Somers BOE Meeting - June 23, 2025

001[Music] I'm doing Nice sun. Stay out of the sun. [Music] Good evening. Welcome to the summer's board of education meeting. It is Monday, June 23rd. Tonight we have seven of our nine board members present at the table. Kim Ratawitz is on her way to Minnesota as we speak. Her flight leaving at 7:00 for a soccer tournament. So we wish her safe travels. And JT Galloway uh will be I think calling in from the Cape. He's also on family vacation. Uh if you haven't done so, we would ask that you sign in on the sheet on the table in the hall. You can do it as you leave if you did not do it when you came in. We did leave out extra agendas on the table. Our regular board of education meetings like this are

002broadcast live and they're also recorded. So, if you have any friends that were not able to come tonight and they want to watch the meeting, they can watch it um at their convenience and the directions for that are on our website. The board of education meeting is a meeting held in public but it is not a public meeting. We have an agenda to follow and there is time on the agenda under item number 11 for public comment during audience to citizens staff and students. And when we get to that item, I will explain the guidelines that we have in our board policy. So with that, I'm going to call the meeting to order at 7:01. And please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I alian to the flag of the United States of America and

003to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. The first item we have uh item number three, approval amendments for our meeting on June 9th. And we'll need a motion from Jan and a second from Carl. There's a crowd out there. They can barely hear you hear you at all. Tell them to come in. Where? Standing or lonely. It's okay. Excuse me, Jack. The reason we need to have the meeting here is because we were on live stream. Okay. And this is the only Oh, no. I'm not suggesting you change it. I'm just saying if you speak up a little louder. Can people come and stand against the wall behind you, right? They can stand up to the door. We have a microphone. She

004have a microphone. That's a cool microphone. You have a microphone handic [Music] over here. Over there. [Music] There's some room over in front of the screen on the on the uh your right hand side here. If people want to come and stand, I'll give up my seat. tomorrow. [Music] We're not using the screen at all tonight. So, you can stand there on camera. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. Anybody else want to come in? More room over here. More room on that side. All right, we all set. So, just to back up, if you weren't able to hear me out in the hall, um we have our agenda that we're going to go through. Item number 11 is there'll be time for public comment and when we get to that we'll explain those guidelines

005that will need it to be followed. So right now we're just approving our minutes. So we have a motion on the floor. We have and a second. So any additions or corrections? All those in favor. All right. So that's unanimous. Next item is administrative reports and I'll turn over to Dr. Galloway. Thank you and good evening. Uh the last board meeting was on June 9th and that week we had several noteworthy events. The NBA promotion ceremony was on the 11th on the turf and the weather did cooperate. In my conversations with students before the ceremony, I know that they are excited to start the high school in the fall. The fifth grade farewell ceremony was on June 12th. The seniors did their customary walkthrough of the campus and walked through a time machine at the

006elementary school showing kindergarteners going in one end and seniors coming out the other end. That is posted on our Instagram page. And the high school graduation was on June 12th. I think they did a fabulous job. I know the students are ready to make the transition to the next stage of their lives. In this last board meeting, I want to just uh talk about some of the notable accomplishments at SCES. Their biggest news this year was the announcement that they are the Connecticut Association's Elementary School of the Year. This is a small town, just over 12,500 people in populace, and they won that award competing against much larger towns and municipalities. I do want to congratulate the staff and families at SCES. That was staff, students, and families rallying to support SCES. At NBA, as

007you may know, they were awarded the middle school of the year last year, which is a testament to their hard work, the hard work of staff, families, and students as well. Also, they undertook several fundraising activities, all for a good cause. They raised money for research for childhood cancer and they also raised money for individuals with disabilities. I do want to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Ken McCarthy who was voted to be the summer's teacher of the year. This is a well-deserved honor for him. And you need to know also that he will be inducted into the National Lacrosse Coaches Hall of Fame this October. So, we're fortunate to have Ken At the high school, the staff engaged in a thoughtful process to update the school schedule. They're moving away from the strive schedule.

008So now a Monday is a Monday and a Tuesday is a Tuesday. So that is a huge undertaking to shift uh a high school schedule and I think it will work out better for the students. And that concludes my update. Okay. All right. Did you have anything on the staff changes for next year? No. Okay. Aren't opportunity to add and delete agenda items? I'd like to ask if you guys can consider moving number 11 next, which is customary. We're going to continue with our agenda. It's it's not a long agenda. Okay. All right. We'll move on to uh consent agenda. Take a motion. Shane, a second from Mike. All right. Any questions on the consent agenda? All those in favor? Unanimous. All right. Old business. Second posting for the math program for K through 8

009for the 2526 school year. We discussed this at the last meeting. So, we'll ask for a motion for approval for that program from Jan and a second from Ed. All right. Any further discussion on the Eureka Math 2 curriculum? At the last meeting, I had just asked about the key points and I just wanted a refresher um on the key points of why we chose this program versus any others that may have been out there and why why now maybe Jan or Oh, I'm behind you, Carl. Sorry. Yep. Tim and Lynn are here, too. I'll I'll usher them in. I don't think you guys are here on the left. We We were We spoke a little bit to it, but um I don't know. They're they're not going to be able to hear. You have

010a second a little if you want if if you and want to add a little bit about why we ended up with this program versus another program. Um first we felt that it aligned to the goals our math goals for our district. We felt that um we wanted something that had strong fluency to build the fluency skills of the students. Um we felt that it was something that the teachers really like they enjoyed doing it. that they felt that the kids were learning way more than few uh programs from before. Um we also felt that it was strong um tied aligned to the go open model CT curriculum for the state of Connecticut. Um we visited several other districts and and you know who had high test scores, one of being Coventry um and they've

011been using it for several years. So you want to add I was going to also add to we asked the teachers about usability. So any program that we were going to pilot, we knew was a solid program and it came down to the teachers ability to use the program because if it's difficult for them to use and to implement, they wouldn't do it with fidelity. The teachers felt that this was a program that was easier for them to implement. Um we're getting both the hard copies of the teachers edition and digital um materials and then student workbooks as well was a highlight of the program as far as the materials that it came with. We also had teachers that we had, you know, at least two people from each grade level that piloted and then

012they spoke so highly of it. It then brought additional teachers to pilot. So everyone in grade two piloted, everyone in grade five piloted, for example. So they really enjoyed the program. I would summarize just by saying it seemed to be a best fit for us. Is there a complaint that that links to the the questions for the SBA that the repetition? Yeah, we talked about that too. Yeah. And the type of questions, the question style, the the answer or the question framework is is tied with that. So, it has um has module assessments, it has topic quizzes, it has exit tickets for every single lesson, and then each lesson starts with a um called an RDW problem, a redraw, right? Where it gets the students building. So it's a spiral program. So the students are

013seeing things throughout the entire year that spirals. It also includes something called equip. So it has questions that are similar to askbox type questions. And I think I asked about goals and I know that's up to to the team but I think if we're investing and we're getting a new product, it's nice to know if we're winning or losing or if we took the uh baseline of where we are today, hopefully add some goals as to where we can improve with the program implementation. Yeah, makes sense. I had one more question, but it's a long night. I think I'll let it Oh, implementation. Yeah. So, part of why we um added the agenda item at the last meeting is so that we could vote on it for this meeting because the new budget will go

014live July 1. We have a meeting Thursday with the rep, get the program purchased and then um we're implementing it start the school year. Okay, that's all my questions. Thank you. Thanks. Y All right, other questions. Yeah, just the expenses on this. How long is that contract for? When would we need to renew? Is it a two threeear contract? Yeah, it's threeear contract at that time. So that dollar amount, would that have to repeat again or would it be less just because Well, I think part of the reason we did three years is that it would cover us for all the materials and then we can reevaluate. I don't necessarily know if we're going to want all the workbooks 3 years from now or if we're going to need the equipped digital component. So, we'll

