001as always is the pledge [Music] allegiance allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with every and justice for all first order of business is public audience anybody all right uh uh committee reports and Bo Communications have a lot to um all elementary schools had different Valentine celebrations celebrating with their school community and all elementary schools are gearing up for report card conferences uh specifically to in Hills this past Saturday had their annual two in Hillson night at the Wolfpack game and fourth fifth and sixth graders staying before the game ter is planning their 100 Year celebration that will take place September of next year at the middle school they host Ed neon KN on the 21st with over 300
002students in attendance last week Deacon Art Miller spoke with the middle school students about Black History Month and coming up on March 7th they'll be holding their first ever 3b3 basketball tournament um with staff and students at the high school we hosted unified basketball tournament last week with 12 teams from six different schools um and then for Conference champions in wrestling Ethan Quinn and Max Kaka um were the two Champions and for the state champions in different sports for track and field it was Emma Hornet too Charlotte dein Sophia Sophia Smith Kylie Richie for shot put it was Marshall Potter Max K and Max kopka and wrestling and for upcoming events at the high school we have the unified theater performance um on March 4th post uh postart culinary competition on March 4th and deca
003State Conference congratulations to the winners that's great that's awesome Josh no updates right now J nothing for me right not tonight with you yes sorry that um so yeah a couple things that are going on um I was in DC twice over the past month and um on behalf of national Schoolboard Association um and I don't have to tell you what's going on in DC and the tenor of what is happening in the city and how everyone feels but we were we did have a chance to meet with our Congressional Delegation um we were only able to meet with AIDS obviously and none of the um of the actual um legislators but things are very tumultuous down there things are still everyone is holding their breath um they don't have much to say to us
004we ask them a lot of questions but we're just going to have to wait and see um we did walk by the Department of Education and I got to tell you in all my years I've been going down this is the first time the place looks shuttered quiet um we've always had access to gain to go in there and this year we obviously did not have have that opportunity but um that's where we are in DC so we're still kind of we're holding our breath we're just waiting to see what what is going to happen um with Department of Education closer to home um you all know that we got the $40 million in the in the special ed you know funding so um we're we're very well just so just we didn't get $40
005million thank you I like I like to think that we were we were special um yes the $40 million c um that uh that the state legislature Connecticut you know um has gone through and it's allocated for state of for all the districts in state of Connecticut for for the specialed and and excess cost Grant so um but that didn't come without a lot of advocacy efforts on our parts and and we've got to continue to Hammer Hammer it home it is very crucial especially now more I say this every year more so than now but especially now um is the time that we really need to be very Vigilant speak with our legislators and and continue doing what we're doing um public hearings are still going on um I have to testify next week
006on behalf of of something I forgot which one but obviously it's education related but um this is where we are at this pace so it's very fast-paced um at the capital um with good reason so very slower Pace in DC but um but it's it's important that we just keep keep you know showing who we are what we need it for you know and I know Matt with caps is doing the same thing as we were doing with cab and and and other districts so we sent in testimony Katie cou and I on the EXs cost yes yes so that's what Lydia is referring to the 40 million would actually fill the hole in the current year if it does go through and I think the governor has to put a stamp on it and
007I know there's some it's already going questions on that little tension but um that would be the current year dollars we talked about how the percentage was reduced and it was ahead of about 450,000 in the current year so it would be extremely helpful yeah if that did and this is really an unprecedented unprecedented um you know allotment you know that we were that we got this year um and again now we're thinking what's going to happen 26 27 because as soon as we're done with with this year you know we roll into what's going to go on for next year so um you know we have to thank the legislators for you know for through Connecticut you know for being in our side you know to to to push this through it's been a
008long time coming but nothing is a given nothing is granted yet until until until it comes through so um and of course you know it's definitely going for the right reasons and for all the districts so so that's where we are with that and day on the hill is is March March 12th day on the hill will be March 12th so if anyone anyone is interested um to to to go there and if anyone's interested in testifying and we can help you with that and get you set up with anything into virtual or be there be there in person so so that's where we are thank you thank you that thank you um I can report on our curriculum meeting we had a curul curriculum meeting last week and um we it was a long
009one it was probably two hours and we talked about the um K3 science of reading update because the state of Connecticut is demanding that we use um a program that they are recommending and they have like they had seven of us to choose from and through um so lmy explained all of the details to that and uh discussed and then Betsy discussed Betsy Gonzalez discussed how we are going to incorporate um it in uh vetting and how she vetted the curriculum to actually choose Benchmark advance I think they felt that it was closest to what our curriculum is even though it's not um isn't ours just per se but that is going to be something that we're going to discuss here um again at shortly and we'll have to make a decision whether it's the
