001[Music] I need it being my oh good evening today is Thursday April 25th 2024 this is a rescheduled meeting of the Board of Education Dr Ruffin do you have any remembrances tonight yes Madam president in Our Moment of Silence this evening let us remember former members of the Water Public Schools education Community who have passed away Margaret McDonald retired secretary AR for the Board of Education and Adult Ed who passed away on March 17th Judith broy retired science and English teacher at Kennedy High School and Crosby High School who passed away on March 22nd carela vastra former English Latin and French teacher at Kennedy High School passed away on March 30th theila Henry retired teacher and guidance counselor at various schools including Kennedy and her care career being in the department head at Wilby High
002School passed away on April 11th Doris metlin former teacher at Bucks Hill School passed away on April 19th Lillian deal retired secretary at Kennedy High School and Bunker Hill School passed away on April 21st let us remember them and keep them in their families in our thoughts and prayers with a student from Waterberry Career Academy please lead us in the pledge Tiffany Rodriguez 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 okay vice president Brown commissioner Fus commissioner irand here commissioner Jackson present commissioner Naro here commissioner O'Brien here commissioner Oro here commissioner Sano adoro here commissioner van Stone president president Hernandez here mayor perusi here commissioner O'Brien may I have a motion for
003communications I motion to receive and place on file Communications as listed second discussion all in favor I I opposed motion carries the order of tonight's business was adjusted in order to accommodate board members work schedule and allow them to be present during a vote the board member was able has been able to modify their schedule so we will reverse the order and allow the public to address the board prior to any actions commissioner nvro thank you president I move that agenda item six public addresses to the board be moved prior to agenda item number five Committee of the whole second discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries commissioner Sano Dono may I have a make may I have a motion for the public to address the board motion to suspend the regular order of
004business to hear from the public second all speakers are encouraged to submit prepared written statements to the Commissioners comment shall be limited to a maximum of five minutes there will be no responses this evening to any questions or concerns raised they will be referred to the administration for review and response please be advise that after 5 minutes the mic will be turned off so that we can allow all the speakers the opportunity to speak speak in a timely manner thank you all in favor all in favor I I oppos motion carries I'm going to apologize ahead of time if I mispronounce your name Rosa Raphael or is it Raphael Roso I apologize no worries it's actually Raphael Rosario okay thank you very much um so to the members of the Waterberry Board of Education I'm
005speaking to you um not only as a concerned father husband and homeowner but also as a small business owner who has called Waterberry home for the past 17 years my decision to stay in the city has been largely influenced by the exceptional educational opportunities provided by the schools like Rotella and this school the Waterberry Arts Magnet School which my children have have the privilege to attend however certain issues within our school system remain deeply concerning and warrant immediate attention and action notably the persistent pattern of having students of color rested in schools under the pretext of safety creates an environment of fear and mistrust this issue has long predated the tenure of Dr ruffen and it's disheartening to see that despite its long history solutions to address it have been implemented yet recent reports still
006say that Waterberry remains an outlier and to be clear folks who don't know we arrest more students than Danberry Stanford New Haven and Bridgeport combined extending current policies without substantial reform would only exasperate these problems not solve them Waterberry stands out in the state for the frequency of school arrests a fact that begs the question who safety are we really prioritizing in an apparent it's apparent that the strategy of increasing arrest has not only brought us closer to a safer School environment rather it has left lasting scars on our community we need to Pivot from the rest Force approach to one that truly invests in the resources necessary for fostering a supportive and inclusive educational environment as a resident of the city I find it incredibly difficult to reconcile the image of our educational institutions
007with the with with the majority of our teachers who not who do not reside in Waterberry many may see many may not see the day-to-day impact of their decisions and for folks who said I grew up in Waterberry post pandemic this city has evolved and and the disconnect between our Educators and the community they serve has only grown this disconnect deepens this disconnect only deepens only the the the dis disconnect deeply concerns me as my 13-year-old son and his friends prepare to enter high school facing higher odds of experiencing these same punitive measures I'm not writing merely to criticize rather I'm calling for a commitment to actionable change we cannot rest the way we cannot arrest our way out of this systematic issues that require educational social and community- based Solutions our children deserve a
008system that uplifts them supported by Educators who are invested in our community's future as we are lastly before I go I must say this that I'm here to represent the parents of Waterberry because for some reason we get blamed for everything in this town it seems to be uh uh you know we get blamed for everything a and we don't control things like the economy here we don't control the school system or the access to the lack of resources if we are to discuss the role of parents let's also consider the conditions which Waterberry parents have to operate in there is not a single free activity in this town on nights and weekends after 6 p.m. most CEOs program directors and other providers return to their prospective towns leaving our community behind yes respect is
009taught at home home but this is the only thing I teach my children in the great words of Eleanor Roosevelt no one can make you feel inferior without your consent thank you for your attention in these critical matters I look forward to your response and to seeing the implementation of policies that truly honor the potential of all of our students thank [Applause] you Paul Kash good evening Madame President members of the board mayor pener rusi and superintendent Ruffin my name is Paul Kash and I reside at 413 Harper Ferry Road I wanted to clear up a few things that I felt needed to be fact checked after the last board meeting when I spoke to this board test scores were not good yesterday and today they are not it's been a gradual decline over several
010years School attendance was not good yesterday and today it's not it two has been a gradual decline over several years to superintendent's contract whether extended for one year or three years is not being offered to someone who has one year in position the superintendent has been in position for six years so a one-year contract would give her seven years in position a three-year contract nine years in position I bring this up to rebut the statement that things can't be fixed in a year what is the number is it six years is it seven years is it nine years when is that number important enough to be tied into performance I believe this Board needs to be reminded that their relationship should be more in line with an employer employee relationship and less in line with
011one that becomes defensive when criticism is directed to the superintendent I have no doubt the superintendent is more than capable of addressing any criticism directed at her finally the major issue communication members of the board stated that communication issues are just now being brought up and that is not correct the Waterberry republican-american newspaper has run numerous articles about communication issues with the superintendent in the last several years there have been some letters written to the editor the paper for publication concerning communication issues with the superintendent I personally spoke about communication issues with the superintendent over two years ago and have continued speaking my concerns numerous times to this very day former mayor oriri and police Chiefs magnolo spoke about communication issues with the superintendent 700 teachers and 55 administrators have voiced concerns with the superintendent
012mayor penari went through a high-profile campaign and heard from the public and is still hearing from them in the newspaper yesterday in case you missed it the article stated Yukon of Waterbury will be partnering with the Yale School of Medicine child study center and Yukon Global Affairs to form the has Haskins Global literacy Hub to help improve the reading crisis in Waterbury and other underperforming areas such as absenteeism what does it take for this board to understand there's a major communication issue that must be addressed you can't discount the facts I just presented but actually you can if you choose to my question to the board is when will you listen and who will you listen to I've always found in the private sector that when you set a timeline for improvement the issues become
013much more of a focus than when there was no timeline offering the superintendent a one-year contract will extend her service to 7 years and will allow the superintendent to work on communication with new and innovative ideas drawn from all sources communication is the key to the successful education of our students and remember it is up to the person delivering the message to make sure it is received properly not the other way around I hope I was able to deliver mine so it was understood as much as I would love to stay for the rest of the meeting I have a charter revision committee meeting to attend thank you for your kind attention next speaker Athena Wagner good evening everyone good evening my understanding and why I'm here tonight is because it's already been voted on
014and on the table that there's a three-year contract uh that was voted on in question we're not discussing a one-year contract to my knowledge to my understanding I've watched the Board of Ed meeting prior to this one where the teachers all came out Kevin Eagan still doing his thing um he is not a superintendent evaluator the super has said several times her door is open all you got to do is walk in make a phone call and walk in I'm really tired of hearing about communication she's already been evaluated if someone has an open door and has stated publicly several times I'm willing to talk to anyone then the owners for the communication problem does not belong on her it belongs on him and whoever else feels like they have a communication problem as far
015as her being here six years me personally I wouldn't even count the first three because she had such a mess to clean up from the prior superintendent who took us way back that's not fair somebody has to come in and clean up how long you think that takes one year two years 3 years maybe more I heard mention of attendance and and um test scores those test scores have been down for decades and if you were actively involved in any education issues or data you would know that decades they're up from where they were they are let me say that again they're up from where they were now I don't know what your source is but mine is the state of Connecticut Department of Education that's my source so any other charts flying around that
016somebody made up or created on data search or whatever else I don't know where that came from we need the superintendent here for some of you I'm going to come right out and say it you know me you know how I am pretty Direct central office has just gotten too black for your level of comfort oh God I said it I said what I said point the and I meant it ignorant you're ignorant for interrupting my time this is and I said point of order stop I said what I said I've lived here my entire life I know the racism that exists here I've dealt with it I didn't stop being black it infuriates me and the denial of it the continued denial of it infuriates me even more she has done a phenomenal job
017she has already been evaluated we're not here for that we're not here to evaluate her she's been evaluated the only thing that I've really heard consistently is communication if you don't walk in her door and communicate with her then that's your problem not hers that's your issue not hers thank you next up is shayen more good evening mayor panesi superintendent Miss Ruffin and all the Commissioners here present and all the parents and all those that are concerned my name is Charlene Moore and I've been a resident of Waterberry Connecticut for four years a homeowner um I observe some things and communication is a problem not just in the the school it's just for everybody throughout the whole city public Rel public relations is really bad so one of the things I want to ask you
018because I'm like four years here I observe your um Connecticut map of your student population and the um the cost per student the national average is 17,000 however I see in sharing 48 to 51,000 Danberry below 177,000 16,000 and something even though I'm Ngata now Connecticut and Bridgeport is about 18,000 however it's unevenly yolked the balance should be at least within the 20,000 range for all the schools so all those things that's lacking here take some of that money from those other areas I don't know your policy so that's why I did come to the these meetings and I just listen and observe but it's it's unevenly Yol so y'all do need some policy changes and I am from the National Council negro women we are aware of the weaponization of Dei for all women
019not just black women or women Pandora's Box was open when Miss antonet Bailey committed suicide and now you're fighting the president of Columbia right now in New York I am from New York City I worked on land and house use and I worked on school and education so you need to balance it out and um as far as the superintendent and her work and her strategy I see what she had laid out as a nonprofit those first two years you have to work on compliance you have to work on location demographics strategy and then when you get down to action now you want to snatch her out it's not right because if she don't get the chance to implement her actions you won't see the results you know it don't take one two 3 years
