Board of Education Meeting - June 13, 2023

001um call this meeting to order please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance one nation under God indivisible with liberty justice for all right so tonight we get to start with recognitions I believe we're going to start with the yearbook Emily are you here all right a familiar face put them over here supposed to pass them out sure [Music] thanks give us a little Spiel here Emily I think are you passing out your papers first can I do that for you thank you [Music] thank you thanks all right perfect okay [Music] all right let's roll everybody a little bit more centered around the pandemic so this year we decided to do it as kind of a more of like an uplifting team oh sorry um and um obviously we had we went with like a

002retro like theme too which we just did to entertain ourselves we like that but yeah so it was it was a really fun project and I hope you guys enjoy it hopefully we covered like most stuff that happened in school but we also have a spring supplement that comes out to cover the spring Sports and the dances and everything because our deadline was in April so everything that happens after that will be in the spring supplement would also be available at the beginning of next week terrific thank you for all your hard work on this it looks amazing great thanks so much um with that we are on to the Kathleen Kathleen McGowan scholarship recipients yes that's me so there are so many things I love about my work and this is one of the

003best so um at the direction of the board in order to honor the legacy of Kathleen McGowan who taught in the Simsbury public schools for 35 years and who promoted a very high standard of Education the board has asked that each year we award typically and I'll get to that in a minute typically five scholarships for students who are majoring in education or a related field and we say five because we have five elementary schools and we look for students that come from each one of the elementary schools so all of our schools are represented through these scholarships so the scholarships are in the amount of one thousand dollars and I said typically we give five is uh while we were doing our blind scoring this year on the committee there were two applicants who

004scored exactly the same and they were both from the same school and we're gonna see why in just a moment so when I call your name if you would just stand and share where you're going to school next year and and how um you are going to be pursuing a career in What fields that would be fantastic so first from Squadron line we help Kelsey Alonso so I'm going to the University of Delaware um I've done a major of early childhood education yay hey congratulations and next from Squadron Megan Alonso University good for you that's great congratulations from Central School Carmine Travato hi um I'm going to Seton Hall University and I'm actually in a accelerated physician assistant congratulations from Latimer Lane Libby Tennant hi I'm Libby I'm going to Emmanuel College in Boston and

005I'm gonna study there from terrafil school Caitlin Wilde is Caitlin with us she is attending Endicott College and finally from Tuten Hills School Maddie oros hi I'm Maddie I'm studying Elementary education and special education with the Dual certification program congratulations so just one of the many ways that we honor the legacy of Kathleen McGowan so to the recipients please stay in touch there's a good reason for that we'd love to welcome you back and to hear about all of the ways in which you are making the world greater but wanted to recognize you here this evening congratulations well done all of you and best of luck hope you come back to apply for jobs with that our recognitions are done if you all and your families would like to leave we fully understand um I

006already got their diplomas thank you sorry it wasn't this sunny last time congratulations everybody to each one of you thank you thank you way to go enjoy the journey ahead yes yes okay [Music] all right so with that we are on to public audience so I would ask if you would like to speak a public audience you can come up to the table up front uh you have would state your name and your address and you get three minutes [Music] Paul Martell I live at eight Karen Lane and we talk I thank you for this time um myself I'm a long time Simsbury resident I'm a business owner 25-year humanitarian working in Central and South America and the founder of a hospital in Rio Bamba Ecuador I'm here today to comment on a resolution passed

007by the largest teachers union in Colorado probably read about it the cea quote the cea believes that capitalism inherently exploits children Public Schools land and labor and resources capitalism is in opposition to fully addressing systemic racism climate change patriarchy education inequality and income inequality the union claims that the resolution allows the union to quote publicly Advocate and Lobby for anti-capitalist policies so why am I here in Simsbury talking to you because this is not unusual for years we've allowed our teachers to Advocate Marxist economics and other nonsense in matters of which they are completely ignorant I hear it from the students who visit my hospital all the time here in Connecticut Connecticut College has a large electric tote board on campus to count the students who Proclaim who Proclaim that capitalism does not work for

008them okay in a 2017 poll over 50 percent of Millennials preferred to live in a socialist or communist Nation rather than a capitalist one I have worked for years in failing socialist countries socialism is not theoretical to me we Face its ugly suffering every day people who have no freedom hope jobs or dreams who cry over the loss of their countries who deal with depraved violence extortion gross poverty a lack of health care or police protection why because their communities and their governments are bankrupt and Awash and socialist idiocy perhaps you think I'm exaggerating I'm not destroying the economic system that makes our social contract possible is grossly irresponsible and Reckless and presents profound danger to our way of life unions and teachers without any training or knowledge and economic matters are teaching our youth

009to hate economic freedom the Hallmark of the American Experience I would respectfully encourage you to find out what your local teachers union and teachers are saying and teaching my closing comment is that teachers should stay out of matters they know nothing about and stop demeaning the importance of freedom Commerce and capital to our communities thank you for your time thank you [Music] hi I'm Lori boyko from 15 Oakhurst Road and I'm glad to see more people here tonight to see the work of the board in action it's a perfect night for members of the public to attend because per Simsbury Board of Ed bylaw 500 on page 31 quote the board considers policy development one of its Chief responsibilities and there's a lot of policy discussion that should take place tonight that policy goes on

010to specify quote proposals regarding policies May originate with a member of the board the superintendent a staff member a parent a student consultant Civic group or any Resident of the district and encourages quote the board will welcome suggestions for ongoing policy development bylaw 501 spells out the policy adoption process that originates with the policy committee which is tasked with reviewing any policy proposals considering recommendations of the superintendent and any groups affected by the policy and then reporting the proposed action to the full board I'm particularly interested to hear the recommendations of the policy committee to the board because I don't think those were discussed during previous readings of tonight's policy as a resident and more importantly a parent my recommendation is that the proposed policies as written need to be voted down and Rewritten the

011definitions in them are misleading and the policies in them are entirely inappropriate for children I've been fairly diplomatic and measured in the past but it's time to start saying some of the quiet Parts out loud it is no secret that many children and teens throughout the country are struggling tremendously with mental health the reason is not a mystery I've studied it extensively and the clinician's handbook from 1996 even warned about it confusing people about the nature of reality leads to incapacitating mental health effects it is physical physiologically impossible to become the opposite sex no amount of hormone blockers medications or surgery can turn a girl into a boy or vice versa modern medicine can create that illusion but changing a person surgically does not fundamentally change who they are I am incredibly sympathetic to anyone

012whose child has come under the spell of this social contagion and I personally know seven families locally with children from 11 to 25 years old who are sadly experiencing this new phenomenon of Rapid onset gender dysphoria I fervently believe in being kind to all people and my heart breaks for people who truly believe they will they were born in the wrong body 15 seconds Lord but this is a body dysmorphic disorder just as anorexia is and we would never dream of affirming someone with anorexia's belief that they are fat as Dr Peter bagosian points out hiding people hiding people from truth does not protect them thank you [Music] is there anyone else who'd like to speak hi I'm Sarah Papa at eight Buttonwood drive and Simsbury I've come today because I'm also concerned about some