015revisit that again. Um, I could see us doing one year annually after that to kind of see where we're at after 3 years of of implementation. Thank you. Yep. Okay. Ready to vote? All right. All those in favor of the Eureka 2 math curriculum. All right, that's unanimous. All right, new business. July 4th board of ed meeting. Do you want to mention cancelling that? Sure. The there is no actionable um information or decision making that would take place in July. So I'll just recommend that um that would be cancelled July 14th. Okay. We have done this in the past, not last year but several years ago that there wasn't anything that could not wait till August. If something comes up, then we call a special meeting. Makes it easier for everyone's vacation plans. So, we

016will need a motion to cancel that meeting from Ed and a second from Derek. Any discussion? All those in favor of cancelling the meeting? Okay. Committee reports, curriculum. uh next meeting in September the 8th 5:30 p.m. policy we met tonight. Uh we'll have some policies to post at our August meeting and our next meeting will be the fourth Monday in August at 6:00 p.m. Planning and Finance. Kim is not here. Sour negotiations call. No, we're on hold. No meetings planned. Okay. Building committee. I attended the building committee meeting and the building committee is basically needs to kind of reset and go back and figure out whether they're going to change the scope of the HVAC project, whether they're going to rebid the project. So, we got to go backwards a little bit and regroup. The

017next meeting will be on June 30th. Um, Kate, correct? State Department of Ed. Um, no report. Um Shane SCF report. Yeah, they're uh pulling up right now. Dr. Salva committed to an annual meeting. I believe it's in August and July. Is it July? Yeah, there was a few days between July and August. And it looks like Dr. Sal will be hosting that annual meeting himself. And um once I have more details, I can post it. Okay. All right. Item number 11, audience to citizens, staff and students. So our board policy on conduct at meetings allows up to 20 minutes for audience to citizen, staff or students. The board policy also indicates that an individual may speak for up to three minutes. We would like before you speak to please state your name and address and

018if you want to speak a second time you will need to wait until others have had their chance to speak. The policy just so you understand the policy also includes we will not discuss any personnel issues. So you are open to make comments that you would like. All right. So if um I think that understands the guidelines. Yes, sir. Yeah. Ben Camarado resident. We all know why we're here. Like to talk about Jim McY. Um I heard the same question the past week, which is why would you get rid of someone like Jim McI after 30 years? Jim was a steward to thousands of students, teachers, and parents that raved about his professionalism and generosity. And I know this because countless people over the years came to me unprovoked to tell me how much he

019helped. And as we know, he worked far more hours than anyone who takes his place will be willing to. He was a lifeline at any time of day or night for hundreds of people in this town, both staff and parent volunteers. Case in point, he was on campus until 1000 p.m. the night before he was terminated. I'm not here to understand the why of this shocking decision. It's the way it was handled. Many things should have happened that didn't. Although it may not be required, the board of ed should have been notified about this situation considering his track record. Multiple board members have expressed this to me in private. I also know chair an Kirkpatre was aware of this beforehand. Is it not her responsibility to notify her own team members? Determination should have happened

020before school ended. Jim should have been honored by the schools in a formal ceremony because he deserved the standing ovations after 30 years and the town deserved the opportunity to say thank you. Instead, he was terminated the day after, in my opinion, to minimize backlash. Even if you were only looking out for your own self-interest, the first thing you should have done is communicate with Jim a transition plan if you really wanted to get rid of him because his institutional knowledge alone would have been invaluable to pass along to those who rely on him daily, weekends included. And instead of being spiteful with this wrongful termination, Jim would have agreed. We all know that. Because he cares about this school system on a level that no one else here can even fathom. and because he's

021a decent and kind human being. Now ask yourself why none of these steps were taken. I'm demanding the board do the right thing and call a special meeting this summer if you replace the one you just canled to discuss a graceful exit with a package that is consistent with his 30 years of dedicated, generous, loyal, and unrelenting service. And also ask the necessary questions of the superintendent to better understand how and why this happened. Until then, the pressure is going to remain constant. Excuse me. This is JT Galloway just breaking away from family vacation. Jay JT, we're in the middle of the audience for citizens. JT, I'll send you the speech. I've been told this week by various people that the budget can accommodate this. And I'm aware of longtime employees who have left the

022school system and been paid and given healthc care benefits. As a side note, I personally know staff that have been told by superiors that they shouldn't show up to this meeting tonight. Imagine living in fear of being present at a board of ed meeting when you work at that very school system. What type of environment are we cultivating here? Sam, I went to all three graduations and you spoke so eloquently about how Summers is a true community and we're a treat and I believed you. But do you believe you? Because if you ask anyone, one of our roots is Jim McI. And he ripped it out with zero regard for him personally or the community at large. And to me, that's nothing less than a failure of leadership. You can't tell the story of Summers

023the past 30 years without Jim. and we won't let you write him off as if his impact was an absolutely critical to our town. Thank you. John, thank you. And uh my name is Jack O'Brien. Live on Michelle Drive in uh Summers. Uh I'm used to speaking at these meetings, but not not from this side of the table. I have I merely have two simple questions. I'm sure the superintendent was operating within the full scope of his authority. But as a neighbor and friend of Jim McFat for close to 50 years, I would like to note two things. I was told that the reason he was let go was they're going in a different direction. I would like to know what that different connect that different direction consists of and I would also know how

024it differs from the from the direction we've been going in for so many years. Thank you. Thanks. Jeene Danu and Hillrest. I live in corporate America. This happens in corporate America. We lay on people. We don't care that they've lived there, worked there for 30 years. Like in the 80s, you worked at a company and you were going to be there forever. I'm blessed. I'm still at the company, but I have friends who just got laid off. This is the town of Summers. Tell the man two months in advance. This is the direction we're taking. We want to give you a a cake and we want to have celebrate your 30 years because we appreciate it. They don't do that in corporate America. They cut you to the core. They say you're doing something great

025during the day and in the afternoon all that great work you do in the morning doesn't even matter. It matters in this town. And that is why all these people are here. [Applause] Bob Chester, I would like to just touch on what um Ben had said. You know, I'm just my whole thing is on how the board operates and how important I have several kids in this school system and it's a great school system. I love this school system. I love all the teachers. I our our board of ed is vital. I'm concerned by the level of highlevel things like this that are occurring where the board is being kept out of a lot of big decisions and the decisions are being made by the chair and the superintendent. You know that's showing to me

026and that's all I got. Thanks. Yes sir. by name. I don't need to introduce myself because this here should be happening on the green outside in honor of a great man who has contributed to all of those values that you all sit behind today. and that we sit here and we talk about all the accomplishments that this school system has gone through in the past 5, 10, 20 years that we all claim are because of the great people that work within our institution and that is the case. Sam, we appointed you through the guidance of someone I have a very fond respect for in Paul Galadouchi. That gentleman I'm sure has been consulting with you throughout this and I would be very shocked if the direction of Paul Gaggaladuchcci was to go through these motions

027with a with a man of James McI stature within this town within this school system to terminate him the way that it was done. I've terminated people. I quite frankly haven't terminated someone with that much disregard that has zero skeletons in his closet that has a line out this door of people that respect him. And we respect him because the one thing that Jim Mcede always provided to anyone, no matter whether he liked someone, didn't like someone, or was indifferent, he would go the extra mile to support them. Absolutely. opinions aside, [Applause] it's disheartening on the heels of all the great things that you have done as a superintendent for this to be the one thing that might be the critical impact of your career here at the summer school system. And I say that

028with the utmost respect to you because you're all stewards of this community for our children and you guys get all the recognition when things go well. But this is a failed decision, Sam, on your behalf. No matter how it came to your desk, you're a man of honor. I know your background. West Point, law enforcement, Marines, we all thank you for those services. Jim McFee's a fellow Marine. He walks this campus with pride. The way that that was done was dirty. Sam, deserves another look. There shouldn't be a special meeting. This one should have be should have been cancelled. Jim McIT deserves a parade in this town. Starting with this line of people that goes out that door. We're all taking time away from our families. A lot of these people have their families here.

02910 more seconds. Give me 20. Five. I'm going to go five free minutes. mine. I'll conclude with this. The next meeting needs to be of substance in a clear direction of what we are doing with this situation in town. It's not going to disappear. It will not disappear. And the people in this room are speaking volumes by just being here and taking time away from their families on a summer night after we just celebrated all of these accomplishments of the kids going from fifth grade to middle school, 8th grade to high school, high school to college. This town is better than that decision that was made and I expect it to be corrected, I think, as well as everyone else in this room. Okay. Thank you. I wasn't going to speak, but I have to.