020it depends on what she has to work with so if you bring some of that money back into this community to avoid these kids for being challenged educationally I understand that you also had um program for students but with English as a second language because the lack of communication with people period throughout this town is really bad you can't ask nobody a question unless you translate and ask somebody oh do you um speak English what you're doing to me for the four years I think you should stay where you are and you should be given the chance to pursue your idea goals to help everybody when you have a student when you have a teacher population of 80% White 5% Latino about 4% black even if you have a strategy of saying oh I got
02120% teachers telling me hey um we can't communicate with this superintendent out of 80% they're always going to be on the top there's never going to be a fight or challenge when I look around here when I see the people that come in present where are the parents many of them is home because they feel like it's business as usual but we are aware we are aware and we are not going to give up on Dei thank [Applause] you next speaker is Jackie Smith okay good evening I appreciate the opportunity to be able to speak with you all tonight my name is Jackie and I'm a parent of a special needs child in Waterberry Public Schools he is currently in the pre- program of Buck Hill Annex and will be transitioning to kindergarten next year
022today and every day parents of special needs children within the district are facing tremendous challenges and my hope is to bring action and more attention to these situations currently we are facing shortages in all areas teachers support staff social workers speech pathologists occupational therapists and so on these shortages affect special needs children at the highest levels children with special needs require and under the individual with disab disabilities Education Act should be guaranteed extra support and accommodations to ensure that they receive equal access to learning opportunities it is my understanding that best practice is to place a child in the least restrictive environment but provide them with the support that they need to reach their full potential however due to the current circumstances within the district this is not always possible as a parent who loves
023and advocates for her child every day I've met met and dealt with some extraordinary people within the district but I have also experienced many challenges from support staff shortages to unnecessary push back on supports needed for my son to succeed and at times just a lack of understanding and empathy on how difficult transitions can be for autistic children and how working in collaboration with all parties can help my child and every child and parent going through the same experience to feel less marginalized and more understood again I want to thank you for allowing me to speak but as we move forward I hope we can begin to focus on true Equity within education and we need to commit to the practice that every student regardless of their abilities deserves a chance to grow learn and
024reach reach their full potential in an environment that provides with them provides them with the support and accommodations they need to succeed thank [Applause] you next speaker is Mr flamia oh it's a woman I apologize I couldn't read your first name most people have a hard time with the name zos I'm I'm bad really bad good evening members of the board mayor perisi and superintendent ruffen I thank you for this opportunity to share my opinion and my experience with the City of Waterbury and their school system I will share that I am not a resident of Waterbury but yet my granddaughter has earned a slot at Maloney magnet school which I am extremely happy for in my work I am a favor peer support specialist and I advocate for kids with special needs we assist
025families in learning the system for services in the community and in the schools as some of you may be aware our state agencies are not the easiest to navigate most of our referrals do come for educational Advocates I am not your typical Advocate that comes in with the boxing gloves drawn I do everything in my power power to be collaborative and not to be adversarial lots of times I feel like the mediator as I expect people to come to the table to be open-minded and transparent and honest unfortunately that does not always happen part of my job is to teach and Empower parents on special education and services that their children are entitled to no one knows a child better than their parent I A True Believer if you can keep a child in District
026with is non-disabled peers that is in the best interest as the child as long as it is a safe environment unfortunately this is not happening for many of our children for some of these children they are going on year five that have not have the education that they deserve thanks to our Coit where a lot of kids started online I have had more referrals for five and sixy olds in the 17 years that I've been doing this throughout the state these children are disregulated and are triggered very easy to the best of my knowledge I don't believe when a teacher went to school they narrowed in on Mental Health unfortunately there is a lot of that nowadays excuse me safety is a big concern stop and imagine a class of 25 children six of them
027are on IEPs and four are nonverbal you are a teacher and a parent sometimes your co-taught teacher is available this is not fair to the special needs children to the teachers to the Paris or the regular Ed teachers if a child goes into a meltdown and your room has become chaos how are you going to educate these children this is no fault of a teacher or one individual it is a matter of being short staffed I am well aware that there is a national shortage with teachers doctors clinicians and so forth so we're going to have to look out of the box and be more creative I am very concerned of the safety for our teachers our students and our administrators I've seen administrators through the jobs of two and three people I have supervisors
028that will openly say in a PP we'll go observe your child for that ABA program we don't hear words for months we don't know what number they are we don't know if they qualify unless the parent calls another PPT and then they're told there's a wait list our classes are full so those children are forced into a regular Ed classroom with unfortunately not the special services that they deserve the more concerning fact is that there are a lot of times we cannot justify and explain what what happened I can tell you last year on September 8th I opened a little boy 6 years old by November there were 10 incidents I cringed when Mom would send me a text with a picture of a pencil stabbing bite marks on your arm where he couldn't have
029possibly done it cuz yes I do have some children on my case load that will bite themselves when they're anxiety it took me all the way until February to get this child outplaced it is illegal to tell a family and a child that there is a wait list for your special service which means in the long run we're going to end up outplaced I do see new programs that have come to water Waterberry and have been great opportunities for children with that being said I have great concern for special Edge services with children receiving in Waterbury Co hit in 2020 many children started their education online that was challenging for all of us in my thoughts when we came back I was hoping that parents would respect teachers more and vice versa because we were
030all home trying to work and educate our children these children are being forced to be educated in the wrong environment they are not in a proper placement because they were were told they have to be observed and then they're told they're put on a wait list again this is extremely un this is illegal so imagine having a 5-year-old non-verbal with only a half hour of Specialized Service and the special ed teacher who I'm very well aware already has a case of 40 cannot give this child another half hour so he goes without I actually had a family I believe we did six people pts and the family pulled the child I actually La learned a new law I wasn't aware that a child under seven that is non-verbal and autistic absolutely can go to an
031ABA school thank you ma'am I'm sorry your time is up I'm just going to say a few more words what I would like to suggest I certainly don't have all the answers is that all you board members and all your people down in central pick a school spend three days in a school go to all your specialized classes and see what truly is going on in your building I thank you for your time and I look forward to collaborating with all of you thank you next speaker Lucia Taylor good evening I'm Lucen Taylor and I have lived in Waterberry my entire life I you can't hear me okay sorry I'm a current Waterberry student at Kennedy and I wanted to speak in favor of keeping Dr Ruffin here as our superintendent for three more years
032in her time as superintendent she has done incredible work in our community she set up many structures to benefit our public schools and will only be able to see them come to fruition if she remains superintendent some of those structures are a student Advisory Board which I'm a part of and a community based task force School Safety and Security which I attended Dr Ruffin also speaks one-on-one with concerned students on several occasions as students were able to directly reach her to through her cell number and she responds in a timely manner the most important thing to me as a student is transparency from downtown which she openly offers I genuinely do not think I have ever seen someone in a position of power so willing to allow marginalized and student voices to be heard she
033busted us all to the student advisory meeting and allowed us equal opportunity to sit with her and directly speak with her as well as sh are issues with other students when we talked about Kennedy having a sewage smell in the new Wing she investigated the issue while we had lunch and got back to us while we was still at the meeting the entire time me and my co-workers have been working on implementing gender neutral bathrooms in our Public Schools Dr ruffett has been supporting us and using the authority she has to prioritize vulnerable students I know that the majority of people I have spoken to students and parents included support Dr Ruffin it it is also deeply important to understand that if a new superintendent is put into Power no change change will be made
034until they have done a complete audit of the schools this can mean years of waiting for policies to be put in place that benefit thousands of students which Dr Ruffin has been and is still actively working on everybody will have to wait once again for real change to happen organizations that are currently working with Dr Ruffin like Yukon will be forced to wait or even stop their plans which will be detrimental to the future of our students and the future of our city something I want to emphasize is that Dr Ruffin holds teachers accountable which is why some teachers oppose Dr Ruffin having a longer term considering Leasing and suspensions in Waterberry have been deeply ingrained in education practices teachers are uncomfortable with the changes reducing those methods and their Reliance upon them that is
035to be expected but it is not a representation of Dr Ren's competence school is for the benefit of the students not the teachers the students safety opinions and rehabilit Rehabilitation have been a priority for Dr ruffen teachers are adults with power and they use this power to perpetuate systemic issues within schools even if they don't realize it it's already been shown through the fact that most teachers in Waterburg are despite the population not being majority white Dr Ren holding teachers accountable is not and never will be a bad thing it is not her fault that there is a teacher shortage there is nothing She nor the Board of Education can do by themselves about a Countrywide issue especially when they're not receiving full funding from the state during Dr Ruffin's time as superintendent she ratified
036and implemented a racial Equity policy in the district as well as brought the school district to be compliant with state laws requiring anou between the police department and Board of Education regarding police officers and schools she has been cleaning up these messes like I mentioned earlier with water Barry's heavy Reliance on policing this is a historical achievement Dr Ruffin has been very actively trying to keep students in school and outside of prison because Prison makes their problems worse despite my friend Fred Carter not being able to make it here tonight I've included their testimony and emails of the board a highlight of their testimony is that when they were performing at Kennedy's annual Black History Month show they saw Dr Ruffin in the audience she had personally attended and acknowledged the importance of the event
037because of Dr Ruffin's support for gender neutral bathrooms and her quick to implement them Fred has also found that many queer students including themselves have found relief at school Dr Ruffin's respect and support for students of color and queer students is changing lives Fred sites Dr Ruffin is an influential role model and someone who has always supported the needs aspirations and successes of Waterberry students that's all thank you for your time [Applause] thank next speaker Gabby avocado she's not here okay next speaker Robert Goodridge um my name is Ash uh I believe that you would skipped me before but it's okay oh I'm sorry no no it's okay um good evening Board of Ed Commissioners um today I'm here to speak in favor of uh Su superintendent Ruffin's uh contract renewal for the next 3
038years um over the past 5 years she's made significant contributions to Waterberry um and I think that's very important to consider um I will admit that there are some aspects where she could have improved but it is undeniable that her being in position of power in Waterbury has been positive overall I'd like to take a minute to talk about some of the improvements that she's made throughout the district one thing I personally help to implement is gender neutral bathrooms in Waterbury Public Schools two years ago Dr Ruffin supported a policy change that implemented gender neutral bathrooms in over 19 schools in the waterburry district these bathrooms however were not properly implemented and this brings me to my next very important Point many of you remember the speech that I gave this past December at Hopeville
039Elementary in that speech I discuss the reasons why proper implementation and access to these restrooms is important for TR students following my speech I met with Dr Ruffin as well as some of my fellow student organizers from race and once we met with our school's Administration there were a few issues with access to the to these bathrooms my point is she took time out of her busy schedule to meet with us to support us and to back Us in advocating for an issue that is very important to us which I can say is much more than many of the administrators in Waterbury would care to do especially with issues like this additionally we were offered transparency as to why these bathrooms were not properly implemented which mainly did boil down to a lack of communication
