's best for our students. She's not afraid to make tough decisions, and when she does, you can count on her to have done her homework, to have listened, and to make choices that are fair and well-reasoned. She also has a real gift for bringing people together. Jessica works across the aisle, builds bridges, and reminds us that no matter our differences, we're all here for the same reason, to support our kids and our schools. Rocky Hill would be in great hands with Jessica's chair, someone who truly truly lives
003and breathes this community in our schools. I am very proud to nominate Jessica Lefredo for the chair of the Rocky Hill Board of Education. >> Thank you. [applause] Any [applause] uh discussion or any other nominations for chair of the board of education? Okay. The policy requires that I conduct a voice vote. Um and then we record the votes in writing. So um I'm I have one candidate nominated, Jessica Lefredo. I'm going to do a roll call. Uh board members per policy. Um, and you'll you'll either vote yay, nay, or abstain. Uh, Mr. Brian Addie, >> yay. >> Miss Jennifer Baron Mora, >> yay. >> Mr. Jay Chabra, are you with us on speaker, which is permissible since co to call in? >> Hold on, let me turn the volume up. Hold on. Okay, try again,
004Jay. >> Yes. >> Your vote is yay. >> Yay. Thank you. Brian Clemens, >> yay. >> Thomas Costker, >> yay. >> Kristen Dudanowitz, >> yay. >> Jessica Lefredo, >> yay. >> Maria Manella, >> yay. >> Amber Tucker, >> yay. >> Congratulations 90. >> Our new board [applause] >> [applause] >> Okay, thank you very much. Um, I really truly do appreciate the support and that nomination, beautiful nomination from our longest rating member, Miss Manella. Um, thank you for your continued service to the board of education. Um, and I do appreciate your nomination. I will have some further remarks at the end. um of our agenda today. But the next order of business is to elect our vice chair for board of education. So with that, I will entertain a nomination, Miss Mora. Okay. It's my honor
005to nominate Maria Manella for vice chair of the Rocky Hill Board of Education. For over 17 years, Maria has been steady guiding voice on this board. She brings a wealth of knowledge, not just from her many years of experience, but from being a mom of three children who have come through the Rocky Hill schools. She truly understands what our students need, what our teachers face, and what our families hope for. What really stands out about Maria is her calm, fair, and even killed leadership. No matter the situation, she listens carefully, considers every perspective, and helps bring people together. She's respected because she's steady, thoughtful, and always focused on doing what's right for our students. Maria doesn't lead with ego or volume. She leads with wisdom, empathy, and heart. And that's exactly the kind of leadership
006that keeps this board grounded and moving forward with deep respect and appreciation for her years of service and dedication to Rocky Hill. I am proud to nominate Maria Manella for vice chair of the board of education. [applause] >> [applause] >> Are there any other nominations? Any discussion? Okay. Um, there being no further nominations or discussion, I'm going to put uh this motion uh for Maria Manella to be vice chair to a vote via roll call. Please respond in favor as I opposed as they or abstain. Brian Addie, >> yay. Jennifer Baron Mora, >> yay. >> Jay Shabra, >> yay. >> Brian Clemens, >> yay. >> Thomas Kusker, >> yay. >> Kristen Dudanowitz, >> yay. >> I, myself, Jessica Lefredo, yay. Maria Manella, >> yay. >> Amber Tucker, >> yay. >> And that motion passes. 90.
007>> Congratulations. [applause] Okay. Um, our next officer is um, secretary. Would anyone like to nominate a board member for secretary? >> I would, >> Mr. Costco. >> Uh, I'm proud to nominate Jay Shabra for board secretary. Jay brings a deep understanding of education as a professor, but what really stands out is how he connects with people. I've seen him listen carefully, engage with colleagues across every perspective, and always work to find solutions that put students first. His thoughtfulness, kindness, and genuine commitment to our schools and our students make him the perfect choice for secretary. >> Are there any other nominations? Any discussion? Okay, there being no um other nominations or discussion, I'm going to put that motion to elect Jabra as our board secretary to a vote by a roll call. Again, please respond I,
008nay, or abstain. Brian Addie, >> yay. >> Jen, Jennifer Baron Mora, >> yay. >> Jay Shabra, >> yay. >> Brian Clemens, >> yay. >> Thomas Costker, >> yay. >> Kristen Danowitz, >> yay. >> Jessica Lefredo, yay. Maria Manella, >> yay. >> Amber Tucker, >> yay. >> Congratulations, Mr. Shabra. That motion passes 90. [applause] >> We know that you were not available to be with us in person, but we do greatly appreciate you calling into our meeting tonight, and we can't wait to work with you. >> Thanks, J. >> Okay. Thank you. All right, that concludes the election of officers for the board of education um for our new term and um updated contact information for all board members will be uh posted on the district website very shortly um for anyone in the public who
009wishes to reaches reach out to us via our emails. Next up, we're going to be making an agenda an amendment to our agenda this evening. Um could I have a motion to move the update on fall sports to agenda item number three? So moved. >> Thank you so much, Miss Manella. Um, can I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Clemens. Um, is there anyone that is opposed to moving this? Any abstensions? Okay, that motion passes 800 to amend our agenda this evening and move our fall update up to uh agenda item 3A. Um, and at this time, I'm going to pass the microphone over to um Dr. Zto and officer Sarah Raymond um for a special recognition this evening. Thank you and also >> so we wanted to u recognize some staff
010members at Stevens who went above and beyond. Uh these two ladies are going to explain more than than I am. I was transitioning from one school to next next uh November 11 and Miss Colado called me and said we had a medical emergency at Steven School. We had a a par wonder of woman uh was choking on a couple of cough drops. Uh it was a very serious situation. The uh staff uh responded very well. They called 911. We had a staff member administer the maneuver, dislodge at least one of the cop drops. School nurse got on the scene quickly. We had Paris in the room that kept everybody kind of calm. The students stayed calm because it was it was very traumatic situation. The staff were pretty rattled uh when I got over there,
011talked to the principal, Sarah Raymond, Officer Raymond was there. Uh but these people really stepped up and and they they took life-saving action. This was a pretty serious situation. So, uh we have a number of people we want to recognize. I'm just going to read the names. Norah, if you could stand up. Nora Alvarez, are you here? Is Carolyn Kowette here? I know Carolyn's here. I saw her on the way in. Carolyn, [applause] our school nurse, Miss Cara Capuano, Rebecca, [applause] Lisa Musio. I think I saw Lisa earlier. [applause] >> [applause] >> And I'm gonna ask the officer to kind of give an overview on what happened that day. Give a little more detail. But these guys were really heroes. And that's that word is sometimes overused for athletes hitting home runs or throwing touchdown
012passes. But these guys really they were heroes on this. >> All right. On November 11th, 2025, a staff member at Merly H. Stevens School experienced a medical emergency after beginning to choke in the learning center. In the moment of crisis, uh, several staff members demonstrated extraordinary courage, composure, and teamwork. Actions that very likely saved a life. Staff immediately recognized their colleague was in distress and took swift life-saving measures while simultaneously ensuring the safety and emotional well-being of the children in the room. Despite being unable to reach assistance through the school radio and the classroom phone, the team remained calm and focused. Without hesitation, staff members took turns performing the Heimlick maneuver while other staff member called 911 and summoned emergency responders. In the midst of the commotion, staff demonstrated exceptional care and judgment by guiding
