001the board of education regular meeting on April 20th, 2026 to order at 7:05 p.m. Let's begin with the pledge of allegiance. 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. And I think tonight we have uh student representatives able to join us. Um that would be Jack and Izzy. I think I got that right. >> So uh welcome and thank you for taking times out of your schedule to uh to speak with us. So the floor is yours. >> Hi, thanks for having us. Um okay, so we've got some stuff to talk about. We had this week we had author and speaker Harlon Cohen come in and talk to our underassman about adjusting um
002for life in high school and then he talked to our upper classmen about life after high school and how to adjust in college. It was really nice. He gave out books. Everyone had a great time. Um we have our color spirit week uh coming up um which is also a food drive. So all of our proceeds are going to go to the Gillespie Center. Um, and we have our spring concerts uh coming up for band, orchestra, and choir. Um, if you loved our C to concert, you're not going to want to miss these. I'll let Jack take it from here. >> Um, yeah. Well, we also have the World Language Festival coming up on April 29th. So, that'll be pretty interesting. Excited to learn all these, you know, new languages and stuff. And then after
003that, in a few weeks, we have the AP exams, which I know me and Izzy have been studying a lot for those. So, I'm feeling I'm feeling good about those. And then last but not least, as seniors, we have our senior internships, which I'm pretty excited for, personally. And yeah, it's just we we're going to end the year strong, you know. >> When does your internships start? >> Uh May 18th. >> Okay. Good luck. Good luck. and good luck with AP exams and all of that and spirit week and um it sounds like a wonderful place to be a student. So every time we hear you it's like oh you do have a wonderful high school of course. So >> yeah so thanks for that. >> All right thank you. >> Thank you. >> Bye
004now. >> Okay. Uh next is to much more mundane to approve the minutes from March 16th, March 23rd and March 30th. Are there any comments or uh qu I'm sorry uh suggestions or corrections that need to be made? If not, is there a motion? >> Move that the minutes of the meetings were presented for review. There being no corrections, the minutes are approved as presented. >> All right. Second. Thanks, Michael. All in favor? Any opposed? All right. Minutes are approved. Next section is public comment. Uh let me read my usual introduction. The board welcomes the opportunity to hear from members of the public about matters concerning the schools. Public comment is an important chance for the board to receive input and feedback from our community. We listen attentively to all comments shared. While we value
005and pay attention to public comment, it is our practice not to respond substantively during public comment. There are several reasons for this. First, engaging in a discussion on non-aggenda items could violate the board's obligation to comply with the Freedom of Information Act. Second, the board or the administration may not be prepared to discuss certain matters raised. Third, the board develops its meeting agenda carefully to ensure that the board addresses matters that are pressing or relevant at the time of the meeting. We encourage members of the public with specific questions, concerns, or complaints about our schools to reach out directly to superintendent 40. You may also email the board at our email address, board of education at westernps.org. Additional details about public comment uh at board meetings can be found on our website. Are there any
006me uh members of the public who wish to speak, Jod? No, we do not have any attendees here at the time at this moment. >> Okay, thank you then. So, let's move on to old business. Um, there are a lot of these. The Weston Board of Education policies, regulations, and bylaws. The list here is a second read. So, are there any um comments that any members from the policy committee uh wish to make in terms of reminders or were there any comments or questions that board members had um between the first read and this read? >> Erica, I just had one one question on policy 1311. This is the um political activities of school employees. >> Okay. Is is is that the cave language? I know that we were gonna I thought we were going
007to mirror the cave policy in that. I just want to confirm that that's the case. >> Yes, that was a CA model policy. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> That's all I had. Thanks. And Erica, I think you already got my comment about there was like one sort of note in there after um it was about uh weapons and firearms and just talked about, you know, sort of as a point of information. If you wanted to make further policies about other weapons, we could. So, it was just kind of a procedural note that must have come from the lawyer. >> Yes. Sometimes they have those embedded notes letting the the board know that they can make some types of additions or sometimes they even embed alternative language. We leave that there because it went in front
008of the committee but there was nothing decided to add there so it will be taken out before it gets published on our on our website. >> Okay, great. Thank you. And um to Michael's question too, it has been through committee and um in addition to CABE, there have probably been in in the instances where it was warranted some legal review because these are um some of them are very big topics as you know. >> Yes. And we always try to um work with either CABE or Shipman policy. Um, Shipman doesn't have a lot of model policies for all the policies that the board has. It looks like the original board policies um were modeled after the K policies. >> So when it go before it goes or when it goes to committee, it we've looked
