001[Music] good evening today is Thursday March 20th 2025 this is a regular meeting of the Waterberry Board of Education we have the presentation of colors national anthem and Pledge of the allegiance yes stand left Mar time [Music] Mar left [Music] face number order the number 50 count 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 present up oh say can you to see by the dawn early light what so proudly we H at the Twilight last gleaming who BR stripes and bright stars through the peral fight the them parts we watched were so gly streaming and the Lo it the bombs besting in gave proof through the night that our flag was SA there oh s do that star spangled and wave for the land of the [Music] free
002and the of the bra oh my the best I've ever the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge 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 wow order [Music] right wow [Applause] I'll say something wor okay we'll now have a silent Prayer Dr Schwarz do you have any remembrances tonight yes thank you president Hernandez in Our Moment of Silence this evening let us remember former members of the Waterbury public school's education Community who have passed away Elma Ariel former crossing guard passed away on February 16th 2025 85 years old Isabelle fornido formal lunch Aid passed away on February 17th 201 25 at 98 years old Augustine Gus cavage former substitute teacher as well as an assistant
003coach of football basketball and Tennis at Kennedy High School passed away on February 18th 2025 at 67 years old John Gilmore Jr retired elementary teacher passed away on February 19th 2025 88 years old Elaine Ramsey former School Bus Aid passed away on February 20th 2024 5 83 years old Charles cmer teacher at State Street passed away on March 6th 2025 at 59 years old vorio raldi former custodian at Kennedy High School passed away on March 11th 2025 at 87 years old Lorraine barbar former lunch a at Waterbury Arts Magnet School passed away on March 12th 2025 at 92 years old and finally Vincent Lombardi who worked with our students as a travel basketball coach at pal and protected them and all of us as a waterburry police officer passed away on March 13th 2025 at
00428 years old commissioner sanoo can I have a motion I move to add to the agenda item number 11.4 Amendment one to the engineer agreement with Freeman companies LLC second I move to add to the agenda item number oh sorry all in favor I I oppose motion carries I move to add to the agenda item number 11.5 modification to the contract with Northwest Regional Workforce investment board Inc second all in favor I oppose motion carries vice president Brown president Anthony present commissioner irand present commissioner jaon Pres commissioner Lopez present commissioner O'Brien present commissioner Orso present commissioner sanoo here commissioner vanstone pres president Fernandez here mayor perusi [Applause] here commissioner Lopez M may I have a motion for communications I motion to receive and place on file Comm Communications as listed second discussion all in favor
005I oppose motion carries student presentation Dr Schwarz good evening president Hernandez vice president Brown secretary Sano odoro uh our mayor Paul peni and our Board of Education members and student Representatives I I want to um start off by saying uh Happy Board of Education appreciation month uh I know how hard you all work I know that um it is not always an easy job but it's a job that many of you were called for and you you signed up for and you you got voted in for and I think that um you know part of our student body being here tonight to see uh to see you and to to and to Value you uh is is a show of of not just their commitment to you but your commitment to them uh so uh
006I I said I was just saying that I think tonight should be a recruiting video for the Waterberry Public Schools this is why you should work here because we have really some of the most amazing staff and students in the entire state of Connecticut I really truly believe that um and because of that I want to highlight some of our amazing staff we couldn't and students we couldn't fit all the students here tonight uh we do have 18,500 but this is just a taste of what the Waterberry Public Schools does and this is just a taste of the amazing students that we have so I want to start it off um many of the board members walked in to the Kennedy Jazz Ensemble band um how did that go for everyone was that good yeah
007well let's let's get them some let's get them let's get them some live action with uh our teacher Nick dreek take it away let's play a song [Music] sh am [Music] Hal [Music] [Applause] [Music] I'm just I'm just going to say I did it right but to bring it [Music] if you [Music] [Applause] [Music] woo wo [Music] I want to thank teacher Nick dreck and the entire Kennedy Jazz Ensemble again for taking time out of your your busy uh schedule practice schedule to come here uh we you have done amazing things over the past few years um and we're very excited to see what you do [Applause] next I also want to take a moment to thank our uh Crosby culinary teacher Doug bule in students who came here tonight Jacob Hughes George vonz kesan
008Davis and we borrowed two students from The wiby Culinary to come here tonight uh former Reed students uh Dy uh Donnie and Joe Burton uh thank you so much for the amazing food that you put together for the board tonight yes I also want to thank our uh William student student who ran from dress rehearsal to get here to play the piano if you heard it beforehand and she had a run back to dress rehearsal she was very nervous about going back and forth but she was she was here last year and you could tell she's gotten even better uh this year so thank you so much to Sophia Nan uh for uh for performing tonight I'd also like to thank our Crosby jrc callar guard and students who performed the pledge tonight uh did
