Board of Education Meeting - 3/12/2026

001Welcome everybody. I call this March 12th, 2026 Stonington Board of Education regular meeting to order. Uh Dan Kelly, could you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please? >> Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Very early in our meeting tonight, we are having a board presentation, hence the poster boards that it's uh ahead of the uh in in between us at the moment. Um it is just the second item right after communications and recognitions. Um so, uh I think we can continue as is for a couple of minutes before we adjust the visual sightline, um if that's okay with everybody. Um so, move on to item number

002three on the agenda, communications and and recognitions. Um Mr. Smith. >> Sure. Um first thing I'd like to do is uh recognize our substitute uh student rep Ella Rothman filling in for Finella O'Keefe. Finella is away uh out of town doing some college visits and so Ella is stepping in in her place tonight. So, I'd like to welcome her. Um just want to congratulate the high school drama department for their production of Cinderella. Um I'd also like to recognize uh I don't want to steal too much of uh Mr. Kelly's thunder, so I'll skip some of the athletic things uh uh but I do want to uh congratulate our boys basketball team for a great season. Didn't uh end the way that they had hoped um in the in the playoffs, but they had a

003a very good season. Uh Coach Wilsencroft did a great job with the those those guys this year. Also like to recognize uh A.J. Massengale, a football coach, uh who is stepping down after 23 years. Um coaching the Stonington Bears football team. Uh all coaches, whether at the uh interscholastic level or the youth level, are always underpaid, underappreciated, uh and to do that job for 23 years is uh outstanding. Um Also like to recognize uh which we've done a couple of times, our SEF partners, uh who distributed uh $17,913 in grants to our teachers in a wide variety of projects including the arts, STEM, and literacy. >> Thank you. Do you have anything to add at this point? >> Currently, student government is hoping to create a time capsule for our spring event uh with letters,

004pictures, and memorabilia from 2026. And we are also looking forward to leading the eighth grade students and parent tours later in the month. >> Thank you so much. Bree. >> I'm all set. Thanks. >> Mr. Kelly. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um Yeah, I just as I would have like to recognize a fellow Fitch grad in A.J. Massengale. Um the career that he had and one of the if I could steal uh a quote from Brian Moroney, our athletic director. Um he said it best when let me see if I can find it real quick. Uh Stand by. I had it here. A.J. consistently represented our school with integrity and a brand of football that earned the respect of opponents across the conference. While championships and wins mark an impressive tenure, Coach Massengale's greatest impact

005has been on the hundreds of student athletes he mentored throughout his career. The staple of his program has always been ensuring that his players matured into young men of character and became positive contributors to their community. Personal growth, academically, athletically, and socially was always emphasized as much as performance on Friday nights. And if anyone um knows any of the football players that have graduated during the 23 years, so many of them have uh excelled in life and you know, it's not just the high school education or the the public school education that is provided to them in Stonington, but the extracurriculars such as um the Stonington football and being exposed to coaches like uh A.J. Massengale. The other coach, not just to harp on sports, but um is Paula Solar who had an incredible feat

006uh last month with her 500th victory. I think it was 30 years um that she's been doing it and again, it's not about the achievements and although she did I think have two state titles, um it's about the impact that she has on the kids in the program and what she teaches them. And she should be recognized and hopefully we'll have something further down the line for her. Um I wanted to take a minute to recognize the boys basketball team as well. I was able to catch a couple games back in February. The girls basketball continues on tomorrow night at 6:00 at the high school and uh in the state tournament playoffs. Um if you're up there, you could you could get a double dip of what Stonington does uh with the basketball team at

007game at 6:00 and then the band concert tomorrow night at 7:30. And uh it's been uh a couple weeks since uh the snow and the turnout on a Sunday at West Vine Street School with parents, staff, administrators, and everyone that uh cleared out the the playgrounds for the kids. It was you know, a lot of work was done on Saturday by some people then followed up on Sunday by the others. Um it's just you know, goes to show the strength of our community that when you put out the SOS or the call for help that people show up and um it's just, you know, like parents, administrators, staff at the school, they all showed up on a Sunday afternoon to to do all that work and I'm sure the kids appreciated it and got the

008snow off the the playground so they could have more than just a parking lot to play in. So, that's all I have for now. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dan. Well said. Zack. >> Just wanted to acknowledge a good number of emails we received from West Vine Street School um teachers about the school calendar. I appreciate all the emails. Just wanted to thank them for making their voices heard. Thank you, Zach. And Katie. >> Thank you. Um, echoing Zach, um, handfuls of emails on that and some other issues we discussed at last month's meeting. Um, and a few weeks ago, Ms. Hool at the high school invited, um, Bree and I were able to go to a women in leadership panel, which is always the um, such a refreshing day to be in the high

009school, see what they're doing, but also, um, getting involved with with the community and and chatting with some other community members for that. That's it. Thanks. >> Thank you. Moving on to board presentation, Mr. Smith. >> So, the first, uh, item on board presentations is this month is board appreciation month. Uh, you do have, uh, courtesy of, uh, Bethany Wagner in HR putting together your, uh, your gift bags of things and a lot of, uh, items that were hand-crafted and made, uh, for you, uh, at the elementary schools, especially West Fine. So, um, we appreciate our board members every month, but this is your month, so enjoy. >> Thank you very much. And thank you to everybody involved in this whole process. Thank you so much. >> And then, I will turn it over to

010Mr. Bosque. I can't see him cuz there's display boards in front, but I know he's here. Uh, to turn it over, uh, last year we expanded our offering of STEM at the elementary schools by expanding that program to full year. It was used to be just half a year at each elementary school. This year it's full year at both elementary schools. So, since the the board invested, uh, in that STEM activity, I thought it would be great for you to see, uh, what Dinsmore has been able to do with that. They volunteered to share some of the stuff the kids worked on. So, I'll turn it over to Mr. Bosque. Yeah. >> Uh good evening. Uh first off, I wanted to uh thank the board for allowing us to present tonight. And I actually was

011going to ask you guys to come out. So, um thanks as you guys kind of trickle out to the audience. Um as Mr. Smith had mentioned, we are presenting tonight about our STEM program at Deans Mill School and specifically the Invention Convention. Um the STEM program and Invention Convention are happening both at Deans Mill and West Vine, but it's absolutely something we wanted to highlight. Um super exciting. Um as I was thinking about this presentation and what the kids are doing, I was also thinking about some of the board goals. Um you know, future focused. Um high engagement, uh developing critical thinking skills, um students having choice. All those things are part of this. Real real-world application. Um so, it's it's really exciting to see these young students who are behind me, who you're going

012to hear from in a couple minutes, um with their ideas. Um they're presented with, you know, a problem, um and they were able to, through their choice, um pick a cause or project that they wanted to focus in on. Um and and I don't want to steal their thunder, so I won't say too much. Um but they were able to um create these kind of projects. And so, all of our fifth graders are working on these right now. Um I'm super excited. Um Kids, I've seen and kind of reviewed what your projects are all about. Um our four groups are going to present tonight. And I would say to you, and I'm not somebody who just buys anything, but I would buy all four of your projects in a second. Um so, the Board of

013Ed, I get I know you have a lot of responsibilities, and maybe as part of your appreciation this month, you can be like the Shark Tank, maybe. Um So, the kids are going to going to present, but before we do that, I wanted to offer a quick thank you to the teacher, Mrs. Claire Concannon and Ms. Farrell, our library paraeducator. Claire's going to come up. Actually, if you can come up right now. She's going to tell you a little bit more about her program and this project. And I'm just going to quickly mention the students' names. They'll actually tell you about their project tonight. So, we have Ellie Freer and Palmer Freeze. And you guys don't have to come up yet. But if if anybody wants to clap, you certainly can. >> [applause] >> We

014have Gavin Simmons. Ginger David Davidson and Storm Bro. And Sawyer Cheese Bro. And Emmy Janizeck. So, we're so proud of you all. I'll pass things over to Claire. Thanks. >> Good evening, boards members of the Board of Education. My name is Claire Concannon and I am the K-5 STEM teacher at Deans Mill School. I'd like to take a few minutes to share what our STEM program looks like in action and the impact it is having on our students. In our K-5 STEM program, students engage in hands-on project-based learning that integrates science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in meaningful ways. The students explore foundational concepts through building, designing, problem-solving activities. They might experiment with simple machines, create circuits, or learn early coding with our Dash robots. Some of our favorites is the Dash robots. As students move

