001[Music] Heat. [Music] Good evening. Today is Thursday, October the 16th. This is our regular Waterberry Board of Ed meeting. We'll start out with a silent prayer. Dr. Schwarz, do you have any remebrances tonight? Thank you, board president. In our moment of silence this evening, let us remember former members of the Waterberry Public Schools education community who have passed away. Janice Sbuko, retired sixth grade house vice principal at North End Middle School, passed away on September 15, 2025. Bernard White, former carpenter for the department of education, passed away on September 16th, 2025. Rocco Pugli, retired history teacher at Kennedy and Wilby High Schools, passed away on September 29th, 2025. Marian Derwin, retired teacher at Hendrickken East Farms in Rotella Schools, passed away on October 2nd, 2025. Commissioner Jackson, can you lead us in the pledge? I
002pledge algiance 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. Vice President Brown, Commissioner Anthony Ireland, Commissioner Latoya Ireland, Commissioner Jackson present. Commissioner Lopez, Commissioner O'Brien, present. Commissioner Orso here. Commissioner Srano Adorno here. Commissioner Van Stone present. President Hernandez here. Secretary Serrano Dorno. I move to convene into executive session for discussion concerning security strategy, deployment of security personnel and/or devices affecting public safety. Can I get a second? Second. Discussion. All in favor? I oppose. We are in executive session. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Secretary Serrano Adorno. I move to return to the regular order of business with the record reflecting there were no votes taken.
003Second discussion. All in favor? I. Item number five. Commissioner Jackson. May I have a motion for communications? Thank you. A motion to receive and place on file communications as listed. Second discussion. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Commissioner Van Stone. May I have a motion to suspend the regular meeting? A motion to suspend the regular order of business to hear from the public. Can I get a second? Second discussion. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. 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. Thank you. Our first person is Reverend Ali Gray III. [Music] Good evening,
004commissioners and superintendent schools. I'm Reverend Aliggra Third, 2929 East Main Street, and I'm here as a grandfather and a concerned citizen of Waterberry. I emailed all the commissioners about a concern I had about a boy playing on a girls volleyball team at Willby High School. Out of all the commissioners, only one commissioner took the time to respond and that's Commissioner Van Stone. I just want to say thank you. And for the rest of the commissioners question, did you get my email? I know you can't respond to that, so I'll just let that go there. Um, since September 2025, Wilby High School has unfairly and arguably in violation of federal and state law. Fielded an all girls volleyball team that includes a boy. This actions discriminates against fair play and the dignity of girls on on
005that team and their privacy in the bathroom and in the locker room. fair play for opposing teams and honestly is setting this young man on a bad path. The Connecticut Department of uh Education and the CIA has not done a good job advising and giving guidance um and has not updated what currently reflects federal interpretations of state judicial opinions. In November 2024, there was a case where um the CIA um was the defendant against a group of students from Bloomfield, Cromwell, Glastonberry, Cant and Danbury. In 2019, I was coaching track at Ngoduck High School and I had girls that had to compete against two males and the males dominated and it was a painful experience for those young ladies and I didn't think it was fair then and I don't think it's fair now. Um,
006and I just want to say this, you know, it's it's ultimately up to uh the school districts and the schools. Um, I would ask at this time that the Waterberry Board of Education would consider um doing the right thing and following Title 9 laws um and keep the students in sports by their sex and gender and by and by the way that by the way the truth of the matter is there are only two genders and two sexes. It's a biological scientific fact. And I want to say this. Um, I have a granddaughter that competes in the MVL. And I don't want her having to compete against boys. It's not fair and it's not right and it needs to be addressed. I know that there's some legal issues going on and I'm hoping that you
007you know that we as board of education are working on this. My number one concern is concern is for our students. you know, I want what's best for them and I want to do the right thing. So, I know you guys have a tough job. I got nothing but um love and support for you, pray for you every day. Um and I pray for this city and I pray for our young people. I've coached a lot of years here in Waterberry and I just wanted to voice that. And you know, the commissioners that you know, we hire, we elect you to serve and usually if if I had got a response from everybody, I would just said forget it. You know, no, not a big issue. But, you know, if somebody sends you an email,
008I hope you take the time to respond because you have a you have a big job and you know, you work for us, the con constituents of Waterberry. So, that's all I had to say. God bless you. Thank you, Commissioner. Or also, may I have a motion to return to the regular order of business? regular order. Second discussion. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Superintendent announcements. Dr. Schwarz. Thank you, President Hernandez, Secretary Serrano Dorno, and of course, our board of ed commissioners. I want to start off my superintendent report by belatedly uh congratulating an administrator on the move uh our new assistant superintendent Anthony Brooks. He was uh uh at the 100 men of color blacktie gala and awards hosted by June Archer of the Archer Foundation which recognizes the contributions of men of
009color in business education, entrepreneurship, government, entertainment service and the impact they've made on the lives of people throughout Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. Portions of those proceeds from those annual event supports scholarships for young men in college and male leadership and mentorship programs. Our very own assistant superintendent Anthony Brooks was among the honores celebrated at the Bushnel Hartford on September 12th, 2025 and I wanted to publicly congratulate him. Maybe a round of applause. Yeah. good news on the Connecticut advising front and specifically here at our home in Waterberry public schools. We have another student who's a national ambassador for ad rising. We're proud to share that um Connecticut Ed Rising. Uh we've we've reached that that milestone that Rockco Zenic from Waterberry Career Academy has now been selected to represent Ed Rising at the national level.
