001good evening everyone sorry that we're starting a few minutes late but welcome to the Shelton Board of Education meeting it is Wednesday March 26 it is 7:05 p.m. we will call the meeting to order can I get a roll call please Patricia moonin here Joan Littlefield here Amy Romano here lorine Rosner here Jason nevs here K cach here Anthony smaro here James orti Jim fan um not here not here also in attendance Dr Ken sarich Christen sanly Glenn Newman Tracy hussy John Calhoun Jacqueline tuling Eli Elias and aita up okay great we could all please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of Al flag United States America can I please get a motion to approve the agenda motion to approve the agenda Madam chair second um Madam chairman with the exception would like to
002uh pull item M out of the consent agenda okay we will move remove item M out of the consent agenda we'll make that item number four and then everything else could just go down in a number please okay can I now get a motion to approve the revised agenda don't move Madam chair okay motion made by K cach can I get a second second by line Rosner all in favor I okay can I please get a motion to approve the revised consent agenda I'll make that motion motion made by Jason nevs second I'll second all in favor I okay new item number four approval of the fundraising request by the boys lacrosse booster club for 2024 2025 school year um Madam chairman uh with that item um everything seems to be in order with the
003uh but uh I would like to approve it with the contingence upon the submittal of financials to the superintendent's office has not been submitted as of yet okay so we Mr oretti would like to make a motion to approve the fundraising request but just contingent upon them submitting their financials that are missing from the packet can I please get a second on that motion I'll second it okay by Patty moonin all in favor great moving on approval check all right new number five discussion and possible action on the Shelton Board of Education 403b plan I know there was part of this was included in your packet I actually will defer to our finance director who can speak more on this particular issue are we doing three different topics or are they all just grouped together
004they're group together okay ch by the board making this action they they're these are going to be added to the 403 plan plan for our employees so it's a benefit to the employee no repercussion on the board making this than just the benefits that our employees would get in their 403 yeah for for empowered to add this this packet to the plan for our employees it needs to be done by a board action so that's why it's an action item for the board yeah so is there any questions sorry I'm just viewing a little reading too as we're discussing is there any questions Mr or no okay should we take action then anybody would like to make a motion to approve I'll make a motion that we approve the qual uh qualified Disaster Recovery distribution
005the 403b hardship distribution expansion and terminal illness penalty tax exception second all in favor I I perfect Ming on to item number six presentations and recognitions Madam chair uh the month of March cab likes to recognize the boards of Education as Board of Education Month as we do traditionally in the month of March it is our time to thank all of you for the work that you do as members of the Board of Ed um I I always like to take this opportunity to remind our public that although they are elected officials every number of our Board of Education are volunteers none of them receive payment for the jobs that they do and we all know the long hours and commitments they do and the best interest of our school system our students and our
006city so on behalf of the staff the administration and the community in general I want to recognize our board and thank them for their service um to our community and our Board of Education during this board of education month thank you all with that I have small gift for each of you years back it was a really big hit trips to Hawaii the C no not the cup I know you love the cup an embroidered Shelton public school campus bag I know one for each of you Lu passing it down um but I also as recognize uh the Board of Education I would be remissed if we didn't recognize our Board of Education student reps as well again elected by their peers to be here they come here for each of our board meetings to
007share what's going on and give us a a grounding that the work that we do is all centered on our students I have a gift for them too and thank you for the work that you do for our board [Music] mam chair that's all for present okay yeah I know I know I W no trips to Hawaii would you get the thank you Dr serich we appreciate it truly and I use my other bags and I will definitely use this this new one I like mine too yeah I do we can always use more bags we love them and I use my umbrella too all the time that stays in the car nice yeah that umbrella is great yeah it is okay let's see let's where are we um back to this back to the
008student Board of Education Representatives reports oh you guys are on hello hello uh since our last meeting the junior class took their SAT exams on Mar 21st our winter sports have concluded and the SEC Awards have been given out to the students who are eligible to receive them and our spring Sports have started we also had our dodgeball and cornhole tournaments and for upcoming events we have our pickle ball tournament we have the color Garden Winter percussion which takes place this Saturday and we have the spring musical mam Mia which takes place April 3rd to April 5th um while our juniors are taking the SATs the underclassman are doing doing the pathways to success which went very well um in our teachers versus cops basketball game the teachers won and we have our Performing Arts
009pep rally this Friday uh at the ja investment challenge four of our teams Advanced to State finals and in the FBLA competition chish Patel got second place in financial math Stephanie sandborne got third place in the same thing Jared Abraham got fourth place in graphic design and Katie n and Maria nen got second place in sales presentation and we also got the champion chapter award at the DECA state competition Katie n and shre yov got third in marketing Elena gasparo and Matty C got fifth in entrepreneurship uh the Gail Hawks also had their competitions these past couple weeks in Waterberry they got the finalist award and at WPI they got the Innovations control award that's all that's a lot that's good great absolutely great thank you guys so much sounds like a lot of fun
