001[Music] Good evening everyone and welcome to the Waterberry Board of Education regular meeting. Uh we'll begin tonight with a silent prayer. Do we have any uh remembrances? Yes. Uh thank you, Vice President. In our moment of silence this evening, let us remember former members of the Waterberry Public Schools education community who have passed away. Roberta Oblazy, school secretary for over 22 years at North End Middle School, Walsh and Gil Martin Elementary School, passed away on May 18th, 2025 at 91 years old. Victoria Srini, former secretary and teachers aid for students with special needs, passed away on May 25th, 2025 at 104 years old. Jane Maloney, former teacher, passed away on May 31st, 2025 at 93 years old. Thank you. Uh we'll have our pledge of allegiance by our Kennedy High School student reps, Vadia and
002Jaden. I aliance 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. Madame clerk, please call the role. Vice President Brown, present. Commissioner Anthony Ireland. Commissioner Latoya Ireland here. Commissioner Jackson, present. Commissioner Lopez, present. Commissioner O'Brien here. Commissioner Orso here. Commissioner Srano Dorno. Commissioner Van Stone here. President Hernandez. Okay. Who's going to do this? Do you know? Anony's not here. Okay. Just Okay. Uh, communications. May I have a motion, please? Commissioner Van Stone. It's okay. I motion receive and place on file communications as listed. Second discussion. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. Thank you. Uh public address to the board. [Applause] Okay. Could I have a motion, please? Latoya Commissioner uh Ireland. A motion to suspend
003the regular order of business to hear from the public. Second. Second discussion. All in favor? I opposed abstain. Motion carries. Okay. Our first speaker tonight is Lewis McConnor. Good evening. Oh, I'm really tired. So, hello fellow members of the board education meeting. My name is Louis McCconor. I'm 18 years old and I live on 77 Bank Street. The main problem causing disconnected youth is often lack of opportunities and resources in Waterberry. 24% of children in poverty and 45 of households with children under 18 have a single parent. These factors limit access to quality education, job and job training and any sort of mentorship at all. Take example my life maybe around 2 3 months ago my house my apartment on Hill Street was intentionally set on fire. I know shame. Um I had little to
004no belongings of my own. I lost my cat and um it took me a long time for me and my grandmother to get back on her feet. But with a program like the the Red Cross and the program I'm part of now, BTS, they're so pretty. Um I've been able to get back on my feet and get all the the things that I needed to, you know, get back into society. People can be reckless and the natural world can be rash, but both sides can get carried away. So solution lies in implementing programs that provide vocational training, memberships and job placement services. For example, initiatives like apprenticeships, career academics, and summer job programs can equip youth with in demand skills and connect them with local employers. By investing in these types of programs, Waterberry can
005reduce the number of disconnected youth and empower the next generation to succeed. So, let's continue to move forward and improve our future regardless if we start from square one or square zero. Thank you. Thank you. Would anybody else like to speak from the group? Okay. Are you Did you sign up? Okay. So, I'll just read the names then. Okay. Uh Joseph French Gerard, if I said that correctly. No, probably. I'm sorry. It's Joseph French G. Okay. Okay. Good evening more members of the board of education. My name is Joseph French Graham. I live on 92 country club road and I'm a senior or recently graduated from Holy Cross High School. The problem is they're not like us. Just because you don't pay for education doesn't mean you should be limited. I'm a proud member of
006Let Youth Lead, a youth advocacy advocacy group under Waterberry Bridge to success. There are many barriers water brace students face specifically around transportation and dress code policies and how they impact equity, access, and student access and student well-being. At WHAMS, students are talented and passionate, but they're at a disadvantage. Because WHMS has no sports team, students must play for their home district schools, often across the city. Yet, minimal transportation is provided. In a recent survey, over 60% of WHAM students reported missing practices or games due to lack of transportation. Sports are just extracurriculars. They're a source of motivation, connection, and even scholarship opportunities. Blocking access due to transportation is unfair. We also want to address dress code policies who are often inconsistently enforced, targeting girls and students of color. Around 65% of students said they
007felt embarrassed or singled out over what they wear. This doesn't promote learning. It harms self-esteem and tells students their identity doesn't belong. Every student, no matter where they go to school or what they wear, deserves access to the full school experience. That means reliable transportation, a fair dress code, an environment that supports student voice and identity. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next, we'll hear from um Destiny Hendris. Good evening. Good evening. Hello everyone. I hope you guys are doing really good today. My name is Destiny Hendris. I'm 16 years old and I attend Waterberry Arts Magnus School. I'm here today to talk about disconnected youth in our community. Disconnected youth are young people who aren't in school, not working, and often feel like no, there's no purpose in trying. In Connecticut alone, there's about
008119,000 of them. In Waterbury, we see too many teens who stop showing to school, who don't feel supported, and who don't see a clear future ahead of them. I believe it I believe we could change that. We just need to give them the right opportunities. One thing, one thing the school board can help us with is creating more mentor mentorship programs in schools and community centers. A lot of us need someone who we could look up to, someone who been through similar strategies, similar struggles, sorry, and can guide us, talk to us, and help us believe in ourselves. Mentors could be teachers, older students, or even local leaders, internship opportunities, and job training programs that work with local businesses. When students see how their education connects to the real job, they're more motivated to stay
009on track, even learning how to fill a job application and how to learn how to talk professionally, which can make a big difference. Disconnected youth don't have to stay disconnected. With mentorship, skill building, job support, and better access, we can help them feel confident, motivate, and motivated again. I know we work together, we can help every student in Waterberry feel a little like their future matter more. Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay, next we'll hear from Annayia Miller. Hi, my name is Annayia Miller and I go to Holy Cross High School. Today I'm going to be speaking about the topic of disconnected youth. The disconnection comes from lack of opportunity, limited resources, and sometimes background. This leaves a disconnected youth that is disadvantaged in life when trying to apply for jobs because they have