013of the policy that have been proposed I've spoken with several actually quite a few parents once I found out and read a little bit of the policy and I will say that literally nobody I talked to had any idea that any of this was being proposed the word is definitely not getting out there and I find that it was kind of buried and even in the what was sent out as far as the agenda it'll just say you know policy revision so I kind of had to look and luckily I found it but a lot of the people I talked to um really don't know what's going on and unfortunately nobody I talked to agreed with the policy as written and I kind of distilled it down to three main concerns that I have and

014that basically all the other parents I talked to also shared these concerns and the first one is in subsection four of the transgender um section here and my concern is the interference and subversion of like parental rights because if you disagree it says that there's a disagreement between the parents and the child that basically the school district is going to go with the child and that they're going to decide what to be done with this child and I just like to say and that apparently follows um the state guidelines and calls it a civil right concern If the child and the parent disagree on child's gender and I would just like to say that I think it's a civil right concern if you know that taking away the raising of a child from their parents

015and putting it in the hands of the government because the school system is a civil right concern to me I don't think that parents should be treated as an enemy I do think that most parents are the people who know and love their children the most they're the people that have the most interest in ensuring their childhood's well-being and safety and I don't think that they should be treated as enemy combatants that don't have their children's best interests at heart um and that you know I don't think the school system is caring as teachers might be or any substitute for a parent in the child's life my second concern is subsection five the use of the bathrooms consistent with gender identity I don't think it's hard to imagine situations in which especially the way the

016definitions have been written that someone with male anatomy could be and say a female bathroom in the high school this person could be 18 or 19 years old with a 13 or 14 year old female in the bathroom I don't think that is necessarily a safe situation I think that we have had male and female bathrooms for centuries and Millennium for a reason 15 seconds please there have been cases of people being assaulted in bathrooms and um and also I think the sports situation is a complete um just going against Title IX completely and I don't think girls are going to have a space to compete anymore if we allow that to continue and I think they'll just get used to losing what's the point thank you is there anyone else who would like to

017speak men and women of the Board of Education my name is Kevin Bradley I am actually a resident of Canton at four Eastview Drive I am here because I have two minor children who are in the Simsbury school system I have two more that may be in the pipeline but it really depends on what's going on so bear with me I don't have any prepared remarks I was thinking about this a whole lot and some people do a wonderful job putting the words together I'm a parent I'm here tonight because I canceled two other meetings that I was going to be involved with two years ago my 15 year old daughter was at the high school there's a one week period where kids need to go ahead and choose a bunch of different classes on

018diversity and a whole bunch of stuff a teacher gave my 15 year old minor daughter a book about a lesbian who went ahead and started coming on to a girl in the cheerleading team and this turned into some sort of a tryst in the uh book I'm not sure why they gave it to her but I know if it was an adult out on that street who did that or had a conversation with a minor child like some of this material is suggesting that's a violation of Connecticut state law it's classy filming there's an affirmative defense to that being used for Education governmental purposes or scientific purposes doesn't mean it's not wrong doesn't mean it's not illegal just means they're not going to press charges that's a problem there was testimony a couple years ago

019about some of the books that were included in the curriculum one page full page dedicated to masturbation all right that was required reading in freshman class my 15 year old autistic son had that book assigned he's already got a tough enough time dealing with everything else when I found out that the book hadn't been removed so I figured the Board of Education would have stepped up and protect the kids there's no literary value to it none whatsoever but that didn't happen when I found out about this and mentioned it I was told that if I objected he could be given a different book and segregated from the class when that material was being covered not a very inclusive environment so it kind of became a matter of you need to shut up or else we're

020going to go ahead and exclude your kit that flies in the face of what this policy is supposed to be doing going forward when I found out some of these things were going on I've talked to other teachers about conduct that's got happened allegedly that wasn't followed up on properly sexual assaults of students at the high school I started digging in a little bit deeper I don't know what's going on but you're here you're supposed to be looking out for the kids you're supposed to represent the parents we're supposed to entrust you all with it whatever's going on in the school system you've got a responsibility 15 seconds right yep okay I know there's a lot of pressure from the state coming down I was reminded of something that came across my desk today about

021the guards at the camps in Germany just doing their job was not a good enough defense at some point in time the Tide's going to turn it's going to be lawsuits and criminal charges our kids they may never recover I urge you you know what the right thing is to do do the right thing thank you is there anyone else who would like to speak okay seeing none we're going to move on to recommended actions can I get a motion to approve the minutes of the May 23rd meeting Communications oh I'm sorry I skipped Communications I apologize um Sharon right I don't have anything prepared but um I just want to say that the uh Henry James had their first ever graduation this week and I thought it was pretty cool um my youngest son

022just graduating from eighth grade my older two didn't have that ceremony at the middle school so principal Baker and everyone else they did a great job you know Jen was there as well I think the kids enjoyed it it was a packed gym that's for sure um some cheers going on so it's fun to see okay good time uh we'll do some Personnel stuff later okay Jen yeah I totally agree that event in Henry James was awesome it was actually an eighth grader who did a backflip when he received right there in the gym it was great to see and the kids seemed to really embrace it I thought that was wonderful um and I also got to go to the senior graduation last night which was an amazing event and even with the rain

023and stuff they we powered through and we got a lot of wet pictures but it was it was a great night great night I agree Jeff yeah nothing tonight I have just uh some very nice things I was able to attend the uh the Capstone presentations about two weeks ago or so and uh so I attended probably about three or four of them and um so I was I was very very impressed I mean I wanted to stay for so many of them even though they were probably how many I don't remember but um I was very very impressed if if you ever get a chance to go for the rest of the board to to see these next year these students have worked so hard and so diligently throughout the entire year to present

024their individual unique projects and and I I just thought they were so well received just so impressed with the with the amount of work they've done and and what they have accomplished before their graduation so kudos to these these students especially these graduating seniors for all the work that they had done I also had the opportunity to attend the Farmington Valley transition academy uh graduation and the graduations are always a special time but this was a very special time I forgot how many of our students were graduating but it's just great to see at our farm it was a beautiful day and the students there and their speeches and families so again congratulations and kudos to the students and family who graduated from the Farmington Valley transition Academy and also um I also have really

025great news the Connecticut education Bill tackled both issues and was passed last week as you know I've been talking about this since January the session ended and um this was the General Assembly bill I have everything here go ahead and quiz me and I'll tell you anything what was in what was in that bill but um but we're very very you know residents and and students and families and teachers and everyone in Connecticut education you know are just so thrilled at this pass this was a lot of work since January this has been a long time coming and this is the um by any mean Budget as many of you know so it will come in effect July 1st for this coming year and the following year so so many things were in that bill

