Torrington Board of Education Meeting

001e e e [Music] I like to call this or to order the special budget committee meeting at 5:15 pm all of us Marissa you have plus everyone else discussion next steps of the budget so we looked at this maybe once thousand times can you speak up please we've looked at the budget more than once um so any discussions any you wna talk about before we move into hopefully the city gives us what we need anyone else no sorry that's okay all looking this way in the corner um okay so entertain well guess a motion to send to the full Board second favor e e e meeting of the board of education at everyone United States to the Mr B here Mr Cory here mron Mr Mr EO here here Mr K Mr KN Mr putam

002here Caron representative M Ferguson here miss KUSI here miss lby here Mr P here miss sh here miss here Mr wison here okay anything different for the agenda right it's good no last minute change this time so I will hear a motion for the approval of the agenda as it is in okay uh any discussion amendments all those in favor please say I okay we have our agenda uh School community service and public participation no one has signed up in the room is anyone online uh so I'll just put out a Qui call if anybody in the room would care to address the board now would be time okay uh so I will skip the long paragraph and we'll go right to recognition so we have a tonight and the first recognition is for all

003of the board members as it is board appreciation month uh on behalf of all the students and staff T public schools we'd like to thank you for your tireless dedication and service and for being part of the team we know I know that this work could not be done without you and your constant support and your constant dedication to our students never goes unnoticed so tonight was a small token of our as well as some certificates that I will come around and hand out and just as his customary we would like to take a photo with thank Youk a photo this way I think what do you think I think if the board stands up this way we'll get a good angle here I think we stand everyone SC I'm sorry everyone that was quick

004I think as long as Marissa says we're good we good good Mr K your tonight so where we start where we started M right here I think would be this way here say something which one are we starting you got a sequencing your certification wonderful Alex and Max we would like to congratulate tonight they are moving on to the National Invention Convention they have worked hard on their project um they qualified at the state level they are working on this project Miss kak has been doing a wonderful job helping out and kind of leading we proud of Al and Max going to tr this summer to present their bud and be able to show off all they've done on that we going to represent perfect there you our next Award winner is Ariel Marriott who

005this P month um was announced as one of the Chad essay contest winners this contest was a Statewide contest that talked about hopes and dreams and what students in terms of where they see themselves in the future and what obstacles that they have overcome era is one of our wonderful amazing students at Forbes who has done a great job also in the tag program with Miss Kaki as well um Ariel exemplifies what it means to be a student and works tirelessly to get the job done her prize for this was a $500 college scholarship that went into one of her 43 accounts so congratulations and I've got two poster contest winners I believe I have here tonight one is and the other is angel angel is here tonight and um both were a local and

006a regional winner and Angel is going onto the state level competition in just a few days so where I am so excited to recognize our art department and some amazing students tonight the stomic plug is going through Middle [Music] School I do want to recognize Andi who is here right now as well as Mr coin and theal I'm so impressed they collaborated with the Five Points theater to have an art show for our students that was truly amazing within that student artwork and I can't there were quite a few was over 50 students were able to exhibit their artwork people come through and it was just amazing to see that the students that are also recognized are Abigail Salinger inis Sara Savannah Anderson and Alejandra Baro Perez they had amazing artwork pieces and we're so

007proud of that yeah I think we teachers at Port so I'd like to follow Mr McKenna I believe most of you know Mna more than just talk about tur uh so Mr Metta is being recognized by the Connecticut Association of athletic directors with the Meritus service award uh this is not only a recognition for his uh linky uh an honorable career as our athletic director but also for his dedication to student athletes scholarship promoting sportsmanship and particularly our Unified sports program which has been recognized Pro great thank you good M raldi yes some students walk in that yes if they did let's 100% congratulations thank you everyone for coming congratulations everybody who recognize um we are about to dive into the minutia of the school board's government governance uh so please don't feel obligated to

008stay for that part though you are more than welcome um so with that I'll turn it again back to the superintendent I'm sorry student I went too far down the list so I'm Kay KY um and I'm the first student presenter tonight from T High School um so recently entrepreneurship students had the opportunity to attend the opportun the entrepreneurship in ation challenge at Central Connecticut State University it was sponsored by the jior achievement and the event gave students a chance to Showcase their ideas compete in real world Innovation and interact with Professionals in the field the experience was invaluable for those aspiring enter the world of Business and Entrepreneurship helping home their skills and creativity um additionally last week our school counselors hosted the second faasa night and a financial planning night for families um

009these events were held in the brand new cafeteria Auditorium providing a welcoming environment for families financial aid scholarship opportunities and important financial planning GRS for their students future um we recently celebrated our National Honor Society induction as well um it was in the beautiful theater bu currently based and it was a wonderful night to recognize the in honor the dedication and hard work of our stud wey the values of scholarship service leadership and character hi I'm Lily Hull and I'm another student presenter from THS um the hlsa future health professionals group had a significant experience this month at the Connecticut state leadership conference this event provided students with exposure to leadership opportunities networking with peers and professionals and gaining insights into the health sector which will prove vital as they continue to explore careers in

010Health Mr Marco students had the opportunity to engage in teacher observations at southb elementary this hands-on experience allowed students to get a closer look at what it takes to be an educator and help them gain a deeper understanding of classroom dynamics and teaching methods it was a valuable experience for those interested in pursuing a career in education events this month have included our art Department's field trip to the New Britain Museum of American art which was a success it exposed students to Art which they wouldn't have normally explored the art Department also participated in the districtwide art show at the fivepoint gallery this past March 15th showcasing um Tron high school students artwork our student body has continued to publish columns on our radar report website including opinion reports school and Statewide News sports updates