009an amazing job who are led by Miss veroni uh we want to thank uh Commander Cadet uh Commander Cadet Lieutenant Colonel tyena manard uh Army flag bearer Cadet staff sergeant lovely Brown rifle Bearer Cadet Sergeant Caleb Ramos and also rifle Bearer Cadet Corporal German Mar Gonzalez and for the two students who did the Pledge of Allegiance Cadet first sergeant Marilyn mue and Cadet Master Sergeant Mason Loy thank you all right also in front of the board you'll notice a plant that's uh there so that plant is a special plant because that was grown by our Wilby students in the greenhouse so our students at Wilby uh uh grew this plant it's called a Snow Queen Snow Queen uh poos plant uh uh and we'll get you the the planting instructions are they in the packet
010you got them okay good so we you have your planting instructions I'll check on you in a in a few months to see how your plants are doing uh maybe we can make it a contest who could keep it alive the longest but I want to thank uh uh teacher Josephine hints at wilby and all the students there uh who are taking advantage of that beautiful Greenhouse we have at will [Applause] be I also want to thank uh our Wham student Jahim Mo for that amazing national anthem let's give him a round of applause I also want to thank Carrington students who put together the the packet for you of all the all the board appreciation packet that they uh they they they made for you all uh hopefully you you like uh uh you
011like the perspective of our youngest some of our youngest students about uh uh their appreciation for you and uh things and and the direction and where we need to go for the district so um could could definitely use that and so the kids were great and I want to thank principal Rena for putting that together at car to school last but not least we also have a uh um um few things for you we have a video uh that uh students staff around the district put together and then we have some students here that want to present you with a president so we're going to save that for last so if we could roll the video and then we're going to have uh some of our really talented students come up and give you a
012special present tonight okay our scho MERS for leadership and commitment for our students and and honor of school board appreciation month Waterbury Public Schools would like to take a moment to say thank you to our dedicated school board members for their leadership and commitment to our students and Community hello my name is John Rush hi my name is Indina Bader and we just wanted to thank you guys for all the work that you do to make the school system a better place thank you of Education okay thank you for everything you do your decisions give us our education thank you to the board of education for their hard work and commitment to our education youon students from Kennedy High School would like to thank you for all your hard work and we appreciate every little
013thing you guys do for us thank you thank you for all you do for water public school students thank you so much for all you do we appreciate you thank you oh [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] all right I want to thank uh Sydney Molina for helping put that video together and for all of the students and staff that participated in making that and last but not least um we just we we clearly have some of the most amazing students here you know whether it's academics Athletics uh the Arts and tonight I want to highlight the students in the Arts last year I think we had students perform uh uh from Williams here uh and actually Harry Potter for being performed this
014weekend uh Shameless plug and so if you still want tickets uh there's still time to to go um but tonight I wanted to look at our Visual Arts students and our Visual Arts students uh want to present um each and every one of you with with something special so uh first uh for mayor pener rusi our kenned High School contact teacher Stephanie pararo uh who helped uh work with this student the student did it all on their own and for my understanding has a full ride to University of Harford for visual arts next year uh Jade kamacho senior at Kennedy High School um would like to present you even though I don't think they're here tonight but somebody's going to bring it up for you oh she's here oh she is here she made it
015all right let's see what' you have oh wow did you that's amazing of the M wow it looks better than I do in person how Talent they were going to do an interpretive picture but I think um next is we have for secretary uh uh actually let's move down to uh president Hernandez an anarie junr at whams sorry did I mess this up Centron Centron is she here yeah come on on that say I nailed it she doesn't like it cuz I went out of order that's okay wow take your time take your time oh wow wow how talented wow [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so an mariea junor at whams obiously very talented and I'm going to skip back up because I can secretary Sano ororo we have Jan Alvarez is a sophomore at Kennedy
