001Let's call the um Thursday, February 5th, 2026 Wilton Board of Education regular meeting to order at 7:01. Um is there a um has everyone had a chance to review the agenda? I would like to ask for a motion to um move change the agenda to remove um to move item E3 ELA update K5 to the first slot. um ahead of our budget deliberations. >> So move. >> Thank you, Pam. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Lori. Um all in favor. >> I >> motion carries unanimously. Um is there a motion to approve the budget? The budget agenda. See what's on my mind. Let's go. Just keep up with it. Right. >> Is there a motion to approve the agenda as amended? So move. >> Thank you, Lori. Is there a second? Thank
002you, Mark. All in favor? >> I motion carries unanimously. Um comments from the public. Um, the board has set aside time at the beginning and end of regular meetings for public comments for members of the school of the public to share their views on matters involving the Wilton public schools and then to help inform the board's decisions on such matters. Two minutes will be allotted to each speaker and a maximum of 15 minutes to any one subject. For the record, please also give your name and address. The board considers the views of citizens in its deliberations and welcomes and appreciates public comment. The board listens to public comment thoughtfully and with interest. The board, however, generally does not respond to public comment during board meetings by offering commentary or answering questions. The board also invites
003commentators and the public to contact the board or the superintendent directly with any specific questions or comments. The board through the chair and the superintendent may respond to questions and comments offered during public comment or shared directly and in responding may also direct members of the public to the appropriate staff member for a response. Are there any comments from the public? >> Thank you. Um consent agenda. Um on the consent agenda are the minutes from the BOE regular meeting of January 8th. the BOE workshop of the 15th, the business operations um committee meeting of January 15th, the BO BOE workshop of January 22nd, and the BOE workshop of January 29th. Has everyone had a chance to review the consent agenda? Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Salute. >> Thank you, Mark.
004Um any discussion, questions? >> No. >> Um is there um a second? >> Second. Thank you, Pam. All in favor? I motion carries unanimously. Um board chairs report. Um I just want to welcome everybody. Um we survived that first round of snow and we're well into budget season. Um although it may never go away. Um on January 5th, Kevin presented his proposed fiscal year 27 budget. Um we held three since then we've held three budget workshops where each cost center discussed the budget requests and priorities and answered board questions. Um board members also submitted written questions and information requests. Those questions and answers were documented and are publicly available with tonight's board meeting materials and will also be on the website. Um during tonight's meeting we will recap the workshops and questions and um further
005deliberate. There will be a joint meeting with the board of finance on February 10th um which is um next Tuesday um slated to begin at 7:00 and location um is still be to determine whether it'll be here or over at Comstack but Comtock but most likely here and we'll get that information out to you by end of day tomorrow. Um our um final deliberations and a budget vote is scheduled for February 26 at our regular meeting. Um throughout the budget process, the board relies on stakeholder input and we invite and welcome public participation. Um the budget documents including Kevin's presentation, the budget book, class size report, enrollment report and projections and also that question document are available on the website. Um, and we ask that if you have any thoughts or comments or questions to
006please email the board at boewillps.org. Um, the board of finance has a special meeting scheduled for February 19th and a regular meeting scheduled for March 10th. The public hearing on the BOE budget is scheduled for March 25th and that's always at 7 o'clock at Middle Brook. Um, the board of finance has set its budget deliberation meeting dates for April 1st, 2nd, and 3d as necessary, and bonding projects will be presented at the BOF regular meeting scheduled for April 7th. Um, the deadline for the BOF to recommend a budget to the annual town meeting is April 15th. And um the fiscal year 20 um 27 annual town meeting is set for Tuesday, May 5th with a journ vote in following the meeting on Saturday, May 9th. Um I would also like to note that last night
007the Wilton Capital Planning Committee came to consensus recommendations for the board of selectmen on bonded capital projects. Of the 14 possible projects, the BOE projects were ranked number one through five and seven um and include moving forward with the standard roof replacement schedules and Middlebrook improvements and cider bill envelope work. Finally, I would also just like to take a minute to thank Kevin and his staff for all their hard work getting to guidance and helping us through our questions and deliberations. I don't want to discount the choices made and the requests deferred to arrive at where we are successfully balancing cost with opportunity and performance. So, thank you um for your hard work. It's two years now that we've managed to come into guidance and I know that um saying that sometimes rolls off the
008tongue and we forget the work that goes behind it and the choices that are made and the deliberations to get there. And um so I just want to um thank everybody at the table and behind the scenes that you know all of our goals is really you know what's best for kids and um we work really hard to together to all try to get there. So thank you. >> Great. Thanks. Um thank you. I have three items. Um first um we haven't been together in this setting since Miller Middlebrook had its science fair. And so I'd like to congratulate Jory um all of those students who participated, the staff who supported them, the families who supported the kids that participated. Um it was really just another high watermark type of event. Um I had a
009couple of observations as I was um visiting last night and chatting when I was there and chatting with kids. Um one, I think we had um greater participation this year than I'm seeing in in recent years. Um and two, the the level of sophistication in the research questions kids were posing um was uniformly high. Um there was uh many outstanding projects. One caught my eye. Um that project was entitled um malnutrition on the human brain and body. Um put together by two eighth graders, Yustinia Finsky and Taylor Henning. Um, so after meeting with them that night, um, I was immediately thinking that they needed to be in front of Senator Cece Maher, um, who represents us and chairs the children on the committee on children, um, at the state house. And so that happened today.
010And so um, Cece, you know, very graciously carved out 45 minutes um before running up to the capital uh, to spend time and hear um, their presentation. Um if you're following the governor's um proposals, he is proposing again um free, you know, funding free breakfast and lunch for all Connecticut children. Um there was quite an obvious tiein here. And so um Senator Maher is hoping that when this committee um holds public hearing, these two young ladies will come up and um testify in front of the committee. And so, you know, we'll try to facilitate that happening uh later on in the springtime. But, you know, really terrific work all the way around. Um and you know they you know like their peers um were just exceptional in the quality of their research and um certainly
011in the quality of their presentation. Um I mentioned it um to Maria as well. Maria chairs our local nutrition committee and she said when can we see them and so >> make that happen also um probably before they get to go testify up in Hartford. Um so >> good practice run. It is and they they've just you know lot they've got a lot of ideas and you know some very practical ideas to you know particularly in thinking of how we engage with Charwells and um how we might better promote um you know students here you know making better more nutritional choices as they're you know working through our lunch lines. Um so that was a real um high point. Um, I want to share with you, um, we reviewed, um, some of the town budget,
012um, when it was published earlier this week, and we noted a discrepancy. Um, in our budget, we, um, contribute $30,000, um, to offset part of Jeff Bardau's salary. Um, in the Selectman budget, that line was at 50. And so, I wrote to them um, last night. we'll be able to um speak with um Tony tomorrow when we meet at noon um and just ask ask them to make the correction. Um and then the last piece um when we were together earlier this year and I presented to you the um proposals for um the bonding proposals for addressing various um pieces of our building, um I suggested that you know we look for um some project management guidance. And so, um, today Lori, Ruth, and I met with Kier's project management leadership group. Um, two of
013the representatives who are currently working across the border in Weston. Um, I think they had been in Darian, they're also working in Westport. Um and so that conversation was really really insightful and um you know I kind of feel committed whether it's colleagues or somebody else um buying some expertise to help guide these processes I think is going to be very important for us and just in an hourong conversation um you know they reminded me of all the things that we don't know about how intricate this process is specifically when um you know you're looking for state reimbursement for bonds and so you have some thoughts you want to share but that was it was a very productive conversation. >> It was just extremely enlightening because we sit at the table and we talk about
014doing projects or what we would like our buildings to look like, but what it actually takes to get there is just a completely um different world and a different process than I've ever um encountered or um been involved with and even just different from just facilities maintenance um the just a general kind of upkeep um world. And when we're talking about committing the types of resources that we are thinking of and that we need as a town, um it's really important that you know you uh you know measure twice and cut once. So um I think this this um is fills a gap that um will be welcome for for everybody as we get going on these things and also just build confidence around um around where we want to go and and how we
015get there. Is this just helps with the process or this helps with the money that maybe the state potentially would contribute or all of that? >> Yeah, the the entire process and you know these guys can can speak to it but um you know what what they they'd like to begin with districts really at the strategic planning phase and with all of the the resources and expertise they have. They kind of help you scope out what your project is. you know, look at all of the, you know, various considerations that might be part of that. Um, help you walk through the considerations of how you set up, you know, bond proposals and phase it. Um, and then, um, again, if you're looking at pursuing state reimbursement, um, you know, that's a pretty and complicated process
016and so they have a lot of expertise there, too. And >> so, this is another layer on top of Eric Kairen's. So this would be Eric Hire and then this would be >> yeah I would consider it almost project management right so they're they're considered like an owner's rep so they were an advocate on behalf um at the early stage you know would be the boardification and if we you know where the project got to any point where you know it's kind of handed over the town through a building committee then at that point the town would have to decide if they wanted to continue with this kind of partnership or you know take it on differently. >> Yeah. Sounds like a wonderful idea though. >> Yeah. But it it what was enlightening to me
