001[music] Good evening everyone and welcome to the regular meeting of the Waterberry Board of Education here at Waterberry Arts Magnet School. We'll begin this evening uh with a silent prayer. Uh Dr. Schwarz, do we have any remembrances? >> Yes. Thank you, President. In our moment of silence this evening, let us remember former members of the Waterberry Public Schools education community who have passed away. Sandra Costeno, special education teacher at Triggs Elementary School, passed away on January 24th, 2026. John Scripp, retired chemistry teacher, science department chair, and assistant principal at Crosby High School, passed away on January 25th, 2026. Daniel Dunn, retired crossing guard at Dugen Elementary School, passed away on January 30th, 2026. Frank Roy, teacher at adult education for almost 30 years, passed away on February 12th, 2026. Abriel Negron, ninth grade student at
002Willby High School, passed away on February 15, 2026. Shilley Brceno Chukin, former student at Wilby High School, passed away on February 15, 2026. >> Thank you. I would ask uh Brillin and Maria to lead us in the uh pledge of allegiance this evening. >> I 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. >> Projection. >> I know she's not she's in Cinderella. >> Commissioner Hayward Bowen >> here. >> Commissioner Anthony Ireland >> present. >> Vice President Latoya Ireland >> here. >> Commissioner Jackson >> present. >> Commissioner Gopez >> present. >> Commissioner Munz >> present. >> Commissioner Orso >> here. Commissioner Van Stone, President Brow >> here. Thank you. Uh, I'll
003call on Commissioner Jackson. May I have a motion to accept the uh, communications? >> Excuse me. >> No, I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah. >> I motion to receive and place on file communications as listed. >> Second. >> Discussion. All in favor? >> Opposed? Abstain. Motion carries. Thank you very much. Uh public address to the board. Do we have any speakers this evening? Commissioner Lopez. >> I motion to suspend the regular order of business to hear from the public. All speakers are encouraged to submit prepared written statements to the commissioners. Comments shall be limited to a maximum of five minutes. There will be no responses this evening to any questions or concerns raised. They will be referred to the administration for review and response. Second >> discussion. All in favor? >> I >> opposed abstain. Motion carries.
004>> Our first speaker is Danielle Orlando. [snorts] >> Good evening. Well, can't talk. Sorry. Good evening, everybody. Good evening. >> Um, my name is Danielle Orlando and I am the president of the Greater Waterberry Children's Theater. Uh, so first of all, I want to thank the board of education for supporting our mission these past two years by allowing our productions to be held at Rotella Magnet School. Your support really has made a wonderful difference and I want to tell you guys a little bit about the impact uh that that has had. So, at GWCT, we use theater as a vessel to teach social emotional learning skills to kids in the greater Waterberry area, but particularly the uh students of the Waterberry Public School System. We teach them these social emotional learning skills such as confidence,
005teamwork, curiosity, compassion, creativity, and resilience. We created this nonprofit to fill a gap that we noticed in the performing arts opportunities for preschoolers to eighth graders. Now, as a WHAMS graduate myself, which I'm very happy to be back in my alma mater, uh I can tell you that these skills learned through performing arts stick for a lifetime, even outside of the theater realm. Um, and it's not just about the kids. The families get involved, too. They build sets, they help backstage, they support front of house. Uh, we like to say that we're not just community theater, we are family theater. We're really big on bringing families together um to create something beautiful and teach these wonderful skills to the kids. Um together we help kids become brave, compassionate, curious, and collaborative. Now, here's where your
006impact comes in. Over the past 2 years, we've served kids from 20 different Waterberry public schools, averaging about 75 students a year that we work with, and we're hoping that we can keep growing from there. Last year, 79% of those students had little to no theater experience and 44% performed their very first performance ever with us, which was a huge honor to be part of. Uh, parents tell us that their kids gained confidence, made friends, and those who have been with us since the beginning have noticed lasting positive change with their children. Every single year at the end of our productions, at the end of our season, we do a um communitywide feedback survey for everyone that has participated in the GWCT family. And so we try and get really specific feedback from parents, the