016High School and they'd like to present you with something [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I look young thank you oh that's beautiful take a picture great job amazing no wrinkles or nothing we do it they call it art right um our Crosby High School contact was Kathy Newark and she was able uh because we do have a few Bulldogs among us but uh they they selected commissioner Oro uh the longest running Bulldog of us all here so Mario George Junior at Crosby High School uh but Saxon at Thomas I believe present somebody's going to present but oh one of our amazing Crosby High School got take pictures with them after absolutely let's see what the Bulldogs could do for you there you very much [Applause] [Music] [Applause] that look better was photosho it was not photoshopped this
017was all hand on don't believe don't believe the critics Waterberry career contact was Michael blasich and um Waterberry career was able to uh uh make the artwork for commissioner Jackson commissioner vanstone and commissioner O'Brien oh wow and so I want to thank Rebecca Fu senior at waterbear Career Academy Angelou angelene Marino senior at Waterberry Career Academy and Victoria Herbert senior at Waterberry Career Academy why don't you come one at a time one at a time one other [Applause] time um [Applause] wow thank you so much go ahead I think you could tell who you have right [Laughter] you wow that's when we told you we saved money you got that [Laughter] smile oh nice beautiful wow [Music] [Applause] so uh our Enlightenment contact was Lauren M and we have a special commissioner here who also
018graduated from Enlightenment so we thought it important to get a student there who was willing to to do a portrait so uh Julia Joselyn Burke freshman at Enlightenment did your portrait she's representing enlightenment [Applause] wow wow wow wow okay back to whams our contact was Danielle leblance and uh we have uh anmarie Inon which we already uh gave to president Hernandez but for commissioner Ireland uh I just met this young uh young man upst commissioner a Ireland so we're gonna we're gonna switch because that's not who I met upstair however commissioner Anthony Ireland jacobe nap uh I think I did meet him grade eight at whams did your portrait yeah I did meet you didn't I yeah that was the right [Applause] [Music] one he got you with the Clock Tower and everything wow incred
019grade eighth grade that is correct eighth grade wonderful parents and he's already set on uh pursuing a career in art and so um anyone that wants to commission him he'll start taking money soon I think I think any of our students will take it now commissioner L Ireland uh we have Jaylen oero Jr at Williams not available but somebody's going to bring it up for you y thank you yeah misson I see how this comes out honey oh yours is good yours is good oh my goodness wowow last but certainly not Leed all right so we have vice president brown or will be contact with Amy lamenzo so thank Amy and Alexis LeBron sophomore Wilby um although I don't believe it's here tonight we have a portrait we have somebody bringing your portrait for you
020oh my future Disney [Laughter] employee thank you so much's see they want to see [Applause] I want to thank all of the wonderful students uh all of the families that came out tonight obviously we know that with your strong support they can really achieve anything hopefully you're as proud of the Waterberry Public Schools as we are and I think tonight just displayed a small section of just how great we are as a community and um if like I said if there was any night that anybody was watching wondering if they should come work in the Waterberry Public Schools come look at our kids and tell me they're not the best so thankk you all [Applause] absolutely secretary Sano Dono may I have a motion I move to convene into executive session for dis discussion concerning
021security strategy or the deployment of security Personnel or devices affecting public security second discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries we are an executive session for a few minutes don't go nowhere we want to take a picture [Music] h [Music] for [Music] in [Music] turn thank you Madame President I move to return to the regular order of business with the record reflecting there were no votes taken second discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries public address to the board we have no speakers tonight student representative comments all right okay hi everybody hi hello hello hello nice and loud can you hear me okay perfect perfect just a few notes today just last month wiby high school was informed that we had successfully met the criteria for being a successful turnaround school last year
022yes um we're very proud of all the successes that we've had um us the student body and um for all the hard work that we've been doing at our school um we are proud that that the staff and the student body have collectively worked together all year every day to make will be the fun high energy school we are all proud to call our own also on March 5th Dr Baker presented at the Connecticut state board of education for our school to be granted permission for us to be accepted into another turn around um into another year of being a turnaround we are proud to announce that the state department has granted our request and will be high school has been given a fifth year as a commissioner's Network School [Applause] [Music] [Applause] awesome and
023then a few other notes um we are proud to announce this year's teacher of the year at Wilby to be Dr Eric brummit and then our PA professional of the year at willby High School to be Miss Anne [Applause] chencha also on the robotics competition at Wilby High School from March 8th to 9th we placed [Music] third and then just the other day we had our annual blood drive and we received the most donors we had in the past four [Applause] [Music] [Applause] years and then another fun thing I don't know much about it but we're supposed to be having a sort of lip sync battle in a few days so that should be fun and that's about it right now thank you and that was Milam Renee tumba from WBY High School grade 11
