001All right, everybody. Let's uh call meeting to order. As always, the first order of business to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Ju just before we just obviously uh last meeting we said we said some goodbyes to some old friends and today we get the pleasure of welcoming you and Sicilia welcome great for you to be here looking forward to contributions and heard up great things so >> uh with that recognition >> we don't have it [laughter] so we were going to try to bring the boys soccer team state championship soccer team >> scheduling conflict with the coach so we're going to do that in gym. >> Great. >> Okay. >> They'll still be the gym.
002>> They will still different sports >> uh public audience. Great. >> Um so committee reports and communications. >> All right. Um so for school um this past Friday they had their theater theater performance of Olympus um with over 30 student participants. Um and their second graders are currently in the midst of their people who make a difference unit um where they have several guest speakers come in about working in the community such as fire education museum workers etc. um at Latimer um to be a common theme throughout but they're um participating in the CCMC PJ day fundraiser this Friday um which they uh according to Musetti have they have raised over $40,000 over the past 10 years through this um so hopefully hoping for another successful event um and they also have winter concerts for
003band and choir uh this next Monday evening um for Squadron in line. Uh the faculty staff have been doing uh daily December spirit days such as fun socks, dressing fancy, dressing like a snowman, etc. >> Um again, the CCFC PJ day fundraiser. Um they're uh this Thursday they're having a gingerbread house decorating sponsored by their PTO. Um and they're also having a schoolwide um shine assembly on Monday which will focus on the SEAL competency social awareness and listening for the middle school. Uh again once again the CCMC day fundraiser. Um, their winter orchestra concert is coming up this December 11th at 7 PM in the auditorium. And their band concert will be um December 16th, um, also at 7 PM. And then they're also looking forward to their volleyball classic with the winning student team
004facing as staff. And finally, at the high school, um, we've got winter sports pretty much in full swing. Tryyous wrapping up this week. Um, again, the CCMC PG Day fundraiser. um uh senior uh my fellow classmate Marissa Cavanetti has recently been honored with honored with the girl of the year award award for her work raising over $120,000 for cancer research for CT children's health care um or CT Children's Hospital uh and she recently spoke at Harford over this weekend and there's a Fox News story about her that you can look up she's she's pretty great >> I heard that that speech was unbelievable >> and people reached out to me and said you have to figure out a way to get her in front of >> the staff at the right time. She's really >>
005she's pretty incredible. >> Really inspiration. >> Um, winter concert season. Um, we have the instrumental concert um, tomorrow night which I'll be performing in. And then also our coral and orchestra masterworks concert next Wednesday which I will also be in. Uh and then also the uh save a life a save a life tour which is scheduled for SHS on Monday which is a safe driving awareness uh program to inform and educate about like the consequences of poor choices and reckless driving. Yes. And capstone we have >> yeah we have capstone um which has been all this week um for the students who started their projects um last uh spring including myself >> congratulations everybody >> so welcome anything you want to share with us tonight [clears throat] >> I just echo the ter was really
006for both there. We both have kids in Thank you, Mrs. Brown and everybody there. As far as committees, >> just a welcome to our board members. >> Um I think I I the last curriculum meeting was held. I don't think we've done a recap of it, have we? >> We have not. >> Um so it was a great meeting. it was burgeoning with information and activities. So, we did not get to our last subject matter and we'll do a recap of AI coming up in our next meeting. But, um, we talked about Yukon. Uh, Mr. Flity is going is creating a writing course proposal for the Yukon ECE ECE um, [snorts] which is a college course credit. And, uh, so that was very exciting to hear his ideas and his thoughts. Um, and always good
007to have those opportunities that um, the company's done the work for, which is great. Um, in our math updates, we did math updates. We, um, talked about the math acceleration study, um, that they're doing now to see what the benefits of the, um, sixth graders coming to junior high to do math and the the tangent way that goes. So, there are a lot of pieces of that that um, they're going to talk to. We'll hear more about that. um since high school they we talked about um extensive survey results from spring and hand growth because it was a while ago. This meeting was in November >> um and uh the question about testing and how to make sure that the students can learn from the test the mistakes they make on the tests and so
008we had a lot of discussion about that. I look for more information coming down the road. Um [clears throat] and we impress upon them that we like the kids to have access to the tests. Um but the uh IXL platform that they're using now is um something that we heard more about and how it works assessment wise. It seems to be more comprehensive than STAR ever was. So that's kind of exciting. I think it'll be helpful and great for our students. So I think that was basically our meeting. >> Think that's a great >> just a reminder to families that tomorrow is an early release day for the purposes of professional development. >> A final step in the approval of the recently negotiated teachers contract is um it comes before the board of selectman for
009a final um action and vote. So, I will be going to their meeting next Monday night to answer any questions that they may have. We anticipate a positive outcome. >> Uh, just a couple quick notes. One, as Brian mentioned, we had or Josh mentioned, we had a finance meeting just really kick off of the budget season. Um, really started as we always do kind of where we are with fixed costs. We get more of that. So, uh, good discussion. Um, you know, we'll get into it. Also, obviously, next week is is the tribe work, but so congratulations. Budget season's here. >> I would just share that this morning, we kind of kicked it off internally with three uh of our principles come and present budgets, but our cabinet level, get the discussion going. I thought
010they were very well thought out context we're working in in that meeting uh for the tri board is 16 5:45 the program and then just um uh just a quick I don't know talked about charter a while just want to let you know we had another charter revision meeting last night we're wrapping up we're probably at the end of the real substantive discussions the the meets shall we it. Now we're going back and just making sure cross referencing the right section numbers. I'll call all that like just making sure it says exactly what we all agree that it should say. Honestly, I think at the end of the day, we did a we did a couple of things. Um there was a lot of requests at the beginning to further delineate between the boards like
011the town manager. I think you've done a good job at least making some of those lanes a little clearer. And then just functionally the if you really read the charter and I know you [snorts] guys do religiously. Um it's it can be very hard to read. It just doesn't read well at times. So I think we did a pretty good job of of of just rewriting not not necessarily new text but reconfiguring it and making it maybe a little bit more easier for for everybody to read. Um, so if you if you saw a red line of it, there would be a lot of red lines, but at the end of the day, it's not it's really not huge substantive changes. So, just want to let everybody know. We should hopefully be wrapped up in
012about a month. Uh, we're kind of going into writing the report and then we'll take it over to the board. So, that's great. Uh so u next is the uh because it's time uh the election of officers in your packages you have >> sorry >> you're over here right here welcome to the board of education >> nine hours at the cave conference in my >> you know what we already mentioned that we definitely mentioned Um but in like I said in your pack there's uh some other flow typically as we do starts with the secretary position. So u I'm going to request I'm going to open the floor for nominations for secretary of the sary board of education nominations. >> I would like to move that Jessica Bariski be nominated for secretary of the cry
013board of education. Any other further nominations? Uh close the nominations for factory report. Um >> okay, >> I'll make a motion. >> I'll move that Jessica be elected as secretary of education. >> Great. Uh, all those in favor of just as the secretary, please say I. >> I. Any. >> Thank you. >> Uh, now I'd like to open the floor for nominations for vice chairman of the Sbury Board of Education. >> I will move that Jennifer Bachelor be nominated for vice chairman of the Sbury Board of Education. >> Any other any other nominations? >> Great. Then I'm going to close the nominations for vice chairman of the board of education. move that should be elected as vice chairman of this very board of education. >> Second. >> Great. Uh all those in favor of of