013the children to safety while continuing their efforts to dislodge the obstruction. Moments later, their persistence paid off. The object was expelled and the patient was able to breathe again. Thanks to quick thinking, selfishness, decisive actions, and of these dedicated staff members, a tragedy was averted. Their teamwork and calm under pressure exemplify the very best of Ble Stevens school's community. Because of their heroic response, a life of Safe. We extend our deepest gratitude and recognition for your bravery, compassion and unwavering commitment not only to your students but to your colleague as well. [applause] [applause] So, we're gonna call you folks up individually. So, um I'd like to have Nora Alvarez come on up, please. Not here. How about Miss Coette? Come on up, please. [applause] >> Yes. Yes. I don't know. >> Rebecca Rebecca, [applause] >>
014Lisa Musio. [applause] >> [applause] >> Rachel Verano. [applause] Miss Cola, do you want to make any comments before we finish? >> Um, just that I'm extremely extremely grateful for the staff that stepped in in this moment of crisis and um they just performed like saving measures without even thinking twice about it and I'm just really really grateful for that. Thank you. >> Same as officer I can't say it better. So, >> good thinking and they responded and uh >> absolutely >> you know they stepped up and they saved somebody. It's really really awesome what they did. [applause] [applause] >> Thank you Dr. Zitto and Officer Raymond for that. Um certainly a s very scary incident, but um thankful for our teachers and par educators and our school nurse who stood up and um were able
015to get through that scary situation. Thank you so much. The next agenda item is 3A and that is an update on fall sports by Mr. Daniel Trudeau and um this is his first report as our new athletic director. So welcome. >> Thank you. Um, you know, so as as you alluded to, it's my first time doing this. Um, it it was an awesome fall. Um, coming from another district where I was for six years in Connecticut. Um, and then previously in Massachusetts, um, Rock Rocky Hill is it's it's been a really um, welcome change for me, a great change for me, and that's because what I found is the community is really awesome. Uh we have some awesome kids. Um you know, like any good school district, there are problems, but we've been able to
016work through those. Uh and kids show adversity and and we had a really successful fall. Um just to to talk about some of the the success we had, uh seven of our competitive teams, which is actually all of our teams um outside of football who their season hasn't finished yet, qualified for the postseason. um which is a it is a good accomplishment. Uh in our more individual sports, uh we had nine individual student athletes advance in their postseason, meaning they went to the state open um or they or they qualified for uh something further than just their regular class meet. Um we had two individuals qualify for the New England Championships in different sports. uh 10 allconerence athletes and that's not counting football where I anticipate we'll get five to six more uh allconerence athletes.
017Um and you know as I'll say to the kids and and the parents and the coaches, all conference athletes are not voted on by us as Rocky Hill people. They're voted on by other coaches that our kids have have uh participated against. Um, so it's, you know, it is a real honor to get that to get that recognition because it shows that you're um you are making an impact that other coaches and and other educators are seeing. Uh, we had two all state athletes this fall. Um, and then probably the most fun part was uh our the run that our girls soccer team made this year. Um, they went all the way to the state semifinals. They lost to the eventual state champion uh with about two minutes to play in the second overtime. um
018by a goal, but uh a really fun experience from a from a really great group of kids and really a great experience for our entire student body. Um as you can kind of see in that picture that was actually at the uh that was actually from our last football game, but we had a a rocking student body at that at uh our quarterfinal game. Um you [snorts] know, as equally as important our success off the field, we had 159 scholar level athletes. 113 of those are CCC all academic, which means that's our varsity athletes. Uh, and then another 46 um met that same level, but they're but they're our JV level athletes. And that's out of that's 159 out of a total of 217 student athletes this fall. So, really great uh academic achievement by
019our athletes. one of our all-state kids also qualified as a as an all-state all academic um team recipient. Uh we had 16 of our student athletes uh participate in our kind of newly formed student senate which is a new leadership body within the school. Um and then uh we did have some teams participate in in various uh community service projects or partnerships with different organizations. Um, you know, we had our girls soccer team participate with Rocky Hill Sidekicks all fall. Um, and that was a really great experience. Uh, our unified sports for the third year in a row, but my first time experience it. Um, hosted the unified sports leadership summit last week, which was a really great event. Um, run through Special Olympics. Um we actually as a school we hosted the CCC girls
020soccer semifinals uh which we were not in unfortunately but um we hosted that for our conference and I actually had great participation from our student athletes to help me uh appropriately staff that event. Um and then actually our volleyball team too. They they put together a project where they raise money for um towards breast cancer. Uh so really great things are happening. Um, we're wrapping up the fall with our Thanksgiving game on Wednesday night against Cromwell, uh, in football. And then the Monday after Thanksgiving, we'll get going with winter sports. Um, and I have to say, it's already a pretty eager group. I've had to even rein them back because of CIC rules and regulations, but they're they're a group that's ready to go um, and wants to go. So, that's my fall update. Thank
021you for having me. Any questions? [applause] Thank you. >> Just out of curiosity, did the board have any questions or comments that they wanted to make before I let Mr. Trudeau escape? [laughter] Okay. Thank you so much for that report. Uh the next agenda item is audience participation. Uh this is when we um open our meeting to the public. We just ask that if you'd like to come up and speak that you uh let us know who you are, uh where you live, and if you could keep your comments to as close to two minutes as possible. Is there anyone that would like to address the board this evening? >> Come on up. >> Should I just come up here? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, hi to all the board members and congratulations on your
022election. Uh my name is Adant Bosley. I'm a senior at Rockill High School and I just want to give you guys a little bit of update on what is going on in our school. So this year we were able to found the student senate program at our school and we were able to as Mr. Trudeau mentioned have so many sports but also clubs and activities participating at this student senate meeting. So we are anticipating to run monthly so we can have as many meetings as possible and we want to kind of create a community that's tighter that's closer together and closely knit so we can have other clubs and teams help each other. So that's kind of our initiative and our goal and um also there's many of my students who are also among in
023the crowd today. So we want to have a better connection between the board of education and the student body and I feel that um with this new administration and this new board we can really strive to achieve that. So I thank you all for your support and um just on another updan also the founder of the model UN club at our school and I want to invite all of you guys to our conference which will happen on March 29th on Sunday. Don't worry I'll send emails well in advance. Um I did make a mistake last year but this [clears throat] year I'll send an email well in advance so we can all have attendance and I would invite many of our audience to also attend. It's a great event and um I'm very excited for
024that. So yeah, and um I'm also very proud to be on the nonpartisan transition team that we have and I'm really excited to work with everyone to create a better Rocky Hill and I think we're doing a good job and I believe that we'll continue to succeed. So thank you for having me. Yeah, thank you. [applause] And if I remember correctly, you are also going to be a panelist at Cabes um >> tomorrow, correct? >> Yes. Okay. Congratulations on being chosen as panelist and I know you'll represent Rocky Hill to the best of your ability. So, thank you. Is there anyone else that wishes to address the board? >> Hi, I'm Bos. I'm a freshman at Rockill High School and um thanks to you guys, we created the Rockill High School dance team and we