011Etc the online newspaper has attracted $295 dollars to support seron high schools journalists as of marks 2 on Thursday Mar March 27th the choir will be having the first ever concert in our new Auditorium on April 3rd our music department is excited to announce our spring concert this concert taking place in the T High School auditorium will feature never-heard before musical composition such as welcome home by Dr Scott Waton which will be played by our concert band students and band are also currently focusing on promoting the genuine enjoyability of band to attract new members for the upcoming school year along with the band The Orchestra will also be having concert the same day playing pieces such as arrival which was written by our student teacher Nan this piece was written to showcase our excitement and

012gratitude for our arrival to the new building looking ahead to April we're excited to announce a deliciously fun event in the new torington High School culinary room our very first sandwich Showdown um Robbie Pino from Jimmy store will be joining us to judge the friendly competition we our seventh and eighth period Advanced culinary students will face off to create B the ultimate Sage the winning creation will earn a spot on Jimmy's menu for the entire week um that's it so thank you for your attention that concludes our torington high school board reports hopefully Mr shared that invitation sandwi as I shared with the board at our last meeting I was called back into action on the basketball court right here at TMS for the annual student s proud to say that still undefeated whether or

013on the court so the faculty did Come Away With A great win but it was a really nice time had by all a lot of families came out a lot of students came out to do some cheering and supporting central office came out and really had a good cheering section for even Mr poola you know he tried to give some tips but we didn't listen hence why we won so we were very excited for that I'm just saying that's a true but it was a really nice time and I think I know the faculty had a great time and I know all the students students uh did as well so I'm very honored to be invited and looking forward to that uh assistant superintendent Ferguson 9 had the pleasure to read to our friends at

014both Forbes and Southwest we had such a great time it was the book selected by Miss Bluto and others but it was really just a great time to hang out with our young readers and at the end we left plenty of time for question and answer session and I do believe that everyone in those rooms now at Southwest and forbs know pretty much everything about me what I do morning till night but it was a really great time and really enjoyed that yeah we held a redistricting Q&A earlier this month where the entire team from central office came out and were able to answer any questions from community members and or staff members that came out and it was pretty well attended and we were very happy to be able to provide answers to them

015assistant superintendent burgus and I also attended both literacy nights at tford and vogle and at Vogal we actually have a special guest we have the therapy do CIT with us if you want to pop on our website he definitely did the interview with us and kind of soole the show a little bit but that's okay it was a great time night to be with everyone in we also met with the state regarding our alliance Grant in terms of our progress and where we are towards our vs and we receive very nice accolades from our state partner about our work here in torington about the growth we're making about the strides that we're making and about all of the efforts that we're putting into learning both literacy and math as well so very happy to report

016that we also held a coffee and budget evening where anyone can come out and ask questions at the team as well and we did have several people come out and were able to ask questions and get answers to the budget which obviously earlier this evening was moved forward to the full board uh for theirs so we're very happy and excited for that uh some exciting news is you all watch or look at our social media central office held our first ever spirit week and it really was amazing and the Highlight for me uh and it was posted on Facebook the entire central office team really really got me good they uh they decided to all dress like me in twin day and really made my day my week my month my year so I can't

017thank them enough it was really just an amazing day and it was amazing kind gesture so thank you to them and if you've seen that photo gives you a little context now where everyone was dressed the way they were uh our Spring sport seasons are underway uh and our student athletes do continue to work hard both in the classroom and on the field and I have some real exciting news uh to share with the board I hope you find it exciting I do um as I shared last year I was invited to attend the National Convention last year by RTM group this year I was invited again but not only invited but I was invited to be a speaker uh at the national so I'm pretty excited early in April I'll be a speaker at

018the National Convention uh my topic which I will be hopefully wowing the crowd and making torington very proud is engaging every learner overcoming barriers to student participation all through the power of team so obviously everyone knows power of team is what I'm all about and for them to reach out to me after doing their homework and recognize the good work that we do that I do something that I'm very humbled by and proud of and I assure you that I will make t Team cop and give you a full report in April on how it went and as always I would be remiss if I didn't thank all of our staff and administrators for their hard work and dedication to all of our students that is a highlight and we get you see that in

019action and that continues to be the and that is my report pleas thank you congratulations congratulations that's exciting anyone have questions marks a superintendence report okay you we'll pass it over to you resources report thank you so uh you have my report uh in the packet uh we do have one certified vacancy now uh so we have a teacher that's leaving and uh so we're working on recruiting candidates for that position right now our classified vacancies we continue to make movement so you can see that we've gone down from about 12 last month to uh a little bit less than that I think it's eight so and it's actually one less than that because we actually have hired one of the Paris so we're actually down to two pair of vacancies because Laura and her

020team are doing an excellent job of grabbing candidates once they apply so we're moving pretty quickly um our fill rates continue to hover around the same that they've been so we're we're in the mid 60s for our fill rates for teachers and then rate around 40 for our Paras we have been meeting regularly with our partner with ESS to try to develop strategies to be able to recruit more subs for the pool um and then our absences you can see our teacher absences still tend to be around the 9% uh which year to date we're actually trending about 2% better than where we were last year um our par absences a little tough this month but you know there's been a lot going around so um and then our initiatives it's job fair season so

021we've been out and about already we were at Yukon yesterday and we met about 20 potential candidates so we're excited about that there was a lot of people that visited our table um we are scheduled to attend CCSU scsu uh Quinnipiac we're doing mock interviews and two of our administrators uh have agreed to go and participate in that um uh we're going to the Northwest Chamber of Commerce which is at City Hall at hington City Hall um we're also scheduled to go to n Valley Community College and just today we signed up for the ca job fair which is going to be at new inton high school so uh so we're out and about everywhere uh showing off our swag and talking about the great things we're doing in torington um the teacher residency programs