014Jim [clears throat] as the vice chair signify by saying I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Great. Thank you. Uh now I'd like to open the floor for nominations for chairman of the board of education. >> I move that Jeff Tindle be nominated for the chairman of the board of education. >> Are there any other nominations? I'm going to close the nomination for chairman of the board of education. >> I move that Jeffman. >> Second. >> In favor of signify by saying I. >> Any opposed? >> Great. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Next up is the approval of the November 11th meeting minutes. Can I get a motion, please? >> I will move to approve the November 11th meeting. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> All those in favor? Any thank
015you. >> Personnel >> uh two items. One that requires your action um and it is an announced retirement for the end of this school year. Um Laura Post is a longtime educator of more than 30 years and the last 15 of them here in Simsbury. She's currently um a grade three teacher at Latimer Lane and has decided that this will be her last year in education. >> Motion is there for your consideration. >> I'll move the board of education accept the return opposed to June 30, 2026. >> Okay. Uh any discussion? All those in favor? >> Any opposed? Thank you. >> And then for your information, we um completed the hiring process. You may recall we had a sixth grade teacher who um took a job in another um district recently at the start of
016the school year up at Squadron Line School. Katie Comras is actually um just completed her student teaching this semester with us. So, she um came in uh which I think she was in grade four for student teaching, did a fabulous job and um we had a very good long-term substitute in there who finished till Thanksgiving and Katie walked herself right into a job on December 1st. So, congratulations to Katie as a first teaching job at Squadron one. >> Congratulations. >> That's great. >> Um review and approval of the 26 27 calendar. >> That's me. So there is a calendar here for your consideration. The calendar has been prepared in accordance with any state law guidance, our established policies as well as the secondary educator association contractual working days. It also considers the now 26 25
01726 year uh since the calendar advisory committee. >> No, it has been. >> Yes, it has. Yes, it has. >> 2009. >> Yeah, 16 years. >> Yeah, >> 16 years. I've advanced. [laughter] It's been a long basic math assistant for teaching and learning. That's not a good sign. and it's in alignment with those recommendations as well. So, as is typical, we will start the last Wednesday in August and pending no employment weather, we will have our last day of school on June 8th of 2027. You will also note one difference of this calendar two years previous. That's due to an equity council recommendation to also include Indigenous People's Day along with Columbus Day. So that is noted on October 12th of this calendar. There is a motion there for your consideration. >> Um I make
018a motion we accept the calendar for 2026 2027 school year. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> All those in favor? Any Okay, so now we're on to the approval of the 26 uh board event meeting schedule. >> Pretty straightforward. [laughter] >> No, any any adjustments that we do, [clears throat] we'll probably notify as we come up with the but this is just standard meeting schedule moving forward. I move that we accept the board of education meeting 2026 meeting schedule as outlined in the board exhibit in this exhibit. >> Second uh any discussion in >> favor? So now on the information and reports, >> we are going to invite our director of people services, Katie Pula, present tonight. And in past years, uh we have done both the special education program review and the special education
019budget on the same night. Uh we thought it would uh benefit the conversation to separate the two. So Katie's here tonight to talk about uh some of the work and uh kind of celebrations just and conversations that we've had over the past, you know, couple years about special education and how some of these resources have played out to our benefit and she's got a stack she's going to go through and I know we'll have time for any questions and conversations like she'll be back with Neil mid January for the budget. >> Great. >> Thank you for having me this evening. It is nice to kind of finish 2025 off um being able to really share a program update and and really some celebrations of the work of pupil services. I think this structure is is
020really um allows us to talk about all of the good work going on in pupil services and and certainly come back to some of the celebrations that I know we've talked about that that the board has supported over the last few years. Um so so start off with some celebrations. I'll be able to touch upon our annual performance report and some student achievement. Be able to talk through um a a pupil services strategic plan that's really coinciding with the district strategic plan that was adopted last year and then come back to what is our work this year around teaching and learning within pupil services and finally recap you with some data of just again who who makes up the pupil services department. Right. So, celebrations. Um, I really want to, uh, acknowledge our programs. Um,
021it's been a big conversation both, um, in this board as well as in the various town boards. Um, our new path program at Two Farms Village continues to come along. Um, you know, we are expected to start there, um, and move our students in at the start of the second semester. Certainly, there's been some delays with construction after going through Farmington Valley Transition Academy. It's to be expected. Um, any anytime you are bringing a program and a and a home to life, it it truly is going to have its bumps, but I have no doubt it's going to be the right place and and really be the right home for our program. But also wanted to share that the program has started. It's it's we have our new staff in there. We have students. They
022are in the modulars at the high school, but it's it's really just been a great place for our students to start to rebuild. They have been over to the program. They are start they picked out paint colors. They have seen the floors. They've been a part of this process. And in some way having the semester for them to become a community while embracing this new home has really been welcomed. And um I think it's awesome because their voice is going into the work that's being done right there. Are they excited to move in on January 22nd? Absolutely. And and we can't wait to get them in there. Um, and our other programs I mentioned, Farmington Valley Transition Academy, FBTA, they are in year two, but this is the first year of having the full building
023open. You know, if you remember that kitchen and reception area, uh, instructional area didn't open until um, really about April of last year. So, they have their full building open over at Riverdale Farms. They've really been accepted into that community. Um whether that be at Little City or or Health Tracks or a variety of places among Riverdale Farms. It is just awesome to see. We had our first graduation there. Um Riverdale Farms, the community was so accommodating. We set up in the parking lot, had a big tent and you just you heard the speeches of our students and you looked around and it was like, "Wow, this is the home. This is where FBTA is supposed to be." And then certainly our intensive learning needs program that is in our elementary schools at Squadron and
024Tuton Hills. Um we've talked a lot about our growing um intensive learning needs population. We supported and added a few teachers over the past few years. Coordinator the community there just continues to build and grow. They have had field days both fall and spring last year um monthly communications opportunities for parents. Um it just it's a bucket filler. You go there and and the kids are being embraced. Um and and I truly believe our staff, our parents, and our students are continuing to define that community um and and make it a really solid and supportive learning environment for our students. And lastly, we had a state visit um for general supervision and monitoring of special education. And that is something that on a three-year rotation, districts are selected to have people from the state, the
025uh Connecticut State Department of Education come in and do some observations of what special ed looks like in Simsbury. And we were selected, they were here about three weeks ago, and they called us a model district. I take that as a huge compliment. Um, and they truly were so impressed with our staff, our students, the the buildings and and what that looks like. Um, I I again I I had a conversation last week with the person that kind of heads that up from the state and was just continuing to hear more, excited to hear their finalized feedback um in upcoming weeks. But again, just certainly wanted to share that with the board that again having the state recognize Simsberry's programming was was really just really great to hear. >> Congratulations. >> Um certainly in your