040next I would like to talk about the importance of her work when it comes to engaging with her students and parents within the district my work with her is only one example of her willingness to engage directly with her students in the district since her becoming superintendent she has set up student and parent advisory boards as well as a community- based safety task force her engagement with parents and students is extremely positive to has has been extremely important to the well-being of the district and is definitely something positive that she's done this brings me to the the main reason as to why mayor per per I'm so sorry has vetoed Dr Ruffin's renewal as superintendent and that is her lack of communication with school administrators what I have noticed when fighting for gender neutral bathrooms
041in our district is that the main communication issue did not come from Ruff ins side but rather the individual School ad administrators that should have been accurately import reporting information to her in the first place when it came to the administrators when it came to the bathrooms I met with a superintendent and she contacted all of her schools administrators to see what was being done to implement these restrooms Crosby High School reported that these restrooms were accessible and monitored while this was not the case sure she could have conducted an audit then but she's undoubtedly busy and I personally do not believe that there's anything wrong with trust in your employees word for issues like this as you can all see the main communication issue is not coming from ruffen and while she could improve
042on it the main improvements need to be made at the school level lastly I would like to talk about the reduction in suspensions and school-based arrests historically Waterbury has had extremely high rates of in school arrests and with roughing in office this has been reduced rather than arresting students is it is important to emphasize social and emotional Wellness over arresting them and making them somebody else's problem throughout the years I've spent in water Public Schools I have noticed that many members of school administration seem to prefer simply arresting students rather than taking the time to understand the underlying causes of their behavior while it is not perfect Ruffin is working towards a district in which we do not send so many students to prison and instead we treat them like people who have legitimate issues
043especially in districts like Waterbury where a majority of the student body lives at or below the poverty line understanding that issues may be having an understanding that students may be having problems at home that cause them to act out at school is vital to creating the safe and welcoming environment that Waterberry strives for you cannot create a safe and welcoming environment when you're scared of your own students and administrators need to understand this when simply when considering what to do when a student does something wrong taking all this into consideration I urge you to consider voting in Dr Ruffin's favor as her work is extremely important to the wellness of her of our district thank [Applause] you next speaker Robert good good Rich sorry good evening Board of Education Commissioners mayor teachers administrators my name
044is Robbie Goodrich and I'm the executive director of race and education advocacy and organizing outfit here in Waterbury that fights for racial equity and social justice in our schools our schools aren't perfect and and neither are any of us the grace and humility in which our school leaders have to participate with on a daily basis is large and I see that through Dr Ruffin and her leadership team quite a bit The Selective outrage of the teachers union and the administrators Union and the rhetoric that has resulted around school safety has politicized school change and continues to demonize black and brown students ultimately making it easier to criminalize them and to go back to the old ways of thinking and acting around school climate now I can remember a a teacher survey back around 2015 2016
045where nearly 2third of all black and brown teachers felt that they had been discriminated against in this District but I don't remember the outrage that I hear now regarding superintendent Ruffin's contract manal but I want to make it clear it's important to note that there's several important statistical or database facts that can't be discounted some of them have been recognized by our student organizers tonight like the superintendent student advisory committee the parent advisory working group The community- based task force on school safety but there are other more important ones like 19 additional school counselors that she has institutionalized in her school budget the number of 11th and 12th grade students enrolled in college and career Readiness has grown from 1260 to to 1980 a 37% increase in 5 years the number of 11 and 12th
046grad graders exhibiting College Readiness has grown from 330 in 2018 to 449 in 2023 a 20% 27% increased and despite the teachers dissatisfaction they go to school more themselves teacher absenteeism has decreased Over The Last 5 Years decreased we've talked about the issue around school the school to prison pipeline it's sign significant one of the other things that's been batted around is that the increased cost of Administrators in this District well despite having tons of new Partnerships many new vocational or uh Partnerships with higher uh institutions of Higher Learning they've only grown those positions from 106 to 2018 to 118 in 2023 they've added a new school it's rhetoric it's poor form we can talk about the racial Equity policy um but I just want to reiterate I'm also known as a troublemaker here in
047the city I don't mind that moniker I carry it proudly but the only consistent School change over the last decade has been a result of superintendent Ruffin's leadership and her team I've seen Dr Ruffin and her team despite having many dis agreements with their practices and their theory of change be welcomed by the State Department of Education taking leading roles in the school discipline collaborative run by the State Department of Education participating in good faith and centering uh the work that cir is doing in our city these are all attributable to the way that Dr ruffen partnering with the board and her leadership ship team has led to significant structural change in our district now people who've been here for 10 15 years or more operating under the status quo of course they're going to
048feel uncomfortable of course they're not going to be able to use the same practices and policies that got us the same results decade over decade and let's not let us not forget that this is our our city has the oldest desegregation case on the Department of Justice's docket this is something that you mayor you sat as the board president of the alderman supervising and passing all School budgets for over a decade time let's not just gaze at superintendent Ruffin let's take that same reflective Gaze on ourselves our students in City need three more years thank you [Applause] [Music] next speaker is Joyce ped good evening everyone hello good evening good evening to Mayor panuski superintendent Dr ruffen president Hernandez all of the commission ERS on the board of education the student representatives and all of
049the faculty who are here this evening thanks for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight I was on the board of education like forever I am a former Board of alderw woman and I am now retired but I'm the president of the Connecticut state Federation of democratic women now I'm here tonight to speak on behalf of my beloved Dr ruffing you couldn't find a more elegant intelligent superintendent in this land she has implemented her Improvement plans and they got they got cited by the Department of Education the State Department of Education and don't forget we lost about two or three years during covid where she wasn't able to really complete her plan now she's on her third plan I said that to say this the vision that she has has to continue to be implemented
050as all of you know in government nothing happens overnight it takes time I hope that you will allow Dr ruffen to finish her vision because I believe she's going to come up with another plan and all of those plans that she has done has been such an improvement to the Waterberry school system I can tell you that I set where you sat for 13 years I sat with other superintendents we worked side by side we worked with the staff we worked with the administration it's different now because you have someone who's thinking out of the box who's taking us away from those old tired rules and regulations and yes by Nature change is difficult change is hard but if we continue to work together respect our superintendent respect our teachers parents and the community Waterberry
051school system will get cited Again by the State Board of Education for an exemplary Improvement to the Waterberry school system so I implore you if you will please allow Dr ruffen to complete her plan for another 3 years I'm on my way to a charter revision commission meeting I wish I could stay but I can't but I will visit all of you once again thank you next speaker balal tadin good evening everyone my name is Bal teline I am an alder in the fifth district of Waterbury and I'm also an associate Dean in higher education I have been watching the events of the past several months unfold with a cautious eye I have seen heard and spoken to many residents by and large they voiced several significant and Justified concerns and in some conversations I
052think we have been subject to our passions saying things that may not represent the full picture I've have heard two concerns most frequently one is that our teachers believe that the system office is too topheavy and struggles with communication this criticism is not just against Dr Ruffin I'm told but for as one resident said to me everyone who gets paid to be down town the other is that our teachers feel physically unsafe in their classrooms while I'm an elected official I'm not an elected official on this body I do not know and I do not see as much as you all do so to fill in the Gap in my own understanding I did some research and I came to present some of what I found in brief as best as I can on September
0531st 2020 the office of the child advocate released a 34-page investigation report titled calls made by Waterberry public schools to local police regarding students attending Elementary and prek through grade 8 schools during the 2018 2019 school year this report indicates that the data was shared with the Waterbury Public Schools the chief of police and several community-based health organizations the report details 200 calls made to police between September 2018 and March 2019 some of the calls were for children as young as four and five years old 18% of calls resulted in arrests and of those nine children arrested were 11 years or younger the median age across all arrests was 12 36 arrests made in those 6 months were for Misa charges typically the students were escorted out in handcuffs per police reports in Connecticut children
054as young as 7 years old can be subject to arrest and detention between 2009 and 2018 Waterberry referred more children to juvenile court than any other court in 7 out of 10 years in 2018 22.7% of all children refer referred to juvenile came from Waterberry according to chief spagnolo who's detailed in the report the types of behavior that results in a 911 call are self-injury and threats of harm to self and others as well as expressions of anger and despair in 2018 the office of the child advocate met with Chief spagnolo about the use of school resource officers referencing research showing that contrary to having a positive impact embedded police in schools often lead to increased suspensions expulsions and school-based arrests disproportionately and negatively impacting children of color the office of the child advocate also
055raised the possibility of alternative strategies to build relationships and positive encounters between children and families and police that would not require embedding officers in schools those suggestions and recommendations are detailed in that report the OCA met with the State Department of Education and the state department education administrator noted that while the children's needs may be complex the number of 911 calls seen in Waterberry schools data raises concerns of a problem in certain schools cultures an acceptance or belief that it is okay to routinely call 911 and that building leadership has to turn that culture around and support Crisis Prevention and D escalation work in the school it's important to understand the issues driving utilization of police as a response to young people in crisis OCA lists several reasons they determined why teachers might call 911
056those reasons are they felt the police can respond more quickly when a child is in crisis they were concerned about the capacity to support a child in extreme distress in a Safe Way teachers worried about children escalating and having acute behaviors administrators worried about the liability in casee the child was harmed and some building administrators were looking for someone outside of the school to come in and remove the child from the setting if we take the mobile Crisis Intervention Program as an example which is detailed in the report it is important to note that the goal is to stabilize the child divert them from the hospital and send them back to class whenever possible it is not to remove arrest or dismiss the child this is just one report of many I found that helped
057me round out my understanding of the inter section of school safety and child arrests organizations like Connecticut voices for children have been conducting what they call data walks since 2017 highlighting the Nuance of school safety and arrests organizations like Conan tell us that black students are six times more likely and Hispanic students are 3.6 times more likely to be suspended I know we are sensitive to data points that highlight a racial disparity but we can't pretend that they don't exist so in closing I'd like to implore this board of education and the central office to visit the data put together the quantitative story that helps us make sense of the qualitative one and I believe that already the fact already staring at us in the face is that we can't arrest our way to a
058safer school thank you thank you next speaker is Issa Alves good evening mayor superintendent Board of educ ation in central office um I just want to share with you in favor of Dr Ruffin and I want to tell you why so I have been in the city of Waterberry for over 20 years and at every aspect working in some capacity with superintendents and I have to tell you that this has been the best experience um I have worked at Westside middle school as a special education substitute teacher in the bdlc room Learning Center and on team I worked for cjr for 10 years where we I was working with the core in Bob cases I am currently a parent of a child with autism and a genius child I have one who is a genius
