Board of Education - Special Meeting - August 19th, 2025 - 5:30PM

001Alison, do >> you have a thing? Is it recording? It's definitely live, which means it's recording. >> Oh, I guess so. Automatically. Okay. Um, okay. Uh, before we call this meeting to order, the public should know that we're here tonight at 5:00 because three Republican members of this board asked for the meeting on the date, this date. Hicks and other rooms were booked and five was selected to give ample time for this board and the public to hear the discussions over the motion on the agenda tonight. Public comment is on the agenda. Okay. At this time, we'll call the Winchester Public Education special board of ed meeting on August 19th, 2025 at 5:00. Uh please join me for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to

002the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you everyone. >> We'll go to roll call starting to my left. Shane Centrella, Jonathan Mohart, >> Janette Broer, >> Sandre Strubar, Nora McCarski, >> Julie Lubie, >> Kurt Warner, Tory Lventry, >> Renee Waldron, >> Allison Pierce. >> Item two, agenda review. No additions because it's a special meeting. Item three is public comment. Policy 1120, regulations for public participation at the board of education meetings approved by the board. Winchester Education welcomed you to its public business meeting. There are two opportunities set aside here to hear comments from the public. We welcome and encourage public participation is a valued part of communicating input with the Winchester Board of Education. We appreciate your adherence to the following. Complete the

003requested information on the sign-in sheet. If you wish to speak, your name, your address, and your email. State your name and address when called upon to speak. You will be allotted three minutes to share your comments. Ple please be advised that it's not the practice of the board of education to engage in dialogue regarding commentary. The superintendent of schools will be directed by the chairperson to prepare an appropriate response in a timely manner. We appreciate your time and your thoughtful commentary. Does anyone wish to speak? >> Thank you. >> Good evening. Holly Capsidity, 111 Toringford Street. I am a taxpayer and I am also the chair of the Gilbert School Corporation. Um, just as a point of noting, um, all nine members of the school corporation are taxpayers of the town. Connecticut State statute 10-33

004requires that school districts that do not maintain a high school designate one which may be an endowed academy. Currently, there are three endowedmies in the state, the Gilbert School, Norfree Academy, and Woodstock Academy. The Gilbert School has served as the designated high school for the town of Winchester since its founding in 1895. That would be 130 years. Gilbert is currently the designated middle and high school for the town of Winchester, and we've not had a contract since 2019. What is being presented here tonight is an agreement, not a contract. This agreement restates state statute 10-285B section 3 that reads, "In order for incorporated or endowed high school or academy to be eligible for a grant commitment pursuant to this section, such high school or academy shall provide educational services to the town or towns designating

005it as its high school for such town or towns for a period of not less than 10 years after completion of grant payments under this section. The action item on tonight's meeting agenda reads, "The Winchester Board of Education designates the Gilbert School to provide educational services to the town of Winchester for its middle and high school students. And the Gilbert School agrees to provide educational services to the town of Winchester for its middle and high school students for a period of not less than 10 years after the completion of grant payments or for a period of 20 years after the signing of the agreement. As both the chair of the Gilbert School Corporation and the Gilbert School Negotiations Committee, I can confidently and accurately say that the sole reason for this agreement is to meet

006the requirements set forth by the state to receive reimbursement for qualifying construction projects that are on the Gilbert School's capital improvement plan. If we do not become eligible for reimbursement, these expenses will be required to be built into the Gilbert School's operating budget. The purpose of this agreement is to provide tax relief to the taxpayers of Winchester, not to benefit the Gilbert School. >> Thank you for your comments. Anybody else wish to speak? >> Good evening. Uh Terresa Peyton, 124 Meadow Street. I know that you guys all know me. Um, I've worked in education for 20 years and all but the last few months have been right here in Winchester, both in community- based programs and in the Winchester public schools. Additionally, I've served as board members for various organizations, Winston area childc care, the

007open soup door, the open door soup kitchen. Currently, I'm the vice chair of the Gilbert School Corporation and I am a trustee at the Gilbert School. And I share this background for people who don't know me uh just to say that I have truly dedicated a lot of my time, energy, and expertise to this town. So I'm speaking tonight with firsthand experience and a true deep commitment to this town and the students of this town. I um want to clearly express my strong support for the agreement that is um up for possible uh voting this evening. Regardless of whether or not this agreement is signed, there is state statute that requires Winchester to designate a high school, which is Gilbert. Um Holly had the exact number of years, so needless to say, there are many.

008And it also reads that endowedmies charge tuition to sending school districts of the towns they serve and the districts are required to pay the full amount of tuition. Um that fact does not change with a contract. That to me is the biggest sticking point when we went into the negotiation room. The fact of paying tuition to the Gilbert School for the students who have who go there currently and have been attending for over a hundred years does not change. Um Winston's not unique. Holly spoke of the other endowedmies and I say this with no malice or any personal feeling. The legislature is not interested in rewriting any statute for the benefit of Winston. They're they're simply are that's simply not going to happen. And I believe that they've been pretty clear without outright saying we're

009not going to do this for you. Um the fact that we may not all agree with said statute does not mean that it doesn't exist or that it doesn't have to be followed. But there are some things that we can change that not being one. Uh we can go into this agreement and the eligibility that the Gilbert Res school will receive for state for capital projects would be a huge savings. If you have $5 million worth of projects to do, wouldn't you rather pay 30% of them than 100%. I'm a taxpayer. Everybody in the room is. Some reimbursement for projects is better than no reimbursement at all. Without the reimbursement, the projects will still go forward. They need to. There's a giant sinkhole outside and middle school and high school kids are notorious for following

010the rules. So that poses no risk whatsoever. Um blocking this contract does not protect the taxpayer. It puts the financial burden of those capital expenditures squarely on their shoulders. Um I think that we have been using a lot of words. This is really political infighting. This doesn't this no longer feels like due diligence and careful deliberation. and it feels like stalling and it feels like a power struggle that there's it's just unnecessary and I would really encourage you to choose based on things we can do would be to stop that choose stability because the stability has already been there. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. >> Anybody else wishing to speak? after you >> whoever's uh >> if you wish to speak, please sign up on a list. >> So, come

011on up. Who's who signed up? >> There is a list for those who would like to speak. Okay. >> My name is Kim Higgins. I'm going to be really short and really sweet. Gilbert School is our de facto school. Just sign the contract. I've been here 22 years. It's a school. That's it. Sign the contract. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. Anybody else wishing to speak? Oh, you're okay. I think you're next. I haven't looked at the list, but I think you're next. Okay. >> Um, my name is Christine Rylander, 46 East Mountain Avenue. Um, I do have two children, one in second grade and one in fourth grade. Um, I understand we do. We need to get some reimbursement back for the the projects that Gilbert needs done. Um I feel like

012there has been a really great emphasis on the projects that Gilbert needs done and a little less emphasis on the projects that Pearson also needs done. Um there has been a leaking roof for a very very long time. It's been pushed off for years and years and years. We get reimbursement back for that. Why hasn't that been such a huge talking point through these meetings throughout these last few years? And then Gilbert brings something up and we're so quick to action. Um, one of the things that I that troubles me about this statement where is you're here to represent our prek through six students. How does and I'm hoping through the conversation we will learn what that there is something else in this statement that does protect preK through six from falling on the grenade

013every time there has to be a cut to the budget. Um it's it's not equitable. It's not fair to our younger students and quite frankly it's not fair to Gilbert because these students aren't getting what they need in the preK through six and then they go to Gilbert. We need to take care of the prek through the six students as well. Um, and this is there's so much animosity between these two districts. Isn't this the perfect opportunity to mend that relationship because WPs has concerns and Gilbert has concerns. Instead of just agreeing to a statement that only addresses Gilbert's concerns, we are yet again putting preK through six on the back burner. Um, all of the students preK through 12 deserve a quality education here in Winston. I'm I'm going to be very frank here.