022relay selection processes the selection processes are underway and they're nearing their end so hopefully we'll know how many residents we'll have for next year our residents that we have this year are continuing to progress through the program so we're excited that we're able to support our internal Talent on a pathway to becoming a teacher uh We've scheduled our office hours for next month so we're going to be getting those notices out to everybody but we'll be out in April at all the schools and we're working on planning for our annual walking challenge with our new platform and we've got some really cool new prises so we excited about that uh on the other on the second page of the report you have the standard uh comparative of the ESS and the torington subs so that

023you can see the difference between our torington subs uh you can see that the sick daily absences continue to be where we're seeing the highest Trends and then um our turnover percentages and just for comparative data all of those numbers are trending less than we were at this time last year for those comparative numbers for the turnover so we actually are retaining people and doing a nice job of keeping people in District so we're excited about that so I'm happy to answer any questions have anything Bill the walking challenge is that just is is that just for for students or that's for staff for employees does that include work number sure yes absolutely so yes absolutely enjoyed it he doesn't even know what they are any for anybody else CH him do you attribute the

024um the trending down of the absences to the sentent program yes yeah I do think that that's the a factor awesome just to give you some you know compliment but I know the city council wasn't very happy about the program but I explained to a bunch of them at Democrat meeting Michelle cook that I look at it as a a bonus you can't we can't do a bonus and Mr cavano did propose a merit pay for teachers a while back I said look at this that way in effect it becomes a merit pay it's a bonus and says he understood it but I doubt very much he's gonna accept it but you know I think it's a great idea pardon I'm an oh okay but no I think that that's kind of been my perspective

025is that you know bonuses for various things in the private sector the public sector have been around since the dawn of time and you know I think anything we can do to show people that we value them and incentivize them you know various ways I think that's always a good thing and you know I think this job is tough for everybody no matter whether you're a parent or a teacher or a cust and anything we can do to help these people that are doing such important work for the children in this community to me is always a win so thank you to the board for supporting and he said he understood it that wayos that way let's see what happens for what it's worth with regard to the attendance attendance incentives as well is at

026this point I'm pretty sure for all of our bargaining units they're collectively bargained for or arbitrated I suppose um so you know regardless of how much some folks around town May dislike them uh they are set in stone and certainly I think this board knows and understands that they've been successful so well I don't want to speak for the future of our collective bargaining strategy I would say I think they're probably going to be these contracts for quite some time I certainly hope so I hope so too and I've actually had other districts reaching out to me because they are excited about hearing that kind of an opportunity and have asked me to to share like the language so that they can look into it you know because attendance is an issue so anything we

027can do to help people you know I think that's the feeling so anyone else okay thank you uh we'll go right ahead for the special education sure so you guys have my report I'm in the packet our numbers are um fairly consistent we're still seeing the same pattern with prek um every month just going up we have a few more other than that we had a kind of an unexpected outplacement up this month with five more children being outplaced so I put the um reasons down below for that just to make you aware our prevalence rate remains around 15.7% which is where we've been all year actually for the past two years um we should begin to see a little bit of an uptick and then probably a Slowdown what happens this time of year

028is schools begin to really look at kids that they feel need to be evaluated for special ed it's the end of the year before they go on to their new school so we tend to get quite a few referrals at this time sometimes parents will put in referrals too especially if they're worried about their their child entering into school so we may see a little bit of an uptick and then after that should it should slow down but I was surprised to see this month we actually went down to in District so that's great um our 504 numbers are there currently we have 38 open special education referrals so that's the initial referral so that's what I was just talking about so those children are being evaluated we should begin to see that slow down

029after April 1st so far this school year 28 students have been exited from Special Ed and are once again General ed students so that always makes me feel good um Kim talked about our special ed Staffing and I'm very happy to report that you guys must have done some magic because I got a speech PA um after bringing it up last month so she was hired and we're very excited for her to start and we've had another applicant so that's really exciting after going all year with no speech all of a sudden we have that um so my team my speech pathologists have done an amazing job just trying to keep things status quo during this time and we've been able to service the students and whatnot but we will be very happy to be

030fully staffed in that area again and um as Kim said we right now need two Paras that's it maybe one maybe one I'm hoping um so we're in pretty good shape um staff wise so let's hope that continues for the rest of the year and I think oh then the only other thing is um last week I attended Southwest tag program had the spelling be and they will be having one Forbes this Friday so that's for the scripts spelling and those students will go on the winner will go on to the state um competition so it was really exciting they had a full library of parents it was really nice to that's it here you may know the answer but I'm gonna ask you anyway as the state notified us of what if any dollars

031will'll be saved for SPL load yeah so I'm gonna Ken turn that to Donna but um IA we're we're not being touched we're going to be fine with but the additional funding that they they announced they didn't they didn't announce toing funding they're they're still working on that I believe it's in a bill and a bill isn't going to pass till like the third Wednesday of June or something you know so we won't know her yet um but it is showing positive I forget is excess cost one that ends up in our poppers no that's I request I think have been looking at about the I'm sorry that was one of the reasons why the governor had vetoed it because he wanted it to directly this is what I was coming to shot to go

032directly to the the schools and it was decided by the legislature that it was going to go to the cities first so the original bill was to go directly to the recipients and he end up signing but it was it's G and now are they is there an obligation for them to turn it over right I didn't think so had discussion with Ed arum at some point okay well I hope that we can eventually maybe see some of those dollars but I don't know how enthusiastically them well if we request it is it does it have to be it accommodated unfortunately with excess cost and every district is in the same position some better than others obviously so while we can request the excess false dollars there is no statute or mandate that says dollar