059and um I am self-employed currently and working at Williams I tell you that so that you can find me I want to be as transparent as possible and I have no political agenda I'm not here because of Any favoritism I am here to share with you what Dr Ruffin the opportunities that she has brought to the table and I want to say to the person who was talking about arrest we have had arrest problems for the 20 years I've been here I used to sit on the red meeting board at the Waterberry youth services and we were always topping the charts Captain kosi sat on that board and we have always struggled in that area so this is not your problem this is something that we have to work out together as a team to
060solve and one of the big reasons was and a Gentleman here said it it was the lack of the use of 211 so we have Solutions we need to use them and if there is a witch hunt with a survey or anything going on against Dr Ruffin and administrators choose to make that 911 call instead of that 211 call then they need to be called to the carpet let's find out who are those schools and what who are those administrators that are doing doing that I want to explain to you for my genius child okay so my daughter here in the city of Waterberry applied to ker High School on the weight list accepted to Waterberry Career Academy Early College High School the sore program at Kennedy whams Holy Cross her District school is wilby
061and now Aces opened up high school there are eight opportunities in the city of Waterberry if if you are not taking advantage of these opportunities that's a parental problem because the opportunities are here my children have benefited from so many programs even my autistic child he is thriving in this school but you know what I'm tired it's exhausting I'm constantly out there I actually have an event going on upstairs and I invite any one of you to please come upstairs for a financial literacy class and I want you to see how many parents are up there and exhausted promoting promoting okay and we have one of the better schools so I want to tell you that even a new car has a plan to get tuned up okay we all need to tune up I
062would like to see more things from my son who's autistic but you know what I look for them I want to be a resource to parents communication people is a two-way street I promise you that if I have a communication problem you are going to hear from me you you're going to hear from me till I get tired if I have to call the news which I have and I will be heard I promise you so we need to be more assertive if we want change I want to tell you that I went to an event on a Saturday it was The Branding event at Reed school you know who was there Dr Ruffin Mrs GOI I said on a Saturday I know I'm crazy but they are crazy okay and it was an opportunity
063for our children from different opportunities to come together and hear from people that work at ESPN at Channel 8 have their own business to learn okay so as a parent please we need to be more aware of these opportunities and come together um sorry I'm really nervous but listen I want to tell you too that the Ser I was here I've never seen this here before either I've been coming here for a year never so if you have something to say come and say it okay the survey that was done I totally felt was a Witch Hunt I never saw the survey as a parent I would like to see the survey I would like to know who put the survey together who answered it was it a special core whor of teachers or did
064every teacher have access so I need you to give Dr ruffen please former years we are law-abiding citizens we pay our taxes the only law that I break is probably loud music cuz my son's autistic and he and I love music but we need four more years of continued growth in the inner city you have eight places that you can go for high school that's impressive that is so impressive anything that I can do to help you move forward please and this board you have done so much work you work tirelessly I know because I sit here the gentleman who's upstairs doing the lit class this board approved him as a member and he's awesome because my kids did this class in the summertime so please I beg you I implore you to please um
065find me here I work at Williams I am the parent liaison I will talk to you in private um anything that you need to know it's transparent and thank you very much thank [Applause] you yeah that's our last speaker uh commissioner van Stone second all in favor oppos motion carries next item up in regards to agenda items 5.1 and 5.2 I would like to read for the record from the city Charter section 88.1 subsection C of the city Charters States proceedings a record of each vote resolution or other action taken by the board of educ shall be transmitted forth with by the clerk of the board to the mayor if he shall approve by signing it or failing to take action on it within 10 days after its passage such vote resolution or other action
066shall become operative from such date if approved record shall be made by the clerk of the board of the date of approval if no action be taken record shall be made of the date when it becomes operative by reason thereof if the mayor shall disapprove he shall within 10 days return it to the clerk of the board with his objections in writing the clerk shall present the same to the board at its next meeting and such vote resolution or other action shall not become operative unless passed over the mayor's veto by an affirmative vote of seven of the members of said board we'll now move move on to item number 5.1 commissioner Sano o dorno ladies and gentlemen the committee of the whole moves at the mayor's veto of March 28th 2024 of the board's
067action of March 21st 20124 of item number 13.3 job specifications for and new position of director of multilingual education be overridden can can I ask a question I'm sorry to interrupt but I do have a question which is when exactly did the committee of the whole meet and vote to make that recommendation we're we're voting now mayor well but you just said that your committee respectfully recommends that the vote be overridden which means that the committee has taken some action so I'm just curious as when the committee took action Madam president attorney Brittain so the mayor's question is when did we go into the committee of the whole we normally this is our committee of the whole so I uh thank you Madame President um Mr Mayor I think historically the Board of Ed has
068met as a committee of the whole and done the recommendation their debate as a body and then presented that recommendation I do understand the concept of a committee of the whole my question is I vetoed this the board met once at a workshop in which this was not taken up they're meeting tonight for the first time since then so the representation that the committee of the whole is making a representation at this moment is incorrect I believe the proper procedure would be for someone on this board as a member of the committee of the whole to make a motion to override The veto in which case we would then have a second and a disc discussion and then a vote on it as a committee but I think that the representation which has been made
069which is that the committee has made a recommendation is incorrect at this point so I think um I think your interpretation of that uh is correct Mr Mayor so I think that you could the whoever is making the motion can just do a friendly amendment of their motion who second the motion nobody did yet no one did so if nobody seconded it Madam president then you can just you can withdraw you can withdraw your motion andate it okay without the representation that mayor pusi um had pointed out thank you madam president if I may Roberts rules would say we would have to make a motion to change the language of a motion that would have to pass and then the next motion would be the corrected language we can't change the language of a motion
070without another motion you can look up proper drills but M president could I go ahead um through you commissioner um because there wasn't a second yet the person that is making the motion has the right to withdraw that motion and make a new one but it's not the motion that was posted 24 hours in advance go ahead okay I I so that would the 24-hour notice would only apply to the agenda item itself so when it comes to the actual language of the motion you could tell me that but I could still object sure yeah and and and the the chair can can rule on that so are you objecting I notice of objection cor commissioner Sano dno so can I do the new motion do it okay I move that the ladies and gentlemen
071I move that the mayor's veto of March 28th 2024 of the board's action of March 21st 2024 of item number 13.3 job specifications for and new position of director of multilingual education be overridden is there a second second okay discussion commissioner Oro sorry to say but I'm totally confused um we're voting on not to override his veto or to override The veto to override to override The veto for the multilingual I was I was on the original uh committee that approved this recommendation and I I maybe it's my mistake but I I didn't realize that you know the amount of money that this person might be getting uh what I want to say is that we're recently Adella was the supervisor in that department and we are now going to um hire a new supervisor
072so just my recommendation uh would be to hire this supervisor see how it's going to work out in the next couple of months and revisit the director ship cuz the uh outrage that I'm getting is it's another $170,000 job and it's just I'm sort of sick of hearing that stuff anymore but that's my recommendation we just see how the supervisor works out because there was a lack of a supervisor for the last six or eight months I'm not sure how long it was and poor Jan fenis has been doing 10 jobs over there you know and uh this will be a help for her but I don't know if if if this warrants this type of money at this time I would just say let's table it for future future reference that's my opinion commissioner
073Orel the motion is to override The veto not the whole um job spec okay there any other discussion commissioner van Stone yeah I I think we're not reading the vetos and reason for and it's going to be the same in the next one the mayor return us to us with the veto which is as you read Allowed by Charter and however we got to the point we're at now I won't get back into can you speak into the mic I can't hear you the mayor vetoed the vote and his reason stated for this particular one was as asking questions in particular to ask how the position will be budgeted right you know we got to read we have to read The veto and that's what it's about he's asking questions so if we maintain his
074veto it would be upon us to then answer these questions and then bring it back with those questions answered for a vote and if it satisfies him he won't veto veto it that's what we're talking about folks he's asking us questions he didn't tell us to kill the job description he asked questions pertaining to how we're going to budget the position and just as far as budging the position buil anex has gone from five Professionals in the classroom to two in the last year but we're going to add a directorship how how about we go out and hire some behavioral therapists or how about we go out and hire uh the certified nurses that were taken out of classroom 100% why don't we think about stuff like that commission which we could add um this
075when the mayor vetoed this position the following meeting we had someone come in and describe what this position was for where the money was going to come from so therefore we already answered his questions formally now that was a workshop there's no votes taken at a workshop there were no votes taken obviously we're not going to follow Robert rolls thank you so there were no votes taken and today we are voting on to override The veto on this position we need a roll call is there any more discussion if I could be heard Madam president mayor panuski thank you as I said when I sent the veto message and just said at the meeting I think last week and have said anyone who's asked me I'm not necessarily opposed to the position it may make
076some sense but I think we need to do a little bit more scrutiny subsequent to this veto and the vote that night two things have come just specifically to my attention that give me further pause on this and it's got to do with the financing so we now know that we're coming to a point uh where there are going to be some funding limitations that the district is going to face moving forward and so one of the things the district has been considering I think they made a decision on it I hope that they have I've subsequently heard they may have changed their mind is this charge for summer school at the rate of $175 a class for summer school because we can no longer for to provide it for free and I would just
077suggest to you that as you decide to create positions I think it's time that we start looking at if funding is limited where are we go what are we going to fund and what are we not going to fund at $175 a class we're talking about 857 classes or 857 students taking those classes who could go to summer school for free for $150,000 position that's a tradeoff and I think we need to be aware of it and understand if that's what you're voting on this evening is that sort of a trade-off another conversation that we've had has to do with phones in the school we talk about school safety we talk about arrest and we there are other things that we can do as well one of the things that has come up as a
078conversation it's being done in some school districts is to require students not to have phones in the classroom during the day by the way that is the current school policy adopted in 2004 no phones in the classroom correct it's a policy that is honored more in the breach than I don't think there's a student who doesn't have a phone in the classroom in this district one of the ways we were looking at doing that and Manchester has done it I believe Hartford is doing it there's another school district I think tarington has been doing it is to require students to put their phones into a bag that's electronically sealed during the day at the end of the day they come out of school they can electronically unseal the bag and get their phones back now
079I don't know whether that's a it's a discussion that we should have on whether we're going to do that but the push back when it was initially presented was that the bags are too expensive if we can't afford it the bags for district this size for all of the students I think the ones we're talking about would be middle and high school ranges from 40,000 to $70,000 and you have to have extra bags and things like that those are the numbers we're talking about so now we're saying that a program that might and in the school districts that have done it we've seen discipline drop by half we've seen uh a rise in student engagement in the classroom because they don't have their phones anymore the fights when they're getting on the phones and calling