025actually had our informational meeting um this Monday and we had around 36 students come and join the dance team. So this m so since the winter season is coming up the following Monday we will have our first practice which is so amazing and we're working on trying to perform at basketball games and trying to get just the crowd going and then later in the season I'm hoping to have a showcase that will display all the work that our dance team has put in and I also invite you guys to join. We have not decided on a date yet, but we will soon. And I'll also send out emails. And yeah, >> thank you. [applause] >> Thank you. We look forward to that email. >> Is there anyone else that wishes to address the board? I'll
026be brief. Um, good evening everyone. My name is Douglas Russell and I'm the co-president of the RHDA. Um, on behalf of the association, I'd like to extend our warmest congratulations to the newly appointed members of the board, Mr. Brian Addie and Miss Mrs. Kristen Donowitz. Did I pronounce that correctly? Okay. Uh, as well as to the elected positions on the executive board this evening. Mrs. Jessica Alfredo as BOE chairperson, Mrs. Maria Manella as vice chair, and Mr. J. Chabra as secretary. We want to assure you that we are that we are here to fully support you as you embark on this important work. We look forward to rolling up our sleeves, collaborating with you, and offering our expertise, our knowledge, and our experience in any way that is needed. Thank you again, and congratulations. [applause]
027Thank you. Are there any other um public comments individuals? If not, I'm going to move towards our report of student representatives from the high school. Do we have high school student council members here this evening? [clears throat] Um, good evening everyone. It's really great to see some new faces here after the recent election. For those who don't know me, my name is John B. Patel and I'm I'm the board of education rep for Rockill High School. I'm excited to share some of the things happening at our school lately. First off, students in grades 9, 10th, and 11th took the PSATs last month and the scores are already back. These results give students a good idea of where they are at and help them get ready for the SAT and other future opportunities. We also had
028the grand opening for the career center led by Mr. Chagelle. It's an amazing space for students to explore careers, plan for college, and learn about opportunities for their future. I think we all can agree it's way nicer than my bedroom when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. Veterans Day was really meaningful this year. Seniors got to meet with veterans in their home rooms to hear about their journeys, and juniors had a similar adviser experience. Freshman attended an assembly in the gym while sers while sophomores gathered in the auditorium. It was a great way for students to connect with and learn from people who have spirit week was last week and it brought it brought out a lot of energy to the school. Monday was Duncan versus
029Starbucks. Tuesday was twin day. Wednesday was white lice day. Thursday was favorite sports teams day and Friday wrapped things up with class colors day. Friday was allstar pep rally which included dodgeball games and tug award competition between the great and yes even the staff got in on the action. It was a lot of fun to see everyone cheering and competing. Finally, la last Saturday we had the CILA by literacy testing. This program recognizes students have demonstrated proficiency in in another language which is such an impressive achievement. It's a great way to honor our students dedication and skills. Overall, it's been an exciting and meaningful few weeks at Rockill High School. I'm proud of our students and thankful to be part of a community that supports so supports them so strongly. Thank you and have a
030great night. [applause] Thank you so much. Next up, we have a report from a student representatives from Rural Stevens School. [applause] You want that? You can. >> Can I use this? Do you want Do you want stand. >> Good evening, Rocky Hill Board of Education. I am Anna Saro and I am a third grade student in Miss Terolo's class. >> And I am Andrew Greavves, a third grade student in Mrs. Jen's class at Stevens. We would like to share some of the exciting activities and events that have been happening at our school. >> At the start of the school year, we learned all about our new schoolwide expectations. Plus, P is for personal best. A is for act kindly. W is for wise choices and S is for safety force. >> We also have new
031posters showcasing our pause expectations. We are all working really hard to fill our classroom buckets with paw tickets. And if we fill our school bucket, we earn a cozy day. I have good news. We earned it and we will celebrate it on November 25th. >> September 15th was International Dot Day. This day celebrates and encourages creativity, selfex expressions, and the idea that each of us can make a mark. Students created their own marks. >> For our September pause assembly, we focused on the important theme of respect. Students wrote about ways to model our expectations dur during their husky hour classes and create and created a puzzle spelling out our paws. Thank you to our student council members for helping put helping to put it together. We also recognize our student of the month for specials
032and learned and learn a new affirmation song. Our October pause assembly focused on the theme of responsibility. Our special teachers recognized one student from each grade who demonstrated responsibility throughout the month. We new to our assembly this year are classroom spotlights. We had two classes perform and their parents were able to come see them. The kindergarteners and fourth graders were so cute reciting their poems. >> Andrew, look at the many Steven School students who received a Husky Spotlight Award in September and October. Wow, they have been doing they are doing great things and their teachers noticed. All students will receive a Husky Hero Spotlight Award this year. New to our school this year is an amazing book vending machine. Thank thanks to fundraising efforts and our PTO students who won the Husky Hero Spotlight Awards
033get get to choose a book from the vending machine. Nia, did you know that machine talks to you? >> No, I did not. I can't wait for my turn to use it and choose a book. It's all the buzz when our classmates come back with their new books. >> On October 9th, 26 students from the high school came to Stevens as part of the lend a paw program. They read books with students, helped out in the library, in classrooms, and during fire prevention presentations. We always enjoy when the high school students come to Stevens and we hope they had fun. >> Members of the Rocky Hill Fire Department visited our school as part of fire prevention week. They focus they focused on the importance of having working smoke alarms in our homes. The firefighters showed
034us the special gear they wear, tools on their fire trucks, and we each received a black firefighters hat. On Friday, October 17th, we hold a pink out day to to to [snorts] raise awareness and show our support in honor of breast cancer awareness month. There certainly was a lot of pink throughout Stevens. >> On October 31st, we had a black, orange, and purple spirit day. The kindergarteners got to dress in their costumes and held a parade around our school. They all look so cute and happy. >> Lucky Hill Youth Services held a banner signing event during our a lunch waves part of Red Whin Week. Every student was able to sign the banner and pledge to be kind every day. We also received a sticker and bracelet reminding us that kindness matters. >> Andrew, we've
035done a lot so far this year. But wait, there's more. This year's children book week theme was power up with reading and Dave Pilky was the spotlight author. We read superhero and superpower themed books and [clears throat] discuss special powers we have as students. We also dressed in ways that make us unique. Let's share one of the jokes. Which superhero hit the most home runs? >> Batman. On Veterans Day, we held we had an assembly honoring 17 veterans in the Steven School community. Each received awards and cards created by Steven students to all our veterans and their families. Thank you for your service and sacrifice. >> November 13th was World Kindness Day. Being kind to each other, to yourself, and to the world is important. We focused on being kind and sharing ways we could
