001e e e sounds so official doesn't it guys good evening everyone and welcome to the Weston uh Board of Education meeting tonight is Monday uh March 17th and we have a nice Full House here which we are all very happy to see um let's go ahead and do our first item of the agenda which is the Pledge of Allegiance so please rise to the FL of the United States of America and to the for stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay can you hear me back there now some Maybe this as good as yeah unfortunately this is probably as good as we're going to be able to get but I will try um so our first item on the agenda is the student Board of Education representatives and their
002comments so welcome okay hi everyone um nice to see you all again my name is j Sharma I'm one of the um senior co-executive presidents for the high school um my co-president Emily couldn't be here but we've prepared some updates about sort of life in the high school to give you guys today so our first one is about winter sports um our winter sports are starting to come to an end um notably our hockey Co-op won the S swc conference and tonight they're playing at quak University in the state semi-finals so we're wishing them a lot of luck um also in sports Spring Sports will begin soon and registration for those has recently opened and we're really excited to get back out for those Sports especially given the beautiful weather um some other General news
003clubs at Weston High School have been very active recently um our company is working really hard on their spring musical which is called the 25th Annual poom County Spelling be um their show dates will be the 27th 28th and 29th um of March and tickets for those will be on sale soon um and other news the year Club has been securing pictures for the yearbook so we recently recently just took Club pictures with the photographer Robert Taylor um and then just some other club news um we recently celebrated porum with the Jewish Student Association and holy with the Asian Student Association as well so just a happy holidays to everyone who celebrates those um in music at Weston High School the Weston Band program has just put together a sad by Side Band concert with
004the High School wind and Jazz ensembles um as well as the eighth grade like band um and it was an amazing night of music and really cool to see the high school and the middle school band programs come together um additionally March is National Music in our schools month and our Tri music Honor Society has been working really hard um putting on Lobby performances in the mornings and decorating the school with posters about various musicians um seniors recently just completed their portrait of a graduate portfolios and presented them to a panel of community members administrators and Educators the presentation was the final step um in completing the process that we've been working on since freshman year and I can say personally as someone who presented my portrait of a graduate that it was a great
005experience and a really nice way to reflect on my high school experience um and then for seniors uh pretty much what's left for us is securing our internships and we're excited to see what else goes on in the high school in the coming spring um that's all we have if anyone has any questions that's not a little bit that's a lot yeah yeah a lot is been going you've been very active and as someone who was fortunate enough to be able to participate in the portrait of a graduate any parents out there who when they send out a request if you're interested in participating I cannot um I I I can't speak highly enough about this whole program it is really a wonderful program in which these kids are able to like you said J
006J reflect on the four years that they've had here at Weston High School some kids even longer in Weston and talk about what they've learned and how they're going to be able to apply that um that knowledge moving forward it's actually just a really wonderful exercise so I'm glad you you did it congratulations thank you and um and we will see you at next month's meeting though unless anybody else has any questions I'm sure you've got plenty of homework to get through because a yes anyone all right thank you so much thank you so much have a nice meeting thank you our next uh item on the agenda is the approval approval of minutes um so we have the minutes from the February 24th meeting if anybody has any questions or any changes let me
007know no all right I'm going to uh need a motion to approve the minutes move that's what moving voice move at the Weston board board of education move move at the Wess Board of Education approve the minutes from the February 24th 2025 meeting can I have a second second okay and all in favor I hi we're just approving minutes right now so it was just official language that David wasn't able to put into the microphone um all right so now we have approval of minutes uh meeting minutes from March 4th uh special meeting for the board of education so any changes or additions that need to be made to that no all right can I have a motion please move at the Wesson Board of Education approve the minutes from the March 4th 2025 meeting
008can I have a second second excellent all in favor I I I'm going to abstain I was not present a big your pardon I'm going to abstain I wasn't present thank you okay next next uh item on the agenda is something that I have a feeling is going to be very popular it is public comment before we begin our public comment there are a couple of things that I'd like to say one is um this evening we are missing two and a half Peter I know you're here listening to us of our board members um as you all know we are we are all volunteers and we do have full-time jobs as well most of us and having said that sometimes those full-time jobs call us away and we're not able to participate in person
009in all of the meetings however Peter is able to dial in this evening um so Peter is part of this meeting and will be I think uh Dan he said that he will let you know if he needs to make comment correct fantastic all right having said that um I would also like to before we get into public comment read for those of you who were not able to uh get an email that was sent out by the Board of Education today I will go ahead and read that email for everyone and then we will continue um to the Western Community as members of the western Board of Education we condemn any and all acts of hate the recent incident of anti-Semitic vandalism at the middle school is in direct opposition to the values we
010uphold as a community and a nation it is terribly unfortunate that this is not the first incident we trust and support the school and District administrators response to these incidents the Weston Police or Weston Public School sorry has policies to address hate based conduct bullying and non-discrimination that the administration follows hate has no place in our school as superintendent barbiero started in her letter of March 14th collaboration with the Anti-Defamation League around the no place for hate program is already in progress our board of education is committed to ensuring the success of the district Mission by maintaining a safe community and inclusive climate that honors the uniqueness of every individual we will continue to engage with Community Partners to strengthen our efforts and promoting respect and understanding in our schools sincerely members of the western
011Board of Education so as I said that was an email that was sent out earlier and I read it uh for the benefit of those who may not have receive that email having said that we've got a couple of other things here um before we start our public comment it is tradition that we it is tradition there's a um we read um the rules around public comment so I will read that as well and then I need to make two motions afterwards so I'll explain that that so let's see the board welcomes here's the the printed part that I need to read for everyone the board welcomes the opportunity to hear from members of the public about matters concerning Weston Public Schools public comment is an important chance for the board to receive input and
012feedback from our school Community we listen attentively to all comments shared while we value and pay close attention to public comment it is our practice not to respond substantively or sometimes at all during public comment there are several reasons for this first engaging in a discussion on non-agenda items could violate the board's obligations to comply with the Freedom of Information Act second the board or the administration may not be prepared to discuss certain matters raised in the first instance by a public comment third the board develops its meeting agenda carefully to ensure 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 Barb you may also email the board
013at our email address boardof education westonps.org for additional details on public comment at board meetings um they you can be found on our website I also think it's really important to point out that our agenda for the meeting has got to be uh posted a minimum of 24 hours in advance so the agenda for this meeting was posted on Friday having said that clearly we have a wonderful turnout of folks here tonight who are very concerned community members and we would would very much like to hear what you say typically during public comment we have um a limit of 20 minutes per topic so I think tonight based upon all the blue that I'm seeing in the audience right now we need to wave that 20 minutes so I would like to make a motion
014and I've got some official motion language that I'm going to read here I would like to move that the Western Board of Education extend the 2minute per topic rule per the bylaws for this meeting on Monday March 17th at 2025 do I have a second second great and all in favor I I okay additionally there is one other thing that I'd really like to point out superintendent barbiero has some really important things to address specifically on the topic and which I think all of you are here for which all of you are here tonight we will be moving superintendent barbier's um superintendence report up on the agenda to follow directly after public comment so I'm going to make some Mo I'm going to make a motion we're going to change that but before we start
015public comment I want to encourage everyone to please stay I know sometimes it's tempting to get up and and say your peace and and then leave but I'm going to ask you to stay so you can hear what superintendent Barb has to say as well okay but again we're trying to make it convenient we don't want to have you guys sit through some of the stuff that's going to be kind of boring for all of you so we're moving it up to just after public comment so with that being said I I would like to move that the Western Board of Education move the agenda item District update superintendent report to the position prior to new business can I have a second Thank you Lisa all in favor I okay with that uh Jody would
016you like to get started if you're going to be speaking for public comment you have five minutes to speak when you are ready please approach the podium State your full name and state your street address can I have the first set of people come up please oh I got a cushy chair sorry guys um Maria roboam 83 Kettle Creek Road to the members of the Board of Education we speak today representing the unified voice of all four parent teacher organizations across Weston Public Schools hobot elementary Weston intermediate Weston middle and Weston High School and the parent Community we collectively serve the PTO stand United in support of all affected individuals and communities and we are prepared to partner with the Board of Education in restoring and strengthening a culture of respect and inclusivity in Weston
017the recent discovery of a swastika at our middle school on Friday the second such incident this year following a similar incident at the high school this fall represents more than mere vandal ISM these acts signal that expressions of hate and intolerance are finding space within our school communities we acknowledge and appreciate the steps that the district has taken thus far in response to the three swastikas that have appeared in our schools this year the administration's prompt communication with families the observation of Holocaust Remembrance Day the educational assemblies addressing hate symbols and the ongoing investigations demonstrate its commitment to addressing anti-Semitism the pto's applaud the district for bringing the Anti-Defamation leagues no place for hate program to the middle school and for um and we're looking forward to partnering with the district on April 9th to
018co-host a presentation on symbols led by Rabbi Michael fredman of Temple Israel nevertheless we feel compelled to express our profound concern that despite these efforts we have now witnessed a third anti-semitic incident in our school Community the recurring nature of these events suggests that our current efforts while well-intentioned are insufficient to create the change in culture we all need as parents and community members we are heartbroken that Jewish students have experienced such attacks in places where they should feel safe supported and valued these anti-semitic acts are not only violations of our shared values but also affronts to the spirit of inclusivity and respect that Define our educational Community we know the board agrees that schools must be sanctuaries where every student feels protected respected and included when hate symbols appear on bathroom walls desks and