010no experience or qualifications that are usually looked for. They're also socially disconnected because of not being environment such as school that help engage with other people. ask you which can lead to mental health problems like depression. It is important to address this because it refers to 19% of the youth in Connecticut and 10.9% in the United States. The number mostly increased during p during the pandemic. I remember when the pandemic hit. I was in fifth grade and everyone had to leave school and continue to learn online. Being online limited the connections we can make with others and made it harder to go back to learning because of the lessons and topics we missed. Going back to school in person two years later was difficult to adjust to. I remember my grades were low and I
011wasn't as interested in doing any of my work. If there were programs and support to help bring more awareness to this and solve the problem, it could help motivate the youth to continue school. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Our next speaker is Dominic Deino. Hello. How are we doing today? My name is Don Deavino. I live at 105 North Street. Good evening. Um, I submitted something to you today. You put it in file. I appreciate at least doing that. Um, I'm concerned, you know, about the schools and the dangers that are going on through them. Um, I got some insight today with a meeting with the mayor and the superintendent on because I'm an advocate for metal detectors and got to hear the st their side. So, all I can say is, you know, I'm
012going to trust them in faith that they they said they're going to keep my daughter safe at Wallace and I'm scared for it because of what's going on and then all the fights that I have on video, but I'm going to today I'm listening to them. I told them I'm going to have faith as a mustard seed to believe in them. God forbid nothing happens and they and you all are going to keep these schools safe with the programs you pass and the security systems you do. So, I'm just here to say that and God forbid anything does happen, I will hold you all accountable diplomatically. I appreciate all your time. May God bless you and your families all the day long. Thank you. Thank you very much for your concerns. Have a good day.
013They're they're heard. Thank you. Okay. Are there any other speakers who didn't have a chance to uh sign up? Seeing none, could I have a motion to return? A motion to return to the regular order of business. Second. Okay. Discussion. All in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Uh I'd like this opportunity. Uh if the students, if you could just wait a minute. Um right. No, they're already Oh, good. Oh, she's gonna go over and talk to not publicly. Okay. All right. We we've asked uh our uh I forget her title. Just asked our director of college and career readiness to talk to the uh students that spoke tonight. Good. So, we would like to follow up with that. Thank you. Okay. Um All right. Let's see. Okay. Dr. Schwarz in uh announcements. Okay, good evening, Vice
014President Brown, uh, board of education commissioners, and our student representatives from Kennedy. Brief update tonight. Uh, happy summer, everyone. Chase Elementary School hosted their first ever elementary unified sports special Olympics competition on Saturday, June 7th. Uh, students from Chase, G, Martin, Reed, and Washington schools participated. We received a grant for this uh for this opportunity. I I I think it was a phenomenal event and grant or not, I think it's something that we should continue to expand in the district. It just brings out the best in everyone and so congratulations to those schools and those students. Waterberry public schools philanthropy team helped raise over $2,000 in the month of May by buying bracelets and showing their college spirit wear. Um, obviously Waterberry Promise is integral into what we're trying to accomplish here in the district
015and we were happy to raise uh those funds for Waterberry Promise. Waterberry U graduates. Waterberry U offers the uh educators in the Waterberry public schools a chance to earn micro credentials funded by the district leading to graduate credits and eventually a master's degree in curriculum and instruction. Congratulations to our Waterberry U class of 2025. The following staff members uh earned a master's degree. Ellen Alveneise, Elizabeth Andrew Zooi, Brooklyn Brawn, Rachel Betty, Amanda Farley, Melissa Havocin, Lauren Gunderson, Siobhan Martishi, William Parker, Cara Palter, Michelle Canano, Samantha Roya, Nim Sinen, and Katia Short. and I was able to uh go around the district on Monday during professional learning time and take a small portion of their time to take some pictures with them with the human capital office. Mr. Mendoza uh was present. Um Marissa Waters and
016Carly Carpentry were were also there who really uh are the the energy behind the program. And so uh we just wanted to go do a personal touch and congratulate them on graduating. Speaking of graduations, just want to throw out the congratulations to the class of 2025. Well-earned. Uh we went uh many of us were able to attend uh multiple graduations and uh it was at the beautiful Palace Theater and it was an amazing experience to see all the students and the happy families and staff uh there. And I think the uh not just the the the seniors were graduating, but we had our promotions for our preschool students and our kindergarten students and our fifth grade and our eighth grade. So, congratulations to all the students that graduated from our high schools, but also graduated
017from the several different programs that we have, whether it's promotional on that. And we have some pictures and uh different uh looks at our graduations moving forward. If you keep going, you we had our school to work transition and our step two NVCC program where we had several students that were graduating from those programs that were transitioning out into the uh whether they were transitioning to Nugget Valley as students uh after their time with us or into the workforce. That was excellent. in the Rose Garden there at NVCC, we had our early college high school senior recognition ceremony where we celebrated our students from early college high and where 16 of them were able to obtain their master's degree at Post University just over a month ago and of course our uh graduations at Crosby
018Kennedy Williams career and willby and we had a variety of speakers uh from the board of education uh at multiple uh of uh events. We also obviously celebrated of course State Street enlightenment and uh adult education and what a what a great way uh to to start the summer. It was uh everybody was in high spirits and uh obviously school is out so we want to wish everyone a restful summer our student for our students and families. Uh there is still time. If you uh look at the next slide here, uh we do have summer school posted for our uh elementary students running July 7th to the 20 31st. This elementary school is again based on students reading scores and uh there if you have if you need any more information, please go to our