036be kind to each other such as saying hello, holding the holding the door open and asking someone to join a group or game. Look at our kindness wall. >> This fall we had warning club all Avengers and mad science as before and after school activities students could participate in outside of the school day. I know. I enjoyed starting my day with some exercise. >> Me, too. Milo, a 4-year-old therapy pug, and his handler, Meg, have been visited kind our kindergarten classrooms with and will visit the other grades as the year goes on. Milo likes to greet humans, play fetch, and chase birds. His favorite treats are peanut butter and dried chicken. Student Council is currently holding their annual food drive. We are collecting non-p perishable items to bring to the Walke Hill Food Pantry. Thank
037you to all our families who help support those in need. >> Thank you for letting us share the great things happening at Steven School. We are to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving and we present a gift for you for supporting our school community. [applause] >> All right. [applause] all the people. >> Thank you. >> You did a great job. Thank you. >> Yep. >> [applause] >> Thank you so much to the representatives from Steven School for coming up to speak and for our high school student as well. Um, I think it's safe to say that our board loves that this portion of our meeting every single time it comes up because we love listening to what you're doing in the schools and seeing all of your enjoyment and your smiles and so we love
038when you come to share. So, thank you so much. Um, it's customary at this time for us to take a quick five minute recess. Um, and if there are no objections, we will take a five-minute recess. Are there any objections? Okay, seeing none, we are going to go into recess for just about five minutes. She'll be back. >> Thank you. I'm ready. >> Dropping her off back. >> Yes. Apparently, she's with this kid's friend. Yes. So Chloe's doing too. >> No match. >> We just had everybody. >> Okay. >> I know. >> Are you good? >> Those are off. >> He's easy to get good picture. Yeah. He's easy to get good pictures of >> Noah. Noah. If you tell him this, >> I tried not to for the food bank. Yeah. Yeah. [laughter] >>
039You guys were working hard. >> Yeah. Noah was busting it. >> Yes, you guys. >> Where's the belt? >> I I know. I might. I'm kidding. >> All right. I'm gonna call back to order our board of education meeting for November 20th. Uh after a short recess, we're going to move on to agenda item number five, which is approval of the minutes. We have minutes uh for from October 16th, which is a policy committee meeting. October 16th, we also have a board of education executive session. And we had a regular board meeting also on October 16th along with October 28th, board of education finance committee meeting. And on the 28th, we had a civility and respect committee meeting. Um, are there any additions, deletions, or changes to the minutes? >> Yes. >> Okay. Go ahead,
040Mr. Clemens. >> The uh October 28th civility committee. Uh, Miss Tucker's listed as the committee chair and I believe it was Mr. Slatterly was the chair of that committee. >> Thank you. Let me just Yes. Okay. I've noted that change. Are there any other changes, additions, deletions to the minutes? >> Make a motion to accept the minutes as amended. >> Yes. Uh, do I have a second? >> Second. >> Uh, second from Mr. Clemens. Thank you so much. Motion to uh Yeah. All in favor, please say I. I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Abstain. >> I'm sorry. Thank you. You have an abstension because you weren't here, were you? Actually, we have two actually because Yes, we have two new board members. So, thank you. All right. So, that means 6, correct? 6 and two
041abstensions. All right, moving on to agenda item number six, which is correspondence. Dr. Zitto, >> we have no correspondence. >> Okay. And we have nothing on um our consent calendar, which is agenda item number seven. Um due to the fact that we had our elections, we have had no other meetings from our last uh board of education meeting in October. Um so I can move down to agenda item um which I guess is now eight correct because I amended. Um and that would be the approval of the proposed board of education review of policy number 4630 which is the family and medical leave act FMLA. This is a second reading for the board. Uh I'd like to open it up for any discussion. Does anyone have any comments to make on policy number 4630? >>
042Okay, seeing no discussion, um I guess we could take a motion because I believe we are um taking board action tonight. Correct, Dr. Zto? >> Yeah, you can. If you'd like, I can give a quick summary because we have two board members. >> Sure. Go ahead. Connecticut FMLA regulations essentially expand coverage to all non-certified public and nonpublic school employees that went into effect on October 1st, 2025. The law requires that the board policy be consistent with the new law in Connecticut. Basically, it expanded school coverage for non-certified employees are now eligible under the FMLA. There's a lot of little provisions that I could get into if you have more need more detail, but basically expanded coverage to non-certified people and it revised the FMLA eligibility for school employees at the federal level now must meet
043the threshold of,50 hours worked in the previous 12 months. So really just compliance essentially allows more people in the school system. Okay. Any questions? All right. Um, can I please have a motion uh for to um add and include policies 4630? >> Motion to add policy number 4630, Family Medical Leave Act, FMLA. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Miss Tucker. Miss Manella. Um, all in favor? I >> I any opposed? >> Any abstensions? >> Okay, motion passes. Moving on to agenda item number 10, actually nine, sorry. Um, and that is our uh first review of the proposed 2026 2027 school year calendar. Dr. Zitto, would you like to >> Sure. Just a quick overview. Um, it's a pretty standard school calendar. We've had union representation, which we appreciate. So, a couple
044folks from the teachers union got a chance to look at it. That was one of their requests. I wanted to thank Sandy Mall for working on this along with Wendy and Annabelle. It's a pretty standard calendar. The rules are simple. We have to have 180 days of school. Um, you'll see that the calendar, the first day for the kids is August 27th, 2026. Last day of school is June 10th. That's an early dismissal day. um June 10th, 2027, we have the state. [laughter] [applause] Um they have that this year, too. Um you see the various holidays laid out. It's a pretty straightforward. Nothing really odd on this calendar. It's a it's a fairly late Labor Day. So, typically that's kind of the the issue we always want to look at. And um historically when Labor
045Day is late, we've started uh the prior week to get the kids in the building for a couple of days. It's a good way to kind of ease in and then have a Labor Day weekend. So happy to take any questions. Typically uh you would review this, come back at the next meeting and um we can entertain any questions or make any recommend, you know, change anything based on recommendations from the board. And then once you approve it, typically in December, we'll put it up on because that's one of the questions we get is when is the are going up because people like to find them. So, nothing here struck me as unusual. Like I said, we've had a number of folks from the teachers union look at it and they seemed satisfied as well.
046>> Is there any other uh questions or further discussion right now? Mr. Costker, >> just a quick question. So, you you mentioned Dr. Zto. If we have thoughts, I haven't looked at it because it's way too small for my eyes to see, but the when I do look at it, um, if we have thoughts or comments, we can get them to you >> between now and next meeting. So, if there's edits, it's done in the meantime and then we discuss. Is that the thought? >> If you have a question, I would recommend or a comment or suggestion, send it in and >> I'll share it with the chair and we can certainly discuss it at the next meeting. Okay. >> If you want to amend this, I >> I don't anticipate I was just checking.