014I'm going to call a spade a spade. This feels very much like a lastditch effort to get through a private a secret agenda item. There has been no thought about how this impacts preK through 6 and WPS. There is ample opportunity. Right now is our opportunity. We are at the table with Gilbert. We can mend this relationship. We can create instead of just putting a statement out there that only benefits one party, we can we can make this a working relationship. We won't have all this anger towards the two. It shouldn't be fighting. We have that opportunity right now. Why are we going to throw that opportunity away to push something like this through? I feel like there's not been enough thought going into it. >> And um we rep again, you're here to represent

015preK through six. I really want to hear how over the next six, five, six, seven years it's going to help our pre preK through six and our taxpayers. >> Thank you for your comments. >> Uh, next person to speak on that list, >> uh, Matt Smith, uh, 662 East Wakefield Boulevard. Uh tonight, many people will speak to you on many different viewpoints on whether or not the town should designate the Gilbert School for our middle and high school students. To me, this is a simple decision. Tonight, I speak in favor of providing Gilbert with this designation. Financially, it's common sense and will allow the school to receive state reimbursement by grants ranging from 70 to 76% of the cost of these varied needed capital projects. Otherwise, we'll ultimately cost the town and the taxpayers a

016lot of money. So, it makes sense. Some people tonight will speak of Gilbert and it's strange as it is a strange entity that is trying to hide or have a conspiracy to hurt the town. This is totally nonsense that has been forced through fear and through whatifs. This is far from the truth. Gilbert has been a valued part of our community for over 130 years with many generations proudly graduating from this fine institution. It's one of 20 endowed schools in the country. There are three such schools in Connecticut. The upside potential for Gilbert in the future is amazing, which will benefit the town's children today and even more so into the future. At present, our town has a broken, bifurcated school system, two superintendent, redundant administrative positions, and a lack of communication and interaction between

017the entities. This system is broken and certainly not running at optimal levels. It is time that this town have a unified school system that better serves our children. Having the WPS board and the Gilbert school working together is an important start to this process and is the beginning of a bright future for our children and the town. I implore you all on the board here tonight to take your viduciary responsibility very seriously and vote in favor of designating the Gilbert School as the town of Winchester's educational provider for the middle and high school students. It's time to bring school pride back to Winstead. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. Anyone else wishing to speak, please? >> I'm Bill Huda, 232 Granville Road. I know I've spoken to this board before on this topic,

018and I said at that time, and I still believe that it is wise for the town to have a contract with Gilbert should it wish to continue with Gilbert. And that's I think one of the fundamental questions that I've not heard debated really. I recognize we have a 130 year history. I also recognize the fact that at one point in time the Gilbert Trust pretty much paid for all of the education for uh students. It no longer does. The Gilbert Trust no longer has that amount of money to be able to support the education of our students. Instead, it's the town that has to support it. And this is a problem I think that we have with the current structure. That is that the Gilbert school sets a tuition rate which the town is obliged

019to pay. As long as that is the case and as long as the town does not have a majority of the board being represented, we are basically beholden to the Gilbert Trust to do what's in the best interest of the town. I'm not saying that they're not trying to do so. What I'm saying is that we don't have any guarantee that they will do so and there is no obligation of them to do so. Now, I am concerned that this board is rushing to judgment. You at this point in time have not heard back from the state of Connecticut in terms of their uh feelings about this. you have not heard from the board's own attorneys regarding the agreement. These are things that should be done before you reach the decision as to how to

020proceed. What I recommend very very strongly to you is to cool your jets a little bit. Get all of the information before you make a judgment and do what's best for the town. Do it transparently. get all of the all of you on record of saying why you support it and how it is backed up by facts. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comment. [Applause] Anyone else wishing to speak? There's a signup page over here by Allison. My name is Tony Sandonado, 364 East Wakefield Boulevard. I moved to this town eight years ago. Shortly after coming to the to the town, one of the things that I was encouraged to get involved with was the rebuild of the Hinsdale School Committee. There's people in the room today that were part of that that committee.

021Um, I don't know the history the way the board does regarding Gilbert and the board of education, uh, Winchester Board of Education. I will tell you that in three and a half years of chairing that committee and that project, how critical the state reimbursement program was, this town would not have what I consider to be a best-in-class elementary school. And I'm sorry to hear and I understand the need to focus on grades, the lower grades that are your feeders to the to the issue we're talking to today. But that began when we did this rebuild of Hensdale. That's a beautiful school, a extremely competent staff and wonderful students. And it's an environment that I've been to many times that I'm proud of and I hope this town is proud of. But without the support of

022the state, Jay, and many others, we wouldn't have that today. So I implore you as part of this decision to understand the importance of that state reimbursement because it does have an impact on the taxpayers. I've also been here eight years and seen my taxes go up 70%. And if I look and say and be honest with you and look for the return, it's been minimal. So as a taxpayer, I am interested in that. So, I implore you. I'm supporting the agreement for those reasons. >> Thank you for your comments. Anyone else wishing to speak? Please make sure you've signed in. [Music] >> Hi, my name is Kevin Bishop. I'm on Hinsdale Avenue. Um, I am not here specifically for or against this uh designation. Um, but I just wanted to speak about something I

023saw in the last budget process. Um, in this last spring, I sat through all the meetings with the board of selectmen looking through the town's budget. And what I would like everyone to consider is equality between our students, education, and our schools. And what I saw during those budget negotiations um seemed to me like a big inequality um in the fact that all of the cuts were required to come from the WPs budget. Uh we spent you know we we saw the selectman spend many many hours going over with Dr. Lubie about the you know every little thing in the budget but the Gilbert budget was just passed right through. Um, I'm not sure how that reflects on this designation and all of that, but uh, what I'm concerned about is that every student on

024every school has an equal access to funding. I'm worried about the fact that in the future if if Gilbert is able to just dictate um their budget and their their dollar amount, that could have huge impact on the taxpayers. um you know if if that amount is not able to be overseen by our elected officials, if any part of our budget cannot be overseen and looked at and scrutinized equally by the officials we elect to our town, uh that can turn into a big problem and lead to big tax raises. It's a form of taxation without representation. So that that is what I see as a town taxpayer who followed the budget uh process very diligently this year. And um I'm just really concerned that in the future, you know, when it comes up to