026that were passed that are so important for Education the trans period transparency of education is outlined in this bill in such great detail and it is so important there are 60 Pages 80 sections and the total actual bill that was passed was about 800 and something pages so I was able to track down those you know significant pieces that will affect public education in the state of Connecticut so I was really pleased on that and Thursday morning I'll be going to the annual legislative wrap up presented by Cabe with other Educators and superintendents and and there'll be some legislators there and we will discuss the final wrap-up of what really happened at the end of this legislative session and how it's going to affect us come July 1st for the upcoming school year so that's

027what's going on this front all good news all really good news to end end of school year so nothing additional at this time Neil nothing additional Curtis no just to Echo graduation being you want to go ahead Chad well yeah it can go after you but I wanted to ask if we're going to read in the three letters that came as part of public updates oh my my mistake um we're not reading them in because we are no longer in covid so public audience is an in-person event but we you all have copies of them in the folders you received an email from Stacy wallsack any email from Jason and Arne Von Barthel and an email from Ali Smith so I encourage you all to read them but they are not we no longer read

028minutes read them into the record and so the only thing I would say is probably four people because I didn't I don't know that I knew that that we might want to just communicate that that is um that is through the town clerk that is the board of selectman's policy and we are following suit on the town clerks okay um you that's not how this works um you can speak at public comment on the second public comment if you wish but it's not a back and forth this is the business of the board right now okay just wanted to Echo the great graduation last evening yes despite the rain and had an opportunity to stop by Central today uh terrafil this morning as well there were some culminating Ceremonies for the sixth grade graduation as

029well so a lot of exciting year-end uh stuff and positive energy going on at our elementary schools too yeah I would Echo echo or following each other I was also a Capstone day um I don't want to say like seven pages of presentations were available the students I saw handled the day with such professionalism and race and questions from everybody in the room and it was so very well done um it's they're just an impressive group and to be the first group to have to do it as part of their graduation can't say enough about that senior class they did a great job and to the Juniors who participated they can Coast a little next year and then um fbta you know great job out there both of you it was a wonderful graduation and

030um just 10 students in total three Simsbury if I have that right yeah it was it was a great day to celebrate those kids and I love their speeches and it it was a very uplifting day you get to see a little bit a little later on oh good yeah good good good good and finally I was also at the art show at the high school I did not get to the others but the high school art show blows me away year over year um the talent that that visual arts program produces is these things so to all community members you should go it's your school you know to see as well and the work those kids put out is stunning so that's my uh Communications and now we're on to the approval of the

031minutes of May 23rd so if I could get emotion on this please still move is there a second is there a second any discussion uh hearing none all those in favor aye one extension uh motion passes approval of minutes of May 31. promotional math please so move second uh any discussion on that all those in favor three obsessions okay approval of the superintendents nope we're trying to skipping personnel all right yes uh a few items that require your action tonight the first are some teacher resignations that have come in recently um the the first is uh Matt Spector who is a special educator at the high school has been involved extensively with our Unified sports team you may have seen him there he was a former Chamber of Commerce educator of the year you may

032remember call that um and it's not a surprise that Matt has landed a leadership opportunity in another district and he is going to be an assistant principal at an elementary school in Windsor so congratulations um to Matt who will be resigning um at the end of the school year Carolyn Weiser has been with us for 19 years uh exceptional English teacher um has really made her Mark in the department um and that was recognized by the Granby Public Schools where she was scooped up as the new department chair for English in Granby so congratulations to Carolyn on that new opportunity um and uh we will be in the search for an English teacher at Simsbury High School for the first time in a long time that's been the most stable Department you've ever seen but

033uh congratulations to Carolyn on a on a leadership opportunity um and of course much of the community has already heard now that um Dr Stewart Younce who has was so instrumental in our chorus program and then more recently as the leader of our theater arts program at Simsbury high school has decided to take a new opportunity he's going to be the choral director at Hall High School in West Hartford so 18 um amazing inspiring years um from Dr yountz and we um congratulate him on a new opportunity so all of these are June 30th resignations and the motion is there for your consideration did I get that motion please the Board of Education except the resignations of Matt Spector Carolyn Weiser and Stuart yountz effective June 30th 2023. any discussion all those in favor aye

034aye good luck to all of them it's nearly 50 years of experience yeah so I agree so we also had the announcement of a retirement uh we were at the the day before this announcement came in we were at Steve petrina's retirement party and I spoke with Amy musk at that party about what was and she said you know I've been thinking about this but I didn't want to step on like Steve's toes so I've kept it and then the next day Amy has announced that she is taking the same move and she will be retiring at the end of this year as our K-12 director of PE and health um Amy and I started in Simsbury in the same year she beat me in by six months so I'm thinking I'll last out last

035her uh for by a little bit here but she's been a great colleague and a great leader for that department for a really long time so congratulations to Amy absolutely can I get emotion on that please sure a move that the Board of Education accept the retirement of Amy musca effective June 30th 2023 and a second a second any discussion all those in favor aye aye motion passes and thank you to Amy for all her years of service and then the last one is one of the retirement notices that we get that's not immediate it's the the teachers have an opportunity to make a three-year in advance announcement so we have another one of those tonight and that is one of our exceptional guidance school counselors at uh Simsbury High School Paula Garza who has

036been interned with us and then has served with us for 19 years already uh hopefully Paula will do three full more years that's what she's announcing her intention to be so therefore that motion is made for a resident a retirement in 2026 that is on your sheet for your consideration move that the Board of Education accept the notice of intent to retire of Paula Garza effective June 30th 2026. second any discussion all those in favor all right motion passes thank you very much now the renewal of the superintendent's contract um as uh people heard us say in the past and even heard it in public audience uh what you see here is a lot of just reporting on business meaning a lot of the work that we do was in committee um I chaired the

037Personnel negotiations committee and one of the um one of my favorite things that I'm able to do as the chair is is to lead the review of the superintendent each year uh this year in particular was one of the one of the most complete and comprehensive uh set of meetings that we've had to discuss as a board and and to discuss with uh with Matt um and reflect on the on the past year and I am I'll speak for myself and other people can can speak as well but uh so pleased that we have uh such a strong superintendent uh and someone who is able to manage lots of moving pieces of running a school district um very proud of of Matt as our superintendent and thrilled with uh with the job that he's doing

038I'll I don't know if other people want to speak or I'll make a motion I think we make the motion and then we can move okay so I'm going to move that the Board of Education approved the superintendent's contract for our 2023 2026 with a salary increase of three percent for 2023-2024. second discussion I just want to Echo what Todd said we're very very fortunate anybody else I'd like to Echo that um knowing knowing Matt and I've known him for a long time is as maybe some of us have and I've been around a very very long time on Boards of Education um it's very exceptional that you have a superintendent that has a tenure of 11 years 11 years in one District that is very unusual youth is very unique to to be able

039to retain and keep a superintendent and the reason why we are able to have a superintendent for for 11 years is because of the exceptional work the work ethic and the belief in Simsbury public school so again I Echo what my colleagues on the board had said in regards to to our committee evaluation of the superintendent thanks all right um all those in favor thank you very much glad you're stuck with us for a few more years thank you I appreciate the support thank you okay so now we are moving on to the policy committee uh the revision of the policies listed so as the board knows this is a long process to get to the point where tonight is really just the final vote on the policy revisions um I'll remind everybody that policy