030Um, this isn't about me, but just some background. I'm a licensed building official. I have a degree in facilities management. I've managed over 200 facilities across the country. I sat on this board for 12 years. Um, I've been in the HBAC industry for 35 years. And all 12 years I was on this board, they kicked the can down the road for HVAC upgrades because we didn't have the money. We finally have the money and it's phenomenal because there are great needs for this school. There are a ton of studies and research that show the direct correlation between two degrees up or down from set point of what a comfortable room is supposed to be and the negative impact it has on your test scores and on the teachers capabilities to teach and I'd be happy

031to send them to you if you'd like them without a problem. Indoor air quality is hugely important. Now, nobody cared when I was trying to talk about it for 12 years until COVID hit and then the whole world cared, right? Um, my concern, which hasn't been brought up yet, is this $15 million HVAC project, which you guys are about to go endeavor on, and you have just gotten rid of your entire 30 years of history of these buildings. This is your largest asset in the town of Summers are these buildings. Jim had that tribal knowledge. Jim knows exactly what equipment has been upgraded, what hasn't, what building automation systems we have and don't have, what sensors you have and don't have. And I want to know who's going to fill his shoes during this project.

032Does anyone on the committee have an actual background in HBC? Anyone? That's all I got to say. [Applause] Tim, my name is Tim Keaney, 57 Maple Street, Summersville. I speak for the board of selectmen. I am I am the first selectman. I think the board supports everything I'm going to say. I think first of all we think of Jim McY as an outstanding person and as was stated by Ben Camarada the lifeline for the school system and my fear is that one of the reasons this got started is because about 2 and 1/2 years ago Bob Schmidt and I asked Jim because he's the guy that knows more about the school system than anyone else for a tour of the elementary school because of the HVAC system that was impending and seemed to be probable

033and we wanted to know as much as we could as being members of the board of selectment about that school. So you were given a tour of the school for about 90 minutes. We went up on the roof where it was over 100° into the basement where the furnace was. We asked him many questions and he truthfully answered the questions and obviously lot a lot of the questions had to do with what's the status of the condition of this school and my fear is that it was that conversation that ignited the negative concern about Jim McFat and I think it's unfortunate. Thank you. [Applause] Yes sir. Um I'm a teacher at MBA. I've had a lot of students in here and um also couldn't recognize parents faces but I've been about 10 years at NBA

034and I didn't know what to expect coming to the meeting cuz I didn't know what was going to come but I saw something on Facebook and I felt like I should come and support community members um and also most of all support Jim um in my time at MBA I brought in some bizarre projects, bizarre questions, and he's always like a yes man. He's like, and then sometimes he's like he would investigate something like maybe I don't know, like a spigot in the NBA courtyard and he I see him with workers there and he tries to fix it and he's like, "This is trickier." Well, I think he's forgotten about it and I'm like, "Well, I can manage. I'll get a longer hose." And then like the next year he's coming in there and updating

035me about like the spigot in the courtyard which seems like pretty small. Um also when new staff members come in I know at MBA and other places they're always like wow this is so much cleaner and better um repaired and we have a problem and people come in right away and so it just seems like Jim must be at the top of all that. Um, so I just wanted to be here as a different sort of community member to make sure that people would see that side of it too. Um, to echo something you said, I just wish we had some more time to celebrate him before he goes cuz the other reason for me coming was just worry about um, Jim, like how's he doing? I know he has really good support obviously here,

036but I just wanted to make sure he could feel from Steph. [Applause] My name is Bill Meyer, 42 Lance Tribe, a member of the board of selectmen. I'm also chairman of the building committee uh that was mentioned. I just say a few things. Um number one, I've known Jim literally since I was a child. Um probably five, six years old. Uh grew up with Jim, grew up with Jim's kids. um can attest to what an outstanding community member. Um his dedicated service, someone who's just universally respected. A lot of people have reached out to me. I've never heard a person say a bad thing about Jim um in probably the 40 years that I've known him. So, um I would say that first. Um second, I would say as chairman of the building committee, um

037I'm very concerned uh not to have Jim at the table. Um Jim is a key part. He's a respected member. I know he's been very key to getting this project going. Um I'm very concerned about um moving the project forward without Jim's institutional knowledge. Um and the third thing I'd say is to the board. Um I've sat through the board of education trainings. I know um board members are told literally from day one, you have very little power. There's very little you can do. Um you know, all your role is to supervise the superintendent. That's your only role. I will tell you clearly that is not true. Okay? You have a lot of authority. You have a lot of power. Um you get to pick your leader. You get to pick the superintendent. You evaluate

038the superintendent. All very powerful. You just determine policy. You determine the budget. And by statute, you have the authority to hire and dismiss employees. In fact, I think you just voted on that policy tonight during the consent agenda. Um there's steps the board can take. The board could choose a person to form a personnel committee. The board could form facilities committees. Um there's a whole menu and I'd be happy to discuss it individually with board members. Um of steps and actions that this board can take um again I'd be happy to discuss. So the final thing I'll um you also have the power to wave the world and extend public comment if you choose tonight if we were out of time. So just keep that in the back of your mind as well. So thank

039you very much. [Applause] [Music] I would like to say I think Sharon Goule 39 Silva Road my father is Jim on behalf of my family I just want to say that Dr. Galloway, you have done so many amazing things in your time here. This is our family is not here to I mean, thank you all. I mean, oh my god, this is this is who my father was. No one's out for jobs or anything. Um, I think this will have an impact on you as well because when you're in a position like this, I this is hard, right? Um, but we can all do better. Um, I just want to celebrate my father and he started in this position. Uh, right after I just started college, uh, Dr. Paul Gageruchi hired him. We were so

040grateful. He really, he wasn't just a dad to us. He was a dad to the whole community, a grandfather, not just to our grandchildren, the 21 grandchildren that are here, but to all the kids in this whole district. I just want to celebrate that and I don't know if that's a final moment if anybody else has anything to say but I think as his oldest daughter um oldest child um that that needs to be said but we're the the family is here I mean we have God we're we we know we're going to my dad he is not out to get anybody there's no vengeance none of that but to do the right thing and I think that's being really portrayed here in this community tonight about doing the right Mrs. Kurpatre, I have known

041you since I've been a child. I'm very disappointed in your role in this. However, I will say many blessings. Thank you. [Applause] I don't know if anyone else wants to speak, but I do have one more comment. I do. Okay. Um, I wasn't going to talk and I'm not going to talk to you as a guy. Sorry. Um, I worked in summers for most of my career. I'm a teacher and I know how the schools work. I know how these operate. I know. Can you just introduce yourself? Oh, I'm sorry. Amy Avery. Sorry. Um, I know how things work. I know how hard the staff here works. And I um went to all the budget meetings this year for the first time as a mom. I really had a hard time supporting the budget. I

042struggled with it. It was big. Um, and the thing that really convinced me to vote for the budget, which I did do, was that there wasn't going to be a cut of staff. I voted for keeping services and teachers and staff in place and I feel like I got sued. So, I will not be voting against my dad again. And I think the board needs to know that this decision has caused um disrupt in the community. [Applause] almost there. I you know try to be quiet but I can't. My name's Caroline Corronicville Terrace. My son's out of the school system. He was there for 13 years and I've known Jim a awfully long time. I know his family. It's a wonderful family and Jim was is a wonderful man. I was on many committees in

043this town at the high school. Jim was always there to help us at the lacrosse at soccer and oh gosh and uh Jim was always there and I think it's very disappointing to see how that man was let go of everything he's done. And I know people on some of the committees because I was on all of them and they feel the same way. So, I am very disappointed in how this went down and I hope some changes happen. [Applause] Okay, that that has been our 20 minutes for comments. Let's allow to make a motion to be extended. I think that everyone that wants to talk should be heard. Okay. So, we can extend it for another 20 minutes with a with a vote. So, if we have a second to Mike's motion, can we