024thank you any questions for her all right item number eight committee and school Personnel commissioner Oro thank you I moved at the Waterbury Board of Education approve the appointment of Christina picoi Frank as Elementary vice principal hopeful School effective immediately second discussion Dr schwar thank you president I am pleased to recommend Mrs Christina poochi Frank to the board for the position of vice principal at Hopeville Elementary School with over 15 years of experience in Waterbury Public Schools where the vast majority of her service has been a generali Christina earned the recognition of teacher of the year in 2020 she also has taken on additional leadership responsibility in the district serving as site administrator for the after school program program for sever several years Mrs poochi Frank has also been an active member of various School
025committees such as the positive behavior intervention supports committee the OCR committee office of civil rights and principal advisory committee for pack since August 2024 Mrs picoi Frank has strongly impacted the Hope phille Learning Community as interum vice principal fostering a positive and inclusive School culture principal Crespo at hille speaks highly of your leadership experience and dedication to the students and staff at hopville Mrs coochi Frank is an excellent educator she is humble possesses a strong work ethic that's for Mom not her father and who was without of doubt student centered I highly recommend her for the vice principal position at Hopeville Elementary School is there any further discussion all in favor I I oppose I abstain motion carries [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] good evening mayor pener rusi president Hernandez vice president Brown secretary adorno
026Commissioners Dr Schwarz and student Representatives I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to address you all tonight I stand before you not only as an educator but as someone thankful for the path that brought them here a path that began with the most significant influence in my life my mother my mother was a teacher and principal who retired from Waterberry Public Schools after a long impactful career she was more than an educator she was a nurturer a guide and a believer in the potential of everyone from an early age I saw the power of Education through her she worked tirelessly for years always going above and beyond to ensure she they've received the students received the support and guidance they needed to be successful her commitment to her students never wavered whether it was staying
027late after school to help with assignments attending extracurricular events to cheer them on or offering words of encouragement to help them believe in their their own potential she was more than just the leader in the classroom she was a constant source of care compassion and dedication as Educators we hold the power to shape the future influencing students in ways we may never fully realize I strive every day to be the kind of educator my mother was one who inspires listen listens believes in every student's potential as a vice principal my goal is to impact not only student academic success but their overall growth I am committed to creating an environment where every student feels valued and capable of reaching their Highest Potential I also recognize the important of supporting our teachers I am dedicated to
028ensuring that every teacher feels appreciated supported and encouraged to grow collaboration with staff to share best practice is essential for the success of our school equally important is our relationship with families strong Partnerships families are key to Student Success and I'll work I'll work to strengthen those con connections enduring that families excuse me ensuring that families feel involved informed and supported in their child's education I'd like to express my gratitude to the board to Mr Mendoza Dr Johnson thank you so much for this opportunity Dr Schwarz thank you for your recommendation under your leadership I've learned so much about serving students and staff with compassion and dedication to Jalissa Crespo she couldn't be here tonight but thank you for your mentorship your guidance has been invaluable in my growth as an educator to my generali
029family past and present thank you for the lessons you've taught me I will carry them with me every day to my new hopeful family from day one I felt welcomed and supported it's been a joy to work alongside such dedicated professionals to my parents thank you for instilling in me values of hard work and compassion you along with Anthony and rayan have been by my side through challenges and triumphs and I'm forever grateful to my sons you inspire me every day I strive to be the best version of myself because I want to make you proud last but not least a special thank you to my husband you have stepped up in countless ways to allow me to work towards my goals your support and sacrifices have made this journey possible it's a privilege to
030serve as hope phi's vice principal supporting the students teachers and families in a school and City I love thank you for this opportunity I'm excited to continue this journey surrounded by such incredible people [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] people that's right spech [Music] Excuse Me Miss picoi Frank please introduce your family all right all right just [Music] stand stand up let us see you there you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] go thank you does anyone wish to remove an item from the consent calendar okay 9.1 committee on whole requests approval of the education affiliation agreement with writers Health Management Incorporated DBA chesher house for educational experiences for students CNA clinical hours to meet the Department of Public Health CNA requirements 9.2 committee on the whole request approval of a letter of agreement to establish Partnerships with