040revisions are really a four-step process uh with the board which begins with the policy committee and that's really the body it consists of four members of the board that does the deliberation over uh the changes that might be proposed um this uh particular set of policies many of them were driven by legislative changes I know we had commentary tonight about one of the policies but this vote actually covers uh eight separate policies that were reviewed by the policy committee um and uh we met a couple of months ago in the policy committee had a long meeting discussing um all of these policies in including the one that that was spoken at by some of our members of public audience tonight um after that the materials are then sent to the entire board for review and

041three consecutive meetings of the Board of Education are required there's the first two being called first reading and second reading of the policy so it has been on the last few agendas uh that that these policies were coming forward we did have a slight uh wording revision based on um a pickup by one of the board members that the title of the policy and one of the descriptors and the actual text was off so we made really a clerical change there between first and second reading so the two May meetings were first and second reading tonight is simply the final vote um for the this set of eight policies that are in your back end okay thank you that I need a motion to approve the policies I'll move to adopt the revised Board of

042Education policies as noted effective June 13 2023 and can I get a second I will suck in that motion I need discussion I just want to say one oh I'm sorry um you know Neil described the process but um there were there was a lot of discussion in the original policy committee meeting and there were adjustments between that and the first reading that was that was sent around so there was commentary and revisions before it went to to reading so yeah it wasn't just what was handed down and moved along sure yeah I I agree that there's been a discussion about the policies um I would ask that we consider voting on the policies individually instead of collectively understanding that there's been a third reading um I feel that um unfortunately just listening to the

043comments that were made tonight and just um you know the comments that were you know even what was sent in through letters I think that there's an opportunity for some way um for us to be able to get more information out to the community especially on some of the policies so I think it would be to our advantage to not vote on them as a unit but to vote on them individually so I just want to understand are you saying so you're a member of the policy committee and you're saying you still feel there hasn't been enough discussion around the policies I presented I think she was at the meeting the first meeting that we did you weren't there that day right I believe that from a standpoint of I mean I've read them but

044I also believe that there's an opportunity um for us to as a as a member of the policy committee I think it's our view to that we read and we go through but I also think it's well who's us to also hear from the community and and that's of course that's why I'm saying that I think that we should vote on them individually um and based on that vote we determine how we go forward but I don't think we should vote on them as a whole food Susan there's a motion on the floor right right but there is so we have a motion and a second I'm I don't so we need to vote on the motion as presented all right yes if I'm doing my robber's rules of orders correctly we have to we

045have to vote on the motion as presented all right so I'm going to call this for a vote all those in favor of the motion as presented say aye aye oh there's a post I opposed okay so that is uh seven to one so the motion passes passes thank you I appreciate your comments Sharon okay because we are moving on to end of year fiscal authorizations grants um we have to renew our grant applications every year for our recurring Grant such as the Ida Grant we also have um a transfer of funds so when we do our budget we have our line items with a budget with our budget number and then some light items will come in over some line items will come in under so all we do is move around those numbers

046so that the net is zero it is not exceeding the budget is just realigning the budget so the net is zero and then the last one for you all to approve um for our summer work is um Neil has been very busy doing recruitments and I'm sure he would love to see the fruits of those laborers by being able to hire some people so this one gives you um permission or gives Matthew permission to authorize new hires during July and August so for the state and federal grants to transfer funds and then the hiring of new employees during July and August you all are giving authority to the superintendent to move forward with those items because I just ask a question just since it's June is that do we need to expand that so it's

047until June through August or no because they're a fight is July one yeah that makes sense all right suggestions sure yeah um so I'll move that the Simsbury Board of Education authorizes the superintendent to act as the board's agent in renewing applications for state and federally funded programs all right any discussion always in favor any opposed abstaining okay I'll also move that the Simsbury Board of Education authorizes the superintendent to transfer funds from those accounts in which a surplus is anticipated into those counts in which a deficit is anticipated can I get a second on that I'll second um any discussion all those in favor any opposed all right finishing carries and then thirdly uh I'll move that the superintendent with the approval of the board chairman be authorized to hire staff for the 2023-24

048school year During the period of July and August when the board is not in session I'll second that motion discussion all those in favor all right so next we are on to a gift from Henry James PTC yes we have a gift to consider from the Henry James parent teacher Council and it's in the amount of 7509 and with these funds they would like to purchase three new picnic tables to replace some of the wooden ones that are not in the best shape that they have been in their Heyday as well as two new in-ground basketball hoops so there is a motion there for your consideration move that the proposed gift of seven thousand five hundred nine dollars from the hjms parent teacher Council B approved second any discussion super generous and awesome again great

049way to spend the money those kids will love it yeah absolutely all those in favor of those parents yes all those in favor all right yep thank you once again our ptos and ptcs are fabulous um okay Boe summer meeting schedule so this is me um as our practice has been we generally canceled the scheduled summer meetings and we do it on an as needed basis so if there we need to have a special meeting we will um we will call for that um so I am recommending as of tonight that we canceled the June 27th July 11th and 25th August 8th and 22nd meetings so if I could get someone to make that motion I will second that motion with the amendment I'm sorry I'm sorry you made but I'm sorry I'm looking at

050the date it should be it should be 2023 right thank you thank you can I get a second sure one sec okay any discussion just Susan to follow up in your code you should anticipate at least one special meeting as we do the process to replace Maggie Seidel as the direct that is an administrative position that the board will need to approve yes so that's probably a Late July special meeting that we'll be looking for okay perfect thank you for the heads up on that um all those in favor any opposed nursing carries all right so now we move to informational reports yes I'm gonna kick this to sue we're going to get an update of the Farmington Valley transition Academy several board members mentioned the graduation yes um so we had a presentation or

051some public comment I believe earlier in the year and a request for a presentation so this is our follow-up so we're excited I have some people here and I've taken the introduction away from you all right so I'm gonna invite to the table director of pupil Services Katie kusula and the director of the Farmington Valley transition Academy which for the remainder of this meeting we will refer to as feta and Katie and Emily have um planned for you some overview of our partnership our Partnerships with the Farmington Public Schools what we provide students and families in the areas of transition at fpta I've asked them to toot their horn a little bit because there is an immense amount of volunteer bless you volunteer hours that are completed by our students at the transition Academy and

052they've also been noted with various recognitions that are pretty impressive Katie and Emily will then share with with you some of the challenges that we faced this year relative to the location of fbta located to previous physical spaces and a group that they have brought together to discuss some of these issues and problem solve a future location for feta so with that I will kick it over to Katie and Emily and just thank you for all the work that you do to make this place so special for our young adults so first and foremost I want to thank the for the board for having us here this evening it is exciting to share just additional information as well as the updates around fvta um you know we really appreciate the board's visit out to fpta