019lockers they broadcast intimidation and division we can't allow such Behavior to become normalized or tolerated any way we call on the board of education as our elected representatives responsible for educational policy and governance to continue to address anti-Semitism and every other form of hate and discrimination with urgency and seriousness it demands we would like to see a comprehensive plan that achieves the following a school environment every child feels safe and included regardless of background or identity continued transparent communication about discriminatory incidents in the district's response to them educational programs across the district that help students understand the historical context and harmful impact of hate symbols and language appropriate consequences and restorative justice for those found to be responsible for the discriminatory acts deterrent measures with an emphasis the school culture where students feel being feel
020comfortable being upstanders opportunities for Meaningful dialogue and healing for our school community in our recruitment of a new superintendent and principal prioritization of a candidate that is experienced fostering inclusive environments and effectively addressing discriminatory attitudes and behaviors the board of education has both the authority and responsibility to ensure that our schools are places of free of hate bias and discrimination and closing we respect respectfully request that you make addressing hate in our schools a top priority and develop and Implement a comprehensive action plan with concrete steps clear and actionable timelines and measurable goals this is not solely a school issue it is a community issue our children deserve educational environments free from anti-Semitism hate and discrimination we look forward to supporting your plans to ensure that our schools remain a places where every student can
021thrive respectfully Kelly James herut PTO Stephanie fold whis PTO Maria roboam and Lauren cwe middle school PTO and Tammy Roberts who is unfortunately a home skip but Christine is here in her place from the h um high school PTO thank [Applause] you thank you lad thank you ladies thank you please state your name your to address and you'll have 5 minutes to speak okay Eileen Richardson 15 Heritage Lane first of all that was an amazing statement thank you they they echoed many of my sentiments but there are a few points I wanted to build upon I actually see this as an Institutional issue not just isolated incidents and I say this because my family has suffered anti-semitic incidents since my now college junior was in this middle school and last year Year my daughter's then
022sixth grade teacher during Hanukah said to her you know Hanukkah is not really a holiday the Jews just made that up this issue goes beyond swastikas on desks every few months this is an Institutional issue that the school has to take significant steps to abolish it's incomprehensible to me in a community of such caring and smart people that we've allowed this hate to fester and I believe we can educate and you know have all the assemblies we want but unless there's significant deterrents and actionable items consequences to these actions nothing is going to change many of these incidents are not risen up to um you know a high level of visibility because I've seen it firsthand it's better not to call attention to some of the ugliness in our community but I'm here to tell
023you this is a widespread institutional issue in our school system and the time has come for this to be addressed in a forceful cohesive thoughtful and productive manner that goes beyond saying we're going to come together as a community personally I will go out of my mind if I hear that again because that does not give us a timeline and an action plan for how things are going to get resolved it's deeper than that we have to look inside the four walls inside the institution inside our learning programs inside how our teachers relate to our students and how we make this a very strong deterrent for children to even consider any more of these hateful actions thank you thank you [Applause] hello I'm Hillary Falton I live at 21 Ridge Road I have two children
024an 11th grader and a fourth grader in the western Public Schools I have a couple of questions in response to the Boe email that went out this afternoon thank you Sharon for reading that for everybody while the AGL no place for hate framework is an amazing program I'm very excited we're bringing it to the middle school and I can't wait to see it expand to all the schools it is a program about building School community and fostering um a sense of positive School culture it does not address anti-Semitism directly rather it talks about bias and bullying and that's an amazing program but we have an anti-Semitism problem right now so I'd like to understand what the Boe and the administration is committing to to do to address anti-Semitism specifically by what date we will learn
025what that plan is what those commitments are and when we can expect those commitments to be implemented within our schools and my second question is the email mentioned the public school policies to uh address hate I'd like to understand which of those policies these incidents fall within I'd like to understand what are the penalties within those policies of committing these in Acts and who has the who determines um what those penalties are and uh I'd also like to know when the community will be able to get answers to those to that question thank you thank you Hillary um I do want to say specifically as the chair of the policy committee that all of our policies are available online on our website and that does include as well consequences however it explains how the consequences
026are dealt out Etc so please for for specifics on the policy I would encourage you to go to our website and look up um the policy on bullying in which anti-Semitism I believe is covered as well so thank you so I'm sorry is it is it under the bullying policy or is it under the hate policy because I think those are two different things there will be more clarification in my comments um but at this time we really can't go engage in it back and forth we're hearing you and part of what I will say will speak to that thank you next speaker please uh Lindsay Bennett 379 Georgetown Road good evening members of the Board of Education superintendent and the Weston Community I'm here tonight as a deeply concerned parent and member of this
027community for the third time our schools have been targeted with anti-semitic vandalism this is not just another incident this is now a pattern therefore I was surprised by today's email from the board which not only appeared to come in response to mounting public pressure but also Express support for the district's current approach if what was already in place was working we wouldn't be here yet again it is clear that what has been done so far is not enough while the board expresses trust in the administration I find it frustrating that responsibility is being placed entirely on the school leadership without acknowledging that the board has the power to work with Administration you set the policies you determine priorities and you can push for real tangible action beyond words I'm asking for transparency and accountability beyond
028the school resource officer who is involved in the investigation how many detectives are assisting are teachers being interviewed are students being questioned can the ADL actually provide resources or best practices when this happens to help identify the perpetrators what are the consequences for students who engage and hate speech and acts of vandalism are they strong enough and have they been clearly communicated to students and their families has the SRO explained the legal ramifications for hate crimes in Connecticut even for minors to the actual students what steps are being taken to ensure that students truly understand the impact of their actions on Jewish students and the community assemblies alone are clearly not enough has the district considered small group discussions to make the learning more meaningful perhaps even going as small as groups of four to
029six children at a time will the district consider offering a reward for information leading to the identification of their responsible individuals is there an anonymous tip line for students to report what they know without fear each board member should be asking themselves have I done everything I can to make sure this doesn't happen again Jewish students families and staff should not have to question whether the district will take meaningful action to stop these repeated acts of hate the board must not treat this as a one-time event but as a crisis that demands immediate and decisive action we're looking for you for leadership for action and for real change what is happening now is not working and I really hope that everyone recognizes the urgency of that I also want to take this opport Unity to
030thank the PTO for their statements that they made um as a uniformed voice it really means a lot um and also thank you everyone for your time thank [Applause] you thank you for your comments and next there we go good evening Ruth Israeli Nord home drive I have two children in the public schools who do not share my last name because I'm afraid it will make them a Target we could all go on and on and on relaying to you an explanation of why swastikas put fear in the hearts of Jews some of you understand it on a personal level already many of you genuinely want to help I have heard over and over that we must stand together as a community but I also want to make sure that you understand that you must
031stand together as a board in 2007 I was a public school teacher in North Carolina a place where anti-Semitism is as rampant as it is in any state and even there teachers were given grant money to go to conferences at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to learn about how to teach about anti-Semitism and the Ripple effects that it has on all vulnerable minorities and how to teach that in a developmentally appropriate way I urge the board to take concrete action to bring up toate education about how to combat anti-Semitism in concrete meaningful ways for our students I often hear people say that conversations about anti-Semitism have to start at home and I'm here to tell you that that does not work in most of the homes of the people sitting behind me the conversation
032has started at home but it only takes one home where hate is acceptable to lead to a swastika striking fear in the hearts of every Jewish child and parent in town every Jewish parent behind me has had the experience of having to explain something to their children that they did not want to such as why the word ovens means something for us that it does not mean for other people such as why a swasa is not just speech it is not free speech it is incitement to violence and why our children need to learn how to protect ourselves in ways that non-jewish children do not I ask you I Echo the the the urging of the two women who spoke before me to take concrete steps to fight this hate speech it is not vandalism
033it is incitement thank you Ruth do we have other speakers is there another speaker hi good evening I'm Lisa KES I live at 35 Tall Pines Drive I have uh two daughters one who's now a junior at Tain University who went through the school system and I have a freshman currently at the high school can you speak up a little please sure can you hear me now okay um I just want to expand a little bit on what was just said the problem I think is that for Jews we know anti-Semitism when we see it and there's been three swast I guess discussed um I can go by an example uh this I guess it was maybe when my daughter was just graduating from the middle school there was a lot of signage post October
0347th that was found in our town and unfortunately I think when you're not Jewish sometimes you just don't understand it and we had a situation where there was let me just see on my phone I didn't write anything so give me a break for a second but there was a sign posted on the Middle School Entrance from um coming in by the baseball field called quote nakba never ended hin Hall McLemore so I saw that and if you know you know unfortunately it was a rap who wrote this thing about the war and Gaza and it was very hurtful to see but if you didn't know and you weren't Jewish and you didn't know the rap song you wouldn't know so I had to go and address it at the middle school and kind of
035walked in there very upset about it um I spoke to Mr do about it and you know I had to sit there and explain to him why it was anti-semitic that it shouldn't be on school property um these signs were all over the town and if you don't know what it is and you can't identify it how are you going to address it as a board if you're not Jewish or or even if you are Jewish so that's one of the issues I think a swastika is a classic sign now since the war in October 7th and going forward it's not about you know human rights or anything else it's about how Jews feel when we see some of these recent signs about the Palestinian conflict versus propaganda that's on these signs and those are