007good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between. And the wonderful amount of support and positive feedback about the positive changes that parents have seen in their kids through our program is is astronomical. Um, and it it could not have been possible without you guys' support in allowing us to use the beautiful facilities at Rotella to provide an experience that, you know, I was fortunate enough to have at Whams with the the amazing resources. Um, but that unfortunately isn't available for all kids in in the public school system. Um, this year we're excited to be producing the Wizard of Oz. It's a story all about courage, heart, intelligence, bravery, and friendship. and we hope that the board will approve our request to use Rotella again so that we can continue giving these transformative experiences to
008our students and our families. Thank you again for helping us make arts accessible, meaningful, and life-changing in Waterberry. >> Thank you very much. >> Are there any other speakers who didn't have an opportunity to sign up? Seeing none, my motion to return back to regular business. >> Second. >> Discussion. All in favor? >> Opposed? Abstain. Motion carries. Thank you. Uh, Superintendent Schwarz. >> Good evening, President Brown, commissioners, and student representatives. Just wanted to highlight some of the few uh in our short week since we've been together. A few of the the things that have gone on. Um was happy to see Valentine's Day cards being uh created and sent to local seniors from the Waterberry public schools. Uh we partnered with the Bergen and Lions funeral homes to create Valentine's Day cards for seniors living
009in local nursing homes. And so it's always nice to receive that card and the students were happy to spread that love and cheer across Waterberry cradle to career meeting. uh some of us have been engaged uh for a few months now and uh what I find to be invigorating uh meetings where uh different different partners from across different sectors are coming together to talk about the cradle to career strategies similar to what uh BTS has built on but um you know we have visited Harlem Children's Zone try to get a better understanding looking at the different neighborhoods in Waterberry and coming up with a plan uh that will be launched at a times do be determined, but we are working hard at trying to figure out what does it mean to build those wraparound services
010from birth to career and beyond. And it's really exciting and um we're getting technical assistance uh because I was accepted to that William Julius uh institute for superintendents who are engaged in this work and so we're getting technical assistance uh from the Harlem Children's Zone as well and they are beyond amazing and their feedback is quite phenomenal and pointed at times. So, it's very good and I appreciate all the work everyone's doing in that in that area. I was able to extend uh uh to uh to attend the 2026 governor's legislative breakfast at the uh courtyard. Uh uh Governor Lamont was there to share what his ideas were for the uh uh upcoming session and uh uh talked a lot about the financial situation we are in Connecticut. um whether it's through loss of funding
011through the federal government and um other situations that we find ourselves in. He laid out his vision for uh what it should look like in Connecticut. And I know that our representatives are representing us very well right now in terms of our needs specifically in the Waterberry public schools and that that will continue through early May. Um we've talked about this before but it's official. Yukon is launching uh three major initiatives uh at the Yukon Waterberry campus created uh to expand early college opportunities uh for uh students, but particularly Waterberry Public School students and the Duca Husky Prep Academy uh which will have a more formal presentation for you all. It's going to tie nicely into Yukon Health um and at Waterberry uh hospital. And uh eventually what we'll show you is how this program
012will work. uh it's going to be uh working collaboratively with Waterberry Career Academy for many of those students eventually to earn up to 30 Yukon credits while they're still in high school. And so uh really excited for this grant to take off and see what we can do uh to provide these amazing opportunities for our students here in Waterberry. And I want to uh continue to thank the report uh thank the support from uh Pastor Reese and Grace Baptist Church who continue to provide um uh uh several goods for our uh for two schools specifically with Wilby High School uh working with uh their uh some of their programs to teach kids life skills. So they provide the detergent, they provide uh uh different pieces for those students to be able to uh learn those
013life skills, provide a uh provide a service to our community while at the same time they've hooked up with Walsh Elementary School and they do a monthly gem uh uh you know, student of the month uh work among many other things that they've done throughout the year including um you know, looking to to be able to give back to families in need especially during the holidays. And so it's been a very uh helpful collaboration with Grace Baptist. I hope um as other churches and for those that here belong to a church uh maybe you can bring it up to your leadership to see if they're willing to partner with the Waterberry public schools. I think Grace Baptist has to set a foundation. Be happy to expand on that if um other other organizations are are