053this year the attendance at graduation it's it's a special place and it sure is a um wonderful experience and and really can't thank Emily enough for her leadership of the program as well as to our our collaborative District Farmington public schools in this so what we wanted to do tonight is to bring to you a little bit of a sense of who we are at fpta why we are so special as well as what are some of those trials and tribulations this year and next steps at the same time also just emphasizing the fact that our students have not this missed a beat this year there are so many celebrations and uh Susan you mentioned in your your celebrations and Communications that um you know some some of the speeches and I thought we could

054start this evening with one of our speeches from the recent graduation at feta and celebrate our students so I have a recording of Jack Nall who is a graduate of fvta he was a member of Simsbury high schools class of 2021 and um is is truly a champion of why feta is special and why it is so important for students that participate in the program so pardon some of the videography um but please celebrate and and and share with me this message okay good morning family friend for guest Miss Barrett is Miss Moody death and fellow fresh yay my name is better known as Aladdin from State bars2023 production [Music] there's no this was my only year in fbta I will never forget my time as challenging as this year was of having to relocate

055to our farm true and now this program has taught me so much about life skills that I didn't know prior to my arrival thank you for an amazing year and I'd like to give a shout out goes on to give a shout out to his parents and and that was well deserved but at the end of the day just wanted to share a little bit about why fbta means so much to these students and and it's it's truly a testament for Jack um to to be able to to just emphasize his experiences there so again who are we at fpti just some history around the program it is a collaboration between as I mentioned the Farmington Public Schools special services department and Simsbury Public Schools pupil Services it was a collaboration that started in Partnership

056that started back in 2000 and it was a really established for the partnership we have with the University of Hartford that is of course something that we'll talk about but it was for many many years a very successful partnership with the university we were housed on the University campus and really allowed us to provide our students with not only transition and activities of daily living skills through our program but also access to a University campus and and part of our students being able to say I am going to be a Hartford Hawk and that is so well celebrated by our students a little bit of the makeup of our program it currently has their 38 students we in recent years have ranged anywhere from about 35 students to 41 students at our highest it is

057currently um there are 14 Simsbury students that participate in that program the other students are from Farmington and also right now 12 districts but anywhere in a range of 11 to 15 districts in the Farmington Valley and Greater Hartford area those students are are tuition students who come to our program because of its greatness because of what we can offer through the IEP services that those students require Emily I'm going to have you talk to us a little bit about the uniqueness of our program yeah transition skills do matter um so we're able to really teach our students about internship skills we have a variety of internships our employment Specialists Jill Adams really works extremely hard with our Community Partners to allow our students to access truly meaningful internships that they don't have at other

058transition programs ours are really unique and we really work within the IEP process to talk about those post graduation dreams of our students that are part of the IEP and therefore we give them internships that are going to Target those skills to make those dreams come true and we talk through with them and our job coaches are exceptional in their ability to educate our students instruct our students scaffold that instruction so I had the opportunity a couple weeks ago to go to one of the internships at Burlington and we had four students on that day that were there at the beginning of the year each of the students was only able to do one small part of a job when I saw them a couple weeks ago each of them was doing the entire job

059entirely independent and the job coach was just taking the data so that demonstrates like truly how great those internships are in addition to that our Friday Community trips our students call them fun fridays but they're more than that they really go out into the community they practice all the skills that are taught within the classroom they go out and part of the program is they get stipend checks monthly and so they get to go and use that money to go to museums go out to lunch practice ordering for some of our students they've never had the opportunity to choose what they want on a menu and so watching those Great Moments is just amazing in addition to that we have an adult daily living skills program so not only do we teach our ADL skills

060within our program so it's cooking we do a lot of cooking Kelly Moody one of our teachers just did a full unit for the past several months and utilizing um small appliances so an air fryer and a griddle they had to try different types of syrups and different types of sauces for those of you that do know some of our students they tend not to love to step outside their comfort zone so they all had to try honey mustard and ketchup and it was and she got them all to do it and they all earned a pizza party as a result so that's a pretty exciting thing and the last part is our feta culture it is not only spoken about within our feta Community our students will always say the feta Community is their

061family it's their place where they can successfully with support fail and they know that they have that safety net to be able to do that pick themselves up and try something different and it's this thing that when we do get tours from other districts from some of our tuition paying students I will frequently get parent phone calls within 10 minutes of ending a tour and them saying I want my kid here how do I get my kid here what do I have to do to fight for this um your program we were in tears because of what the students do and I always say it's not me selling the program it's the kids the students at feta sell the program every single day because it's what they do and it's what it's through their accomplishments

062and their successes that make feta so special okay I know Sue alluded to this Emily spoke to it a little bit what are these Community connections and internships we speak of we have our students currently in internships throughout the Greater Hartford area um and this is each student participates in three internships so we offer 108 placements a week that our students are going out into those they are usually around a four hour time period time Block in order to build real life if uh job stamina so that they are employable and competitive in that in the in their pursuit of of jobs that is up to um right around 18 000 volunteer hours that fvta brings to the Greater Hartford area and to me that was a data point that I just really speaks to

063not only what does Simsbury public schools and Farmington public schools give to its students through this program but what our students give back to the community this is not just a one-sided program our students are constantly giving back to the community that they reside in and I'm going to have Emily just highlight quickly some of the community recognitions that we received this year we when you schedule the day is it is everybody like in the instructional part at once and then the internships are all like in the afternoon so it's very it's rotational students have their days and times that they go out they work they know their schedule they know what day to come dressed work ready or what day this year they need to be in their their Farm clothes essentially and the

064students are responsible for that that's one of those building of life skills do they need a strategy to remember that what is the strategy that is still the important teach of the program um to make sure that our students are as independent as possible and truly accessing um real life situations and experiences Monday through Thursday they go out um depending upon what their three day a week is and then out of that so example would be a student that has an internship Monday Wednesday Thursday Tuesday would be their classroom day so every day Monday through Thursday there's a group of students that have a classroom day and that's their chance to work with their special ed teacher on some of those adult daily living skills on their functional academic skills and then Friday everybody goes

065out into their communities is the creation of the um internship something that was this year or has that been the life that has been the life it's been a you know constantly evolving um covid across the board definitely put a kink into a lot of internships this is the first year for example that we got our Connecticut Children's Medical Center and some of our Hospital internships that are unbelievably valuable to our students as well as to the hospital back due to coveted restrictions being relaxed a little bit um and like occasionally we'll get a student and let's say they're interested in hairdressing we had one a few years ago there are a lot of restrictions in red tape to find internships um at you know for a hairdresser so um Jill Adams our Employment Specialist

066reached out to a nursing home who doesn't have as many um restrictions and that student was able to go and do that so we do really cater it to the needs of the student and our independent with that do we have any data around the internships leading to permanent hires we do it is you know certainly there are some of our interns they turn into permanent positions um it is also where we can explore their passions and then they can pursue those through outside so for example the um nursing home opportunity that would allow someone to practice and then to turn that in so we have a variety of data in regards to what positions turn into permanent hires for example we have a lot of students in town that have done internships through Fitzgerald