017is if you don't set it up right up front then you can lose opportunities right >> down the line in terms of like state reimbursement or setting yourself up for a productive well-managed and you know efficient project and so um laying that groundwork it it's just way much more intricate than I had envisioned. Well, we keep, you know, researching and looking forward to that. >> That's all I have. >> Oh, okay. Um committee um updates. It's been a while since we um had committee updates at the table. So, I know that policy has met and business operations have met. Um the last time um policy met was on um December 19th. Um and um at that meeting it was um Kevin and myself. Um we called to order a little after six o'clock. Um we
018reviewed and we reviewed and discussed two three four um five different policies. Um, one is, um, educational opportunities for military children, which you'll see as a first read on tonight's agenda. Um, the second one that we looked at was school library materials. Um, and um, we reviewed um, that policy. Um, we did put it on um tonight's agenda, but after further reflection, we're um I'll make a motion later later to to table it that it still needs a little bit of clean up and legal um review and and and and an appendix. Um we looked at um parental access to curriculum materials and that needs additional revision and legal review before it comes to this table. Um we looked at policy 6148 completion rates of the free application for student aid FA. Um this is
019um coming from state legislative requirement. Our policy still tracks the state legislative requirements um and is um in effect. So um it'll um we decided to keep um keep it as it stands. Um then we looked at policy um 514412 challenging behavior prevention um and um we reviewed it again and it is back on our agenda tonight for a second read under um discuss and approved and it tracks um required legislative language. Um and then we adjourned a little bit at business operations. Yes. Patrick and I um are members of the business operations committee along with Kevin and two members from the board of finance, Kimhil and Prasad Ayair. We've met twice. Our first meeting was on January 15th at 7:30 a.m. and Kevin presented the superintendent's proposed bud budget and gave the board of
020finance opportunity to ask questions. Um that was the crux of that meeting. Patrick, I wish you got something something else. And then today we met at 7:30 to um discuss a number of um issues. The 2027 superintendent's budget we um looked at again though it was much more brief. Uh we talked about the board of ed bonded capital which Ruth had mentioned um as to where our priorities lie lied laid and we also talked about contracted services that were up pending which are phones um the school nurse uh contract and copers and Kevin we feel that there's going to be a save on the whole nursing agreement as it's going to go out to RFP and then last but not least we talked about the van purchase proposal which um a second van which we've
021talked about quite a few times and that represented Kevin presented the documents that represented a $30,000 save um by utilizing that and consolidating some runds and that was our second meeting. >> Thank you very much. >> Um any um questions for um myself or Lori on the committee updates? >> Thank you Lori. Thank you. Um so um now we'll move into the ELA correct ELA um update um K through five and Karen and friends are going to join us at the table. Rosemary and Sue, thank you. Lovely to see you tonight. Thanks for having us. >> Hi everybody. >> Thanks. >> All right. So, we're here tonight to share a kindergarten through fifth grade update on the implementation of the EL education curriculum. Um, I'm going to bring you I have some data points scattered
022throughout my evidence-based observations. So, I'm going to be pretty text dependent. I promise you that the colleagues I brought with me are very talented and will add all of the color and experiential um stuff for you if you just hang with me for a few minutes. Um this is Rosemary Rich. She's our very talented humanities coach at Miller Driscoll. And this is Susanna Prada, one of our h um humanity coaches at Cider Mill. Our primary goal this year has been to create a systematic transition from learning to read to reading to learn. And we have a lot to celebrate in that vein. Um we're seeing a lot of student agency in our work. students are taking ownership of their expertise that they're learning in modules in knowledge block as well as um they're very highly
023invested in the high quality work in both skills and all block. We're seeing so much vocabulary in context. Kids are using tier one and tier 2 domain specific vocabulary, academic vocabulary, not only in the classroom but at recess. Earlier in the fall, one fifth grade class resolved a conflict in the cafeteria referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights um by section. Um and that's pretty cool. >> Um and all of our students are engaging with the same highquality text to promote grade level thinking and that's been really exciting to watch. We're also very proud um of the elevated um roles our teachers are stepping into um beyond facilitating tasks and now facilitating inquiry. That's also been just a delight to see. At middle at Miller Driscoll, we're seeing a significant lift with our youngest
024learners in kindergarten. We saw a 12% jump in proficiency compared to this time last year. It's important to remember that our kindergarteners take the winter map. It's their first assessment of the year. So, this isn't a compare a growth comparison. We're compar comparing that proficiency rate to the proficiency rate of a different group of children last year. Um, but it's encouraging nonetheless. This tells us that the foundational skills component of EL is hitting the mark. Our first grade results are particularly extraordinary. Not only did proficiency rise to 83% this winter, but as a cohort, our first graders are growing at a rate of 225% of the projection growth projection met. That means that they're growing at a rate of about they're on track to grow at a rate of about two and a quarter years.
025Um so that's very exciting for us. Um this demonstrates that the curriculum is not just accessible, but it's also accelerating learning across the board. Our year 2 implementation efforts, that would be for second grade and third grade, have really been aimed at facilitating some crossbuilding collaboration, getting into each other's classrooms and examining practices that will grow across years for kids. All three grades at Cider Mill are tracking to make more than a year's worth of growth this year. At the 35 level, we're seeing the impact of the EL modules, the deep dive units where students become experts on specific topics. Fifth grade is leading the way with 78% proficiency this winter as measured by the NWEA MAP. They're showing particular strength in navigating complexformational texts, which is a core component of the EEL education curriculum.
02686% of our fifth grade ELA classrooms are tracking to make between a year and a half and three years worth of growth this year. So, it's quite impressive. Where we're really seeing the fruits of our labor in grade four is with vocabulary. With a 74% proficiency in this domain, our students are not just reading words, they're building the specialized language needed for complex academic work. This is a critical foundation for the deeper research projects that they will experience across grades in the EEL modules. Grade three proficiency has been anchored a bit by um the independent reading proficiency that students came in with. Our beginning of the year dibbles data indicated that about one-third of the grade level had substantial unsecured phonics learning. The third grade curriculum expects this learning to be secured for most students.
027With the teacher boot camp led by another talented humanities coach at CiderMill, Lisa Riley, um third grade teachers um learned to implement the grade 2 phonics curriculum and as a result, third grade teachers were able to increase the number of students demonstrating success with their foundational skills to 77% um as of the middle of the year Dibbles window, which closes tomorrow. We are building momentum though in the middle of the year doubles window which again closes tomorrow. 84% of this year's second graders are on track to secure the alphabetic code by the end of the year. So that's we're in a much better place this year as we move into year three of implementation. The NWA data also helps us pinpoint where we can lean in. In grade two, we're really paying close attention to
028the transition transition between the NWA K2 assessment and the NWA25 assessment. This is a critical year where the reading tolearn shift happens. Um, we're using this data to provide targeted interventions and language comprehension to ensure no student falls behind during that bridge year. Grade 2 is a pivotal bridge um as students transition from foundational decoding to deep comprehension. To ensure we're measuring their progress accurately, we are re-evaluating our criteria for when students move from the K2 assessment to the 25 NWA assessment. Historically, we've relied on um the previous guidance from NWA, which was students would be ready to move to the 25 assessment when they hit the 190 RIT score. Um that's like a growth chart for kids no matter their age. It tells us what they're capable of reading independently. Um new guidance from
029NWA was published last February, however, so we're shifting our approach a bit. Rather than a single RIT score, we will look at the NWA recommended RIT in conjunction with the Dibbles data. By using Dibbles as a primary indicator of a student's readiness to read independently, we can more confidently moves more students to the 25 assessment. This allows us to capture a more accurate picture of their progress within the EL curriculum and with grade level standards and to ensure our interventions are precisely targeted to their needs. So overall the data suggests that the implementation is um working. We're feeling pretty successful at the moment. We aren't just seeing typical growth in many pockets. We're seeing aspirational growth ambitious growth. However, data only tells part of the story. While these MAP scores provide a qual quantitative temperature
030check for our progress, the true impact of the EEL education is best seen in the daily interactions between our teachers and our students. To understand how these numbers translate into actual literacy habits, how our students are grappling with complex ideas and finding their voices as writers, I've asked the instructional coaches to bring some anecdotes forward. They spend their days in our classrooms side by side with the teachers and they can provide the color um to fill in kind of the gaps in this aerial overview that I've given you. >> Um so I'm going to pass it off to Rosemary. You want to fill us in on the word for school? >> Absolutely. Happy to. Thanks for having me. Okay. So one of our most high leverage instructional practices for both decoding or reading and encoding
031or spelling is called syllable sleuth. And of course, because we're a pre-K to2 school, we have to make everything joyful and engaging. So, we utilize tools like little magnifying glasses. We talk about what a sleuth is. We get some vocabulary in, even just the name of the instructional practice. And what's great about this instructional practice is that students are using their knowledge of the six syllable types. Don't worry, I won't quiz you later, but maybe this will be on your aame. There are six different syllable types, and it helps students to be able to read words that they don't know automatically, as well as write words that they don't know automatically. So, we teach them this practice of looking for the vowels, marking them, looking for the consonants in between. There's a whole lot I
032can go into that I will spare you from at this moment. Um, but we teach them how to do this so that again if they're coming to a multi-slabic word that they don't know automatically, they are able to read them and decode them and then of course use the same technique to help them write them. So they rely on what they learn about principles of syllable division to go ahead and read and write these words and they become pretty um empowered to do it. So I'm going to give you a little example. Okay, follow me with your eyes. Okay, I'm going to put a word up naturally. You know it, but don't say anything. I'll say it to you. Like I said to the students, if you want me to know you know it, you