033back dollar which is why the governor wanted it to go to the schools to begin with that's what I was told yes so I was at a superintendent conference last week um and governor was there as was the commissioner and that was one of the panel discussions to try to herb that legislation to really make it back to the schools but where it sits right now Donna is correct there is no definitive answer but answer the question that live on the table there is no mandate currently a city where to get X doll in excess cost and we request all X we can get zero to 100% and there is no formula that dictates otherwise unfortunately address that we have not insignificant expenses that would be considered excess costs related topl students that that might

034be once we get through budget uh and as that advances through par it may be uh an interesting number to see what would be excess cost I know there's a formula top my head um anyone else have any education bill so we can the the the the the excess cost cost dollars we um we can request them but there's but but there's there's no guarantee of of of us getting them that is correct we can request and we get anywhere from zero to 100% of the request there is no formula mandating what that number would be that's stks yeah unfortunately I think the theory behind a lot of this stuff is that uh towns cities and their respective school boards will all get along all the time um and unfortunately that just is not always

035the case anyone else have anything they special okay thank you um we have next uh we have we some reports uh as always uh they come across the wire uh some not all of them made it into the packet um but since all of our administrators are here if anyone wants to add anything to to your the report or tell us something exciting about your buildings okay um so we'll do the monthly financials great good evening everybody everyone has received the monthly financials and the packet they were presented to the budget committee and were in very good standing um as far as where we are in the school years and so I didn't if anybody had any questions regarding it have any just one quick question def find very good sing I haven't met to

036budget meetings can do it a short sniff it sure I can do that shut so so we're looking good as far as our encumbrances so we set aside money in order to get us to the end of the year and then outside of the incumbrances is the salary lines and we're we're looking good in order to make um the end of the year ending in a good position me excess funds or just probably not I know we're not you're right and we'll be looking into that um you know probably at the next meetings as we Zone thank you um someone mention to me that and I I don't have to to make the bud either but somebody mentioned to me that we're over in the line item that we pay for the um attendance payments

037um are we over in that line if so can we cover it somewhere else yes okay we are over and we can cover other other for under so it's easy great and um I guess this is maybe not strictly related to the monthly financials but while we're on the topic um I don't have the budget in front of me at this exact second to find this have we expanded the amount of money in that line in the next whal year's budget okay um great so as long as we're on top of that works for me anyone else okay um so now we have the committee reports tell us about the school Improvement committee uh this past month's meeting the March meeting was at forp school and our report was about the for five schools for

038in Southwest where test scores have been showing Improvement which is expected to continue even as the students move into a new building and made be easier in fact to deliver the things that work the best our meeting next week we'll start with the non- meeting to choose the distinguished columus we have those the nominations all set Mrs Ferguson put those together for us gloriously and we're all set to go on those and we will have at that meeting on the program the middle school report so we'll have a chance to talk about the middle school and we're working on getting a community partner report for the first time this year we've given that a few months off yeah and there's room in the agenda for this so so show up at the meeting it'll fun

039it always thank anyone have any questions for okay uh it's facilities and Technology you no we don't really have too too much to talk about last lack funding but what we on our agenda as far as Rachel and the social media and Tech update she had our standard responses her team's doing a great job keep social media up to date keep the computers running and chasing down pun items for the new school um on the facility side there were two things on our agenda we spoke about the generator move which was in still in the works complete that's complete okay the generator move is complete and the other thing was the DMS roof project thing kind of talk about that's in the works the timeline it's going up bit and we'll have more on that

040in the next meeting anyone have any questions if anybody wants to throw any topics for facilities and Technology please um you know our agenda is a little thin so if you want to know about anything please message me and we'll addenda for next one do you see the curbs here move move my eyes I've been listening M Gary talk about building well I'll address that with your buddy from city council that's rightow they keep providing zero money you're not GNA get any yeah you're right maybe we asks out wood you're better at it than I am okay faity okay uh budget committee tell us what you did an hour ago that meeting just in well the one before I wasn't there Jeff shed the meeting at a concert sure the we went over the budget

041as we have over the last few months uh Donna gave us reports went through all the different different Q&A question that came in discussed a little bit about funding impact from you know the federal government moving some of the funding to the state and just put some of the grants Title One I to would look like was a bit early to know anything at that point but went over those various things and uh just asked a couple more questions about the budget we missed Ellen and tonight's meeting we pass the budget to the should be very long meeting we did anyone have any related to the budget committee okay um building committee uh I think they to mix up um yeah I talked to Mario earlier today we didn't really remind them that we had

042a meeting and that we wanted them to show up so that's on Sue and I um but there's a quick one I mean tomorrow just most of the question is the turf OMG has the numbers from fui we have a long meeting tomorrow you going to that by the way 's office um they've given us all the numbers but it's still going to be probably'll be a grinding four hours three or four hours tomor probably just to go through their numbers and get it looks like it's going to work out but you know he's got a breakdown that some of us don't understand and's gonna get real answers to hopefully it will we'll get the numbers that really need to be with seems to be in line it's not as clear as it should be

043and I I know some folks have been asking after um sort of an expanded view of the financials for the project so uh I also I spoke to Mario today uh he sent me um some documents um as a sort of preliminary answer to the questions um so I'm going to continue to work with them soon I going to get on the phone with him sometime this week and uh make sure that anybody who wants to see something that they don't feel like they've seen uh we will get it um so in that vein if members of the board or administrative team uh want to to see things related to the Project's cost where the money's gone what's incumber Etc um just let us know um so that we can make sure that folks feel

044like they're actually getting the answers that they are looking for um for on where they my Mario was not combative at all he was responsive to what I asked him for and I want to put that on the record because sometimes people think that he and I are fighting um so no we we're we're working together with them to to get some of the things we're looking I will GL he may want to check his T in some with his messages and response um if we could um maybe at this point because the project is running down we could post a joint um board bed building committee meeting so that we can just kind of talk through what's left and I think it makes sense for any project that's coming to an end and we