019Waterberry Public Schools homepage. Yeah, we did one last push last uh week and we we our numbers are looking much better. You know, we have over,00 signed up for it at this point and so want to encourage anyone that's received that letter to uh make sure they make contact, fill it out, and uh come to summer school so we can help improve those reading scores. And last but not least, I want to uh wish everybody uh a happy uh uh Junth that will be tomorrow. the district and the city is shut down for uh to celebrate that federal holiday. And uh we will be doing a flag raising ceremony at city hall at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow if anybody is available. And that concludes my report. Thank you, Dr. Schwarz. Um president's comments. Uh I just
020want to have a couple of announcements. I I publicly want to thank our delegation from Waterberry uh who were very successful uh in the legislative session in getting additional dollars for special education and our education cost sharing. Uh we were able to get additional dollars and drum roll uh also our Waterberry Promise uh was funded $3 million over the next two years. So that was a great accomplishment and shows the dedication of our delegation up in Harford. So uh we're really excited to be working with them on a continuous basis. Just one announcement. Uh I just want to mention about the cancellation of the seven July 17th regular meeting and holding a special meeting after the workshop on July 10th. So we'll only have one meeting in July July 10th. So, so those of us
021who love the summer, that's a good thing, right? We'll have one meeting instead of two. So, thank you all very much. Uh, now we'll hear from our, uh, excellent students, student representative comments from Kennedy High School. Vadia deeply, take it away. Thank you. Good evening, Vice President Brown, Secretary Serrano Adorno, commissioners, and Dr. Schwarz. My name is Vidyia Sagenorf and I served as the 12th grade representative, senior vice president, and theater co-president for Kennedy High School this past year. Serving as the Kennedy representative has been an honor for the past two years. I will be attending the University of New Haven in the fall to pursue criminal justice and I'm proud to bring the knowledge and experience of serving as a board representative with me. Jaden, sorry. Um Jaden and I are here tonight to
022share all the accomplishments Kennedy has experienced in terms of our student events. Graduation. We had a huge graduation graduating class of 320 students in a very lovely morning ceremony. We had 93 students earned the seal of biiteracy and 10 of those students earned it in two languages. Thank you to the honorable Mayor Prunuski, Commissioner Orso, and Dr. Schwarz for your words of encouragement and wisdom and an overall thank you to all the board members in attendance. Your presence and participation was well appreciated. We have had a successful year of events organized by our senior class officers. Prom was a huge success with the entire student body. And our seniors enjoyed their bingo night, trivia night, senior night at Dave and Busters, and the filming and watching of our senior video. We'd like to thank Mr.
023Clark and the senior officers for their hard work this year and wish them well on their future endeavors. Now, as co-president of theater, I feel it is my obligation to brag about our accomplishments this year. Good. We put on two productions, Clue and the Adams family, and received six Halo nominations for our hard work. Wow. As a quick overview for anyone unfamiliar, the Halo Awards are Connecticut's version of the Tony's, but for high school theater. It originated here in Waterberry at Seven Angels and has grown to serve and celebrate over a 100 schools across the state. I'm also very proud to announce that I brought home a halo for us this year, marking it as the second halo we've won during my four years here at Kennedy. While Kennedy isn't widely known for our arts,
024our theater department is small yet mighty, and I have full confidence in handing the department down to the underclassman for yet another successful theater season. Now, before I pass you this over to Jaden, I'd like to quickly thank you for your continued support and dedication, not just to our school, but to all of Waterberry Public Schools. Thank you again. And here's Jaden to continue our report. Hey, Jaden. Chris, real quick before you get on, uh, I want to say congratulations. Uh, and we're going to miss you, but also wanted to know what you won the Halo Award for, which which performance, cuz I saw you in Adam's family and you were awesome. Thank you. Um, I was nominated for both actually, my performance in both, but I won for my performance as Wodssworth and Clue.
025Did you? Yes. Congratulations. Thank you. Um, good evening, Vice President Brown, Secretary Sareno Adorno, Commissioners, and Dr. Schwarz. My name is Jaden Oavdo, and I'm here and I am the 11th grade representative at Kennedy High School. I am part of the Soore program, as well as the talented and gifted program. Going into this next school year, I will serve as the next president of National Honor Society, president of DECA, and of course, moving up to the next senior representative here. Um, our music department and our athletics teams have hit some outstanding milestones this year. Our music department was recently adjudicated. Adjudicated. Thank you. And and our band, choir, and advanced choir all earned a gold rating. We are very proud of this achievement and hope it gives the underclassing motivation to hone their skills and
026strive for a platinum next year. As a celebration, the music department took a day trip over to Six Flags in Aawwam, Massachusetts. The band's incredible growth these past seasons have resulted in some amazing performances. We've even been invited to perform in Hawaii next year during a spring parade. In addition, our band has raised over $20,000 to go on a celebratory trip at their next year's no doubt successful season. Our jazz band was invited to perform in Philadelphia this March as a part of the 6th annual National Jazz Festival. Wow. Our band members spent an entire Saturday traveling to to and from Pennsylvania just to participate. We strive to attend this festival from for many more years to come and encourage the next wave of students to keep working hard. Now into sports. Our baseball, softball,
027and boys tennis team all qualified for their respective state tournaments. In addition, two players from both the baseball and softball teams made the all NVL teams. Congratulations to those teams and students. Last but not least, our boys volleyball team has had another successful season as a new program, and we're excited to see the the program continue to bloom in the coming years. Moving on to some of our goals for the upcoming year. We're in the process of starting a math honor society for our ex exceptionally gifted mathematics students. We're expecting to have it running early next school year and are very excited to introduce another honor society at Kennedy. The application and dues have all been completed by our wonderful teacher adviser, Mrs. Sullivan, who is thrilled to be head of our new honor society.