033can give me a thumbs up. I work with predicated too. Humor only with your eyes and not with your body. >> I just can't help it. I love it. Okay, so if a first or second grader or kindergartener for that matter didn't know this word, the instructional practice would have them look for the dow vowels and mark them. Some people do dots under the vowel, some people do a V for, you know, vowel. Doesn't really matter. And then they look to see how many consonants are in between the vowels. Now the rule is, and again I won't get into the minutiae about it. If there are two consonants in between the two vowels, you first attempt to split the word in between those two consonants. So, of course, I have my two consonants. I apologize
034if you can't see it well. And then we would teach the kids. Okay, now read this word. Now, because they've learned the principles of syllable division, they would know how to attempt this word first. Because there's a consonant closing in that vowel. This is a closed syllable, which means the vowel is going to make its short sound. And if you're not familiar with that, I will say it in this. So, then the kids will say, okay, this part is d. I know it's not dice because the consonant after the vowel is indicating to me that I need to try the short vowel sound first. And then when they look here, they're gonna say, "Oh, actually this is a vowel team and I know the ai a y together makes the a sound. So therefore, I
035know that this syllable or part says may." And then they can go ahead and put the whole word together. So again, for us, we don't have to think about such things. But when you're a kindergarten, first or second grader who's learning how to read and write multi-selabic words, this is really impactful and effective. And again, there are six different syllable types. So there's kind of a lot of criteria that goes into this. But this is just one example. And I'll give you another example. I'll write it bigger. >> So explain the explain the short vowel between two consonants. How did how did they figure that out? So if there are two consonants in between two vowels or vowel teams or arent vowel any kind of vowel pattern the the rule is to try and split
036the syllable meaning the part right this is the first part of the word and I know that I'm going to try the I sound for I as opposed to I because the consonant is there and the consonant closes in that vowel sound. Some people say it closes the door. The point is it it's called a closed syllable type and a hallmark of a closed syllable type is it's going to have a short vowel sound. So I'm going to read it that way. Now here this word isn't as friendly maybe, right? There's only one consonant in between the two vowels. So again, students would mark those vowels and they're going to say, "Oh, now there's only one consonant in between the vowels. What am I to do?" Don't worry, they know because we teach them. So
037they're going to try this first. They're going to try splitting the word in between the first vowel and the first consonant. And what this does is make this an open syllable type, meaning the vowel is going to make its long sound. So instead of ah, it's going to say o. So they're going to say, "Okay, chances are this part is row." And then I know this part is bot because again it's a closed syllable because a consonant is there making the o say it's short sound. So I have an open syllable, I have a closed syllable, and now I can read the word robot. Okay? And there's a lot that goes into it. >> And you when you go into classrooms, you will literally see and hear kids syllable sleuththing it up. I've made that
038a word, so you know, don't judge me. >> They tap it out, they sleuth it out, they do all >> absolutely do. And again, there's more strategy and technique to it, but just as like a cursory overview. Um, and you'll go in and kids will be using it. And then we teach the kids, don't worry because I know you're talking about budget. We say, "Okay, but you can't really write in a book. So here's what you do. Like you can use your fingers and you can cover part." And then they use this to help them. and it's really impactful. It's really effective. Um, most of the kids across the grades are pretty proficient at it at any level and then they certainly are able to help their peers and then you can do some kind
039of reverse work to help you with it on the encoding side and they really like it. So that's one of our high leverage strategies um to help with decoding and encoding. And then another portion of our skills block which addresses foundational skills is centers. So the kids are in small groups based on data and they rotate around through four different centers. And the centers are writing, fluency, um air or independent reading with some accountable um elements to that and then word work or word study. And so the kids move around to these different centers and they're collaborating, they're actively thinking, they're engaged and all in service of working on the phonetic skills that they need to master both on the decoding side and on the encoding side. And this also includes high frequency words. So
040the kids love that. And oftentimes when the slide comes up indicating where the kids are going to go rotating through their centers that day, there's like a yes in the room because they're excited about which center they're going to first. And then conversely, there's also like the I wanted to go to XCenter first. Um but they love it because they're purposefully engaged and it it allows them to have a lot of repeated um deliberate practice. And then on the knowledge block side which is you know where we work on speaking and listening reading comprehension vocabulary and a couple of other things vocabulary is a really vital element and students build their background knowledge on a content related to their module. So whether it be humanities based or STEMbased um and then they utilize readalouds to
041build their background knowledge and vocabulary comes up in those readalouds and students have multiple opportunities to be exposed to both domain specific vocabulary, academic vocabulary and then they're able to show their knowledge of employing that vocabulary in a variety of just different settings which is a great aspect of the program. So whether they're, you know, having partner talk or a little science talk where they're talking with a small group of their peers around a particular topic they're learning about, they also write using these words. And again, you hear it kind of across the day. So there are multiple opportunities and we're really seeing it show up. Um they even take notes sometimes during the interactive readaloud and oftentimes, especially in K&1, the kids will sketch for their notes, but then we encourage them to label
042as well. And we're seeing um kids use the vocabulary pertaining to the topic. So in first grade recently they were learning about sun, moon, sun, moon and stars and they were learning about phases of the moon and so gibbus and waxing and waning among a host of other terms were in there and you know it is first grade so kids are approximating and they're like the gibious phase or the you know but again they're trying to command that vocabulary. They know what it means. They're just working on the pronunciation. Um, and then in second grade recently, one of the books that they were reading in their current module about rights for all abilities, um, had a metaphor in it, and it referred to a character as a kaleidoscope, and then as a sentence went on,
043it said they were a tangle of colors. And so obviously that's more on the academic side. And students were recognizing metaphors across the day over the next couple of days in different settings, you know, even in math. I don't know how that happened, but I'm the LA person. Um, but the point is it's carrying over. So, those are some little antidotes to kind of bring some of this to life for you. >> Thank you so much. >> Sure. >> And now at 35, Sue's got some um experiences to share as well. >> So, I'm thrilled to be able to tell you these two stories because I've been telling them to everybody who will listen. So, I'm glad that I'm here now sharing them with you. Um so, the two stories I'm going to share with
044you are cute, but they're not just cute. Um they're also early indicators of a curriculum that's working. So, as I'm telling you this, I just want you to keep that part in mind. Um, so the first one I call the popcorn story. I've titled it. Um, and this one happened in fourth grade. And our fourth graders are in their second year of, um, the program, but our teachers are in their first year of implementation. So, um, in this fourth grade classroom, uh, a teacher and I were working on an editing lesson, and there's a segment of the lesson where, uh, kids were asked to compare, uh, sentences. So there was sent uh the first uh sentence or the first um item they needed to compare were were actually two independent clauses. So sentence period sentence.
045The second example was same two sentences but joined together uh with a coordinating conjunction but we didn't tell them that. We just put the two examples on the board. Um and part of the program asked kids to read think talk right. That's the cycle that we use to to for instruction. And so we just asked, "Read these two and then we want you to think uh which sample flows better." Uh and why would the author choose one over the other? Um and so the kids talked it out. Um and when it came time to share, one student uh raised his hand. Lots of students raised their hand, but one in particular, uh, we got to him and he said, "The second one flows better because the author used a coordinating conjunction to join the sentences
046and then he used a comma to separate the ideas." Um, and so at that point, the teacher just looked at me, stopped, looked at me, jaw to the floor, and then she looked at the student and she said, "Where did you learn that?" because there was nothing on there was nothing on the walls that said coordinating conjunction or definition. That's where we were going with it. Um, and he said, "I learned we learned it last year in Mrs. Le Moy's class." And I call this the popcorn story because when that student said that, another student said, "Oh, yeah." And then another student said, "That's right. In so- and so's class." And it was like watching little kernels of popcorn pop just expanding across the room. And one after another, the kids were naming teachers, naming
047when, naming how um they learned about coordinating conjunctions the year previous. Um and so this story is really the story of like the power of coherence of a program. Um, we've I I taught middle school and if my middle schools my middle schoolers that I taught for 20 years said what that kid said, I would have been so overjoyed. And there's a fourth grader um doing this kind of thinking. Um, and it just really illustrates the vertical tower of knowledge that kids are building from year to year and that it's sticking um and it's coming with them and they're bringing it to the table so that they can deepen um their understanding from year to year. So um that's my first story. Um and then my second story that one happened in knowledge block. This
048second story is uh happened in all block and allblock is the differentiated um portion of the program. Uh it has five components. Um it has reading fluency, grammar usage and mechanics is one station. Um uh additional reading uh with complex text is another writing practice, vocabulary and word study and then air which is um accountable independent reading. So, in this fifth grade classroom, I was working with a teacher on building student agency in accountable independent reading. And so, we just asked them to think and talk about how we could grow as readers in accountable independent reading. When they're reading their own texts, what what is the type of thinking work that they could do? They're doing a knowledge block that they could bring to the table with their books. Um, and one student in that
049space proposed that the class could improve their skills by mining their own texts uh for complex sentences to create language dives for each other. So, just to give you a little background, if you don't know what language dives are, they're really one of the hallmarks of Yale education. And um a language dive is an instructional routine where the teach the usually the teacher has a sentence, they break it up into chunks uh and they use an instructional routine where they deconstruct the sentence by part um and analyze it for structure, for meaning and purpose. And then they reconstruct and they sometimes sort of are playful with it. So they might play a what if game. What if we take this part of the sentence and moved it up here? How does it change the meaning?