045have a a Clos down meeting so maybe over the next few weeks we can facilitate something that's down yeah if people are interested in that on the board we can tack that on to the things that we're going to ask of Mario and no surprises in the demo yet but I wouldn't hold my breath for now we we didn't start digging yet right well are you they haven't they haven't started going up well that's not true they have gone underground some places but that big knob out there where the music room is might be a little B I think it's a r pile but we'll see okay anyone else have anything to building committee okay uh moving right along uh we have Board of aded minutes um for the regular meeting uh February 26 and

046special meetings on February 18th February 19th and March 10th uh so as long as there's no faction I would hear a motion to accept and approve all of those together is there second second okay that's made byco by and discussion amendments to the minutes hearing none all those in favor please say iOS okay and then we have the subcommittee meeting minutes uh so that's facilities and Technology February 12 Budget on the same date School Improvement on February the 5th and the building committee on February 20th again baring any objection I here to receive all the committee meeting minut as one BND there second second okay uh any amendments those minutes hearing n all those in favor please say I okay those minutes up the board uh we have the consent agenda it's sen your packet

047as usual I will hear a motion to receive the consent agenda regarding appointments retirements and resignations may I make a comment first always happy to see someone come to the end of a of a successful teaching career with the retirement we have two such people on the consent agenda tonight I can't can't say that I Know M Ro but Mary Demar will definitely be missed for her academic standards and ability to get along with kids in all the right ways want to just congratulate her on coming to this point in her careers and her partner Lisa her and uh Mrs Roach work very closely together I think in the English program reti EV very strongly thank you Mr K anyone else with remarks none I will still hear a motion regarding uh receiving the consent

048agenda to accept there second second uh any additional discussion heing none all those in favor please say I post okay that's done uh we are on to new information and action it looks like a lot but there's just one item that's really long um but before that we have the field trip which is a THS they want to go to the met on May the 20th are you telling about that or you know what no we're gonna welcome Emily Murphy who's talk I'm Emily Murphy I'm an our teacher of high school and I I want to just first start by saying um really that the five show is acknowledged tonight that was a huge undertaking to listic Wi art show um and it's so important to get our KS Talent out there in the community

049and you can expect to see some kind of C the art show yearly from now on maybe not always at Five Points but we you know it was it was fantastic so and thank you for those of you that did come out and see it it was it was great so um just run through the whole the details of the trip yeah just give us like a quick and dir sum so the uh will be to New York City on May 20th we're going to leave at about 7:45 in the morning turn around 5 in the evening it's for 50 students who are either currently involved in art classes or who have hi in art classes there's a lot of interest so we'll give preference to seniors and students in upper level art classes like

050AP art painting and whatnot um this tends to be an annual trip we usually go every year it's really incredible for the kids to get out to um the met the Met po having over 5,000 years of art history in their Museum it's it's huge it's gorgeous um we ask the kids to you know be respectful for the museum and then to do some reflection we have um a Google form that we ask on completion the Feld trip um that's any questions for me anyone have anything no is this funded all totally by the field trip account or are the students paying some of um if I have it up down um students are going to pay a small fee as part of like commitment uh we're using Alliance funding for Transportation Museum admission um

051we've we have an art field trip fund that we're going to use for substitute teachers and then students have to pay for their own lunches okay yeah thank you any minutes okay thank thank you I would just add as well uh that the guy who runs the hot dog C outside of the is a New York Legend yeah yeah they did a documentary about it excellent hot dogs cannot say enough they can all have but with that unless there's any additional discussion I would hear emotion to approve the THS Met Museum field trip for they second second okay any add not all those in favor please say I post okay is approved um that must be uh okay so next up we have the healthy food certification uh we do this every year I I

052know you're going to tell us a little bit about it I'm sure but unfortunately I just want to warn you now I do have to read the entirety of both of these paragraphs when we get devoting on this unfortunately so I just want you to be prepared Christen is here this even highlights I do not have that's okay so give us some highlights the healthy food certification um requires us to follow all the child standards which we do anyway um you're already Bound by those but enrolling in this certification we are given 10 cents more per meal goes out of our so it comes as a lum sum at the end of the year and it very that comes to us right yeah uh we have I we we've done this for several years now

053um when it first started we had some hiccups related to whether kids could have snacks at birthday parties in classrooms but the program actually changed to accommodate that um so this is really been nothing but good for our school district um so does anyone have anything else to add okay uh we're going to do two motions on this uh our first hear motion as follows that pursuant to Connecticut General statute section 10- 215f the toron public school certifies that all food items offered for sale to students in the schools under its jurisdiction and not Exempted from the Connecticut nutrition standards published by the Connecticut State's Department of Education will comply with the Connecticut nutrition standards During the period of July 1st 2025 through Jun 30th 2026 this certification shall include all food offer for sale

054for students separately from reimburse meals at all times and from all sources including but not limited to school stores vending machines School cafeterias culinary programs and any fundraising activities on school premises sponsored by the school or non-school organizations and groups there second second okay any discussion hearing on all those in favor please say I hi okay that's number one uh and I will hear a motion as follows that the toron public schools will follow the sale will allow excuse me the sale to students of food items that do not meet the Connecticut nutrition standard provided that the following conditions are met one the sale is in connection with an event occurring after the end of the regular school day or on the weekend two the sale is at the location of the event and three

055the food items are not sold from the vending machine or school store an event is An Occurrence that involves more than just a regularly scheduled practice meeting or extracurricular activity for example soccer games school plays and Inter Scholastic debates are events but soccer practices play rehearsals and debate team meetings are not the regular school day is the period from Midnight before to 30 minutes after the end of the official school day location means where the event is being held and must be the same place as food sales is there second second okay any discussion he none all those in favor please say I okay so we're good to go I hope on healthy food certification uh we have next um the 2025 2026 budget uh which the budget Committee just adopted in which in some