015into the other upper elementary grades, as take on more complex challenges, Design designing original builds with our Spike Legos, which is a huge hit at my school. Applying the engineering design process and using technology as a tool to innovate and create. Across all grade levels, the focus is not just on content knowledge, but on develop developing critical thinking, collaboration, perseverance, and surprisingly creativity, which I did not think in STEM world there would be creativity. Um students learn that failure is a part of the design process. I call it failing forward. You fail and you just keep moving forward and you learn from that failure process. They test, redesign, and improve their ideas building resilience and confidence along the way. STEM class is a space where curiosity is encouraged and where students see themselves as problem

016solvers. One exciting extension of our program is participation in the Connecticut Invention Convention. Say that five times fast. This year is the first year that all fifth grade district-wide is participating. It's very exciting. This program invites students to identify real-world problems and design original solutions. Our fifth grade students research, build a prototype, test, and refine their inventions, while also learning how to clearly communicate their ideas through presentations and display boards. We've been working on this since December, so they're very excited to share. The Invention Convention not only highlights innovation, but also empowers students to see that their ideas have value and that can they can make an meaningful impact on their communities. Four invention groups from DMS have been invited to go to the Connecticut Invention Convention at UConn on May 2nd. That's these friends

017over here. I've asked them to join us today and to present their inventions so you all can have an insight into what the program is all about. Thank you for your continued support of STEM education in our schools. I'm proud of the creativity, determination, and growth that I see in our students every day. Thank you. >> Thank you for having us. We are proud to represent Stonington in the Invention Convention. I'm Ellie. And I'm Palmer. And our invention is Clean Step Pup. Have your dogs ever come inside with dirty paws? Many dogs step in harmful materials whenever they go outside, whether it's for a walk, playing in the yard, or going to the bath. If their paws aren't cleaned properly, it can cause infections or they can swallow harmful chemicals when they lick their paws.

018We created Clean Step Pup, an automatic paw cleaner and drying system that gently washes paws using water, soft bristles, and dog cleaning soap. After washing, the dog stepped onto a drying mat with quiet fans that wash their paws automatically. What makes our invention different is the built-in treat dispenser. This can train dogs to want to use this invention. Dogs step on the mats themselves, which helps them stay calm, learn the routine, and become more independent. Our goal is to protect dogs while making paw cleaning easier and stress-free for owners and dogs. Clean Step Pup, cleaning paws one step at a time. >> Hi, my name is Gavin. Today I want to introduce you to the E-sip. This is an invention designed for people with disabilities, specifically those who can't use a straw or sip from

019a cup. It's built for people dealing with conditions like stroke, MS, and cerebral palsy. Um I wanted to keep the design simple and effective. I used a soda bottle, a bulb pump, valves, flexible tubing, and a 3D printed bottle holder to keep everything secure. Instead of the user having to suck through a straw, the e-sip uses a manual pump. When you squeeze the bulb, the inlet valve opens. When you When you let go, the inlet valve closes and the outlet valve opens, pushing the water up the tube and into the user's mouth. During testing, I learned that you have to use you have to be gentle. If you If you pump too too hard, the force is a bit too much and it takes a couple of pumps to get the water flowing. I stuck

020with I stuck with the man with the manual bulb pump to ensure everything was reliable. Thank you for your time. >> [applause] >> Hi, I'm Sawyer. >> Hi, I'm Emmy. Are you ever sandy and uncomfortable when you leave the beach? And does your car look like you took the whole beach home? Well, that's about to end. Introducing the Sand Zap. The Sand Zap is a tool that will help with all your sandy problems. The Sand Zap was designed to remove the sticky sand off your feet. The lid removes the sand anywhere else on your body where it may be stuck. You simply keep the Sand Zap in the back of your car and when you leave the beach, voila! You use the box to clean off your feet and you use the lid to clean

021off the rest of your body. Not only will you be more comfortable, but you will have less cleaning for your car. No pesky car vacuuming when you get home. And that's how the Sand Zap will help leave the sand at the shore where it belongs. You may be wondering how we made such a fabulous creation. Great question. First, we found a box slightly larger than the average foot. We then added four soft bristle brushes attached using a hot glue. Then we added three additional brushes to the lid. It all fits perfectly to to make the small but handy Sand Out. We think our invention will be loved by beach goers everywhere. Thank you for listening. >> Hello. >> I'm Ginger. >> And I'm Storm. >> And we invented the I Keeper. >> The drawer that

022remembers so you don't have to. >> Have you ever forgotten your keys or phone before? >> This invention prevents that. >> This drawer has a has motion sensors built in it so it can detect you when you're nearby. >> This invention is for anybody. Grandparents, parents, adults, and teenagers. >> Basically, anyone that normally forgets something. >> When you have a really busy day >> and you walk by the I Keeper, >> it will say, "Don't forget your keys and phone." >> so that you won't be late. >> Thank you for listening. >> I'm Ginger. >> And I'm Storm. >> And we invented the I Keeper. >> [applause] [applause] >> If these ever go big and get the if these inventions ever I mean does Stonington public schools get like a royalty on them or something

023like that? Oh, Tim does. >> You'll be long gone. >> Let me say a billion dollars to each of them for 1% of their company. Let's do it. >> [clears throat] >> That was awesome. Great job everybody. Moving on to the next item on the agenda which is comments from citizens regarding items on the agenda. And as a reminder pursuant to bylaw 9325 individual comments will be limited to 3 minutes per person and 20 minutes per agenda item. Thank you. >> I guess I'll start things off. I still haven't gotten my name printed on this. Okay, first I would like to say a congratulations to all those Deans Mill students that just presented. Like, what a great job. I mean, to see fifth graders with that level of confidence and um level of ingenuity and

024everything is just absolutely wonderful and how exciting for them. What a great program it is and I'm definitely proud to be having them represent Stonington at the state invention convention. I I remember doing an invention convention when I was in school and it was nowhere near as cool as this. Um I think I had like a spork or something. Welded something together with my dad. Um and I would just like to also note with this budget season and it's great programs like our STEM program right here that our Board of Education budget is supporting. So, definitely time for parents to get involved and engaged in the process and the vote for the the budget when it comes to that time and if the board can just continue to communicate out dates like that and the

025administration to parents so we can keep parents aware of such an important matter in our our child's education. Um I also wanted to note that I've been speaking before the Board of Education for many years now. And at no point in any time have I ever had a board member treat parents the way that they were treated at the last Board of Education meeting. The board and the administration has been pushing for parent engagement and community involvement. But this behavior and personal attacks have made parents fear speaking on behalf of their children. I recently submitted a formal ethics complaint highlighting conduct because it violated several of our board's adopted bylaws. These bylaws emphasize professionalism, civility, impartiality, and mutual respect. It also talks about responsible use of social networks and prohibits disparagement, bias, and actions that

026can harm the district's reputation. It has never I just I I just couldn't believe the way that parents were treated. Um and it has been insinuated to me that there may be no recourse for violation of board policies. And I believe that the bylaws explicitly allow for measures. The stance that there's nothing that could be done concerns me deeply. It suggests that our board may not be equipped or willing to enforce their own standards. And this could potentially undermine public trust and the integrity of our educational leadership. When community members raise respectful concerns at a public meeting only to just face dismissive reactions and disparagement, it creates a chilling effect on participation. Parents and constituents should feel safe when exercising the right to speak without fear of reprisal or labeling. And the bylaws are meant

027to protect this. This whole process to ensure fair representation for all families and students. We have bylaws here that are being looked at that talk about the social media for our personnel and all these guidelines and things that our students follow, our personnel follows, and by no means should it be that our Board of Education doesn't have to follow their own bylaws as well. I just respectfully urge the urge the Board of Education to look into this matter, to look at their own bylaws and their behavior, and to uphold these standards cuz it's not just about policy, it's about modeling the values that we teach our children. It's about accountability. It's about respect and it's about ethical behavior because I have never come before the board and spoken in a way that I thought was

028degrading or rude or disconcerting for anybody else's opinions and to be treated as if I was was I just felt like it was an attack and I didn't feel like it was fair and it definitely makes parents fearful to come up here and speak which I've been arguing for years is not how any parent should feel. This should be a space that they can bring their concerns cuz I think that that's the most important thing for parents to be engaged in their child's education. Thank you. >> Thank you. Audrey, can you test the mic before you start speaking? >> Is this working? >> Okay. Yep, you're good. Thanks. >> Good evening. I'd like to add to what I said at the last meeting regarding discrimination policies that were on the agenda and are now under

029review. First, I want to make it clear that I do not come here with hate or ill intent towards anyone, but rather to advocate for females that I believe are being reversed discriminated against. I believe that bathrooms and sports should be separated by sex, not by gender identity. That is my opinion and also the opinion of a lot of people in Stonington. I understand that the board must follow law, but I urge you to consider how prioritizing certain people's rights actually infringes upon the rights of others and this is not okay. Mental health and wellness of female students is just as important as any other student. As a mother of three young daughters, I don't want them to be uncomfortable to use the bathroom and locker room at school, and I don't want them to