026slide deck, you'll see some celebratory pictures. Um got the kids over to New Path again, that excitement, our FBA opening and and working down at the um state's attorney's office. There's some pictures of our ILN field day um and activities that are taking place and and you'll see a variety of staff, students, and and our um our communities really coming together. So, thank you for your support and certainly just um celebrate all of the good work of the staff and students here in Simsbury around pupil services. Okay. Um part of that goes with the state recognizing that for the the fiscal year of 24 we have met the annual performance report. Um that is for the 2324 school year. We are awaiting the 2425. Um but I will say that that for this 2324 school
027year that was a full move into the Connecticut CTS special ed data system that opened probably three or four years ago. We were fully implementing CT sets. So the data they are pulling to meet the 17 indicators is coming from that data system and because of the consistency that that data system brought a lot of districts did not meet requirement. We continued to meet requirement and so I take a lot of pride that based on that state systemic improvement plan, our pupil services department continued even with more monitoring of the data to meet those requirements and to do what we need to in order to really um fulfill pupil services and and the purposes of IDA. going along and moving forward into some of our student achievement and growth. Um I have prepared for you
028a a um com uh some achievement of our special education students across five classes. These are graduation classes and wanted you to be able to see kind of where they started with their smarter balanced assessment um of of those students in that class that were at or above and then how they've moved forward. As you can see, almost every class that has taken ESPA multiple years continues to show growth in their performance. Um, I think it's really important to note [clears throat] that you're seeing um as much as 20% growth and when you look at that class of 2030, which are your current eighth graders, um you will see that they had that that drop, but there's been growth in their population. So, I think again it's it's something we're we're looking at monitoring, but
029overall really impressed with the continued growth of our special education pro uh population in regards to their ability to be at or above goal in the ELA portions of the Smarter Balance assessment. For math, it's a very similar um uh similar showing in the sense that for um three of the five, we also, you know, for certainly the class of 2034, they haven't had a comparable year, but for three of those four that do, we're continuing to see that they are closing that gap. Um again, I think there's been some growth in that class of 2031 when you look at the math results. Um and it's really a variability of two students. So, it it's something to look at, something to really think about and in regards to our math um performance and and goals
030and objectives for those students, but very solid continued growth there in math for our special ed students at or above goal. So, celebrate the work of our teachers that they are doing. A lot of this is is the work of the um special education model that we're using service delivery. a lot of collaboration between our general education teachers and our special education teachers to ensure that we are closing that achievement gap which is by and large u made up of our special education students. Okay. So, um, want to take us into a little bit of that teaching and learning work and start with the development of a pupil services strategic plan that will kind of cover the work of pupil services, the staff and and and the people within people services for for the next
031four years. Um, why are we doing this? Why are we creating this plan and and making sure we have a roadmap? Um, one, because it's just a smart idea. too because we really want to align with the Simsbury public school strategic plan that was adopted last year and ensure that we are same way that our district strategic plan is outlining and creating that map that pupil services has that plan and vision again so that we are addressing that achievement gap of our special education students and we're continuing to address those needs and to provide the sport the support to our students and to our staff that work with those students in a really strategic manner. This also allows us to highlight the actions and outcomes of the program review. If you remember last year around
032this time, we completed an outside program review on pupil services in Simsbury. This was an opportunity for outside independent contractors to come in and and really take an openbook look at pupil services in Simsbury. how are we doing from both a fiscal um responsibility component, our programs and our professional development, our support to students and our support to staff. Really, let's take a look at all of it. And there were some really good highlights and also actionable outcomes in that that our strategic plan allows us to say, how do we prioritize? How do we make sure we're addressing those and we're not forgetting this important work that was done last year that will just continue to allow pupil services to have that continuous improvement. um cycle around making sure we continue to be really right
033for kids. So, what's the summary of that strategic plan? Um again, wanting to highlight kind of the four goals of our district strategic plan. You're going to see that within pupil services, we want to continue to focus on strengthening our programming. um making sure we've got those sound programs that are going to support students with complex needs and also to improve the instruction around academic, social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes. How are we addressing those achievement gaps that we see in those areas between our general education students and our special education students? Um we also want to continue to build really inclusive and collaborative school um communities with the strong mental health support. So that behavioral component um you know I think it was probably two three two years ago we talked about mental health within
034um people services and and how we see that um the strategic plan really allows us to target continued clinical support and work through our clinical department in supporting kids needs there. Um there's a lot of PD plans within that strategic plan to make sure we are recruiting developing and retaining highly skilled professionals. Again, I come back to that state visit. They're commending us on our teachers. We have great staff here. We want to make sure that we continue to build their toolbox and that they have the right training and ability to work with kids to to close those gaps. And then lastly, really, um, I come back to our new path, our FBTA, our ILN, building efficient systems and infrastructure to build, uh, support long-term program quality, ensuring that we can support kids in our
035community, in our district, um, to the best of our ability within their least restrictive environment or their best place to be able to find success and growth. From that big strategic plan, I'm going to narrow it down and say, what's the work of year one? what are we doing this year in pupil services? I think um this aligns very closely with the work of the entire teaching and learning team. Um but this is really what's that bucket for pupil services. So in regards to student growth and success, um you'll hear a little bit more um in a little bit around structured literacy, continuing to develop our ability to support complex reading needs and and provide systemic um instruction around reading and literacy. Um we're doing a lot of professional development with our teachers around structured
036literacy. Um we actually tomorrow's half day. We have the state coming in to talk to us a little bit about progress monitoring and high quality IEPs. continuing to make sure that not only are we seeing growth in our students, but that our individual education plans or their IEPs are matching and and demonstrate high performing goals and and reaching for growth and progress for our students on those on those documents. Um vertical alignment of services. We really want to make sure that we have consistency for our students between our buildings. um and that our teams are are talking and and making sure that that those services that are happening in one building continue based on that individual need in the next and that we're talking and and making those plans accordingly. And then lastly, the specialized
037programming, just continuing our work in strengthening our specialized programming to meet individual kids needs. um culture and climate. Um we are doing some deescalation training. So continuing to support both special education teachers and general education teachers in understanding behavior and how to deescalate um um challenging behaviors. We're doing um again building those program communities um clinical resources looking at the roles of our school psychologists and our social workers and um transition practices. is again making sure our kids are really when you think about that um vision of a graduate we are really prepping those kids and ensuring that their transition goals and objectives align with those pieces. So giving our teachers tools and ideas and and building their capacity around that. Um professional development I mentioned some of these um but really you know I