044can we have everybody speak? I can. They should all be able to speak at Well, we'll do 20 minutes. See how that goes. All right. So, we'll extend for another 20 minutes. Fine. All right. All those in favor of extending another 20 minutes. All right. Okay. Yes. Linda. Yes. My name is Lady Lind. I know many of the people in this room, especially the MCIT family. My best friend is Kathleen O'Hare Mete Benoir. She started from her head O'Hare to her feet. Mix feet. And that's a joke. But anyway, she's 90 years old and she was the one responsible for this wonderful audience that has taken place tonight because she raised an amazing son, her eldest son, James McI. The battle isn't against good and evil. The battle is against good and nothing. Just show

045up. And everyone showed up tonight. Not everyone in this town. So I believe as one Ben Camarada said that this is not going to be the end. I agree with Caroline dear friend and uh we've worked together on many uh fun things uh and Sarah and a lot of you folks in this room. Uh the long and the short of it is the disrespect that you folks decided to do. Corporate America. Yes. Out you go. And they escort you with your little box in your office. Well, James Mc probably didn't have a little box. He probably had everything he needed in his truck. I don't think Pope gave him a truck to even drive around with. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. But the long and the short of it is you folks are rude,

046crude, and indifferent to treat a man of such well-renowned respect, honor. He had seven of his own babies. They many of them have seven. They all went to the school system. It is just bizarre to me that you would just kick him to the curb without even a twoe notice. But he should have got a 2-year notice. He should have got a 2-year notice cuz with this project coming up and you just hire any schmo that doesn't know this this history, the tribe that has created this beautiful community, shame on you. I don't do anything without consulting authorities, without consulting people that have more wisdom than I have because it's fully to do something like this. To have a man of this stature, of this experience, a builder, a a fixer, a grandpa. He was

047a grandpa to many people, many offspring in this room who may not have a mother or father at home, but they went to James MC. So, you know, folks, if you don't do the right thing tonight or whenever you have your little secret conclave, shame on you. And thank you, sir, for extending my time. The moment I stood up, that's when Mrs. Kirkpatrick said, "Oh, time is up." I wonder why. I might have a Boston accent, but I have a southern personality and I have great hospitality. And when it comes to doing the right thing, I'm standing up for righteousness. Thank you very much. Now, Sarah, you can speak if you want. There's nobody else who's going to take the floor. Um, I actually just want to kind of stand up for a minute for

048you board members that some of you are new and haven't been on here that long. I've been in your shoes when we've been kind of ambushed and accused of things that we had no knowledge of prior to. Maybe you did, maybe you didn't. I've heard tonight that you were not involved whatsoever in this decision. So, in that if that is truly the case, I just want to say thank you for listening to us tonight. Um, what I would say to you is, you know, talk to Bill, talk to legal counsel, find out what options you may or may not have in this regard. But you, as far as I can see, no one's told us differently yet, have nobody managing your most expensive asset in the town of Summers, which is your school. You have

049nobody with the tribal knowledge that he had for 30 years that's about to take on a $15 million project. I'd be very concerned about that. that could cause havoc in all of your schools if you don't have the right systems in place and heating and air conditioning and so forth. You cannot have your schools there, right? You lost a boiler in the middle of the winter, which I said was going to happen, but whatever. Um, and had to rent one, which is really expensive, and that's what you don't want to do. That's being reactive and not proactive, right? So, I would look at what options you may or may not have. I understand sometimes you're limited with what you can do, but at least research it and find out if there's anything you can do

050to put preferably Mr. McY, but somebody in that role. You can't just have nobody. That's all I have to say. [Applause] I got two comments. Somebody that couldn't be here and then I'll speak for myself. I'm going to put my Kevin Riley hat on. All right. One of your neighbors. My name is Kevin Riley on 9inth District Road in some 17 Ninth District Road in Summers, Connecticut. The budding neighbor to the Summer School System Complex. We share approximately 500 ft. Since Since I've owned that property for the last eight years or so, I have taken great pride in returning it to what it once was back in the day. After I had cleared the property, the town was kind enough to put up a black chain fence with a gate in the middle. Between that

051black gate and the telephone poles, most of that is a majority of land that belongs to the town of Summers. Although the town has not maintained that for any number of reasons that I do not know, I find it important that I look prop look over that piece properly. And it has come to my attention that Jimmy McFat's job is in jeopardy. The ironic part of this situation is I tend to that land and tend to the fence because of the great relationship I have and have had with Jim McFeet for many years. Jim McY notices the work I do which is substantial on that piece but he also does something that most of you have forgotten about and says thank you going in a different direction is not the correct answer to this question.

052We're a small community and we care for one another as we should. My question would be to you is what type of example are you setting for all those children that have seen Jim and over many years Jim and I over many years respect. Sorry, hold on. That have seen Jim over many years in regards to his loyalty and respect. Usually these end up somewhere down the line being co cases of nepotism and unacceptable. I would be here there. I would feed there myself, but I have had a hip surgery this morning at Harford Hospital. I can only imagine I look pretty good, right? I can only imagine a crowd of people that are there to be supportive for Jim and rightly so. I hope you consider steering yourself back in the right direction. That's

053Kevin. [Applause] You look better than Kevin. Don't tell my son. And I'll speak for myself. Frank Emmy Anthony, 100 Maple Street, Summers, Connecticut. You ever been to a board of ed meeting? Happy to be here. Just a couple things. First of all, I would encourage no everybody to say something. Nobody should leave here or allow any part of this meeting to continue without being heard. The reason why you showed up, I don't like to speak in public either. Take 30 seconds, take up these people's time, let them know how important it is so that they cannot act on anything else until they do give people an answer on what happened with Jim McPe and then encourage them to write the course because I'll say something running a fairly large organization like a school system is

054that once you lose the trust of your people and the soul of your people, you've lost parts of everybody in your organization. And I think what you're seeing tonight is an indication of the beginning or the tip of the iceberg losing the trust of the rest of the organization. However, we all make some mistakes and if we could all be self-reflective, none of us are infallible. If we could own our mistakes, obviously this is a misjudgment in who we are as a community. I believe that as a community that is this strong, we have the ability to forgive as well. So, if you can reassess your decision here, I'm sure Jim would be reasonable and I think we would all be grateful if you could be the bigger people, own a mistake and make it

055right. So, that's what I leave you with today. Gain our trust back, gain the souls and heart of your organization back. Thank you. Dave Marty, 50 Springfield Road. Um, I just have to share with you guys that um just I was just simply shocked because I have the highest regard for both DA and superintendent and uh I I said that can't be I I can't fathom that. So I, you know, I don't know, I don't know what was behind it, but uh I'm with the folks the folks that are in this room that say it really needs to be looked at again. [Applause] Jim, thank you uh Superintendent Galloway and Chair Patrick. My name is Jim Burrell. I'm an employee at the board of education. I've been a substitute teacher in all the schools here

056for a little over six years. But I've known Jim McI for 30 years when I first moved to summers through the Knights of Columbus. And then I, you know, worked with him closely at the school. And one thing Jim never did was say no. Anything you needed, he would be there for you. And I heard a lot of things about the corporate world. You know, I worked in the um second largest employer, Massachusetts, for 25 years. And I don't disagree with some of those things. Big corporations are heartless. They'll let you go. But they will not, you know, cut their nose to spite their face. If you're a wealth of knowledge, they're not going to let this person go without a contingency plan. Now, I know this whole HVAC thing is we've spent millions of

057dollars if I'm correct. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I haven't seen anything happen yet except study it and we're still spending all this money. You've got this vast knowledge base with Jim McI and I don't think the project will be as successful without him unless you add a contingency to someone else to fill his shoes. So, if you're not willing to reconsider, I would at least implore you to consider talking to Jim like they do in the corporate world. I was laid off a couple times. I went back to the same company as a consultant. I was laid off twice. The first time I was laid off, I stayed till 11:00 at night to get things in order for my co-workers because I cared about the company even though they didn't care too much