050Um, and in this case, the student thought, well, we could do that with our own books. We could pick um select sentences and then we could do it with our friends. So, that student actually inspired the teacher and I to try it out. And so, now we're uh actually trying studentled language dives. Um, so we'll see how that goes. But, um, that story really highlights how the program really empowers kids, um, to be architects of their own learning. Um and um when you zoom out a little bit um cuz these stories are kind of zoomed in but when you zoom out just the quality of the work that we are seeing the teachers and and I when we sit down together to really study either the performance tasks or the assessments the student work that
051we're seeing one of the questions we always or I always ask is how does this compare to where kids were last year? the work that you'd see last year. And every time, you know, teachers will say things like, "Kids weren't doing this either at all or not till the end of the year, and we're only in the the first half." So, um, I think it just really speaks to, um, how the curriculum is working in the classrooms. Um, and so that's how it's going. >> Thank you so much. >> Yeah. And if someone can come up with a good title for that fifth grade story, happy to take it. So questions. >> Independent architects. >> Yes. >> I'm writing it down. Next time I tell it, it's going to be called independent architects. >> Any
052questions? >> So I get paid the big bucks. >> Um I I just a general observation. I really um like I um I like these ideas that you all brought to the table about the power of coherence um especially because we had an ELA curriculum um review the other day and talked about moving forward with EL for sixth grade and made the decision to move forward with that um next year and to really see kind of like the vertical um articulation and integration um and progression I think is a is really um powerful and that teachers are feeling that too and there's momentum um behind that and I also like these you know the early indicators of a curriculum working because we are still early in this process and so there are going to be
053things that work and things that don't and being able to um come to tables and share what works and what doesn't and reconfigure how we move forward and making sure that our staff is supported in a way that um pushes things in in um the right the right direction I think is um has really been a hallmark of what's been going on over the last couple months and what I see with you all presenting today. So I think that also is really um powerful. Um and I like that you know that calling the MA the MAT test kind of like a temperature check that it is you know keeping also in mind that while these tests show us and help us move kids to a place that we want them to be, they're also a
054moment in a moment in time. And um and that also you know remaining perspective and in that way having an analytical approach but also uh a narrative and holistic approach um is something that I find really um amazing that's kind of going on throughout the buildings because I know doing anything new is not easy and it takes time and um we saw that with the math imple implementation of the math program as um as well but and really encourage that we're having these types of results and that people are feeling confident and and um starting to gain momentum around it. Um because um we we took a risk and sometimes risks are rewarded and um sometimes they're not. I mean it wasn't a blind risk. give it a well thoughtout risk, but at the same
055time um we took on something um completely, you know, new and different and um so thank you for um sharing that with us. I love the popcorn. >> I can't underscore enough how hard all of our teachers and our students are working in changing the way that they do school. So I that can't be underscored enough. So, um, they're working so hard and we're very lucky to have the instructional coaches as thought partners for them in this work. So, thank you. >> And the teachers seem to be enjoying or at least embracing pieces of it. Probably the struggle too, but there seems to be some kind of this this is working and this is something that's fun and engaging and we can make this work. >> I think any struggle is offset by the work
056that they're seeing the kids put out. Like every time we look at their the work that they put out, every time teachers are just awed, but they're in awe of what's of what the kids are doing. >> That's great. >> So, I thought you said they were odd like a new. >> This is amazing. Seriously. >> So, I mean, my one thought and piece is like I'm sitting you listening to you talk about the curriculum and and everything and there's this whole new language and vocabulary that, you know, parents are just completely I'm a parent. I have, you know, a sixth grader and I have a third grader and it's the language that they use around things is completely different from when I was taught to read or even when my eighth grader was taught
057to read. So there might be something about um you know providing some type of parental education or guidance along um what's what's going on because I know if you know if a child came home to me and said let's do you know um what would you call it a >> coordinating conjunction >> well I mean that one maybe I can figure out like a language dive you know or something like that I'd be like I I how do I help you the same way you know when they changed the way math was done and I'm like what do you mean you don't do long division that way? So, um, >> keep your eyes on parent square, too, because ahead of every module of how to help at home, um, letter goes home for caregivers, and
058it tells you what we're learning, what our guiding questions are, >> what the answers to those guiding questions are and some vocabulary, >> but even just, you know, like simple like cheat sheets, you know, kind of like, you know, these are, you know, you have one when you use Excel and like how you, you know, your code, you know. So I think that um to some extent I think that could go um a long way because it then it also keeps parents and kids engaged um with with each other. >> Thank you for that. >> if they share the language. >> Yeah. Yeah. And then it also helps teachers be able to communicate with parents about their kids, you know, progress or goals and things like that that um there's a shared um vocabulary. >>
059That's a fair point. It's a good tip. Um, so I really appreciate the anecdotal and the sort of example. Thank you. That was very helpful. I did have one question on the numbers that you presented. >> Sure. >> Because I heard something about like a map test that didn't go well. The the map results you talked through. Was that part of that administration or was that a different one? >> Driscoll did the middle school. >> Okay. Great. >> Wonderful. Um and then the the second thing um you mentioned that you're using you you talked about map growth K through two versus two to five. Could could I just ask like some as as the new guys still like um what's the distinction there right like like how do you decide you know which one since
060they overlap? >> Yeah. It really depends on whether or not the child can read the test independently. Do they have the phonics skills to be able to decode the question, understand the question, as well as the reading stamina to be able to read the passages completely independently? >> So I think as the >> if you could just take it a step back for him, one reads the questions and the prompts to you and one doesn't. >> That's where I was going next. >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> So that's the 25 test where the student is required to read the whole thing on their own. There are no earphones. There's no auditory support. the K2 assessment as the student um as that writ score that um growth chart as they move as they get taller with
061their reading skills it's released more and more for them to read. So around the 190 they're pretty much reading most of that test by themselves and that has been our metric for being ready to move to the test to the 25 test. Last February, NWA revised that guidance and they said most second graders with a few exceptions should be in the 25 test. So that's what we're grappling with now. >> Got it. When you say grappling with um what does that mean? >> What our criteria will be that will indicate that a student is ready to read that test independently without frustrating. >> So just another way of looking at it is we're going to assume that most second graders can take the two to five test. We're going to establish criteria for students who
062would be accepted from that. One of them would be if their RIT score was below 170 because they wouldn't be able to read the test. Students between 170 and 190, we're going to double check with other measures such as the dibbles to make a decision whether they would be accepted or not. And >> and when you make that, is that like a one time decision at the beginning of the year? Because you're using this test right to chart progress. We would look at every administration to decide what they would do the next administration. Correct. >> The recommendation from NWA is if in the 25 assessment they earn a RIT score below 270, they probably need to go back to the K2 test. >> Um, so you do have to there's a transition there that has
063to be carefully monitored. And all students in the K2 test, we're looking for growth as we move through the year. So that'll have to be reassessed ahead of each window. >> Got it. And but then you said that's you're grappling with that meaning that's not what you're doing today or that is what you're doing today. >> It's not what we're doing today but we're look we're in this new curriculum. So we were looking for what the NWA recommendation was not to rely only on a RIT score but to use curriculum based measures as well. So we've really been taking a look at which curriculum based measures we were going to use and we were kind of waffling between those but we decided the most objective measure would be the um dibbles and looking at the
064composite score as being meets or exceeds benchmark. >> Got it. So I mean and clearly the sort of essence of this is like I'm just trying to figure out like as you're as you're assessing is this curriculum working and you're seeing these differences between second grade and third grade like to what extent are the measures comparable through time. Um >> the RIT score transcends both well those tests the 68 test um so the writ that writ measure transcends the test um >> format >> thank you the test format um so it does give us a pretty good indication where they will be adding in that dibbles measure is going to help us determine how they're well they're reading independently and our kids right now are soaring in the 25 test which is a pretty good