025an improvement on Gilbert versus the Pearson's school roof, which which is leaking poor poorly right now, hasn't been replaced in decades. You know, which project goes first? Will our elected officials on the board of selectmen, you know, be able to to scrutinize both equally? Or will Gilbert always go first? It only works when all of our schools and all of our students, no matter the grade, no matter the endowed academy, no matter what, every level, that they all have an equal equal um opportunity to have a good education, equal opportunity for funding, and that our elected officials have an equal opportunity to scrutinize and look at every item in the budget, including Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. Thank you for your comments. Good evening. Paul Marino, 678 East Wakefield Boulevard. I'm a

026taxpayer and I'm also the town's second selectman. To be clear, let's talk about what this really is tonight. This is not a contract. This is a designation, a designation that we've had with this academy for over a hundred years. It was official until seven years ago when its last contract expired. But tonight's not a new contract. I hope at some point this board will continue its negotiations and work towards a contract with Gilbert as the state of Connecticut so definitely recommends that we do. In fact, the commissioner of education has stated that if Winstead wants to get additional funding from the state, we better get our house in order and have a contract with Gilbert. But we're not talking about a contract tonight. Tonight, we're talking about a designation. And I'll be honest, when I

027became part of uh running for selectman, I wasn't sure Gilbert was our solution. I was in favor of potentially looking at other solutions that included regional 7 and including building a school. Until I learned the facts in terms of what that really would take. First of all, we are not a regional town. To be a regional town, we'd have to get rid of about 3,000 residents, our police department, and other things. then we could be considered a regional town that would have access potentially to regional settlement. We could send our kids there. We could designate them. However, the cost is roughly about $7,000 per student more expensive. We could build a school 150 probably a $200 million expense. We might get $150 million of that back from the state, but frankly that would leave us

02850 million which exceeds our current annual town budget. I don't see where uh 50 million from the taxpayers is going to come to do that. And even if we owned our own school, we would face inflation and rising costs that we could never pinpoint exactly, which is the argument I hear against Gilbert constantly that they can set tuition at what they want. Well, their budget has been transparent to us during the budget process, and we've seen where the costs come from. So tonight's action is only to make that designation official the way it was seven years ago. And the sole purpose of the designation is so that we're eligible for DCA funds to make repairs or improvements to the school at the reimbursements that you've heard people talk about tonight. It also makes us eligible

029for competitive grants for Gilbert School. Uh and in when you're looking at their potential HVAC project coming up and and the headmaster head master sat in front of our board with a $4 million estimate. It would be nice to get the state to reimburse us for a lot of that. As far as tuition amounts, I'd like to see a contract similar to other towns have done that would address tuition and how it's calculated. And I hope this board goes back into negotiations with Gilbert to get that done. >> You can finish up. >> Okay. Finally, as I mentioned before, that's what the state of Connecticut advises in their study that they done of the Gilbert situation. This has been an incredibly complex and frustrating situation for the residents in this town for far too long.

030We have so many redundancies and extra expenses and a school system that doesn't uh achieve the results that we'd all like to see. Let's make Gilbert our partner. Let's show them that we're interested in being their partner with this designation tonight. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comment. Anyone else wishing to speak? >> If you would make sure you sign in over here. >> Oh, okay. Thank you. Hi. >> Thank you. >> Um, hi, I'm Maryanne Marino, 631 Beer Road. Um, I agree with a lot of what's been said by various different people tonight. Um, it is our responsibility to do what's best for our students, of course, and it's also our duty to do what's best for our taxpayers. And so, obviously, there's a tension here and you all have to work through

031it. Um, my understanding is that unlike public schools, the Gilbert School is not required to transparently share its balance sheet with taxpayers. So if that is not true, somebody can uh you know educate me on that. Um but my primary argument in general is that I keep hearing that there's great potential in Gilbert School as a private school to get students to bring in more tuition to sort of bring more business to the town. But I have never seen a proposal like a business model. Um, and I just basically looked at the last three years worth of the town's budgets and I did, you know, just a basic revenue model and I did assume the 70% reimbursement from the state and if you know based on the last three years of numbers um what will

032happen here is that the cost to the taxpayers is for the next 10 years is anywhere between five and 8%. And if you go 20 years, it's uh like 5.2 to 5.4% increase to the taxpayers. And that does assume that you have this agreement in place and you get the 70% for capital improvement. So, what I'm surfacing is that there's a much bigger problem than just capital improvements here. Um, so I I I think um without a plan, the town shouldn't actually enter into an agreement with the Gilbert School. I'm sorry. I mean, I'd like to see that 70% be accessible. And I think if a plan can be um, you know, put together efficiently, effectively, quickly, and the the taxpayers can participate in it. That would be uh, you know, beneficial for everyone and

033probably bring this argument into a discussion instead of an argument as a taxpayer. Also, and also my understanding is that the endowment that uh was used to start the Gilbert School quite a long time ago, we just heard 130 or so years ago, is all but depleted. So, >> make sure you finish. >> As a taxpayer, I'm subsidizing I think 96.5% of a private school's budget. We've heard about the duplicative staffing. So, uh, you know, I'd like to I'm wondering why Gilbert cannot become a public school and part of the public school system so that we can bring everything under one set of oversight. um uh you know community members. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Thank you for your comment. >> If you wish to speak, please sign up. >> Take your time. Take

034your time. Take your time. >> I'm just going to give you a copy of that. model. >> Thank you. >> Welcome to publisher. >> I did class. >> Yeah. >> Take a picture. Blow it up. >> Thank you. >> Good evening everyone. Uh my name is Mike Susie. I'm the new head of school uh or superintendent for the Gilbert School. Uh my background for the last five years I was at uh the Woodstock Academy which had six sending towns uh not just one. Um, this town is interesting, I will say. Uh, being new to here, um, >> yes, I've never seen so much, um, care and concern for an educational system. And everyone I talk to, I hear how uh a person's child has gone to Gilbert, they've went to Gilbert, their parents have gone

035to Gilbert, their grandparents have gone to Gilbert, and the love that they've shared once they've gone through Gilbert. I've also heard uh from people that have not had children go through Gilbert yet uh speak about this divide between uh Gilbert and the town. which again uh as an as an educator and someone who has spent five years in a town academy is such a weird thing to hear because as a town academy you are the receiving partner of the elementary andor middle school. So you work in partnership with the sending towns. I'll be frank, I I have not seen that here, which is extremely disappointing because we all care about the children in the town and we all want what's best for the children in the town. Now, uh I understand some of the concerns