058about me and I cared about the people I worked with. Second time I got laid off, it was the same thing, but they gave this time they gave me a year's notice because they were building a new building in South Carolina and it took them two years. So they gave me a a year's advanced notice and when they still weren't ready, they said, "Can you stay?" And I said, "Sure." Because I cared about the people I worked with and I wanted, you know, the projects to be a success. So, please consider at least offering him, you know, a paid consultancy until this project is finished because I think you really need him. Beautiful. Thank you. Yes. Hi, my name is John Tab. I've been a resident for 40 years plus. And um our kids grew

059up with uh my family and uh and owned owners for pretty much the whole time in the town. Um I was like other folks have said very shocked when I heard the news um because I I just knew Jim as a good person and being um always involved whether he was on the job or not. He was always in at the school looking after things and uh just a a very uh wonderful person that uh I just feel that he was treated poorly in his decision um and how it was handled I [Applause] Yes. Hi, I'm Eric Steing. I live on Eagle Brook Drive. Um I wasn't going to speak either, but this sometimes I have to. Um, number one, I just want to say how this is this was shocking and disappointing on a

060personal level. Um, I've known MC for a long time. Um, but it's also shocking and disappointing for just our district in general. I know firsthand that Dr. Galloway was hired to do great things in this district and I know that he's done a lot of great things in this district and I appreciate that and I respect that. But it is not always just about checking the boxes and gaining awards and saying, "Oh, we have higher test scores and oh, those are great things." It's also about how you treat your people and how you recognize the assets that you have in your hands and working with these people so that the district is also what it's supposed to be on the human side. And so when I when I told my kids about this, they basically

061screamed. They said, "How could that happen? He's so great." And I think every kid in this district are is probably going to say that same thing, too. And I felt that way, too, on a personal level. But then on, you know, the more professional level, I thought, what is this district going to do without Jim McDe? And so this needs to be remedied. And you also need to look at this as yes, you're here to do great things, Dr. Galloway, and thank you for doing that, but it's not about checking just checking the boxes and saying, "Oh, we have all these accolades." Please also take that great mindset and apply it to your people, too. Thank you. [Applause] I just want to say something. My name is Tina. I live on Springfield Grove and I

062can speak on behalf of my husband went to West Point as well and he taught our family and he taught us most importantly treat others the way that you want to be treated. So I think that you know like that should kind of go into play but that's all I want to say. [Applause] I want you to forgive me. You get more bees with honey than you do vinegar. So Jim, thank you. And um Amy, I was so struck by what you said about distress. Excuse me. Yes. I think when I explained the guidelines, you can't speak until other people are done, right? I didn't see anyone's hand raised. There are still other people that want to speak. Is my student going to speak? Yes. Go ahead. Hello, I'm DJ. Um, I never thought in

063a million years I would be speaking right now, but honestly, like my grandfather deserves it. Like all 21 of us brain like I want to like throw up thinking about this. Like I'm sitting here wanting to pass out because of it does not deserve it. And Monday after this all happened, I was went to breakfast with him at my mom's house and left and right, he's getting text, oh Jim McPe, can you please do this? Like people just asking for a favor and just seeing him not be able to do that. I wanted to cry for him. I just think for this happened, you have to make decisions in life. We all get that. But he should have been celebrated. That's all I think other [Applause] [Music] May I uh I'm R.J. Lelay. I'm a

064student here at Sen High School and I would just like to recognize my grandfather who ever since we stepped into grade school. He always helped us find our classrooms. He would take all of all these grandkids, take us to every individual classroom and help us and make sure that we're always taken care of for when the school needed to be started. He also I moved into his house with my family, first grade, and he would always if I'm just doing nothing around the house, he always go, "Hey, let's go to the school. Let's go to the school." We'd end up being there for like four or three hours, but it was so worth it for how excited he was to always go to the school and just work on things. So, I just wish he

065would be better taken care of. [Applause] Just to piggy back that I'm Michelle. [Laughter] Um, just to take back R.J., he was he is great to all his grandkids, but with my kids being in the school system as well, and now they're far gone out of the system, but he was there for them. He is there for all of them. Not just the staff, not just the people in this community, but all those kids. They felt comfortable going to him. There was never anybody turned away. He was always greeting them with a smile. It really is a shame to think that this man, a loyal man, has been treated the way he has. It breaks my heart and I ask that it's been considered [Applause] Sean Curtis, Lovers Lane in Summers. um fairly new to

066town. Um there are two issues here. One is writing a wrong for Jim McFee. The other is to understand this doesn't pass a smith a sniff. Um been in corporate America for a long time. Age discrimination. Gentling's never been written up. No cause. Obviously, you guys have done quite well by replacing it with someone older than that. So, kid takes things out of court. The fact that this board wasn't informed and that it was a decision, Sam, I'm sorry. I I don't believe Sam acted alone in this. Mr. Katrick, we haven't met before. I'm sorry. This is our first the circumstance in which we're meeting. But the fact that this board and I sat on a board of education and if this had ever happened in the town that I belong to where I served

067and this and and I appreciate Bill's comments before a lot of questions folks about how this was handled and what the actual cause was the fact that uh Jim was, you know, not going to be considered for the board weeks ahead of his termination. I think there's a lot of questions to be answered, but more importantly, which I appreciate from the family, it's, you know, there's forgiveness, which I can sense in this room. There's a wrong that should be writed, but there should also be another discussion about how this went down and how this board is operating and where the power is. There should be a lot of questions. This election's coming up in November, and I hope a lot of people think hard about this. Um, and so I I hope what can be

068done in the meantime is to celebrate Jim and do him right, but also for this town and for this school district. Um, that we look to this vision, this mission, and these values. We make sure that this board is operating uh with those. Thank you. [Applause] Um, I'm Elizabeth Grand. Um, I am one of the granddaughters of Tim and um, just to piggy back off my top shell. Um, I just think he needed to be celebrated more. He didn't get the goodbye that he deserved. Um, I one of my memories from elementary school, believe it or not, I was in kindergarten and I was in Mrs. Constant's class walking down the hallway. My popup is walking down the hallway. Mrs. Constant looks towards all of her students. Everyone, Mrs. Popa, this is him. And that's

069Papa. So throughout elementary school, middle school, high school, everyone knew him as Papa. I just says a lot. No, it does. It says a lot. He was He was just I He was a popup to everyone. Like I don't know. I don't know. And like anytime people would see him walking down the hallway, pop up, it's pop off. Elizabeth, it's Papa going and give hugs. And he was just he went out of his way to do anything and everything he could for someone else. And I just think that shows the type of person he is. [Applause] My name is Brian Cassidy. I live on Miller Drive. Um, I think the thing that we're all hearing tonight is that Jim Mish was accountable to everybody for a very long time and not in front but behind

070the scenes and made everything run very smoothly. Um, and I think accountability is a word that doesn't get used quite enough whether or not what happened for the initial decision someone needs to be held accountable for. We also can be accountable to updating and amending so that something like this doesn't happen again. So, I think it's important to recognize what went happened and I don't think anybody more than Mr. McI would want this not to happen to anybody else and that there's things that we can do to improve as always. Thank you all too. [Applause] Mike Smith, Green Tree Lane. Um, I guess I I've had a lot of time with my kids growing up in this community between parent teacher conferences, basketball games, to walk the halls of of all of these schools. And

071on the walls everywhere are signs about how to treat people. and we teach our kids one way and maybe we're not doing the same thing on your end. So maybe we can all think about that and try to treat everybody with respect. Thank you of 15 Woodro. Um I served on this board from 94 to 2000 and Jim was just cutting his teeth in his job. um he did an exemplary job then I'm sure you did it right the day you make the mistake this is the new direction that you want to go in certainly not a direction that I [Music] [Applause] may I [Music] My name is Chris and maybe I have a little bit of a different perspective because my son is 17 years old and he worked for he worked for Mr.