065indication that we set that bar a little too high. We shouldn't be seeing 97% of those kids knocking that assessment out of the park in the first goound. Um, that means they probably could have moved to it sooner. We need to see them grappling with complex text at grade level so that we know what they're ready to learn next and we know how to intervene if they're not there yet. >> So, it sounds like and just to set this or play back I guess what you told me what you said earlier is a going forward your your view is you're going to move Presumably, you're figuring this out now for next year. Is that a fair statement? >> Yeah. And I think that we may be able to make some adjustments for the last um
066the spring administration of this year as well. >> Got it. And and would you be concerned about making those adjustments again relative to like your ability to have a data set that you can rely on? >> No, I'm not concerned about that. We've been adjusting um students in the second grade window between the K2 and the 25 test for the last two years. Um, so they're growing into the 25 test, so to speak. >> Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt that. I >> I did I had kids and I didn't know that that two five difference was read to you versus >> Yeah. >> You know, >> well, the important point that Karen made is it's not just always read in the K to2. >> It's a gradual release. and that I I didn't know
067that it was the gradual >> uh gradual release even. So, >> but you did know that you had to buy headphones every year. Um that's why you do the you know the supply backs because they just >> um any other um questions or observations for >> great congratulations exciting >> thank you everyone you know of pass your our thanks to your colleagues as as well across the schools. >> Yeah they deserve it. >> Yeah. Yes. Okay. >> Send Pam the cheat sheet for the six types of syllables. >> I know. Who knew that? >> You know, honestly though, it's incredible because you could ask a sixth grader and they'll teach a second grader and they'll teach it to you. Like they'll go through the rules with you. It's really >> I know. But that's just
068First of all, I was thinking that's a lot of rules. >> Yeah. I mean there there seem to be a lot of rules to that >> and we just do it automatically and we don't even know we never have like named the rules. >> Yeah. >> Oh that's English for you. >> Yeah. >> Well that's a visual learner as opposed to an auditory learner. >> Um let's move to some um budget savings and a van purchase. >> Uh did you want to do the budget deliberation? >> Oh we Oh, I'm sorry. I was going through the reordering of the scale. Yes. Okay. Um let's do budget deliberation workshop recap and budget questions. Um so um we had three workshops the 15th, the 22nd and the 29th and they went through each class center. Um and
069we're going to have some um board members give us recaps of each of um the workshops to kind of um engage us all in a discussion and um highlight um what was happening across the workshops and um we can start with um the January 15th. >> You want to go first? >> Please start. >> Do you want us to go school by school? um however you you know if you want to do in the order that it went through that um first workshop was you know military school >> those are the budgets that I looked at mostly >> you know from a just an overview they they certainly >> um presented thoughtful budgets that really were were pretty empas emphasizing professional development and a lot of sort of in in the weeds kind of learning
070for the for the staff all three schools schools seem to really value more professional development, more learning about what what their work is. And I I thought that was a really smart thing for them to do if they're doing the um Middle Brook is doing executive functioning and there's a Norton Gillingham teacher coming to Middle School and Cider Mill is doing a lot of sort of EL work. I I was very impressed with the thought that these teachers are going to get what they need to do their work. And so they all came in budget. They all were um there's a DBT work being done in both Cider Mill and Miller Driscoll that probably is going to be helpful if not influential if not something pretty needed and pretty good I think. And so the
071the contract services I was looking at were the professional learning. There's an in what did I say for interpreters? Wait, the ESY? Is there an ESY? We've added a line in the budget for interpreters because we're required to provide interpreters for families who >> Yes. >> Um dominant language. >> No. Was not is not English. And I thought that was a pretty great thing to do. Pretty smart thing to do. >> We're required to. >> Yeah. Well, I'm sure. But >> you're fulfilling it. Well, >> yes, we're fulfilling. >> Okay. Yeah. The other thing that I noticed as a theme throughout the um preschools was a increased uh awareness of wellness and the need for um mental health support um in the lower grades. So that was encouraging to see that that was going to
072be addressed. Um I know Cider Mill really centered on facility infrastructure and specialized behavioral support. Those were their key factors and Middlebrook um had a mix of urgent facility repairs and deferral of some of the academic halls in order for everyone to come in uh under budget. Uh what else? >> You had to the the smallest increase was at me >> special in terms of >> Thank you for not >> that was the smallest increase. Well, and I don't know >> and no staff change, right? No staff change. >> No, no staff changes. >> Um Miller had um couple of staff changes start. >> They're bringing in um social worker support and who? One of your biggest expenses we noticed were your ELA textbooks and workbooks for this year. >> Yeah. So I think that
073was a theme throughout as well is in order to support some of these curriculums they need um materials >> every year. That's about it for the highlights. You good here? >> Yeah, got it all. Thank you. I'm glad about Doran Gillingham. I think that's a great that's a really great thing. Yeah. No, I mean I it's the combination of the Orin Gillahham and then um the BCBA at um at Ciderville and then um the pilot program at Miller Driscoll with the DBT and wellness. Um >> I actually looked at one of the videos for the DBT. They're quite engaging and and um I don't know I don't know how effective they are, you know, for the younger kids, but I did watch a couple and think that, you know, with enough support, it probably could
074be very effective for kids that are sort of unregulated or struggling with that regulation. >> It dubtales very nicely too with what the regular classroom teachers do with the everyday. >> Yeah. >> so all those words, you know, are translated from the to there. Yeah, I thought they were quite effective and and sort of cute and not ponderous, which could have happened. And I think one of the things that I also noticed is like to some extent the stability in this budget like some years we've come to and what's in the budget is in order to implement a new program and like this year I know Kathy and you know Janine I'm sure has said this too like can we have a year with nothing new >> like and to some and and I feel
075like this is um this year kind of represents a a a building year, a stability year of, you know, keeping resources at a place where we can keep um where we can keep um diving in further into the curriculum changes that we've already need and and stabilizing and growing without adding anything on top of it. So, um I know that that's something that at least I I appreciated um for this year. >> Yeah. >> Except for the new band. >> Well, that's you know outside of that's coming. >> Yeah, that's a cost. >> Can I just ask what a kitchen repair? All three budgets had a deferred >> in the the culinary kitchen in the the actual the kitchens that Tartwell use. Um some of the equipment's aging and so we started I think two
076years ago or three years ago we added um $10,000 across the kitchen across each school rather. Um, we lowered that a little bit this year because as part of the Chartwells contract, they're going to be um providing an infusion of like new or updated hardware um is >> part of their contract. >> Okay. >> Um Patrick Mark, >> yeah, >> take on the next workshop. >> Absolutely. Um, so we'll provide a readout of the January 22nd uh workshop which covered Wil High School, the athletics department and special education. Um, so Mark, I'll hit a couple of these if you want to talk to any of these as well, but I'll I'll give my thoughts first. Um, I'll actually start uh on the athletic department side. Um, so Bobby presented a budget um that represented uh
077you know an increase um in athletic department uh expenditure. Um I think first of all it was important and Bobby noted in his comments that you know 60% of high school students uh are participating in some form of programming from the athletic department. Um so it's one that serves a broad uh spectrum of of the student body. Um one key addition was the addition of boys varsity volleyball. um the choice there was also on the table of of adding JV uh as well that was deferred uh to subsequent years but um there seemed to be a lot of excitement and sign up and participation in boys volleyball. Um so that got added uh to the varsity lineup. Uh there was also some cost increase for uniform rotations. So they always try to replace some portion
078of the uniform inventory across sports. Um so this year I think it was lacrosse and golf were two of the sports that are seeing some uh uniform replacement. Um there's also some uh upgrades to some of the infrastructure specifically around uh some of the carts that they use on premises. Um we had a I remember had a good joke around the the cost of the batteries in each of those. Um, so I think those are some of the the larger uh cost drivers uh on the athletic side there on on in terms of like offsets. Um, I think Bobby broke the news that potentially we're bringing back the Thanksgiving football game um which Kevin learned as well in the moment which was fun. Um we're hopeful that that'll bring some more uh >> date revenues.