031the governor's prevention partnership with web Bank to provide mentoring and substance preven prevention to students at Waterbury Arts Magnet School 6 through2 9.3 request approval of the state and federally funded Grant contract with the Department of economics and Community Development for the every child art experience Grant awarded to Kennedy High School ban 9.4 request approval to apply for the Connecticut state department of education Career and Technical supplemental enhancement Grant 9.5 request approval of a professional service agreement with Outdoor Classroom LLC for day trip programming field trips at Camp Washington 9.6 committee committee on building and school facilities use of school facilities by organizations and or city departments commissioner Jackson may I have a motion um iot Sor I motion to approve calendar items 9.1 second all in favor oppose motion carries item 11 vice president
032Brown thank you Madame President I move that the Board of Education approve the request of Eric Brown to name Reed school's Music Room in honor of Dr Vera D Ruffin second um all in favor wait did you ask for discuss discussion I'm sorry discussion thank you um I know I don't have a vote on this at this point but um I do want to make My Views known and in this case I will say that I oppose this renaming I think these sorts of things that we are going to do that have a forever effect that are Perpetual in nature ought to be thoughtful they ought to be intentional they ought to come from the community they ought to be organic there ought to be some sort of a real call for that to happen
033which I don't see happening in this case I also think although I know your rules don't prohibit it with rooms and other things that we should shy away from naming things after people who are living this is something I think that should happen after a full career and when we can look back on it and make some decisions about the impact that they had except in some extraordinary circumstances um I think it should be people with roots deep roots in the community with a discernable impact over a long period of time on the community when you're going to do these things I think that's what we've done in the past I think that's what we ought to do here and I don't think that's what's happening in this particular case I think it's going to
034be a mistake to do it I wouldn't support it I would oppose it and I would ask you not to vote for it this evening is there any more discussion all in favor I I oppose no call please vice president Brown no commissioner Anthony Ireland Noya Ireland abstain commissioner Jackson yes commissioner Lopez yes commissioner o' no commissioner Oro I'm sorry no commissioner sanoo yes commissioner van Stone no president Hernandez yes 11.2 thank you madam pres president Brown I move that the Waterbury Board of Education approve the revised educational specifications for the proposed Driggs Elementary School elevator project discussion oh I'm sorry second who's second okay discussion all in favor I I oppose motion carries Comm vice president Brown thank you Madame President I move that the Waterberry Board of Education approve the revised educational specifications
035for the proposed Wilson Elementary School elevator project I need a second second discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries vice president Brown thank you Madame President I move that the Waterberry Board of Education approve Amendment one to the engineer agreement with Freeman companies LLC for engineering on call services this second discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries vice president Brown thank you Madame President I moved that the Waterberry Board of Education approved the modified contract with Northwest Regional Workforce investment board Inc at no cost for cwp nrwib adult education remediation for Career Connect clients second discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries vice president Brown okay 12.3 I'm sorry thank you 12.3 okay here they are okay I have uh 12.1 okay I moved at the Waterbury Board of Education approved revised
036policy number 6148 FASA completion programs second all in FA discussion all in favor I um motion carries oppos motion carries vice president Brown I move that the waterburry Board of Education approve revised policy number 6172 alternative education programs second dis discussion I just want to add that um the alternative education program uh they passed new legislation uh with more requirements around the uh alternative education so this puts our program in compliance with the state any more discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries vice president Brown I move that the Waterberry Board of Education adopt policy number 0521 non-discrimination as amended May 2018 second discussion I think the policies uh in 12.3 and 12.4 as as well as 12.5 all are related to updates uh of Title 9 which is uh you know the basic