038I want to highlight our our non-certified uh parah educators and the professional development. We work closely with human resources to ensure that they have a mixture of both in-person and and highly uh highly um engaging professional development with some of our related service providers. So this year they're going to hear from assisted technology specialists. They're going to hear from um our instructor of instructional technology and library media specialists did a huge PD with all of our PAR educators. Um occupational therapists. they're really getting some good dynamic professional development and then we work with human resources to also provide some asynchronous professional development that they can do with modules of their of of interest to them. Um kind of using their their PD time to learn in small groups individually. So just making sure that that's
039a key focus. Um, and then sustained investments. That's something we've talked about in people's services is making sure that we have um the the the good balance between fiscal responsibility and doing what's right for kids. And I think we do that really well here in Simsbury. Um, but part of why we do that well is because we keep an eye on this. So, um, continuing with our new path program, um, kind of focus. looking at our preschool programming is something I want to our partnership with the DCE and how do we continue to meet kids needs while while strengthening that partnership and then um certainly looking um one of the focuses this year is to look at our extended school year programming that's um summer school that is required through a student's IEP um and
040ensuring that we have the right practices in place to make that the best and and most um appropriate program. I'm going to pause there. I've talked a lot and gone through several of our slides. Um, but before I go into kind of our context, are there any questions? >> Yeah, I'm just curious the first student success just what's the interaction there is, but feel like there would be some between looking at the you have like in scope at any point in time and that strength of specialized programming. Is there a connection there? the IEP kind of see what program >> 100%. So really, you know, that IEP, that individualized education plan is what's driving the kids programming, the singular kids programming. When we strengthen that specialized programming, we're saying, "Okay, who are our who's our
041who's our the the the population of kids with similar needs and how do we make sure that that umbrella is is not just meeting all of their needs, but can be individualized to those those individual kids, if that makes sense." So, it's taking those documents, making sure we have those connected lines and and part of that high quality IEP allows us to strengthen our specialized program. If we've got the right document that has the right goals and objectives around that kid, [clears throat] then we can say, "Okay, this is what this program needs to do because all of these kids have the similar have have these similar types of goals and objectives. How do we make sure we've got the right progress monitoring, the right assessments, um all of that to in instruction and materials
042and tools, um all of that. >> That's awesome. >> Yeah, >> you do it right. And that's that's so good about it. It's efficiency that can save money for the whole district. So, that's important to really appreciate you doing and taking the time to make sure you >> course of course. um want to go into a little bit of data. Um so typically this is kind of where we start to make that turn into what's the data that is special education, who are we as a program um right now that helps to define our big buckets around budget. Um certainly not going into budget this evening. Um you know that'll be when we really look at those big buckets when I say big buckets I'm talking out of district placements. Um that's a large uh
043budget driver. Transportation is a large specialized transportation for students that require that contracted services, the work we need with specific specialized um um people and programs for student needs. And lastly, um is is the staffing component that all of the data that I just want to kind of review today is our current makeup of pupil services. Like what's what's our who are we, what's making up case loads, what's our total numbers. in January. We'll come back to the specifics of those big buckets, but just the data I'm going to take you through tonight is is kind of who we are that we'll come back to that story when we talk about budget in January. Um, so have some of those pieces that I want to take you through and certainly have time for questions at
044the end. So, I know we've talked Neil's going to talk a little bit about enrollment um later this evening and and and those those futures. We had some of the 101 um reports earlier this year. um want to kind of bring some of that who are spe special services as of 101 this year and how do we compare from an enrollment lens. So certainly you can see that um if you look at total number of students uh 7 years ago to now this is all students um there has been that that decline that that's been discussed when you look at the special total number of special education students between seven years ago there is that growth and this is not this is 10119 is the same year I've used I think three years in a
045row. So I'm trying to keep some consistency as we report that out. What I will say is if you look at the top of that slide, we're seeing some stabilization in regards to our special education population from year from last year at this time to to this year. So, we're stabilizing that incidence rate was what we call it, the percentage of students in Simsbury that require special education supports. Um, but certainly that continues to be an increase in our population since seven um or more years ago. Okay. 17.5% still very much in line with the state average um and is consistent with our incidence rates over the last few years question. I'm just curious project but when new path is fully up and functioning right again it's a hypothetical >> of that 17 let's say
046that number stabilized of that 17 18% how much would you envision could be housed at >> so I think capacity when we've talked about capacity for new path we've always said somewhere between 20 around 25 students um I don't know if those will all be Simsbury students um so it it's you know if you think about we have a you know um 721 students K12 that require special education students. It's a smaller percentage but these are also our students that right now require that outofd district placement and or types of students that require that out of district placement that come out of an average of of $100,000 per placement. So there's this responsibility and discussion around environment and program to support them um in in ways that creates that more restrictive environment um in their
047community and and that's the key piece is in their community. >> That's helpful. Yeah, that makes sense. And that's why that number because this is the whole range anybody. >> This is anyone um from kindergarten through uh really 22. >> Thanks. just not >> correct. >> But 504 also falls within the or no >> 504 is a general education. It it Sue and I certainly share some of the uh uh supports and and um our school sites for example oversee our 504s at the elementary at the secondary level that shifts to school counselors. Um it's it's accommodations and it stems from from you know any sort of um diagnosis that can be impactful to a life activity. So it it's more in that purview of not educationally impactful but requires support and accommodation not instruction
048and that instruction that is specialized and individualized to a kid is what creates special ed. So those are not those children are not included in these numbers and can you just define for me again what incidence rate means? >> Yes. So incidence rate is our percentage of students of the total student body. So right now 17 as of October 1st 17.5% of students in Simsbury have an IEP. So it's the percent of student requiring direct instruction through an IEP. So I I I want to this is an area where I really want to acknowledge the board and the support they've made over the years. I I've listed our average case load sizes. Every year we've talked a little bit about case load sizes because it's something that's really important. What do I mean by case
049load? That is the number of students that a special education teacher is in charge of to ensure they're getting that specially designed instruction per their IEP. Um, and and we've worked really hard through addition of of staff to make these case loads what they are, which is a in a range that's going to really allow and maximize the the opportunity for those teachers to to um find success for their students. So, I've listed those there. Um they're they're right in range of what we'd like to see for elementary, middle, and high school. Um and and I'm, you know, again, appreciative for the ads that we've had over the past few years. >> Three years ago, those statistics were 22. >> Yeah, I think it was >> two years ago, we added um at this time,