080each other to join as mobs in groups goes away so I'm saying to you if we have a concern about 40,000 to 70,000 on school phones maybe we should think about creating a new position that we haven't had I'm not saying the position isn't a good one but I'm saying that if we're starting to talk about limited resources in the district in the spending we need to start making some choices and having those discussions and that's what I'm asking you to do that's why I vetoed it I don't think we had that conversation initially and these things have since subsequently come to my attention that's what this is about and I just want to make sure that we're having a discussion I understand there may have been some discussion at the Personnel committee I don't
081think there was any discussion here when that happened that night but that's what I'm raising those are concerns that I have when you vote on this you may be precluding other things that you may think are equally or more important than this position as far as the future operations of the schools thank you Dr ruff um the mayor bought up summer school I knew it was an issue that you were thinking about but I do not believe that you were moving forward with that can you speak on that please that is correct and then there are a lot of um other discussions that we're going to have regarding our next moves over the next several years especially for the 20 uh 24 25 school year because we are no longer in possession of the Esser
082money which is approximately $140 million um that we no longer have but we did spend very wisely to be able to bring about a lot of changes in the schools um there there was discussion and uh about summer school there's going to be discussions around summer school next year as well um because summer school was not always free in the district there was a time when students did pay for Summer Schools we were able over the last several years and not just because of the SR money but we were able to fund the summer school program which allowed probably increased graduation rates when we discussed whether we were going to have a paid summer school this summer um it was questioned and we answered some questions uh with the central office team but also with
083the campus principles because it was something that principles did need to weigh in on is it going to to affect your graduation rate if we don't offer summer school in the summer uh and it is free and the principes felt that it was going to impact graduation rate because not so much for this incoming group but definitely for perhaps freshman sophomore and maybe Juniors who were perhaps at that point going to feel well I have a lot of time I don't have to go to summer school and it was going to bottleneck and by the time they became Juniors and seniors three and four years from now it was going to create a serious problem because then students were not going to be able to retrieve all of those credits as a result of that
084we never brought about a proposal we never talked about it any further because we're going to pay for summer school this year and we'll continue to have their conversation around good stewards of our money in the future um it is not an either or uh when this position the director position was brought in um and I uh it was presented to the person committee which is the process that we go through when any position is being sought that's new for the district it's based on District need we have an increased number of students that are multilingual in Waterberry public schools and yes while we do have a supervisor that is already in the budget there is also a need to revamp perhaps the entire department with a a a a very critical eye on not
085only how we're going to supervise it but how are we going to direct Ed for a district whose multilingual students are growing exponentially and especially this last year with over 500 new students coming in with multilanguage skills and needing the opportunity to be able to excel just like all of the other students in our district and how do we do that in such a way that multilingual is not going to be only the bilingual teachers responsibility but an entire District's responsibility educate our students that's why we asked for this position when it came before the Personnel committee as I described last month every time we have a position that goes before a person Personnel committee before that position comes there we already know the funding source I I would never bring a position and ask
086the Personnel committee to approve anything unless we had a funding source for it and it is at that time that the committee has an opportunity to ask questions and they don't have to vote for it they could say no we don't approve um but regardless of their vote they will take it to the next official board meeting it is at that time when that recommendation was made for any member of the board to be able to ask questions if there are questions about this new position at that time there were no questions correct and therefore the position was approved that's the background information uh a little bit more so that everybody is aware of what the future is going going to bring we're going to have many conversations about how to best create a budget
087in these circumstances it's going to be very important that not only the Waterberry Public Schools but also the city has some understanding about what happens when Waterberry becomes more fully funded with the alliance money because the alliance money needs to belong to Waterberry public schools and and as such it affords Waterberry public schools to be able to continue to do great things for children and to perhaps bring in some of the additional roles that are so desperately needed in the district providing they are there to be hired such as social workers and additional counselors and additional supports for students and for teachers in the classroom those are the kinds of things that Waterberry Public Schools really wants to do with our new budget and with the alliance budget specifically as we're having those conversations we're
088going to examine all of the other things that we have the benefit of es funding to bring into the district we're going to examine our tutoring we're going to examine Varsity Tutors in particular for its return on invest on investment so there there will be discussion do we continue it do we let it go is there another model that we want we have Student Success agency which has rendered a lot of success for our students as many of our students in Waterberry have agents we're going to discuss that as well we're going to disc discussed Bloom board and its benefit to teachers teachers said that they wanted an opportunity for Relevant professional development and an opportunity to do that at no cost to them if they were going to be able to receive Advanced credentials
089as well as be able to receive differentials in Pay Bloom board was purchased for that reason it is still being taken by many of our teachers in Waterberry that's going to be up for discussion not elimination but for discussion because as we realize what our budget will be for the future we have to examine those things that are going to give us the most return for our investment and are there other ways that we can proceed with that work or do we have to eliminate some of the things moving forward those are the conversations that will we are going to have before the completed budget not the budget that goes before the city council but or the council but rather the budget that Waterberry public schools has to expend when we're looking at additional Alliance
090Mones we'll look at some of the Staffing although Waterberry is not in a position to lose Staffing we are in a good position that maybe some districts are not where they have to consider letting people go Waterberry is not in that position and that's because of the way that the monies were expended but we do have programs that we will be examining and the conversation of summer school will come up again but it's not coming up again to be in either or between providing for multilingual students at the expense of summer school thank you Dr aen the motion on the table Sor oh I'm sorry further discussion I just I I and I appreciate the the the discussions that will be had in the future I don't think we've actually had that discussion on this
091position but that's my recollection but um I just want to read you what came to this entire board on April 1st and it's the issue of whether or not this was a matter for discussion or whether it was a decision made and I'm going to read this to you and maybe I've read it wrong was Monday April 1st from Dr Ruffin to the Board of Education superintendent update to Commissioners April 1 2024 summer school fees Commissioners as we anticipate and plan for the upcoming summer opportunities for our students we're cognizant of the fact that funding limitations will cause changes in op some changes in operation for a few years we have offered summer school for the purpose of credit recovery at no cost to our high school students this year we'll see a change to
092that we are preparing to officially notify parent students of this change which is reflected Below in an effort to maintain the quality of our educational programs and resources there will be a fee associated with the 2024 summer school for high school students seeking credit recovery the fee for Waterbury public school students participation in this program will be $175 per class a fee of $250 will be charged for non WPS students to attend summer school much earlier in the year the second semester we made it known to schools and students that credit recovery Imagine Learning should be an ongoing tool allowing students to learn and make up credits along the way and not wait until summer student students taking advantage of this are not charged for the added resource we will continue to offer this option
093until the end of the school year and schools are to encourage students to fully utilize this option to avoid the need for a paid summer school however if students still need summer school a $175 fee will be charged to defay the cost of Staffing for the summer session this charge is for high school students only please let me know if you have any questions ferna nowhere in here does it say discussion may happen proposing to happen it says it's going to happen now I appreciate it's not going to happen but this may re relate somewhat to the communication issues that we're all facing as well as I talk about these things because as I read that that was not a missive to the Board of Education asking for input it was a missive to the
094Board of Education saying that this was happening so they understand now that that's been changed and I'm not sure when that was changed with this board because that came out in April 1 we had one Workshop meeting and we're having this meeting tonight and I'd like to know when that discussion occurred with this board to make those changes or make those decisions or have that discussion because I missed it if it occurred maybe it was a meeting that I missed I know there were one or two that I haven't been at but as I read that there's no point in there where it says this is a suggestion a recommendation or we're seeking input on it so that's what I was reacting to and it does talk about the fact that we have to do
095that in order to Def the cost of Staffing so those are the decisions we're starting to get into making here and I just want to be aware of the fact that if there's limited resources spending money in one place May negate being able to spend it in a different area yes I'll be happy to speak to that I frequently write memos to the board and you're always included uh as well Mr Mayor there so the communication goes out and I always leave the memo those memos are for the information of the Commissioners they're meant to be able to draw some conversation and usually what happens after board members see that if they are concerned they will contact me that did happen and as a result of that it went no further um the memos that
096I send to the Commissioners are just that they're memos to the Commissioners they're not memos that go out to the public at the time because they're memos they're communication memos to to keep you informed of where our thought processes are and I will send those again to keep you informed when you have an objection you do just that you communicate with me I do some more research I ask additional folks because it's critically important how it affects schools and and they need to be a part of that if this was going to be something engraved in stone it would have been brought to the board meeting it would have been an official this is what we're doing as a matter of fact since that memo went out we ALS Al had further discussion uh we
097had discussion about charging out of um out of District tuition and it was pretty steep we had discussion about that we we anticipate that this is something that we we had to bring to the table but we did not officially send this out because it's not official and and anytime that I send a communication to the Commissioners it's to give information it's to give an intent it's to hear feedback and yes it does cause us to go back to the table many times and to be able to change things had that been a memo that needed to go out to the to the media or that been needed to go out to the schools there would have been another memo that would have informed everyone that this communication had become official and it was therefore
098a new directive issued out to schools that never happened because that's not the case and then just under discussion Madam president the question I have one point to make though before we get off this topic and I want to say this before we we get away from it because it's an additional concern that's raised now which is that if this board is communicating by emails going back and forth and you're having conversations that other members are not a part of it is a violation of the Freedom of Information Act in that you're having secret meetings and the the Freedom of Information commission may well have an issue with that this is supposed to be something that's debated on the floor so I don't know how this is going back and forth and you're having conversations
099about it that are not occurring on this board but if the board is being is giving input on issues that are under areas that are this board has cognizance of there's an issue if it's not being done in public Mr Mayor that did not happen it was not a back and forth email it wasn't even an email to the whole board to my knowledge this is a convers I I speak to every board member I have an open dialogue with every single board member on a personal level professional level individually including you doctor I don't want to argue with you here but I'm going to tell you that this was sent to the entire Board of Education and that the responses were and I've got them two of them here that I have I don't