009for a shipment policy. We looked for a K policy and we represent that language in any of the revisions and we strike through any language that is no longer applicable um or necessary. Okay, thank you. >> Any comments or questions from other board members? >> Yeah, so >> I just noticed Thank you, Debbie. I just noticed a quick typo uh for P1 1000 um for 6 there needs to be there should be a period after that. Sorry, I'm like scrolling through my my PDF and so I don't know when I'm going to add to point six, but I did make a note that there's a period needs to be there. >> Um, >> thank you. I made a note. We will do that. >> Okay. Thank you. And then the non-discrimination policy, the the complaint
010section. Um, sorry, I'm scrolling. Yeah. R1258 non-discrimination complaint procedure. I I apologize for the last minute feedback because I could have done it prior to the last meeting, but I did not. I of course waited until recently to look over this. But I was wondering if I could have just one more just a little bit more time because I do have some feedback and comments and considerations before this is final. um just in terms of um like there's just a little bit of inconsistency in terms of who to report things to. Um some comments about periodically distributing this information to staff and members of the public and just just a few things I was hoping to iron out with whoever is in charge of non-discrimination. >> Are you talking about the the regulations that the
011complaint procedure? >> Yeah. All right. So I think that's the regulation piece under the policy. Am I right? >> Correct. >> Okay. >> All right. So, you want to pull the policy and the regulation >> and wait. >> I don'tation. >> So, the complaint procedure is part of the regulation. There's a policy and a regulation on the board agenda this evening. Wait, I guess then yes, there's something about complaint procedure. >> Yeah. Okay. That's the regulation that helps support the policy. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, you want to pull the regulation? >> Yes, please. >> Okay. And just hold that. Okay. uh the policy itself are you okay with or would you want to hold both? I guess you might want to hold I the only reason why you might want to hold it is
012because for example and of course we don't have to get into weeds on this in the meeting. I can talk to whoever it is but for example in the policy you say questions and requests um you can contact Julie or Tracy um you there's a little bit of inconsistency with that with it with the next way to make a complaint. So you might pull it just for that sake. All right, let's see. All right, that makes let's pull the policy and the regulation. And by pull it, I just mean hold it over >> until the May 4th meeting. Is that okay? >> Yes. Thank you. >> And please send the questions and comments that you have. >> Yes. >> All right. Did that happen with anything else? Okay. Any other board comments? All right. Is
013there um a motion? Um and as you read the motion, if you could say um except for >> Yeah, I was taking notes. It's 12:58, right? >> Mhm. >> Yes. >> Okay, Jody, check me on this. Okay. Uh move that the Western Board of Education accept the policies andor regulations with updates as noted. We will revisit policy 1258 and regulation 1258 non-discrimination at our next meeting. Is there a second? Thank you, Michael. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposition? Okay. All of those policies um and just one in obeyance until next time are approved. So, thank you to the policy committee and the staff who who crawls through all this. Um, and this is a lot of uh policies to update and they're all very significant. So, thank you for that work. The next
014item on the agenda is um under old business is school facilities campus revitalization. I added this just to um do a couple of quick updates and actually I think it's a singular update is that um after we approve the educational specifications for a new middle school and forwarded the report of uh by slam and collars to the board of finance and the board of selectmen. Uh Jody wrote up a memo to that effect and the both boards of finance and board of ed uh board of selectmen have received those and they have they meaning at this point the board of selectmen um have invited uh the board of ed and the board of finance to a tri board meeting on May 21st and that includes all board members of all boards. So, um I'm sure
015there'll be reminders that come out. I don't think at this point we know exactly where it's going to be held. >> Sorry, I thought I saw I thought I read maybe it's from something from Jod that it's in the town hall meeting room. >> Is it? I think um that that's fine. >> That was the original one. Um >> sorry, >> we have also offered up the middle school as an option with our technology. Um, so that it's in Sam's lap at the moment, so she'll make the decision as to where she'll hold it. >> Got it. Sorry about that. >> No, no, no worries. >> Yep. And then um the other update is uh just and some board members have already done this is if you have questions uh regarding what we're calling the