056iteration or another really matly the same version uh you have all seen or heard about uh many times but if uh you want to summarize it for posterity sure I have no problem um first of all I'd like to thank the board for their support numerous times coming out hearing our presentation from the entire team it is a team effort as I shared from the beginning it starts at the building level comes all the way to central office level obviously Donal laby puts it together and works closely with me and the rest of the team uh to bring a wellth out budget that really has students at it Center and that's what was presented to the board a month or so back and that's what we're proud to present and the kind of highlight for

057us and one thing that you know anyone who is tuning in and wants to really kind of just recapture everything is to just read the story behind the numbers and the story behind the numbers and that is our story and our story is special and it is unique to us because we do have unique needs just like every other history past but the other highlight that I'd like to mention is while people might say wow that's an impressive number at 7.28% what people don't understand I've made sure to reference this is you cannot and we cannot continue with under 1% for S years no successful business no successful organization can do that if that were the case people would close the doors and either shut down their business or in some cases when it comes

058to organizations like our schools they would actually shut down valuable programs as I highlighted in my report tonight and Mr highlighted from school Improvement committee that we're already being noticeable for our growth so we do not want to lose that we cannot afford to that our students are way way too important for us to put that in Jeopardy so that is the reason for the increase every dollar is accounted for and every dollar goes back to how is it going to impact our students and that is exactly what this budget does this budget took into consideration the financial component that we understand that our taxpayers all of which you are and which many of our teachers are um places on them however that is what is needed for our schools to continue the good work

059and for us to continue to grow and succeed and I very confident with the preliminary numbers just from um our um fall to winter but our winter to Spring will be even higher so we know it's working you know it's working as a chaired at these committee meetings and we just appreciate the to continue and to continue to make that work and that be the highlight for The Bu um thank you and I just um it's occurred to me uh so next up we have the um reding plan but since uh this budget uh that the budget committee's adopted it does consider that or actually say it assumes that the redistricting plan would be approved as present is that correct just so that everyone's clear that these things are kind of tied together they're they're

060tied together in a lot of ways um in terms of how the money would come back in with the redistricting however um as we've also shared if we do not go through different thing we lose some Title One funds and then that becomes a wash so while they're connected yes for intents and purposes from a staff perspective and from funding it remember the way that we're funding the redistricting is all coming from a grant is not coming from budgetary dollars we would lose money from a title one which would impact other things would have to reshu so in that argument we are connected but in the other argument we are not where they would be Senter if that clar no I just I think it's important that the nature of connection between um I so

061with um the student transportation uh this is reflective of the savings we've already achieved with our private school partners that right so that the private school Partners was not reflected in our budget that would come off to [Music] the it it lives in the same line that is correct as long as it's sort of factor it lives somewhere that's all I really care about that's all I got do anyone else have anything so that I understand what you said a minute ago there there there's there's a possibility that that we that we could that we could lose some some of the some of the the um the title one funding well if the as we presented if not if we close doors on buildings that get Title One funding that funding would go away for

062that said building we would have to in essence try to obtain other funding by using different facilities but yes they are tied to the building specific current I just wanted to make sure that I understood yep yeah actually this that's a good segue I had somebody reach out to me about uh some of these funds related to a district Etc I think it's worth putting on the record that uh the title funds are tied to structure and the circumstances of the people who live in the immediate area of the building it doesn't actually have anything to do with the students who go there uh which is sort of an odd way for the federal government to assign funds but it sort of assumes that every school is a neighborhood school um so weirdly enough even

063as you Shuffle students around the title funds assigned to the buildings don't change unless the demographics of the people who live in the area immediately surrounding the school change age um so I just thought that was inter the last thing I have actually um is during the discussion of the redistricting the last time we discussed it um we put I put forward the idea of adding an additional full-time equivalent certified teacher for the exposion program is that factored in both the redist plan you're going to ask us to vote on next and also in the budget or was it not included it was not included and the reason it was not included was because um where we want to house the exposure program we will have a full-time administrator as well as we will have

064faculty there currently as well to oversee and if you recall all of our tutors for our expel program are certified staff they retired certified staff but they are certified it is not just someone that we get to do the tutor so while we can certainly still uh try to find Grand dollars to cover that additional position that is the board's pleasure we didn't feel that it was necessary at that point just because of all of the extra personnel because they are okay anyone else I up a lot I know we've talked about this privately and publicly I just want to make sure that we're not losing staff no matter what may come federally City wat whatever 100% that has been something and I appreciate you asking the question that is I know we we've talked

065about it and you're very adamant about not losing people just wanted to make sure that that is our position and that is what we're standing okay thank you school people at all levels are Optimist you couldn't come into work if you didn't have high expectations and High Hopes as a teacher working with students and the administrators if you were an administrator working with teachers and students and so on and I think the the budget is best viewed that way it's an aspirational budget uh whether it's realistic to expect to get it or not is another story uh redistricting and toring not redist reevaluation and torington is uh going to be a disaster financially because uh residential real estate has gone up in value it's a desirable place to live there's very little housing stock available

066commercial real estate on the other hand is a drug on the market so to speak and so the balance is going to change the taxpayers resident taxpayers are going to end up paying more money than they have proportionately in the past in fact in the case of of my house even if everybody gets zeroed out I'm looking at a 27% increase in my taxes just because the things work so I don't think we're going to be able to get any place near what we're asking for we have to hope for it we have to go in for it we have to let people know this is what we need to do what we need to do but and this maybe applies more of the redistricting but there as ad said they're related items uh I