014interested. We have plenty of schools to go around. So we'd be happy to partner with more. I just want to take a moment to congratulate Carolyn Heismith. Not sure if everybody knows who she is, but after decades of service here in the Waterberry community. Carolyn Heismith was honored as the 2026 African mayor uh for the day. Her legacy and ser service and ongoing involvement, our city is felt by so many, but we are particularly proud of her work here in the Waterberry public schools at adult education most recently. So, wanted to say congratulations to Carol Carolyn Highmith. And you could see the dignitaries uh uh thanking her. And [snorts] on the next slide, uh, as a result of of of this event, there's a night event where students earned certificates and there were, um, several
015students from across the district who earned certificates that night. Uh, I believe Commissioner Van Stone, you were able to attend this as well. Um, and you know, he was he was he was just bragging about our students and how great of an event it was, of course. But, uh, call the students out by name. Crosby High School, Kasima Washington Early College High, Milo Moffett, Wilby High, Elena Johnson, Kennedy High, Yuri Thomas, Waterberry Arts Magnet School, Edward Basra, Waterberry Career Academy, Ebony BL Enlightenment School, Destin Guy and State Tree School, Nvea Curton, and I want to give a little shout out to Naa. She she came up and she wanted to meet me and and and Congresswoman Hayes. Uh, so I got a nice picture with her. Um, anybody that tries to meet me and Johanna
016in the same breath, that was uh that was an honor for me. So, um, I think she went to Johanna first, though. [laughter] She's a smart kid. She's a very smart kid. Um, and you know, as as we continue to honor Black History Month and as we continue uh to every school is having different events, but I wanted to um point out two of our high school events uh that have historically uh done a fantastic job uh which is coming up at Career Academy in Kennedy. I want to invite the board to join me in going to Kur Academy uh to the gymnasium on February 27th at 8:15. uh will will there be uh honoring Black History Month through celebrations, music, dance, and acting. And Kennedy will have a showcase in their auditorium at 12:30
017on the 27th as well. So, if you'd like to come, we can make sure Carrie uh >> calendar. >> It's already in your calendar. Look at that welloiled machine. Thank you, uh Miss Swain. And just as a uh always a reminder to follow us on social media. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you, doctor. Any questions for Dr. Schwarp? >> Okay. Um, good evening everyone. I just want to echo uh Dr. Schwarz's uh comments about the wonderful ceremony uh for for Carolyn Heismith. I was able to attend. I think uh Urisa was there and Tom Tom Menstone was there, maybe others, but it was a very moving experience and Carolyn being a former teacher in Waterberry made it even more meaningful and impactful. So, it was a great event and um it really brought the community
018together. So, I really appreciated that. Um I just want to uh tell everybody who's celebrating their own religious traditions. I know Ramadan started and we have Lent and many other religious traditions. So, um I I I wish everyone uh a very prayerful and reflective uh season and uh thank you. Okay, next we have student representatives comments. Who's starting? Okay. Brillin McDougall from Whams, grade 12. Big senior. O just a few more months, huh? >> Good evening, Dr. Schwarz, President Brown, Vice President Ireland, Secretary Lopez, and commissioners. My name is Brayley McDougall, and I am honored to be one of the student representatives for WAMS. I'm here tonight with my fellow student representative, Maria Hopkins, and we're excited to share some updates from our school community. I want to start by highlighting our Black History Month
019performance that took place last Friday, February 13th. It was a really powerful event that included dancing, singing, poetry, orchest, and orchestra performance as well as informational slides recognizing important black leaders and historical contributions. It truly showcased the talent and dedication of our students and it was something our school community is very proud of. Right now, we have around 30 after school programs running, giving students so many opportunities to get involved, whether that's academically, creatively, or through leadership. We also have some exciting trips coming up for the Whams theater department has two Broadway trips. And in order to help fund raise and pay off our trip, the International Theater Honor Society is selling our 2025 through 2026 season theater shirts, which is celebrating all of our productions this season. If interested in ordering a shirt, please
020contact Dr. Cicitus or Miss Magiaro. Our seniors will be traveling to Boston in April and our eighth graders are looking forward to their New York City trip in May. We're also introducing a brand new club to Whams called the Excel Exchange Club. Today we inducted 20 new members. This is a service club created in partnership with the Waterberry Exchange Club and students will be organizing collection drives to support military families and local shelters. It is a great way for students to give back to the community and make a great impact. At this point, I will turn over to Maria for more updates. Thank you, Brillin. We are also proud to share that one of our students, Edward Basra, was selected as the African-American student mayor for the day. This is a huge honor and we're