100know if there might have been more that I was copied on one from commissioner Brown saying they do think we need to revisit here's how it's worded thank you for the information but I think we need to revisit this decision what is the cost of the district without student fees given the low graduation rates it might be dis incentive to attend summer school let's discuss and then also from commissioner Ireland good afternoon Dr Ruffin as always thank you for the update I do have a few concerns about this and would like a little more clarity if enough high schoolers need this for credit recovery the fee can be a barrier to them if they cannot afford it can we discuss thank you that is a back and forth and it is the sort of thing
101that ought not to be happening among members here if that's the way you're and making decisions based on what was in these emails which you point of order mayor it just F Wyatt it's just that simple I'm sorry F A Wyatt If you think it's a violation F A Wyatt you know that's not a a a good attitude to take but I'm trying to explain to you what the law is you want you want to violate it we I'm not here to argue the violation but I'm telling you that what you're doing is having secret meetings and it'll be very clear and then we don't have to back and forth because what's there will be shown that's all I'm saying Madam president can we call the question please yes let's call the question I need
102a second I need a second second all in favor I I oppose Tom wants to roll call vot commissioner here pres yes yes or no motion on the floor is to call the question of the original motion which was to override to go back the original what does she need to say CU she doesn't understand she yes she needs me to ask again commissioner Ireland yes commissioner Jackson yes commissioner Navaro yes commissioner O'Brien yes commissioner Oro it's question yes commissioner sanoo yes commissioner vanstone no president Hernandez yes okay no um no more discussion on no more no now we we're back to the main okay 5.2 and the motion on the is to over okay all in favor of overriding the veto of five 5.1 I thought we already did you want to do a
103roll call so we got to do it again no there's no discussion okay yeah do a roll call Prius yes commissioner Ireland yes commissioner Jackson yes commissioner Navaro yes commissioner O'Brien yes commissioner Oro yes commissioner Sano oorno yes commissioner van Stone no president Hernandez yes motion carries okay item number 5.2 I'm going to read this the board voted on March 21st 2024 complied with the current contract of the superintendent that requires the board upon notification by the superintendent to enter into a new contract to notify the superintendent if the board supports a new contract it also States the Board of Education support for the mayor for support for the meil to begin negotiation negotiating a new three-year contract the vote was a public expression of support for the superintendent the board has no authority to
104comply to comply the I'm sorry the vote the vote was a public expression of support and the board has no authority to compel the mayor to negotiate a contract or set the terms of the contract the board does have the authority and obligation to express its opinion through a public vote which was what was done secretary Sano o dorna ladies and gentlemen I move that the mayor's veto of March 28th 2024 of the board's action of March 21st 2024 of item number 13.5 approval and support of the January 11th 2020 4 request from Dr Verna D ruffin for a contract renewal for a term of 3 years further request that mayor panuski begin discussions with Dr Verna D ruffen for the development of a three-year contract be overridden a second I need a second second
105discussion commissioner Oro good evening everyone thank you for all the speakers I I really appreciate it people always say I always have a smile on my face and telling jokes but the last three weeks hasn't been funny for me a lot of stress what I have to what I have to say tonight is not personal you know how I feel about you Dr grffin first of all she's done a good job for the last six years especially during the pandemic which is very difficult for the district but now we have to look into the future not into the past we cannot ignore the two surveys one from the teachers union and the other from the administrator Union I have read all the comments for the last three days I read them over again and they
106weren't very complimentary I lived my whole life in Waterberry came in contact with many people all 74 years of my life I recently I received many emails phone calls and wherever I go grocery store any place I go people come up to me and give me their opinions on this issue as the mayor stated that unfortunately there's a disconnect between the two factions and the superintendent who is the blame I'm not here to judge I don't think anybody's here to judge but it exists we are here to protect and guide approximately 19,000 students in the district with the disconnect between the teachers administrators and the mayor's office this cannot continue for another years can this disconnect be resolved in one year I don't have a crystal ball I wish it can hope everybody's differences can
107be resolved with the threats of teachers and administrators possibly leaving in an in this new this year if the new three-year contract is approved doesn't make me very happy when 75% of the administrators say they're going to look sure they're going to look they say they could to look who knows I don't want I don't want this to happen so therefore tonight I will be voting to uphold the mayor's veto any others commissioner Fus thank you madam president um just want to speak from my heart to all of you thank you for coming [Music] um I know that every single member here um every single member is competent and have done their due diligence to make our vote tonight um our decision I and I want you to be aware of that that we have
108done our due diligence um to make the best decision possible not only for the teachers but for our students our 19,000 students in Waterbury um I myself um I my past experience um I'm an or have been an or childcare organizer and I understand and appreciate um unions um but again there are many aspects here that we're looking into not just one and you know once again I just want you all to understand that we are wholeheartly making the best decision possible for our students and our Waterbury public schools in as a whole so thank you that's all Madam president secretary s ooro thank you Madame President um just to piggyback a little bit with both Commissioners this has been uh a very stressful situation and discussion that has been going on um I'm sitting
109here with a migraine and I thought it was very important for me to be here along with everyone else here I want to thank the public the speakers that came today and any other meeting that we've had I appreciate the emails that we received the phone calls um the in-person communications that I've had with several and um I humbly appreciate every feedback every opinion everything that goes on I humbly appreciate that uh please accept that I understand everyone's concerns about the district and about our superintendent I take every email discussion any concerns into consideration when I have to make a decision to assist in improving our district first I'd like to say that I proudly raised four sons in the Waterbury School District I have a son with special needs who is currently 27 years
110old and he is striving I cannot thank the teachers the staff the behavioral therapists the administrators and the nurses and everyone enough for their dedication and helping me educate each of my sons my oldest is here today each of my sons have had their own special memory with different staff and teachers as have I with that said I want you guys to understand that when I take a vote or make a decision I rely on my faith I pray I listen to facts to detailed data that is provided to each and every one of us but more importantly I follow my heart I follow with what I feel is the best thing for our school district I no longer have sons in the school district they've all aged out but I have a granddaughter who
111is only 8 months old and I'm looking forward to when she joins our Waterbury School District so please just understand that this is not personal this is not an easy decision um but I personally I I made the veto to override or I made the the vote to override respectfully the mayor's decision because I believe that Dr ruffen deserves her three-year contract to continue to improve our school district thank you madam president any other discussion okay no the board took a vote as required by the contract with Dr Russ ruffing same language I'm sorry was in the contract of the two previous superintendent which state that once the superintendent notifies the board of his or her requests to enter into a new contract the board must respond by April 1st to that request the request
112was for a new three-year contract and the board voted to support the support for that request by Charter the board does not negotiate that contract contract the mayor does all terms including the length of the contract are negotiated by the mayor and said contract is signed by the mayor the mayor's veto on this item does not change the purpose of the board's vote which W which is a public vote of support for a new contract I need you guys to understand that so with that being said let's do a roll call I'm I'm sorry I just have to ask a question before we go on I I am thoroughly confused about what you all think you did at the last meeting of the Board of Education and perhaps some clarity would help me to understand
113that I have before me a charge from this board to negotiate a three-year contract with Dr ruffett it is my view that I have to negotiate if this stands a three-year contract with Dr Ruffin do you all feel that that's not the case we don't set the term of the Contra we were in support of what Dr Ruffin wanted she requested a three-year contract we felt that she deserved a three-year contract again we do not negotiate the contract we we don't negotiate the length of the contract all we did was show our support for Dr Ruffin because she requested a three-year contract all other issues are on the mayor we do not negotiate we do not set the length we do not sign it that all goes to you once we voted in support of
114Dr in having a three-year contract it immediately went to the mayor to you mayor panuski and that's where our because that's the way the charter is written commissioner Navaro I'm so sorry no worries thank you madam president um to piggy back off of that I have the city Charter in front of me section 8 B-2 powers and duties uh section A the Board of Education shall appoint by a three-year contract in the manner set forth in the Civil Service provisions of this Charter or ordinances as applicable superintendent of schools the applicable performance evaluation of the superintendent of schools shall be performed by the board of education so this tells me that we have to abide by the the city Charter laws and then the decision would go to the mayor's office and the mayor would
115negotiate those terms between the doctor if I'm correct according to the city Charter correct commissioner Orel I have I have a question too when a motion was made that for three-year contract for him to negotiate a three-year contract it didn't say one year to three years it does that mean he could only negotiate a three-year contract that was that's my question if the if the motion says a three-year contract then that's all they can negotiate is a three-year contract unless unless it said the motion was to recommend a three-year contract because that is what the superintendent okay requested it was in our opinion when we did the vote that we felt from her recommendation and in the charter and in the charter that that's okay thank you okay roll call roll call vote wait a
116minute wait a minute we're not done oh what are you voting on we are voting on to override your veto okay to for you to start negotiations with the superintendent on a contract so what is he on a three-year contract yes according to the city Char yes that's what the motion was I guess I just I just want to be clear as we sit here tonight that sustaining overriding The veto does not mean that there will be will require me to negotiate a three-year contract that's my view sustaining The veto takes away the three years as I've said I'm still open to negotiating a one-year contract this board would then have to take additional action but I don't want anyone to vote tonight thinking that by s o overriding The veto they are simply sustaining
117the recommendation and absolving me of any obligation to do a three-year contract that is not in spite of the opinions of some members of this board that is not what the situation is this evening as you vote and um I just want to be clear on that that you're not voting there there's no suggestion it's a three-year requirement that I negotiate a three-year contract so to sustain The veto means that goes away you could then recommend the shorter term contract um and we go from there otherwise if you override The veto I am I believe compelled to negotiate a three-year contract just so we're clear that's my understanding of it at this point so okay any other discussion can you please I'm confused the motion is to override the mayor's veto commissioner van Stone no
118does that before are you are you satisfied with that answer as understanding what's happening no okay that's what I was going to I don't think we should have a vote until this board is satisfied they all understand what they're voting clar show some examples thank you I I need you to understand and be sure that everyone understands what they're voting on a yes vote tonight means that I have to negotiate a three-year contract a no vote a no vote means that your last vote to require me to do a three-year contract goes away and you're then free to come back as a board and make another vote to to have a contract with the superintendent for a different term it it gives you that option but a yes vote tonight if you vote Yes tonight
119I have to negotiate a three-year contract with the super attendant may I have the floor Madam president here we go it's given me a headache because I've been saying this for a month that it says recommendation no if we were to keep the veto alive it means the same thing as if we say too is voted against it is a recommendation to establish contract talks correct the recommendation piece from the Board of Education which was a 9 to1 vote for a recommendation of 3 years by state law it can be no more than three years cor right also by state law the Board of Education would be the one doing the negotiation but our Charter overrides that piece of state law that aside it is no different on I'm going to give this example couple
120months ago we recommended to the mayor's office to review our initial budget for the 2425 year it was the exact same vote just a different piece of paper so I've been trying to say for weeks that it matters nothing which way you vote on this tonight and I wish it never even came to the floor exactly again I'll go back to what I said on the other motion can we please just read what is given to us it it's it's been a black and white for over a month it matters nothing I want to give this veto approval and keep it upheld to show to Mayor I have his support because I was that one vote when it went 9 to one so that's my only reason for going to uphold The veto is to