016small R approach if you could send them in to Phil as soon as possible so that Slam and Collers can review them and decide which ones um uh they can work on and bring forward some information to us. So if you haven't done that already, go ahead. All right. So, that's all that's new on that issue. Any other comments? Okay. Let's move on to new business. Uh the consent agenda consists of the staffing update, gifts, grants, and requests. this one from the Hess PTO donating $5,000 for uh is it an East House cafeteria painting. So, thank you very much to the Hes PTO and also we want to wish the uh field trip um which consists of the mock trial going to De Mo Iowa um you know a great adventure for the students and
017great competition and I'm sure our kids are going to come away um just you know with a wonderful experience that they'll remember for the rest of their lives and of course I am sure they will do very very well so we wish them Well, um, and also there's a staffing update and I think Julie, did you want to just preface that? >> Yes, thanks. Um, I wanted to highlight that on the staffing update, there is a section that's not typically included that's entitled non-renewals. Um, and by way of explanation, by state statute, we are required to provide notice of non-renewal of contracts to teachers prior to May 1st of each year. Um, and those non-renewals need to be approved by the board, which is why they're coming uh before the board this evening. And um
018while that statute refers specifically to teachers, we also use this opportunity to provide notice of other non-renewals within the district. So what you see noted in the staffing update um are recommendations for contracts that uh will not be renewed for the 2627 school year. And just for your reference, as a matter of operational practice, those who are in the roles of building substitutes and cafeteria aids are up for non-renewal annually. It's just an operational procedure. Um, and similarly, teachers who are serving in short-term leave coverage roles, so long-term substitutes, um, will not be renewed as these are temporary positions. There are currently five staff members serving in long-term substitute roles. Finally, there are two teachers who are uh permanent staffers whose contracts are recommended for non-renewal for uh the 2627 school year due to reductions
019in force. The fisc year 27 profile um reflects one less section um at the elementary level. We're down one section in first grade. Um and we have also noted a reduction in need for FTE required to staff in Latin instruction. Um the provisions of our bargaining agreement and also teacher tenure law govern how decisions are made about which employees will be affected by reductions in force. Um, and I want to underscore that those who are noted tonight for recommended for non-renewal due to these reductions in force. Um, this is not in any way a reflection of their performance. It is simply because we are projecting we will not have a position for those people for next year. Okay. Thank you for that explanation. Are there any comments or questions? Okay. Is there a motion to
020approve the consent agenda? >> Move that the Western Board of Education accept the consent agenda items as presented. >> Is there a second? >> Thank you, Michael. All in favor? I. Any opposed? All right. The consent agenda is approved. Thank you. Um. All right. The next item is the board of ed meeting schedule. I'm sure you've been all been waiting with baited breath for this topic. Um, I want to thank Jody and Erica for uh looking at the calendars. Um, there are two in front of you. One is basically the traditional once a month meeting and another alternative is the is a twice a month board of ed meeting calendar. So I I must admit I'll just go first here. I don't like either one. I think the one meeting a month is not quite
021enough, but the two meetings a month is depending on the month of the year, I think is is going to be um a little bit too challenging and too hectic. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to work with um with uh Jod and Erica and David and come back with another draft that is somewhere in the middle in terms of the number of meetings. I think there are some months that it warrants a couple of meetings because there may be issues that we really want to devote enough time to certain issues on and there are other months um that are just way too busy to try to have two regular board of education meetings in them, especially given that we have active board of ed committees. So, if you don't mind, I'm going to
022sort of come back with a third thing and then um you can all tell tell us what you think, including if you want to stay with the traditional once a month. That's fine. But I'd like to show you one more alternative before we decide on the number of meetings. The next part of that schedule is I'd like to hear your thoughts tonight about what you think about the ratio of um in-person meetings and Zoom meetings. Do you think we I think right now it's about one out of every three meetings is in person. And anyway, that's the way it is. So, I don't know if you I'd just like to hear what your take is on that. If that suits your schedule, if you find it cumbersome in any way, or if there are better
023ways of doing it or not. I just I need to know. So, I don't know if anybody wants to make a comment. >> I'll jump in just for the historical piece, which I think I shared with Deb and um Erica. So when we left COVID and we went into um inerson meetings there was two things that we considered. one is attendance of remote meetings tended to be much higher and uh so what we did and Jody correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure what we did was we said that we would have a minimum of one meeting per quarter in person and the other two would be remote and I think the wording was chosen carefully and that we weren't committing to only having one meeting per quarter in person we were saying