010direction we want to go um it was a very extensive work was done and discussion was had so um you can look forward to that coming um we had a math update because we've switched to um a new math program through K5 and now this year it's been rolled out think math it is being well um appreciated by the students and the teachers so that is going very well happy to say about that um and the students even the students who had the pilots last year are doing better transitioning to the next year so there there's a lot of good data on that um on that program um we also talked about two textbooks that we are going to hopefully Implement they are for um AP English s Lang AP Lang uh softare junior junior
011year junior year one is the Odyssey in a graphic novel which is really pretty interesting um and then the second was a book by John Green called the anthropos reviewed and it is short stories and it is um it's really cool and um you should look it up if you want to know more about it or uh Sue Has options if you want to look at it but it's a very um Real World level of talking about experiences and being analytical and um it's non-fiction and it's a great way to teach our students I was really impressed by it yeah and all of those those two texts and the formal curriculum adoption will come before the board this spring before but if you're at all interested um Sue does have those books so please feel
012free to stop by and borrow them and take a good look nothing right now y just as we head into March it's hiring and recruiting season starts tomorrow night City freeler and I will be at St Joe's for their recruiting fair and then off to Central Connecticut and Yukon in the next few weeks and looking at the next generation of teachers and hoping to find the best ones for here in Simsbury so um that all starts um right now and we carry on throughout the spring so always an exciting time of year are you just are you finding the fairs still as useful as Maybe 10 years ago is I guess what I'm ask is equipment changed yeah they slowed down after Co they died during Co and then have just come back okay um
013and yeah you're getting a you're getting more electronic Reach Out than you used to but um I think that the schools of Education are trying to reemphasize the power of face to face notw working so um like last year St Joe's sort of cancelled class made everybody come like so that was a better Fair like you get everybody there and um so we'll see awesome it's it's always good to be out there great great Amy I've got nothing either Mr Curtis just wanted to share that on Friday we have once a year um it's about mid year we pull our administrative counsil our district administrators for the entire day uh we call it like a retreat but what we do is we go right in town over to the Firehouse they give us uh their
014space it's really nice space to use for the day today and we engage in a series of different kind of strategic planning uh activities some team building we really did a deep dive and review into the draft the next iteration of the Strategic plan and got some great input and feedback from people and that plan is in really good shape uh and in short order we'll be bringing it to the full board uh for review so I feel really good about that um but just a a great day as as Educators we don't get a chance our leadership group to do that enough uh and I really appreciate the engagement level uh and the energy they bring to that work um and we spend quite a bit of time we call it like your 306090
015plan of really looking forward to the year end and what are the key pieces we want to get done uh in each of those building communities so very productive day and just figured I would share that awesome thank you thank you all right uh moving on to uh actions uh approval of the minutes of the February 8th Workshop budget Workshop I'll make a motion to approve the minutes from the February 8th uh budget Workshop is there a second second any discussion all those in favor I post just a quick since Katie's not here I just want to make is somebody Tak what I've been doing here just kind of came to me I was like we can do it we can do it I got you so got very nervous um thank you thank you
016you're welcome um next approval of the minutes of the February 11th meeting can I get a move a motion is there a [Music] second I'll second any discussion all those in favor I any post I'll abstain I'll as two exensions I can't second it because I wasn't at the meeting I'll second it thank you don't hit me Iain I think you can sure you can it's okay Mr Watson uh acceptance of the class of 2025 gift great so there's actually four gifts for the board of EDS consideration tonight and in alignment with your policy any gift in excess of $1,500 requires your board approval so tonight we actually have some special guests Brendan Russell who's the class president of 2025 and Mr Keith berthume science teacher but also um is the class adviser for the
017senior class so the gift there's actually pictures in your folder is for a 26 inch Victory Bell which will be held outside the athletic entrance to increase School Spirits so every time we have a big win ni that badell is g to be wrong so anything that you would like to additionally share string something um what's right here as of right now the the 26inch Bell unfortunately did fall through our hands um in the fall we had it but as of now the company that we're going through they're based out of Ohio they sold that Bell um I'm still I'm still in contact with the um the the representative and he said we'll have a similar Bell mid-march um early April so that should not be a [Music] problem he gave me those that is
018that is not there we're really hoping you approve it place was kind of high it is high yes it should be lower on but just want to thank Bron great about communicating back and forth and also communicating to the families and to his te regarding um this senior gift because they're utilizing uh class dues in order to do that so there is a motion there for your consideration I move that the proposed gift of the victory bell valued at $88,000 C High School by the class of 2025 be approved second awesome new discussion Josh I think it's a great I'm just curious how you guys come up with that idea yeah yeah um there's some schools uh I took inspiration from nearby The Walker has one in s um Lumis chaffy Avon Old Farms Victory