030be forced to compete with males in sports. As we all know that male and female competition in sports is very different. So, I urge you all to think outside the box. Do we need to install individual stalls for every locker room and bathroom in order to protect our girls? What can you do? What can you do to ensure safe and fair competition in female sports? Lastly, I want you to know that I went back and forth about whether I should even speak tonight. After the last meeting, I was called names and publicly shamed on social media. Most disappointingly, one of the board members I would say sitting here tonight, but I'm going to go with attending tonight called me and seven others super transphobic and then shared a post that called us bigots and stated

031we spoke about children in very harmful ways, which are all lies. I find it very sad that I cannot come to a Board of Ed meeting and share my concerns without being judged and called names by a Board of Ed member themself. A board which members are supposed to act without bias and conduct themselves appropriately on social media per their own bylaws. This same board member wrote, "If you, like me, support trans kids in sports and to use the facilities that align with their gender identity, let the Board of Ed know." Do you see the bias? You are recruiting only people who think exactly like you to contact the board that you are a member of. If you are unable to act maturely, professionally, respectfully of all public speakers, even when they have a different

032opinion than you, then you should resign from the board as you are incapable of performing this job. Also, I want to add that I'm one of the few regular people that attend these meetings. And so you know that I'm here and I'm available to speak in person. So instead of hiding behind the keyboard and calling me names, say it to my face. Ultimately, I decided to speak tonight because at the end of the day all that matters is when I go home and I look my three daughters in the eyes, I can tell them that mommy was not afraid to be called names and mommy fought for their right to compete in sports fairly and for their right to use a bathroom without a male in it. Females don't come second to males no matter

033how they identify. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Good evening, Jennifer Evering, 235 Greenhaven Road in Pawcatuck. Um good evening, members of the board. Um I just also wanted to touch on the discrimination policies. Um last month, as you all know, a group of concerned parents came to the meeting and we came to speak about equality for our daughters in school activities and equality for our daughters in the changing facilities in the bathrooms. Parents asked for clarification on the policies and we asked for how some clarification on how that aligned with state and federal laws. Um we also asked the board to engage in open conversation on the topic. Um, as we stated during the meeting in letters to the board, I quote, "All students deserve dignity and equal access to education. We look forward

034to a constructive dialogue focused on protecting fairness and equal opportunity for all students." I feel that was a reasonable and a respectful request from this group of parents who care deeply about their children and about the school community. However, during the meeting, a board member who was, um, um, attending remotely had mocked all of us as we shared our concerns. And as the meeting ended, uh, the board member took to social media and they reposted defamatory comments about those who spoke. Board members are expected to act with professionalism, fairness, and without bias. These actions appear to violate both the spirit and the expectations of the bylaws of the board. Following the meeting, my husband and I wrote to the board to raise these concerns. We did finally get a response from one board member and

035they simply stated, "The BOA The BOE members are elected by the citizens." That's all we got. Elections, however, do not replace accountability. They do not excuse the behavior that undermines the public trust, and they do not justify treating members of the community with disrespect. When parents see speakers mocked during public meetings and then criticized online afterwards, the message it sends is very clear. You are allowed to speak, but you may be publicly ridiculed for doing so. That kind of environment discourages participation and it damages the trust between families and between the district. Our schools talk about creating a welcoming and respectful environment. Those values should apply not only to our classroom, but here as well. When parents come forward to speak, they deserve to be heard with basic respect. Even when there's a disagreement, they

036deserve respect. Parents are not opposition. We're partners in our children's education and the partnership requires open dialogue, transparency, and mutual respect. So, tonight I'm asking the board to uphold the standards it expects from others. When a board member violates the bylaws and publicly disparages members of the community, there must be some kind of accountability. Ignoring that behavior only weakens public trust and it sends the wrong message to the families you serve. Finally, I just want to return to why we came here in the first place. We came to advocate for fairness, dignity, and equal opportunity for our daughters in sports and in private spaces like locker rooms and bathrooms. Women's rights and equality and equality in athletics were hard fought and hard won. Generations fought to ensure that girls would have the same opportunities to

037compete, to succeed, and to be safe in their own spaces. We cannot allow those protections to be weakened or set back. Our daughters deserve fairness, they deserve privacy, they deserve leaders who are willing to listen respectfully when parents raise concerns about protecting those rights. And that's the conversation that us parents were asking for respectfully openly and in partnership with all of you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jen. >> Good evening. Katie Fuller, 43 Old North Road. I want to start by commending the board on the selection of Tom Buskey as principal of Deans Mill School. Jen McCarthy left big shoes to fill and Tom has stepped in to the role with a positive, fresh energy energy that has been wonderful to see. I look forward to his continued tenure and the impact he will have

038supporting our students, staff, and schools. I also appreciate the swift reaction by the board members and administration on my concerns raised on our bus route B bus 12 DMS being consolidated due to staffing issues at First Student. This has happened 11 times as recently as yesterday since January. And I strongly urge the board and administration to carefully review that contract because it is a significant line item in our budget and can help bring savings back to our students. I also recognize there are tough choices ahead in the budget process. That said, I want to reiterate that no matter what path our students choose, reading is fundamental and restoring a librarian at Deans Mill is critical to strengthening that foundation and ensuring students have the support resources they need to become strong readers and lifelong learners.

039Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Hi, hello. Good evening. My name is Is that Is that working all right? Uh Jason Hein. I'm on Denison Avenue in Mystic 20 at 23. Um I I I will say that um in my opinion I I have a student in in the high school doing particularly well. We have great talks and I asked him about transitioning students and issues surrounding those students. He was not aware of any. Um and I said, "What about school safety in the bathrooms?" And he was not aware of any either. Not to say that there couldn't be, but certainly not anything that he or his friends talk about. He did mention that he hid behind furniture for 3 hours uh because a gun had uh become was brought to to school. Um so

040for our students, guns seem to be a real issue. Our school was in lockdown for on upwards of 3 hours. So that seems to me a very real issue. And I guess I if we're going to talk about student safety, I would I would want to have a larger conversation about guns in our community. Um but also I think that we have to be careful with our comments. I think that if our comments target individuals publicly, if if they target or have the appearance of targeting students particularly when it's just one or two or three of them, we'd be very very careful. Um for example, last week or I'm sorry, at the last meeting they talked about a transitioning student. And there was concern on the part of some parents that students might trans uh

041transition from to and from boys and girls. I believe one speaker even said that he was concerned that students might then transition to teachers so that they could use the teachers' bathroom. But I think these extreme comments go way too far and I think parents come out as defensive and they're very worried and I think rightly so. So I would say to the board in particular uh I think we've strayed from the agenda items. I think it's fair to say that we really I mean, we've gone for a few months now with this particular set of issues pretty much by the same group of organized folks and I would ask that you not allow continued comment on the same things over and over. I still I think it's a point where it doesn't uh become

042productive anymore. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> There's no pen here anymore, but and I don't Thank you. Oh, that's okay. Hi, good evening. I'm Emily McClenahan. I live at 110 Prentice Williams Road in Stonington. I'm also the uh general music teacher at Westvine School in addition to the parent of a fifth grade student at Westvine. Um I want to start just by saying um thank you to the Board of Education members in honor of Board Appreciation Month. I really feel like volunteer service is a cornerstone of a strong community. I want to thank you for setting a good example for the students in Stonington, also the adults in Stonington. Um I know it's thankless and not easy. And you deal with a lot of difficult issues and I really really really appreciate you. So,

043thank you very much. I also want you to know you're in good company in the month of March. Reading Week. Very great. And also Music in Our Schools Month is the month of March as well. Um I know it's not an agenda item, but I'm hoping you'll entertain just a very very tiny story from Westvine reading week. We had a beautiful week put on by two wonderful colleagues, Faith McDonald and Jacqueline, um and they did an incredible job with reading week and it was connected to music, which was so wonderful and the theme was music is reading to our ears. And I wanted to publicly thank two guests that I was able to invite, one of which was Bergan O'Malley, who is a town resident, also a parent of a high school student, and she

044came, volunteered her time, performed for all of our kindergarten students, and it was absolutely wonderful. But I thought you'd also like to know that the other guest I invited was Pam Young, um who was my music teacher at Deans Mill School, 38-year employee of Stonington Public Schools, and she came to speak to our fifth graders, and it was a beautiful full circle moment, um that I was able to share in the classroom. So, I wanted to say thank you to her and um that I really appreciated it. I was one of the Westvine teachers who emailed the board uh with concerns about the proposed revised calendar that's being presented tonight. Um thank you for reading the emails. I know that doesn't give you a lot of time to reflect, um we're busy. I don't know.