024we would have no less than one meeting per quarter uh in person. And I think it's work for my purposes, it's worked out well to have remote meetings. For me, there's been meetings where I've attended remotely that I would otherwise have not been able to attend. So, for me, what we've been doing once per calendar quarter minimum has worked well. and um it's allowed me to attend meetings that I would otherwise not be able to attend in person. >> Okay, thanks. Others, other comments? >> Nobody else has an opinion. That is unlikely with this group. >> I have a suggestion. Does that does that count? Okay. >> I like when we have the big data dump meetings, I like that in person because I think it uh it elicits more of a discussion, right? Because
025we we okay, >> we can go on a round table. So, it looks like part A of this agenda item was the cadence of board of ed meetings and it may move from once a month to 1.5 a month or something. But I think we should wisely choose when we have these big data towns and Tina and other other cabinet members present that that's better in person. I think it just it just seems to be a more productive meeting. >> Okay, >> Peter, can you data dump? >> Did you hear me, David? No, I think I heard the word data dump, but >> yeah, when we get the big the big presentations, test scores or, you know, or mid midyear uh updates. I kind of like that in person. So, as I said, we're changing
026the cadence from once a month to something more than once a month. So, we should time it. We're at an in-person meeting is that when Gina and Tracy, for example, give us a real, you know, beefy presentation. I just I think it's better in person. Dan, Dan, I have a question then I would actually ask Tina and Tracy who do a lot of the presentations if you have a preference from a presentation perspective. But Dan, I remember at one point there was a general feeling that meetings that were heavy on presentation were better done remotely. Is that still the case or did we upgrade the uh mixing board over at the middle school and that's no longer an issue? >> We have upgraded the board uh at the middle school. However, from a quality perspective,
027it's still better for for presentations remotely are still a little bit better, but we we have been able to hone in. It's not as bad as it used to be where we just had a camera that was zoomed in on the screen. >> Do you have any preference, Tina, and trace stations, do you tend to do the presentations? >> Um, I think there's pros and cons to both. Um, I do like being able to have an open dialogue in person. Uh, kind of talking about what Peter said, I feel like there's when we're having discussions, people don't talk over each other because the microphone sometimes when you're unmuting and muting, sometimes it's more of a authentic conversation. Um, but on the other hand, sometimes it does look the presentation, you can actually look at the
028slides a little bit easier when they're virtual. So, I'm open to either. >> Okay. Thanks. >> Any other comments, >> Tracy? You're not getting off at easy. Don't you do presentations? >> I I honestly think the format works both ways. I think this uh board asks questions in either format and we have a dialogue whether we're on the computer or not. It is a little bit easier to see the screen, but other and I I don't have a preference. >> Okay. All right. Um All right. I personally, and this is just one person and it will make no difference on our schedule. I promise. Um I hate remote meetings. So, I just putting that out there. I'm very old school. I really like uh in person, but I I get I absolutely get um the
029convenience and the ease of uh of remote. So, we'll we'll try to keep the about the same balance, but I'm sensitive to Peter's suggestion about depending on the topic and whether we call it a data dump or something else. Um there are times where um the interpersonal stuff is easier to navigate when we are in person, I think. Uh so we'll we'll keep that in mind as we plan. So uh we'll bring you back one more version of the actual calendar dates and we'll look to keep the balance of of inperson and Zoom about the same. Uh but we'll try to be sensitive to where we put certain agenda items in whether it's the in-person meeting or not. Um, so hopefully that captures what people have said tonight. And again, we can also keep with
030the once a month thing, but I'd like you to at least look at uh a version between twice every month and once only a month. There's a middle ground. I think maybe would would help us a little bit because sometimes I think there's a topic that comes along and it deserves more time. um and we just you know we can't fit it in if we want to have a reasonable length of a meeting. So those are the that those would be the reasons for wanting a couple more meetings in some of the months. Okay. So let's move on and talk about something more exciting. Um this is the first read of a lot of policies. Um, and I know Sharon's not here tonight, but um, with maybe Erica, if you could just walk us through