067whether that be for our Simsbury students through high school and the and and then they continue through their feta experience and they have maintained a position for multiple years so it is something that certainly we track but it's also important the skills at the end of the day are ultimately because again we have a range of skills of our students and and competitive employment is the goal for all of our students but some of them will need that support and access as they hit 22 and Beyond so that practice and the initiation of skill build and strategies is invaluable okay so just again these are listed in the slides but want to do a quick shout out that again we were named the community partner of the Year by the Attorney General's office we have

068been a recognized partner as we've re-entered our internship at Connecticut Children's Medical Center and again I have gotten personally many emails from Burlington University of Hartford others around our internships that we have in those locations formerly known as we can go with the formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory but Burlington in um Bloomfield also restore has done some in Bloomfield has done some amazing Partnerships with our students and and certainly recognizes our efforts and certainly as we get into those next steps our farm has been an invaluable partner and we will definitely be talking a little bit more about that so timeline part of um what you heard earlier and we're provided updates on is this has been quite the year for fvta um it we we had moved to the Babcock house on the

069University of Hartford um campus in June of 2021 so just about two years ago um that location and that property was sold by the university to a private entity last March um since that point until our departure from Babcock in October there were um honestly there was some issues in our partnership with that private entity and there was a situation in October that we just were unable to navigate and needed to relocate our students to our farm and this really allowed us to re-engage our pandemic partnership with our farm cannot speak highly enough of our Farm in Bloomfield and their partnership with both Simsbury and Farmington as well as feta to allow us to they let us use their space through covid as it allowed for more outdoor access and since then it has really

070um allowed us to utilize their space both for um academic space our permanent home this year as well as additional opportunities for our students on a day-to-day basis at the farm some really cool things going on in regards to the the growing and the upkeep of farm life and that's been exciting um so we have been there since um again October and again we have remained there through the spring okay in the spring we did form a subgroup to brainstorm collaborative Solutions around the future home of fvti including our partnership with the University of Hartford and our farm and that has been a great resource of stakeholders so it's included some of our current parents it's included our teachers our staff Emily both districts um and and it's really allowed us to have the conversations

071around needs and to to understand what do we need now and what do we need in the future as well as what are some of those priorities to look at Transportation access to public transportation you heard about about the Community Partnerships that's a huge piece that we need to evaluate and consider as we look at this next steps so again the collaborative work of the partnership um is we can't thank our farm enough for their positive partnership um the the feedback we've gathered from our stakeholders Echoes that there's a lot of things that the farm has offered our students in our program that has been successful this year um we continue to partner with the University of Hartford we had access to a a campus location this spring and certainly um are you know working

072to continue to see how can we be a part of that campus as much as possible we are exploring additional Partnerships and and how do we work our farm into that and and again what is the future home um for permanent for permanent location and we've done site visits to um some of those locations and explored and that has been not just the districts not just Emily but our stakeholders as well have gone on those site visits and that's been really really helpful and I just can't Echo this enough our kids have not skipped a beat they have continued to excel continued to access and have been at graduation you heard a theme of flexibility um these were a lot of them were 20 20 graduates so they you know were graduates of their high

073school program um and they have really adapted and their participation in fvta they they went with it this year it was I mean they picked up they they with the direction of their teachers they were at our farm the next day after we left Babcock and they were like okay where are we going let's go to our internships where are we going and it's just celebration and and huge shout outs to our students so the question I would have is do you have I mean it's our farm gonna into next year allow you to still be there and do you're doing the site visits do you have a time frame as to when you're going to make a decision so that's really around our next steps is certainly our farm is open and willing they

074love fvta to partner with us going into next year um we really want to in hearing our stakeholders and our staff consider um what role does our farm play and and into next year and then future years um how do we meet the academic needs of our students that's and and the transportation needs so we are going to continue to do that our subgroup meeting our subgroup met last week we talked a little bit about that and then regards to timeline we need to continue to explore a few Partnerships into this summer and to really make firm decisions for the 23-24 school year by the end of July our farm will have a role in next year it is just determining what part of a role that looks like again exploring those most needed pieces

075of our program in transportation academic access in regards to classroom space the farm has been an awesome partner an amazing location um there's just we we still have to explore all of our opportunities as well well have there been challenges around the academic spacing we've had classroom spacing it's a working farm so again you know just making sure we they've been great they've provided us with additional office space um as our as our staff had had required we have a working nurse's office we it's been a great location there's the current needs being met and then what is the future location and I think think that's really where when we talk with our stakeholders is important to determine our pharmacist is is not a school and that is certainly something it's not a college campus

076and our students have certainly benefited from both of those pieces in the past and we don't want to lose sight of that so it's it's not saying that our farm has not been a great host they absolutely have been it's not saying that our farm is not a good home it's what do we need and how do we continue to look forward of of meeting you heard about the uniqueness and the greatness that's still the absolute Vision my last question is around Transportation so what have been the transportation needs current you know and how have those been handled so it's it's not on a public bus line and so it's been a uh we have the feta has vehicles and we have um the ability to transport students via vehicles and we've made it work

077we have our students still went out on community trips we still made sure that they got there it was a it provided some challenges but our students with Transportation goals still met those goals they were still exploring bus lines and how do they get to places taking you know we utilized our on-campus at the University of Hartford location for them to then access bus transportation so in our ADL program so our ADL program which is unique to feta in in regards to other transition programs so our ADL program is in home so it goes to students homes and so certainly can you just say what adlc yeah sorry adult daily living skills um so for example for Simsbury students um one of their adult daily living skills instructors taught them in practice taking the bus

078from Simsbury over to Canton and back um so being able to access you know from their own communities because the idea is um to create ramps right um we have this big transition thing at the age of 22 and our goal is to create ramps so it's not a cliff that we're you know the kids are having to jump over at the end at the 22. so we're creating those ramps so that you know as students are transitioning to competitive employment you know they need to be able to access transportation from their own communities or their home communities as opposed to you know wherever feta locations so there's been you know definitely some things and in addition to helping with Transportation um you know for Friday Community trips Katie has been a fantastic partner if

079I and Lori as well I'll call them and be like hey we're trying to get our whole group um to winding trails and we would we need some Transportation support and we would call Salters and they would add that additional Transportation support to be able to ask success for everybody so that we had those opportunities thank you yeah so again I just have to end with you know Farmington Valley transition Academy is a special place it offers kids opportunities um of a lifetime as you heard Jack say and you know I just it this is not Jack's quote but it is one that I know it it really is special to the feta community and and that is that the goal is any student at feta will learn it on their own and they will