121give the mayor support which would be nice if if that would take place place on this board but apparently that has gone out the window so thank you does everyone understand so so it is the position of this board just so I understand regardless of how you vote this evening I could sit on my hands until July 6th not have a new contract with the superintendent and we would have no superintendent of schools on July 6 if that's what I choose to do that's what this board is telling me this evening I know it goes that it's not telling you your mandate is to negotiate three a recommendation is not a mandate it's a recommendation it's a recommendation but the recommendation is to negotiate a contract for three years there's nothing in here that isn't
122couched in terms of recommendation or support right so in other words I'm obligated to do absolutely nothing based on this vote that's the position of the board of education do you you took that I'm just trying to understand this because I think we we've got a huge a huge issue here as far as what everybody thinks is going on and I'm not clear I I haven't been confused for a month so okay I'll leave with everybody else does any does anybody believe that if you sustain The veto if you override The veto this evening I'm obligated to do a three-year contract is there anybody on this board who believes that what you say again I'm sorry if you override The veto yes which means the veto goes away do you all believe that I am
123not obligated to negotiate a three-year contract we since we don't it's a recommendation does anyone think I am obligated to negotiate a three-year contract if you override The veto Us in the charter it's in the CH okay and if I'm not obligated to to negotiate a three-year contract am I obligated to negotiate any contract Joe Joe we don't negotiate a contract right please so if we are delving into the arena of a charter or a statutory interpretation because I do think there could potentially be a conflict between how some members are inter in the statutory obligations of the Board of Ed versus what might be the charter obligations of the Board of Ed um I oh apologies I per the charter since we're on this subject I can't give the impression of giving a charter
124interpretation at the moment that has to come through the corporation council's office I'm happy to relay that to the Corporation Council I actually think that the um mayor is the only person that can request a charter official Charter opinion um um I'm happy to do that and relay it um but as far as making a ruling from the hip as to who has the authority tonight I I can't I can't do that okay so there are expain there are options that you can do you can table this to a later meeting to get an interpretation an opinion from the corporation council's office that is an option but you should have an understanding as to what exactly you are voting on before you do take a vote on it commissioner Arlin yes Madam president I I
125like to table this we be a motion we need a motion all right so i' like the motion make a motion to table uh the the contract of Dr ruffen three yearend so give me the correct wording item five I motion to table the mayor's veto of March 28th 2024 of the board's education of March 21st 2024 of item 13.5 approval in support of January 11th 2024 request from Dr Vera D Ruffman for a contract renewal for a term of three three years further requests that mayor pusi begin discussion with Dr verer ruffen for the development of a threeyear contract be overridden can I have a second I before we get to the second I just I I do think procedurally this is required to come to this board at the next meeting to be
126addressed as far as the veto goes that's what the charter requires this is the next meeting the the question that's on the table has nothing to do with the V V really and the override of the veto it's got to do with what you voted on in the first instance um so I'm not sure again I'm not sure what whether or not you can even table a motion with this being the next meeting under the charter requirement so I think I don't know but my sense of it is and I think we've all operated on the idea that you were saying you wanted a three-year contract that's what I'm required to do based on this motion and I would think you should go ahead with your vote on The veto based on that understanding okay
127so according to the Charter we don't have to vote on this it just meant that we had to receive your veto 10 days prior I had 10 days to send you a veto right and you need you need to take it up at your next meeting which we did if you don't but what I'm suggesting to was if you just table this this evening no we bought it up at the workshop meeting that was our first meeting where we brought it up I don't think so no it was yes it was yeah yes it was at our Workshop Senor moment which was when we were supposed to which was our next board meeting we don't vote at it we don't vote at workshops so therefore we didn't vote Madam president may I read from Robert
128RS see yes thankfully one of us does read it table or lay on the table sometimes the meeting wants to lay a mo main motion aside temporarily without setting a time for resuming its consideration but will but the provisions that motion can be taken up again whenever the majority so decides this is is accomplished by a motion to table or lay on the table that motion has been made and it really should be be proceeding as such thank you I don't know CU I Joe so please what is the what is the question just so I'm clear so I can give you a I'm sorry just what's the question so I can give you a clear answer best I can do we have to vote or can we take them so because according to the
129Charter as long as we respond to the mayor's veto within the 10 days M at our next meeting it was presented in a resolution at the next meeting and such vote resolution or other action shall not become operative unless passed over the mayor's veto by affirm vote of seven of the members of the board so it doesn't say that we needed to necessarily vote on overriding his veto so the way that it reads to me and I'm going to give you an advisor an advisory opinion because I don't want to um go against the charter when it comes to what advice I can give you as far as that interpretation but the board of V has two meetings that different meeting types you have your Workshop which are your non- voting meetings and your regular
130meetings which are historically your voting meetings so if you have a meeting where you're not taking up action like a workshop I don't think you could you would it would be reasonable to apply that Charter provision to a workshop it would apply to the next regular meeting which would be this one corre so although you have the option to table it you always want to try to avoid conflicts of the charter as much as you can so if the question is now are you in conflict with the whether you have to vote on it at the next meeting provision of the charter no we want to go back to the mayor's question which was I can't even remember there were so many the three years I'm sorry us mandating to go three correct so so
131if you're talk for I'm going to finish the motion on the the tabling of the motion so if you're going to avoid the conflict of the next meeting language that's in the charter you should vote tonight if you're going back to the mayor's original question as to whether or not what you're voting on tonight is a three-year obligation on the mayor to negotiate it it certainly reads like the recommendation is only for a three-year contract so it wouldn't leave the room for maneuver that you may believe that it does um that the mayor would have to be obligated to negotiate it threee contract so if it is the if it is your will to have that three-year contract um you would vote to over ride but if it is your will that you would take
132something less than a threeyear then your vote would be to to sustain or uphold the mayor's veto is the way that it feels like it's being presented and the way that the board feels about it so that's that is my interpretation of that here is that if you want to vote and bind the mayor to a three obligation you would vote to override his veto is everybody clear on that just for the record you do have a you do have a motion to table on floor so that person the person making the motion would have to withdraw that motion there's no second we also allow there's been no second so without a second the motion just evap okay so if there's no I I I thought I had heard a second but if there is
133no second then the motion I'm to explode there also shouldn't have been any commentary between the motion and a second we are breaking Roberts yeah whoever Robert is he's rolling over tonight yes right thank you commissioner vanstone no problem so Madame President I would just acknowledge that the motion to table is not on the floor yeah we're going yes okay okay thank you so now you're back to the main motion to the m correct overide okay happy to attempt to answer any more questions so okay yes commissioner Fus yes commissioner Ireland yes commissioner Jackson yes commissioner Navaro yes commissioner O'Brien yes commissioner Oro a yes vote is to uphold a mayor's veto override to override I'm not over right it no commissioner Sano o Doro yes commissioner van Stone no president Hernandez yes 72 motion
134passes thank you superintendent's announcements Madam president may I just have a point of personal privilege one privilege please considering I just got out of the hospital I came for this vote I didn't think it would take two hours but I I I must leave so I'm sorry and not be here for the rest of the Mee that's fine I just got out thank you thank you superintendent yes Madam president um Commissioners Mr Mayor I would like to pass on the superintendent's announcements um for tonight because they're very long and they're very interesting and I think people are tired um and I would love to be able to do this when everybody's pay attention I'm also going to pass on President's comments student representative [Music] comments good evening mayor peruski president Hernandez vice president Brown secretary
135Sano adorno Commissioners and superintendent Dr Ruffin my name is Destiny Lings representing Waterberry Career Academy and I am currently in the 12th grade I'm going to give you a quick update on our academics in our Education and Training Academy five students from WCA will be going to Washington DC from June 28th to July 1st to compete in the Educators Rising national competition one student will be competing in the children's literature book three students will compete in the NR school competition which will showcase the Waterberry promise program and another student will compete in exploring Administration additionally one of our students have been selected as the educator Rising student body president for Connecticut and one student has been selected to be on the student Advisory Board also we still currently have 27 students placed between State Street
136Reed and Wilson Elementary with Cooperative teachers in various grades to complete their internships for our health Academy EMT students traveled to insonia fire rescue for a worksite experience with the hydraulic stretcher and stair chair which were generously donated to WCA six students were selected to present at the State Department of Education Health Science workshop at Southern serving as panelists where they discussed their experience as WCA Health students and answering questions from CTE Educators 11 grade students were trained and certified in ahh C CPR and AED and 60 of them visited the Yukon Waterberry Allied Health Department where they participated in a class lesson on public health in the Manufacturing Academy seniors are getting trained on the surface grinder which is a PR precision machine tool for Mak perfect flat surfaces juniors are finishing up their
137last machine project of the Year sophomores are reviewing career options in manufacturing and Technical careers and freshman exploratory are reviewing measurement devices lastly in our it and Engineering our students are working hard to get ready for the it fundamental industry certification exam and the Precision exam in addition our students studying money management recently took part in the financial reality Fair students participated in interactive Real World Financial activities at this Fair such as investing saving and budgeting this gave them insight into how to successfully manage personal finances and confidently apply Financial decision-making to their everyday lives and now for an update on clubs and activities both AP United States history and government classes took a trip to Broadway to watch Hamilton live through voice for change our 11th grade students have been able to explore colleges
138such as central eastern Southern Yukon p and Chesters in the University of New Haven we also held a College Planning night for juniors our student council was able to attend the cast convention where our student council with our student councils in the state at Woodland Regional High School and we now represent the southern district with two of our students becoming President and Vice President lastly the sophomore class hosted a successful schoolwide Family Feud event my name is Tiffany Rodriguez Rodriguez and I'm also representing wber Career Academy I am currently in 11th grade and I'll be speaking on on athletic and student accomplishments throughout our school following the victory of the University of Connecticut basketball team our school drum line was able to join their parade hundreds of students were able to participate in the wish
139Fest where they were able to join schools with presentations and activities our boys basketball team won the NV championship for the second year in a row for indoor track one student was able to compete in the indoor New Balance Nationals and one was able to compete in the indoor Regional meet two students were awarded with Cask Awards and art in music our outdoor track and field team has many students have qualified for States nvls and have broken school records and for our events that will be happening in the upcoming months we have our annual talent show that will be held on May 2nd where our students will be able to display their talents and parents will be able to come watch them as well our field day will be May 24th and our Junior and
140senior prom will be held on May 3rd at laella Vista we will be celebrating College acceptance day for seniors on June 3rd and awards nights on May 15th moving on to the student narrative students in WCA have concerned have been concerned about the FASA and the ongoing challenges with deciding on a college this year the FASA had an update on their form which led to many students Financial Awards letters being delayed or their applicants applications having issues due to the glitches this has been a big concern for students as they have to wait to commit to a college to make sure that they're making a costeffective decision this not only affects the outgoing seniors but also the underclassman as they question whether their issue will continue into their senior year and affect the choices they