079>> Yes. >> Uh which could which should be good. Um I think were those were uh you know some of the key drivers. Um I think overall it represented a 4% increase uh to the to the athletic school budget to the tune of I think 75,000 if I have that number correct. Um yeah just just short of $76,000. Um there were also some other sports that are you know seeing some some slowdown in participation. Um, so there's going to be some, you know, careful deliberation or review of whether we continue to offer those sports or not. And some of those where the participation is declining are some of the more expensive to support. So there's going to be, you know, some some hard decisions and and discussions to be had there. Um, I think those
080were some of the highlights from the the athletic department. Anything else, Mark, that you recall? Anybody else on the athletic department side? No, I I think that it's great that we've gotten to a system of uh uniform rotation that has kind of been smooth and stabilized. So, you know, we're seeing very big spikes year to year and and that rotation has been um smoothed out. So, I think that that's um brought great stability and efficiency um to the budget. And I think this is the first year that I haven't um heard laments over the cost of transportation. Um, so I think that that that that that's kind of been um reconciled a little bit too. Those those both are welcome. >> Yeah. Other piece I would add like uniforms, Bobby also developed a a multi-year
081equipment um replacement schedule and so in addition to um doing with the golf purchasing um replacement track and field mats. >> Perfect. All right. So, we'll move on to the high school. Uh, so Dr. O'Donnell and and Mr. Keading uh covered everything for for the high school. Um, there, you know, that that budget, and I can't remember if this was broken out from the the athletic department, but between the athletic department and the high school, um, it's roughly 25% of the budget. Um, and so it's obviously a material portion. I think that and special educ special education are the two largest. Um, each at around a quarter of the budget. Um, so, uh, 4.65% 65% increase. Um you know a lot of you know cost increase in supporting some of the new or continuing uh
082some of the new um uh courses that were offered last year. Um so we're continuing to offer the audio production and podcasting. Uh there was a lot of interest from the student body in the Yukon ECE financial literacy program. Um so we'll continue to to fund those. Um it was also some financial literacy uh investment on on the uh just textbooks and material side and some of the two new technology getting adopted uh for some of the programming at the high school. Um I think besides programming and supplies um you know there were some offsets uh and some reallocation uh of of resources across different areas. I think one of the ones we spent uh time speaking about at the board table was just on the the uh addition of a new dean um to
083help uh with some of the uh uh assessments for some of the administration um because of the the kind of delineation and what uh folks who are part of the the uh non-administration can and cannot do with respect to to some of the teachers. So in terms of being able to uh uh uh assess them um so that's that was a a big priority that that uh Dr. O'Donnell Mr. Keing talked about um there was also an additional 0.1 FTE for uh preschool pair pair professional um and then also the attendance survey which was offset by uh the increase in paying for somebody to to the point to increase on the attendance secretary offset by uh overtime that would be avoided. um without having to pay somebody overtime to do that work. Um I think
084we you know from the discussion I think we talked a lot at the around the table around just uh overall enrollment trends we're seeing and how that should or shouldn't you know affect staffing increases uh and and you know cost drivers. Um you know I think we talked and and pushed a lot on cost avoidance. So, you know, for anything, we're increasing. How are we offsetting it? Either by reallocating resources or or line items or um I know Lori and I always ask about revenue drivers as well. Uh so, we're always always interested there. Um I think those were uh those are the the high points. Mark, anything else to add? >> And any other comments, questions? I hope I hope we did you proud on that one. >> Yes, great summation. And um just
085for clarity, the the dean is is a neutral, right? >> Correct. >> It's a reallocation. Yeah. And I know that um I think that's been a request that's come to this table almost every year that um I've been here. So >> I'm glad it happened. >> So um >> yeah. So it's it's great that we were we were able to um >> we're not done yet. Let's have our house people. So thank you. Well, that you were able to, you know, make it to this presentation point. >> Yes. >> Um, first hurdle. >> Yes, it is the first hurdle, not the last. >> Yes. Um, >> great. >> And I think the last area was special education. So, um, just over a 1% increase uh from the 26 budget. Um, I think the headline here
086is, you know, when we first started to review the information there, you know, there's a 4.4 4 FTE increase. Um I think once we dug in and really understood uh the cost offsets there. So if you look at a 1% increase relative to a 4.4 FTE ad um you kind of wonder where's the money coming from and really it was the offset in uh contracted services uh that we were able to reallocate those funds uh to to drive the the 4.4 FT increase. Um, and so I I know we talked a lot about making sure that for those that are watching or in the community, they really understand where the offsets are coming. Um, because I think if if uh if folks are only looking at one number and not the other. It's important to
087look at all of this in context. Um, and I know, you know, Melissa and the team were very thoughtful about how to how to make this all work. So, um, so we we spent a lot of time talking about that around the table and understanding really what those FTE ads were. uh were needed for some were for you know specific programming and and uh that was required. I think there was another um we needed there was a shared resource between um Genesis I think and the high school if I had that correct um and so we needed to make sure we we maintained uh 4.0 at Genesis and so we needed to uh bring the 1.0 over to to the high school or excuse me yeah I think to the high school. Um and then
088there was also I think 6 uh reduction across other roles. So I think the offset the 4.4 is net of you know adding five and and uh uh bringing things down by 6 FTE. Um and there was also some deferrals on uh social workers and additional prek uh support as well. >> Anything else you want to >> impressive big takeaways adding staff by decreasing contracted service. There you go. >> And one thing which is beyond the beyond the fact that it was the because we talked about reallocation in this case it did like bring bringing services inhouse >> in order to uh support what we think we need and get some cost benefit which I which I appreciate. Um I think the other thing that we heard about was moving when we were talking about
089shipping resources from building to building a lot of that was driven by the needs. I think you talked a lot about executive functioning and some of the challenges you've been seeing there and the need to continue that program into higher grades as the students uh roll up to those higher grades. So that was that was helpful. >> Yeah. No. Um the um the FTE ads, but is it you know reallocations? Is it positions? Is it actual new bodies? like working through all that can definitely be um confusing and and um challenging especially for those who don't um follow on a on a regular basis. So um um Patrick, thank I think you um you know gave a good summary and highlight of it and um I think that it'll be be kind of like up
090to us as we move forward and whatever our budget winds up being to make sure that we have um are able to provide um clarity >> around that um understanding and and story. And then I think also it is you know the reallocations as kids grow with programs and as those programs grow um with them even ac even even across across the board as we're seeing you know even with like CLA programs like all those different um changes as needs shift through through buildings and how we're um able to reallocate across resources across buildings. Um the final workshop was um a um a district um wide workshop and we talked about um the district office main office. We talked about facilities. Um we talked about technology from both um the curricular side and also from
091the infrastructure side. And um I think the main um highlights of from the um central office is um the change of moving to um what were we WA positions into WASA. So it's um moving curriculum coord coordinators into the administrative um office. Right now it's um reflecting two positions which is the curriculum um coordinator for um mathematics which is um K through 12 and then the um curriculum coordinator for the humanities K through um 8. Correct. Those two positions >> and that K8 position the humanities position would become a K12 position. >> Oh it would become a K12 position. So, um, so, um, that, um, dollar amount of $79,000 represents moving those two positions to not only have, um, um, from a 10-month position to a 12-month position. Um, so it'll be allow the, um,
092work to continue um, at a deeper level um, year round. It also provides for supervisory role and it also gives further vertical um integration between um for a full K12 um program. So, um I think especially as we see the changes that um we've made in our programs and our making and as we move towards um um um as we move towards um more complicated and um instructional practices, I think that um it's something that um you know as this board you know deliberates on it, it's um potential um I think it's is is merited as as something for us to to look at. Um we also should note that there was an increase of 47,000 um and change for um the one of the school resource officers. So um one of the resource officers
093lives on our budget and the other one lives in the town um budget. Um so we cover the salary. Um and now we will also be um covering their um health benefits and that's for >> it's the fully loaded cost. >> So it's the fully loaded cost now. Um and I think that um you know for I something that I've always kind of um quered about is our health costs our health costs are lower than the town's plan. So um that's something that you know leaves me questioning. Also, um we carry that resource officer um and pay their fully loaded class for a 12 month salary, but um they work as a resource officer for us only um 10 months out of the year. So, um I think it's something to um keep in mind
094and be thoughtful of is like we move forward, you know, with this this budget and other budgets um in terms of um looking at um um um costs. We've um made some changes in our finance department restructuring and that's an incre that um meets out to a $27,000 about change. Um the we're no longer sharing a CFO with um 10 and we have Laya in this new position. Um and we added a 6 um payroll AP um clerk and that's all um it's related to um our finance department efficiencies. Um, we had a decrease in contractual services. We had um an increase um repairs and maintenance and um in building um support for about $125,000. We um have four buildings and three of them are aging and their their systems are coming to end of
095life. And um while we are working, we talked about earlier about a larger facilities plan and while we're working to have a cohesive and comprehensive program to address some of these um as they um fall apart and need babysitting, you know, this is our our responsibility to make sure that um our buildings maintain maintain their safety and their their their health. Um but we have this great savings with BOE vehicles and we'll learn more about that uh in addition um later. Um, we went through um contract services and what the large contracts are in the district and um what um when they um their time frame and when they run um and what their um larger drivers are and when they're up for um renewal. So, you'll notice that the Novvice, which is the managed
096technology services, is the largest and it comes in over a little bit over $1.2 um million dollars. And that is all our technology infrastructure and the personnel associated with managing it. And then we have Chartworld um food services. We just um went out to RFP and had a revised contract with them and um that'll run 25 through 28. Um we just recently also um re-uped with STA Transportation after um u managing a um a cost project with that and a bidding process with that. And that contract will now run through 2030. And you see the new school buses on the road. Um this year um we um contract with Interstate Waste Services um for trash removal and the contract years um for that is 2328. Um for those who know it's was Oakidge and so
097now it's um Interstateway Services. There was there was a buyout in between then. So people are looking for contracts and names. That's that's a that's a change. Um we have um a contract for our copers that runs about $235,000 and that will be um up in 2027. And then we will be going out um to bid on waving um for nursing services. Currently um nursing services and for um I think at least the last 10 years or so have been um covered um um paid for through a line item in the on the town side of the budget. Um we've discussed over the last couple years about um moving that um line item over to the school side because most of the management of the the lives on um the school end and that um
098it would be worked as a considered a um just a um I guess you could call it just like a a line item swap. So it would be have a budget neutral um effect and we would go out to RFP and um for those services. But I do um expect that and I'm hopeful that when we go out to RFP we can come up with a a contract that's um more in our favor than the one that um we have um now. And then we carry two leases here. um our Genesis program which is currently at trackside for $120,000 and um the community steps which is in um has that lovely new space in town center and that runs it a little bit at um 6 um $6,000. Um we've seen some increases in um
099need for digital um um digital um services and digital leases. Um and we're u managing a curating process of those and some questions were asked about you know what um what licenses come in and what licenses come out and how we how we manage um that process and um I think that really um covers that that Um so I so I mean we've just kind of went through with all the different um cost centers. We've seen the major drivers. I think some of the the themes for um this year's budget, at least what for emerging for me, is that it's really a um a a stabilizing year and um it's a um a year of um really I think thoughtful um you make some thoughtful um ideas about how we reallocate our um our services