037civil rights legislation and policy adopted by Boards of Education concerning non-discrimination grievance procedures uh sexual uh discrimination um bullying uh peer sexual harassment uh and so forth the legislation uh repeals the current policies but does not remove the civil rights of any of the constituencies that are covered by them uh it remove it it just brings us back to the language that was in uh 2018 all in favor I oppose motion carries vice president Brown uh I guess we're on 12.4 correct okay yes I I moved at the Waterbury Board of Education adopt policy number 4000.1 Title 9 as amended on March 18th 2021 second discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries vice president Brown okay 12 point uh let's see 12.5 y thank you revised policy number 5145 uh 44 Title 9 I
038move that the Waterbury Board of Education adopt policy number 5145 Point 44 Title 9 as amended March 18th 2021 second discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries item number 13 committee on building and school facilities commissioner Latoya Arland thank you madam president ladies and gentlemen I moved at the Waterberry Board of Education approve the use of facilities and or waiver requests by groups and organizations subject to fees and insurance as required or as second dis discussion all in favor I opposed abstain abstain abstain motion carries item number 14 Personnel search committee vice president Brown thank you Madame President I moved at the Waterbury Board of Education request to receive a list of 10 candidates for the position of super superintendent of schools from Civil Service as referenced in Section 8 b-2a of the city
039Charter second all in favor I oppose motion carries item number 15 interim superintendent announcements Dr Schwarz thank you again president Hernandez I'll try to be brief tonight um I just want to congratulate our first cohort uh of graduates from The Mask that's the manufacturing Alliance Service Corporation students completed a 12we program were paid to complete that program um earning credentials in carpentry or manufacturing and we have just started a brand new CER and is totally full so really excited about what our students are accomplishing uh up there at the mask great submission of the FASA free application for federal student Aid uh is well underway for students seeking financial assistance for the upcoming school year uh once they leave us our seniors the Connecticut State Department of Education periodically provides updates on fast f completion
040percentages by District just to get us going for a little competition State average for completion is 48.7% currently students at Waterbury Career Academy are ranked number one in the state for fast completion on in whams is ranked sixth in the state over 90% all right thank you yeah good job got great great staff great kids how about this Connecticut Regional International academic competition academic Academy at Wallace middle school will be hosting the Connecticut Regional International academic competition on April 5th for students in grades 4 to 8 this is going to be a buzzer based competition testing knowledge and science world history world history and geography more information will be going out to the board on this hopefully we can uh we can all take a take a take a look at this as our students
041compete against others in the region social emotional learning day at CCSU Central Connecticut State University Center for excellence and social emotional learning held their inaugural seal Day program on uh Central's campus on March 7th uh Dr Kim Traverso who is a great partner at the State Department of Ed with us she is really is a a wonderful thought partner um is the state education consultant and program manager asked money John's director of pupil services to be on the panel speaking to participants from other school districts and members of the center for excellence on pressing matters impacting school districts and their ability to meet social emotional needs of students I know that um this is something that is important to the board it's important to us as a Cabinet important to to our staff and uh
042um I know that although we put a lot into place there's always more that we could do and we appreciate um uh do uh Wendy John's um heading that up for us as a district Waterberry crit Academy Ed Rising winners Waterberry Ed Rising students participated in the annual state conference at Central Connecticut on March 11th four students from Career Academy competed in the category entitled entitled our schools and one with a video they created entitled inside our schools Yonder pouches at WCA oo and they won pictured here are student winners Jan janaa bracie Rock oenk Cali Robinson Deanna Barnes and along with the teacher leader of the school Erica bhop congratulations to our student winners who have earned the opportunity to compete at the national competition in Florida this June where uh they may need
043a chaperon um but I I I want to say congratulations to them and um due to the the timeliness of tonight I want to um I want to let you know that we'll send you that video so that you can see what the students put together uh because I'm sure you're interested in to see what they put about Yonder pouches at Career Academy wish Fest 2025 presented by Yukon Waterberry and partnership with the City of Waterbury and the Waterbury Public Schools will be held on Friday March 28th I hope that you all can attend this year's theme is wish to ignite passion resilience and boundless possibilities this free event welcomes students Educators professionals and community members registration is required um so we could send that to you all again I think that's gone out in