047I want to make sure I knew the process. That's all. >> It's not unusual. There have been times in the past where board members have asked to change a date or two or brought up a question. So, >> cool. >> Thank you. >> Again, the big issue is usually where Labor Day falls. Most significant question. >> Okay. >> I have just one observation, and it might be kind of silly, but we we've marked um August 27th as a red box for the first day of school. We've marked June 10th in the red box for the last day of school. Um, but our special observation days is a red box kind of below June and I I put colors together. >> Oh, I see. >> So, if we could just change >> Yeah, we did the
048color coding. >> Yeah, >> it's silly. Some might argue that the first and last days >> it is a special [laughter] agreed on the last day. >> Correct. >> Certainly the last day. >> Thank you. >> Any other suggestions at the moment? Okay. Please keep looking at it and let us know if there are um any other changes that you'd like. Thank you, Dr. Zitto. All right, we are moving on to item agenda uh number 10. Um and that is assistant superintendent for personnel and student services report. Dr. Diaz. >> Good evening. Um the cabinet met with the human youth and senior service team this week to discuss new opportunities for afterchool engagement. Uh so we're excited to share that we will be piloting a culinary enrichment program for students in grades four and fifth
049in partnership with the dream cafe. This program facilitated through human services will offer students a theme-based cooking experience beginning with cuisines such as French and Italian. Sessions will take place after school with limited spots available on a first come first- serve basis. We will share more details as soon as we finalize the logistics. Um, beginning in January, we will also launch Breakfast with Friends, a monthly celebration for Dream and Pathway students. And this will be a special opportunity for teachers in these specialized programs to recognize students for their efforts and achievements. Additionally, the Dream Cafe has officially received licensing and permitting approval from the state and the Department of Agriculture to produce dog treats. So, we're excited about that. Um, we also held, as you already know, our first civility committee meeting. I want to
050thank everyone in the community that attended the meeting and the board for engaging in such a thoughtful conversation on this important topic of inclusion, kindness, and respect. As a next step, staff will be introduced to the civility framework during December staff meetings. We have also developed a plan for student focus groups beginning with grades five through 12 to ensure we are elevating and listening to student voices directly. In addition to creating a common language and understanding across all schools, we have student assemblies scheduled for the second week of December. School merch uh school merchandise has been purchased to support this initiative such as wristbands, banners, and bookmarks. The curriculum office has also aligned the one book one read in the spring at the elementary levels to this initiative. So I want to thank Dr. Schaefer
051and Mrs. Durant for supporting this great work from the human resource office the other side of my responsibility. We have completed and distributed the newly updated substitute handbook to all building substitutes and daily substitute teachers. We also recently hired five additional substitutes um substitute teachers, excuse me, to support staff across the district. Last week, we held our first induction meeting with them to review the handbook, clarify [clears throat] expectations, and welcome them to a district that prides itself on high standards and excellence. Uh more updates will follow as these exciting initiatives continue to grow. I am happy to answer any questions. I have one follow-up question. Are they permanent substitutes or just substitutes on a daily basis when you need them? >> These these are considered daily substitutes. >> Thank you. Mr. Costker, did you
052have a question? >> Yeah, it was sort of related to that. I was just What's the total number of building subs we have in district? Because I always get confused about this. >> Uh we have two building subs per building. Um and we I don't have the exact amount of daily subs. No, no, no. Not daily cuz I know that fluctuates like crazy, right? Like the daily two. Yeah, two per building. >> Two per building 3,000. Okay. The permanent kind of fulltime sort of building stuff. I just couldn't remember. [snorts] Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Any other questions? >> Okay. Thank you, Dr. Diaz. >> Moving on to Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, Dr. Nosek. >> Good evening, everybody. Um, first of all, I want to extend my congratulations to our new board
053of ed members uh and our new officers. Included in your packet is the financial report reflecting year-to- date figures for the month ending October 31st. The following accounts I'd like to highlight at this time. Um, it's line item 113 salaries. The paraprofessional account is currently in deficit due to the needs of the students requiring paraprofessional support. And then line item 561 tuition. The in and out of district is currently reflecting a deficit. Uh this includes tuition for both magnet schools and students with special ed needs. And there will be future offsets against the deficit from the excess cost reimbursement grant that we received from the state. >> Um any questions? Miss Manila, >> when um do you know when the ECS um grant money when you'll be notified of of the fun the offset to
054that line item? >> Yeah, we get uh three three installments uh 25% I think it comes in uh is it January? Um and then 25% I believe in March and then the rest in um June. >> Okay. Okay. It's just I'm just trying to figure it out for budget season coming up. Thank you. >> Any other questions, Mr. Costco? >> Yeah, and it's sort of an unfair question, but I'll ask and you can maybe address it next month if if need be. But, um, I know there's a new grant available at the state level, the called the seed grant for special education programming stuff. So, I just didn't know the timeline on that and if you have any update on that as far as our application for that and stuff like that. >> Uh, it's
055a non-competitive grant, so we are guaranteed that those those funds now. um the application from the state hasn't been finished yet. Uh but they have advised us to go ahead and spend uh the allotted amount uh in our district u and that um kind of put in the cart before the horse there, but um they know it's coming and they're just they're working on that. We've already had conversations about how that money will be uh potentially spent u and that's for new programs uh and staff uh as of uh that weren't in the budget prior to to uh July 1. So, anything that's new? >> Yeah. No, I'm familiar with the grant. I was just cur Yeah. Any details you can give was great. So, I appreciate that. And what's the amount that we're because
056I didn't hear that? I know it varies by district based on sort of the ECS formula, etc. >> It's $93,000 and we've had a lot of discussions in regards to our needs um including in those discussions with is Miss Herman, the special special ed director. So, we decided that the way that we will spend the grant money to meet our needs right now is to um look for three behavioral specialists to meet our elementary needs and those specialized programs because we do have some challenging behaviors and one math tutor. Um so like that we're meeting the needs of students at Mojour School in tier 2 and tier three. [clears throat] That's that's great. Thank you very much for that. I appreciate it. And I know understanding what went into that bill and and what went
057into making that grant available. Um a lot of the focus was to do to keep students who might otherwise not be able to stay in district in district. So I really applaud you guys for doing the behavior specialists because I think that's really something that I think uh we needed here in in in the district. So I think um I imagine a lot of the teachers in the room would agree with that as well. Um so anyway, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Any other questions? >> Okay, thank you Dr. Nosk and Dr. Diaz for answering that question. All right. Uh we are finally at the point where we are going to hear from Miss Durant. Poor Miss Duran has been tabled with her assessment data update for two meetings now and so we are
058very happy to hear assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction Miss Duran. Jess is a bird. She brought her Okay, good evening everyone. Um, I'd like to begin by congratulating our new board members and our new board chair, um, Miss Lefredo. I am going to apologize in advance because this is always a long presentation and there is a lot to go over. I will um try to be thorough but also uh keep in mind the time. So um before we can begin the presentation um some of you may have brought your binders with you this evening and I will do my best to let you know where I am in the binder as we move through um and I do have a slide presentation that um you can follow along with if you did not bring
059your binder this evening. I also want to acknowledge um the dedication of our teachers, staff, and administrators whose daily work has contributed to the positive outcomes of our students. And while tonight we will review data from specific assessments, please know that we view each student holistically academically, socially, and emotionally. We have much to be proud of as a district. And so I'm going to start by going to tab one and we'll talk a little bit about um the different assessments that we have here. So okay, so this slide here reminds us why we administer these assessments. There are federal and state laws that require annual assessments in grades three through eight. And in grade 11, we have the high school SAT and GSS science testing in grades 5, 8, and 11. And annual language proficiency
060testing for identified multilingual learners. These summitive assessments provide an important academic snapshot and are part of our accountability responsibilities to the state and to families. We use the data to accurately reflect student achievement and growth as part of the state's accountability system. It provides valid and reliable measures of student progress and it provides an annual snapshot of student achievement that should be used along with other information and tests. What we do not use it for is a sole measure of student achievement. And we also do not substitute for a wide variety of other relevant ways to assess student learning such as classroom assessments, student work assignments, teacher observations, and detailed diagnostic assessments and valuations. Okay. In the in your binder, there are a couple of pages about demographics that are not represented in our slides.