036that people are talking about. Um, I think there's a lot of opportunity to clarify some of the misunderstandings that people might have, but that's a separate discussion than what I'm hearing about the discussion for tonight is. Tonight is to vote on a designation for the sending uh middle high school. That is it. We're not talking about budget or control or or anything. We're talking about a designation which allows me and Gilbert to seek funding from the state, not from the town, from the state to better support the education that your children, if they haven't gone to Gilbert yet, will receive. And it's not a life sentence, just so we're clear on this. This isn't uh everlasting. It's for 10 years after the project's completed, which if if there's if there isn't a contract or an

037agreement in place, which again coming from another town academy, we had agreements in place with the sending towns. So that's doable, but that again that's a separate topic. The topic for tonight is to give us the opportunity to get money from the state instead of trying to absorb it into the operating budget which then does gets transferred to the sending town. So I'm here just to share my experience. I think this is a incredible opportunity and incredible town. I would love to see it come together and move forward in a positive collaborative way. That's all I've known for the last five years and I hope that happens here. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. >> I saw that. >> But but that's okay. It's fair. >> Anyone else wishing to speak? >> Brian

038Sundy, 152 Spencer Hill Road. Uh I'm not exactly thrilled with uh how we got to this point, but I do think we are at the right point. I think it's common sense to uh uh support what's on the agenda tonight. Uh I agree with many of the points that uh Selectman uh Marino made. Uh I think we need to view Gilbert as a partner to everyone in town. So I do think it's the proper direction. Um I I do just quibble with a couple of things I' I I've heard tonight. Uh number one uh that the the idea that the Gilbert school's finances uh aren't transparent in some way, that people haven't had an opportunity to review budgets, to scrutinize them, to uh to comment on them, uh just isn't true. You just need to

039know when the meetings are. You need to go uh they make presentations. So, you know, that representation just uh isn't accurate and and sounds like a little bit of a point to to derail what I consider a worthwhile effort. Um, second thing I heard tonight, uh, well, two other things. Um, one, that there's this tremendous level of of animosity and and it was really described almost as like this uh, uh, pretty hateful situation, which I don't think is the concept or is the current state of affairs and and really hasn't been for a while. From from everything I've seen, you know, uh, uh, my kid was uh, in Winchester school is now at Gilbert. Uh I viewed the relationship uh being pretty positive overall between the schools at a staff level. Uh that's just my

040experience and I I also believe that to be true. And I also heard another comment that we have this incredibly broken system which I don't think that's true either. Uh I think things are going okay. Could there uh be some changes? Uh sure. But uh I think people are at at at two uh wildly different ends of the spectrum with those with those comments. you know, I think we're somewhere in the middle and, you know, I really think we should uh we should move forward in this. So, thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. >> Hi. Um, my name is Taylor Nichols. I live on Danbury Quarter Road. Um, I moved here three years ago, but I actually grew up in um, region one. Um, so I went to Satonic and I didn't play

041sports, so I promise I have no vendetta against Gilbert. Um um but I just say that to like represent myself as sort of somebody who really has spent their entire life here in this area. Um and so I just kind of felt the need to point out a couple of things. I do have a young so I have a 17-month old child at home that we intend to put in the school system. Um I also have actually one on the way right now as well. Um and I think a couple of things have been overlooked tonight. I think that the polarity of these discussions is kind of um setting us back a little bit. So, you know, I am not entirely clear on whether or not the time for these discussions is right now, but

042it seems really clear that we do need to have a discussion about this contract. So, you know, some people I you know, I just heard are saying that this is not about the contract. We're not talking about the contract. We're just talking about the designation right now. I think that the fear that a lot of us have is that when is the time for these discussions if we sign these con this contract is there not going to be another opportunity for us to address these concerns for the foreseeable future right um you know having a young child I know you know from all the research that I've done how important an elementary education is and Gilbert really can't you know have super great test scores if the children that are going into Gilbert you know

043aren't prepared they aren't super adequately prepared. So if you know the way that the structure is set up happens to be that Gilbert is you know unintentionally I'm sure that everyone's intentions are good because Gilbert does need the funding but the fact is that it is cannibalizing part you know a chunk of the elementary children's budget and that isn't good for anybody. It's not good for anybody in the town. Um, so, you know, I wish that we could kind of have these conversations thinking about everybody being on the same page because I think people who are here talking about, you know, advocating for signing the contract with Gilbert want to do that because they want our children to have the best education. And that's the same thing that a lot of us, you know, on

044the other side want. Um, we really just sort of are encouraging everyone to sort of take a pause and think critically about, you know, the viability of this this contract more long term and and see that it's not really been working well for us so far. Um, I think that was it. Oh, the other thing I just wanted to say is um I do actually think that the Gilbert Schools um budget has been transparent. I think that what other people are I mean they can correct me outside of this meeting if I'm wrong. I think what other people are trying to now is that the principle of the thing is that they're not required to be transparent. So there could be a risk in the future of a lack of transparency and I think that's

045valid. So that's all. >> Thank you for your comments. Anyone else wishing to speak? >> If everyone else is >> I do have a statement from the public to read. Does anybody else have some uh wishing to speak that hasn't spoken yet? Okay. So, I'll move to this August 17th, 2025. Dear Chairperson McCarthy and members of the board, >> this is from Cheryl McGlin. The purpose of this letter is to comment on the proposed contract between the Gilbert Corp and the Winchester Public Schools. Due to her hurricane Erin, I'm unable to attend the meeting in person and request for this letter to be read during the first public comment of the meeting. I serve as I served as an elected member of the Winchester Board of Education for six years. Has alo also been a

046pro practicing lawyer in Connecticut for over 30 years. As board member, due to my experience as a lawyer negotiating deals, I was tasked by the board to attempt to negotiate a contract with the Gilbert School Corp. I participated in this effort a number of times. Key things we wanted in a contract were to have some say in how Gilbert's tuition was being calculated, a predetermined share in the budget cuts, and accountability for the school's performance with our school. Gilbert wished to commit to the town to a contract for 10 or more years, and did not want any interference from the town as to how they spend our citizens money, required sharing in budget cuts, or be accountable for performance. Needless to say, contract negotiations broke down repeatedly and we have been operating without a contract

047since the since the contract under receiverhip ended. Of note is that the contract between the town and Gilbert under receiverhip did provide tuition caps. I have reviewed the proposed contract that has been submitted for consideration by the board. It is giving Gilbert everything they want without protecting our taxpayers and most importantly our prek through six students. As everyone knows, the education budget is a large part of the town's budget. Gilbert's tuition is a large part of the education budget. If this contract is approved, we'll be facing increased education costs that we have no control over. That will either result in increased town budget or a decimation of funds available for preK through six grades for up to 20 years. This should be unacceptable to all citizens, especially members of the Winchester Board of Education, who

048are responsible for ensuring quality education for students of pre-K through six grades. A quality education is important for a town's growth and prosperity. Winchester's been improving the education provided to our kids since coming out of receiverhip. That improvement is not only noted in the improvement test scores of our kids and standardized tests, but also in the growth the town is seeing in new business national chains and local businesses coming to our town. We still have work to do, but this proposed contract will set back. Besides all practical and fiscal reasons this contract, I have concern about the manner in which it was brought for a vote. Why is this so rushed? Why a special meeting? Why no review by the board attorney? Why has the negotiating committee ignored the board's list of things that were