100and the resources that we have now. how we make sure that we're um as efficient as um we can be and keep on looking for um more efficiencies as we um move along. It's um you know it's a lot to digest all at at once and um I don't know if anybody um we can go through I don't know if anybody um there's the question document um it's available online you can see things um that um um members have asked looking at at um ideas from um enrollment to particular curriculum choices that are reflected in the budget um to um noting that um there was um a letting go of a summer program um that was not being um used to the efficiency and the utilization rate that would warrant maintaining it. Um so I
101don't know if there's any particular area that um um any particular question that you would like us to call out or discuss further or members want to um talk about um we can go around the table. people. >> Sure. Yeah. I think for me there's nothing in particular in that document and what I would just you know continue to offer as you are you know diving through the budget materials really two things as questions emerge please you know keep sending them and you know respond this process is intended to be um ongoing and then second this is our u first time using clear gov and so if you have thoughts about um you know how we might do a better job of presenting information more clearly or if there's information that's you know not present
102should be um anything on the documents would be helpful. um you know a couple of times tonight it was mentioned that it's important to really be clear about FTE allocation and offsets and so you know that was in my presentation it's here but listening um to the questions over the last 3 weeks um I mean it so it makes sense to me but if you're seeing it for the first time it takes a little bit to unpack and so if you have some recommendations about how we might be able to present that more cleanly for for yourselves for others who are you not going to do the same deep dive, then I I'd welcome them. >> Any other um kind of thoughts as um we move um forward? I think I mean from my from
103my perspective from my there are some things that I'm still you know looking at thinking about um you know marinating on. I think that um overall um it is uh thoughtfully put together and it advances um the priorities and the the goals as um we um laid out earlier in um the fall. And um I think that um there's still um you know there's still things that um are being deferred or things that are not being advanced that are that you know I'm sure that we would all like to um see and there are choices um to be made when you're um limited by with um your overall uh resources and Um so I invite any type of you know other thoughts or comments from other members around the table or observations. I mean one
104observation which is the point of the format it is far easier could be better but but far better than what it was in the past like already step forward. Um and and then um one thing that just I know like the governor just proposed his budget and he was talking about that and one of the things that was in it was uh universal breakfast >> and and I would just I think we should give some thought to like the implications. I don't know if that means we have to open school buildings earlier that has other implications for our district that we should raised it before. It has to get through there's no guarantee but it's like having some contingency plan would probably be worthwhile. >> Yes. >> Agree. It's that governor is not thinking about
105um you know that >> unfunded don't participate in the you know national school lunch program but yeah well noted >> or whether it'll be a fully funded endeavor. >> He's proposed 12 and a half million the state but >> it was an interesting idea. I I mean I watched his delivery and thought how's that going to work? Well, that that is the essence of my question if it goes through how it work. And again, I don't I don't I I generally advise us against over planning for things that still might not happen. >> Um but >> yeah, we keep an eye on it. You know, I think that as I've been thinking about that, um you know, that's as much a philosophical um question as is as a financial question, right? And I think um
106we provide you know we're mandated to provide lots of other services. Transportation is there. Why don't we provide >> breakfast and lunch the kids are here six and a half hours a day. Some a lot longer. I'm not recommending today that that's something that Wilton boarded takes on. But it >> it's a it's a question. It's a choice. It's a choice we can make locally. >> Yeah. >> And so if that you decide that's also important to us then that's something we should talk about. But much is >> no and I think that also goes to the larger you know when we talk about a budget being a reflection of what our you know morals and values and expectations are you know that's the way the philosophy fits in like we don't have unlimited resources
107and we don't have unlimited time so um there are um you know priorities and choices to be made that not everybody everybody will have a different set and coming to a place that, you know, overall reflects where we want to be and where we're moving to. And I think that that's pretty um incredible. I think that like 60% of the high school takes up athletics. And I don't think that has really, you know, sat with me um to that to that point. Um, you know, as it did, you know, it just re it resonated with me, you know, particularly this year as we as we as we look at things and what kids um what constitutes a full education. >> Well, keep your questions coming in as you keep on going through it. We'll be
108meeting with the board of finance on um Tuesday. um they've had a limited um set of questions come in thus far. I think there was just a a few overview um questions. So um I have reached out again and encourage them to you um there's any final questions that um they have um to bring them to us um you know sooner rather than later so we can be prepared and have a a productive and meaningful um conversation. When we were on this morning with uh Kim and Prasad, um Kim is the you know the newcomer to the board of finance was curious about you know how that meeting unfolded and um so just kind of recap for it's relatively informal. It's a conversation in previous years. Um I've been the primary um provider of information.
109I certainly don't need to be. Um, but as I've been thinking about it today, um, if if we have questions for the board of finance, um, really is intended to be a two-way conversation, not a one-way interrogation, you know, of of our budget or me or the board or whatever. Um, and I'm encouraged by the the openness in the communication that we've experienced in the last couple of years, and we should use next Tuesday as another moment continue to expand that. So, I would invite if you have questions for them that you want to get into, you can send those to me or to Ruth and we'll push them on to Tim. >> That's well well said because it is a conversation and not >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, and just also so everybody knows
110as any additional questions come in um as we continue to deliberate this is a the question document is a living document. So, um it will be um updated accordingly and then um reposted and available online. Now, we can get to the ban. >> Okay. >> So, hopefully no surprises here. We've been talking about it for a while. We have proof of concept this year as you know. Uh we purchased a van at the end of I guess fiscal 25. We hired five in fiscal 26. Uh we collapsed a couple of runs and um we're operating that ban at about $240 a day which is significantly less than the runs that um had been provided to us through a third party constructed service. Um and so kind of following in the spirit of that effort, I'm
111proposing to you that we purchase a second van. We have um money in this current budget to actually buy the van as a result of the savings we've experienced with the van and the driver this year. And then as we move into fiscal 27, uh we hire a driver. the runs that we propose to um collapse. Um two, there's a homeschool run um for uh Genesis, there's a midday run, and then uh excuse me, there's a Genesis midday run, a Genesis Friday run, and the community steps homechool run. Um the total of those um are about 120,000. um the total cost of operating the van with the driver um would be just over 88,000. And so there's an anticipated net savings of uh just above 30,000. And so um >> steps kids pick are picked
112up and then delivered in town and then picked up and taken home. >> Correct. >> Wow. >> Yeah. And Genesis some Genesis kids >> and Genesis too. I didn't know community steps did it at all. >> Yep. So if that all that all makes sense to you, what I would ask for is a motion to um purchase second bed hire um as is stipulated in this memo. Um and then you know we we'll march forward. >> Can could I ask one one question? Why is the savings so much lower with van 2 than it was with van one? >> The cost of the driver. the current driver >> um doesn't take insurance and so we're just paying salary. Um we're estimating the um full cost over the we're including up to family insurance in the
113estimated cost of the second driver and so his her >> so it might wind up being a greater Yeah. >> Correct. So you know so if we have a cheaper driver see more savings. But but you're still predicting a $90,000. Well, you're saying that the you're saying you're saying you're currently saving $140,000. Like the driver fully loaded is only 80,000. >> Mhm. >> And yet you're >> It was the runs that we picked up. >> Yeah. So you just go for the higher cost runs before. >> Well, so before the van number one replaced more runs than van number two is replacing. >> Got it. >> Um so that's why you'll see a little bit of a >> just a marginal. Okay. and and how what's the expected useful life of a van with the
114with the load we're putting on it. >> I don't have the answer to that. >> Well, I think it would depend on how well it's maintained and how many miles we actually end up putting on it. You know, it's our first year into it. So, we don't really know how many miles we're going to have at the end of the year. I'd be able to give you a better estimate probably at the end of the year. >> Cuz this savings number is just the opex, right? It doesn't include the cost of the ban itself. Is that right? Or are you carrying that? So that you were got um No, it's not the cost of purchasing the van, right? It's the maintenance, the >> So So like $30,000 per year of savings and you're going to
115spend 67 on the van, then it takes two years to pay back the van >> with the savings and then after that, so as long as the van is you're getting three plus years out of the van, it's it's a reasonable >> and I would think reasonably you're going to get probably >> 10 years. But because they're right now they're doing in town driving so they're not putting a ton of miles on the van. So I'm thinking we could very easily get 10 years out of the van but I don't know if at that point then the cost of maintaining the van >> might become expensive. It's hard at this point but it's definitely >> going to be a cost savings. In the band, you have 67,95 on here, but it'll actually be 66,000 cuz
116I was able to get the cost down a little bit. >> You would have to buy car. >> Do do we take that full cost upfront from an accounting perspective or do we can't spread it out over >> If we're paying for it in this year, it counts in this year. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Cashing money. >> Exactly. School budgets live in a different world. >> That's right. >> Any other questions for um Kevin on um the van >> is actually has is are there any other potential routes that wouldn't be covered that we would consider? Is there a third one in the works? I I think what's hard about that is we're doing um we're picking up home to school runs and so um the law is wonky. If you pick a kid up
117at home, then you you have to you're restricted to like a 10 passenger van. If you're only doing like in district circulation or something, it's, you know, 15 passenger. Do I have that right? Um and so we're limited um with the types of runs that we can or can't. >> Yeah. I mean, we we have other out of district runs um that we could look at if we wanted to kind of continue this model. Um but those, you know, they're not always the same runs every single year. And on that I guess the last thing on that front or not brings to mind are we locked into this in a way that you know like for instance if we obviously we buy the van we could sell the van it's with some depreciation like but
118does the driver become a staff member that then if we decide we want to unwind this there's severance cost and things we have to factor in or is this reversible decision? you know, I mean, it's it's an at will employee, so it's not a person that isn't unionized in, you know, um where we have any sort of responsibility outside of the agreement, but um just like any employee, there could be unemployment that comes into play. Um it's not a huge cost. Uh it's a fairly low level of commitment. Obviously, we have commitment to all of our employees, but um when you have at will employees, it's a a less of a long-term. >> The reason I ask like often when you doing contracted services, right, they tend to be more expensive, but you can shut
119them off with no, >> right? >> No recourse, right? So, I just trying to figure out like to what extent are we is this a reversible decision versus a >> well, it's I mean, we have an agreement with people through the year essentially. So at the end of each year we revisit that and so I think it's reversible for sure. you know, if we decided to walk away from this and go back to contracting out with ECS or some of the other providers that we used, we could certainly do, you know, we'd have the van. But, um, these are essentially one-year commitments that we have. >> And I think on just on that note, too, our population estimates suggest that, you know, we should be able to sustain this model just given the kids that
120we have and are coming through the pipeline. >> Our projections for both of those programs are looking to stay steady or grow. Um, and I also just think the quality of service we've been able to provide using our own transportation um, definitely brings a higher level of care and consistency for the kids. >> Any other um, questions? Um so um is there a motion um to um purchase a second van and hire a driver as stipulated um in the February 5th briefing memo before us? >> Thank you, Pam. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Patrick. All in favor? >> I um carries unanimously. Um well done everybody. >> Thank you. Um and thank you and we'll negotiating Mila. So thank you. >> Yeah. Any other places you want to negotiate feel free.