050we were asking for for several elementary teachers per building or per district. um kind of each building needed a little bit and I think our c average case load sizes at that point were over 20. They were right around 20 to 21. Um and that is you know I say I again this is right now so we're in December. I like to see those us starting the year somewhere in the 14 to 17 range so that we don't go over that 20 as we have either moveins or or referrals and um changes in school year. These students are in general classes. >> So they just are the the [clears throat] case load is only >> at different times you smaller groups all day long. So that the case loads aren't like the teacher doesn't usually
051have 20 kids in the classroom. No >> at any point in time. And if you give if with this drop in the numbers, we've given a lot of relief in the individual classrooms because the students aren't as aren't struggling students in the classrooms because they're getting the support they need. >> Yeah. So It's hard to understand if you're not in the program. It's it's very hard to you hear 20 kids in class and it's like they're not all there. >> We work real hard there to try to align schedules and student needs so we can push the special education teacher in with the regular ed teacher. So you have that that same instruction you talked about going on simultaneously. I mean it's a delicate balance. get a new kid. >> But a lot of this
052is >> emotion. >> Yeah. So again, a single number doesn't mean one student is equal to the next student. It it's it's looking at this from an average. Making sure that kids have what they need they need. We might have a large cohort of sixth graders in one building. And so that's primary one teacher is is in that grade making sure that they're providing the individualized support for students with behavioral needs or academic and reading and math. So it it really is variable, but when you look at getting that number down to your point, Tara, it really allows our teachers to to to provide that direct instruction around behavior or academics to kids needs um on a more consistent and and independ you know individualized. Yeah, >> average regular students, gen ed, special ed, they
053all benefit from that kind of >> Yeah. >> One question. Would you would you attribute this the the disparity between elementary and high school to more identification as the years go on or more staffing at the elementary school level and is this a typical spread over the years? >> So, those are really good questions. So I would attribute the difference in the amount of resource or or hours instructionally that a student requires is going to be more at the elementary level than it is at high school. We are trying to build independence and generalization of student needs as they get older. So, a 12th grader that's collegebound, ready to go, is not going to need the same support from from a special education teacher that a third grader who's still trying to learn basic phonological
054awareness skills um is going to have, if that makes sense. So, our elementary student uh teachers, special education teachers are going to have more time with those students than our than our high school teachers, special education teachers. The other thing to your your question is yes, it's very common to see that growth in case load as um as um >> kids get older because of that. Yes. >> Steve just asked a question a lot more eloquently. >> Oh yeah. [laughter] >> I was so just so you're comfortable with 21 at the high school level. >> Yeah. I mean that's I mean last year I think is when we added um at the high school level and I think our case load sizes were like 25 26. It we've come down quite a bit both with
055the work of the high school to make sure that they're um supporting kids through interventions and it's not jumping to referral. They've got their incidence rates down lower than I've seen them since before COVID. So they're doing a lot of work around their intervention systems. Also, the addition of the FTE that was approved through last year's budget allows us to ensure that we have um the additional ability to spread kids out. And so, yes. >> Um I'm [clears throat] just wondering, sorry, pardon me. Yeah. >> Um you mentioned that these uh like the case load sizes fall within um sort of like a good like ideal sort of range of like what they should be. Um I'm just wondering where what sort of like what determines that where the baseline for what um the case
056sizes should be comes from and like how we determine what we are looking for. >> That's a really good question. I think it's really hard to pinpoint and there's no rule book on this. Um you know for general education classes there's some model and and recommendations there and guidelines. There's not for special education. So, uh, when we put together these staffing requests over the year, we pulled average case load sizes from other districts surrounding us with light populations. It's also diving in and and talking to the teachers that are working with our students of of what does this look like when you have this many students to this many students, looking at their data for growth um, and ensuring that we have that progress data. So, it's it's not it's not an exact science. It
057it's really a delicate balance because again a student needs from an a special education perspective are are a lot more complex than a single number. But it is looking at um research. It's looking at other districts and comparative um um data and looking at are we meeting kids needs and how do we make sure we are doing that consistently. >> The elementary case does that number include our students in the ILM program? >> No, that is my next slide. So, I am going to flip us right there. Katie, >> I do want to point out that Cedar asked the same question that I've been asking for 11 years. >> It's an excellent question. >> It really really is. Um, and I think we've gotten better at that sc that that delicate balance as I called
058it over the last few years. Um and it's it's it's come from a lot of our collaboration um within teaching and learning to look at how do we get the right service delivery to these students have pushing that's the research piece is like getting special education teachers into the classroom is really important how do we maximize their ability to do that so they have an impact to all students all of that goes into that >> I only ask because I I know from experience the um range of uh requirements and like needs for individual students um and how large of a range that can be. >> Yeah, 100%. So, at the high school, you do see a little bit of a larger range and I think I I credit that to our teachers getting students
059ready for college or for their their transition to adulthood. Um because our our the way our case loads are broken down the high school, it's like kind of 9th and 10th graders and then 11th and 12th graders. You want your 11th and 12th graders more independent, more able to participate without that support of the special education teacher. So you would you would expect to see those differences, but again just listed the average there. Okay. Um to your point, Jess, the um ILN enrollment and functional academic learning program. So just as a reminder, our functional academic learning program is for our um secondary students that require that in um kind of complex functional academic program to support their their goals and objectives. And our intensive learning needs program is for those students in grades preK to
060six and that's housed at Tuton Hills and Squadron 9. I did total enrollment because if you if you know the ILN program, we actually have six classrooms of ILN at the elementary. Um so those numbers can be broken down into into um the total number between Tuten Hill and Squadron are broken into six classrooms. one with prek and then five that service our students K through through six. Um but total enrollment because that was a question a few years ago. We experienced some significant move in and growth in our intensive learning needs program. Um if you look specifically at the ILN enrollment numbers right now, they have stabilized. Um where that it is asterisk is where we added two teachers. That was the year after that considerable growth occurred. Um and and we've we've really
061kind of balanced we're seeing those students start to push into the the Henry James and and High School. So again, that's something that we're watching is the enrollment at at Simsbury High School and Henry James for our functional academic learning program because right now we only have one teacher in each of those buildings. But to our just previous um conversation, even in functional academic learning programs, you're looking for students to gain independence. you are looking for them. So, so you would assume that those classrooms would have a few more students than they would at elementary. >> Okay. Number of teachers at two >> N we have two teachers. >> And at squadron line and actually I'm looking at these numbers. These are K6 numbers. We have three teachers for K6. Um so again, um >>
062Nope, it's four. It's four. Um it's four. This is preK 23. So our case loads there are right around six right now. That's K [clears throat] through. >> That's preK through six. >> So the ILN program is K through six. >> PreK preK through six. >> How is the functional academic learning program different program? So functional academics um really I it's named because it's going to have students focus be much more on how do they use academic skills functionally within their life. Um so the profile of a student in a functional academic learning profile is going to be very different from students in a new path program. Functional academic learning profile are students typically with significant there are ILN students as they grow. Um these are students with um significant autism. They might have intellectual