080be as independent as they can be and that to me is again why we do what we do at fpta and why your support of Farmington Valley transition Academy is so much appreciated what became so apparent to me is that feta isn't a place right so that's what I saw from your students at graduation it's not a place it's sort of an ethos they live it they breathe it and you guys have infused that in your students so that is so appreciated because it has been a bumpy ride and I look forward to hearing about where you all land um for next year none of that did we get a single resignation that's huge and all my staff can't have said in their evaluations they can't wait for next year and how can they help

081so you know and students and families feel the same way so that too speaks to how special please let us know how we can support you all in this search process and um certainly keep us posted as to how and where you land so um because I'd love to come for another visit yes certainly thanks for all your efforts thank you very much appreciate it thanks Katie okay so we are on to curriculum platform yes so this is a very quick celebration and in your Friday update I will be sharing you this link to some pretty Dynamic work that our department supervisors and our director of Elementary curriculum and I have been working on um to demonstrate and a very uh public accessible communicative way what the content is at each grade level um so

082a little drum roll this is our curriculum blueprint that has been shared with our curriculum committee and want to share it here this evening this will go public and live this fall we want to be able to communicate with families about where on our website it will be located and do a specific celebrity Tory share and communication so I'm going to have Katie click on this link and what you will find when this link goes live again we will share this with the board and you can play around with it by alphabetical order are different content areas okay so what anyone will be able to do let's click on math Katie you can see all the different grade levels so if I want to check out the different math courses that are being offered in

083grade eight you will be able to do that so let's take um hjms algebra one we'll click on that and for any course any one of those bubbles you will be able to click on that you will be able to see an over all abstract of that course content if there's something there that says more under abstract Katie where it says more that just means that there's more text to share when you click on that and then down each kind of screen are the different units of study within each course and a description of that unit in very lay persons language so anyone can access it so if you click out of there Katie I'll show you just one more example let's go down to arts for example Visual Arts and let's say you are

084interested in what courses are offered in Visual Arts in grade 10. this will also give you an idea of the robust nature of course offerings specifically at the high school level so we could take I don't know pick anything uh Ceramics too and again you'll see the course description in all of the units of study that are standards aligned so this was a pretty heavy lift for our leaders to make sure that we could communicate everything that we do again we'll be doing a full public launch in the fall it will be located on the office of teaching and learning page under curriculum we want to make sure that the formatting right that if we are talking in a narrative that it's narrative across the board if it's bullets that it's bulleted across the board

085so I have a little bit of cleanup to do this summer technical edits but we are very excited about this and to be able to share with Simsbury and Beyond that's great I should know this um how did we do this before computer files quite honestly um you'll see some of this information more of course descriptions in our course overview or our course of study handbooks but it doesn't give you this level of detail with the units of study so it's really taking this we are using a curriculum platform called edu Planet you'll remember in uh the budget time when I was reviewing the software that we use edu planet is a tool that we've had but we just haven't utilized it last month we haven't utilized it in this capacity just yet so again

086very exciting for us to be able to share this okay well done so will there be a link to this from the teacher's page so like if I know Miss Lemke is teaching Ceramics too will I be able to go and say okay this is what I know my son will be to looking at in Ceramics to will there be that linkage too oh that that's interesting let me think through that um not initially so if I go because that's um that level of detail is usually provided in the Google Classroom of of your of your child um so this is more a big picture at a glance K-12 by content area yeah no I understand but if I'm if I'm trying to anticipate questions here on this so uh if I know my freshman

087son who's our school like if I don't think so when and that week comes when they're when they're um selecting courses for the next year yeah I'm be curious to see I may or may not be curious to see you know what what is Ms Lemke kind of car right in Ceramics too right but that would be on this right it might just say no it just saves the step though right it's just a different it saves me a you know another as a parent may not know to go to the office of teaching and learning but I do know that my son is picking courses and he may be in the program of studies that says further information is available on this page of our website and let me check out with edu Planet

088a different way that they've worked with districts to kind of combine that program of studies with this platform I'll check into that and get back to you on that it's a great great question that's great really excited that's great so we get it this week to be able to click here right yep it's it's in really great shape that's great thank you for the share um all right so that brings us back to our second public audience if there's anybody who would like to speak Susan can I say something real quick about that just um for those that like doing the public uh audience that have not been here before and I see some new faces um we are hearing your comments and we may not reply and it's more of a I don't know

089the format that we have where we don't engage in conversation during our meetings so just know that we are hearing you and it's not that we're like not listening and whatnot it's not falling on deaf ears correct is the point um yeah I would have I appreciate you saying that um we certainly do listen and take in your comments all right so with that be happy okay I'm speaking on the behavior [Music] okay sure still get three minutes though okay so my name is Manju Gerber and I live in Avon 32 Saxon Woods Avon Connecticut and I'm speaking on behalf of my friend RT um and her husband Jason Van bartelt they live in 48 Longview Drive Simsbury Connecticut Dr Simsbury board event recently our Central School first grader asked us to explain the meaning

090of a large Banner hanging in his art room after looking into what he was referring to we discovered that his k-6 art teacher Miss Harrison has had a three foot by five foot so-called progress pride flag hanging in her classroom throughout this past year a picture of the flag can also be seen below and I think she sent this in her email she did I read it what is simsbury's policy on highly divisive political banners being displayed in our children's classrooms if a teacher was a devout Catholic would she be permitted to display a pro-life Banner in her classroom if a teacher was pro-constitution would she be permitted to display a second amendment don't tread on me Banner in her classroom if a teacher was an Evangelical Christian would she be permitted to display a

091banner promoting salvation in her classroom I think we all know the answer to these questions why then as we as parents being forced into inappropriate sexual discussions with our small children as a result of political activism by this teacher more important mainly how is this teacher explaining these inherently sexual topics to the young children who inevitably ask are the parents of the hundreds of k-6 children who go through her classroom each year aware of this Banner why does this teacher feel entitled to treat our classroom as if it were her dorm room morality comes from the family it is not dictated by ideologically driven bureaucrats or teachers who take it upon themselves to treat our children as if They Were Expendable pawns and collateral damage in the culture wars we would like the flag removed

092the affected parents notified about its presence in their children's classroom throughout the past year and the policy on political activism in our classrooms clarified to parents and teachers we are thankful for your hard work and dedication to our community on this and other matters sincerely Yours Jason and RT Vaughn Bartels thank you I am Lori boyko from 15 Oakhurst Road um I've had a student in Simsbury schools for 20 years and I'm I'm going to be honest I'm disappointed with what took place here tonight I have a tremendous amount of appreciation for the members of the board and the time they spent but for the times that I've shown up or watched online and the policy meeting that I attended there's a lot more administrative presentation that goes on than actual board member discussion the

093board is an elected body it's a governmental body that has the education of our children in their hands I attended that policy committee meeting and there really since then has been no meaningful board member public discussion about anybody's thoughts or reasonings about any of the policy there's been public audience and there's been some emails or questions answered privately but there's not been at the board public discussion for the members of the community to see and hear what's going on in their government I've studied the board bylaws policies handbooks state laws guidance and so much more I've communicated here commented here on communication and transparency before this is really not a board meeting that's what it's called but it's not what it is meeting after meeting I listened to legislative reports and I've mentioned that details