045Sorry. Um but I do think it's an important issue to bring up. I am concerned about the additional days that Westvine is facing to make up. We know that there's a requirement from the state. No teacher at Westvine is trying to skirt um making up school days that are required. But I believe the district does have um the flexibility to place those as half days in the calendar, and I am here to advocate for that on behalf of West Vine teachers. Um, it's not that we don't want more time with the kids, but I think I can call a spade a spade and say that this is not valuable instructional time. I believe report cards will have been delivered by that point in the school year. It is, however, very, very valuable potential professional development

046time for teachers. This is something we have lost um, as we lost a full professional development day in March to make up one of our school days. Um, as you know, teachers face a lot of challenges at the end of the school year including classroom moves potentially transfer that would require packing and cleaning a classroom. We have vertical conversations uh, about student placement and knowing that we're starting the school year earlier next year, I think it would be very beneficial for us to use those as half days that we can prepare for the upcoming school year and also tie up the loose ends from this year that we weren't able to do on our regularly scheduled PD days. So, thank you very much for listening. I know West Vine teachers um, appreciate you and appreciate

047our district leadership as well and um, hope that you're in our corner. Thank you. >> Thank you, Emily. >> Sean Drake, 1 Stony Brook Road. So, it yeah, it would be nice not to have to stand up here and talk about this, but um, but we're not getting any answers. And and I've written many letters. Uh, other concerned parents have written many letters on this topic of males being allowed to compete against females. And go into the the female locker rooms and and restrooms. And um you know, it's called There's a term for this. It's negative bias, right? It's a It's a psychology term. It's that we saw these negative things happening in the world and we think the worst. We think they're going to happen to our daughters. And we we And when we

048don't get answers from the Board of Ed, it only feeds that. I mean, you got You got to know that, right? It feeds that fear. And it makes us It makes us fear that you are not doing anything to protect our daughters. Um I asked for a a simple request, the policy that kind of explains transgender's use of uh of female locker rooms and facilities, and I couldn't even get a response to that. So, it We're left our own device, try to go through the policies, and uh and find the information for ourselves. Um I mean, I had a long list I had a long list of violations um of Megan Blanchette and the bylaws that she violated, your own bylaws. And I'm not going to bother to read through them except for one that's

049that's very disturbing. Um Basically, um in one of the the ranting, the threads, uh Ms. Blanchette suggested that parents were unconcerned with actual predators and asserted that cis boys are the ones that are actually out there attacking your girls. So, by saying mean things, the the things same things she's accusing us of, she's doing herself. So, how is that right? She's accusing our boys of attacking girls. My son, who was a recent SHS graduate, who's a male, identifies as a male, she's calling him what, a rapist? In closing, I I guess I'll say you are in receipt of several complaints and several requests of these violations. Um if you don't do something about this, I just ask you to think about what message that is sending to the public, the town of Stonington, and your

050constituents. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. Uh thank you. Bob Stachen, 57 Briar Patch Road. Um I'm not as eloquent as my daughter who used to sit on the board um doing doing this, but I'm going to I'm going to do my best. Um I I was concerned with what I read in the paper as far as some of the um comments made uh at the last board meeting, and I wanted to add to the discussion some additional data points because I think facts um are useful in situations like that and actually show that there are ways to find solutions um to a lot of the concerns. First off, the NCAA president, Charlie Baker, testified in December 2024 that he knows of fewer than 10 college student athletes among 510,000 athletes total. So,

051again, the the the prevalence of this this problem certainly is is is it it raised the question of why this issue is getting so much attention. Second, trans students have been included in school sports since 2013 in California and 2009 in New Jersey with zero complaints. States that include transgender participation have more girls participating in sports than states with bans. Further, women's sports face much more significant barriers including inequitable facilities, pay, and marketing. Those are issues to focus on to support female athletes. And more important than sports, this is a mental health issue. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents at 10% of all deaths. 39% of LGBTQ young people considered attempting suicide in the past year. 46% of transgender and non-binary students did. Numbers are higher for youth of color. On

052a positive note, LGBTQ young people who reported living in very accepting communities attempted suicide at less than half the rate of those who reported living in very unaccepting communities. Similarly, more than half of transgender and non-binary young people found their schools to be gender-affirming. And those that did reported lower rates of suicide attempts. I want students in my community to know that there are many, many people in this community who love and support them, as Mr. Rogers says, just the way they are. We encourage them to continue to bloom exactly how they were planted. And legally, the US Supreme Court just heard oral argument on cases involving two transgender female athletes, one in Idaho, one in West West Virginia. Note that those states Those are states that passed laws limiting participation and those laws are

053at issue in these cases. Conversely, Connecticut in 2011 passed public act 1155, which specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity. While bills have been presented to restrict participation, specifically by Representative Greg Howard when he first went into office, none of these bills have gotten out of committee. If Stonington were to adopt discriminatory policies, it would face legal actions both in federal and state cost courts. A very expensive proposition as well as discrimination under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Personally, I was in the Air Force when the don't ask, don't tell policy was adopted in 1994 and repealed in 2011, allowing gay service members to serve openly. I was in the Connecticut Air National Guard in 2021 when individuals were permitted to serve in their self-identified gender. As a JAG, I

054closely watched these developments. As a service member, I will say in my opinion it had zero impact on operations, just like desegregating in the military in 19 desegregating the military in 1948 had zero impact on operation then. And further, my fellow service members who happen to be gay, lesbian, or trans, my brothers and sisters in arms, all served honorably. I want these points to be part of the discussion in my community. Thank you. Thank you. >> I Harriet Stachen, 57 Briar Patch Road. I'll be quick because I'm sure you guys you have a long agenda to get on to of really more substantive matters. I just wanted to >> Excuse me, I don't I don't mean to cut you off. Do you Do you mind speaking more into the mic? Thank you. >> Okay. I

055just want to echo a couple of points that have been made. I agree with Jason that there are much more real and important safety matters in our schools in this day and age than a vanishingly small number of trans students. I also agree that discrimination policy is set at the state level, not at the Board of Education level. So, in in a as a practical matter, there's nothing that you can actually do about this. It's It's It's state policy. So, you know, I think you are right to say on the agenda that we should restrict comment to items that are on the agenda, and I hope that in future meetings you feel empowered to stick by that and actually limit limit comment to things that you can actually have an impact on. Facts do matter.

056Vague concerns that something might happen are really no way to make policy in our schools. Trans people in any community are about 1% of the community. So, we're talking about again a vanishingly small number of students here, and students who already have a difficult path ahead of them. We should be reaching out to them, nurturing them, helping them, not discriminating against them. We should treat all students. As some people said on this side of the room, we should be treating all students with respect, compassion, and kindness, and I hope that we could extend that to our trans students here in this district. Thank you. >> Thank you. Just to pause for one moment. Um Thank you all for your engagement on that topic tonight. It's clear the issue matters very deeply to the community. I

057understand that. And that's a good thing, of course. Um we always welcome comment. Um but as a reminder, our board policy allocates a maximum of 20 minutes of public comment per agenda item. We've surpassed that point at this point. Um this is absolutely not a reflection at all of how important any individual's voice is or is not. It's just simply our obligation to run a meeting fairly and in a timely way. And out of respect for everyone here tonight, everyone listening remotely, um if I could just kindly request if there's one more speaker on the topic of gender identity and gender discrimination, if we could limit it to one further comment on that topic before we allow time to anyone else who would like to make a public comment on any other topic before we

058get on to other items on the agenda, that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. >> How you doing? My name is Jeremy Ponte. First and foremost, thank you all for being here. Uh I'll just I want to start off first with the uh gender identity of the transgender using the bath- male or female bathrooms. I thought about this Excuse [clears throat] me, long and hard. I think a better solution probably have or let them have their own bathroom. That way you're accommodating all needs. And and you're not kind of limiting anybody or upsetting anybody and making them feel uncomfortable or upset. Um I think that's, you know, pretty reasonable solution. I also think it would be beneficial if our transgender students, along with their parents, would be here. I think it'd be great to find

059a common ground so we can find a resolution to the problem. I think this is the only way we're going to move forward with this situation. Um lastly, we have a school system, a great community. Let's not ruin it. Let's be leaders, come up with a solution that accommodates all individuals to be happy, safe, valued, and respected. Let's do the right thing and make decisions based on the general consensus. I also believe that this will help deter parents from not being part of the decreasing enrollment statistics. Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay, seeing no further public comment, we can move on to item number six on the agenda, which is the consent agenda. I'll entertain a motion. Oh. I must have the older I apologize. I must have opened up the the wrong draft. Sorry,