049desired in a contract like sharing the pain in the education budget since it reduced to the referendum? Why is a contract that ties the hands of the community to choose other educational options such as the school choice or sending kids to regional or other districts for up to 20 years not being brought to the taxpayers to vote to decide. While this would be a nice it would be nice to have a contract Gilbert. We should not enter into the contract that's proposed commits this town to unfettered unchecked educational costs for 20 years. Irresponsible. Cheryl Wiglain. >> Okay. >> That was sent to all of us. >> It was sent to me. I can make you a copy. >> Okay. >> Does anyone else wish to speak? Does anyone else wish to speak? Okay, seeing none,

050we'll now move to item four of the agenda. Action items. The item on the agenda is a discussion and possible action on making the following agreement with the Gilbert School. The Winchester Board of Education designates the Gilbert School to provide educational services to the town of Winchester for its middle and high school students. And the Gilbert School agrees to provide educational services to the town of Winchester for its middle and high school students for a period of not less than 10 years after the completion of grant payment or for a period of 20 years after parenthesis date insert date signed. I'd like to make a motion for continued negotiations in line with the parameters agreed upon by the whole board to enter into contract negotiations. >> I'd like to second that. Tiffany have that written

051down. >> Can you repeat that? >> Yes. >> Hold on. >> We're just getting the language. >> That motion has been seconded. So, we'll just repeat it for the public and for Tiffany so she can record it before discussion. >> Are we allowed to bring any new motions on a special meeting? I don't believe we are. >> We are. There are there are opportunities. I mean, this is not a motion. This is an action item that needs to be motioned. This needs to be adopted, if you will, through a motion process. This in itself is not a motion. >> It's an action item that has to be motioned. >> Point of order. That's not an action item. That's not part of the call. >> This is >> right. >> This is excuse me. This is

052again, you can challenge the chair, but this is as it stands as an action item is not a motion. Someone at this room in public has to first it second it. And that hasn't just happened. So Renee has the floor. She made a motion. >> It was seconded. We're recording the motion that is now on the floor. >> That was >> Are you ready for me to repeat that motion? >> This is >> Let's hear it again. I make a motion for continued negotiations in line with the parameters agreed upon by the whole board to enter into contract negotiations. Um, point of order again, Madam Chair, because I remember a special meeting that we had not too recently ago and somebody did try to make an motion into the special meeting and it was denied

053because it was not on the agenda that the agenda only has >> Exactly. So, I would put forth that we have a we've done it before and that motion was denied. So, we have a motion on the floor that we are discussing that was put into the special agenda and that according to the bylaws and a previous meeting, we were not allowed to enter another motion because the agenda was already set and this agenda >> follow Robert's rules. So, what does that say regarding the >> this is gerine to the topic. >> It is not deleterious to the topic. It is gerine. If this board wants to vote it down, it has that right to do then we make a second or if you will another motion. >> I'm just going by what we have

054done in the past when we had a special meeting as someone tried to make a motion to to add another motion and it was denied by the chair. >> It was denied by Julie and you Nora. >> Correct. So what was the topic? What was the when was the meeting for me to remember, but it was it was done over Zoom and uh this this was definitely shot down immediately first by our superintendent Julie Lubie. >> Um and then you >> Well, what you could do is you can vote the chair as improp improper if you wish to do that. Um, >> well, we'd prefer to follow precedents and we've had a special meeting before where we did not we're not allowed to have >> the issue that I'm having right now is we haven't

055even discussed the topic of tonight's why we're here. >> We have >> we are we are blocking why we're even here. That's the issue that I have. >> So, we're playing this posturing game to not discuss why we're even here. So maybe we get to the point of why we're here, why everyone came out here tonight to give their comments about what they thought and let's stick to the topic of him. >> Do we want to open with discussion? >> Yep. >> Do you want to withdraw your motion? >> That way we open with discussion. >> The motion was not valid. Well, I'd like to trying to think what that means. >> Put it to a vote to see if we could discuss going back to negotiations. >> What is is that we're not allowed

056to extra motions. >> Okay. So, let's go this way. >> Julie, we're only allowed >> add items to an agenda. >> There you go. >> So, what you all have to debate is is that on this topic, so if the topic was to go into contract and she's saying, I'd like to make a motion not to go into contract, but rather to do this other thing. You are on topic. >> Tonight's agenda was about designation. Tonight's agenda was about a designation of a high school. Not a contract, a designation of the high school. So if we want to go to a negotiating a contract, that's a different agenda item. >> Correct. >> Can you read your >> understand please everyone, this is a meeting in public, not a public meeting. >> Read it again. >>

057Read the Would you read the statement please? I make a motion for continued negotiations in line with the parameters agreed upon by the whole board to enter into contract negotiations. >> That is off topic. I'm sorry. Point of order. It is off topic. >> Okay. >> Because this is not a discussion after Robert's point of order. >> No. >> Yeah. >> No. No. >> Can you read the because then I open the floor for everyone. So what as a board >> chair needs to review Robert's as a board we we will vote to see whether the chair's rule is accurate. You can rule me inaccurate >> and move forward. >> Nora, can we please just stick to >> this? Right here is the problem. >> Right. I agree. >> We need to come to a

058collaborative approach on the board with Gilbert and this is the starting point. So, let's get to why we're here >> and not posture and do all these other things. Let's get to why we're here tonight. >> Will you withdraw your motion? >> I'll withdraw the motion. >> Okay, >> Tiffany, we're going to withdraw that motion. >> Okay. So, in the interest of discussion, what we'll do is we'll have an opportunity for everybody to speak to the matter. individually, one at a time if you will, because the public needs to hear a lot. So, um, with that items, then I'll open up discussion. Okay. Um, as board chair of the Winchester Public Schools, I know that we all deeply care about the education of all of our kids, pre-K through 22 in all grades. We know

059the value that Gilbert brings to this community. For generations, it's been part of our town's story. Led by good stewards, good stewards. Genuine good students who work to save taxpayers money in this community. Even creating an international school program to help offset costs for our community. Many of us have personal ties to Gilbert, whether as alumni or as being a former golf coach. And through Mr. Gilbert's generosity, the trust continues to support graduates with scholarships today. Let me be clear. I want Gilbert to continue to be our school. I believe we all do. However, it would be reckless to approve this clause today as it stands without further negotiation to craft clauses that clarify the following issues that preK6 has at heart for 20 plus years is the taxpayers's ability to pay for all the

060services we want to provide for all our students. There's just not enough money in this community to do so. So, in the absence of a contract that clarifies the issues the two districts have over money, that's what's before us is money. What we have is a clause, not a contract. And while it may seem like progress in negotiation, it may seem that way, it does not, as it exists as an individual item, protect our kids right now, preK through six. Does not protect our taxpayers. does not specify that negotiations will continue. And let me tell you why. So the public is aware, we already went through this, Gilbert is an endowed academy by law. As such, it is allowed to set the tuition the Winchester public schools annually to educate our kids 7 through 12.