063disabilities um and they might have Down syndrome. Um so so they're going to what we do through the functional academic learning program is really maximize and ensure that they have functional skills that are going to allow those kids to be as independent and as successful as possible to the extent they can within their disability, the scope of their disability. >> They're intermixed throughout the schools they're in, right? of the classrooms like >> so at Henry James and at Simsbury High School they have does it dedicated self-contained classrooms but yes they are they are taking jewelry they are taking um music they we do have unified classes at the high school level that is something that they really benefit from within PE and art um and it's awesome opportunities for our our students across the board
064that take those classes um but these are students that really benefit from pushing ing their functional functional skills, learning life skills, learning activities at daily living. These are our students that are going to push out and have internships in and um across our community, whether that be at Fitzgerald or other partners. Um so so some really cool things happening there. New path, you might see similar opportunities in internships, but these are our students with emotional disabilities. These are students who um might have mental health needs and it's very hard for them to be in a population of 1,200 because of their reactions or their way of handling um difficult situations. They're still learning coping skills and strategies. Um but they might have a cognitive profile that they could be very success, you know, very cognitively
065almost um uh proficient and and whatnot, but their emotional disability gets in the way of that success. And so we have to help them develop those skills. >> Okay. So just wanted to um just give some I figured there'd be questions. So some direct updates on our ILN and Fel enrollment. Another thing that you've heard us talk a little bit about, I think it was mentioned um when Henry James gave their enrollment report um is this idea of structured literacy and specialized reading. Um so wanted to just bring some context to that and then share a little bit of data and that's my last data point um as we kind of close out this program review. So what do I mean by structured literacy? So this is for students [clears throat] with reading disabilities but
066really targeted needs and and pinpointed structures of of need under that literacy umbrella. So these are often students with dyslexia um or or similar characteristics that have specific weaknesses under literacy umbrella and they need direct support in that area. So it's it's a evidence-based approach to reading and writing to make sure we are pinpointing and getting that support. Not just an umbrella of reading support, but really if a student has phonological awareness needs, we are we are targeting PA. If they have fluency and the rate with which they read, we are targeting fluency. it it's ensuring that we're putting um some direction to a student's reading program so that we close that gap as fast as possible, help them develop those reading strategies and skills targeted to their profile and then move them along in
067success if that makes sense. So, it's a really researchbased. It's it's centered around the science of reading um and ensuring that we're able to support uh students in those areas. So is this like a trips program? Is this separate from >> So it it structured literacy really does align all the way from our gened curriculum to a student that is on an IEP because they have dyslexia. You're going to see the term structured literacy throughout. Um it it's aligned with the science of reading. When I say structured literacy, it's that specialized support of we have a student who's needs more than what the general education curriculum can provide or shift can provide and and needs that direct instruction under the the scope of their IEP. >> So a gen like a tier go into someone
068on an IEP have this structure, >> they'd have goals and objectives in their IEP. doesn't mean that that you know the WHO provides that. >> I don't want to complicate the superior but I I do want to say we're having significant conversations in the district now about our resource allocation who has the skill sets to meet the needs of these children because strip teachers in some cases may be exactly who who we need. And um in some cases in some schools strip teachers are working collaboratively with special ed teachers to deliver this. So as we work on some of this new collaboration and new model of push in there's sometimes scheduling complications. All right. How do we kind of pull together and say maybe before we ask for any you know more staff what does
069the totality of this resource allocation look like? How do all these programs that we built over time kind of >> Yeah. work collectively. So, we're having some great >> conversations in the district now about that very same thing. >> That makes sense. >> Really good conversations happening and also really good professional development happening with all of those professionals that you mentioned and that that Matt kind of alluded to. We are doing some real structured literacy professional development with our uh we've built teams of educators. It's our language arts consultants, our shrimp teachers, again people that are really good in reading. That is their focus. and then special education teachers, department supervisors, people that really know IEPs, giving them all the same training so that they can work collaboratively. Um because oftentimes we ask our special
070ed teachers to kind of be jacks of all trades, right? They're supposed to do behavior, math, reading, and then we have these powerful um professionals over here that that all they do is reading. Let's put them together. Let's let them uh develop these explicit, systematic, and evidence-based approaches to reading and writing. together using their shared expertises of both reading and special education and ensuring we have the right people targeting kids needs to move them through and close those gaps. >> Can I ask a question today? I'm assuming you already have documentation and I don't want to site it. So when you mention the resources and stuff at least for me it would be helpful if any have like a journey map or like flowchart you have like a student comes in to like right >>
071and then like from there what's the like yes no like goes to like regular classroom or goes to like the next step right where you say yeah they're going to head James >> what's your decision trait as far as how do you determine where a student is most appropriately educated based upon the services they need. >> Yeah. just get a feel for these numbers because it feels like you could have a child coming on and just on one row like just always stays on a path that may have them come correct just I straight through the like transition path right like that someone may be on this path and then is off the path someone may go to new path right what's the determination as we're thinking about because I love what we're doing with
072like all the thought about the teachers and the right resources and new path different things like how are we I'm sure you already have this summer. How are we determining who goes where and like how are we staffed accordingly because I do think this all is going to be a much bigger discussion kind of goes on to Terra's point earlier. We're helping to try and case loads in teacher resources. A classroom of 20 students is what a classroom of 20 students was 20 years ago, right? There's a lot more going on. So like kind of get a feel for where are these students? Where are we putting them? How are they kind of staying on one path another that decision trigger that journey down whatever may be again it doesn't have to be anything specific
073I'm sure hopefully already has >> so part of what what we already have and what I could see kind of bringing back and providing is is is the continuum of services and some of our programs fall into those services. So, we've worked with all of our educators over the last several years to build the framework of what is our continuum of services here. And certainly programs are there. Um, you know, it's it's it's it would be really kind of um not in best interest to say a kids we know the kids track. It's a one-year. We're going to make those decisions as a planning and placement team, but we're always looking at what that student needs, what are the skills they need, and in what area would that service be provided. So, if I come
074back to structured literacy or an academic support in fourth grade, um you know, we're going to make decisions about can that students needs be taught within the classroom and have that special education teacher go in and participate in that general education curriculum or does it need to be a small group because we're doing some systematic instruction um around code. So I I definitely we have that continuum of service and I think what we can do is overlay where some of our programs and or instructional practices would fall on that continuum of service. >> I mean I appreciate all the work you do in year in these meetings that we have because every year I learn something new >> and I think that's the point of it but um >> it's hard to envision the structure.