036also very hurtful so when we see those in town if you're on the board and you don't know what occupation is or what these different phrases are about what Israel's being you know conflated about and you don't know how it affects American Jews you have to be educated about it otherwise we're never going to go forward and I know it's easy to call out Kanye West it's easy to call out you know much more right-wing white supremists but now we have a new novel left side coming at us and we're getting it from all ends it's called The Horseshoe Theory so I think as the board you need to understand there has to be education I know that you know if this one teacher I think one of the other women mentioned that you know
037she made a comment about a Jewish holiday it's so much more deep and much more meaningful there's a new movie out called October 8 and I just saw it last night I don't know what the process would be about possibly having maybe the middle school and the high school be able to actually see it it's very objective it's um incredibly produced it's unfortunately was very hard to get made it's only in theaters for a limited amount of time but I watched it and it does have footage from GoPro videos from October 7th which is blurred out so it's not you know it's not terrible but it's still so informative and even if you you know somewhat hear from the news and you hear what it was about these kids need to know that it's not
038just swastikas it's also you know American Jewish kids going to college campuses is and being blamed for something and being you know literally assaulted by teachers you know being denigrating things to them it's it's so incredibly awful and if you don't understand it and you can't identify it you're not going to be able to help it um these signs were all over Weston there's one still up actually um that you know it's been there for a while excuse me for a while and if you can't identify the difference it's not just the swastika it's also having to understand that these kids even if a Jewish kid never had a b about Mitzvah never step foot in Israel our children are being blamed for a conflict that's halfway across the world and I guess my point
039is it's not just typical Holocaust swastikas it's also Palestinian versus the Israeli conflict and all of those issues that come up with that that I've seen around town for the last year and a half and it's it's very very painful you know and our college kids who I've known you know since they were 2 years old had to come home to that and see you know a sign about Palestinian rights yes you can two things can be true right you can have empathy for all children you can have empathy for both sides but when you see a cfia in the background which is a Palestinian scarf it's black and white that triggers these kids excuse me from when they just came back from their colleges and I've spoke to dozens of them and unfortunately you
040know they want to come home and not have to see that again you know it's a very difficult thing so I would just urge that as board members you somehow figure out a way to have whether it's meetings or educational programs that the teachers have so that they can spot it on on on the school it's not just the swasa it's so much more now and we're all suffering you know and and I think about like what my two daughters have to go through I have one in a very safe college right now relatively you know we haven't had too many encampments we had it for about you know 3 days or less but I have to put another Jewish kid through you know and go through the college Choice system and I need to
041know that you know it's going to be safe enough for her eventually to go to college and it starts as early as we can so I appreciate it if you could just educate you know look at Judaism look at you know anti-Semitism on its own I'm sorry but your five minutes are up I let you go a little bit fur than we have a lot of people here thank you thank you thank you for your comments L next person please state your name your address and you'll have five minutes to speak uh hi I'm Nomi Richardson I live at 15 Heritage Lane um I was a student here from 2011 till I graduated in 2022 uh I help found the Jewish Student Association at the high school I served on the Dei committee as the
042first student representative and none of this is new um my mom talked about um some of the stuff that happened to me when I was a student at this Middle School very briefly but few of the faces have changed this place looks exactly how I remember my sister's in the middle school now while I'm a junior at Columbia and all the same problems are happening um when I was in 8th grade there was a huge wave of swasa and anti-Semitism and everybody claimed to take it seriously and the administration came and spoke in all our classrooms and the half the classes were giggling behind their hands the whole time um in the high school there was a wave of problems uh I was uh bullied a couple times in like second grade and it was
043never taken seriously it's just the whole system here as my mom said it's an Institutional problem uh issues of hate and of bullying of anti-Semitism of anti-blackness of all sorts of hate are just not uh ever addressed with the necessary force my sister was told that Hanukkah isn't a real holiday um I had a teacher tell me after a unit spent teaching uh Ellie viel's night that um he was saved by Jesus so that he could tell his story to the um to the world about about the Holocaust uh I had um we we read the boy in the strip pajamas in 8th grade social studies which is what uh triggered the wave of anti-Semitism because the book was written incompetently by a non-jew from a fictitious German kid's perspective and uh that was a
044poor choice that was addressed in the aftermath but my point is uh there's been going on for a very long time uh I moved here 14 years ago um I'm turning 21 next week this hasn't gotten any better in 14 years uh so whatever everybody's been doing and I know what everybody's been doing because it was my job for two years to uh as a student representative on the Dei committee to figure out how to make things better we had a lot of great ideas there's been a lot of great ideas today I I know the a lot of the policies are amazing on paper a lot of the trainings are great a lot of the people are great some of them are the same people who I had problems with some of them are
045the people who were incredibly helpful to me uh it's a mixed bag all around but until um until things are actually taken seriously and instead of just um being briefly addressed and then moving on and shoving it under the rug and forgetting it ever happened and everybody trying to protect their careers until the four School administrations and uh the the Board of Education and and superintendent Administration actually double down every time this happens stamp it out and make sure that hate is not tolerated and that the school's own mistakes that allow hate to spread and and and well up aren't repeated this is just going to keep happening uh my sister's Got 5 years left here um I'd rather she not have to deal with all the same bull that I did uh in my
046time in Weston thanks thank you for your comments good evening uh LS Pig 14 Kellogg Hill Road uh 14 Kellogg Hill Road Lewis Pig p t thank you um I I just wanted to briefly speak first of all thank you for extending the time tonight um I look forward to hearing the superintendent uh thoughts and plan for action um I specifically wanted to address the email that was sent out today because it uh caused my blood to boil um it is not terribly unfortunate that this is the not the first incident yeah it is not terribly unfortunate that this is not the first incident this is something that you need to own you need to take responsibility a power outage is an unfortunate incident [Applause] we no longer trust in support the school and District
047administrators response to these incidents because they have recurred again and again and again and we are left as the parents of Jewish children to have difficult conversations inside our home to try to explain why we are sending our children to a place where they do not feel safe this is not terribly unfortunate I expect ownership of this issue from both the school board and the administration going forward and I look forward to hearing it thank you very [Applause] [Music] much Martin Martin moar 10 hydrid Road I recalled earlier in January uh when dwasa was found it was labeled as an act of vandalism now that might be the case but what it really was is anti-Semitism if you don't name the problem you could never truly address the issue I'm going to say that again
048if you don't call it for what it is you can't solve the problem [Applause] it hate and ignorance spreads and it spreads very quickly one swasa is one swasa too many here in our school School the testimony of that former student was very powerful but what it says is that nothing has changed and that's a helpless helpless feeling beyond the verbal uh uh notion of zero tolerance there has to be serious tangible consequences to deter future acts I want to finally see this kind of corrective action be instituted by this Administration not now now now cuz this is a crisis thank you thank you Martin uh Markman Kanan allwin Lane um you so I'm just sitting here listening and you know education's fine um having all these thoughtful programs is fine I'm a big proponent
049of public shame in can we can we whoever this person is if we don't we we're I guarantee some of the kids at the school already know who this kid is who did it if we find out who the kid is let's publicly name him and expel him from the school or her and actually have consequences or end or else this kid will probably end up at some Ivy League school wearing some stupid handkerchief over his face terrorizing Jewish kid kids in colleges this is what's happening now is that there is no consequences for any of these people's actions they're all watching on Tik Tok on Instagram they see these kids on college campuses acting like little revolutionaries and they all want to be like that and we can have we can have them watch
050Schindler's List every day we can have speakers come in they're not paying attention to this stuff the only thing they'll understand is if their classmate is expelled from this school that's it full stop I mean it has to go on their permanent record and you know when they're trying to apply to college and be like oh you had an anti-semitic incident when you were you know in whatever grade seventh e8th grade let it follow the people because I guarantee you this kid is learning this stuff in home at at home this isn't this isn't just oh you know I thought it was funny or whatever their parents tolerate this crap I mean I I know you know you see all these kids on these college campuses going around doing this horrible stuff their parents don't
051care they're not pulling them out of the school there's no consequences for anything and then when I I don't want to get any too political here but when you actually see an anti-semite or something saying hey you know what we're pulling your visa and we're kicking you out of this country you got tens of thousands of people marching on this person's behalf and it just drives me up a wall because there are no consequences for anything people are able to hide behind Anon posts on Twitter they're able to hide their faces let's not let this person hide their face when you find out who it is publicly shame this person thank [Applause] you Dan Ventura 82 New Town Turnpike in addition to everything that you heard tonight what we have at hand is a breach
052of security this is the first time that I'm walking into your school because my children are younger and they're not in the middle school yet I walked completely freely into your building we have a situation of school shootings we have a situation post October 7th the terrorists worldwide are using the captagon drugs which makes them Unstoppable even when you shoot them they don't stop they continue to attack you we have a serious breach of security over here what's expected of you is to handle the breach of security each and every one of you you have the seats you have the salaries and you have the power to make a difference so our kids can be safe if our kids are not going to be safe we're not going to send them here if you're not
053going to take a very decisive action to secure our children the fact that someone is walking around your facility with the ability to draw swastikas and you're unable to say who it is is a serious Bridge of security you can approach me privately if you need additional advice regarding security and what you should do a man should not be able to walk into your school without one person approaching them this is what's required of you and the consequences from my perspective are going to be we're not going to send our kids to a place that they don't that I don't think that they will be safe [Applause] at hello thank you for your time my name is Thea Ratner pedig I'm at 14 Kellogg Hill Road same as the guy before um I am a