061Don't dispute that. That's the state law. And unlike Winchester public schools, Gilbert is not required to share in the budget cuts. So, in the absence of a contract that could clarify when the selectment demand reductions or voters reject a budget, it usually hits preK6 pretty hard. Sometimes Gilbert helps and sometimes it doesn't, but is their choice. Not Winchesterers, not this boards. A fair contract would contain clear rules on how cuts are shared, such as possibly arbitration and mediation when we have to cut. These parameters might be clarified first before we agree to this clause. That's where I'm at. Gilbert tuition includes capital project. Absolutely. These projects are expensive to this community. The state covers up to 70% with reimburseable grants. Awesome. If the projects qualify, leaving taxpayers to cover 30%. Gilbert will qualify for 70%.

062If this Winchester board designates it as the high school, they should receive designation, a designation, but not without additional clauses that show us our issue. Here's the problem. The taxpayers still have to pay 30 cents for every every bit of projects for both Gilbert and Winchester. but without a contract to act as the traffic cop for these requests to the taxpayer. It sets limit like such as setting limits to priorities of ceilings on projects the costs of which Winchester's projects could easily lose out if budgets get cut. the taxpayer could be crushed by Gilbert's project without check on their size and their scope of their capital wish. Therefore, this clause should not be adopted until and after a contract is created to clarify these issues in an effort to protect the taxpayer and the students

063of both districts. But on the 70% part, there is no provision to determine who will be responsible for the floating money to start construction projects to start projects. The floating money which have to be paid upfront while contractors do their work. So while the taxpayer waits for reimbursement from the state of Connecticut on very defined specific periods like 30% done, you get 30% back to the town. 30 60% done, you get it's a very specific schedule. So who floats that before the state reimbures us? This reimbursement only comes in installments. Should the trust be paying some of that while waiting for reimbursement? Should the taxpayer be paying for that while rating for reimbursement? And how might that affect the town's projects that are other things like roads? A contract might specify how to do this

064to help the town. As of 2024, Gilbert no longer even needs public members on its board to qualify for state reimbursement according to public act 24151. If a future board, just say, if a future board decides to change its bylaws, face taxation without representation as a wholly unelected body controlling more than 20% of our overall town budget because of its tax or the tuition bill. This would drive a mill rate. It would drive a mill rate. an agreement that they keep public representation on their board despite this new law as of 2024 might help out might be a clause in a contract before we decide this. Okay, there is no provision to calculate annual tuition. Maybe that would help. There is currently obviously no clause for controlling costs such as tuition increases from year to

065year so we can predict our budgets moving forward. There is no exit clause right now on this table if a party wants to leave out. This morning, DAS finally did respond and they said this clause is sufficient as submitted on the agenda today. But DAS also said, and maybe we need help with this, regardless of an agreement, should the Gilbert Corp cease to provide educational services to Winchester Middle and high schools like it closes. This is the future. No one can predict. Within the statutory time frame, the state would seek reimburse from reimbursement from Gilbert with the mortis mortitized balance of the grant. This clause as it written seems perpetual. For example, what's to prevent the introduction of a capital project in the 10th year? I'm sorry. The ninth year when the and if if

066the Gilbert closes for some reason we can't p project would the trust be responsible for that payment repayment for that project or would the town taxpayer be responsible for that? The middle school designation is not required for reimbursement. It only applies to the high school. Contract negotiations should continue to discuss excluding the middle school to preserve flexibility for the town's future if it ever needs to reconfigure grades for financial necessity. But the bottom is the future. The bottom is the future. While Gilbert has been great stewards of our community, thoughtful looking at its payments and so forth and its bill to us, this may not always be the case in our future. Leadership and relationships change. A cooperative board or a superintendent today could be replaced tomorrow by one unwilling to compromise. To assume problems

067will simply be worked out after tonight between the boards and the superintendent after tonight as they come up is not responsible to our kids, our parents, and our own taxpayers. It in fact is irresponsible. Voting yes without specific agreements on these issues, I argue is reckless. We won't be carrying out our fid fiduciary responsibility as an elected board of the Winchester people. And as members of this board, accepting this one clause leaves our youngest exposed, preK through six, leaves our taxpayers unprotected, and leaves the future of Winchester schools in the hands of a promise. We can do better. Thank you. Anybody else wishing to speak? >> Uh, I thought that was great. Nor a lot of hypotheticals in there. Um, though, um, we've had this school 130 years. And what I think that we didn't

068really talk about a lot tonight is the children that attend this school and have absolutely no idea that we're here right now. Um, half of us fighting to say, "Come in. Let's all be one entity. Some of us don't see it that way, and that's unfortunate in my opinion. Um, some people have talked tonight and uh brought up the idea that this hasn't been talked about, discussed about, thought about enough. Uh, I'm here to tell you, I've been on the board four years. That's incorrect. We have absolutely beaten this >> uh to a pulp since since the first year I was on here talking about this time and time again contract after contract looking at it different ones we have looked and talked and been in meetings uh as a volunteer board many many meetings

069that we've met and we've discussed this topic so I can uh disprove that right away. Um, I'm in favor of this designation as I believe Gilbert is our school and will be our school for 130 more years. So, thank you. >> Anyone else if I can go? >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Thank you. Um, I've been a member of this community since I've been alive. Okay. It's my father's Gilbert yearbook 1966. This is my Gilbert yearbook 1996. Not knowing the relationship between the town and Gilbert. Gilbert was always my high school. When I was in elementary school, St. Anony's, don't hold that against me. I remember going to Gilbert basketball games, sixth, seventh, eighth grade on Friday nights and that get in that environment and that feeling and just can't wait to get up there and

070go. That's what this town is missing. That is what's happening over the last 15, 20 years. This divide between the town and Gilbert. These kids are starting to hear how bad Gilbert is, right? There's no pride in going to Gilbert anymore. Uh Mr. Susi and I uh sat down in breakfast and he made a point that somebody brought to him that says, "You don't see kids walking around, families walking around with Gilbert on their chest anymore." Why is that? It's because of this negative connotation. I see a lot of alumni here. I've gone to school with some of your kids. I've gone to school with some of your nephews. I've seen a lot of people. I know a lot of people. That is my background. I love Gilbert. I love Winston. Like I said, 66

07196. My son will be class of 31. My daughter will be class of 33. There's no getting around that. And as far as what we're here to do tonight is to create the olive bench to hold out our hand to start a collaborative relationship again with Gilbert because when I got on this board I'm very new. When I got on this board there was a lot of us versus them and it wasn't coming from Gilbert. When I got on this board and I was asked to also be on the Gilbert board, I was told all the things that we have to do to not to to make sure that Gilbert is not a problem. Okay. Gilbert's not the problem. Okay. Now, I'd like to read a couple things. You've already heard what we're here, the