010He joins Haley Johnson, the national vice president of engagement, making this the second time a Career Academy student has earned this national officer position. And we are very proud of the astound outstanding achievement for both Roco uh for Roco uh our city and our state. And of course this milestone wouldn't be possible without the unwavering support and mentorship of one of our very own WCA teacher leaders, Erica Bhau, who continues to inspire and guide the next generation of our teachers. Thank you and congratulations, Rocco. Um last week we had an amazing professional learning opportunity for teachers and this is just one example of math teacher professional learning. You could see teachers up and moving. The old days of sit and get and just listen uh for the next seven hours is uh we try the
011best we can with our uh amazing cabinet and leadership team to to to try to create professional learning opportunities that get teachers moving and engaged. And you can see uh here where math teachers are learning about thinking uh building thinking classrooms. Congratulations to the human capital office and all of the supervisors who were able to put that amazing professional learning opportunity together for our teachers. Last week we also had a school opportunity fair on October 14th uh at Westside Middle School. It was packed and uh it was I was so glad to see so many of our uh Waterberry public school tables being visited by the public. Many uh uh students in the lower grades, middle grades, and upper grades trying to figure out. Many eighth graders trying to figure out what their best options
012are for 9th grade or ninth grade. Many fifth graders trying to figure out what's good for sixth grade. And some younger families trying to figure out uh preschool and kindergarten options. And so congratulations to uh Na Na and Dr. vote right and for all of the schools that were represented at that fair. Although Hispanic Heritage Month technically ended on October 15th, uh we had a few events. There was one just before the board meeting at Washington School. And this is just three pictures of some of the most amazing uh events that I saw across the district over the last month. Um, I just want to thank the administrators and all the the teachers, parent leaison, staff members and all the schools for put putting together um Hispanic Heritage Month uh to celebrate um um our
013amazing uh students and their heritage. I also had the pleasure of going with President yesterday. We saw Hopeville School. They had amazing dances from students from really uh many different um Hispanic communities and even saw some teachers get into the fun. So that was that was fun. We were a little tempted to get up there ourselves and dance, but we didn't want to start any rumors. And then uh she's not listening so I can say that. Oh, I'm sorry. So we almost got up there and danced yesterday at Hopeville. But yes, yes, yes. Yeah. But the kids would have outdid me. The kids the kids were good. I'm telling you, the kids were great. So, congratulations to to to all the schools putting on amazing events. And then just a reminder, uh uh number one,
014uh happy happy bosses day for all the board of education. Thank you for all that you do for uh me uh as the superintendent and for the city of Waterberry. And just a reminder to the general public to follow us on social media. I'm sorry, uh Dr. Schwarz. I was trying to figure out if the young lady out there was our student rep. So, it's all it's all good. It's all good. We We did have a fun time at the event, though. We did have a fun time at the event. So, I'm going to keep my comments short. I'm just requesting that one of our commissioners that is going to be on the board will take over being the representative for ASUS because the representative that is currently in that role um would like to
015give up that seat. So think about it and please let me know soon so that we have a representative for ACES. Um as Dr. Schwarz had mentioned, we I went out to Hopeville and it was very exciting and and I told the children it it takes a lot of courage to get up and dance in front of your classmates and and the whole school and they did an excellent job at it and the kids were actually very respectful and supportive of the kids that were dancing. So, it was a great event. And that's all for my president comments. I'm going to move to number 10 because we don't have a student representative here. The consent calendar. Does anybody wish to remove an item from the consent calendar? Okay. 10.1 Committee on the Committee of the
016Whole request approval of the memorandum of understanding with milestone CLC for a professional learning partnership 10.2 Two, committee on the whole request approval of the board of education's tw 2026 meeting schedule. 10.3 Committee on Finance requests approval of the service agreement with Vista Higher Learning LLC for a world language learning platform. 10.4 Four, committee on finance request approval of a amendment one to the professional service agreement with Comir Consulting LLC for onset tier 1 instructional support. 10.5 Committee on Finance requests approval of amendment one to the professional service agreement with Apex Educational Solutions LLC for board certified behavioral analyst services. 10.6 Six. Committee on Building and School Facilities requests approval to accept the Windowcross PreK to 8 grade school construction project 151-295 ERR as complete. 10.7 Committee on Building and School Facilities use of school
017facilities by school organizations and or city departments. Commissioner O'Brien. May I have a motion? I motion to approve the consent calendar items 10.1 through 10.7. Second. All in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Item number 12, Committee of the Hall. Secretary Serrano O'Donnell. Thank you, Madam President. Ladies and gentlemen, I move that the Waterberry Board of Education approve the proposal of the Waterberry Development Corporation to divide property currently occupied by Rotella Interdist Magnet School into two parcels. The larger parcel to continue to be used by Rotella Interdist Magnet School and the smaller parcel to be used by the fire department for the construction of a fire station subject to approval by the board of alderman. Can I have a second? Second discussion. Oh, I'm sorry, Roco. I have to say um I'm 100% in favor of this