054third generation Holocaust Survivor my grandfather survived three or four camps we don't know the whole story of everything a historian did his information a few years ago and we found out that half of the things that he told us weren't true including that he was 10 years older than he was because he was too afraid to tell the truth even to his own family 30 40 50 years later um my mom being a first generation Holocaust Survivor uh was always afraid to even let me have a mauza on my door you don't know what a Maza is it's um a little script that you put on your door to keep sort of spirits away and provide Sanctuary for your house and blessings I said to her mom you know we're strong in numbers here we
055don't need to worry about that we're not inviting anti-Semitism I no longer feel safe in my own Community I'm glad my mom said don't put that mauza up and that I was kind of too lazy to actually manage to do it because at this point that's where I feel I agree with what other people have said there needs to be consequences being told that there's an investigation going on and that didn't turn anything up time and time again doesn't give any hope it doesn't provide any solutions it doesn't give any consequences to the people um that are hearing when the incidents happen frankly I say that at this point if we don't get some concrete answers and solutions I hate to say it but I feel as the Jewish Community we should file a class
056action lawsuit against the district so I would expect at this point you all have done a good job but not good enough um and I I would say that if we don't get a resolution that is really a resolution and hearing some of the past students talking about what has been going on for so many years and the things that are kind of been pushed under the rug maybe we're at that time now thank you thank you Pia is it is it working yeah uh so my name is Eric struminger and I live at 26 silveridge common I came this evening because I had some general concerns about school safety and process um and have been educated a lot by what's been said so far um I just want to throw out uh an idea
057maybe maybe we should even have like a you know a referendum on this but is the board and the administration competent to do an internal investigation of this or do we need to perhaps think about hiring an outside Law Firm to take a look and see how we fair in terms of dealing with uh threats to uh safety in our school whether it be anti-Semitism or any other threat to safety so just something to think about uh and I don't know if there is a scope for doing referendums I know Connecticut's pretty big on direct democracy but it sounds like it might be a good idea uh because I I have a a seventh grader and he tells me about bullying all the time in the school um I didn't experience that kind of bully
058bullying when I went to school I grew up in Cincinnati maybe it's different than Connecticut um but it just seems like there's something a little bit broken with respect to kids coming to an environment where they feel safe and maybe we need some outside help in terms of evaluating this thank you good evening Steve Crow uh three Alexander Lang um I've listened um very um clearly there's a lot of lot of passion here and a lot of lot of uh hurt um there are people who are hurting from this and they will continue to be hurt it hurt um unless we do something about it and all I hear is another memo it's gone back 10 years we had somebody talking about this from 10 years ago the time for nicely drafted memos is over
059the time now is to do some action and you've got to re absolutely name and shame these people it's the only way you'll stop them carrying on and doing it again I come from a mixed family my parents were Jewish and Irish Catholic I grew up in a house where I went to church on one day and went to Temple on the other pretty mixed up um and then I made it even worse by marrying a Jewish girl right so but 40 two of my direct relatives perished in the death camps 42 they were family members great-grandfathers grandfathers cousins uncles we can't let this carry on we can't let this continue and this it cannot be any there must be stamped out completely in this in this school and it sounds like you've been failing
060to do that for over 10 years according to one of the students thank you thank you Stephen anyone [Applause] else hi Debbie dong at 10 November Trail I'm a product of the Weston school system and I'm so proud of that fact and 28 years later I purposely moved back to Weston so my kids could get the same amazing education that I did and while I think they're getting a darn good education I am disappointed in the rampant uh anti-Semitism and hatred that is among the students here I didn't see it as a kid but apparently it it has been everywhere maybe I was blind as a child um but I believe in doing my duty as a citizen being a good Steward a good friend to my neighbors is standing beside them in front of
061them behind them working with them together on this and my parenting techniques I think are pretty fair to my kids if they do something wrong to a person a teacher a friend they will sit down and write and I'm sorry letter to them but this is way beyond that my daughter in sixth grade um got a halfday suspension because she told a classmate over another friend's um iPad text chain that she had a unibrow an in school suspension for a unibrow I'm sorry but that's ridiculous the children or child obviously it's multiple children because it's been decades probably if I were the parent and I'm not their parent I hope to God I'm not um but things need to happen I've been a part of the PTO since I joined or since I moved back
062to Weston we we have field trips coming up tomorrow for seventh grade pull it we have a second field trip for seventh grade Wednesday cancel it the 21st 7th and eighth graders have a fun day that the PTO is sponsoring cancel it done the Yonder pouches are great but children come to school with two phones a dead phone that they put in the Yonder pouch and a live phone they keep on them or in their pockets take the phone away moms and dads take the phones away take away the home internet I do I'll do it myself I will take my kids phones computers iPads I will take it away tomorrow to lead the effort in stopping this this is a punishment for all children if they're hiding from each other if they're embarrassed to
063come forward they're not going to do it if they think oh I'm going to get in trouble for this well now they're all in trouble CU that's how I one my kids messes up all messed up in my mind and they all get it taken away yes I'm that Mom and I think that we need to stand together with United PTO and school board and parents combined to help the poor children that are being impacted by this by calling out I know they're minors so we may not want to call out Debbie dong did this but all children need to be held accountable for it and in my my opinion herd mentality works take away the field trips take away the family fund days I hate to say this cuz I have two seventh graders
064and an eighth grader pull graduation done because that's how serious I think this is so thank you for your time thank you for your effort and thank you to the pto's administration and everyone because this has got to end thank you hello my name is James McCarthy I live in Indian Valley Road um I came here just to listen I didn't come to speak but one of the parents said something that struck me um I'm Irish I'm not married to a Jewish person I'm not Jewish um but what she said resonated I think I've fairly thick skin but when I looked around at what she said I looked at your faces and I looked at your four faces it was blank the woman couldn't send her kids to school with her surname she couldn't send
065her kids to your school with her surname that should say enough that you have a problem with this school thank [Music] you hello uh my name is Lewis hovitz I live at Lions Plane Road I might defer a little bit from the families behind me that I don't have a child in the West School District I have a 4-month-old son for me waiting at home who is hopefully in bed at the moment we moved to Weston a little over a year ago with one of the sweeteners of the deal of moving to my wife's home state of Connecticut being the Weston school system your reputation is on the ropes with what is going on in these school systems and it is giving me a Jewish Israeli father critical concern about putting my child into this
066school system and I want to say thank you to the PTO to all the parents behind me because I feel so much passion and so much outrage and concern and and love from this side of the room to want a better school system and and to hear from past students and yet there's somewhere on this side of the eye either the Boe or the superintendent where that action gets carried out through the Halls where there is a disconnect there is a very grave disconnect and what needs to happen is Swift decisive action there's a quote I'd like to provide it's a mistake that happens more than once becomes a decision it's a little harsh but to have this keep occurring and to not have an appropriate response you are deciding that this is your appropriate
067response and I recognize your hands might be tied that your your powers may be limited however something needs to change I'd like to provide one more item from someone I went to middle school with uh shortly after October 7th this was someone I considered a friend and my middle school had no you know Outreach no serious education on Holocaust history I received this message I haven't spoken to this person in years and I'm going to leave out the expletives given the nature of this uh Town Hall you're a blank and so are the rest of the Jews hope yall die this is how holocausts begin this is a very serious issue you have that must be dealt with swiftly and you are not doing that and I want to say you know I I I
068I don't have your job I'm not on your side of the table but I really really really feel I could come in there either the Boe or the superintendent tomorrow and shift things around really quick I implore you to prove me wrong we implore you to prove us wrong because the Weston School District's reputation it's on the ropes and I really hope to be here in a few years and send my kid here but tonight I don't know I implore you to prove me [Applause] wrong hi sh Goldstein can I can you hear me yeah I'm at 20 Trails End Road and I just wanted to um speak briefly on the safety issue like the bigger issue here um around uh the lack of a a tip line an anonymous tip line someone had mentioned
069it I think it's critical it's not only for this issue but just in general for the general safety of this school Community to not have an anonymous tip line at this point is like we're we're really behind um schools that are preventing big um events school shootings and other violence have tip lines um and they are implementing protocols to assess threats as they come up aasa would be considered a warning sign and that warning sign needs to be assessed to see if there's a serious threat behind it or any kind of Brewing threat without a tip line it's very hard to do that you 's nothing in place to assess a threat um and I think we're asking for action but the action is a little stalled because we don't know who are who's doing
070these things if a tip line were um part of the school Community part of every student's knowledge I think there'd be a sense of safety and I also think we know who who um has done these [Music] acts thank you hi my name is Joel Lev I live at N9 scatacook Trail um this is now the third instance of a swastika appearing in our tiny towns School District in one school year and that's pretty shameful and embarrassing for our school in our town wouldn't you say I'm certainly embarrassed um it's not clear based on the boiler plate boilerplate language that's being used in all of these emails what exactly and specifically is being done to investigate each and every one of these instances so I'm asking you and I implore that you investigate these instances
071as you would investigate a crime I'm under no illusions that we can eradicate hate or anti-Semitism from anywhere but we can control the response I again am asking that you investigate this as you would investigate a crime and OS severe penalties and deter this dangerous and disgusting Behavior thank you thank you hi I'm Jasmine I'm at 14 old field Lane so I just wanted to you know Jas can I have your last name kazakov I just wanted to um say that I agree with what everyone is saying but I also want to stress that that we have a problem in our school system my kids are not even in the school system I've been trying to email the principal because I have a bullying problem I have to pull my kids out therefore I have
072to pull them out from different schools and now in Weston you only have one Middle School one Elementary School one high school where are you going to go in Westport you can go to different schools so we have an issue CU then you have families like myself where we have to think about what am I going to do with my kids am I going to leave am I going to move out the town needs families like us we're the ones that will stay we're the ones that providing the money we have we spent roughly $3,000 a kid and we can't solve the The Bullying issue I have friends who have kids that are in elementary school they're being hit they're being punched they are getting hurt and they and you know what the request is