067I hope that when we get this kicked back to us that the board will have a chance to be more involved rather than reactive in what we do to accommodate the Cs just I hope that happens I'm going to vote for the budget I'm going to vote for the redistricting but with the understanding that I I hope uh when it gets kicked back that we'll have a chance for real input and developing a new program if necessary and that's um in the same vein I I remain committed to the idea that uh there can be significant savings found um by uh making students walk to school uh if they live near the new building um so just in the vein that John's getting at where you know it's almost a certainty that we will get

068not 7.28% increase uh in our F in the city um I would like to remind everybody that I think that that's more explorate um for a significant Savings in transportation um that's all I'll say about that for now because we're not at that part of the budget process uh anyone else question on the title fing I thought that the title one funding was was ours legally to a certain percentage that we weren't really that it was it was T if you redistricted in title one that money would follow the students as long as you were redistricted was my understanding of it I wish it was that way but it's based on a census track um so as the co-chair was referencing it's based on household income it's sort of this lofty formula um but it

069is based on the neighborhood schools so unfortunately does not follow the students okay thank you any what else okay um then I will hear motion to that the board adopt a uh pisal year 2526 budget uh in the amount of 84,4 52,54 uh or 7.28% increase and further to direct the administration uh to submit that request to the city any additional discussion on the question before us he none all those in favor please say I budget is approv thank um next up the redistri yeah yeah the redistricting plan uh again uh we've all talked about this a lot including tonight but if you want to say a few words from sure I could try to put a bow on it um we're very excited when this was asked of of me and of the team

070um we actually the plan that was shared way back when was a plan that stood the same and it stood the same obviously with a lot more detail a lot more attention detail as we should have um we were very appreciative of the questions that the board had asked for us to clarify and the team did a great job on that and you heard the team present the benefits for all students while some people have the misconception and and it's by no means to be offensive please no one take it as such everyone hears the word that we want to do an alternative school but I think if we rewind the tape and that's how old I am sorry the video the Vimeo whatever you want to say if you want to rewind we assistant

071superintendent Ferguson I think articulated at the best this provides an opportunity for all students it's not just for the students who you know school they need an alternative setting it's for all schs because remember in this plan those current teachers that we have teaching alternative are now going to be repurposed offer more electives to our students and we knowing that electives are really engage our students rather than taking a study Bo rather than trying to leave early or come in late right and these are the things that we're able to not offer because so these are the pieces why it affects all students so when I say misconception because oh it's alternative it's just for students who aren't School no no hold on rewind it's for all students and that's what this plan accomplish that

072accomplishes for all students just like repurposing uh the buildings to give us some Breathing Room in some of our other buildings buildings are tax and I will say and I know that I do give Dean a hard time when it comes to basketball coaching and I always will but as a facilities director Dean Works tremendously hard with his team he keeps these buildings really looking good no matter how tax they are no matter how much traffic they're through curs except for the curbs yes but but I think what I think people have to realize is he does a great job he and his team and some people forget well it looks good well during the day every ounce of space is taken and every ounce of space then has to be done gone through at

073the end of the day so this alleviates that this gives us some breathing this gives us some maneuverability if you will within those buildings during the day and it brings great programs as Laura had mentioned and she articulated that beautifully the programs that we're not only transferring over but the potential to bring programs over I mean potential is a word as Educators I know I get excited and you know I hope the board does right I mean that that is the excitement right what can we do for our students now and in the future and we've answered that so that's why we're so excited about redistrict it's not just a this is what we can do right this is what we can do now and this is what we can do now to plan for

074our future and our future for all students and Mr Kisco you P it off earlier housing's at a premium right now you can't find one right well that means there's some students coming here or are here already and that's wonderful we want our population increase so why not have our population increase with that focus and that attention to what we're going to be able to provide provide for all students and that's what this redistricting um so we've heard a little bit about it already I only have one other question um which is just that uh with regard to um sort of the maps for the elementary school students um what when would you anticipate assuming that we adopt this plan tonight when would you anticipate being able to notify the families of the students uh

075I know it's also going to be a big process with the you with our employees um what will we be able to notify the families and where their kids get to go great question um GNA spoken to Rich at allar I've spoken to Rich at allar they're working on it and and that that MTH that is and we understand it we wanted to provide something right we couldn't get it laser likee focus but uh our plan is right around um right before April break U and Rich knows that and if we can get that out before April break I think if obviously the board does approve it I think that gives parents more than time to obviously look and see and understand and then possibly fall and and question so our plan would be right

076before April break to get that and all St is on that's that's a anyone have any questions comments I have a comment um I'm voting for it but uh the I do have some concerns great things first the alternative program is going to be a huge benefit to the overall classroom environment right and that's important I think to everybody on this board is getting the right classes together where you put the people in the position to be successful in a classroom in things outside of the classroom that's very important um I do have some concerns and they're all dollar related you know the concerns are that you look at the everywhere in the state the financing the funding the city budgets it's a tough environment out there for us you know the funding from the

077federal government coming back to the state we're an alliance District so even no matter what happen with that you have to be hopeful that we would be on the receiving end of that still but if we put a we put put together a 7.28% increase $5.5 million is if we don't get all of that I would like to think that we may have to be creative to keep these important programs around I doing the alternative program is is important for all of the students in our district but I would be remissed if I wasn't concerned that we're going in the in the direction of additional buildings which not to say we don't need them but the other districts are having to go in the opposite direction due to funding so I would just want to

078be on record as saying that very important programs but if it comes push comes to shov we're going to have to figure out a creative way to do this where we can do everything with limited funds hopefully the city honors our requests and we get the funding that this town deserves and the students and families deserve but we just have to keep in mind that it's going to be a difficult path if they don't any I'm in agreement money you know um but we're all so shary I think we all can agree that this is worth doing just may get harder to pay for as time goes on well I say that just how many years have we gone through this zero now we found a way I said to Su or somebody you know