075It's really hardc >> Yeah, I was about to say there's >> there's you can have a certain flowchart for like students um like journeying throughout it, but it's going to be different completely different for every single individual student >> which is really the difficulty with everything >> and it's got to be flexible because if it were rigid and it was definable, you're going to miss something. And you need to have flexibility in how you approach the um uh meeting of the needs because uh there are obviously there are many different theories and approaches specifically with um the science of reading and language learning um in how you can approach um creating that literacy um within students. There's like mill there's millions of different ways you can approach that and having being open to that is
076just so incredibly important. >> Yeah, 100%. And I think there's also the consideration of of what is the parents input and and as the student gets older, what's the student input, right? Because if you as we're making those decisions in in those secondary grades, the student voice is really important as well. And so you bring a lot of really valid points to those decisions. >> I am dyslexic. I'm a student like who I I struggle with reading. I didn't read until I was about 10, I think. Um and so I was homeschooled up until seventh grade. Um and it took years. My mother had two dyslexic kids before me that she also homeschooled and it took until me to find a program that worked well to create that um competency in literacy. >> Thank you
077for sharing. >> Yeah, sure. >> So that's an example of why we need to do this work is to get to those individual needs. But again, where does that fall within the continuum of service and what we offer here in district and ensuring our professionals have that experience and learning that they and tools? It's really that toolbox to implement and move our students um forward so that they can reach the level of independence and success that um all students are capable of. So want to bring some numbers to this. Um we've really started to take a look at our students that require structured literacy. Um, so [clears throat] what you'll see is is um if you look primarily at the yellow, green, and red numbers, we do have a cohort of students that are moving
078through with these complex reading needs that need to be looked at individually and need to be really pinpointed to their their um components. And so there is this is where these big conversations are coming in is how what's the best way to meet these students needs to make sure they have the services especially given um our our better understanding and and use of curriculum through gened into our interventions and then into our our IEP students. So we do have a lot of students that require structured literacy right now um and are again partnering with with general education to ensure that we are meeting their needs and and embracing and and have the right people doing those those that instruction. Obviously 26 27 obviously there's a there's a bump there right across all four grades just
079any >> so there's a bump across all four grades but what I will say is if you take a look at the green in 2526 and then the anticipated orange that's apple to apple we are moving kids with this systematic instruction so um every year if you track um the yellow to the green from year to year and then green to red there are kids graduating and moving out of structured literacy. So I come back to when you get the right program to that individual kid need we are making more than a year's growth and getting that kid back into so that's why we're highlighting this work is because it's important because it's closing that achievement gap. Um, so it's it's a different way of looking at our reading instruction and our our IEPs that
080I we haven't brought forward before. Thought it was important that we just brought awareness to what it is because I had heard some principles mention it. It's it's a very large conversation happening in our district right now. Um, but what I will say is even though our data is showing continued need, we are moving kids with this systematic instruction and programming that we're doing. >> Probably better. I should have framed the question. >> No, it's okay. This >> we hemmed in hot on on this visual because it does look like it's kind of exploding, but it's really important to kind of track those kids through it. >> Am I reading this? I'm looking at 22 23. >> The next year that same cohort is in green >> is like 13 >> and the next year
081is in orange. >> They were at dropping. So, by giving them this, this is instead of saying they have reading goals and objectives around comprehension or something very broad, we're saying this is this student needs encoding, spelling work, and we're going to give them direct instruction in that area. And it could be with a couple other kids that also need the spelling work, and they're getting it because of the types of programs we're using, because of the PD we're providing our teachers, because of our collaboration with GED. It's good work and it's moving kids and we're just continuing to broaden our teachers toolbox around it. >> It's really interesting. This conversation is very much mirroring some of the internal conversations we're having with case load. Hey, it's not always about the number or the trend.
082It's about what [clears throat] >> go ahead. I'm sorry. >> 223 to 256. we weren't keeping that data. >> So right now, so it's a really good question. So we weren't keeping the data in regards to like I could pull students with reading goals and objectives in grades four and five in 22 23, but that's not indicative of of were they receiving structured literacy because they had a dis a disability of dyslexia, for example. we we weren't kind of piecing that out as much and now we're really trying to take a look at our students data differently and more um explicit to this idea of structured literacy. When are those types of for example dyslexia and other types like that when are they typically identify it where it >> it really is dependent on the
083student the individual student and their profile and the the significance of of a of a potential disability. I would say a lot of times our students um you know they're they need time to respond. They need time to to be in intervention. They need time to um learn and and develop those those those school-based skills. Um so often times, you know, I think there's there's a range, but that we're looking at students um being found eligible with a reading disability. It it's typically, you know, some students will be identified in second grade. Some students it's not until um you know they they start they're they they've developed good self uh coping strategies themselves and they do really well but then you throw many many teachers in their in their um day and those strategies start
084to break down and we see the impact again students can have dyslexia and not need an IEP. It's around when we start to see that educational impact that needs something beyond intervention is when we are actually starting to talk about um that those those ele eligibility for special education. And then uh just I was wondering how um much of that like identification that you find obviously in like the earlier elementary school years, how much is that that is done by this like in district by the um schools and like um like or more so like how that is determined like when a student uh is like determined to like how it's determined that they need that these requirements um and how much of that is done by the school district as opposed to um for
085example like an outside psychologist um through the parents. >> So again it has that ed are are this teaching team the planning and placement team seeing an impact as part of kind of that umbrella of eligibility? Are they seeing that educational impact and do they have that concern? Um certainly then we would go into the evaluation process and and and whatnot. So you know I think it depends on the level of how is the student doing in in district. Sometimes families um might explore uh things outside of school. We certainly have a responsibility that if there is a question of educational impact that we are talking about intervention and intervening and and understanding that student profile. >> There are also flags along the way. So there are certain universal screens and markers that we do
086in Gen >> and when some of those results start coming up in a wonky way, >> we start looking at that a little bit differently. You usually see this uptick around grades two and three because you stop learning how to read and start applying and reading to learn. So you start see you see another uptick there and there's some very specific literacy windows that start closing a little bit and make some of those discrepancies a little more pronounced. So it's very important for us in a gened sense to ensure that we are looking at really important data that might flag some reading concerns. Certainly some of those are indicative of dyslexia but not all of them are. So, it's it's predicated on good gen ed curriculum with great markers working along with special ed and
087seeing if that has to have that influ the educational impact that requires further evaluation. >> And and I think it's important also to say that this isn't new work. I mean, this is work. There has been work around dyslexia and supporting students with dyslexia happening in our district. It for for you know, probably before Sue was in in the role in pupil services. This is really about how the continuous improvement. We're really looking at this differently. We're looking from the gened all the way through the special education uh continuum of services and opportunities and the training our staff needs to be better at um able to support our students. >> Okay, that is >> appreciate the time and and certainly >> we'll bring you back next time. >> You get to come back again. >>
088I will be back. Thank you so much. >> I don't know how I was sparkly. [laughter] >> next up for us are the projections. >> So, we're going to go from a very comprehensive and complex report to one that is super straightforward. Okay. So, this will be brief. Um because our projections have come back and there's not a lot of exciting news here. They're very very flat. Um >> can you preface no questions any better? there is a Yukon game. [laughter] Um, so we start with uh similar slides from our October presentation where this this is the history. So we're going to look at five years and then five years. So obviously those um board members who have been here for a while know that we've been just above that 4,000 number for K12 enrollment
089for quite some time now. So within the last five years, highest we reached was 4104, but then did dip below um 4,000 with this latest October 1st report where the K12 number was 3966. Um, if you're if you compare that number to the one in Katie's report, Katie's report has preschool included. This one does not. >> Okay. So, people are going to go and looking at two different numbers, but you aren't. You're looking at two different things. One's prek through 12 and one is K through 12. So, moving forward, this is what NASDAQ has said. We start the first year is the current. So, it that would be at what it was on October 1st, 2025. And then you've got to think of all of these as October 1st. So what will it be on
090October 1st of 2026? Meaning the graduating class of 27. Um and you can see that it is extraordinarily um consistent with um literally just a difference of 17 for next year. And over the course of um the next five years, you're looking at a total difference of um 39 with the what why 4050 goes uh up in that what will be three years from now. We have an extraordinarily small 10th grade class and that class will be graduating. So, you're going to graduate a very small number and I think they're projecting a normal incoming class and that will cause a little bit of a spike in enrollment but not significant from a percentage standpoint. Um, as you look at the uh various configurations, the K12 I just talked about 17. So, all of these are
091saying what is it in the first year and what is it five years from now. So K12 17 more students and then five years from now 39 more students in the elementary school uh literally across all five schools a decrease of eight students for next year and a decrease of just 20 students over the next five at the middle school. um flat, an increase of nine for next year um and a small decrease over five years, but extremely stable. And the high school is the only place that is going to see some growth over the next five years um with that number of 46 students more. And again, a lot of that has to do when that 10th grade class leaves. The high school is going to see um a little bit of a bumper.