019bells and uh talking just to students there they really enjoy it and I think it's a really cool idea to bring students closer together thank you did yeah I just is this I and I apologize because I have short-term memory problems apparently but the does do classes every year give such a I mean this is amazing gift they do not and that is why was very important for Brendan and the class officers to communicate wow amazing great it's very cool discussion it's great all is a favor thank you thank you for coming out thank you very much much good seeing you again thank you I'm glad I came bye you guys thanks thank you everybody good meeting thank you uh the second gift for your consideration today is from the David krack off Sydney Hoffman
020charitable fund it's a gift of $5,000 and this is going to be used to help defay costs for students in financial need who may want to participate in different experiences and the donation is made in honor of Greg Hoffman who is a member of the class of 1970 there's a motion there for your consideration I'll move at the proposed gift of $5,000 from the David crack off and Sydney Sydney Hopman charitable Foundation excuse me fund be approved there second I'll second any discussion yeah I have a question so what um what is considered educational experiences for students in need um I would say that there is a broader definition that's going to be left up to the discretion of the administrators right so sometimes there might be field trips or other things that uh create
021financial hardship for families and so there's some discretion for the administration of these funds so this is K12 no this is for the high school for the high school for the high school oh okay who was the who are the administrators right that would be principal sidel yeah okay the [Music] principal this is very very generous and very needed really appreciate there's there's been a fund through the Student Activities count for years yeah where occasionally an infusion of dollars comes in to help kids who can't afford a field trip can't get a yearbook when they're graduating and you you the principal's discretion to use those funds to help a kid for a manageable cost gotta it's very helpful you can go to multiple kids though multiple any other discussion awesome all those in favor any
022opposed great thank you and thank you okay the third gift is from the Gan hos Foundation it's in the amount of $2,750 to go to the robotics Club so Mr hos through his foundation that was established in 1998 has been a supporter of our robotics Club since 2018 and so he is making another donation that will be used to purchase supplies and cover expenses incurred by the club there's a motion there for your consideration the proposed gift to the shs robotics Club at ssur high school from Jean hos Foundation totaling 2750 be approved second any discussion again super generous really exting all those in favor [Music] post and the final gift is from the Simsbury high school sptc and it's for four scholarships that are in the amount of $500 each that will be awarded
023to graduating seniors with any sort of postsecondary plans uh so these scholarships are meant to help defay any kind of post-secondary training and costs and it's open to all graduating seniors um who have a secondary postsecondary path so once again there's a motion there for your consideration so is there criteria for Distributing the scholarships and determining who gets them yes it says that it's open to any graduating seniors with articulated postsecondary plans so this is a more generalized option for students so this is generally done in conjunction with our school counseling uh group our department who looks over our scholarships annually and distributes those funds based upon the criter of our scholarships so do kids apply for these yeah is that most do you want to speak to them yeah really I mean did you
024did don't they all all seniors are available to apply apply for scholarship all students are there's tons ofil yeah there's scholarships for like everything everything all like areas of Interest Awards night is they given out is like three hours long yeah we're very fortunate to have a lot of very wonderful supporters so when that evening comes up certainly I'll share the date with forette members for the award night it is quite um a wonderful event that supports our students I'll make the motion thank you wasn't sure I lost for I was trying to people were talking the shs sptc scholarship to be dispersed starting in 2025 will this we in h that's my understanding yes nice is there a second I'll second any discussion further discussion sorry about that was that of order uh all
025those in favor I great thank you thank thanks to all of them that this was this is really generous really fantastic that was a fun day that was fun yeah yeah and we're a Jour okay not so much so we're on to this the the main attraction for tonight right so we're on to the budget yes we've had multiple conversations about this um you just want you want to take it from here or I could do that for you sure um because you can see me stumbling no so kind of uh obviously we've gone we've gone through the entire process from uh initial presentations through the workshop uh an adjustment kind of downwards from what was the superintendent's uh budget to a new number of a 3.91% increase so in the exhibit I kind of
026broke that out in its most simplistic form uh into three categories our fixed cost increase of 1.61 the operation costs we've gone through on kind of the facility side and other areas um that we felt were important is a 1.26% increase and then those varied special ed costs of an additional a little bit over a percent um the point I I wanted to make that we discussed in detail at the last board meeting was um we are going to receive an additional $845,000 cost share Grant this year normally that Revenue goes to the town it's simply added to the Grant and it's an offset in the overall mill rate kind of equation it does appear that there are stipulations on those dollars that were in the governor's budget this year that they need to be