060yeah. Yeah, he's not important, right? Apologies. Uh item number six on the agenda. Report of the superintendent. My apologies to him. >> I'll try to keep it brief, Mr. Agnello. Uh my first thing is is kind of a shameless plug commercial. Uh in the next week, we will be opening up our annual climate surveys. I want to give credit to our parents, uh our welcoming schools. Uh folks recommended last year that we change what we do with the climate surveys. We used to do them in May towards the very end of the school year. Um and they suggested that we move it last year to the week of the March conferences. We had a much better uh participation number uh making that move. So, uh next week is that conference week. So, again, I realize

061it is an ask to take about 20 minutes out of your day to fill out that survey, but it is valuable information. Uh and we do appreciate that. Next item, just wanted to make the uh everyone aware that the K-12 Town Building Committee uh meets on the first Tuesday of every month. This past meeting, uh they actually had two locations. They uh uh asked Mr. Carroll, who by the way is not with us tonight. He's suffering from a knee injury. Um and uh uh otherwise, he would be here. Uh but anyway, he was their tour guide. The Building Committee toured 40 Field Street and then moved here toward this building. Uh next month, they're going to do a complete tour of the high school. Uh and then the other the two elementary schools. And I

062I commend them for that. They want to get their eyes on and a firm grasp on the state of our facilities uh and take a holistic approach to making a decision for what's the long-term best thing we can do for our middle school students and teachers. Which segues into my next update. Uh we've been working to generate uh middle school educationals, um specifications, otherwise known cutely as Ed Specs, to give to the Building Committee uh as that work uh continues to progress. We had a number of different inputs. We've talked to the schools, the teachers, the administrators. We had a couple of uh different sessions with parents uh to try and uh figure out where what should a modern-day middle school and one that can be taking our students forward for the next 30 years

063look like, sound like, and feel like. We had a bunch of parents again volunteer to work with some school people, and we went out and visited uh three or four fairly new uh middle schools in the region just to see what newer middle schools look like. So, it's a long way of saying I'm almost done with that document. Uh I'm hoping to have that in front of the facility subcommittee. Uh I think the next time they meet is April 2nd. Uh and then get it to the building committee after the full board approves it at the April meeting. Just want to uh mention uh our state Department of Ed uh is continuing to be very uh vigorously active, especially with the right to read uh K-3 literacy initiative. Uh this is what I'm hearing now

064is it's kind of making some of the math people come out of the woodwork and say, "What about math?" Uh so, I have a feeling they're working on some uh uh increased focus on math as well. The other uh initiative that the state has taken is um about a year or so ago, there was uh a resurgence of concern with standardized testing and the state annual uh smarter balance and NGSS testing that we do. Um and the state uh data folks uh really took that to heart, and it was painful to do, but what they did is they asked every school in the state to give them mass amount of data of all kinds of assessments that we do with kids, whether it's test at the end of the unit, standardized tests, our benchmark assessments

065like STAR Reading and STAR Math, uh even our progress monitoring, uh, tests, high school exams, midterms and finals, all of that, they got it all and they've, uh, put together, uh, a report that will be out shortly looking at all of that and they're starting a program in the fall, uh, to help schools make sure that we're, A, we're not over assessing and, B, they're going to offer some training to make sure that we're using assessment effectively to improve instruction. So, that's something that you're going to hear more about, uh, in the coming months. Which then brings me to the my next point, uh, just a quick legislative agenda update, uh, there are a ton of bills currently being discussed, um, by our state, uh, lawmakers, uh, too many to even talk about the but

066the one I do want to mention, uh, because I think it has the most the potential for the most impact, uh, from that unfunded mandate, uh, standpoint that folks like to talk about is and and it's one of those things where it's righteous in its inception and it's all about people who home school. And the vast majority of of parents who make that choice do a great job, uh, they they know what they want for their kids, they know their kids best and it's terrific. Unfortunately, there are no safeguards and there are some people who say they're home schooling and don't do an adequate job with that. Uh, and it we know and I know personally dealing, uh, at the middle school years ago that there were some parents who chose home schooling to avoid

067the consequences of truancy and chronic absenteeism and some some other issues. So, they're they're trying to create some more accountability. But they're putting all of the accountability on the local school districts. They're going to require the As this bill sits right now, it requires uh homeschooling tracking forms that need to be filled out. It would require the local school districts to conduct follow-ups annually. Um it would require the local school district to receive instructional portfolios from every homeschool uh parent uh and to report all that data to the state. Uh the other thing that's hooked up with this is a requirement that when a parent notifies us that they're going to withdraw their student uh to homeschool them, that it triggers a DCF check, not a DCF investigation, but it it makes us place a

068call to DCF to make sure that there aren't any open cases that are in the works. It's just a a thousand things uh involved with this with this bill. And again, it's intent is righteous. They're trying to protect some children who do fall through the cracks uh in our society, but they're to do it, they're going to put quite a burden on all of the local school systems. So, that's still in the works up at the capital, and we'll see how that all turns out. Uh just wanted to let the board uh aware uh I am continuing the fairly new tradition of appearing uh on the radio show uh WPBLQ in Westerly the first Friday of every month. Uh I made my first appearance uh last week, and they were very kind. Uh it was

069kind of a get-to-know-you kind of thing. They did ask about budget and the budget process, but other than that, it was pretty easy, and we'll just continue uh that appearance going forward. Just want to mention the board we did conduct our mandated annual lockdown drills at three out of four schools cuz one of the things about the uh state law on drills and submitting a log of all of our fire drills and whatnot to the state, we are required to do one lockdown drill a year, but with all drills, if you have an actual event, it serves in place of a drill, so we did not do another lockdown drill at the high school. Uh I was involved in that decision with the high school administration. We knew we had the latitude to skip it

070and on the heels of the 3-hour event, we didn't think we really needed to put the students and teachers through a drill uh at that point. I'd like to commend our ongoing partnership with the Stonington Police Department doing those drills. They're great to work with. They're very thorough and uh incredibly easy to work with. Next update, um I know everyone's aware that we've been working to develop a maritime studies collaborative, which has a lot of tentacles. One piece is we're going to be running a new course at the high school next fall called the Blue Economy and it's an environmental uh science course that will be uh very similar to the model we've done at the middle school with the Seaport Museum, only this time with the aquarium, where educators from the aquarium and our

071teacher will work together. They will come into our classroom. Our teacher will go into the aquarium. The kids will have several aquarium visits to work uh in a a wide variety of activities that go on at the aquarium. The other piece, which is really a bigger piece for our partners, the Seaport Museum and the Aquarium, is a collaborative with the University of Bangor in Wales. Uh we are submitting a grant to the Welsh government to fund an exploratory uh visit to see if there's any kind of international exchange program that can be done with the Seaport Museum, the um Aquarium, and the university students who have a very robust maritime studies program uh at the University of Bangor. And my last thing is I just want to give a quick uh shout-out to an upcoming

072event. It's a town event, but it's right before our softball game. The town is having a dedication ceremony for the softball field to Mr. Crowley at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday the 4th of April. Uh written there will be a Stonington softball game right after that. And that's all I've got. >> Anything for Tim? >> A couple questions. Um on the legislative update, any uh movement on the cell phone ban at the state level or is that in committee or not at a committee or >> I really, to be honest, don't know where that is. >> It's a work in progress. Not a ton of updates. There's a big push behind it, probably the biggest push from the from the governor himself is really behind it, but it's still work [clears throat] in progress. >> I

073can I can tell you that uh a couple of the school-related organizations um have been pushing their lobbyists have been pushing back on that, asking for local control rather than a statewide bell-to-bell ban like they've done recently in New Jersey and whatnot. But it's still very much in in the works. >> On the lockdown grill drills, um, do you do you I assume they're um post drill analysis and such as even the one the non-drill at the high school? >> Yes, sir. >> Um do you guys get together afterwards and say this worked and that worked and >> Yeah, so um answer both questions. After the event at Stonington High School, we did two debriefs. We did one uh same day and then we collected all of our notes and kind of compiled all of

074our notes, created a timeline, and had a much more in-depth debrief with Stonington Police uh about 3 weeks after. Uh we do when we do the drills uh the first of all, the lockdown drills are the exception. Those are widely announced in advance to parents and students and teachers, so it's not a surprise, so it's clear that it's a drill. Um and the Stonington Police do come to each school. They do with the circuit. They check the doors. They do a a number of security checks, and then when we're done, we debrief. And we have a standing a monthly meeting with the police department, uh which is coming up next Tuesday, and I know that's an agenda item to debrief the lockdowns. >> You're welcome. >> Council? >> Oh, just do this for a second.