044terms of saving the date one of the cool uh special guests and keynote speakers is going to be Jack Horner who's a world-renowned paleontologist and was the scientific adviser and inspiration to Dr Grant in the Jurassic Park series and he's going to be speaking to our students among others uh there that day our students obviously get to also uh get an opportunity to hear from shyvana Clark Miss Connecticut 2024 Yukon Alum uh Clark is a proud Jamaican American member of the lgbtq plus Community openly shares her personal journey to break stigmas and inspires resilience and Dr Sally Reese the 2025 re fellow last bit uh just a our celebration of Excellence that was we talked about a teacher of the year tonight is slated for May 22nd 2025 I hope everyone can join us to
045honor our amazing uh staff at The Palace Theater the program will start promptly at 5:00 p.m. High School graduations are upon us believe it or not save the date Thursday June 12th and Friday June 13th uh we were able to manipulate a little differently this year um if you recall we usually do three on one day three on the next but we were able to move the whams middle school a little bit uh earlier in that week so it doesn't take up a high school School slot so the good news is is we'll have three High School graduations on Thursday and two on Friday and um um and so we're looking forward to that we also will have um um a list of prek and K and fifth grade events as they uh as they
046step up as well as eighth grade promotions that will be provided to the board uh if they would like to attend those uh and finally uh Milan said it earlier I just want to uh um mayor pusi president Hernandez and I commissioner V Stone was a judge at the robotics competition at at wiby just again amazing groups of students all five high schools attended uh and uh and uh uh Williams and Wilby made the playoff I mean made the playoffs will be ranked the highest in the district they ranked number four at the competition Williams was it's their first year three three three was it three or four three I'm sorry I I jipped you one so uh we'll be r three and Williams who wasn't even sure they were going to show up right
047Jan they were like we don't think we're going to be able to run a robot did so well they were picked for a team to make the playoffs um and so I know it was a time crunch for them they're going to be competing again in Hartford but I want to thank all of the teachers and students who participated in that as well and that concludes my report item number 16 president's comment that was my first robotics that I went to it was great I didn't understand it at all couldn't couldn't figure it out and then someone told me how it how it operated um we had five schools there which was great um commissioner vanstone was a judge um and uh I'm very proud of all our students they did an excellent job I
048think it was whams that didn't get out of the gate the first go around but we don't need to talk about that came back came back and did well they did well so that's all good they showed up that's right um I also there was read Across America Dr Stu and um we went to a couple of schools I went to Hopeville uh robota kente where I got a nice little piece of chocolate it was it very exciting time the kids were really really happy that people showed up to come and read to their class so it was if you guys give the opportunity next year by all means go and read to our kids they love it they love seeing people come in and having guest speakers so it was very enjoyable and that
049is my comments interim superintendent notification to the board commissioner van Stone May I have a motion a motion to approve the interim super inant notification to the board numbers 17.1 through 17.5 second discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries committee chair reports does anyone have anything to report Comm Sano dorno thank you madam president um it's we actually got a lot done here on our school health and wellness advisory council meeting um thank you Mr Albini um and and Darren for for all your support in this uh we got a lot of updates here about the school-based health clinics uh Driggs is almost complete the school based Health Center in drgs is almost complete they're going to be providing the same Services Dental medical physical Behavioral Health clinici and counseling will also be offered
050um I think they're still in the process for the lure and other little details here and there so we're really excited about that um we also got a digital magazine um with some of the teachers let's see Mr Albini Claudia deas Cheryl Herber and Linda Frances kind of gave us a whole new little digital magazine um I got a lot of this is Wellness Wednesdays just a lot of little fun um educational healthy stuff to look forward to uh Mr Gorman my favorite he's my favorite um he presented a really good a really good um presentation understanding the shifts in the new 2024 shape America physical education standards um things have changed since we've been in school was just 5 years ago you um give or take Rocco leave me alone uh but it's actually
051really interesting because they used to have a lot of requirements and now they kind of really narrowed it down um to these top four it develops a variety of motor skills applies knowledge related to movement and Fitness Concepts develops social skills through movement and develops personal skills identify IES personal beliefs of movement and chooses to engage in physical activity so believe it or not a lot of the seal is incorporated when it comes to this uh Fitness education standards um we can always share this Mr Gorman had offer if we wanted an electronic form um but this is very informative and I'm really happy about the new standards um that are up and coming we actually got a new salad bar here at Wham um and the kids are actually liking it believe it or