079we've been succeeding we've been winning lately hopefully we continue to win whether it be easy or hard but I suspect we'll find a way to get through it hopefully it continues but your superintendent is a magician I just want to tag tag on to Gary Qui you said it is sustainability right so that's probably the other concern superintendent Wilson has pointed out as everybody on this board who's been around long enough knows year after year of zeros and0 FES make this very difficult so we need to be considera of that with the relationship we have with the budget in the city at this time if we're not getting the funding we need we have to look long term what happens to us and make those decisions as best weend with the federal government I'd like

080to associate myself with Jeff's comments anyone else okay then I would uh hear a motion um to adopt the superintendent's proposed redistricting plan second second Mr second any additional discussion question before us hearing none all those in favor please say I okay thank um okay now we have roof replacement project education specification so this is a part of the the 20 point application process for the TMS roof uh replacement project um here so uh we just had to get that bit of information to the state and to round out our application um and while I'm speaking I think help we speak to a second item as well um they also had changed their legislation around person committees um building committees recently so we just had to add the more um person to the committee so

081is not all alone and um they do that tonight okay yes and so that would be the second to have um a designated from the board event uh to be a part of that building two so this is just a routine part of a project that's already well under way absolutely great uh anybody I will hear a motion I would actually like to nominate GL we have to do the to approve the ucation specifications second okay any discussion none all those in favor please say I iOS okay uh now go ahead and I'd like to nominate Glenn to act as the second on the subcommittee second and we we don't necessarily need the vote the board to vote on that as long as there's no objection Sue and I will yeah appoint conr that's better

082ell a committed public okay um yeah as Donna said the law just requires a member of the Board of Education to be on any building for you know um so that then um and then the last thing we have is a possible executive session regarding discussion concerning strategy related to pending Freedom of Information claim case number 20246 38 uh have a be with the superintendent and attorney J gitter assuming that she is available to join the to have a l is there motion as such second exion all those in favor please say I okay e e e back in session at 719 uh we have yes items for the upcoming agenda um so it's more than likely that we will not yet have our budget back from the city but in the event that we

083do that'll go on that uh agenda of course um we will maybe have more for the roof project I don't know if it'll move that fast for April um we have all us repair of reports committee reports monthly financials um what else the next month maybe field Tri okay uh if no one else has anything um then we'll go to come for the good of the order I will start at the far end of the table with Mr cron Mr NE I was it was a great meeting uh in a couple the couple of the meetings I was talking about getting get get get um getting a new phone that would make me more effective it's but 90% um voice activated I I have it it's it's been activated um I'm look working on on

084learning on learning how to use it as as John saw this evening I you hiccup which which Josh was able to help me with but uh um I for for the moment I also still have the the flip phone that I've been using as as a backups in case I call Guam or something and but um um eventually I'm I'm um I'm I'm I'm I'm going to have a new phone number and this phone will will allow me to um which which is important for for this will allow me to to um to um to to uh to send them and and and receive text messages excellent we are glad to hear it and thank you Josh for not many thank you for whoever put together this recognition the food and the and the other

085recognitions thank you very much and the art show just to uh just to remind us what a great time that was and when it comes up again be I think it's over right it's all over the art show because it was just was great little show anyway uh good meeting thank you guys for all the effort and the for our appreciation we appreciate you guys as well um just big encouragement to the rest of the board when these meetings come up the city to support this budget as many of us who can go as possible try and parents teachers anybody who we can bring out to help further the cost thank you for the appreciation I haven't been here much but uh Al as difficult as we have it I just thank God we're not

086region six I think that's what litfield go Warren are we seem to be in a much better spot than they are given the circumstances and uh so things not so bad things are great things are great uh thank you good meeting and thank you to Sue and Michael for that appreciation spread i words and like to express my appreciation to being your staff setting everything up and the food service team for providing good meal you recogniz well those two people great all set thank you good meeting oh good meting congratulations to everybody on getting all this stuff P yeah I wanted to say thank you guys for really always kind of supporting and trusting in the people that you have in central office because not every district has that so we know it's a big

087budget but you know you guys will be there to support us and thank you so much for the district meeting you no great meeting and I was going to say the same thing thank you for uh supporting the budget and the districting plan um and and supporting the Cal office team so thank you wonderful meeting as always um thank you for your support and all that you do it's a volunteer position and we know that and just can't thank you enough for your time and and he paying attention to the details since they really this break our leadership um I do want to thank Mr Wilson for pulling us through and being the light in sometimes dark times but we're heading into the bright times we got the sun it's all good great meeting I

088was just to say what D said I thank you to everybody um I wanted to give a special shout out to Michael because he always looks on the bright side and we haven't always had that so he uh he always reminds us that it's a great day and we're going to make make it an even greater day and it always works out right thank you so thank you congratulations and thank you again to all the board members you know as I started this evening we can't do this without you so it's a team effort and this is just a small small token of our appreciation of you um you know that the hours upon hours of work and the thankless times this is a time for us to say thank you we couldn't be more

089thankful of you so thank you and thank you for a great meeting and thank you for voting on the budget that uh yeah thank you for for all that you did uh you put on this evening for the course recognition um I also want to mention because you sent out yes so I just want to recognize Miss uh Mrs Mary gra for many years of service who was elected to retire and I want to congratulate our very own Marissa uh on moving into a new role and for once I don't even have anything to be upset about are you sure this is this is kind of unlike you s I'll take your place so I'll just read out the future meetings really quickly so we have here TS on Wednesday 2nd we have school Improvement

090at 5:30 in Poli right after on Wednesday the 9th at Mid Avenue we have facilities of Technology at 5:30 and the budget committee me thereafter and then uh the Board of Education meeting at at fringford on April 30th at 5:30 pm and with that I will hear a motion to