073from the school it's it's to move them to a different class we need to have punishments that is that is appropriate at a younger age so that it doesn't hurt them in high school when they get expelled or suspended so that they don't have to have this issue when they go to college or when they applying for college in high school we have to act and we have to do something so that it's actually sort of like meaningful that they know that there are consequences but there are no consequences in the elementary school there are no consequences is in the middle school and there no none in the intermediate school and so how are they supposed to know in the high school what is going on my kids are four my kids are two they
074have experienced it in in Weston my kids don't even have my name I changed all of our names for it and I'm very upset I wrote an article for the town not too long ago and a lot of families believe what I believe which is that it is we have a bullying problem we have a discrimination problem we have an anti-semitic problem and we have to solve it because if you guys don't solve it you're going to lose families like us and you need [Applause] us hi my name is Tyler delvento I live at One oldh High Road um every Everybody posts the signs for all the things right in front of our house and um it was alarming to me around election time when things had reached a fever pitch and it was like
075so divisive on every different side but somebody posted really hateful um anti-semitic signs right in front of my house and I thought I was going to throw up it was so upsetting and I obviously quickly took them down I've been taking down every sign since then because it's just been so upsetting but I have ordered signs you will see them and they are in support of my my Jewish friends and neighbors because what is happening is disgusting and it needs to change and I have this has been weigh on me a lot um and when the third incident happened I just it was like a visceral body feeling and I didn't know what to do and I wanted to do something so I posted on moms and Weston and I wrote many of us non-jewish
076members of the community are outraged hurt and in disbelief this continues to happen in our wonderful small town hate has no place here period it starts at home where is this coming from and what conversations are people having in age appropriate ways that start with preschool lessons of kindness tolerance and love hurt people hurt people and we all know it's wrong we know that kids talk we know that kids know who did this we know that while I'm not looking for a kid to be a whistleblower and publicly lynched although it's not a bad idea um the parents know who did this and we do need a tip line absolutely we need a tip line for a million reasons but if the parent isn't willing to stand up and have hard conversations that's concerning on
077its own but they should be able to report this and if they feel an anonymous need to do so that should be an Avenue that's available to them it's a lesson in accountability and teaching moment for all of us Jewish non-jewish red purple yellow this is outrageous we wouldn't stand for this we didn't stand for it with black lives matter we wouldn't stand for this in many other communities and it's so upsetting to see this continuously happen and again what somebody said earlier if you don't identify the problem correctly you can never fix it this is not vandalism this is a hate crime this is a strong hate crime that continues to happen in our sweet little town of Weston this is a big problem I've lived in the south I've lived in Europe I've
078lived in New York for 17 years I have never seen this level of anti-Semitism in my 45 years of life and it is so deeply concerning that I am now having conversations with my sweet little six-year-old who will be planting the signs with me about how we take love and kindness for all different types of people and clearly those conversations are not happening in some homes and if the parents are failing those children unfortunately it's the school's job to step up and help parent those children and bridge the gap to Stamp Out hate in our community and there needs to be an like somebody said the kid needs to get expelled there's no consequences the party shouldn't happen the field trips don't happen it just doesn't happen for you if you refuse to stand up
079for what is right being silent is complicit and you're part of the problem so I just want to say my heart goes out to all my Jewish friends I don't know how you're coping with so many incidences that continue to happen and worse never finding the person who committed the hate crimes it's unacceptable with [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] love thank you do we have here we go Jason nusom langner Lane facts are stubborn things John Adams said that the problem here is systemic and it starts at the top there is no denying it there's no avoiding it the inaction by the board and specifically of this superintendent have not only fostered an environment it tolerates anti-Semitism and it excuses it so now some facts I have three kids that went through the high school here
080first one graduated in 2016 the last one two years ago so I don't have Jewish kids in the school but is anyone here who is Jewish will tell you we are all family we don't have to have someone in the school to be affected by what's going on here that notion of family was never more present than after October 7th however right after October 7th one of our esteemed high school guidance counselors reposted a clearly anti-semitic tweet from globally recognized bigot and Linda sarur when confronted online by my wife this counselor whose job it is to protect our children responded with a laughing emoji clearly making light of the pain Jews were suffering in the aftermath of October 7th this incident was brought to the board we have to file a foyer request to get
081any kind of action or response and it wasn't until that foyer request was issued did we get any response on email and at that point the superintendent acting as judge and duri decided that this was an anti-semitic Semitic behavior and it was swept under the rug the inaction of this team is inexcusable and to reiterate what someone said earlier if we continue to trust in quote this team we have more than enough proof that nothing substantial is going to be done in Wilton about a decade ago a swastic was found on a locker a friend of mine's son was the locker next to that they found the kid they put his name on the n hate registry the notion that these children's minds are developing great develop them to understand consequence in Westport right after
082October 7th kids posted a video right around October 7th kids posted a video pretending to behead a Jew with their faces covered screaming allar there was some heel dragging by the Westbard Public public Board of Education and by the principal they we sent emails a few times lots of platitudes lots of boilerplate emails and then they went to action because the community stood up and said the people sitting on this de don't get to stay here if our kids aren't safe it's time for a change at the top here in Weston and maybe then the Jewish Community will get some [Applause] justice thank you do we have um anyone else no you can move on all right um go ahead Jody no I said you can move on now okay um well this concludes the
083um public comment however as I mentioned Lisa does have a uh we are going to go ahead and move over to the uh superintendent's report So Lisa thank sorry thank you can you hear me okay am I speaking up fine thank you um first I want to acknowledge all of the comments and the pain the anger and the sorrow behind them I heard you we clearly need to be better I have been here for 40 years I will be retiring at the end of this year so there will be a change at the top and I certainly hope that the superintendent that comes after me understands the need and works to support the community I have tried from some of the comments I acknowledge there's a perception that I have failed but I would like
084to begin by emphasizing that as a school district we have an obligation which I clearly understand to every child in our community our schools must be places where all students feel safe valued and respected and these aren't just platitudes this is what I have tried perhaps in some cases unsuccessfully to demonstrate in my actions and my words acts of hate and anti-Semitism have no place in our schools we must not tolerate them you know at the core of our mission is the education of our students not just through academic instruction but in helping them develop an understanding of the impact of their actions one of the core competencies embedded in our portrait of a graduate is that students are able to care for themselves and others and it is something that develops over a 13-year
085Continuum and in partnership with families and yes with this small town our district has policies and practices that address hate-based conduct there's a policy called hate-based conduct anti-discrimination bullying these policies ensure that when incidents occur we respond with disciplinary consequences and educational opportunities that are rooted in restorative practices children make impulsive thoughtless mistakes they act sometimes without knowing or considering the impact of their words or actions our children range from age three to 19 here I say this not to defend this Behavior but to stress the importance that that is a community we must respond in a discipline perspective as well as supportive and educational measures we must help them understand and anticipate these impacts so that they will grow into responsible and thoughtful individuals while we cannot control or prevent every word a student
086writes or speaks every action that a student does we can respond appropriately when actions violate our values and policies so what does that look like administrators investigate incidents following spe specific Pro protocols so what are those protocols we speak to students and staff we investigate thoroughly we conduct threat assessments to ensure that the individual and the school Community are safe we involve the police students who are found to have engaged in hate based conduct are subject to discipline up to and including suspension or expulsion how is this determined it's determined by the administration a restorative component for this type of incident focuses on fostering accountability repairing harm and understanding the impact on others our goal is to promote a school culture of empathy and respect and we need a willingness of families to also partner
087with us in that work to engage in restorative practices so if perhaps we make a mistake and we wish to acknowledge that mistake in certain situations or issues that we as the adults and the staff are given that opportunity uh by faith amilies to work with their children not always the case it is also important that we have an obligation to all children and that includes the child who did something wrong we do not disclose disciplinary consequences to the public I know you want to hear them you want me to put in what was it Awards or or a reward for a child reporting another child or publicly shaming of a child if you would like that I will share the next with the next superintendent that that will not happen while I'm superintendent I
088will not publicly shame children Age 3 to 19 and yes I still consider them children I understand people are angry what's going on is horrible there is no defense for some of the behaviors that are going on in this world but I will not scapegoat a child either we are actively working with the Anti-Defamation excuse me excuse me I listen very patiently to you and I would appreciate the same courtesy thank you may I may I continue please without heckling from the audience thank you [Applause] I would very much like to continue Mr nusom can I please continue I listened respectfully to you thank you we are I am being very honest sir and I quite feel quite it's a lose lose situation for me up here and I get that and I recognize that
089and I'm really trying but I would like to be able to finish with courtesy and dignity which I have given every one of you that has come up here we are actively working with the Anti-Defamation League through the no place for hate initiative we've engaged Community leaders including Rabbi Freeman who spoken to the high school and middle school and will now provide a parent program because it was shared with me today that there are parents in this community that don't know what a swastika means that's a big problem representatives from the high school Jewish Student Union have also shared their perspectives with their peers District staff continue to engage in workshops about these issues two High School teachers went this month there are five people going at the end of the month to continue this