028We thank you for your time tonight. Me and Vidia have been honored to represent Kennedy this year. We are sad to say goodbye to Vidia as she goes on to pursue her passion in criminal justice. We really are going to miss you. As my upper classman, you have truly been an inspiration to me and I hope to continue to fill your role as senior representative here at the board of education. Thank you again. And I was happy to see Jaden uh yesterday taking part in the summer internship program that the city has provided. and he is going to be working closely with the IT department uh for the city side because he's interested in several things including engineering and uh that's where his internship is going to take place. So I was glad to see
029that and look forward to your leadership next year. Great. Thank you very much and best wishes to you in college. Which college are you going to? I didn't hear you. University of New. University of New Haven. Oh, that's great. Criminal justice. That's great. Okay, moving right along. Um, next we have the consent calendar. Does anyone wish to remove any item from the consent calendar? Okay, seeing none, 9.1, Committee of the Hall, request approval of the educational specifications for the proposed Roberto Clemente International Dual Language School Expansion. 9.2 Committee of the Whole requests approval of a subcontractor agreement with Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, Inc. for professional development for the Connect initiative. 9.3 Committee on Finance request approval to participate in the Healthy Food Certification Program per Connecticut General Statute 10-215F 9.4 Committee on
030Finance request approval of the Food and Beverage Exemption Statement for the Healthy Food Certification Relative to Connecticut General Statute 10-221Q. 9.5 Committee on Finance request approval of a professional service agreement with David Leaper Consulting LLC for Cisco Network Engineering Services. 9.8 Committee on Finance request approval of a professional service agreement capital region education council resource group for school psychology services for students. 9.7 Committee on Finance request approval of a professional service agreement with the Nurse Network LLC to provide certified nursing assistant services. 9.8 Committee on Finance request approval of amendment two to the agreement with American School for the Deaf for Special Education Services. 9.9 Committee on Finance request approval to apply for the Connecticut State Department of Education State afterchool grant program for K through 12. 9.10 Committee on Finance request approval to apply
031for the Connecticut State Department of Education Primary Mental Health Grant Program. 9.11 Committee on Finance request approval to apply for the 2025 US Department of Justice COPS cops school violence prevention program SVP grant 9.12 Committee on Building and School Facilities request approval to accept the John F. Kennedy High School roof project 151-307R as complete. 9.13 Committee on Building and School Facilities request approval to accept the Sprag Elementary School roof project 151-308 RRS complete. 914 Committee on Building and School Facilities request approval to accept the BW Tinker Elementary School roof project 151-309R as complete. 9.15 Committee on Building and School Facilities Use of School Facilities by School Organizations andor city departments. 916 Committee on Building and School Facilities Use of School Facilities by Outside organization andor waiver request. Commissioner O'Brien may have have a motion. A
032motion to place on file. Nope. Motion two. I motion to approve the consent calendar items 9.1 through 916. Second. Discussion. Those in favor? I. Those opposed abstain. Motion carries. Thank you. Number 10. Items removed from the consent calendar. There are none. 11. Uh, Commissioner O'Brien. Committee of the whole 11.1 please to the board of education item number 11.1 ladies and gentlemen the committee of the whole moves to terminate the employment contract of Sarah Downey Cessa as recommended by the superintendent of schools effective immediately. Item 11.2. No we have to vote on each one. It's okay. Is there a second? Second. Discussion. All in favor? I opposed. Abstain. Motion carries. 11.2. 11.2. To the board of education. Ladies and gentlemen, I move that the board of education approve of a nocost student affiliation agreement with the
033University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education for student internships. Second. Discussion. All in favor? I. Opposed? Abstain. Motion carries. 11.3 Item 11.3 to the board of education. Ladies and gentlemen, I move that the board of education approve a nocost district participation agreement with Capitol Region Education Council CIRC for Connecticut welcoming schools evaluate study. Second discussion. All in favor? I opposed abstain. Motion carries. Okay. Committee on Finance, Commissioner Orso 11 12.1 12.1 I I move that the board of education approve amendment number one to the student transportation services, special education bus transportation services with Allstar Transportation. Second discussion. Commissioner Van Stone. Thank you, Madam President. through you. Um I would believe Nick probably may want to have a conversation with me on this one. Um I know it was a you know it came to us
034straight to the board, but I read through it and and I have no problem with that piece. Um I've had concerns for a while and I've spoken to both Dr. Schwarz and Mr. Albini about the fact that two of our towns that come to our magnet schools, one of which we're sitting in, uh, Thomas and Terryville, have made the decision they will no longer bust their students to our schools, and that's what this amendment is about. Um, taking a little bit of your your job there, Nick, talking about it, but um, and it bothers me greatly. Uh, one, Thomas did do what is by contract, and that is give us a one-year notice, and which is why I've had a problem with it for a while. Uh, and the second thing is Terryville did not.