021incredibly proud of him for representing our school in such a meaningful way. Our performing arts department has had a busy season and continues to have a busy season ahead. On March 5th, 6th, and 7th, the middle school will present You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, directed by Miss Conry, in the Wham's recital hall. Then on March 12th and 13th, the high school will perform The Missenthrope, directed by Mr. Schultzy on the Wham's apron stage. Looking ahead to April, Cinderella directed by Miss Maglearo will be performed at the Palace Theater on April 24th, 25th, and 26th. We are looking forward to hers and some cast going to Great Day CT in our annual commercial airing in the spring. On April 29th, we'll also have our dance choreography showcase at the Palace Theater along with upcoming band,
022orchestra, and coral concerts with more dates to come. As we move into the spring season, we're also preparing for several important assessments, including Smarter Balance Testing, the PSAT and SAT, NGSS testing, and AP exams. Students and teachers are working hard to prepare and stay focused as we head toward the end of the school year. I'll now pass it back to Brilland to close. Thank you. Um, another important date at Whams will be March 31st is going to be our second annual Whams Hall of Fame celebrating individuals who have made a lasting impact on our school community at this time. Overall, Williams continues to stay busy, involved, and committed to excellence, whether that's in academics, the arts, service, or leadership. Before we finish, this is my last board of education meeting as a student representative, [laughter]
023and I just wanted to take a moment to say something personal. Serving as a student representative for the past two years has truly been one of the greatest honors of my high school experience. This role has given me confidence, leadership skills, and a voice, and I'm incredibly grateful for that. WHAMS is more than just a school to me. Sorry. It's a place that helped me shape who I am. I've been supported by teachers and staff who pushed me to grow, not only academically, but personally. I want to give a few quick thank yous to some of the educators who made a lasting impact on my life. Miss McCary, my previous math teacher, who challenged me and believed in me. Miss Worth, my dance teacher, who gives me a creative outlet and constant encouragement. Miss Magro,
024my current theater teacher who continues to push me outside of my comfort zone. Miss Win Stanley, my English teacher, who has helped strengthen my voice and my writing. Miss Y, my previous gym teacher, who has always showed care and support. and Miss Barry, our school psychologist, who has been an incredible source of guidance and encouragement. There are many others I can name, but these are just a few of the people who have truly impacted my journey. As I prepare to graduate, I'm currently waiting on f final financial decisions before committing to a college. However, I plan to pursue a double major in pre-law with a minor in psychology and criminal justice with a minor in political science. After that, I hope to attend a law school and ultimately become a child advocacy lawyer. The leadership
025opportunities I've had here being a part of GLI serving as student board of education representative and ser and acting as student ambassador of philanthrop philanthropy for WHAMS have all played a major role in shaping that goal. WHIMS has given me opportunities, mentors and experiences that I will carry with me for the rest of my life and for that I am deeply grateful. Thank you for allowing me to serve and represent the student body for the past two years. And thank you for giving us the opportunity to share what's happening at WHAMS. And we're so proud to represent our student body and we look forward to seeing you all. >> Thank you so much. [applause] No, as a as a as a board of education, we we are we our focus, total focus is on our
026students and you make us so proud and we're very happy that uh you know, you were able to really avail yourself of everything at Whams because we love Whams. So, congratulations. Okay, any questions for our students? No. Okay, thank you. Okay, that was a little tearary. Okay, next to the consent calendar. Uh, does anybody want to remove anything from the consent calendar? Okay, seeing none. 9.1 Committee of the whole request approval of the revised 2025 2026 school year calendar. 92. Request approval of an electric distribution easement with the Connecticut Light and Power Company, DBA, Eversource Energy, across the property at 2780 North Main Street, Reagan School. 9.3 Request approval to participate in the healthy food certification program per Connecticut General Statutes 10-215F. 9.4 Four, request approval of the food and beverage exemption statement for the