090work and to continue the educational and professional learning we need I appreciate the partnership with the community as this is not just a school issue there's been a lot of you need you need I would respectfully suggest we need and I would appreciate your support thank you pto's for your support thank you for there's been some really good suggestions tonight that we will certainly take into consideration families do play a crucial role in shaping values and we encourage in ongoing discussions at home with respect acceptance and the imp Act of hate symbols and words we do remain committed to fostering an environment where every child feels safe and supported this does require a partnership and ongoing dialogue at our next Board of Education meeting in April I promise you that we will review an action
091plan that you have asked for and I hope that you continue with that dialogue again with respect and courtesy because being divisive is not helpful and with that I'm going to close my comments Thank you Lisa um I think we need a five minute break right uh everybody okay with the five minute break all right thank you everyone who came for public comment we appreciate all your comments all your feedback we listen um and we'll be taking a five minute break thanks no no next time April or if you'd like to reach out to me individually you're welcome well I'm I'm here and I'm available I'm sorry sir I don't remember your name sh m much for sh s I e you that [Music] very Sharon can we start please all right everyone if you
092can gra a seat uh David I'm not sure where you are but we need to get going on the rest of board business because we've got plenty of things to cover here tonight so all right I lost it there there you are David the next agenda item has to do with gifts correct okay we'd like to thank the pto's as always for um supporting our efforts and there is a a variety of gifts we'll go through them the first one is a gift from the Weston middle school PTO this is a gift that just has to be uh accepted not approved and it's for an in-person author visit which I know Mr dop that the um children are very uh excited about we want to thank the PTO for um supporting Alon uh Gerber who
093will provide three Interactive presentations one per grade level all right excuse me gentlemen if you could over to the side if you could take it just take it outside that's all that's all sorry all right thank you so can we um please accept this gift motion yeah there there's motion yep come on David you got a job here I do I know I rush back here and I'm off my a game ex uh move at the Western Board of Education accept the donation from the Western middle school PTO in the amount of $1,500 and do we have a second Thank you Lisa all in favor I I all right Lisa next the next gift um is one that um needs a formal acceptance it is from the whs PTO and its two custom logo entry
094rugs moved at the Western Board of Education accept a donation from the WIS PTO in the amount of 20 $100 could someone please shut that door thank you do we have a second second thanks Lisa all in favor he sounds like great R the next gift is valued over $3,000 is from the whis PTO and this is really exciting it relates to creating in the unused uh space it was formerly the whis computer lab uh oh I'm sorry oh 27 yeah 27,000 Minor Detail sorry I left off a zero um is to make a whis Innovation lab which um we are really uh very excited about I know I see Patty smiling and I see someone else in the crowd that's going to be very excited about it um can I please have a motion
095move that the Weston Board of Education approved the donation from the Weston intermediate school PTO in the amount of $27,000 can I have a second Thank you Lisa and all in favor I I thank you w PTO W PTO um I guess we need a motion for this fine we can do a motion but I really want to move the discussion of the policy um to after the consent agenda because um wait wait one more oh we have another one oh okay so the you want to do that one I don't see the paperwork on it I'm sorry I'll read it then it's it's the recognition of donation from the WIS PTO yet again busy ladies men and ladies sorry in the amount of $900 for three WIS school of Distinction banners so thank you
096very much it's recognition no need so thank you yes thank you um can we please move to the consent agenda and then we'll go back to the policy because there's been um someone in the audience been waiting very patiently and I'm kind of excited that you meet her do we need to put a motion to move okay so can I have a motion to move the consent agenda to ahead of the policy read um there that's my motion second all right there we go thank you thank you everyone so we have a short consent agenda this month and I'm just going to run down some names before we get to the piece that Lisa is so excited about um we have the resignation of two staff members bana girton first grade teacher at hurlbut elementary
097effective February 18th 2025 and Paige Nan building substitute at the wi effective March 19th 2025 in addition to those resignations I have received notification of Shelley McConnell's intent to retire effective at the end of this school year Shelley has served the students of Weston for 25 years working as a Spanish teacher at hurlbut and whis and supporting our multilingual Learners across the district she has brought joy and passion to her work and her efforts have not gone unnoticed on behalf of the West in public schools I'd like to thank Shel for her service to the community and wish her well as she approaches her retirement we have four new hires this month including Sylvia dearo cafeteria Aid at whs effective February 28th 2025 Tina heeren administra administrative assistant at whis effective March 12th 2025 and
098Lin Lanay Mandarin Chinese teacher at Weston High School effective February 28th 2025 and finally I'm pleased to announce the selection of Jennifer Deo as the next principal of Weston Intermediate School effective this coming July 1st 2025 this is a critical leadership role in our district and as such we carefully designed a rigorous selection process involving representatives from the Board of Education Thank you Lisa L the PTO the whis staff and the school and District Administrative team throughout our process Miss Deo demonstrated exceptional knowledge of curriculum and pedagogy thoughtful and reflective decisionmaking passion for working with elementary students and staff and a warm and caring disposition we are so pleased to welcome Miss Deo to the Weston community and I would she is here tonight and I would very much like to invite her forward um
099to address the board come on up [Applause] Jen it's green we're good now thank you so my first lesson at Weston thank you um the PTO of whis has been very busy I hope that's a continuation I love that it's fantastic um it's truly a privilege to be here this evening and is is such an honor to be entrusted with the principalship of Weston Intermediate School I'd like to thank Julie and the entire interview team for engaging in a rigorous and welcoming interview process I appreciate that so many staff from whs and around the district as well as parents from the WIS Community volunteered their time to be part of the process in a short time I have come to see the pride the dedication and the joy of the Weston schools it is a
100true Testament to the Weston community that so many leaders choose to spend not just years but decades here clearly it is a special and rewarding place to work upholding the traditions and values that this community holds so dear while growing into the future together is beyond exciting to me I look forward to the good work that we sure we will be sure to do together thank you so much thank you and we are all looking forward to working with you so thank you very much all right so David move that the Wesson Board of Education accept a consent agenda as presented second second all in favor I I perfect okay so next we go into policy correct is that where we are yes okay so uh who was heading this one was this this you
101Lisa or who's heading this policy or is this um this is a first read of the discussion of policy regarding safe School climate um Tracy can you help us uh go through this please sure absolutely we had um just so people know an extensive discussion about this policy and the policy committee meeting which is available online if people are interested in hearing more about the details um this is a policy that is required in Connecticut effective July 1st 2025 um we are allowed to adopt it earlier it streamlines um other policies and procedures that have been in place um including bullying um there's also information in this policy about restorative practices what that means and how that's implemented um and I do just want to point out since there was some discussion tonight about Anonymous
102reporting the forms that are associated with this policy do provide opportunities for um Anonymous reporting of of concerns so I don't know how much detail you want me to go into now we literally went Page by Page in the policy committee meeting um I'm happy to answer questions have you guys had a chance to read through the policy and do you have any questions regarding the first read I do what a surprise go David and the timing couldn't be potentially better um the the respon the response process notification form who is so kind of extracting out of what some of what we heard tonight it would appear that this form can be completed I'm sorry the process can be started by a student a parent teacher and admin administrator that's how the process gets started
103and it seems to end with a response process notification form is this form obtainable by anybody by the person who started the process who actually would be able to see this form so the the first sentence of the form explains that the purpose of the form is to provide a template for transparency and accountability to a person or person's that submits a report of challenging Behavior so this is uh provided to the person who expresses the concern okay so and that person doesn't have to be directly AG griev so to speak if a parent wants to fill out the form for their child or if a parent wants to fill out a form because they become made aware of something that that would be the person right yes though we still have to be mindful
104in this whole full process about student confidentiality so um just because someone has reported a concern about another student doesn't make them privy to information about that student so what information is shared and how it's provided on this form would be taken into account so can this form sort of be just maybe characterized as an after action report that would be protective of you know the furpa rules for a student but generally an after action report this is a follow-up report yes okay all right and this would apply in a situation like what we're addressing this evening with the community potentially yes okay those are my questions for tonight keep in mind that this is the first read on this policy we do have a policy in place right now and there are um forms
105to be filled out with the existing policy they're different these are cab um this is the C recommended change to the policy versus what we have which um we adopted I believe in 2023 um no I don't recall the date of that off the top of my head but but those forms are different than these with different operational definitions of bullying being probably the most significant policy change well one of the most significant policy changes in this compared to what was in place previously okay so where is so I think having read the policies trying to connect it to what we're addressing earlier certainly bullying would I think potentially be a uh one of the policies that could apply where is the form or this equivalent that's currently in place today where where would I
106find that or somebody in the community under the policies of the board of VI right but what policy do we know it's it's titled bullying I don't know the number off the top of my head um and it's attached to that policy are the regulations which include the forms okay all right thank you 5000 any other questions one question so Tracy sounds as though there is like a submission process I just because I'm picking up on the public comments about it is that the same as a tip line is it a written submission is it a voicemail what's that process so as a district we don't have a tip line um form I think it's one in this policy allows the option of submitting a report anonymously so that's what I was referencing here I
107think some of the public comment was around like an actual phone line established for tips okay and just for clarification don't we have a phone line I overheard a conversation that might have been ingest a little bit it's never wrong there's dust on the phone yeah I can talk on that a little bit there is an ancient ient phone line that the high school um that's supposed to be used for that purpose but the line has always had issues so it's a old school pots line so we haven't advertised it because of that so there is but not really I I would respectfully suggest we'll address this in April when we talk about our action plan thank you any other questions all right again this is the first read it'll be back next month for