072designation that we're here from. I'd like to read uh section 10-285B school building project grants to incorporated or endowed high schools andmies. Any incorporated or endowed high school or academy approved by the state board of education pursuant to 10 section 1034 may apply and be eligible to subsequently be considered for a school building project grant commitment from the state provided the school building project complies with the provisions of this chapter. Paragraph C of that talks about in order for an incorporated or endowed high school or academy to be eligible for a grant commitment pursuant to this section, such high school or academy shall provide educational services to the town or towns designating it as a high school for such town or towns for a period of not less than 10 years after completion of grant

073payments under this section. and provide that at least half of the governing board which exercises final educational, financial and legal responsibility for the high school or academy exclusive of the chairman of such board be representatives of the board of boards of education designating the high school or academy as a high school for each such board's town. The statement that we have here tonight on the agenda was not something that we just threw out there. This is a state statute that we are following. Okay. Now in the end of it or for a period of 20 years after insert that was something that superintendent Lubie said there should be an end date. So the accommodation was to put 20 years at the end of it. Okay. That doesn't have to be but we we chose to

074do that as a designation. Now, I'd also like to read the fi the finally the response that we received from the Department of Administrative Services that we've been waiting so so much to hear. Um, their response this morning was endowedmies are eligible to apply for school building projects grants pursuant to 10-28 285B of the Connecticut General Statutes. The EA must be approved by the state board of education pursuant to 1034. A lot of this language you've already heard of the Connecticut general statutes and provide educational services to the town or towns designating it as a high school for such town or towns for a period of not less than 10 years after completion of grant payments. You asked us to clarify what the latter requires and whether the specific statement you quoted below would suffice.

075We do need to see some evidence that the Winchester Board of Ed will send and the Gilbert School will provide educational services to your middle and high school students. For some context, from our perspective based on past conversations with various people from the Winchester Board of E and the Gilbert School, DAS was aware that an agreement existed between the board of ed and TGS, but also that the board of ed was considering building a high school to serve its students in lie of the arrangements with TGS, something that I've never been aware of or ever heard of. As a result, DAS advised that we would need to review the agreement between BOE and TGS. The exact wording of the agreement is up to the BOE and TGS, but the statement you quoted below would be

076sufficient for purposes of the grant program. Regardless of an agreement, please note that should TGS cease providing educational services to Winchester's middle and high school students within the statutory frame time frame, the state would s seek repayment from TGS of the amortized balance of the grant which chairperson Macauski already stated. So this was not thrown together. This was not taken lightly. This is something that was thought out and we are being guided by the state. The language is through the guidance of the state and that is all. Thank you. [Applause] >> Anybody else wishing to speak? >> I'd like to speak. I'm a member of the negotiating committee as well and I'm not going to vote in favor of this because everyone seems to have a short memory about this. Before we even went to

077that meeting, we all discussed our goals. We had pages of goals. We went into that meeting, none of that was discussed. And now it's as if it never happened. So, I don't know what the rush is with this. I think everybody wants the Gilbert school to do well. I think we all want to come together, but I don't know what the rush is right now. We're not in the middle of a budget season. I just don't understand what that rush is. >> I I'll I'll say this. The timing is is perfect. >> Well, let's let's see if Sure. >> Can I Can I respond to you though? >> Let's I just want to give everybody a chance to think. So, I'll say something. Um, I'm for this. Um, and I think based upon I keep

078my eyes and ears open. I own a couple businesses in town. Um, I know a lot of people in town and you can read Facebook, you can listen to public comment. Um, not going to specifically respond to any particular one person, but there's definitely been a lot of accusations thrown around. Um, and what I think is very important is to speak on fact and what is truth and not to make assumptions or to make assertions that there's something ulterior motive that's taking place. Um, the one thing that I've heard a lot of is the whatifs and the what could happen, which is whenever you talk about agreements or even get to the point of a contract, that's what you should be doing. you should be covering your um proverbial self in that, right? And as

079the taxpayer and as was presented here tonight, um every single person on the uh the board of the Gilbert School Corp is actually a taxpayer as well. So, we're not talking about people that are not having to pay these taxes as well. So if they had ulterior motives um they would not be looking out for their own personal interest as taxpayers as well. So again I think what what continually is taking place is a pitting against um but we face we we we're tending to forget facing reality here. Um, I have not once heard somebody come up with a alternative um that was better than or that could service our students better than our current um could there be improvements? Of course, we can always do better. Um, but that starts with us agreeing upon

080a very basic understanding and a very basic agreement. This is not complex. This does not go into uh heavy negotiation and contractual agreements. That should take place and if we can do a simple agreement like this, this is where it should start. It shouldn't stop there. It should start there. And I think that's what gets lost. Um but it seems very uh a lot of people or again like has been talked about at nauseium really. Um, and to say that there hasn't been talk or thought about this or that it's a rush. This has been anything but a rush. I've been on the board of education now for two years. Um, but I've seen contractual uh arrangements that tried to take place in the past. This is new. So, we can focus on what has

081taken place, but right now is an opportunity. So, why not seize the opportunity to have a basic agreement, nothing complex. And now, can this springboard us to working out an even better contractual agreement that covers all parties involved and working collaboratively? Because I think that's what continually gets missed. It's always Gilbert's going to do this to us or this going to Gilbert is us at the end of the day. Like this is where our kids are being sent. I have two children. I have a three and a half and one and a halfyear-old. Uh as long as we live here, they will go to Gilbert. And I think that's one of the things. Um, again, I I just failed to see a better option that's been presented. Um, and I have heard other options, people

082throwing around other options, but it didn't appear as a better option. Um, and I'd like to just leave with this. Um, not to call you out, Nora, but as our board chair, um, we sat in a committee meeting, right? So, we sat together in a committee meeting all voicing what we thought the benefits of a contract with Gilbert would look like um or alternative approaches. So, I ask you because our committee meetings and all the notes taken there are public, I ask you to present the better option that you had because you have a lot of whatifs, but I would like to uh and you didn't mention my name, but you said I had a vested interest because I was the former golf coach. I stepped down as the golf coach, made sure that that

083appointment was taken just so that there was no miscommunication or ill will um and and I sit here with no attachments but just a belief that we can do better. So I I again ask you the question, what would be the option? What was the thing or the arrangement that you had proposed that was better than? Because I would I would love if you could share that with us. Is it okay if I have a reply? >> Okay. Um, I I'm not interested in destroying Gilbert. I'm interested in letting it work and uh do the things that it does for our kids. Um I am interested in however answering the question to what is the next step if we vote this tonight? Where are the clauses? How do we make sure Gilbert comes back to

084the negotiation table to make sure that it takes care of those things that we had talked about >> because without that they don't have to meet us. So I'm going to ask the chair Kurt, what's the next step? Is there another date for negotiation? Because this was one day when the committee had met and committees have met twice in 10 years to get this right or to try to get it right. have come to an impass over the capital projects problem because we all want our roofs fixed, but this community can't afford to pay multiple roofs in one school year. Who's going to be the cop when we need all these needs, boilers and so forth? So, I am just simply concerned about how do we get to the contract stage if we do this?