072MC. Mr. McY hired him last year for the summer crew in town and again this summer. And when I say that he is an outstanding man, he reminds me of my own father. He's a wonderful human. The day after he was back, my son didn't know. And he texted, "Mr. my feet. What day do I start? At 8:30 p.m. on Saturday night, day after he was let go, he responded to my son and he told him what day he started and what building he was going to be in. So, I can assure you, I promise you, he may not be getting paid by the town of Summers, but he's still working for the town of Summers. May I [Music] I'm just I'm just waiting to see if there's someone else here, right? [Music] Main Street,

073but also a resident of uh Vision Boulevard for many years as a teacher, principal of the elementary school, and principal of the middle school. We've had three banners hanging on our building. One was elementary school of the year nationally. Recently, we've had a banner for elementary school of the year in Connecticut and also middle school of the year in Connecticut. A lot of the credit goes to the teachers and the parents who supported them. But don't forget, part of that process is examining the environment that the schools are in, the cleanliness, the grounds. That's what those people I went through that process. That's what they were looking at besides the curriculum and how the students are doing. That part of the whole program all fell on Jim McFeet. And without Jim McFee, those free banners

074would not be hanging in this wonderful school system. That's the first point. The second point is I've been down this road before about two or three years after I retired. The school board decided that they wanted to get rid of or remove because they wanted to go into a new direction. They wanted to remove the best principal Summers High School ever had. Yeah. Dan Lynch. Some of you probably remember that process. It was ugly. They also wanted to remove the athletic director for the same reason. In both removals, it was a vendetta. Mhm. I know for a fact because I saw it happen. We don't want to go down that road again. It ruined the town for a great period of time. Our high school never recovered for a long time. because we lost that

075Dan Lynch leadership. Let's not part of education is learning not to make the same mistake twice. Don't make the same mistake now by going to a new direction to remove a beloved, competent, important member of our school system. We don't know what's coming after Jim McFeet. We didn't know what was coming after Dan Lynch and we suffered for many years after that. Some of you people on the board know that for personally. I saw it as a citizen and what they did to my friend Dan Lynch and there was no reason given except it's time to go in a new direction. Way to go. Part of education is learning not to make the same mistake twice. Don't make the same mistake twice. Now, you did it back in 2007 and 2008 when you removed a

076beloved, knowledgeable, competent member of our school system. Don't make the same mistake. Now, Jim is a very, very valuable part of the school system. Don't make the other mistake again by saying we need to go in a new direction. Maybe the board needs to go in a new direction. [Applause] Hi, my name is uh Braden Doc. Um I am not a resident even of Connecticut. I'm from Massachusetts. I live right across the border summers in East Long Meadow. I'm also a member of the US Air Force and we have three core values in the Air Force. First is integrity, moral principle, treating people fairly and equally, giving them the respect they deserve. Secondly, um excellence in all we do, being excellent. And clearly Jim McY was excellent in what he did with his school system.

077Growing up in East Middle High School, our building was not great at all. It was like when it rained. We had buckets in the hallways and people would kick them over because there it was tore through the ceiling. Our lawns were not maintained. We're getting a new high school now. That took a very very long time. It was way overdue. I am dating one of the granddaughters of Jim McPe and he has welcomed me into his family and has made me feel very comfortable and he's an amazing man. My grandfather knew him, spoke very highly of him, and I think that what you are doing to Jimmy Fei is somewhat shameful, and he deserves a lot more respect and praise for what he's done for not only this community, but this school, and uh I

078think he needs to be honored in that. Thank you. May I I know I'm comic relief tonight. Laughter is medicine to the soul, but I want to apologize for not saying hello to you board members and to you Dr. Sam and Mrs. Kurt Patrick and this pretty lady here. she taught one of my sons and uh said he was a great writer and you'd be very very impressed with his future and his present situation. Um I agree with you sir. Thank you for humbling me. Uh he needs to be celebrated with dignity and I agree with the air force gentlemen all the granddaughters and everyone else that's folks. In order to demonstrate kindness to people, we have to be kind to one another, to be examples. I have many students in here. I taught faith

079formation for over 10 years for free at the church with my husband. A very rare commodity to have a husband and wife stand together and teach young people how to have faith. The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things we do not see. So, Dr. Sam, I think maybe you got maybe blindsided to make a decision as as monumental as this because maybe you didn't have all the facts. But in the word of God, it says, "My people perish for lack of knowledge." I think tonight many of the folks here have demonstrated a little bit of knowledge for you. And Mr. Tim Kenny, he is a wonderful selectman. Love him to pieces. Loves my husband. He was a um what do you call that in the Navy? Navy field. Navy field. My husband

080served for 22 years in Afghanistan and the one number one thing is trust. So Amy when you spoke about trust that and uh Frank Antinachi big big operation if you don't have trust you're lost before you begin. And thank you for letting me speak. my [Applause] anyone else that would like to speak. Yeah. Steve Terrell, Bristol Paris. So, you look around the room, you hear everybody talking. We all know than what Jim Mcde is and what he does. He built a community and he's pretty heart-wrenching. I've only known Jim for 20 years. He does deserve better than this. And if I can make any kind of righteous recommendation for the committee, get rid of the interimm guy. give Jim his job back and with a raise because he should be able to retire when he's

081ready to retire. [Applause] It's pretty amazing all the people that spoke tonight on behalf of Jim McY. I hope you're listening. You see the disappointment in this whole room year from students now, parents now, parents from the past, parents from the past, and his best friends. So, I think the board really needs to sit and think of the wrong they did to a honorable man in this town and everything he does for those kids and everything he did for the class of 2020 when they had no graduation. He helped with that parade and he worked tirelessly. So I think the board, you need to have another meeting and take back what you did because this what you guys have done is wrong. So on behalf of everyone in this room, I think a July meeting

082should happen. [Applause] Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think the board made any votes regarding Jim McI. No, it sounds like they didn't know. So again, you know, I hear what Carolyn's saying, but I think the question is do everything in your power to see what you can do to write the wrong humble pie. It's good to eat every now and then. Take back the board. Can guess Bob. Sorry. Go ahead. I just like to I like to talk, so I'm going to keep it simple. Three minutes. A lot of people in this room, a lot of people I know, a lot of people I don't know. My name is Bob Sosa, Amy Lane Summers. Been a resident of town forever. Jack was on school board with my dad. And I think Ann, you

083were on school board with my dad. The three people, I'd say four, that you can all say that were the nicest people in your lives, male or female. Jim was one of those. Oh, yeah. It's true. And what you see here today isn't people in this room. You see hearts. Everybody's hearts are connected to that man. It's true in one way or another. I was up at the school on Friday looking at some work for Jim. Jim calls me up every night now now and again and within a few hours he called me up and he says, "Bob, I've been let go. I wanted you to hear it from me first. My jaw dropped." I don't know why his reaction was, "It's in God's hands. That's how he is. That's who he always been. But

084it's the heart in this room. He's the heart of the school. I like your speech, huh? I love you guys. I'm a graduate of you, too. [Applause] Can I be heard? Keith Burger, Rose Haven Road, Summers. I can't even imagine why you wouldn't provide us a venue big enough to fit us all in. Because of that, we live streamed this meeting and this is the only venue we can. No, that's not more venues in live stream. We could have gone to town hall. But Ed Kurpatre, Sam Gallagher, I'm addressing you both not as doctor, not as chairman because respect is earned. And you two have not earned my respect. Jim McIT was in that school system until 10:30 p.m. the night before he was let go. He doesn't follow the town's 35-hour work week, Monday

085through Thursday. He gets up in the middle of the night when the fire department calls him because there's an alarm going off. I'm calling for both of you to resign. [Applause] Matthew Morland, 119 Georgewood. And as you know, the board is majority Republican. I asked at the Republican town committee meeting, how the hell do we have a Democrat as a chair for the board? The best answer I got, Republican or working people? That's all. [Applause] We all know you influence Dan. You're in the gallery's back pocket. [Applause] Is there anyone else that wants to make a comment? Yes. Be my second. But I forgot. My name is Jason Est. I'm a teacher at MBA. But I was nervous and then I didn't say all my things. [Music] But I was going to say that like

086this year, like not that long before, you know, at the end of the year, people might take other jobs and stuff like that, change jobs. And it's kind of a bummer when you worked in the school system to see them go. And I remember thinking like, oh my gosh, what if Jim goes at some point? You know, he's a grandfather to many, many people. So eventually he's going to want to retire. And I thought that is going to be a humongous blow to the school system. Um so I was already worried. Then um a custodian had mentioned to me in the hallway that this had happened and I thought there's no way. I was like he has to have the information wrong. Jim must be going on a trip or something even not going to