075Oh. Yeah, you want to take a Yeah, sorry. I was I I didn't see them back there. You want to take a Can you take a a quick recess to sign Yeah, you want to go you know, take care of that? >> Sorry, we'll let Mr. Kelly take care of that for a moment. Thanks for the reminder. >> Thank you, Dan. Is there any other questions for Tim? Okay. Now that I have the right agenda in front of me, um we'll move on to uh So, what was the thing we learned from the STEM group? Fail forward, right? I'm failing forward. I have the right agenda. I learned from my mistake. Um item number seven on the agenda, Board of Education 26-27 revised budget, vote required. Alicia? >> Do you want me to say anything,

076Dan? >> Well, we we can comment after a motion. So, there there's there's No, it's okay. >> Oh. >> I'll second the motion. >> Okay, there has been seconded. Comments? >> to to approve a budget decrease, though, right? >> Totally totally fine. We can comment. There's a There's an open motion on the floor. We can still comment afterward, Alicia. >> I I appreciate your enthusiasm. >> [laughter] >> Um so, I found two things happened with the insurance projection. Um one is that Brown & Brown, our insurance broker, continues throughout the year to update our projection for next year. So, we did receive one of those. Um that was a little bit higher. And I also found that I had essentially double-accounted for a $72,000 um rebate that the town had already given us, and I

077was reducing it from the budget. Um so the net of that is 63465. So it would reduce the budget by that amount. >> So the Board of Finance already has been >> [snorts] >> presented and deliberated. You go back to them with this or >> No, so we we told them on Was that Monday night? This is all this week. >> Tuesday. Tuesday. >> It was Tuesday. Okay. Um so we we actually told them about that on Tuesday and we said, you know, this is pending Board of Education vote, but we didn't see any issues with it because the Board of Ed is not going to say don't correct an error. So procedurally nothing else changes. Nothing else. >> Thanks. >> And the Board of Finance very graciously took that into consideration and worked with

078that number even though it was it was uncomfortable for both of us knowing that the Board technically didn't vote on it yet. It was collaboratively discussed. >> So the new total budget and percent increase over last year is I figured you had it right there. Sorry. >> I do. I do. Um the new budget is 48,257,150 for a 5.68 >> That sounds right. Yeah. >> Okay, yeah, 5.68. I think it was 86 before, so that those numbers were throwing me off. >> Any further comment? Okay, there is a motion on the floor and it was seconded. So all in favor of approving the budget as just stated by Ms. Tripling, please indicate by saying I. >> I. >> That was unanimous for the record. Thank you. Item number eight on the agenda, bid waiver approval,

079also a vote required. Just >> I'll second. >> Okay. There's there is a motion on the floor has been seconded. Any comment? Does Tim Alicia? >> No. >> I can speak to it if you want. Okay. So, this is a 36-year-old unit that has been condemned. It allows for fresh tempered air to offset the kitchen hood at the middle school. It has led to a couple of fire alarms. M Core does maintain all of our systems and so they're familiar with they're most familiar with our systems. So it does make sense to go with that vendor. But primarily we're requesting the bid waiver request so that we can get this done quickly because there tend to be long lead times and we want to make sure continuity of instruction without fire alarms going off. >>

080Just for clarity in a situation that was or perhaps less dire, we would go out to bid, get multiple quotes, consider them. In this instance, you're asking the board to waive that requirement and go directly with a vendor we're comfortable with for time purposes. Thank you. Just for clarity. >> And especially with HVAC systems, it can get dicey to be using different consultants every time that something goes wrong. It's it's important to have the same person who's familiar or the same company that's familiar with our equipment. >> Thank you. Any further comment? >> So I can assume that is there a limit on the amount that needs approval or doesn't need approval and is this more than that and therefore we have to have the waiver? >> Yes, and it's a pretty new policy. I

081think the number is 25,000. There's a chart in the new purchasing policy that says superintendent level and what needs to go in front of the Board of Education. >> Thank you. Any further comment? Okay, there is a motion and it has been seconded. Uh so, all in favor of approving the waiver of the bid approval, uh please indicate by saying I. >> I. >> That was unanimous for the record. Thank you. Item number nine on the agenda, removal of former superintendent Mary Ann Butler from the district's Chelsea Groton and CorePlus Credit Union bank accounts. >> So moved. >> Sorry. >> Okay, there is a motion on the floor. Comment? >> Just just a comment. Just when I read the first part, removal of former superintendent Mary Ann, I'm like, "What what what what?" >> Yeah.

082>> Keep reading. Keep reading. >> It seems like a silly thing that the bank is making us do, but nonetheless. Correct. Right. >> Any comment? Okay, all of those in favor uh for the removal of former superintendent Mary Ann Butler from the district's Chelsea Groton and CorePlus Credit Union bank accounts, please indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Unanimous for the record. Thank you. Um item number 10 on the agenda, consent agenda, vote required. >> Second. >> Thank you, Zach. Uh all in favor of approving the consent agenda, please indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Unanimous for the record. Thank you. Uh item number 11, uh 2025-2026 revised school calendar. >> [clears throat] >> Is there a second? Okay, that has been seconded. There's plenty room for discussion. Um so, there's motion on the

083floor. It has been uh seconded. Um comment? Uh Tim, would you like to start? Thank you. >> I was going to let you start. Um so, with the additional snow days since the last uh meeting and the fact that it's was snowing when I came to this meeting. >> [sighs] >> It's fine. Okay. A couple of changes major changes from the last iteration in that I kind of reverted to what we traditionally do, which is traditionally the last day of school for students is an early release day. So we have a weird situation in that the last day of students at three schools is one day and the last day for students at West Vine is a different day. But for all students with this schedule, with this calendar, their last day at school is

084an early release day. Another change is in the previous iteration, I had left the half day in place for high school graduation on June 12th. Um with the with the additional days added on to the high school schedule it now makes that June 12th day the first day of underclassmen exams. So even though it's not classified as an early release day at the high school those exams end at 11:00 a.m. So in effect, everyone involved at the high school is ready to start setting up for graduation at 11:00 a.m. So again, in the interest of trying to preserve as much instructional time as we can for students, I made that a full day for everyone in the district and so those are those are the changes and we just extended the any day that we're

085in session other than last day for students is a full day. >> Um I do also want to remind the board uh this is certainly not the first time we've approved a calendar for this year um during this year. Um so I just want to remind the board that approving the calendar as presented tonight um does not foreclose future adjustments. So if the administration were to identify recommended changes like those that were so nicely bullet pointed in a lot of the emails that we got over the last couple of hours. Um there's nothing if we approve it tonight, there's nothing that stops the administration from coming back to us in the next couple of weeks presenting a revised calendar at our April meeting for vote again. So just putting that out there. If we approve,

086that doesn't mean it's the end of the conversation per se. Um I do want to point out that if we approve also, um that will uh allow the district to continue to move forward under an approved calendar instead of going the next month give or take under a calendar that is now inaccurate. Um so it it may be in your best interest to approve knowing that you can still approve again with changes next month. >> So we'd be functionally postponing the final calendar approval until next month even though we're not postponing it in the sense that we're still operating under a calendar if we approve tonight but we can make note of it to have it on the agenda for April. I don't know if that was a question or not, so. >> There might

087be a question in there. I'm just pointing out if it were approved tonight, that doesn't stop future adjustments from happening and a revote in April if we saw fit. >> Okay, thank you. >> Allison, remind me what you just said last month about the paraprofessional PD hours needed. I believe it was specifically at West Vine, but maybe it's everywhere. Or maybe that was just the conversation related to West Vine. >> Yes and no. So, all the paraeducators are required to have 18 hours of professional development during a school year. So, that's state legislation. Right. So, they >> And of course, we did it different this year. Of course, we did. We had in the past had their three professional development days at the start of the school year with to align with the teachers. And

088kind of feedback we received from the leadership team and from some of the paras as well was we would they would benefit from having two days to start the year was enough and then having that additional day, especially because during the year we always seem to be coming up with things that we would like to be able to do with them, and we had lost that time in the beginning of the year. >> So, West Vine paras, so our just to clarify again what you were asking, so the on March 6th last week, three schools finished their paraeducators 18 hours. West Vine's paraeducators are still missing six hours. So, we would be able to recoup that at the at the end of the year for them. Not recoup it. They'll they'll I don't make they'll

089they'll get it. They'll complete those six hours. Right. >> And that is essentially what is hoped for on June >> They would have those professional those minutes Sorry, I just got off the screen, too. If I just had a >> is that it's the June 23rd date. >> Um >> That's correct. >> that matters. >> That's correct. Yeah, they would align with professional development hours the teachers have. >> Yes, I know. >> Okay. >> Does that Did that answer your question? >> Yes. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Well, hang on. The >> And so the 19th is the high school, the middle school and Dean's Mill >> Professional development day to make up for this one that got snowed out in January. >> January something. >> Correct. Yes. >> And I I should mention