035They're actually in breach of contract by turning off buses this year. I think in kind for us to offer these buses uh for the coming school year uh is the right thing to do because giving parents notification in June that their student that obviously loves coming to Waterberry to our schools. Um, and I've talked to one principal about it as well, and this the students in these two towns have been very productive, respectful, and uh contributed a lot to our schools from these towns. So, it's only $150,000 compared to what we're going to be talking about in about 15 20 minutes. Um, so I'm certainly in agreement with this, but it it begs for another question. and special ed. We already have out of town buses for special ed. We already have that in place
036and we budgeted for it and it's already there um based on special and this is only special ed this this amendment. No, it isn't. It's only for allstar in the uh contract that I read. So if I Okay, go ahead. If I may, uh, Vice President Brown, Board of Education Commissioners, Kennedy High School Board of Education representatives, and interim superintendent, uh, Dr. Schwarz. Thank you, uh, Commissioner. You said everything perfectly, and we appreciate that. Yeah, this is an unfortunate situation that Thomas, uh, and Terryville and Plymouth, Terryville have decided to withdraw their partnership in our magnet schools, our three magnet schools. Um right now um Commissioner Allstar is the transportation company for Thomas and Plymouth for special ed. No for for these for these students. They have many divisions. Okay. So this division uh they
037were going to end up losing out on this. We didn't do this for them but they were losing out on this. So they were more than willing to uh work with us and they have offered us this contract to transport these students from Thomas and Plymouth and Terryville to our three magnet schools at the same rate that's in place for them now for Thomas and Plymouth. So it was $45 per bus per day and there's two buses. So in essence this almost becomes a wash. It's almost exactly what we're going to pay for busing. We will we will get in return a reimbursement from the state at $1,300 per student. So, we're going to get back just about $149,500. So, it's definitely the right thing to do. It is. It is. I will reread what
038I read, but it read as though it was only for special ed. it was hooked on to the special ed and it may have been. So we're basically adding students to the bus maybe an extra stop or two or no not even because we're already picking them up. Correct. So we're not adding any students. We're not adding any stops. We're not adding any buses. It's just the per student ratio. So, even more so, am I in favor of this? Because we need our magnet schools to maintain these seats because remember, if these students don't come, we don't get to put Waterberry kids in those chairs. Another thing I've been fighting for for years. Um, so we might as well fill the chairs. Plus, we're we have no reason to not want these children to come
039to our school. None. Absolutely none. And if I can go a little bit further, we will have to pay for the first 7,000 gallons of diesel, but even at 350 a gallon, it's still only $25,000. But here's the I know I say only 25,000, though we wish. But what this is what I'd love to say right now enrolled in our three magnet schools for the 2526 school year is 115 students. we will get, if it's the same ratio as this year of $9,796, we will be getting back $774,000, which pays for teachers, which pays for programming, which pays for a lot of the things that doesn't that don't come out of the capital or general fund. So, this is an absolute right thing to do. We don't want to be in the transportation business, but
040this is the right decision. uh look away from paying for busing for out of town students. So look away from that is absolutely the right thing to do. I'm glad you're making me happy now because I probably won't be in a little while. Okay. And 25,000 compared to 158 million we're about to talk about. It is small and it's all for good things which everything this is direct for students and some of the things I mean when you look at the magnet schools what they can provide for instruments and programming and languages and teachers you can't you can't you can't put that into general fund which all our conversations are this easy. Thank you madam president. Thank you commissioner. Any other uh comments or clarifications? I just have one uh Mr. Albini just so that
041I understand by state statute Thomas Terryville and so forth uh are not obligated to bus pay for the busing themselves. The receiving magnet school is supposed to pay. So prior to this, those sending districts were paying for the busing because Thomas in their uh uh proper timing of one-year notice uh they are not obligated. Okay. Technically Plymouth and Terryville are still obligated for one more year technically. Um but um because we are going to take on that expense which I verified with the state department. I made a couple phone calls speaking to the magnet school specialist and the gentleman that was in charge of busing and timely reporting. I have to for I have to file an ED021 for to receive thatund uh $1,300 per student. So I filed that twice a year, one for
042estimate and then one in uh the spring and we'll receive that money back. So we don't want to lose those students. We want to say that right away to them cuz once you once a parent withdraws a student, it's very difficult to get that student back, right? So, we want to tell all of our partner districts, send send your students. We have three great Thanks for the clarification. Yeah. Commissioner O'Brien, how will these parents know that if they've been told that they're not getting the bus and that we're going to help them? Are they going to be notified? They're going to be notified. Yes, absolutely. Okay. They've already Yeah. We've already kind of notified them that that that there was a solution in the works and to not go anywhere. There was going to be
043a solution in the works here. And so we didn't, you know, prior to June, it was maybe April, correct? April, correct? We we reached out to parents and just said, you know, we it's going to take a little time as we go through the contract process, try to figure this out, but um you know, keep your students with us. You know, trust in the process. you know, we'll let you know how it goes as we go along the way. But what we wanted to do is avoid them just pulling kids out. Um, and so obviously this would the vote for this contract would help us go a long way. We have to go to the alderman on Monday as well. But, uh, we did tell the parents that we were working on a solution and
044to to trust the process. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. There's a motion and it's been seconded. We had discussion. All in favor? Opposed? Abstain. Motion carries. Thank you, Commissioner Orso. We're on 12.2. 12.2. Ladies and gentlemen, I move that the board of education approve amendment one to the student intern affiliation agreement with the University of Connecticut for social work student internships. Second. Discussion. All in favor? I opposed. Abstain. Motion carries. Thank you. 12.3 12.3 I move that the board of education approve the fidiciary form for the early start local governance partner LGP second discussion commission what is that what is that I think we have our expert down here we have uh we have yes Marine if you could come up and if this is a big change for early childhood right
045thank you for being here. Yeah. If somehow Jan and Marine can uh summarize this that makes sense, it would be really impressive because there's been a lot of changes at the early childhood level. And the long story short is is that there is going to be no more school readiness council that's written out of legislation. They voted to for bridge to success to be the LGP moving forward. I uh supported that at the at the meeting to make sure that that would happen. And so, um, you know, there's a lot of changes happening, but basically the LGP is is is taking over as the school readiness council to be able to run all of the early start initiatives in our district. And I'm probably overstating what it is, but that's that's basically, and I don't