108our second read and then we'll vote at that stage to replace the old policy with this one okay um let's see so I believe at this stage we are since we Human Resources your you the consent agenda is was it or do you have more for human resources Julie I just have a brief update that would be great you indulge me because I believe as you know we are also searching for another principal um so just an update on the Middle School principal search we are still accepting applications the um uh the applications are open uh through March 24th and our candidate selection process will begin in April um and I also wanted to make you aware that this coming Friday we have a professional development day scheduled in our calendar uh and a subcommittee
109of our professional development and evaluation committee has been working um very hard with Dr hle and myself to plan a conference style day of professional learning uh very much responding to the the needs and the um even the wants of our teacher staff uh in terms of what they want to learn about to best support the students in their classes we have over 90 sessions planned for the day um on a variety of important topics which include play based learning executive functioning restorative practices artificial intelligence and curriculum related initiatives um like reviewing new content standards and exploring Arc and illustrative math resources so we're very excited for this day and just wanted to draw that to your attention thank you uh next we have um pupil or yeah pupil Personnel Services in special education so
110Tracy hello again I have a couple of updates for tonight um first I wanted to make everyone aware that we had a parent meeting last Monday and discussed strategies that families can use to help their children develop a growth mindset uh the meeting recording and the PowerPoint presentation are posted and available on the district website under the PPS section and if families have ideas about topics that would be helpful for future parent meeting meetings they can certainly contact me directly um I also just wanted to highlight changes that Mr Cross began reviewing in our last uh Board of Education meeting and we'll talk about in more detail tonight related to the PPS budget for fiscal year 25 and fiscal year 26 um there are multiple contributing factors to the proposed budget reductions for this year
111and next but the overwhelming majority of those reductions are due to the number of students who have transitioned or are preparing to transition back to the district from outof District placements both District placements and settlements each of these transitions is a testament to the dedication commitment and thoughtfulness of Staff members across the district in a variety of roles the collaboration and Partnership of District families and most importantly the hard work persistence and self- advocacy displayed by the students at the center of these decisions out of District placements are never made lightly and they are done for various reasons but the goal is always to help students build the skills to return to a less restrictive environment we have successfully done that on multiple occasions this year and look forward to welcoming other students back to
112The District in the fall we are of course also focused on providing support to students who will be transitioning from building to building with in Weston in the upcoming school year um and are excited about that transition work as well that's fantastic news thank you very much um out out of District placement is is very costly and it says a lot I think Tracy about you and your team that you've worked hard and been able to make it so that these students are able to come back and that they want to come back in District and we as as taxpayers and as board members we we all really appreciate all of your hard work in doing that so thank you very much for that um next up Phil finance and operations please you ready um
113let's start with fiscal 25 uh for the period end in February 25th we're not reporting any changes month over month so we do remain with a deficit projected deficit for the end of the fiscal year 25 just want to highlight as we're talking about um special education um we do hope um based on the bill that was passed recently that there will be a surplus on the state side um the bill says that if there is a surplus on state um that they'll be funding that that's that $40 million that will be awarded Statewide to all district that will be getting additional reimbursement exess cost so fingers crossed that at the end of April that the state will continue to run the Surplus and if we do we'll get some funds there so that uh
114I think it's about 100 100 or so thousand plus additional plus additional expenditures or savings that we'll find in the current year may help to alleviate the deficit that that we have projected so no changes month of a month okay with that being said should we uh we need to vote on that all right so can I have a motion then to accept the February financial report please move at the Weston Board of Education approved the February 2025 Financial update as presented second all in favor I all right Phil um before uh Phil you continue to budget 2026 there's something that I have to apologize I um failed to mention in my superintendent report that I it relates to the budget and that is um first of all I want to state that we are
115very very proud of our robotics teams at both the middle school and the high school and um there was a concern that was expressed yes and we have people in the audience I see joshanda from the team um and our coach Rebecca Kaplan there was a concern that there was not um adequate funding and transportation for our robotics teams to be transported by bus to the competitions and so I publicly wanted to get it into the record that yes that these buses um will be fully funded um next year uh for the team to travel to their uh different competitions um we have approximately how many students about 50 students Josh I think about um that are involved 50 plus that are involved in the program and um uh so certainly it is um our
116pleasure as well as it is our responsibility to ensure um Safe Transportation to these competitions as we do with uh other teams Academic Teams so um that will happen next year thank you and thank you for your patience yeah thank you for your patience and staying so long we appreciate it all right so Phil on to the uh uh fiscal year 26 budget update so as we typically do around this time of the year we tend to accumulate all the effective changes since the board approves the budget and right before the board of Finance makes their final deliberation um what you have in front of you is accumulation of all those changes um we've needed to make there were some metor adjustment for salaries that were not previously accounted for um so salaries and benefits
117will be increased by $146,000 in addition to that there's been a reduction in the pension rate um for our noncertified group a reduction of approximately $35,000 also cumulative our total net uh health insurance adjustment um the rates from the state partnership plan did come back uh for our for active employees that rate is 10.97% and for retirees it is 13.5% so we had some census change and other cumulative changes so overall health insurance will be reduced by $48,000 workus compensation will also be reduced by $3,600 um other insurance General general liability insurance will be increased by $1,000 and a small reduction to property insurance uh there will also be a reduction um this the town um negotiate our gasoline and Diesel contracts and they were able to secure lower rates for fiscal 25 so there's
118a net reduction there of $110,000 as Tracy mentioned earlier the big change that we have for fiscal 26 has to do with sped PPS uh so with the student rur to District we are reducing our retortion line by approximately $74,000 there's also an increase on the settlement side last month we mentioned that we did have some flip-flop between those two categories so settlements will be increased by $292,000 tied into students return into district is a reduction to out of District transportation to the tune of $16,000 and a corresponding reduction in excess cost reimbursement of 256,000 so all in all um the spread PPS department and more importantly um for students return to district is a plus um the reduction there is $261,000 last month we also mentioned that we were seeing increasing distribution rate from
119urce our budget for fiscal 26 did not account for any significant increase in a source we are proposing to increase um the distribution expenditure for next year by $21,000 combined it's a net it's a is pretty much Z increase and we will remain at 3.05% for next fiscal year excellent I suppose that was really lucky for all of us to end up in that in that position so thank you for that um few more items sorry go ahead um all of these items are really are really because there's no increase there's no vote so this is purely informational the next the big item that we had in for our capital budget had to do with our North house hre project um there's been a lot of disc discussions about this and also in terms of
120our cost I just want to say that we will not know what the true cost for the project will be until we have issued rfps both on the design side and also on the installation component of it what we did we reached out to um to slam so slam will be conducting a structural engineering study for the medle school and we wanted to see based on their experience what they're currently seeing in the marketplace of that so slam came in that for their plan and purposes on the design side having about5 to 8 per square feet which would have a range of between $172,000 to $275,000 on the construction side they're seeing costs coming in on public beds between 60 to $65 per square ft which will be bring the insulation to about $2 million
121on the low side to $2.2 million and that's a total project cost on a low end of $2.2 million to$ 2.5 million as a reminder the budget that we had for next year or for this project was 1.7 million um slam also reached out to one of their mechanical engineers just to see where they were the mechan mechanical engineer had designed cost between $3 to $4 a s foot and on the insulation side between 50 to $65 a foot again we're still close to that $2 million price point the average of those two which based on information that we have now we do believe that the cost for the project would be more in line with that average it's going to be somewhere in the middle right there so we're looking at total cost between
1222 million to a high of $2.3 million um so this information that we'll be sharing with the board of Finance uh this Wednesday and what does that mean for the timeline to do the project good question um in terms of the timeline and how our or let me say my understanding is that there's a willingness on the board of finance and also on the board of Selectmen to do a combination of special appropriation um to cover those costs and other funding mechanism that's in place we're now tasked with securing the design cost I think it's the ball is back in our court where we need to firstly did secure that design cost we will be hopefully issuing an RFP for that this week propos an return date for that about a month or so uh
123so and then after that so we will short to say we will not have accurate numbers before atbm and before the board of Finance deliberates we hope or the plan is that we will have final costs in place um the say to start up the school year um will have a better sense there and it will go back to the board of Finance inde dependent on what their decision is we may need to go to the board of selectman for exal appropriation so that says if the funding is in place we will start the project if we're able to do when we come back in school in September and the funding is in place we could award the contract in January of 26 for a start date of Summer of 26 assuming that we have
124all all the funding in place if we do not it will stretch uh to the next fiscal year based we had a conversation with Colliers and what you're seeing based on similar studies um or similar installation that the timeline for this could spend three months or so which is a little bit beyond um the our summer our summer stretch so we'll have to get creative if we truly want this to be um a summer project where we may have to start some of the work prior to the prior to Summer but once we once we're closer we'll be able to work out those details okay I ask a series of questions Phil and you can help me Connect the Dots here so one question is a simple one which is a yes or no is
125there a way to Fast Track any of this so we could begin this summer no okay I kind of figured reason I'm ask asking is because you know we spent multiple days and hours and weeks over the last semester trying to figure out how do we yeah go ahead to clarify yeah the design component of it will be get done uh the goal was never I don't think it was to to do the work at this this summer because the timeline wouldn't wouldn't wouldn't work out so it would be the summer of 26 so the goal was to have funding in place so that we we knew that we were adequately funded or fully funded to do all those other pieces to start a project then oh I was confused I thought it was going