031a little bit. Yes, absolutely. So, the first section of um, the next set of policies are new policies. These are policies that Western public schools currently does not have. several of which are required such as the preschool special education policy and the survey of students policy. They are brand new so you will see everything is in red. Um we did use model policy um to construct and um has been through the committee and and is in front of the board this evening as a first review. Okay. And then um the last went through the the plow see the other ones were sort of regular review process and then there are some you wanted to retire. Yes. So the the um second section are updates um revisions of existing policies um that the committee looked at
032in front of the board this evening for a first read and there are um recommendations to retire two policies. The first one is policy um 0220 uh goals and objectives for school operations. And that is because those that policy will be replaced with two separate policies. Policy 000000 which is a brand new policy at the top um for the board to consider and policy 010 0 which is a brand new policy at the top for the board to consider. >> Okay. >> All right. And I will admit to not reading any of this ahead of time. though I will have to sort of catch up and um send you any comments or questions. >> Uh but any other board members have some for tonight. >> There's also one additional policy to retire. >> Yep. Which
033is policy 6181 evaluation of the special education program. >> This this is not a required policy and the contents of this policy already exist in several other special education policies. Um, and don't forget all of these will be coming back for a second read as well, so there's more time to review and the committee is obviously open to suggestions. >> Okay. >> I did have one quick question. Oh, sorry, Michael. Did you >> No, go ahead. Go ahead. >> I know I'm on policy, but I wanted to say it here among our group. The policy 6162.51 survey of students Yes. >> Okay. So, my couple of questions are I was happy to see on page two at the lower half about parents and guardian shall have the right to inspect upon request a survey created.
034Uh it's not clear though to me as a lay person two things who would they make that request of I understand it's defined here but I don't know who that person would be. So, can we look at some channel or some method that would be easier for someone to understand? And then um related I wasn't entirely clear why surveys not funded by the federal government uh would have a different or it implies that parents wouldn't have the ability to um look at those beforehand. Am I just misreading it or Okay. So, your first comment is on page one. >> Uh, page two. >> On page two. >> Yeah. It's the uh second paragraph under these PP protections apply to all district administered and third party surveys. And the spirit of my question, I'll just kind
035of restate it is if parents do want to inspect, it's not clear who they would make that request of because as in writing to district employee working with a third party seeking to implement, that just seems like a bit of a burden that we would expect parents to know who in the district is working on that and then from survey to survey could change. So, is it possible to have a more generalized method of communication for any type of survey that falls into that category? >> Sure. Why don't we bring this policy back to the committee and make the edits there and then um we could bring it back for a first read again if necessary or or a second read depending on the the magnitude of the changes. Would that be helpful, David? >>
036It would be. Yeah. because we have a I think we have a committee meeting coming up the first week in May. >> Okay. >> And I'll hold my other items for that committee meeting as well. >> Great. Thank you, >> Michael. >> Hey, Erica. Thanks. Thanks, Tab. Um Erica, a couple things really quickly. Uh let's see. On policy 6146, these are the graduation requirements. Um I know we discussed this in policy committee too. Um which was I think the spirit of the conversation was you know can anyone request like someone moves into town someone can anyone request um that had that had not received um a diploma due to service. Can anyone request that? Um or were there criteria around that? Um I think you you've inserted it looks like notes from the statute that
037that clarifies that a little bit further. >> Is that will those notes be part of the policy or is that just to provide us with additional context to the question that we had during the committee meeting? Those notes will not be part of the policy. It's just to provide additional context. And we did have a question. If somebody falls in this category and was serving during World War II and comes to Weston and seeks to be provided with a diploma, um, and but they didn't attend Weston public schools, but they're currently a resident of Weston, they are entitled to that diploma if they're a resident of Weston. I just wanted to make sure that per our conversation the statutory language was there as a reference but it will not it's it will not be included
038in the policy unless you know you think we need to bring it back to the committee and reference it there. Um we can make it a reference as part of the the statutes um under legal references though. >> I don't I'm not sure if it's necessary. I guess I would I would ask your opinion on this or whomever um whether it's necessary to actually include the language like the the the notes the statutory notes that that you inserted were were very helpful actually. So I appreciate that. Um I don't know does it does it need to be memorialized in the policy? I mean is that is that something that you can >> you have an opinion on? I I wasn't intending to include it in the policy. I think that, you know, um your thoughts