046know if Jan and Marie want to add to that. Well, good evening, Vice President Brown, commissioners, student representatives. Um, it's like Dr. Ward said, and it's I know it's going to take me years to stop saying school readiness, right? And so I had to jot down the note. It's early start Connecticut. Um there the council will now like Dr. Schwarz said, the council will now be the LGP LG did it LPG LGP, right? Local governance partner. All right. And so, um, we've been getting a lot of communications about it. And what I've been seeing lately is, well, you you'll see more information in July. And, um, but what this is is a switch to, um, how we're doing the school readiness and and the community and and actually home um, preks. And so, there's going
047to be a lot of changes. to so our local governance partnership is very involved in the community and the public school sector. Their goal is to create greater and great engagement with families between the school and the community. So the as Dr. Schwarz and uh Miss Frenis said there will not be a school readiness council. There will be a local governance council where we will still I don't know if I'll be on it but they we'll still meet frequently. It will cover these same concerns that were covered under school readiness. The children and the families will be the priority for the local governance partner partnership and um we have did they mention bridge to success? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, Bridge Success, Bridge to Success is the perfect uh partnership for it because they are already
048involved in our schools. They've been in our school system through the Boost programs. They run wonderful programs. They have a lot of parent engagement. It's another outreach into the community. They are very familiar with our preschool programs because they're in our larger K to pre-K to 8 schools. I work with them very closely through the family resource center. So, it's a nice it's a nice agreement with with them. Any other questions? Roco, the funding sources, what I remember, we were the fiduciary coming through here, funding sources for these programs. Yes, we were the fiduciary. So we would receive the grants based the state the grant would come through the state we'd be the fiduciary but it it was we're just like the pass through right yeah to to the local programs whether you know the
049water public schools did have school readiness programs but uh the most of the programs were in the community YMCA Easter Seals new opportunities and and so and team and and all those so uh yeah we were the fiduciary but more of a pass through right I remember that what's it going to be now they're going to be paid directly so now it goes through the local governor's partner. It's going to go through Bridge to Success. Um, and that that's that's the kind of the organi organizationally that's how they want it done at the state level. They don't want it to go through those, you know, if we were the LGP, then it would go through us. Um, but we weren't really built out to be the LGP. Most school systems aren't be aren't the LGP.
050The the biggest change really that you're going to see is that this is not a grant. That's that's the biggest difference. It's not a grant. It's going to be a contract and it's going to going to be a contract with Waterberry as opposed to as Dr. Short said Waterberry receiving the grant overseeing all the community sites. It's very simple. It's a very simple transaction between the state and Waterberry. Everything else will stay the same. We'll still have our 25 classrooms that are early start funded. We will still have um the collaboration with Bridge to Success that's been ongoing and our other community partners. Any other questions? I have just one question. In the in the old model, uh we did have a school readiness coordinator. Uh I don't know if that role is still there
051that did a lot of the monitoring and the um kind of the quality control. Will that be bridge to success still be doing that? So that position, excuse me, will now be called the early start Connecticut lays on. Okay. So it's a similar function. Very similar in function. Um they they do have particular titles that they'll be using for different positions and in order to meet the requirements, but yes. Okay. Thank you. Uh, Commissioner Ireland. Thank you. Um, President Brown, if I may, I just wanted to make a comment. Um, parents of Waterberry out of British success, we have been doing community conversations for this topic here. I don't have the um next three ones that we'll be doing, but we just have one at the Reeba Aspira and last night at Team Inc. So,
052we have they have been putting it out there to the community for uh information. So, just keep a look out on their Facebook page, PAL Parents of Waterberry, and they normally um advertise when those meetings will take place. Okay, any other questions? Okay, thank you very much. Appreciate your time. Thank you. Okay, we've had discussion. All in favor? I opposed. Abstain. Motion carries. Thank you, Commissioner Orso. 12.4. I move the board of education approve amendment one to the professional services agreement with Sukeras technology corporation for monitoring and servicing of school security systems second discussion all in favor opposed abstain motion carries thank you 12.5 12.5 I move that the waterberry board of education approve transfers to the department of educ education. Do you want to say anything? 202425 general fund budget totaling $3,24,000 as follows.
053Second. Do you have to fit you have Do you want me to read the whole everything? Okay. Uh Bunker Hill teachers um $1 million. Wendler Lacrosse teachers 784,000. Driggs teachers 885,000. Washington teachers 535,000 um which is a total of 3,24,000 and it's two I'm sorry that was from I'm sorry and it's two operation and maintenance electricity 500,000 operation and maintenance transfer to syncing fund 1,460,000 uh people transportation 1,244,000 thank you second Discussion. All in favor? I. Opposed? Abstain? Motion carries. Thank you. 12.5 I'm sorry. 12.6.6. Mhm. Uh, I move that the Waterberry Board of Education approve the Department of Education's 2025 26 operating total operating budget totaling $233,617 $617,091 158,375 board of alderman adopted appropriation uh 71,617,091 alliance year 14 $450,000 uh 2020 1617 surplus $1 million 20 1516 surplus or $1 million 20145 surplus
054675,000 contingency surplus and 500,000 city non-lapsing contingency second discussion commissioner Van Stone Okay, first thing I want to say is uh to Miss Bol and her staff that through the finance committee meetings of the last three months um you gave us great explanation of everything where you're some cases robbing from Peter to pay Paul other cases moving the checkers around and in other cases uh putting back in place things that I've disagreed with for a very long time. But that's not on you and we've talked about it enough. So now I'll talk about those um you know and I I when I went through it this year and I always look because there's not a whole heck of a lot to even beat up. We're in the you know 80 to 85% of our budget
055goes to salaries, goes to insurance, goes to busing. Um, so when you're only talking about 15% of $158 million, there's not a whole lot to look at. But I did. And what I find is very disturbing. And I'll start with Harper Avenue. We have a rental property on Harper Avenue. And we pay a rent of about $150,000. They've been nice enough. It's kind of stayed that way for a bunch of years now. But when I found out we're paying $14,000 towards their property tax, um you could only imagine what I was uh thinking. Um we need somewhere to take care of what is in Harbor Avenue. I'm not debating that. It's used mainly for storage, much less with our uh our fleet of vehicles than I was first led to believe. Uh I understand sometime
056there's two pe two cars in error trucks. Um so I think we can't do anything about it now. We're we have a contract that expires the end of uh the next school year with them. And I would like to in the meantime look for other space, city- owned space, especially if we're only using it for a couple vehicles. Um I do understand there's quite a bit of storage up there. Um and we we would need to look for some sort of storage space that is under our own roof. But we're not going to know that unless we go look. So I would like and I think it's it probably is a combination of finance and building committee. I'll leave that to President Hernandez. But um we need to look at that space on Harper Avenue.