121Okay. We already did that. Um so um we have a first read of um a new policy 5118.2 educational opportunities for military children. >> Great. So this is a a a new policy. It's a mandated policy. Um this emerged last summer uh when we received the cave audit of our policies. Um the intention of this policy is to ease the transition between schools in communities for uh children of active members of the military. And so um it, you know, specifies a number of things. One, the um expedited sending and receiving of records. Um it, you know, allows a a 30-day window um for catching up with immunizations. Um it um demands that um receiving schools, you know, honor placement recommendations from the sending school. Um and then um for um students who um whose families
122because of a military placement may have to um leave town midyear, it um provides that the student is allowed to stay and if the student is um out of high school, the student can finish his or her high school career here. Um even if the you know family has to move as a result of the military deployment. Um so um this went through the policy committee. It's been um through um legal uh review and um was through our audit system. So this is um a first look um for all our policies. They come to the table twice. first as a review and discuss and um provided that there's um no um um no flags raised um it doesn't go back to the policy committee, it'll come back to this table at um the next um
123meeting. And so I don't know if anybody has any um questions about this um right now or they can um send them in through um me and Kevin in advance of the next meeting. One quick one. Is there a typo in your deployment definition to the general statute? Just use a comma instead of the word two. I don't know if that. >> Oh, got it. >> Yep. Yes, it is. Um, so otherwise the deployment term would not be working. >> Yeah. Thank you. Our elementary children. Thank us also. >> Okay. So, we'll have this um back at the at the table for um approval for our next meeting. Um, as I um highlighted earlier, the next one on the agenda was um the selection of school library materials and it um came through um it
124came through the policy committee and I would ask for um a motion actually to um table this discussion on this item as we noticed that there was um additional cleanup needed after um the agenda had already um gone out and um an inclusion of an appendix and some other items. So, if I can have a motion to um table this item. >> Thank you, Lori. Is there a second? >> Thank you, Mark. All in favor? >> Thank you. So, this will go back to the policy committee and find its way back um to the um the table. And uh now we go to um possible action items. And um we have a second read and um possible um vote on the policy number which is challenging behavior prevention restorative practices response and student discipline. Um
125should be noted that um this language is mandated by um statute. Um so our um our language um reflects that mandate and has also um been through legal review and it's now at the table for um the second reading. Are there any um questions, concerns or discussions about this policy? Um hearing um none. Is there a motion to approve um policy 514412 challenging behavior prevention? >> So moved. >> Thank you, Pat. Is there a second? Thank you, Lori. All in favor? >> I motion carries unanimously. Um, comments from the public. >> Just please state your name and address for the record and um, your remarks to three minutes. Thank you. >> Lindsay Mccay, 87 Old Kings Highway. Um, thank you very much. Um, sorry I was a few minutes late to this meeting cuz I
126had my son's fourth grade uh, winter concert tonight. It was amazing. Um, and I just want to say thank you for all you do. Um, obviously you cover lots of ground from vans to medical families and everything in between. Um, thank goodness I learned to read when I was at Miller. Uh, because wow, that sounded really complicated and um, I am a proud Hilton grad myself and um, really exciting to hear um, all the positive changes from the new reading program. Um, I just also want to follow up on an art on a email that I sent to the board of ed and then as a followup I met with Kathy and Karen and just in regards to the MAP testing I think it's something that's really important that we take a very close look
127at because this article from 2020 from NWA says the third the scenario to avoid using map growth K to2 for all second graders that's in caps and all. We strongly caution against which is italicized against giving all second grader students the map growth K to2 test because they listen to it. So my son who I just said is in fourth grade when he was in second grade so only two years ago the entire grade took the K to2 MAP test and those numbers do not accurately reflect their reading and I think everyone in this room wants kids to you know to help them if they're struggling and we need to look at the tests that we are giving our youngest students in order to decrease the gap as in the good morning Wilton article on
128this board of ed meeting in back in September it was comment mented on how the gap just doesn't seem to be decreasing year after year and if we're looking at the ESBA store scores which are taken at the end of third grade that that's way too late. Um I mean it needs to be addressed earlier. And then also in this article from 2020 it you know the ideal situation is if we could treat every student individually which you know that is a huge feat but it also says we recommend giving the MAP growth K to2 test to second graders who are clearly not yet ready to read independently and all evidence suggests they won't be re reading independently at any point during their second grade year. So, based on what Wilton just did on the
129um answers to the board of ed questions that just came out, number six, only roughly 37% of second grade in the winter is taking this 2 to 5 test. So, you're telling me only 37% of second graders are expected to be able to read independently by the end of second grade? the new data that came out or guidance from NWEA, I would argue it's actually applied to first graders because it says in the intro when to switch for second grade and high performing first graders. So I think thankfully we are now doing dibbles for the very first time three times a year K to three. First time that Wilton is doing this. Thankfully, we're also doing RAN, which is a dyslexia indicator, so we can catch these kids in kindergarten or in first grade. And
130also, it no matter what they're struggling with, we can catch them sooner and then hopefully they're in intervention for a shorter period of time. And the only reason we are doing dibbles is because of the state mandate. Um, I want to point out that in also in the um the questions from the board of ed number 13 about interventionists, it says the interventionists have remained fairly stable over the past 5 years. Um, they've actually increased. Um, Miller Dris School two years ago went from a 3.0 to a 3.8 for interventionists at Miller Dris School and in Cider Mill just this year went from a 3.4 4 to a 4.5. And the previous um budgets show the 5-year gap. And so it shows that it was a those are recent increases because our our kids are
131struggling and they need help. Um I think we're on a much better path. I also want to point out that New Kanan dropped the K to2 test entirely in 2018. And their second grade kids, they all take the two to five. in Norwalk and Alliance School, they all take second graders all take the two to five. The state dropped the K to2 as a recommended assessment because it doesn't catch decoding issues, which is a huge part of reading. My son is a perfect example. You know, he was so far behind in the beginning of third grade. um you know the state dropped it because the and it shows the two to five those those projections are accurate and then you also don't have this huge dip between the K to2 and the two to five.
132I mean you want to look at your growth of a second grader and you would hope that they're learn to read independently by the end of second grade in a place like Wilton. So, I just I I think I don't understand why two years ago my son the entire grade took the K to2 even though that article is from 2020. I think 37% of our second graders only taking the 2 to K for the winter. Um, you know, I think we can do a lot better and we can use the data and you know, I feel like Milton is is very slow to these changes and we've made a lot of progress and we still have a lot to go. So, um, and that's a lot of work for our teachers, and the sooner we
133catch struggling stu, um, students, the the faster we help them. Um, Dr. Charles Smith sent me an article March 8th of 2024. Um, it was about dyslexia, which a lot of it I I >> Lindsay, can I just ask you to >> didn't agree with, but the one part I did agree with was that intervention in kindergarten and first grade is more effective than in later grades. So, and that's whether dyslexic or not. So, I just hope that Wilton continues to pay attention to the assessments and that, you know, we use that data and pay attention to the history over what's been done in time. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Any other um questions from the public? >> Not online. >> Nope. >> Okay. Um and just for future business again
134um we will be meeting with the board of finance on this coming Tuesday at 10 uh at the 10th at 7:00 and we'll have a regular meeting on February 26th and again on March 5th and then again on March 19th u meeting adjourned