039on this are are accurate. However, it really should be referenced um in the legal reference section. So, we'll add that under legal references and obviously know that the the last one of the last paragraphs where it talks about the board of education child ward to high school diploma to any World War II veteran that there's statutory language that supports that. Um, and we can always reference that statute at any time. >> Great. Um, I had another question on again in the spirit of I would say just you know parental oversight. Uh, let's see. Policy 6142.1. This is family life and sex education. Um, so I appreciate you put in you added language and then you showed us sort of where the language came from, right? That large remissive there. I think it was I think
040it was cave language if I remember correctly. Um the only thing I noticed which I'll ask you as to why was it looks like you did a a nice job of summarizing you know something that was a lot more verbose into something a little bit more streamline. Um the last sentence I believe was left out which is students and parents or guardians shall be informed of their right to exempt the student from the family life program. It was that left out intentionally accidentally. What's the thought process there? >> That's a great question. We can absolutely include that sentence. I don't know why it was left out or it is it I think I stried through it above the red um right above the first red paragraph. We can unstrike that. When we reached out to
041CABE specific to this policy, there was an error and they had an old policy posted on their website and they provided us with the most updated recent version. So, that might have we might have done a strike through there um in error. That's a great catch. I'm happy to unstrike that sentence right before the red paragraph. >> Okay, great. And then my let's see, I have two other questions. Uh policy 6142. Sorry, jumping around here. Uh suicide prevention education. I guess there was a question as to >> Michael, can I interrupt you just for one second on the family life and sexual education? Sure. >> Erica, were we using the entire policy as written from CABE on page 121? Because that line appears there. I think the strikeouts that were on page 120 were relating
042to what the original policy was. And then we went with the CAB policy which is all in red on page 121 because I think that page incorporates some of what was in the previous section and the line that Michael you're referencing is in there where it says students and parents or guardians shall be informed of their rights to exempt the student from the life and family program. I I don't think remember there there's a the paragraph that references no child left behind and when we reached out to Cabe we asked them and they said oh no that was that that policy was there an in error >> okay >> but I mean that's my recollection of it and so that was sort of the old policy that we brought to the the committee and the
043committee's like well what about no child left behind is that even still a thing is it even still in existence. That went back to CABE and they said they had that policy on their website in error. And so we decided to go with >> um what was written in the policy with the two red paragraphs with some striketh through where I think that sentence right above the red paragraph regarding the exemption from the student from family and life and sex education programs had a strike through an error. >> Okay. Okay. We good? We good, Jody? >> All right. Um, two other questions. So, policy 6142.3 suicide prevention education. It looks like at the top of this, Erica, I don't know if this needs to come back to the committee. Um, basically you're asking us, you
044know, whether or not we need to replace or or just >> Yes, this one we discussed. >> Yeah, >> we were going to make this just 6142.3 as a policy. The regulation will still exist, but we were moving the last paragraph from the regulation, >> right, >> to the new policy. Okay. Okay. Got it. >> Yep. >> All right. Yep. Okay, that works. And then my last question is, and I just had a question about this, which is policy 6145.3 publications. Let me get to that. There are like a billion pages here. One second. Okay. Um, so in in this policy just because it references controversial issues, >> Erica, um, I guess my question is and it and it may go back to 6144 and I I didn't have a chance to look at it
045and so maybe this is out of turn and I should go back and look at it and come back to you. But um you know as I as I look at this and I saw that reference it made me think um you know to what extent controversial issues are being managed here. Um do the publications go through a review process and who who approves them? Do you do you happen to know anything about that whole process of review and approval >> for different types of publications? I well I assume so these are I guess student publications right? So I would assume that we have I >> yeah like like the um >> the at the high school level we have adviserss help with overseeing clubs that deal with publication. So the adviser of that group