090by the way, West Vine will be in school on the 19th, which is the Juneteenth holiday. Which that holiday legislatively is the same as Veteran's Day. We're allowed to have school on that day. The only requirement is that we do some kind of recognition and programming um about that particular holiday on the 19th for those students who are in school. >> Can I ask why what the thought So, I know that in many of the emails we got, there was conversation about the 19th being a half day instead of a full day of instruction. Can you explain that decision? >> Um it was based on uh some public comments and some uh comments from other parents uh in the previous iteration we had uh a total of four early release days at the end of

091the year um and people found that the parents found that to be very disruptive uh and a real burden uh for child care, time off work uh they can't enroll in summer camps like a lot of parents do in those weeks. Um so it was uh I think the feedback I got it was a logistical nightmare uh for parents. So, that's parents were my primary concern in the change. Um I understand the teachers' concerns that uh if And that was why our original plan was to swap the January PD day cuz an instructional day in January is worth two instructional days in June. Uh but I challenge the comment that was made today that that that you can't do meaningful instruction in June. It's more difficult, it's more challenging, but it can be done and

092it needs to be done. >> Um, Ms. Blanchette's microphone is not is not working at the moment, but she is asking what happens if the calendar is not approved tonight. >> So, um, I really don't know what the um, we had to approve last month because the 6th of this month was up was a change in that calendar. So, we couldn't operate without that calendar being approved. So, I'm not sure what the ramification is since there's really nothing changing uh, in April. Um, one of the things that I can say is if we were to delay until April, uh, it would prohibit me from making any of these make-up days during the April vacation, which is an option, which I did not exercise at this point. Instead of adding them to the end of the

093year, uh, we have uh, the allowance that we can take days from April vacation instead of adding the snow days. That's we My recollection here in Stonington in the last 20 years of I can remember we did it once. Uh, and it was awful. Yeah. >> There was also mention of survey data. I don't know if the board has access to that survey data. >> So, that survey data that they're talking about is so old and the question is not no longer germane on that. >> Meeting is >> Meaning those questions were posed well before >> Well before all of these other days. >> days. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> Has there been dialogue about another survey? For the community as well? Because I think you know For yeah, for what the West Vine community.

094Cuz clearly there's a difference of opinion um between you know the parents, the teachers, the several stakeholders in the community. And that's that's normal. That's fine. But um it would be good for the board to have clarity on those issues. And if that's something that could be done in between now and April >> It could be done in a matter of days if that's if that's the direction the board wants to go. I can certainly put a a poll in the field and and get you those results. >> I would be inclined to approve what's presented to us tonight with knowing the fact that at next month's meeting it can be revised again. Um we revised it month to month based on circumstances and situations. And um I think in order for us to give

095the superintendent as much you know, leeway as possible for for these days um in his planning for this the school system to to move forward. And if we outside of getting uh a mostly chain email today from all the teachers at West Vine uh that you know maybe the the superintendent or the principal can meet with them over there and what alternatives are they suggesting suggesting besides just those half days? Um you know, I would hate to think of the the tar and feather that would take place if we decided to cancel one or two vacation days in April at this time. >> The >> I would move forward and and uh approve tonight and then we can always change next month. >> The other uh technical thing that I'll add to the conversation is

096that the teachers' contracts are for 187 days. And so, if we cut the student days short and do the makeup of the professional which is I believe what they're looking for is to make up those two professional development days in half-day increments. Technically, it's still going to leave them short of their obligation to work 187 days. Well, that's a good day's work for a good day's pay. Yes, Mr. Kelly. >> But, we're still meeting the professional development part. >> Yep. >> And in reality, I don't think it's going to happen, but another snow day could I know I know, but it's happened. You know, this this could make everything here another moot point as it did >> Correct. >> kind of last month. >> Correct. >> Okay. It's not going to happen. I put my

097boots away. It's not going to happen. >> We said that last time. >> All right, just to summarize some some points cuz there was a lot of discussion there. So, one just [clears throat] to reiterate, if we were to move forward and approve tonight, that does not stop us from adjusting throughout the next couple of weeks and approving a different calendar again in April. Um that's one point. Um two, you know, adjusting the calendar is really not just finding time for instructional days. Again, we have six bargaining units and six different contracts that we have to meet obligations to. We have to end the school year in a certain number of days from when it started. There's holiday obligations that we have to follow. There's professional development obligations that we have to follow. They're slightly

098different for each of the six bargaining units. It's uh probably a full-time job um to find how to work these calendars. So, um what what might look like flexibility might actually be not much flexibility if any at all. Um if I could kindly request to administration to provide the board um with uh some responses to what was brought up in the handful of emails we got from the West Vine faculty and staff. Um cuz they do again, I don't know the full extent of everything that goes into that calendar, but to me at at at reading through those, there might be some hints of flexibility and options there that we could potentially consider. Um but again, just to reit- reiterate to the board, um if we move forward and approve tonight, we can always adjust

099and and approve again in in April if there are adjustments to be made. >> I hesitate to keep approving a calendar and then revising it. I just think it makes it very hard for parents to plan the end of the school year. >> I don't know that it necessarily is changing the last day of instructional days. Well, it may be shifting it. To me, it seems like it's it's West Vine that is most impacted. And that is where the most concerns are to be had. But if if if that con- conversation at the school level can come back and we can have it on the agenda next month. That's my stance. >> Any further comment? Okay, I'll entertain a motion to approve the 25-26 revised school calendar as presented to us. Do I hear a

100second? >> I second. >> All right, there's a motion on the floor and it was seconded. Sorry, that was a really long time ago. Um uh there was a motion on the floor to approve the uh 25-26 revised school calendar and it has been seconded. Um all in favor to approve the calendar as presented, please indicate by saying I. I. With those um anyone any opposed? Okay, I believe that was unanimous for the record. Uh moving on to item 12 on the agenda, subcommittee reports. Um first is teaching and learning subcommittee. Um I was absent last month. I was very sick. Um Katie, Zach, would you mind uh any updates you'd like to share from teaching and learning from last month? >> We heard um I think it was long overdue. It was kind of

101the first time we'd met in a while. Um but we heard math um three, four, and five, as well as exploratory physical science, English 11, and music kindergarten. Tonight we continued music two music one and two. So, those will be up next month for for first read. Amongst others that we read tonight. It was great discussion. I'm happy to add. Thank you. Uh moving on, finance and facilities sub uh subcommittee. We proudly voted Bree as our chairman of uh chairwoman of that subcommittee. Um Bree, update on that subcommittee. >> Um well, we had our first meeting, which was I guess exciting for me. Um I don't really have any other big updates from that. From our first meeting. >> Thank you. Questions for Bree? All right, moving on, item C, policy subcommittee. >> The policy

102subcommittee um presents the following policies for a second reading with a vote to take place afterwards. In the 1000 series, you have well, the first one is administrative reg 1130, policy 1170, administrative reg 1170. In the 3000 series, it's policy 3010, administrative reg 3070. On the 4000 series, it's um P460, P4130, P4210, AR4210, P2220 and AR 4220. Um on the 5000 series, it's uh 50 policy 5060, policy 5130, AR5130, policy 5290, policy 5300, policy 5320, AR5320. And on the 6000 series, it's policy 6065. I so move for discussion and a vote. >> I'll second. >> And if I could just add to um I think I probably do the public service announcement all the time is that we had a first reading on this at last month's meeting and this is a second reading. The

103policies have uh been listed on the calendar for the second time on the on the agenda for the second time. All the policies on the uh on the agenda are hyperlinked so that they can be pulled up and they are either new mandated policies or they're policies that have um superseded antique policies or policies that have been um removed and uh there have been the chairman of the uh Rajab sent back to the policy committee um several policies that we had a first read last month on that can be um discussed back in the policy committee and brought forward to the the full board for a second read and a vote. It's some of the policies that the public had concerns about and I think the chairman was right in making sure that we do

104our due diligence in discussing these policies and reiterating that our policies are are bound by state law and that um our policies do not violate anyone's civil rights or any other rights that they may have. So, um I think that's all I have for comment. >> Thank you, Dan. Dan motioned. Um Zach seconded. Um any comment? Yep. >> The fundraising policy, there was some questions about um and I obviously between first read and last last month and approval today, nothing changed on that. >> That was um one of the policies that Mary Ann um came up with through Shipman and as far as I know nothing I know there was um some discussion in the emails pertaining to that. Um I'm comfortable sending that back to the policy committee as well and we can revisit