018project, but this is a magnet school and I think it's be a disservice to the fire department, the city, WTC, and the board of education if we didn't do our due diligence and find out if there's an obstacle to use that land for the fire department. So, and like I say, I'm 100% for it, but I'd like to find out this information uh before we before we there's a formal vote on it. and snow. Madam President, through you um with some agreement to what Commissioner Horso said, I would like to make a motion at this time to table this item. Second. Okay. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. We will table this item. Committee and finance. Commissioner Orsel. Item 13.1. Ladies and gentlemen, I move that the Waterberry Board of Education approve of the
0192025 2027 consolidated 2-year federal grant application. Second. Discussion. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Item 13.2. Ladies and gentlemen, I move that the Waterberry Board of Education approve a a services agreement with Math Concepts Incorporated for math teaching training. Second discussion. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Item 13.3. Ladies and gentlemen, I move that the Waterberry Board of Education approve a construction contract RFP 8557 with Advanced Security Technologies Incorporated for Alarm Intrusion Services for a 5-year period. Second. All in favor? I oppose. Sorry, was there any discussion on that? 13.4 13.4. Ladies and gentlemen, I move that the Waterberry Board of Education approve a professional services agreement with Nurses for Daycare LLC for individualized nursing services for students with complex medical needs. Second discussion. Miss John's and Ashlin. Good evening, President Hernandez, Secretary
020Sirono, Superintendent Schwarz, and esteemed commissioners of education. Um we are presenting this evening an addition to your agenda and we apologize for the late arrival of these additional items. Um items 13.4 through 13.6. Um I'd just like to speak about as a whole for the sake of time. Um, we secured a contract with Equinox Healthcare um, home care, excuse me, services for onetoone nursing services in the schools several months back. We intended to secure several contracts at once at that time so that um, onetoone nursing services could be assured we would always have a supply of nurses, but at the time we only found one vendor that was uh, appropriate for the contract. We put out a subsequent RFP and secured three additional contracts um which are the resulting items that are before you. Um
021this provides for onetoone nursing care um consistent with the uh outcomes expected from the board of education um superintendent, excuse me, special education department um under the purview of of Miss John's. So, we're working collaboratively to oversee the nursing care that's delivered to these students who have special healthcare needs. Any questions? Commissioner O'Brien. We're spec specifically talking about those students that are whether they're in school that need extra medical care. These are students who are in school um who will be accompanied from their home to school, cared for at school, and then returned home in accompanied by the nurse. There are some situations where it's a student who only requires the service or the accompaniment of a nurse in transit to school, in which case the service would just be provided for um for the
022time that they're on the bus. And these students, one day, they each have an IEP that spec specifies. Yes. Okay. [Music] Are there any other questions? How many students um Miss John's do we ha currently have that are in need of of a nurse? Sure. Currently we have uh 14 students that receive the assistance from an LPN and two students that have RN care and that's as per their IEP. Any other questions? Thank you. And that takes care of uh 13.5. Request approval of a professional service agreement with nurses. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. I know. What am I going to do without him? So that takes care of request approval of a professional service agreement with the nurses nurse network LLC. Request approval of a professional service agreement with AAA nursing care.
023Commissioner Orso. Yes. I'm being told that you should read these. Thank you. We have to vote on it. We have to vote on them individually, I'm assuming. Yes, please. Okay. 13.4. I move that the water board of education approve a professional service agreement with Nurses for Daycare LLC for individualized nursing services for students with complex medical needs. Second. Can I get a second? She didn't. Oh, sorry. Discussion. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Item 13.5. I move that the Waterberry Board of Education appro approve a professional services agreement with the Nurse Network LLC for individualized nursing services for students with complex medical needs. Second discussion. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Item 13.6. I move that the Waterberry Board of Education approve a professional services agreement with AAA Nursing Care LLC for individualized
024nursing services for students with complex medical needs. Second. Discussion. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Item number 14, Committee on Building and School Facilities, Commissioner Jackson. I move that the Waterberry Board of Education approved the use of school facilities and/or waiver requests of various groups and organizations as listed subject to fees and insurance as required. Second discussion. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Item number 15, superintendence notifications to the board. Commissioners Serrano O'Dornal. May I have a motion? Motion to receive and place on file the superintendent's notification to the board items 15.1 through 15.6. Can I get a second? Second. Discussion. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. [Applause] Can I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion to adjurnn. Second. Did someone second that? Second. Is there discussion on that? Have a good
025night. All in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. We are adjourned. Thank you. I just I just totally Sorry, Jerry. I'm done with you.