046would be overseeing and reviewing and approving articles that students are writing for publication. That's one example. So most of my interpretation according to this policy to your point Michael is in all of these situations that re are related to educational activities through which students participate there is always a teacher of which is a adviser of some capacity that will review and um you know look at those publications before they're um actually distributed. >> Okay. Okay. >> I don't know if Megan wants to chime in. That's typically where those fall. >> Yeah. I just I I didn't I wanted to make sure that and I wasn't sure if there were any such publications that were not um managed through some sort of review and approval process. >> Not that I'm aware of. They're always facilitated through
047an adult um platform so to speak. you know, there's not a separate newsletter that only students are public that are writing and publishing that are that if it connects to Western public schools in some fashion isn't um oversaw or supported by an adult. >> I can't think of one, but maybe >> Yeah, I was just curious. Okay, awesome. Thank you. >> Okay, >> that's all I had. Erica, >> thank you, Michael. Um, >> Michael, just can I um just go back to that one? Michael, you I thought you raised a good question because there's no definition of student publications. I just wonder if that would help, you know, because if you know, somebody's at home writes his or own whatever um manifesto on something and then comes to school and passes it out. Uh that's
048one behavior. writing for the school newspaper is another. So, I'm just trying to figure out are they both student publications? Just one of them is a student publication. What is that definition? So, um and I also noticed the legal references are from the 70s. So, I'm just wondering maybe uh CA has some case law that's been updated there, too. So, I just think a definition of student publication would be helpful in this particular instance. Good point. >> Let's pull that one and we can bring it back to the committee the first week of May. Okay, any other questions? Okay, any other comments? All right. Uh, district updates. Um, superintendent. >> Yes. Um, >> I would like to take a moment just to recognize the incredible success of Friday's 8th grade career day and thank the
049middle school staff who worked so hard to organize the event and to the parents who generously gave their time to share their career career paths and experiences with our students. um special recognition and um huge thank you also to our school counselor at the middle school, Andy Ogden, and it was her leadership alongside um Principal Bluestein at the heart of career day. And it was so incredible and watching our students engage with these presenters and the questions that they asked were insightful. Um, and it was just a a wonderful thing to experience. Um, and I just wanted to publicly thank everybody who was involved in organizing the event and who graciously gave their time. Um, I also like to give a thanks to the collaboration and dedication of our green teams across all four of
050our schools. Um, the district is being recognized by the C OA Connecticut Green Leaf Schools program with the Mighty Oak designation. And you know, while the name might sound modest, it's actually a very significant honor. We have learned that we are only the second school district in Connecticut to receive this recognition. And uh more importantly, I think it really reflects the work happening across all of our schools, not just one school. Um COA is planning on holding a brief recognition ceremony during Echo Fest on May 4th at Lashhat Town Farm to celebrate this achievement. And I'd like to give a big thank you to U. Michael Aen Head and Sharon Rodco and the school-based green teams for their dedication and hard work and helping to make this outstanding achievement possible and for all the work
051that they do in our community. And that's all I have this evening. >> Well, thanks for that good news. Thank you. Uh pupil personnel services. >> Sure. Good evening. Good evening everybody. Um, spring is a busy time of year in the PPS department. We're having lots of PPTs for various reasons. Uh, primarily annual reviews and transition meetings. Uh, we're also in full swing planning for our extended school year program which will be at the intermediate school this summer for eligible students and we're also in process for hiring for open positions we have for the upcoming school year. Um, we're also planning our last two meetings for families for this school year and both will be in May. Uh, parent notification will be going out soon. But just as a heads up, on Tuesday, May 19th
052at nine o'clock at the high school, uh Randy Green, who is our college and career counselor, and Megan Ruff, our transition coordinator, will be joined by two presenters from Sacred Heart University to discuss how to contact and partner with the College Disability Office, available supports and services in higher education, uh required documentation for those accommodations, and also how to build self- advocacy. skills in students. And then on Wednesday, May 27th, I will be joining the Hesswiss PTO meeting to discuss supports and services that are available in PPS at the elementary level and also provide families with some strategies that they can use at home to address anxiety and also to support the development of a growth mindset and resilience. So hopefully we'll see many families at both of those events. Thank you. Um finance and