057Take a look maybe just a suggestion at our fairly new public works facility. I guess that's Freight Street at that point. Um I'm not sure. No, it's not Freight Street. It's Aurora. It's still part of Aurora. That's what I was think. Yeah. Um we need to take a look and see if we could do something about that because in the end it's about $170,000 a year that we put into there. Uh paying their taxes is just I I can't believe we do that. And that that definitely needs to stop if not the rental. But um yeah, I just again I can't believe that. So I'll move on from Harper. And of course I'll always pick on the $250,000 we've been given to the palace supposedly so we could have 29 dates. At one point it
058was 30, but now it's 29. Uh dates in the Palace Theater. Uh keeping in mind the Palace Theater is owned by the city of Waterberry. Uh, and we pay this money to the nonprofit Palace Theater Group is their official title. Uh, when you look at the contract, we're paying for uh the theater director, the ticket office, and I didn't see anywhere about how much per night for dates. Um, we've been paying for that for a long time. I guess after 20 years the the real story can come out and that was that the city was putting money in there any way they could to make sure the palace opened its doors 25 years ago which was fine but it came out of education $250,000 every single year since. And that's just to me not the
059place to put it or take it. Um, and next, I know I've heard a lot of nice things tonight about Waterberry Promise, but I have no choice but to take a look at it. And we're putting in $500,000, a half a million dollars we're handing over to Waterberry Promise, um, out of our operating budget. Uh, so I took a look at their 23 tax form and they have 15 people listed as employees. 15. Only two make a salary totaling $300,000. Two people. Ironically, I also saw that they checked they did not check the fact that they get a free office from a municipal or government type. Well, we give them a free office. It's in the Chase building and I understand no one's ever in there. Um, when you look at their income in 23,
060they brought in $2.4 million. $2 million are listed on their tax form as gifts or contributions from government agencies. $400,000 was done on their own. So, they brought in just enough money to cover her salary and benefits. Not one dollar that they brought in went to a scholarship when you do the math. Not one. We gave them an additional $250,000 earlier this year. So for this year, we gave them $750,000. The city also in their budget gives them $500,000. And now the state is giving them 1.5 a year for two years. I think it's about time uh we let the children go and if they're going to be a nonprofit and get a salary off of a nonprofit which can go up and down without any reason. Um I think it's time they go out
061and start doing some fundraising. I don't think we should be giving them this much money. Why? How many other nonprofits want $500,000 from us? I bet there's a couple. We got them started. The city got them started. It's now three years in. Have they done nice work by handing out scholarships? Absolutely. I'm not complaining about that. But we should not be supporting 100% when you break it down these scholarships. If that's the case, let's bring them out. We'll pick the people, get scholarships, and we'll hand them out because we don't need to pay them $300,000. I mean, it's just it's insane that they're just getting money, and if hey, if we keep writing that check and the f and the state keeps writing that check, they have no initiative to go out and find their
062own money and they're nonprofit. We hired the person who leads that as a director because of the experience as a nonprofit person. She's a director of nonprofit and not one of their dollars they brought in 2023 went to a scholarship. It was all government money, taxpayer money. Did we ask our taxpayers in Mterbury if we wanted to contribute $500,000 in their name? I don't think we did. Don't think we did. Um, typically on this final night of budget, I always vote yes and say, and I've done this for past 11 years, I vote yes, even when I disagree, saying that this is now our budget, and we need to work to make it work and do what we can with Dorene and her magic. This year, I can't do that. I just can't do that.
063We need so much. We did a great job, and I'll give kudos. We did a great job of lowering our vacancies in teachers. Amazing job actually. Better probably than any big district in the state. And I get kudos for that. Absolutely. However, in special ed, we are so short teachers, the teachers when I talk to them, they get their job done. What teachers actually told me was that if we made BTS, behavioral folks and apparas, if we made that job more attractive when we advertise for them, they would rather see that than anything else because they need their support base because that's what makes it happen. Um, I was told that one parah left our district to go to another district for $3 an hour. $3 an hour. We lost the pair. What are we
064doing, folks? I rattled off almost a million dollars that I don't like where it's going. Almost a million dollars. And we've been doing it every year. Everything I listed, we've been doing every year. And I didn't even go into all our rental properties, which I also want to start looking now to bring those students back to our buildings. I've been asking for that for probably 10 years. I was told there's no room at Wallace. I thought Wallace was perfect for enlightenment because Wallace has the medical facility right there in the building. I'm like, how more perfect is that? No room. No room. No room. Well, then voila. Two years ago, we move in an academy. I guess there is room. And that's a lot more students in Enlightenment. So, I'm tired of hearing no. I'm
065tired of hearing no. I think starting tomorrow, we need to start investigating our rental properties and we need to start looking at the palace contract, which if you notice, it never even comes before us. It just magically gets renewed every year. Uh it and it has for ever. Uh it just voila. Well, here's your check. I mean, when I complained about the former St. Lucy's building seven years ago, all of a sudden, the contract comes before us. Instead of three years, it was for 10. And now 2027, it's up. So, I hope I hope people start hearing what I'm saying. I'm not arguing. I'm not yelling. I'm not screaming. I'm bringing facts. Facts that we are taking a million dollars more and more out of the classroom out of the classroom. And it needs to
066get back into the classroom because special ed population is not going down. It's not going down. It's bigger every day. Not even every year, every day. And we need to start making serious changes. Take a serious look at how we're spending money. The free money to create individuals legacies needs to stop because it's been on our back that these legacies have been created and it needs to stop and I think today is the day it should stop. So, thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Vanstone. Any other uh comments on the budget? I would just like to say I thank you for your thoughtful comments and given the constraints of the budget I do agree that we have to look do a deeper dive because I would like to see us be able to afford the transportation
067for whams to get those students. We heard compelling testimony at the last hearing that some of these kids that's their their way to to get scholarship. So I I really would like that and I've heard again and again that it is the support staff, the parents, the aids in the classroom that the teachers really want. Uh especially for the special the little kids uh the early childhood program and I know that Dr. Schwarz has highlighted that and has has really started to do that which I really appreciate. So I think your comments are well taken and given the constraints of the budget I I do think we need to do that deeper dive. So thank you. Okay. All in favor or do you want a roll call for? Okay. Okay. All in favor? I opposed.