126to take two summers to accomplish the actual con the construction elements of the HVAC yeah right so we went back and we were saying based on the timeline if we didn't get full full approval then it will get kicked over to the next fiscal year because our budget are normally approved in May if it's approved fully funded right from the from our Capital bu to be paid by the taxpayer th will be in fiscal year 27 and with an approval date of may we would not be able to award so we would start the project in that second year full pH no matter when we started though the prog the process would take two years to complete the construction up correct I thought that's what I heard last time but I could be wrong about
127this so there's a second piece of that is that if we can figure out Shing space for the student may go into an additional year so I think where we are right now if once we have the design component in place this project is June of 20 July 25 de summer of 26 if we have all the funding in place before January it's could be very likely that we can start we could award in January if we were in January of 25 we'll be able to start Us in the summer of 26 but not the summer of 25 so in January of 26 January of 206 right then we can actually start in the summer of 2016 that's correct if we're fully funded for January that's correct so let me get to my end game
128with this it seems to me the kids need better air and Hur but this project is very long overdue it's going to take two years of construction anyway I think I have that more or less right the other thing I think I have right is the thing that is slowing us down at this point would be not the contractors in the plan but how do we pay for it do I have that right or would we need that much time just to get the RFP and the plan awarded and all that kind of stuff okay so one more yeah you repeat that yeah it's is it money or construction is a simple question meaning if we said here is the money we could begin this project this summer correct it would be money money yes
129yeah so in other words the the thing preventing us from beginning this summer is on our side it's not a matter of construction time and RFP and and approval from the contractors we're not quite we don't have all the information that we need to present a formal plan to the funding bodies to do that so we have to to do that but I think there is still a strong possibility that by January of next year we will have all that in place to start in summer of 26 I guess the the simpler way to put it is uh can't we as a board of education and a board of Finance figure out how to find $2 million and not wait for two years to get the kids Air better in hbut I I think there
130is a agreement um to do that and there's a willingness to do that we just have to do some more work in our end um so I I I did hear both from the board of finance and board of selectman that there is a willingness and they do see the need to do this project so we just have to do we have to try as best as we can to expedite the process as much as we can so we can have the project started for summer of 26 and it's quite possible right so we're in what month is this March March March will take us about 2 months to issue the RFB and have a response back and to award so that will put us closer to Summer after once we have that back we'll
131issue an RFP on the on the installation or the for to to procur the equipment and also for installation and we will definitely have that back by the time we start the school year for fiscal 26 a lot of dates a lot of dates that's why I have to try to remember everything just for clarification I think Phil his question might be misinterpreted just a bit the project was never going to start this summer no there's it's not possible to I thought that was part of the whole song and dance about splitting it over two years with the budget etc etc no that was to get it so we could do it in 26 yeah because if we starting in 26 if we appropriate the funds during the referendum in if the town appropriates the
132funds during the referendum in May then we can start the RFP Pro uh process so that's too late for the summer of this year so once we get the RFP process taken care of as far as the design component of it then we need to put out an additional RFP for the actual um installation of it and that was where we were um pushing to have it fully funded because if we're not fully funded it's to try to put it on RFP that you know that was where the discussion took place with the board so but I think the board of Finance well it's an interesting conversation we had with the board you had with the board of finances to the board of Selectmen had put forward half a little bit less than half thinking
133that that would be a sufficient amount for a design fee for us for at least moving the RFP for the design forward and then if we got solid numbers after the design we well actually after the design we put out an RFP to get solid numbers and then if it came in in a timely manner by like the end of the year that we could then quite potent quite possibly go to the town and board of finance and ask for a special appropriation to complete the funding so that we could award the contract if we can do that then we can start in the summer of 2026 the other option is to have the entire thing funded in May through the um through the town the budget um so those are the two options that
134we have but the 2026 option is the earliest and you know what you are absolutely right they were talking about taking two summers to do it but we are really Phil is really working hard um to try to figure out if there's some way that we can have a swing space so that it can get completed over one summer as opposed to being done in the summer of 2026 and the summer of 2027 correct well I think we have to be very careful with that because remember this involves the only gym that that school has so um I don't know how you do swing space for PE which would involve outside I think that there's a commitment to move it forward as quickly as possible I think that um it's sorely needed obviously okay all
135right I apologize I somehow got confused about the two two summ there's no reason toize start this summer it's been very um complicated okay all right so keep going sorry sorry few more no worries um just also wanted to point out that we are reducing the request um for reimbursement from the opep trust fund our initial request was for four our budget it was $416,000 we will actually be requesting $369,000 combination of and some other positive changes that we have so reduce their positive for the town also in the packet just by way of information the board of Finance did wanted wanted information regarding calculation for seor pension and also for fomed so we'll be we'll be sharing that with the town or with the board of Finance they also requested uh year-to dat um
136analysis so to speak or information regarding to cost for distribution we're also sharing that with the board of finance and that is it for the fiscal 26 update thank you all right now for the generator generator okay may recall a few months ago we did mention that the generator at the whs failed um we did Issue an RFP a few months ago we had a a lot of interest in this we went to are we proposed to the finance committee one the contract to Tower electric um reason for this twofold really pricing and also because of the warranty that they offered out of the box there was a 2-year warranty and there was also a low cost um to add additional I think three years so we'll have a 5-year warranty and for a total
137cost of $73,000 give or take 73,9 2016 this will be paid from our nlap and account that was established at the end of fiscal 24 any questions all right we've got some motion language on this if you want to go ahead David move at the Western Board of Education approve the Western Intermediate School backup generator bid as presented can I have a second second and all in favor I here we go all right committee updates hang in there everyone we're almost done so committee updates first would be Communications committee which I don't believe met this month um next would be cab Lisa um so first of all this is board appreciation so I felt that I felt that today well I'm going to thank you all um coming to all of our meetings and being
138here and being so so um it's also student leadership cave student leadership awards um and that the deadline is March 28 the board member handb is available so you can just ask me I went to the legislative breakfast interesting things came up they were very interested in the in the special mandate that we have and funding it um and they also spoke about teacher shortages and I'm sure do that now um there there are some recent webinars that you may be interested Governor's budget special education task force social studies curricul um the C most recently is addressing the educational cost sharing I also attended the um graduate research projects and they were great all of all of them mentioned te that uh changed their lives um whether they were looking at careers um uh socially
139U all became successful and they and they could all name a teacher and there was one attribute that I thought was really um impressive for each one of them it was the community support each one of them whether they had jobs or concerned about the community suppor just thank you um sounds like you've been busy David uh CES Cooperative Educational Services nothing to report there okay um David curriculum committee so we had a light agenda this month but it was a fun one because we talked about reading across the four schools and ways that we or each school had sort of their programs to encourage kids to read read Across America that was the name of the program um and how Weston participated and encouraged kids to read and then also music um music in
140the schools and then we actually had some free time to talk about topics we might want to cover in the future and I know one of them for me anyway was writing and more like not business writing but more non directly like process writing thank yes thank you Tina you always have my back right excellent thank you um next I believe we have live from Washington DC Peter with uh the EOC can you can you hear me yeah we can loud and clear I'm in Washington because the government did not shut down I would have loved to join you this evening but thank you Chuck Schumer that's just a political humor for the evening the EOC is meeting this upcoming Friday during that meeting Phil will give us an update on our uh slam Structural
141Engineering phase one uh either results or when they're going to come in and do their first walkthrough Phil can uh give us more uh granularity this evening or we can wait to our Friday meeting thank you thank you Peter uh let's see so next we have finance and operations committee and that is Michael so Michael's gone anyone Phil Phil I think we pretty much this is was the the bulk of our discussion at that meeting so there was nothing additional fantastic all right uh next is policy committee and that is me and we where are we right now we had our first read tonight and of the um the school climate survey and we are going to have a second read next month and we are also waiting this month to revisit the civility policy
142I think that's it is there anything I'm forgetting Lisa no nope okay we're good there um next comes Safety and Security committee that is Michael but David do you want to hop in yes um so we had our monthly meeting we uh talked a little bit about some of the initiatives Jim has now been here I believe six weeks and he's um in the midst of completing kind of an audit which is something that a lot of the community members asked for they said hey we had an outside audit done well Jim is as outside as they can be and he's now inside so Jim is going through an audit and in and uh I think it was two I'm losing track of my today's Monday Thursday of last week I don't even know what
143day of the week it is Thursday of last week I believe it was we had a meeting here at uh Middle School people come out meet Jim Captain melli was here um it was decently attended and I believe next week uh we have the same type of get together with the PTO um but it's been it's been a good subcommittee excellent do you happen to know the date of the whs PTO meeting that they're going to be when is it sorry the 26th okay excellent all right fantastic um the last one is mine and that's the Western Education Foundation they are very busy right now uh doing a few things one is they are in the process of taking submissions for um for awards that they give the for both uh for teachers and also
144they are working on um their awards for students but in addition to that they are also in the midst of um uh planning their fundraiser which is currently scheduled for it's going to be a trivia night that's currently scheduled for Saturday May 17th at the field Club so so that's pretty much what's going on at the Western Education Foundation um I think that wraps everything up our next scheduled meeting for the board of education is on April 21st uh starting at 7 o'clock it's going to be on Zoom so with that uh if there's nothing else can I have a motion to adjourn all right all second there we go thank you very much everyone this is not a uh this is not an easy meeting but I appreciate everyone being here and participating and
145I'm looking forward to smoother meetings in the future thank you