061Um, I'm not going to spend time going over this, um, as there's not a lot of difference here. Um, but it we do give you a five-year look at our ML population and our special ed population um, over a five-year time period. We know that both of those populations continue to grow in our district and um, we often speak about that in our um, board meetings and in our subcommittee meetings. Um, and it continues to be um, something that we work towards um, addressing and making sure we're meeting the needs of those students in our curriculum and instruction. [clears throat] The next um, page in your binder is a nice graphic of what a DURG is for our new board members. Um, you're going to hear me say DUI probably a hundred times in this
062presentation. Um but what that is is it's the diff our district reference group and towns are placed into a diff a district reference group based on a number of factors um mainly socioeconomic and so we are in group D. However, you're going to see that we um will look at some slides this evening where we will compare our student assessment data not to group C, which is just above us, but group D because we often find that our test results fall somewhere in the middle of the DUI B performance. Okay. So, the first um section in your book is um tab two is going to go over the district performance index results. And just to give you a little bit of background um there it's a it's a index that goes up to 75 and
063so sorry the range is 0 to 100 the target is 75 that we strive to reach. So in this graphic that you're looking at here, this is our performance in math amongst our um towns that are in Derg D. And as you can see um we have um placed uh first in our DUI with a performance index of 74. Um, and we also provided you with a three years of data to look across, and you'll see that there's stability across those three years. Next, we're going to look at our district performance index for ELA. Again, uh, Rocky Hill is shown with our counts and index across the three years. And the comparison to other districts in our DUIS give us gives us perspective on our strengths and our areas to prioritize. Again, top of the
064DUI with a performance index of 76. [cough and clears throat] And then when we look at science, we um notice that um our performance here for grades 5, 8, and 11. Remember that these assessments are only given in those grades. Um, also extremely strong, ranking right towards the top of our DUI. So, so much to be really proud of um, as a district and a board. Next, we're going to look at our performance as compared to the DRB districts. So, again, we're going to look at math. And you'll notice that we're ranked 15th among amongst the districts in DUI B kind of in that um middle of the road like I said. And then in ELA the same thing. We're in the middle performing um 13th when we compare and rank ourselves um with the
065other towns that are in that dur. And the same with science. um 15th in Durg B. So when we look at this um you know we notice again like I said our performance is strong across all three content areas and um this is stable over several years. I gave you three but even longer than that. So, I don't know if um perhaps I could stop here for a second before I go to the next section um to see if there's any questions about those slides and that assessment. >> We're good. >> I do not. >> Okay. All right. So, um the next section we're going to look at is smarter balanced. And in your book, that's tab three. Smarter Balanced is administered to students in grades three through eight and students can achieve anywhere from
066a level one to a level four on the assessment. Within our DURG, we look at the students who meet proficiency. Those are students who um score a three or a four. And so when we look at our um math performance, we landed second in our DUI for math performance across grades three through eight with 66.8% of students reaching a level three or four. That is approximately it is 11.8% above the DUI and it's 20.9% above the state average. When we look at our ELA performance, this slide shows that our achievement um was third in our DUI behind Stonington and East Granby. And we were 12.2% above above the DUI average and 20.2% above the state average. and then our comparison with DUI B. So in math we were slightly below the DUI B average um
067ranking 17th amongst the towns that fall into this band. Um and then in ELA slightly below the DUR average at 17. But again, just the fact that we are competing with these towns being that they're two durgs above us um is something that is it's exceptional. Honestly, it's something to really be proud of. In your binder, I also included some um pages with charts of DUI A. I'm sorry. Yeah, DUI A. And the reason um I included those was because at a recent um subcommittee meeting I think I was asked just like how do how does DUI A perform? So I gave you those numbers just to have um a look at. [clears throat] All right. So that wraps up the um smarter balanced section of the assessment um results. So I don't know if
068there's any questions on that part. Mr. Costker, >> I do not question. Thank you. [laughter] >> All right. Um Okay. So, I'm excited about this next section, too, because um Mr. Fod and I um collaborated last year to try to do some work around the um SAT. So, this is tab four in your binder. and you will see that there's a page that kind of gives you a little bit of a summary on the different levels um within the SAT noting that you can score up to 800 on the evidence-based reading and writing and then also on the math section of the assessment. So within our DUI, oops, let me go back. Um, super impressive here again. Um, number one, so number one in our DUIRG, um, is the theme of a lot of the
069assessment data that I'm going to share with you. The average score was 546. And um the distribution and average score by the district um ranks Rocky Hill at the top with an average of 48 points above the DUI. For the evidence-based reading and writing, we ranked third with students average score being 548 and that is 26 points above the DUR average. So really great work here. Um we compared a DUI B and this is really interesting. um we actually performed higher than the DRB average in mathematics um with the average score of 546. And then um if you look at the evidence-based reading and writing, this slide shows that our performance is strong within our district placing third. And the average score of our students was 559 with 76.4% 4% of our students reaching a
070level three or four. So when we look at a four-year trend, we notice that in school year 2324 um we did have a little bit of a dip over the stability of the other years um in the four-year trend. An important piece of information for the board to know is that in 2023 2024, that was the first year that the SAT went digital. And we did note that other towns across um the state saw a very similar dip um in that school year. However, we wanted to make sure that it wasn't um more than just the change of platform to being digital. So, um last year we worked on um putting into the high school advisory eight weeks of um SAT prep and um we hired um Sam Rosen's company to come in and do
071the evidence-based reading and writing with our grade 11 students during that advisory time. And then Brian Graca, who's a our math department head at the high school, worked with our grade 10 students on the math portion. And um it's not reflected in your book or in the data, but something that's important to know is that those sessions really instilled confidence in students and we had our highest um participation rate in a really long time. And so then when you look at the results and the scores, knowing that the majority of the student body took the assessment, it makes the results even that more impressive. Um, so it's, you know, if you look, the math went up 27 points and the evidence-based reading and writing went up 31 points in that one, you know, between those
072two school years. All right. So, before I jump to that, because I had to put a few pictures in here because I can't talk about numbers for this long and not talk about people. Um, so I'm going to break it up a little bit with just a couple of pictures. But any questions about SATs before I move on? >> This time I actually do have a question. >> Okay. Um the participation rate just because you mentioned it I didn't think of it otherwise but what was the participation rate or what is the participate since it came the words came out of my mouth I'm like they're gonna ask me >> you can get it to us later >> it was very high >> because you said majority and I was like I when I when
073I looked at it I think it was it's in the 90s. >> Okay. >> But I will get you the exact number. >> No that's cool. Yeah. Majority sounds like okay 51% no like we're talking only a few kids who did not. So I'll get that number to you. We only had six. >> Yeah. >> Nice. >> Yeah, it was very high. >> So, go ahead. Okay. I just want to say thank you for um those wonderful results. I currently do have a senior. I'm very very impressed with the numbers. Um I will say that um a huge um shout out to the teachers at the high school. >> Um and you Mr. Gracea, Miss Eric, that the whole team, um, all the math teachers, >> Miss Adele right there, everybody. I just want to
074say thank you because without you guys, these scores would not have been where they are right now. So, thank you. >> Absolutely. Yes. Um, and it's been a real collaborative effort. Um this year we're working with the English department um to replicate what the um gentleman did for us last year. And so we'll have something that's sustainable and we can um offer to students internally um every year. So um really great work and uh we wouldn't be able to do it without the teachers who are willing to go above and beyond for this. So um and Mr. FOD, I'm going to give you a big shout out because you really were like, we're doing this, we're doing this. So, um, and it's it was a real team effort. >> M, if you don't mind, I
075just have one more question before you move on to the next part. I'm sorry. >> Um, two things that maybe can't necessarily need to talk about them today or present on them today, but maybe to our special education committee meeting is um, the alternate assessments that the students take. Students with special education needs, IEPs take an alternate assessment. Just some data on that would be helpful, I think. >> Sure, we could do that in a subcommittee. >> Yeah, maybe in a subcommittee. And then also um kind of the disproportionality. I know there's some measurements that looks at the disproportionality between students with disabilities and students without disabilities. So, I think that'll be helpful for a committee to see. >> Yes, we can work on that. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, um you might