053operations. >> Hello everyone. Um the committee did not meet um this month but I just want to provide two brief updates. Uh the first update um I'm happy to report that as of the end of March we are on track uh to end the year with a balanced budget. uh for some time now we have been projecting a deficit for several different reasons. So at this point we are on track to end the year balanced. Uh secondly for fiscal year 27 the budget was approved um by the board of finance with a recommended reduction that was approved by the board. Um so just as a reminder the board did approve reducing the budget um the request for 27 by approximately 519,000 on the operating budget side. a reduction of 87%. So our new request will
054be one approximately 1.8 million, a 3.07% increase. On the capital budget, we reduce the capital request by 320,000 which was also accepted and approved by the board of finance. The next step in the process will be ATBM this Wednesday. And that is it for the update. >> The end. Thank you, Phil. And and certainly thank you as well for pointing out the ATVM that is upcoming this week. So, uh that's at 8:00 at the high school auditorium. Um all right, committee updates, communications. Our update is we continue to publish the bricks and mortar and uh we're looking for other ways to help disseminate information about the school revitalization project to folks that might not be directly connected to the public school. So seniors through the senior center and other people who don't have students in
055the western public schools and therefore don't get the uh communications from the public schools. >> Okay, thank you for that work. Did curriculum committee meet? Um yeah. Yeah, we met. Um we had some interesting um topics. Tina did a great job updating. Um she discussed uh Holocaust Remembrance Day. We did uh a data snapshot with math, ELA, and science. Um using me many of the data, the map and dibbles achievement and growth. um and discuss the district program. Tina, is do you have anything to add? >> Sure. Yeah, April um was a pretty lengthy meeting because we hadn't met um for the full period of time for February and March. So, we had nine presentations ranging, as Lisa said, from um Holocaust Remembrance Day, Black History Month, World Readaloud Day, Read Across America, the second
056No Place for Hate activity led by our students at the middle school with with Principal Bluestein, our music in our schools month. We reflected on the portrait of the graduate um experience at the high school. Uh we talked about Weston 250 and some of those upcoming events and provided some feedback from our March 27th full day professional development day. And since you gave me the floor, Lisa, thank you so much. I just want to put every uh on everyone's calendar the um academic year and review which is June 3rd which is our final um subcommittee meeting uh for the year which is in person at Weston Middle School where all of our CILs come together to reflect on all the great work that happened throughout the school year. We have another meeting in May, don't
057worry. But I wanted to make sure everyone has that on their calendar cuz it's really great to have as many people in the audience um listening to all the great work that's been happening um this school year. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh EOCC uh committee did not meet last month or this month. So, thank you. Uh finance and operations also didn't meet and that's totally my fault. So, I apologize to the chair Michael and also to Phil. So, um, I just apologize. It just looked at my calendar at the wrong time and just made a huge mistake. So, anyway, we'll try to make it up. So, I I do apologize. Um, how about um negotiations committee? >> I I don't think they met. >> So, I've seen in previous agendas that there's a striketh
058through in that committee. >> Yeah. But then I >> Well, the negotiations committee actually is in >> Oh, that's what I'm on. >> Yeah. So, right now, negotiations committee is working on the ask me contract. So, it is David and Nicole um as the board members who are participating in this. And you all have a bump and run tomorrow. >> Wait a minute here. We should find out who's on these committees before we agree to join. No, I think you guys volunteered, but thank you. Uh, policy committee. >> Sharon's not here, but we didn't meet. >> Okay. Well, we still have a lot. We had a lot to approve and now we have a lot to read. So, you guys are doing great work. How about safety and security committee? >> We did not meet
059this month. >> Okay. uh any updates from CABE? >> Um so what's relevant for us is that on um May 12th uh what's happening and what are the implications for your district is meeting um they have a webinar and some advocacy highlights. The governor announces blue ribbon commission on K through2 education funding and accountability. And I think that's important for us to know about. And what passed the Senate was um SB222A permitting inter intercolastical athletics to be used as credit toward the physical education requirement for purposes of high school graduation. And I think those were the important highlights that related to Weston. >> I go way back and that has been talked about for so long that it finally um Okay. All right. Interesting. Um update from CES. >> Nothing noteworthy. >> Okay. and the
060Weston Education Foundation, Sharon's not here, so we'll we'll postpone that update. Um, all right. You see our next scheduled meetings and they are accurate. Um, do and do remember the tri board meeting. Um, Jody, just if you could just now start putting it on our calendar so we won't forget. Thank you. Okay. Is there um a motion to adjurnn? >> So I second. >> All right, David and Lisa, thank you. Uh well, thank you everyone for being here tonight and all in favor of adjourning, I >> I Right. >> All right. Good night and uh thank you. >> Thanks everyone. >> Good night.