010things are going on at the high school right now I didn't get to see that basketball game but it sounded like it was a good time hopefully a lot of people came because I believe there was like maybe a fundraiser part to that correct well I hope it worked out yeah a lot of people good good they should do that again po basket well it was teachers versus police no they didn't let her play it was teachers versus the police yeah I thought that was great okay moving on to public comment per board policy 9323 9325 5 minutes is allotted to each speaker no Board of Ed employee student or Community member should be deed within public comment any members of the public who wish to speak briefly before the board must only comment on
011matters associated with the Board of Education business persons wishing to address the Shelton Board of Education are limited to Shelton residents parents of current Shelton students and employees of the Shelton Public Schools or service contracted providers of Shelton Public Schools is there anyone signed oh there is look at that Henri there is someone here this evening on up okay up du time good evening I'm here to speak out I was going Sun oh Mrs you know ancient Poli at only that eight no number wasn't I got an after policy no policy volunteer well from as you agre I was very sad may I see have like a application that aner could and for that with super principles happened all so someone um that I can go me Che H if might and that often I
012have you know I don't don't go here I leave I don't have not like I potentiality thank thank you ma'am for your time I I don't mean to cut you off we allow five minutes and um but thank you very much and uh we're not allowed to necessarily go back and forth like this in in public comment but we obviously do listen to what you say and and we will take things everything in consideration for what you said this evening thank you for your time is there anyone else that would like to speak anyone else that would like to speak okay great then we will move on okay sorry I'm realizing I don't have my paperwork with me um and so I'm like looking for my I apologize for the pause I apologize because I
013am next for teaching and learning and I want I apologize go right ahead we'll skip over I apologize I I did one and then I realized didn't print the other one yep so over sorry that's right buildings and grounds yep so the building committee met uh last Wednesday the 19th uh we discussed projects that will take place during April Break um such as the minor work that remains in the aux gym uh painting and reconditioning the walls uh an installation of a new domestic hot water heater at Booth Hill again uh the break makes it more efficient for John and his crew to do the work uh another goal uh for this break will be to start the uh the HVAC evaluation process that uh now State mandate we're gonna going to try and John's
014going to organize uh Sunnyside and Mohan will be the first two schools to start uh so we can stay in compliance with these State mandates also we're hoping Mr Calhoun gets a little downtime quiet time in the April break uh we'll see John I hope I don't jinx you on that one but um right yeah uh uh John would like to reval reevaluate some uh current maintenance contracts supplies uh to to ensure we're getting quality and and uh in good service and price um and then uh for our biggest project our Mohan school project uh the boa uh if you have if you don't know um they they approved the uh the amount of the roof um I'm not sure where the uh um the money will be coming from but they approved the the
015um and then I think we we are we are going uh we are Mr Sharon you can help me with this we we're waiting on the we're waiting we you got we got the login done right we have to wait till the portal turns on on on April 1st to submit um project number yep and then we we submit that get it in before the 10th and then and we then we'll start the bidding process after that that is correct and uh that's that's all I have for uh buildings and grounds thank you go ahead Finance okay um yeah that building in grounds is like waiting a motor vehicle thank you uh Finance we met Wednesday March 26 the meeting is on the school website if anyone wishes to view that uh The Usual Suspects
016are came up with um fed and Healthcare um the one thing that the finance committee did uh all in agreement has recommend a formal letter from the superintendent be sent uh to uh advising of the current trends in our health and sped accounts where they are trending or overages so um and that's coming from the finance committee to the full board and vote on that if you want um Mr superintendent and and uh that's uh pretty much it want me to read no you can that we are projecting that have spent our allocated budget by April 30th our projections so um for direction of the City Finance director in the past couple of years we have sent his advised Finance comme that uh we formally direct and send this letter on and that is uh
017okay so I apologize teaching and learning I asked to skip because I printed my notes for this evening but there was two pages and I only brought one so I apologize and I didn't want to completely butcher it but I guess I'm going to have no choice because I did write up something wonderful because it was our science curriculum that we discussed and we did it by Zoom specifically because when it's a PowerPoint presentation I feel that it looks better that way so people could go back and and really understand it so I apologize but we did on March 11th was our meeting and it was the um we went over the science curriculum for K through six the ne Next Generation science standards um and so I do apologize but you will have to