087be there for the summer. I thought that so much that I did not even look further into it. I was just like you must be mistaken. Um I just would mentioned to you since I am in the building in a different capacity. Um I've never heard a negative thing about gyms ever. Um only positive like super positive things. And then you guys mentioned visibility of your popup in the hallways um to you, but the same thing was on my list of things to mention that like I've worked in some capacity in like six, seven schools. I've never known a um head of maintenance or building that has been so visible. It was surprising to me. And then he's just such a good guy. Um, but watching him even come into like lunch duty when I'm

088there and then make the rounds and talk to students, I think is important cuz he's such a big part of the community in a positive way. Um, then another custodian I was talking with the different one. He was actually kind of worried as well about the change. And the thing he mentioned was if I need something late at night, I know Jim will pick up the phone and will not make me feel bad about solving this problem. And I think we I I want more of those people in, you know, like more teachers like that, more custodians like that. Um, you know, I hope I I was coming to the meeting thinking like definitely family members would probably be here. Um, so there might be a lot of emotions and I just wanted to see

089a perspective from inside the school, which of course I care about Jim, but it's a different level of emotions. I have felt supported by the board as a teacher. Um, you guys coming at the beginning of the year and talking to us and letting us know what's going on. And I've definitely felt supported by Sam. and then I'm, you know, and and the community. So, I just I don't know what the answer could possibly be. Um I think it's hard because damage gets done when things like this happen. And but there's also people like Jim can possibly step back into a role and he has such a big heart and so much forgiveness, he could probably do a great job because he cares. So, I just would my personal feeling is like get creative to

090try to maintain this good community that we have and think about Jim as a person, but also think about the really good work that he does. I don't know every aspect of his good work, but from the perspective that I have, I I'm just always been impressed and again was like worried when is he going to retire? When will we lose this person? Thank you. [Applause] Um Jim's brother in Christ with me and uh we've been friends for over 38 years. Give us your name and address. Uh yeah, I'm Jerry Lcast, the barber in town, and he's come to me many times for haircuts, and uh we we've known each other. And like I said, um he's a good friend of mine and I'm not really a public speaker, but I just had to say

091something where I had to just wonder maybe because of this happening the way it is, we can have the town put together some kind of policy of how to let people go when they have to go and um you know, establish a way of of putting it together with a package, especially a person with a high position like that to just let that person go. And you look around and you see so many people in this room right now that have high positions in this town. And god forbid, what if that happens to them, too? They can feel, you know, the pressure on their backs of uh I better be uh walking on eggshells here to make sure I don't do anything wrong. But, uh, I just want to stick up for Jim because I

092love him and, uh, and, uh, I just think that there could be something that could be done. Even if he becomes a custodian again, I don't care. Just let him have a job. That's all. [Applause] So, I think we all want to know what is the new direction. You guys sat there the whole night and didn't give us the new direction. They're not requiring. They can't answer a question. They can if they choose. Yeah. Yeah. They won't chop up. They just listen. Yeah. Then they'll do what they want. Yeah. I just want to reiterate how great a great guy he is. My name is Marko. I went over here in summer 73 and he happens to be my uh stepunner. I love him. I'm a class of 84 in summertime and we asked him went

093through the proper channels Mr. Callaway to get the whole paper from him to have Jim open up the high school which is elementary I guess now um so we can do a tour of our old high school with the phones still in there and everything like that. He was a plethora of knowledge. He knew every square inch of that building. Hey Jim, what's this? What's that? What's that? He explained everything to us and he did it on his own dime. He wasn't paid to do it. He also did for uh the year of 83 before that's where we got the idea. The 43 million. So to treat this man like this is disgusting. Absolutely 100,000% disgusting. He needs his job back. Excuse me. My name is Ed Giza. I live at Hadley Lane in Summers,

094Connecticut. I'm also past president of the Summers Rotary Club. I've been a member of the Rotary Club for over 35 years. And I'm also the guy who runs the fishing brewery for the past 25 years in the town. And just to point out about Jim, more than just the school, this man was an asset to our whole town. Uh he always came to me and said, "What can I do for you for the fishing?" He helped me with planning it. He helped me with uh coordinating things just like getting a portaott for and he knew where to go. If I had any questions on something I needed, he would help me with it. So, I want to think about I want you to think about that he means more to this town than just the

095school system. He put himself out to the community, to the Rotary Club, my fishing derby that I ran for 25 years, and he's he's just that guy who would never say no. I hope you reconsider. Thank you. Hi, I just want to say my friend here just made a very good point. I've heard from everybody um and it's obvious but from people who really know that Mr. McI know knows these schools inside and out like every single inch of these schools and she just made a good point. What if there's a threat in our school? Who's going to know our schools better than Jim McI? if we need to go in, if someone needs to go in, if the police need to go in, if the fire needs to go in, who's going to know

096all the in access points and the ins and the outs and the secret hiding places or whatever that our school or all of our schools have. And the point of that is that he is such an asset and that needs to be appreciated and that needs to be recognized. And I know and you all know I know better than some what the board can and can't do and what they know and what they don't know. But you all need I don't know how but you all need to think about and discuss as other people have that how much power is actually being held by one person. And again I mean no disrespect by that but this is a little scary like one person is able to all of a sudden just snap his fingers and

097gone after 30 years after knowing our town and our schools and our kids everyone's kids. And I mean just a pillar, an absolute killer. And that to me as a just as a parent in this town is a little bit scary that one person has that authority. And I I understand I do. I get I get it. But whatever the board can or can't do, whatever you're meeting, I know whatever. Think about it because I'm a little concerned. So there there has to be a transition period. He has such an important role and nobody else has done the job that he's done for 30 years. You can't take him out of a job on Friday and tell somebody new on Monday that they're going to take over his position and they're going to know the

098ins and the outs of everything that he's done. There needs to be a minimum of a one-year transition period. He needs a transition period. He needs we need his transition period to whoever is going to take over for him. And then he deserves the retirement that he has earned and that he's worked for. He is the epitome of what I want my son to grow up to be and act like and work like. He's a wonderful human being like I said earlier and but he's also a wealth of knowledge and he has absolutely done amazing things for every kid in this district. There's not one kid in this district who does not know who Mr. McGee is and there's not one kid in this district who does not respect him and that is rare. I

099can tell you that there he may be the only person in this town who has the kind of respect that he has from every single person that's ever met him. And we deserve to keep our community alive and thriving and going. And the only way to do that is if there is a transition period. Without a transition period, part of this town is going to go and miss. Mhm. [Applause] Jim, uh, Jim Burrell, Highland View. I just left off one point. Um, I know you can't comment on personnel. I know. I understand. Um, decades in the corporate world, but I I want everybody who hasn't been in that situation to understand when you say going in a new direction, I've been on both sides of hiring decisions. going in a new direction is code for

100we're not going to tell you why we really are firing this person. It's a vendetta. It's discrimination. It's violation of labor laws or otherwise something else that could be illegal. And I just think the community deserves to know what that new direction is. And if that can't be explained, then I think this really has to be a great [Music] All right, Papio. Uh, third, uh, generation resident in summer, Connecticut. Uh, echoing your comments, been in corporate America my entire career. Um, and the first thing companies point back to every time they talk about something is the vision and mission, right? And I think people are paramount, right? academics are critical, but you know, the culture, you don't have anything, right? To Frank's point, and the general community, uh, strategy, you know, it's irrelevant if you

101don't have the culture and people and eat for breakfast every other week. So, I think everybody should reconsider what everybody's talking about tonight. [Applause] Dram 212 Portides Road just on his point there. I don't know what you're teaching your children on that board behind you and then what's happening to Jimmy that if you guys read that board I I I don't see any dignity in what's happening here. This man has been a pinnacle of this society this this town for I've known Jimmy for 35 years. I'm a resident for 45 years and I'm just appalled at what's happening there. For him not to have the proper let go. That's what it was all about. If it's time for him to move on, it's time for him to move on to a proper to call him

102on a Friday and just let him know. That's just weekly. [Applause] I'll say something else. Hold on. Talking about business people a lot. Corporate America. Get in front of the bus. I'll talk as a as a business operator. What this room looks if nothing else. We want the positive route. This looks expensive. This decision looks expensive. But I think you need to put that in your calculus because this looks like a wellunded person. If this comes just [Applause] I I just have one more comment and I promise I won't say anything else. Um um I appreciate that somebody from the school actually came in and spoke so thank you for that. I also met someone over the weekend that I didn't know before who was a teacher and they were instructed and heavily encouraged not

103to attend tonight because of the optics and what the ramifications would be to them. So that's concerning and there would have been a lot of them here. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, that's a big concern number one. Number two, some of you may or may not be aware of a new indoor air quality law that is passed in Connecticut. There's going to be a lot of requirements. They pushed it off a little bit, but it is not going away. And the only person that was best suited to handle what that law requires in each and every school with indoor air quality, temperature, humidities, with the CO2s, and everything that they're going to be requiring is Jim McY. Who else is going to take that role and submit to the state what they need? We have no money.