052not North End salad bar so we had four new ones right Darren we got Wham salad bar started in February 10th norn uh had a salad bar and Gil Martin and Kennedy are continuing operating salad bars with positive feedback and participation um so they're actually doing really well I'm kind of happy that we are giving them healthier options and more choices for them um so I appreciate you know Linda Frances and and that department to be able to provide that for our students but I want um to offer commissioner O'Brien to phison because she had a good presentation if you want to talk about the toxic stress presentation that was excellent by the way thank you hun um for several years I've been doing a presentation on toxic stress which inhibits our children from progressing
053and having them make causing them illness and its toxic stress is basically what the environment feeds these kids when they don't understand yeah when I gave the presentation at the meeting it had gone from 2 million children to about 4 million children oh my God now they're talking about from the hospitals because of the new culture that has been placed with Children and Families of ice um people losing jobs because of the government being dis you know sent away from their parents just a whole mess of things that are H sadly happening the hospitals that monitor toxic stress are now talking about 150% increase over the next couple of years if that this year alone these are just children are students we're going to see higher rates of ideology of of suicide we're going to
054see children really really sick because they're absorbing what's happening at home they don't understand so I just wanted to put this on the record that at some point we really need to figure out how we can we're doing a lot now but we need to reach out and figure out how we can support these children to let them know when they come to school they're safe when they come to school we're there to listen maybe even explain what they don't understand before it reaches the desperate need of an ambulance going to a hospital thank you Melissa thank you no I appreciate that and that pretty much includes my um committee update I will say you know as a medical assistant working in the health field you know Health and Fitness and Wellness has always been
055my passion for years and that's why Mr Gorman's my favorite um but I do appreciate that Maggie because we have been getting a huge influx on these students and their mental health and and so forth so I definitely think it needs to have a continued communication and maybe Liz something that we can maybe we talk about a revisit our policies and and so forth so thank you madam president any other reports okay vice president Brown thank you I just uh wanted to update on some of the legislation I did have the opportunity to testify in front of the the education committee March 12th during cave on the hill day which was great we had students it was a great opportunity uh to really um you know Lobby for public education but I'll just not note
056that um this legislation proposes to change the configuration of the alliance districts now they're going to call them opportunity districts the top 15 uh I should say the bottom 15 of the accountability Intex will they're proposing that they change their name to uh opportunity districts and the remaining 28 will become Legacy districts um so it's a matter of semantics um uh C V uh we testified against it because we aligned ourselves with commissioner Russell Tucker who is working on a report as we speak on the alliance districts what's happening the successes the challenges and the outcomes and that report is due January 2020 206 so you know she felt that it this was premature to start reconfiguring districts and and let's face it with without resources none of this matters anyway so uh just to
057just to stay tuned that was uh Senate Bill 1458 and then uh yesterday I was able to testify on Senate bill one uh which uh which is a little concerning I'll just focus on section 16 the proposed legislation will set up Regional oversight Boards of priority School District Boards of education and school districts so it's another layer that they want to set up in the uh the existing planning regions which are the cogs the Connecticut Council of governments so it's it's it's a it was a little disrespectful because on the new configuration they didn't even appoint a board of ed member there was a superintendent there were teachers there were mental health people and so forth but not one Board of Ed member was to serve on this regional board so I tested ified against
058it um I think there's just a push right now by the education committee to upend local control of Education we've seen the erosion of that over the years so just stay tuned and uh uh commissioner Russell Tucker did speak against that as well so hopefully uh we'll be able to continue to get our our point of cross any other committee commissioner Arlin thank you madam president I just wanted to report on the bridge success engagement committee I really just wanted to highlight their parents Summit that they had um last week they collaborated with National Parents Union and um it was held at Career Academy and I have to say over a 100 parents showed up and so it was good I need to highlight the parent engagement that is happening thank you great that's awesome
059that's it anyone else nice reporting thank you may I have a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn second discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries I'd like to meet with the search committee for a few minutes thank you that me she said e e e