076not be sick of the numbers, but I I need a break. So, I wanted to just insert a picture here of our career center. um last month, this was in my presentation because it was going to be right before the open house. Um since then, we've had the open house, but we've also had um a lot of job shadows that are happening in that space. And I just think it's really great to remind ourselves that when we look at student growth, this is the end result that we're hoping to see in our students. the interest in what comes next, where am I going, what do I want to do? Um, so I think, you know, I I'm just so thrilled with how the high school has worked to really put that together and it's going
077great. So, moving on to science, the next generation um science [clears throat] standards and um that's in tab five of your assessment book. The students in grades five, eight, and 11 take the assessment. It is divided into three sections. There's life science, physical science, and earth science, earth space science. Again, um we're going to look at the students who met proficiency, which means that they earned a level three or four on the assessment. Okay. So, when we look at this, we see that we are above the DUI average and we ranked 10th within our um within our uh DUIRG, five percentage points above um the the average. This is something where um I was looking at this a little bit. Um, last year we were a little bit higher. Not much when you actually look
078at the p the percentage was actually higher. Um, but so I'll just give you the number. So we were sixth, the percentage was 65.2. Now we're 10th and the percentage is 64.7. So it's also important to look at those kinds of things like just because the number is a little bit lower or a little bit lower the number actually might have been higher based on how other towns performed. So um so there is stability there I guess is the point I'm trying to make. And then with DUI B, the comparison, um, we ranked 20th. Um, but still competing with these towns that [clears throat] are two bands above us. Okay. So, um, Kim Antl, I don't know how many of you know Kim Antal, but she is our botany teacher at the high school and
079Leanne from Sedexo. They teamed up last month to bring our high school students some delicious produce that they grew from our newly renovated green houses. The students used basil to make fresh salsa and then they offered a taste test during lunch waves. It's just really great to see science come to life in pictures like this and with projects like these. So, Miss Ant Hall and Mr. Debbacco um secured the grant for the high school. They've secured it for several years in a row now and um it's called the farm-toschool experiential learning grant and they've brought over $32,000 to our district to improve our students experience with projects like these. So, I just wanted to acknowledge when we talk about numbers and we talk about subject areas. Um, this is this is it coming to life
080in our in our hallway in our classrooms, in our cafeterias. Um, so it's it's really great to see um our teachers who are going above and beyond to bring these things to our students. Okay, next the loss links. So, um, this is tab six in your binder, and this assessment is for our ML population. Students in grades K through 12 take this assessment, and they have to have been officially identified as an ML learner through a screening process. Once identified, they need to meet certain criteria to exit. So to be considered um English language proficient they need to score a level four or five overall and they also have to score a level four or five on reading and a level four or five on writing. So um it it's not easy for a new
081arrival to reach those levels. it often takes many years and as a district with a you know with we've always had MLS but it's a growing population in our district um we are spending a lot of time working on looking at how we're supporting our ML learners what more can we do um across our school district to support the student population we do a wonderful job with these students and you're going to see in our data that we are um really getting results as a district when you see in um across three years, right? 38.3% proficient um reach proficiency and exited services and that put us second in the DUI for students reaching that English language proficiency. I did want to just mention one thing on that slide. You may notice the asterisks in not
082just this slide but some of the other slides and I've been asked that question in the past. If there is not a large enough sample of students they cannot report the data. So that's what that it's East Graanby is a very small district. And then um DUIB B again looking at this same assessment third among um DUI B with our students reaching um proficiency way above the average um in in this DUI as well. Okay. So there are I I mentioned the subtests already and um this is a little bit of a breakdown of the subtests and it paints the picture that we would expect which is that students um the the last subtests that they are able to gain proficiency in are usually those that require written expression and are the most challenging for
083our students. Um so you see that uh reflected in this table and this data set. And then um here are some of our ML families at last month's family night. Um we had a huge community partnership for this event and I would like to take a minute just to publicly thank all of our town officials that came out to support our families and help them learn about all that Rocky Hill has to offer. It was a great evening. AP classes. This is tab seven in your binder. We're flying through this. I can't believe any questions. No. All right. So, for the AP results, um the total number of AP students was 161. Um often these students take more than one exam. So the total number of exams taken was 343, but that's with only 161
084students taking those exams. The range of scores a student can achieve are one through five. And this table shows that the majority of students scored a three or above, which is what most colleges accept for credit. The courses that students took in the 2425 school year at the AP level um are listed in this table. Some subjects in the list we don't offer at Rocky Hill High School and the students actually take those exams independently. There's a lot going on on this slide. Um this is a a five-year trend of achievement. Um, so again here the NAS mean that no one took the exam that year, but you can see that there is a variance of students across classes and content areas that are taking these exams. >> Oh, sorry. That's that's what I was
085thinking I was on and was not. So that this is the chart that just has a lot going on here, but you can see um that there's a lot of different AP classes that kids are taking and um getting great scores on. And then our last thing, um you were given a an insert that we can um you can add to the back of your binder. Um it's was at your seat tonight. It's hot off the press. Um, had I given this presentation in October, I would not have included these. Um, they were just released um, a couple weeks ago. [clears throat] And um I usually present or this is usually presented in the spring, but because we do have it and I wanted to take the time to just share with you, um we
086have a three-year trend that we put together for our accountability index on the next generation accountability standard. So what is the next generation accountability system? It is um the way that the state um assesses schools. It is um it looks holistically at the school and the district. It looks at um tracking progress. It is a way for schools and districts to help make improvements and show where support is needed. Um, and it just really provides a clear a full picture because there's 13 indicators. So, the assessments that I shared tonight are part of that, but it also looks at everything from attendance to graduation rates to um, uh, all kinds of things. I'm forgetting the whole list, but there's 13 different indicators. And in order to be um recognized as a school of distinction, you
087must reach an accountability index of 85 or above. So this year, West Hill did achieve that um school of distinction status. And you'll notice that we're we're as a district, we're doing great, and so me we're really close um to that in across the board. So, um, so it was great that that came in in time for me to include tonight. And then in conclusion, um, I just wanted to say that, um, I've shared some of the contributing factors and next steps that we have identified, um, on this slide right here for your review. Um, but I just want to reaffirm that our vision is to develop competent, ethical, healthy, responsible, and intellectually reflective citizens who demonstrate high achievement and a love of lifelong learning. And that remains central to how we interpret these data
088and design supports. We will continue with a growth mindset and a focus on continuous improvement. and that really comes right out of our district vision. So, um, with that, I welcome any questions from the board. >> No questions. >> Okay. Um, I do want to say thank you. I'm so glad that you finally got an opportunity to share all of this wonderful data. I know you've been waiting a while. Um, I, like you, also love data, but I get that the numbers can be a bit much. So, thank you so much for also instilling some of, you know, in including some of the pictures so that we could see our students in action. Um, and I think it makes a lot more sense to see that as well along with the data as we are
089talking about uh our young students. So, lots to be proud of and um we do appreciate you presenting uh in a in a pretty good time too. You did you did a great job. I was watching the clock. So, well done, Mr. Rand. >> Thank you. All right, moving on to um agenda item uh I think is now 13. It is the superintendent report and that is Dr. >> Zto want to congratulate our urge to each of you for your election term on behalf of the leadership team and the entire staff. We look forward to working with you in the interests of our students. Uh just a quick reminder, one of the highlights in the calendar that we put in a few years ago, schools are closed for students and teachers on Wednesday, uh November
09026. So early jump on the Thanksgiving holiday. I want to acknowledge Mr. Trudeau. The feedback I'm getting is that he's doing a great job as our new director of athletics and student activities. Um I had an opportunity to go watch one of our student athletes compete in the state cross country meet and I was able to get to a couple of the girls soccer playoff games, including the the tough loss in the semifinals. Uh, and Mr. Trillo is at everything. He's everywhere. So, it's impressive. But it's a great fall season. And honestly, more importantly than the wins and losses from what I see is the uh the sportsmanship. It's evident. We see that at our playoff games. Uh, good crowd support. Um, tremendous sportsmanship exhibited by athletes and our coaches and our fans as well.