027healthy food certification relative to Connecticut General Statutes 10-221Q. 9.5 request approval of a professional service services agreement RFP number 8132 for engineering on call professional services 2025 through 2027 with Frier Architecture Inc. 9.6 request approval of amendment two to the professional services agreement with community health center inc for school-based health center services. 9.7 request approval of a service agreement with Delta TR Harford, Inc. for speech and language therapy services. 9.8 request approval of a services agreement with Orange Tree Staffing LLC for speech and language therapy services. 9.9 Request approval of the new position of food service site coordinator supervisor replacing position of deputy director. 9.10 request approval of the new position of registered dietician replacing position of diet technician. 9.11 Committee on building and school facilities use of school facilities by school organizations andor city
028departments. Could I have a motion? Commissioner motion. >> Oh, sorry. >> I motion for uh items 9.1 through 9.11 to be approved. >> Is there a second? >> I second. >> Second. Discussion. All in favor? >> Opposed? Abstain. Motion carries. Thank you. >> Okay. No items removed. Uh number 11, Committee on Finance, Commissioner Orso. Thank you, Madam President. I move that the Waterberry Board of Education approve a s a services agreement with Access Rehab Centers LLC for speech and language therapy services. >> Second >> discussion. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Abstain I mean abstain. Motion carries. Thank you. >> Iain. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I don't see you. [clears throat] >> Did you want to say something? Yeah, go ahead. >> Oh, um I'm only abstaining because they're uh associated with uh my
029uh work organization. >> Thank you. Any other abstensions I missed? Okay. Thank you. Okay. Uh let's see. Uh number 12, Vice President Latoya Ireland, Committee on Building and School Facilities. I move that the Waterberry Board of Education approve the use of school facilities in or waiver request of various groups and organizations as listed subject to fees and insurance as required. >> Second >> discussion. >> Okay. May we have an opportunity to go over those waiverss and ensure that we um look over them and see if we can approve them one by one? >> No, but I mean if you you certainly can vote yes or no yourself on the on the items. >> Okay. >> Any other questions? >> Okay. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. One oppose. Abstain. I >> I know there
030were a few abstensions. Okay. >> Did you get that? Okay. All right. Motion passes. Thank you. Okay. All right. Super superintendent notification to the board items 13.1 through 13.5. Commissioner Van Stone. May I have a motion? Madam President, I motion to receive and place on file superintendent notification to the board items 13.1 through 13.5. >> Second. Discussion. All in favor? >> I I >> opposed. Abstain. Motion carries. Thank you. Uh committee chair reports. Commissioner Van Stone. >> Thank you, Madam President. through you actually have a couple that I need to uh report on. Um first off there everyone on the curriculum committee should have received the meeting notice. Uh we have quite a bit to go over as our regular business and also we will pro we not probably we will also uh have a
031short brief for the uh new members of the board and new members of the committee in order to see the actual curriculum and uh process as well as the process for when we have to go out and purchase curriculum. So we have a lot of business. We're probably going to have a second meeting within a couple weeks because we do have a lot of curriculum business on the table right now. Uh but I do want to make sure that the new members understand uh how we go about curriculum, how we uh purchase curriculum, etc. Uh so uh Miss Frenis is going to going to do a little presentation just to go through that process quickly before the meeting uh at before we get into the curriculum items. Uh, next, uh, ACES. Uh, I I I
032am our rep at ACES and, uh, because I had so much fun selecting our current superintendent, Mr. Dr. Schwarz. Um, I will be doing interviews all day Saturday to pick the new director, superintendent of ASUS. Uh, we have, it's about the same as what we did in in ours. I believe we have seven or eight candidates have made it to this phase. Uh, but it was so much fun that I can't wait to do it again on Saturday. Um, and it's it's really along the same lines. They call it a director, but it's it's a superintendent, but you do have to have some a little more in the marketing skills because they do go out and uh solicit funds. They actually have quite a bit of money. Um and the last thing is for my
033position as not as director of uh district 1, but because of that I have been chosen one of three board members across the state to be on a committee that is going to review how we run the convention. Uh there's been a lot of complaints uh one with the venue, two with the food. Yeah. >> Um also uh people have uh said we have the same vendors each and every year. We would we would like to reach out and find additional vendors to show as well as the seminars. I know now that I've been going for 12 years. The seminars have really repeated themselves. >> Uh so this committee that I'm on, we're only going to spend about 10 or 12 weeks on it, but we're going to report back for the 27 convention. So,