018go to the PowerPoint presentation it's in the meeting minutes but I think that everyone should take a look at it it's great good things are moving forward finally for Science and hopefully the next one will be 7 12 so I apologize for missing my notes uh policy committee Mr fan is not here you have anything to say Mr NBS about it well basic we we crammed in a bunch of the 6000 series there them tonight y so we we got a lot done in little time y um but I we have was it 9,000 coming up what's what's the next series coming up so um next what we'll be doing is we'll be looking at policies that we currently have that need to be updated based on statute what we have been doing up to
019this point have been policies that we're missing from um our policy right that's going to be a little bit of back and forth Talk Amongst everyone and uh that that should take a little more time but yeah so we're through the 6000 series and and on to the next on to the next okay reports of liaison thees anything Mrs C um the CES representative council met on March 6 and I just like to preface my report by saying these cess Council meetings run minimum an hour to an hour and a half each time and my packet last month was 55 pages so when I put it down into one page I'm doing you a big favor um and I'm looking for things that directly relate to Shelton or might be interesting information that Shelton would
020want to hear so the first really big thing that was announced that day is they celebrated we celebrated that the 6 to6 interdistrict magnet school was named the Connecticut Association of schools School of the year which was a really big recognition that's from the whole state director chip D reported that resque executive directors condu conducted an informational forum for Connecticut legislators to educate and inform them on the origins purposes and capability excuse me of the r and advocate for funding cess is proud that they have one current par educator about to complete coursework for sped certification this spring and that's a direct result of their internship program the cth went out for health insurance quotes and they came in 33% higher and they resulted in going out to bid as of that meeting date um
021they're looking at possibly the state insurance program and any other quotes the the best one that came in was 7.7% over current rates the Seth Early Childhood team facilitated a professional development day for the valley Early Childhood Educators from anonia Derby Shelton and Seymour and that was held in Ansonia which was nice and close for our teachers in partnership with the csde office of Dyslexia and reading disabilities dyslexia campaign Des is leading a Statewide effort to record stories of those impacted with by dyslexia and you can contact CES if you want to share something with them renovations to the regional center for early learning assess have been completed and five new classrooms have opened with about 18 students each applications for an additional two classrooms are being accepted and these These are from throughout the
022cess region and in the past yearly learning program was only for residents of Bridgeport but now with the added classrooms it's extended so Shelton parents could apply um best fed staff is working with Shelton to help develop multi-tiered systems of support we have students from our district that go to RCA the Regional Center for the Arts the Regional Center for the Arts conducted 2011 auditions for 65 openings for the fall they were also pleased to announce that the tuition for next year will remain the same for participating District that's RCA has entered this is this is really neat RCA has entered into a three-year partnership with Fairfield University's quick Center for the Arts to bring worldclass guest artists to do workshops at RCA not only will the students receive workshops but attend performances at the
023quick Center for the Arts with all expenses paid for the students by an anonymous benefactor these events will include transportation and dinner with the timing of a performance that warrants it and I think that's that's a really great thing for those students who are looking into performing in their future the next meeting will be held April 3D and I hope to be there maybe not we'll see what happens you might not might not okay moving on cab anything this evening just a couple little things um just a reminder that the cab student leadership Award nominations are due two days and Friday the 28th those are that's for middle school and high school and the student perform um the kcaps convention in November is soliciting nominations for student performers performance groups and those nominations need to
024be in by May 30th so the conventions in November is two different school years but um anyway nominations welcome by end of May Right Moving On superintendent report Dr serich thank you madam chair um as I'm sure everyone is aware the mayor made his announcement on his budget proposal for the 2526 fiscal year um next or not in two Thursdays uh April 10th we will have a joint meeting the Board of Ed will have a joint meeting with &t and board of alate in City Hall at 7M um to discuss uh our budget proposal um the current mayoral proposal does bring us $3 million short of our proposal um it also does not include the reserves that we will be currently um tapping into for this year um so definitely something that we would like
025to discuss with the city for next year as well I always do remain optimistic that we can work something out with the city so that we will be able to come up with a budget that is fiscally responsible for the city of Shelton in the best interest of our school system um I would hate to think that if we were to see the $3 million shortfall without the reserves that we would have to make significant cuts to our school system for next year um as a reminder um as we enter the month of April um Statewide assessments uh this accountability assessment Smarter Balance assessment and the ngss will begin shortly in our schools um remember that we have uh the April Break um the week of the 14th in April uh the district will be
026closed during that entire week all schools and offices will be on shutdown during the April vacation and directly following the April vacation on April 22nd Tuesday April 22nd there will be a special election being held in the town um it will only be held at two of our school sites as they are polling sites Elizabeth Shelton school um and sis are working with the city as we always have to make sure that it will be again another safe and um door event for our polers and our students thank you comments by the board chair uh last evening I was at the Caps award dinner with our superintendent principles from the high school the intermediate school board members Patty we all celebrated four of our students that received Awards based on community service academic excellence and