141make in the future thank you thank you good job you does anyone have any questions for our student Representatives thank you ladies secretary Sano dno may I have a motion for executive session please I move to convenience to Executive session for discussion concerning the appointment employment performance evaluation health or dismissal of a public officer or employee discussion concerning security strategy or the deployment of security sorry back up that's okay can I have give a second second we are now an executive sessions all in favor I opposed we are now an executive session e e for [Music] in [Music] I [Music] oh [Music] secretary s daughter can you bring us back from executive section thank you madam president motion to return to the regular order of business with the record reflecting there were no votes taken
142second discussion all in favor I I oppose motion carries we are back from executive session 11.1 commissioner Oro El multilingual curriculum supervisor appointment thank you mam president you're welcome ladies and gentlemen committee on school Personnel moves at the waterb Board of Education approved the appointment of Teresa G morus as ESL multilingual curriculum supervisor effective May 13 2024 second second discussion Dr Ruffin thank you madam president Commissioners it's my pleasure and honor to recommend to you Teresa Moray um as the supervisor of multilingual education um Teresa is really a a former Waterberry Public Schools employee we were very pleased when she worked with us at Kennedy High School from 1996 to 1998 she has extensive experience as a a teacher uh bilingual teacher um and uh she is trilingual and she has provided an opportunity to
143learn in other fields and other experiences that she's received in Dan mary public schools as a bilingual ESL teacher as a facilitator and returning to Waterberry um as um someone who will be able to supervise the multilingual education and also has experience in World languages it's my honor to recommend her to you for the supervisor of multilingual in Waterberry any further discussion all in favor I opposed motion carries she's not with us this evening she will be at our um May meeting okay item 11.2 Westside middle school vice principal appointment commissioner orsel ladies and gentlemen committee on school Personnel moves that the waterburry Board of Education approved the appointment of Dana Mancini as vice principal Westside Middle School effective immediately second discussion Dr Ruffin yes it's a pleasure to recommend Dana Mancini as the vice
144principal at West side um I've um been honored in knowing her for some time I've seen her as a teacher at will be high school she's also worked at um North End middle school as a summer school administrator and as a literacy facilitator and currently in an interim vice principal position at Westside Middle School uh she's attended many of the turnaround School uh professional learning with with the school and I'm very pleased to be able to recommend her as the principal for Westside Middle School any further discussion all in favor I oppose motion [Applause] carries good evening Madame President Hernandez secretary dorno honorable commissioners of the Waterbury Board of Education Dr Ruffin and principal macasin 11 years ago I was hired in Waterbury as an English language arts teacher at Wilby High School 2 years
145ago my path took a different turn and I began my tenure at Westside middle school as the language arts coach I am truly honored and humbled to be here tonight accepting the position of vice principal at Westside middle school I'd like to thank the Board of Education members Dr ruffen and Mr McCaslin for this opportunity and entrusting me in this position I look forward to working with all stakeholders to continue making Westside Middle School a great place for teaching and learning thank you introduce sure yeah so my husband Steve is here with me tonight my mom my dad are both here with me tonight [Applause] [Music] [Applause] 12 number 12 secretary Sano Doro contract ter contract termin ation of teacher 12.1 ladies and gentlemen I moveed to adopt the findings of fact of the impartial
146hearing officer in the matter of gregoria hicks and terminate the employment contract of gregoria hicks pursuant to Connecticut General statutes 10-1 151 in accordance with the recommendations dated April 4th 2024 and the reasons set for there and effect of April 25th second all in FA discussion all in favor I oppose motion curies 12.2 request approval of a construct oh I'm sorry that's okay ladies and gentlemen I move to approve the Construction contract with Arts Home Improvement ele C at no cost for Chase Elementary School patio Improvement services in honor of his late wife Patrina rusi who was a third grade teacher at Chase second all in favor I I opposed motion carries 12.3 ladies and gentlemen I mooved to approve the Waterbury Health Department submitt of the school-based Health Alliance school-based Health Center request for
147proposal RFP in Connecticut 2024 second discussion all in favor I opposed motion carries 12.4 ladies and gentlemen I move to approve the terms of agreement with laesa institution at no cost for the Japanese language education assistant program J leap for Maloney magnet school subject to nons substantiated changes by Corporation Council second discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries item number 13 consent calendar does anybody wish to remove an item from the consent calendar okay 13.1 committee on of the whole request adoption of the 2020 for E ector evaluation and support plan and the 2024 leader evaluation and support plan second second 13.2 committee on finance request approval to apply for the Connecticut State Department of Education CTE secondary supplemental enhancement Grant 2024 13 14.3 committee on finance requests approval of the professional service agreement
148with e Dynamics Holdings LP for gaming software curriculum 13.4 committee on finance request approval of transfers in the 2023 24 general fund budget 13.5 committee on building and school facilities use of school facilities by school organizations and or city departments 13.6 committee on building and school facilities use of school facilities by outside organizations and or waiver request commissioner Fus may I have a motion a motion to approve consent calendar items 13.1 through 13.6 that's right second discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries item number 15 committee on finance commissioner Oro thank you ladies and gentlemen committee on finance moves at the Waterberry Board of Education approve Amendment one to the Construction contract with all state construction RFP 7894 to provide HVAC Replacements on seven elementary schools second discussion all in favor I and oh
149okay commissioner Oro thank you what is the amendment for so um well good evening mayor perusi president Hernandez secretary Sano adoro Board of vet commissioner ERS superintendent Dr Ruffin so uh what transpired here commissioner was we didn't want to hold up an RFP that was going out for seven schools uh because Walsh was a very complicated um situation there we needed uh eversource we needed uh Frontier uh for the telephone polls we didn't want to hold up the rest of the school so we put that out without Walsh then compounded with that International was going to be expanded why would we want to do all this uh HVAC work when it'll be part of the Das Grant so we removed International and added Wallace Walsh in so that that's what that is an increase of
150uh $200,000 thanks thank you certainly is there any more discussion all in favor I I oppose motion carries 15.2 committee on finance moves at the waterburry Board of Education approved a Professional Services agreement with ACP LLC for Halo smart sensor 3C Vape detection system second discussion Madam commissioner Ary yes I just have a question where are these V uh detection is going to be in the bathrooms or hallways I didn't know if there was good evening good evening commissioner for to answer your question they would be used exclusively in bathrooms bathrooms are they like cameras or no they're they're basically sensors that can detect Vape um Vape uh smoking vandalism um anything else like that crowded bathrooms that can do a lot you no cameras are involved okay thank you any more discussion all in
151favor I oppos oh commissioner Fus did you have a question go question yes um are they going to have has it been considered to be put in locker rooms as well well yes um we started so there's seven schools that are are going to have in middle school high schools um we're starting in the bathrooms but then the next consideration with the next round would be we would consider locker rooms also but the main point of the issues with the vaping it tends to be the bathrooms right now any more discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries thank you Dan thank you item 15.3 committee on finance moves at the Waterbury Board of Education approved to apply for the csde program enhancement project pep grant for adult education priority area 2 Corrections education second
152discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries 15.4 item 15 15.4 the committee on finance moves at the waterburry Board of Education approved to apply for the csde program enhancement project pep grant for adult education priority priority area 6 integrated English literacy and Civics education second discussion I have a question who's who's up for this evening mayor superintendent Commissioners yes um what's the difference priority area six priority area to what so the the first um Grant application is for um 15.3 it's for correct education designed to help recently release criminal offenders by offering them GED and Workforce preparedness training and 15.4 is English literacy and Civics education and citizenship education that will be embedded into the ESL curriculum okay thank you assistant superintendent any more discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries 15.5 15.5
153ladies and gentlemen a committee on finance moves at the Waterberry Board of Education approve an agreement with Waterberry D services for truancy Prevention Services second discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries 15.6 item 15.6 the committee on finance moves at the Waterbury Board of Education approve Amendment one to the Professional Services agreement with Franklin cavoy client sales for Leader in Me software subscription second discussion all in favor I'm sorry Comm I I don't know who's going to answer this but what is the amendment we wanted to you work there and you were just getting a free night off I thought so good evening uh mayor panuski president Hernandez uh secretary Sano dorno board board of education Commissioners and superintendent uh can you repeat that Mr ORS pardon me did you have a question yeah
154what what is the amendment oh the amendment I'm sorry the uh Amendment for uh this specific contract is uh for leader and me leader and me is a social emotional learning program that's currently at Maloney Elementary School uh uh Roberto Clemente International dual Language School looks is looking to adopt uh the same program at their school uh it has dual language components in English and Spanish uh that many of the teachers and social workers and counselors there are familiar with and so they're looking to attach to that contract that M already has to be able to bring it to their school for three years thank you thank you thank you any more discussion all in favor I oppose motion carries superintendance notification to the board um commissioner arand I motion to receive and place on
155file the superintendent's notification to the board item 16.1 through item 16.7 as listed second discussion yes I do I have one question commissioner AR and 16.2 under the grant funded appointments child associate what is that superintendent s 16 point two Grant funded Physicians yes uh child associate at Dugen I'm sorry I I didn't understand the question about the 16.2 the uh we have certain grants that have specialized funding sources is that is that what you're asking no no I was asking for the what is the child associate this my first time seeing that so I just want to to know what that was oh the child associat um I think he either um Dr Schwarz or Miss fenis could answer the child Associates and Patty is a also a a a retired principal returning to
156The District in that capacity I again Rocco started a trend here uh so this child associate a dug is Dr fio who's getting appointed for and that is through uh if you look to the funding we uh we have a primary mental health Grant it's only um I believe in Dugen it might be in one more school um I think Wendel cross was the other one is that correct yes so primary mental health Grant specifically uh it's part-time she comes in uh it's last time I checked I think it was like two three days a week and she works specifically with a tiered group of students who have been identified who need some more inter intervention uh intensive support um and there's a specific room dedicated that she works with the children uh that have
157been identified through their the tiered process thank that answer will we be looking into getting this into more of the schools so unfortunately the grant is very small and I think it's a couple maybe1 to $20,000 and so unfortunately through that Grant I don't think it's possible uh I think we'd love to expand it but through that Grant I don't think it's possible one more question why was at dougen dougen needed a child associate there or so I asked the same question because I I noticed this at Doug and W cross and I think when it was uh before my time and it was initially uh granted that's where someone chose and then I did ask the question can we pull it can we maybe move it and both principls were like please don't pull
158that from my school and so I can I can't tell you why they chose those two schools to begin with but I can tell you that the the principles are Fierce Advocates to keep it and so there may be other schools but it's kind of hard to pull it from kids um a lot of times they make really close relationships with these child Associates and so uh if you're you're not just pulling them to bring them to another school then you're just basically pulling them and not allowing those students to continue those relationships with those with that so um again I can't speak to why it was originally put there but it it has continued over the years at those two schools thank you any more discussion all in favor I O those motion carries
159are there does any committee chair la liaison or any Representatives have comments or updates that they would like to share I don't have okay can I have a motion to adjourn commissioner O'Brien okay a motion to adjourn second discussion all in favor I we are aured hallelujah thank you everyone Lord Jesus exuse me e e