034I'd be more than happy to receive any info from our commissioners if you have any thoughts, good or bad, on how the convention runs. Uh, please uh send me a note and I'll make sure I take it to that committee because uh it's become obvious that quite a few people are not happy with the current venue. So, uh let me know what you think. 26 will be at the same place, but 27 potentially could could move. We're not going to make that final decision. We're just going to uh establish a report of uh thoughts and ideas on how we can improve. Great. >> We we'll move that report forward to the actual convention committee >> uh and they could do with it as they like, toss it away maybe, but we're going to give it
035a go. So, I was I was pretty honored to be picked out of uh >> three board members across the state to uh be on that committee. So, >> that's all I got. Thank you. Thank you for doing that. And I highly recommended you to me Scotta to call you. [laughter] I even gave her your cell phone. Oh boy, we tracked you down. Anyway, thank you so much, Tom. I know you've gone above and beyond and really appreciate uh all you're doing for the for board of educations, but for public education. Any other reports? Any other meetings? Go ahead. >> Thank Thank you, madam. >> Vice President Latoya. >> Thank you. Uh just a few from CABE. I know the commissioners have received received them. Thank you, Carrie, for sending them out, but just a
036few in particular. Uh Cape sent out a memo and uh ending of January just uh for our superintendent and the board of education um commissioners to review the school policies and protocols just to make sure that they're in line with the guidance and with which actually is going on with the immigration activities. and two advocacy highlights was sent out as well uh for public hearings. The education committee will be meeting on uh February 23rd and transportation committee as well. And just another thing for Kade, they also send out webinars, updates, guidance, and good information for uh commissioners on the board of eds. Thank you. >> Great. And they do have webinars that are archived. So, I did listen to the one on the uh governor's budget and it was very good. Uh so, if anybody
037wants to go back to the archives, they are there for people to listen to. Thank you, Commissioner. Uh Commissioner Bowen, >> good evening. Um we we met with the safety and health um committee a couple of weeks ago. Was really uh beneficial of getting to meet um all the people who are on it, which was great. Um we're looking forward to as being a new person um bringing some great ideas. Darren was grateful for um running it for me. Um and definitely RXA was definitely uh accepting of my offer to come. But I'm actually looking forward to adding some new faces to it to kind of benefit um seeing that we are looking to help get some outside help from our um local organizations that are already using utilizing the schools. And then another thing
038trying to add some um students. I think that um I I I don't know. I think some of our commissioners got an email from a young lady. I'm not going to mess up her name. I was hoping that she would be here today. She spoke from Crosby, 17year-old um student. I'm just going to call her Z. She's very very very informative and we're able to connect and I'm looking forward to working with her um and possibly having her jump on just to listen and just be an ear and an open and a fresh face, fresh voice for our young people. So when she see you know that way kids can relate. I mean a kid will definitely relate to their peers versus us. Um so I'm looking forward to our next meeting which we are
039pushing. I believe it's in March and we're going to actually to raise it. Yeah, I think uh I think it's March and I think it's at Drake because we're going to move it to to look at the new health center. >> Yes. Um but definitely was very informative. It was nice to even hear um with when it comes to the food and stuff like that. I know we all were a stickler to what the kids are eating. Um but they are definitely moving in the right direction. I think that's great. >> Thank you. >> Did you hear that, Adam? Is he still here? >> Once you approve his left, [laughter] >> uh any other uh reports? Well, thank you for your participation and I appreciate you taking the time to report to the board because
040I think it's important that we learn from each other and what we're learning from uh these these boards and how it may impact our resources, how it may impact our budget decisions and how it may impact policy. So, really appreciate the extra time you're putting in. Okay. Um can I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Second. All in favor? >> I >> All right. What do you think? >> All right. >> Not [laughter] bad for your >> Have a good weekend. >> Not bad for your last >> I think staff is happy, right? [laughter] >> Yeah, it was a tough day today. >> I owe Rock a call for hours.