027Leadership service I I I did enjoy this one last night as well as last year I was able to attend as well because feel like um even just with the community service the things that they do it really brings out that you don't have to be like even though a lot of these kids had good grades but I feel like you didn't have to be that 4.0 student right and so they really pointed out the qualities of the child and I think that's important to recognize in the things that they do just naturally um and so I I really enjoy that because we're celebrating them for for all those accomplishments um but four of our students two from High School Jazelle Demitri and Margaret and Marcus was from the intermediate school I'm going to leave
028out their last names because we will butcher them Madam chair I would like to recognize that Marcus is with us this yes and Marcus and he said he had to attend a Board of Education meeting in order to get a badge or do you want to say anything do you want to say I don't want to put you on the spot but you could tell us why you're here tonight if you want to oh there well there you go okay well you could say that you spoke you put you on the spot you will definitely get your badge do you need us to sign off that you were here they believe you they trust yes Marcus was also he was in the you were the eighth grader correct yes so congratulations on your award last
029night it was it was a great evening so um I of course will mention something about the budget like Dr Sage said we all know the mayor presented the budget last week and this time of year we all start to get you know a lot of anxiety comes up everybody gets really nervous but I feel that last year they were extremely supportive of us it was the same exact thing they only gave us a million dollars it was literally identical but we really worked hard you know through April and May meeting with them going over everything with them and I just feel that we just need to remain optimistic work together do those same things we're going to go in there on April 10th we're going to go through our budget and you know of
030course you know explain that we need our reserves accounts they're going to get our letter that we're hitting our reserves we need them now so they're going to see that we need to keep those reserves current and I'm going to stay optimistic because to sit here and just be a pess pessimus is not going to help us okay so I just want let's all just stick together come to the meeting if you can on April 10th and support each other through the process and I will definitely be working behind the scenes talking to them I already have even about the insurance I was in contact with them last week so they they know what's happening and um let's all stay positive okay and work together and we will see you on April 10th if not
031before okay and that is it any c ations I was able to go to the World Language Honor Society able to go for us this afternoon Spanish Honor Society French Honor Society and Italian Honor Society I'm sure Mrs riddle can tell us how many students but the largest group was Spanish but there were several in each of the other two she's hiding but it was very nice thank you for getting there Kate she text him was like I'm on my way and we're like we're K and I were both like we're not making it I I'd like I'd like to remind everyone that uh Mama Mia the show starts soon is that April 3D I think all I have a friend uh friend of mine who's a parent that's been working very hard on the
032set and from what I understand it's uh it's going to be quite the show so that's that's going to be coming up the signs are out there but I'm not sure if Amy's sign is blocking it [Applause] or I'm just kidding I don't record I was just kidding I know it could be behind it could be behind it April 3rd everyone that's I'll put it one next to it there attention to it with an arrow okay pay attention to the kids that's funny um you know what we didn't mention last month and I keep forgetting and now I remembered so I wrote it down because we would have said it last month but we had the science fair at the intermediate school and we didn't talk about it and I figured you would because you
033were there I I did and no we didn't and then so I was curious on who went up who moved up who won from the Intermediate School do you do you remember I'm sorry to put you on the spot we moved you don't know I I don't mean to put you on the spot but I I thought of it and I kept saying I I wanted to honor the students that moved up that's fine I want to honor the student on Invention Convention three moved on to the state level okay but I don't recall the name and I wasn't judging the science fair portion on the invention side okay because we I did go Kate was there it was wonderful um I was taking pictures of them and sending them to my kids there was
034like hot sauce challenges so I was sending it to like my son it was just some really great things so I know everybody you know we you know a lot of board members work during the day of course but maybe next year if you could just even pop in and see it even if it's for 10 minutes it's great I think really cool about it too is some of the judges excited High School AP science students who had previously done these theirs and they came down judges listening to them ask the kids to explain their project really really great you know because they knew having gone through it so recently well I I I wanted to mention that because I feel like I think we forgot it last month and I'm remembering and I I
035wanted to at least honor those students that moved on so congratulations to those students and hopefully we could get an update get us an update when they get there and let us know and we'll we'll put it out there so great thank you but that's all I can think of anyone else have anything oh okay well if that is it then I will ask for a motion to adjourn Mo all in favor