068Abstain. Motion carries. Thank you. Okay. All right. Okay. That's the last one, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Superintendent's notification to the board items 3 13.1 through 13.3. Uh, Commissioner uh Lopez, may I have a me uh motion? I motion to receive and place on file the superintendent's notification to the board items 13.13 [Music] 13.13 through 13.13 y as listed commissioner Jackson second all in favor I I opposed oppos Okay. Close. Okay. Uh, thank you. Are there any committee chair reports this evening? Commissioner Orso, I don't have that, but I'd like to make a comment if you don't mind. Sure. Is that um I had the pleasure of attending uh three graduations this past week, and I just wanted to say how proud I was of all the students. They were just fantastic and just the colleges
069that they're going to and the military that they're going to. I have to praise them and and the graduations were were just perfect. They were just just well organized and I appreciate everybody that was there. And I just, you know, you never hear the good things. you always hear the bad things, you know, and and to see the where these, you know, the the valictorian speeches and the all the other speeches that the kids had, you know, I just I was just proud to be there and I was just proud of all the students, you know, and I just wanted to say that and thank you, Commissioner Van Stone. Thank you, ma'am. President, Vice President, through you, Roco got me thinking. Um, you know, whenever we do these graduations, if Rocco happens to be at
070one with me and I stand up to speak, he starts cringing. and and and he pulls out his pocket. The hook the hook and the tomatoes come out the hook and um you know this year he uh I did I I spoke at the willby graduation and he he actually missed one of my top five. Right, Mr. Hackel? I made a comparison to the students uh being unique and stay themselves do and I told them to do one thing each day to make themselves better. Just one each and every day. And the comparison I made to him was uh to Casey in a sunshine band. And I know Mr. Haxel for one was uh wondering where I was going with it. I did bring it to a good conclusion. Um, and I I got a
071nice note back, too. I send a note out each beginning of the year, Christmas, and at the end of the year, I send a note to the teachers. And I actually got one response back that said, "Thank you, and you also have a good summer, but we missed you at adult ed graduation." Yeah. And uh that's that's where the top four are. And my president Brown's been at a few of them. Yeah. I got to speak in in place of you. Well, he miss at least one teacher missed me. Um, you know, so graduation is so special at the end of the year. Uh, I also did the Wham's graduation and if you want to know what kind of students we have actually uh, Commissioner Jackson and I also were able to take in the
072eighth grade graduation and she saw our daughter and I saw my granddaughter receive their diplomas. Um, we were I was ordered I'm not sure about Commissioner Jackson. I was ordered to go there as pop and not commissioner. So, I sat in the crowd. So, I was given a big stern warning for that. But when I went to the Whams High School graduation, um there there was an was it Williams? No, it was Career Academy. I'm sorry. Career Academy. uh they made an announcement that every single student that walked through the door in August, September, whatever you I I always think that thing September for school, but in August, every single senior that walked through the door in August was sitting in front of us in a cap and gown. Wow, that's amazing. Every single senior
073Very good. Which is uh that's that's pretty pretty amazing. Um, and one story whams we heard recently when they were speaking, of course, was one of their graduates received a full four-year scholarship to Harvard. So, you know, if you want to highlight our students and talk about the good stuff, we actually could be here all night. And for President Hernandez, I'll say my 95enters, and the people who've been on the board for a while know that I I used to say it a lot. Um, and that's the 95% of our kids that are doing the right thing each and every day. Um, they may not be on the honor roll, but they're doing the right thing. Uh, unfortunately, the 5% are the ones that make the newspaper. Uh, so yeah, tough year, but uh, great
074conclusion with the graduation. So, thank you. Good job, Dr. Schwarz. Absolutely, Commissioner Lopez. Yeah. Um, thank you for bringing up the graduations. Um, I got to join some this year as commissioner. So, it was very nice and a unique way of looking at graduations and I was most impacted by the relationships with the teachers and the students. Um, you could see them crying and they're getting really emotional and missing each other already. Um, and for me that was one of the most impactful things that I got to witness. Um, so I'm so grateful to be here and being able to see that. Yeah, it was was excellent and very heartwarming and kudos to all of our faculty, the parents. I mean, we have a great district and I'm proud to serve. So, thank you. On
075that note, could I attend another note? Okay. And the attendance by the palace was loaded in every graduation just it was fantastic. They came to hear you, Roco. Oh, yeah. Right. Okay. Could I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion to adjurnn. Second. All in favor? Opposed? Abstain. Okay. See you in July. Happy 4th of July. Yeah, this This one.