091So, really good fall season. Looking forward to the winter. And then finally, I just want to um thank Wendy uh for doing a great job tonight. It can be a little dry, but she does a great job presenting everything. A lot of important information, information that we kind of look at. We talked about this uh with the curriculum committee. We we do very well and even the best districts in the state when you look at their percentage of students, and I think Mr. Oscar alluded to this a little bit. You still see that even in a, you know, a really good score is like 75% of your kids on any metric meeting in the state levels three or four. So that still means even the districts like ours that are doing really well, there's 25%
092of the kids that we just need to keep pushing. So, you know, the emphasis on a growth mindset, continuous improvement, and just not resting on our morals is is probably something that's important for us all to kind of as we look at the next level of work here in Rocky Hill. But great job, excellent results here and uh a testament to the staff who works really hard with our kids every day. So those are my comments. Thank you. >> And the last agenda item is the board chair report. Um and although it may be a little lengthy, I'm going to also add in the committees at the end so that you know who is chairing the committees and where all of the board members will be. So bear with me. Good evening and thank you
093to all of the students, staff, and families that have filled this room tonight. I'm very honored to be the newly elected chair of the board of education. This isn't a position that I step into lightly. I am deeply humbled and aware that this role carries not only the trust of this board, but the confidence of our community, our educators, and most importantly, our students. I would like to take a moment to welcome our newest members, Mr. Brian Addie and Miss Kristen Dudan Dudanowitz. I am so happy to have you both on our team. The recent election season was a passionate one and campaigns often highlight our differences. But tonight, that season is behind us. We are no longer candidates. We are colleagues with a shared mission and that is to work responsibly and to ensure
094that every decision we make advances the success and well-being of our students. Our role as a board is to uphold the bylaws and policies that guide this district, maintain public trust, and understand information presented to us in order to make informed, ethical, and student centered decisions. We must continue to support the administrators, our teachers, and pareducators who devote themselves daily to the growth, safety, and success of our students. Their dedication forms the heartbeat of our schools. It is our responsibility to ensure that they have the resources, the guidance, and the support necessary to carry out this vital work effectively. But leadership is not just about policy or procedure. It's about tone and example. We will face challenges. We will not always agree, but we must remain respectful. Our students are watching how we lead. And
095I truly believe that when we lead with core values like respect, empathy, honesty, and courage, we not only strengthen our schools, but we strengthen our community. We remind everyone watching that public service is about collaboration. It's about doing the hard work together, even when it's uncomfortable, because the future of our students is too important to do anything less than our best. So, as we begin this new chapter, let this board be known for our integrity, our transparency, compassion, and our unwavering dedication to every student in this district. Whether they are learners who excel or those who need additional support, students navigating language barriers or unique learning styles, children discovering their passions or o overcoming challenges. and all who walk through our doors with their own stories, backgrounds, and dreams. As your chair, I pledge that
096this board will work together to move our district forward with the full awareness of the trust that you have placed in us and strive to provide an exceptional education that empowers every student in the Rocky Hill Schools to reach their fullest potential. Before we say good night, I'd like to review the committee appointments for the board of education. Those appointments for finance committee the chair is Miss Manella and our board members are Miss Dudanowitz and Miss Tucker. Curriculum committee the chair Miss Dudanowitz board members Mr. Costker and Miss Tucker. Policy committee chair Miss Dudanowitz board members Miss Morphea and Mr. Shabra. School safety the chair Ms. Morphea board members Miss Manella. Mr. Clemens, Personnel and Negotiations Committee, also known as PNN, Chair, Miss Manella, Board Members, Mr. Costco and Miss Tucker. Special education committee chair,
097Mr. Costker, board members, Miss Dudanowitz and Mr. Addie. Technology Committee Chair, Miss Manella, board members, Ms. Mora and Mr. Clemens. the civility and respect committee. We have we thought that we should change that name. Um and it was just a little bit harder for us to try to wrap our brains around. Um and um the chair, Miss Morphea, came up with what we feel is a great acronym called voice. The values of inclusion, community, and equity. It is the voice of our students and of our community. And the chair, Miss Morphea, board members, Miss Musker, Mr. Shabra, and Mr. Addi and facilities committee chair Mr. Costco, Miss Dudanowitz, Mr. Shabra, and Mr. Addie. It's important just to add to your calendars as a note that the facilities committee is uh committee meeting is scheduled to
098meet on December 9th at 6:30 school. And I want you to be aware that the members of the board of education will also have a training session with CABE on December 18th at 5:00 pm. This training session will be before our regularly scheduled board meeting that evening which starts at 7 pm. And board members who are new um and for those of you returning, please remember to read the Friday memo that Dr. Zto sends to your board email. Um that's where you will find any updates and reminders about these meetings. I would personally like to thank Sandy Maul for sitting in the corner over there and taking all of the notes tonight. Thank you so much for um doing all of the background work for us. And it is customary on the first meeting for
099us to open up the floor to any board member that would like to speak tonight before we say good night. Do I have any board members that would like to speak? Okay. No, no one wants to say anything. Mr. Costco, you sure? >> I'm sure. >> All right. >> I'll save I'll save it for another day. >> Okay. All right. Well, can I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion to adjurnn. Thank you, Miss Manella. Second. >> Second, Mr. Addie. Thank you. All in favor? >> I >> say I. Thank you. All opposed. Any abstensions? All right. We are closing our meeting of the board of education at 8:48. >> [applause]