027used specifically for educational purposes and we highlighted what those were at the at the last meeting so one way or the other those dollars are going to significantly help the overall kind of mill rate equation um but what I want to make the point of tonight it's actually the equivalent of almost a full percent of our operating budget which would put us at that 2.9% 2.8% guideline that they had So based on where we are in the overall picture of the reductions we made on staff the reductions we had in insurance favorability and these dollars the Board of Education equation comes in pretty favorably based on where the guidance was we're going to have to see we we present next week to the board of Finance how exactly we'll manage this kind of last movement
028of the dollars is it going to be required that we take that back and actually kind of account for it on our operating or are we going to do it on the finance side so we'll discuss that moving forward um but I wanted to make the point again that that influx of dollars is significant ECS does not move year to year like that you know it might move 880,000 might move 100,000 this is a major move that signifies that yeah when they looked at the equation and the refinement and the legislation there Simsbury had been underfunded so um certainly it it is helpful in the overall equation this year um and I just wanted to put kind of a value on that as we kind of continue to look at how these dollars look moving
029forward I don't want to have us approve a 2.92 tonight without knowing the mechanics of that so I think the my recommendation would be the 3.92 we'll move forward and make that adjustment we may have to come back after the board of finance and do an additional conversation on that we've done that before if there you know kind of reductions and look at that as an offset but one way or the other it's going to be an offset to the operating cost and this is expected to just be a onee increase this is it's it's $852,000 to the base that will move forward oh going forward okay yeah so it's adjustment in the formula pretty significant Matt sorry to the base which number is it to the base when you say to the base oh
030it's it's about I don't have I can six million no just the base like what we I was talking the base ECS number is what I I was referring to sorry about that yeah so to say what Matt said a little differently 3.9 is not really 3.9 that's kind of the point yeah I just want to sure we did like fixed special that like chart you I understand any you got the same term applying to too many buckets right right true true anything any other questions discussion about budget or anything in general budget bu yeah prior to I think I just want to say that I think the whole process this year has been great um from the budget workshop at the beginning all the way through to tonight um I appreciate everyone on this
031board kind of setting there some political stuff aside when we come in here we're all doing what's best for the teachers the students obviously and with the support of the administration obviously it's just been a great process I think this year so I'm very this anybody want to make the [Music] motion I'll do it move that the Board of Education adopt the 2025 26 public school budget in the amount of 89,1 1628 which represents an increase of 3,359 $659 or [Music] 3.91% second second any discuss I have to agree with Brian I I think that um I felt like we talked about all details going through and and we touched it how many times now I mean I think that and I think that every time you touch it and you can refine it and
032look at it more closely is always um you know what we're doing and we are um I I'm happy with going forward with it and I'll add that the implementation I think of the finance committee was a massive help this year um for me personally I think that it's just important not to touch not to cut to the Bone and that's always that's always where we run into the risk of you just our students and um are our priority in making sure they get educated and have success is our responsibility appreciate all the work Mr Curtis yree I would agree with t on that right I I think right I think it's a fair budget for this year I think I said it in multiple meetings right I I feel like an element here right
033it's not just don't cut to the Bone but keep moving forward right so I think the whole special thinking outside the box being strategic I think that was great by you and your group I just I think right to your point we want to keep moving forward right education something this town's proud of and we want to keep moving forward and positive I I just want say I Echo what everybody said I think this was a a really good process it was a tough process right I appreciate everybody saying um you did it was hard right I think we if we run around the table we would all have a little project or something we would have like funded are going forward that we all feel is pretty important but we we all kind of
034put that aside and understanding the fisical realities that are out there so just greatly appreciate everybody's work on this and taking it serious and I I think we all although I think we all feel good about it we it's uh I think we're feel a little bit uneasy as well so I think that's probably means it's a good budget right um so anyways with that said I'll stop talking um well I think you're right though Jeff because I think with so much uncertainty at the Federal level and at the state level and bring it home down to a local level um this board has has always kept its priorities intact of what's best for the school system and we've never wavered from that and I don't think that we plan on doing that because we
035know how to deliver a a a product to our students to our community and it's greatly appreciated and accepted all those in favor have a second oh uh did we have a think second sorry all those in favor I any opposed great seven [Music] nothing so that moves us to our second public audience anybody it's not so now we needed a a motion to adjourn to Executive session uh where we're going to discuss the evaluation of the superintendent minut I will move to journ to ex session do we need a second you do need a second right we need to vote yeah we do all those in favor I oppos okay