104And having been a hiring manager for people in this industry, it is extremely difficult to find people with HAC experience, mechanical experience, and facilities experience. When they leave, that's a huge shoes to fill, right? Even when you know about it, even if you have a year notice to be able to transition, that is a rarity today, right? They could retire at any moment in some cases. When those people are retiring, we don't have people to fill their shoes. There are not enough people in this industry. So filling his shoes is going to be very difficult. Even if you have the best HVAC person or facilities guy, they're not going to know these buildings. And it will take them one to two years just to learn them. Good luck. [Applause] Hi everyone. I'm Heather. Um I

105mix. I am not a resident here. I'm in Stafford Springs. Um I was not going to say anything tonight. Um but something I maybe you shared that um made me think of something um with my uncle and the type of person this man is. Um you said he doesn't make you feel bad if you call in the middle of the night. I don't know who shared that yet. Um thank you. Um and it brought me back to just one moment that my uncle and his family just shined in our lives. Um when my father um died 12 years ago, unfortunately he left a financial mess and for me um sitting in the funeral home, it was anxietyprovoking. We didn't know what we were going to do. Um and my uncle Jimmy was right there with

106all of his kids backing us and not one of them made us feel bad and they were financially there and helped us support my father to rest the way he deserved. Um, and that's just one example of what this man did. And he truly, he never made you feel bad. Um, even though your pride wanted to get in the way and you wanted to, you know, be embarrassed or whatever, all the emotions going on, him and his family just backed us and had our backs. Um, and loved us through it. Um, and he was always the man, even when I was away at college, Uncle Jimmy, I've got an Alzheimer's Association run and all right, pumpkin, here's a check, you know, like he was just always there. Um, and he's just light and love. Um,

107and the way God works in our life is for some reason the day that this happened, um, my cousin Michelle was on my mind, one of his daughters, and we ended up in the same parking lot. Um, and um, you know, she shared what happened and she just looked shaken. I thought someone died to be honest when I saw her. Um, I thought someone died. I was like, "What happened?" and she show she shared and I just went into a toilet and I was like sex that can't be real like that's not real life like my jaw was just dropped and I'm not even from this town but I know what this man means to this town. I know what he does in this town and it's really just it's a shame and it's disheartening

108the way this was handled. Um and he doesn't deserve this and to speak on everyone else's point too like use his him as an asset with these huge projects that are coming up. He should be being used because eventually, yes, Jim XP is going to move on and someone is going to need to come in and you're going to want to use him as an asset to help pave the pathway for the future of the summer school system and what he can show someone else and he would do it and he would do it 120%. So, you really should rethink that when you're thinking about the vision and the mission of the summer school system going forward. That's all I have. Thank you. How you doing? My name is Paul Miy from up the street

109So Road, Jimmy's brother. I'm also Marine. Um, I'm probably the only Summer's high school dropout here. My kids graduated from summer. That mission statement wasn't on the wall when I went through these hallways. Our class was the last one where it was 7th grade through 12th in the old in the little kids building now. We called it summer's get high. So, oh my god. Well, all the laughs aside, I did get my husband diploma from Mira Costa College in California when I was in the Marines. Um, when I got out of the Marines, I worked with all four of my brothers building rack from coast to coast, 75 ft high, and it was a dangerous job. And uh, we did it safely for close to 30 years. Jimmy was around for about 20 of that.

110what I see him do on the road at different places, different times, young couples, out of money, out of gas, no place to stay, sleeping in their freaking cars. He'd get them a room. He'd fill their car up countless times I've seen that. The guy's got character. I wish I could be half the man he is, but that's uh I love my brother and he was wronged. [Applause] Isn't it amazing how many hours you've been sitting here listening on the benefits of Jim McVy? I'm just asking you up front. Think about that. [Music] Everyone should eat a slice of humble pie. Not so bad. It'll set you in the right direction. A new direction. better direction. The right direction. Um I'm Liam Grandon. I'm uh his grandson and I just want to say that he's

111done so much for his community. I mean if I meet somebody um I can mention his name and they that person knows my grandfather. Um he's made an impact on any everyone's lives especially my friends when they heard about it um they were very disappointed and very confused cuz he has every time they see him in school he'll go up to them say hi to them. uh General Capstone when they were bringing in their project, he offered to help them bring it from the student parking lot into the school so they didn't have to carry it. Uh he's just done so much for this like my friends in this community and I just can't see it end now. [Applause] [Music] All right, I think we've given everybody an opportunity that wanted to speak and so

112I think we will um end the audience to citizen section. Um we thank you for coming. I hope that you feel that we have listened and I appreciate that everybody was respectful and patient and we thank you for coming. [Music] [Applause] I know there's not that there isn't a forum for question answering but is there a forum for question answering? Like is there I think everybody deserves an answer like what happened. Is there a way to ask questions and get every email? We cannot discuss personnel issues. What about the new direction? That's I couldn't hear you. What about the new direction? The taxpayer should know about that. He said we're going in a new direction. What is it? What is that? He didn't bring it to the board. The new direction he's going. Was it

113just between the chair and the super? Not something that we will discuss with the superintendent as a group, not as a chair. [Music] We'll see the minutes posted. Excuse me. We'll see the minutes posted anytime they meet. It's public. Yeah. Our minutes are posted on the website if that's what you're asking for. sir. And this entire session has been recorded uh and it will be saved on the school website for anyone to look at. Great. Let's wrap it up one more time. Thank you for listening. I know [Music] you finished. [Music] Yeah. [Music] Yeah. So I'm I live [Music] where you remember [Music] I know I know I appreciate that you [Music] just want to say thank you [Music] Okay. [Music] Thursday,000. [Music] Now you know I'm stupid [Music] in the dark. [Music] your baby.

114[Music] Now you can cool off. All right. So, we'll take a motion to go into executive session. Um, move that the board enter into executive session and invite Dr. Galloway to complete his evaluation. All right. And a second to the motion from Mike. All right. Any discussion on the motion to go into executive session? And once we do that, I will call um JT back so he can um be included. So all those in favor, that's unanimous. So we're going into executive session at 8:51. Does everyone in the hall? Oh, but everyone has left. Yes. Okay. Okay. without that. So, we are back in open session at 10:24. Yeah. Thank you. So, JT, we're going to go ahead and make the two motions so you can vote. Yeah. Okay. All right. So, first, do we

115have a ring? Oh, okay. [Music] I move to extend Dr. Galloway's contract for one year to 2028. [Music] Okay. And a second from Mike. Any discussion? All those in favor? Okay. So that's unanimous. So we are back in public session. Okay. Second motion. All right. So, we have a second motion to make. I move to grant a 3% salary increase for superintendent of schools for the 2025 2026 school year. Okay. And a second to the motion from Jane. All right. Any discussion on the motion? All those in favor of the motion? I. Okay. That's also unanimous. All right. And then we will take a motion to adjurnn from Jan and a second. Second from Shane. All those in favor of adjourning the meeting. All right. That passed unanimously. So the meeting will be adjourned at

11610:25. [Music] All right. [Applause] So, we're off.