092To look at the individual elementary schools, not a lot of news to report here. You will see the biggest increase at um Latimer currently just below 500 to um 521 projected 5 years from now. plenty of capacity for 521 based on the new building. Um so not not to worry there and a little relief at squadron while we figure out what's next there uh could be helpful. So demonstrating a decrease um of 597 and you'll recall from the class size report. A lot of that is driven by the unexpected occurrence of only three kindergartens this year. So a small cohort for squadron 9 is going to be moving through the grades keeping that enrollment at squadron lower than it's typically done. um a a slight decrease at Terafll um and you will see you know
093stability at Tutin Hills very small decrease over the next five years. Henry James uh is going to have a a blip in the middle but end up right where it is right now. Um, and it will go from they're saying a height of like 680 690ish before the smaller cohort of in 2030 a uh I think they're currently in third grade is that small cohort if that makes sense. Second or third grade that will be trying to do the math. >> Yeah. um and they will be cutting into the middle school and the so that's pretty stable. And then this is the high school projection that demonstrates that over the next two years we will go down a little bit before the increase as that small class leaves. So, this this slide is um we
094always like to pay attention to our kindergarten projections because they're the they're the most um unpredictable if you will for the demographer. Um and what you can see here is the two lines, one which is the births from five years ago and the dotted line is how many kindergarteners entered in that year. And the little arrow is meant to show you that you're looking at a ratio between the births from five years ago and how many. [clears throat] And now that's that gap is staying about the same. Meaning that the kid got whereas if you look at 2122, that would be the first year people had to make a decision whether to send their 5-year-old to school with a mask. and the um the the gap got wonky for a little bit of time before
095it's now stabilized. Um so the conclusions here are that um enrollment is ex the average is going to only increase by eight students per year for the next five years. That's amounts to very little as we look at the capacity of our classrooms. It's a remarkably flat period of time. So, in terms of a budget implication for that, as we enter into the budget, there's going to be um in terms of enrollment driven requests from the principles, we're not going to see anything that the principles are asking for that's going to be pushed by enrollment or very little. Could be as special ed populations. That's a that's a different story that you heard in the other presentation tonight. But just the flat like we have a hund I'll I'll use the example of right now
096we have 110 elementary classrooms right now across the five elementary schools K through six. I can tell you from five year five years from now we're going to have about 110 teachers. might, you know, I put the range between like 106 and 114 and uh willing to put a few dollars on it if anyone wants to take me up on it. But um that has another side to it is that there also when you have this flat enrollment, there's not an opportunity to get enrollment driven efficiencies. you know, the last time we really were able to see um as enrollment declined, we were able to capture FTE um and in some cases add additional programming based on the FTE. So, it's a two-sided coin that you're not going to see budget requests based on enrollment,
097but it's going to be harder to fight efficiencies. Um and um I showed you the thing with the K classes. Um I I believe with another conversation with NASDAQ that we're we're now in an okay place with where we are in kindergarten. We'll see how it comes uh over. Laura Shelman will be starting that process in January. Um and then we'll we'll continue to look at um Meg Evans was one of the teacher the principles who presented and you know we talk about the change uh the space needs at squadron every time we have to look at that and the you know they're real they're the the three kindergartens maybe helped a little bit but there's still issues that we pressures we need to look at. So I'm happy to answer any question. It's a
098just a curious one. Cry high school. We're projected to fall under 1,200 kids. That's an average of 300 a grade. When you were principal, were we 1600 or we 1700? >> We were about my my biggest uh enrollment was over 1500, but not to 1600. >> But we had classes that had over 400 kids. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. A couple. >> Yeah, they were they the most of the classes that graduated while I was principal were like 375. >> Yeah. >> Not a question. N just to say the numbers here support what we saw last time. Again, this is why you go off data. Hear a lot about all the developments, all the places being built, but it's just the data is not showing the numbers, which is surprising personally. Well, I'm wondering are they
099showing the numbers enough that because other towns are dropping in enrollment? [clears throat] >> Many towns are dropping in enrollment. >> So, I think they're maintaining because of it instead of dropping. >> Yeah. >> The uh the demographers will tell you it's more the slowness of the housing market in fourbedroom colonials here in Simsbury. That market's not moving. People are staying where they are and that market is very slow and until [clears throat] that market changes you're going to see a very flat. >> So a lot of this development we're seeing around town isn't >> it's not good. >> Yeah. No, I've seen the data that you guys have brought. It shows and this supports that >> because I think you showed us data showed for all those >> what it's bringing in. It's just
100it's surprising the units to the students. >> Thanks. >> You're welcome. >> Next up is public audience here. Move on again. Uh our next board meeting is obviously January 13th, but again next week try board. It's always a very interesting conversation with the board of finance. >> And I guess that with that motion to >> for over 40 years, SCM has been the voice of our town, >> bringing us together through local programming, >> education, and live broadcasts. CM isn't just about television. >> It's about empowering our community, >> ensuring our voices are heard during government meetings, and celebrating milestones >> like our high [music] school graduations. >> But today, SEM faces a challenge. >> Our funding structure is based on television subscriptions. And it's no secret people have been cutting the cord >> with
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