094need to be shared not just so many things are so important and so many exciting things are going on the parents that sat here tonight have no more idea about what was so important even 10 things five things about that bill than they knew before they walked in this room if my student never gave a report in class like that he would get a failing grade you have a room full of interested parents here and we don't know one more thing than before we arrived this is a school administration and teacher presentation every meeting followed by predetermined rubber stamped votes with no real public discussion by board members I have the utmost respect for Matt and the District administration I cannot emphasize that enough but some of these are matters that have to be discussed

095from a policy standpoint by the board and I will say what I said last year that the Board needs to be discussing these and meeting over the summer lastly asking students to suspend their belief in reality and distort their view of objective truth is gaslighting it is psychologically abusive and does very real harm a policy that allows students of different biological Sexes to intermingle in bathrooms and locker rooms infringes on the rights of students who do not have body dysmorphic disorders all students regardless of gender having equal education opportunity is required by law and under the U.S Constitution Equitable accommodation would seem to be the use of a private restroom we cannot enact policy that caters to just a few is there anyone else thank you Sarah Papa again eight button would drive um I

096really did appreciate getting to hear some of the good things that are coming in and that's that's really nice to hear it was a little hard to concentrate though because frankly I felt really unheard we took the time out I just learned about this policy I'm sorry that um I didn't learn a bit when there were two other readings but the fact is I just learned about it and I came here to speak thinking that what I said would then be taken into consideration and I very much appreciate the board member Mrs Thomas for making a very reasonable suggestion that you could vote on the different policies and table this so you could take into account what people came here to say and I feel like that was not taken into account at all you

097just exactly what she said rubber stamped you had your mind made up um and I I think that's very unfortunate that what we came to say was not taken into consideration as members of the community and that's what I'd like to thank you three minutes gone um good evening my name is and cozy Lee this is my wife I'm from 235 Brantford Street Hartford Connecticut um we were um actually the last time I spoke at a board meeting was in the high school it was a few years back after there was a incident obviously that happened at the high school I can't say I was there to um speak um and share how I was feeling about that seeing that we have um four sons in the Simsbury Public Schools um but not only did

098I could speak for we can speak that not only did we speak at that time when there was plenty of cameras um after the cameras were gone I can definitely say we remain to help do some of the work um to help Simsbury um improve in the the direction that I wanted to um to move in and dealing with issues of of equity inclusion um Community Development we can say that um so I say that because our um one of our sons that Squadron line um sixth grade and a few months back um comment was brought to us that was said while he was at recess um and the comment was um roughly until now just um say it to the point of I would like to tie slaves um to a post and whip

099them and throw them off the Eiffel Tower and so this was the um comment that um we heard and our son obviously had a reaction to it um it was part of I guess you could say perhaps a scheme and someone had made this comment and said someone else had said it and um it caused a commotion with the individual who had absolutely nothing to do with it um this is months ago um and so the situation has not been um dealt with it has not been discussed it has not been um addressed resolved in any um shape or Manner and I'm not here to say that every person child is going to be perfect um but the more disappointing point is the lack of response on that has occurred as a result of this

100um we can hear um by sitting in the the meeting here this evening plenty of reasons why we do have our kids um in school here we can definitely say that um but there's still some work that needs to be done and we don't want the board um to I guess maybe to be forgetful or to understand that there's still a a large matter of urgency that is still occurring um I don't know to what extent you hear about incidents such as this but they are still happening um information is disjointed but the most disappointing part was the lack of follow-through I can say we have spent hours hours hours hours building um Community um here so I know I'm not just here because of a complaint but I can definitely say we've been here

101to do the work um and so that being said there's still much to to go uh Mr Curtis we are a meeting um scheduled to you um tomorrow to further um discuss um what has happened and what has not happened um and so we wanted to bring this to your attention this evening um to let you know that um there's still a lot of work to do um you know we've definitely said we've put our time in to do the work but um something has been broken as far as the process goes and how to deal with situations that are still occurring and so we don't want to um be at the the feeling to say that if there's not a big Spotlight on something that is not going to be addressed but I can't

102say that is exactly how we're feeling um right now that it would say if we were to let the situation go it would have never been mentioned ever again and so that's why we were here thank you for thank you for coming is there anybody else who'd like to speak Kevin Bradley again I'm actually going to read his record both of the letters okay from uh Miss Ellie Smith so it'll be the best idea to be as accurate as I can and not misrepresented so to the board of ed members in regards to tonight's meeting I wanted to share my thoughts as a mother of two students in the public school system here I look forward to tuning in live as I cannot attend in person and to hopefully seeing Simsbury realize the importance of

103involving parents in all curriculum decisions particularly ones as sensitive as identity as a mother and parent I love my children unconditionally one of the most important roles that I have is their mother is helping to teach them to be responsible adults with values and thought processes that allow them to make decisions on their own when appropriate I believe we are born with either male or female gender identity they must be acknowledged and respected children go through many phases in life with many being just that phase if my child is confused about their gender that is first and foremost mine to deal with as their parent to exclude me from that process would be unconscionable and irresponsible they are my children not the school districts children cannot be allowed to make gender identity decisions without their

104parents full involvement and to exclude parents from that process is to teach children they shouldn't keep their innermost Secrets fears and struggles from their parents it is a dangerous and slippery slope to allow children to believe that they can tell schools their identity as one way and then at home identify in another way on the issue of bathrooms and locker rooms I am a mother of two daughters to allow biologically male students into bathrooms locker rooms and sports teams with biologically girl students creates confusion in their minds and poses a safety risk I was extremely concerned to read about the policy that students can identify one way at school the school cannot tell parents and therefore a student could identify another way at home I remember myself being in the middle of high school and

105feeling so deeply self-conscious with all the changes your bodies go through I was barely comfortable pardon me changing in front of other girls and I cannot fathom changing in front of a biological male this is such a sensitive topic in today's age and it is one I believe needs to be handled delicately as we are talking about impressionable children whose brains have not fully formed I am adamantly against any curriculum being taught or discussed without parent permission prior and without parents being able to opt out their decisions and policies being voted on and discussed and do not belong in schools they should be up to the parents to decide how to share information about sensitive topics with their children I fully support being inclusive however teaching children they can identify in different ways at home

106and at school having them lie to their parents constantly asking them to choose how they identify that is not inclusive it's the best of I thank you for your time and consideration sincerely Ali Smith so I know time's up I was just going to say anybody that wants to talk to a minor a child about sexuality and they are not their parent should be nowhere near children ever I thought we learned that lesson is there anyone else all right with that um with our next scheduled board event meeting will be Tuesday September 12th here in the conference room as a reminder to those who seem to have trouble finding things our all our agendas are posted with the town clerk we meet the second and fourth Tuesday of every month and their exhibits attached to

107the agenda so that information should be ready about is readily available on the websites um Just for future reference um I would take on motion Cruiser all in favor thank you thank you thank you