105and >> Maybe just some more clarification because what was it's it doesn't seem to be clear on expectations for PTO versus a >> Right. >> You know, it >> Right. No, I understand her concern. I understand her concerns and most of it wasn't the policy itself. I think it was the administrative it was the administrative regs. >> Right. >> So, the AR. So, but um I will motion to um send policy 5130 and administrative reg 5130 back to the um policy committee. >> And maybe loop in the um parent who seems to have the most, you know, connection to that. Thanks. >> Okay, well, there was a motion and a second on the floor. What we can do, Dan, is adjust your motion to approve at the policies listed other than the two pertaining to

106the uh pertaining to fundraising. >> Thank you. >> Is that okay? Okay. Zach, you're second. Okay, so uh any further comment? So, all those in favor of approving the policies listed under item 12 CI on the agenda other than P5130 fundraising and the AR for that P P1530 AR 5130 fundraising please indicate by saying I. I. >> I. >> No as you noted >> miss for the record. >> Uh item D, welcoming schools liaison report. I don't think we've had one since last time. Anyone? No. Uh item E, learn board liaison report. >> I think I'm talking a lot tonight. Um we had a learn meeting this morning um and I don't think I reported on last month's meeting, but the last 2 months a good portion of the of the meeting has been dedicated

107to hearing from some area superintendents on their district initiatives, collaborations, um as much as I think Stonington is the best, it's always nice to hear what um other districts are doing. So, Clinton was um today and then Waterford, which a little bit closer, um was last month. Um Waterford does a very cool shadow um at the high school where literally a a student and a staff member trade roles for the day to really be in it. It was it's like a full immersion. It was very cool. Um and then um just you know, round table discussion about budgets, um cell phone policies, AI AI policies, um conversations with other districts who use a town council versus a board of education. So, things things seem to be done differently obviously across other districts, but um everybody

108sort of is in similar concerns as as we are. But, that's it. >> Thank you. And item F, retirement board report. It's Meg. I'm not sure her mic works. That's okay. >> I can give a update if you want. They did meet this morning. Um I mean, not a huge amount to report. Um 2025 was a strong year. 20 26 expected return rate is 7.3% and this matters for our budget, right? Because if it's not performing well, that means we have to put more um board um board of ed money into it. Um the actuarial report recommended that we keep our assumption rate at 6.375%, uh which may seem low given the expected 2026, um but that is because of the uncertainty with uh the inflation trends. >> Question. Um and I'm not sure if

109it falls under the retirement board report, but I just had a Van Riley flashback. Um and it was positive. Um we did he did retirement incentives for teachers to notify the superintendent ahead of time that they were going to be leaving at the end of the year and therefore he was able to um incentivize them to notify him at the time. And then it also the the biggest problem with that was that if we didn't find out till the last minute, the list of applicants for positions had dwindled to a point where, you know, a lot of the um cream of the crop or whatever, you know, other people had first crack at them before Stoneham got around to them. So, I was just I don't know if that falls under this or is this

110something separate? >> That would be something separate, but so that actually lived in the teachers contract at one point and it has since been eliminated from it. There's a lot of people who are still grandfathered in. It is very expensive. We do have a an account set aside for that. So it is really expensive and subject to bargaining. >> Moving on to item 13 on the agenda, monthly reports. Any comment on the global student government or enrollment reports? >> I have a question unrelated to that. Going back to the I don't mean to speak out of turn, but this one's really important. The the AR for fundraising. It's really important that we get that form like out and going because the one that exists now is not helpful for anybody and it's really uncharted territory

111for everybody and this one that is included today I think would be really helpful for those PTOs and other organizations that are having a hard time understanding what they're supposed to be doing. At least the form and I don't know you guys don't typically approve ARs. So we maybe could use the form anyway and and then you could still revisit the policy. I just do think the the form is really informational for people. Um and would be helpful to have that in play. >> I mean what can we we could do again almost like with the calendar is we can approve it both the policy and the AR that we do even though we don't need to approve it that goes along with it and then make changes at our next meeting. Katie if that's

112>> Yeah, I I don't want anything to hold up. I know it's the end of the year. I know there's probably a lot of events and funds to be raised, but this just offers a lot more clarity than we had before. So I think it'll actually be helpful and give us kind of a path. >> So basically use it temporarily. >> Yeah, I think >> it until modified. >> in lieu of the old form, which >> Or no form. >> Right. >> Okay. I'm I'm I'm comfortable with that as long as it's >> So, my I'll make a motion >> on the table. >> I Can I make a motion, Mr. Chairman, to >> Yeah, I suppose we're slightly out of order here. I don't know if this might require us an an agenda adjustment.

113Uh it is a regular meeting, so we'd be allowed to do that. Um so, perhaps >> to approve policy 5130 on fundraising and the the company in AR 5130 that goes with it. >> With a caveat. >> With a cav- well, yeah, on on yeah. Not as part of the motion, but as part of the discussion, we can say that it's uh All of them are amendable and changeable at any time after, you know, going through the policy committee or through coming here. >> When do you guys meet? Policy? >> We haven't I don't know when our next meeting is. >> I don't know when our next scheduled meeting is. >> Okay. Will it be before the April meeting? >> April 2nd. >> Okay. >> April 2nd. >> All right. >> Which is what, Good

114Friday or Holy Thursday? The day before three-day weekend. >> So, through I I I guess this is how we'll do it for accounting purposes. So, through point of order, a motion was made by Mr. Kelly to approve uh Where do the Where do the numbers go? >> Policy 5130. >> approve um P5130 and the accompanying AR5130. Is there a second? >> I second. >> Seconded by Zach. Thank you. Any further comment? >> You know where I stand. Just as as long as we get it situated for for those that really have the the questions about it. >> Okay, and the next policy committee meeting is April 2nd. Did I hear that correctly? Okay. All those in favor of approving P1530 for fundraising and the accompanying AR, please indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Unanimous

115for the record. Thank you. Item 13 on the agenda, monthly reports. Would you like to give your update? You You okay? >> but I actually kind of had a question. So, me and Finn after she had originally typed this up, we had met with Mrs. Dorr, principal, and we got this approved. But, we did also come across a news article from 1976 that there was a time capsule for our class for 2026, but it was stored in a sign that no longer exists at the at the high school. We Yeah, like the Stonington High School sign. It was sealed in the sign. So, we're in contact with the woman who had brought the One of my teachers had brought this to our attention, and we are in contact with his aunt who was there when

116it was buried. And we're But, if anyone has any connection to what as to where the sign went, we're on the hunt for the sign so we can have a maybe an extended task walk where we could unbox the original one and make a new one that we would then present in 50 or the next class would present 50 years. 1976, yes. >> That is super cool. Thanks for sharing that. >> Thank you. >> There don't remove there's a thing in here, yeah. Thanks for sharing that. That was great. Uh any further comments on monthly reports. All right, moving on to board comments and items for future agenda. Um, if I may begin just thank you again to everyone involved in board appreciation month. I know it's not technically a part of board appreciation month,

117but I do also want to comment um, on the reading week. Um, I went to Deans Mill last week and I read in Miss Pescatello's fourth grade class. Um, they were wonderful. Um, one of my favorite things about the reading week is the all of the organization that goes into it. Um, you know, I think Chris Oliverio led the the effort at Deans Mill and I'm sure there's so many other people involved, but even the, you know, the sending down of a student leader to escort you to the room is such a nice touch. Like I had a I had a fifth grader, McKenzie, who's just wise beyond her years showing me around the school as if I've never been there. It was very cute. She was very great. Um, and the fourth grade class

118that I read to was was wonderful. And then getting to read at Westvine, um, we had a delay, of course, when I was originally scheduled, um, to read at Westvine. So they rescheduled. So again, thank you so much to uh, Jackie and Faith for organizing everything at Westvine and everything everyone else involved in that whole process and the rescheduling of the morning readers. Um, I was able to read at Westvine in my daughter's class. Um, and always a wonderful experience. I know so much goes into that and just thank you to everybody involved. And thank you again, uh, especially to the kids involved in all of our goodies in here and the card. Um, I know my kids always love reading through that card and all the little notes that are included in there. So

119thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> I'm going to jump on that train as well. Um, getting these cards is exactly what we do what we do. It's why we're here. Uh, we're here for the students. So this is this is amazing. Um, and although I don't like being called Mr. Buddha, um, I'm very I am honored to receive these. >> Thank you. >> Um, reading week was definitely a big a favorite. I got to read a book that was given to me when I was 2 years old and nobody in the class had ever read it before, which was exciting. Um and Megan also wants everybody to know that she really loved reading week as well and she's sorry her equipment's not working. >> Any further board comments or items for future agendas? >>

120I will gladly move to adjourn. >> Dan seconded. All in favor of adjourning, please indicate by saying aye. >> Aye. Unanimous. Thank you, everybody.