085If this seems to be the only thing Gilbert wants and needs, and if this happens tonight, and they're here, I'm telling to their face. If this happens tonight, there is no agreement to go back to a negotiation table to get what we need, prek through six. And I'm telling you, my role as an educ as a an elected official, my fiduciary respons our fiduciary responsibility is to make sure we're taking care of pre-K through six. And I I want to point to the fact that from six years time, the the budget increases the the TGA uh Gilbert has received $2.1 million in Gilbert increases. >> Hold on. Hold on. Your ask was a response to his question which you haven't which you haven't answered yet and I will actually answer your question to me after

086you answer his question. >> My my question is because you've already you've already I don't want an alternative. What I want is a contract that specifies our needs. >> No. No. But I Okay. So I asked this very specifically. I said we we shared and it was public. So we can go back to this too. It was a committee meeting that was held with public notes. So, we all shared what our personal interest, what our hope, yeah, our hope for, what the best solution was. And I'm asking just because for uh sake of transparency, um what was your solution in in adv specific? I'm just asking what was your solution? I don't believe it in incorporated Gilbert. >> Could you share that? >> I don't recall it. So what what >> Okay, fair enough. >>

087Um, we can go back to >> I had lots of things on paper, but I don't I don't know what you're looking for. >> Selective memory. Okay, that that's fine. We're not going to get into the weeds of this, but yes, >> but >> it did not involve Gilbert is my point. >> It did not involve Gilbert. And now what I'm trying to say is >> I think you're misunderstanding and I want to clarify for the record. It did involve Gilbert. Okay. Yeah, I know what you're talking about and I told this to Holly. >> Okay. >> In the grand scheme of things, maybe this community ought to think outside the box. >> Maybe in the grand scheme of things because to the population of Gilbert is dropping in 10 years, nine years, it's went

088down to 123 kids. So fiscally, fiscally, I'm I'm not a graduate or of Gilbert. So I maybe I can look at this rationally in a way that that separates me from the rest of the people here. Um, >> we can't look at it rationally too much to Gilbert. >> Well, sure you can, but but you know, um, >> I didn't go to Gilbert. I >> I don't have that emotional attachment, if you will. Okay. So, I'm thinking create creativity. Okay. Sure. Maybe someday because the town wouldn't be able to finance, if you will, the tuition or or as the population drops, maybe let's consider an inclusive plan that we combine with region 7 down the road become one larger new regional district where the middle school is Gilbert, where region seven kids show up and

089we become a larger district. That building becomes a middle school building and maybe region seven becomes the high school for Winchester and those region seven kids. This is just a thought. But if we don't have a way to um control these costs, then you know it becomes a problem for all taxpayers. >> That's just thinking outside the box. And if this designation hits that just that's fine, but just know that this takes that off the table and maybe that's what you want. But I'm just thinking creatively. >> So the cost per pupil for regional for this upcoming year is 29,000. The cost for Winchester this school year is 21,862. >> Correct. And just to clarify real quick, so we talk about having a plan for the future >> and alternatives and what that might look

090like, but I think the reality, >> but I think the I think the reality is in this is is there any other solution because you're saying thinking creatively. Um most of these have no actual plan or execution other than a pie in the sky idea if you will, right? um >> that will happen in terms of this. >> I totally concede this was just like oh this would be big picture way pie in the sky. Totally. It it would not happen tomorrow. Absolutely not. >> Can I make a motion that we move the vote? >> Let everyone else speak. >> Um I think we all recognize that Gilbert's our school. Gilbert's our community school. And although I am in favor of designating them as our community school, I am a little bit apprehensive about giving

091away everything without retaining some kind of control. Um, I have some questions about their endowment. Um, I believe that the last filing that I could find was from 2023 on their 990 federal filings and there was still about million. Um when I asked the previous superintendent from Gilbert that I was at we were at a public meeting in the Gilbert auditorium and I said do you have millions in the bank because that is what is talked about amongst town that you guys have all this money and that you're not utilizing it and I was told no we don't we don't have anywhere even close to millions. Again, I don't know because I haven't seen it. Um, also we their capital projects would not be part of their operating budget. Capital projects have to get voted

092on separately. Um, so the idea that they could just throw a $20 million project into their budget and then forward that to us, I don't see how that would ever pass referendum. Um thirdly, I have some concerns about the way that you know uh maintaining tuition costs um class sizes, the way that um contracts for all of their staff um that it's not in line with, you know, um the Winchester staff versus the Gilbert staff. staff are um the salaries are inconsistent. We'll say um teachers at Gilbert can have their kids go there for free and that gets build to us. >> I I asked I believe I asked. Is that not true? >> That's true. >> I did ask that. >> Um that gets part of the tuition that gets put on us. Um

093if that's not true, then I would I would love have a full understanding of it. Um I had made a recommendation. It was not a board. uh it was not a meeting that I could attend, but I sent in recommendations through the chair um to be read, which is maybe devising one board with Gilbert representation and Winchester representation, similar to a regional school district where you have two or three towns and everybody gets the same number of votes, if you will, alternating the chairs every few years. um creating one budget, creating an atmosphere where um there is a um a split, a 50/50 split if cuts need to get made. So although I am in favor of moving forward with Gilbert, I am apprehensive about giving away everything without, you know, in a negotiation, no

094one should be really happy. Everybody's got to give up a little something to get a little something. Right now, we're not getting anything and and they're getting the 70% reimbursement without any um clear guidelines as to who's floating the money, who how does how is the re reimbursement coming in, who's filing for the reimbursement with DAS, does it go to Gilbert or the town? There's a lot of questions that we just don't have answers to. So, I think just not understanding all of the unintended consequences. I fully support this like building a school out of the question. Combining with another district, out of the question. This is where if you grew up in Winstead, this is where you go. And I agree with Kurt. We need to bring the pride back. I agree with a

095lot of you guys regarding wanting to have this move forward. I am just apprehensive about it. Um I'm just apprehensive. That's that's really where I personally am at because I don't know what I don't know. All right. >> She's so lazy. >> Um >> Kurt Kurt, >> I would like to >> Well, we do we have public comment after. >> Um Okay. Yeah. You haven't spoken? >> Yeah. >> Today is the 68th anniversary of the great flood. I'd like to acknowledge that. Pictures on the wall. Yeah. Good day to hold a meeting. Um and I do appreciate all the comment, all the public comment. You know, clearly this has been a multi-year discussion and as Tori said, this is our fourth year. We were at that meeting at the senior center. We were all new

096when the discussions kind of went very downhill because of this animosity um between the two schools and it it is animosity. Um I did not go to Gilbert. I went to THS who just built their new school at the tune of I think $175 million. They got 80% reimbursement, so they're up for almost 30 million that they're going to have to pay, but they already owned the land and they already had the sports fields, so that's just for the building. Um, I've listened to our chair talk about these other options, which are not options. Gilbert is the school and I think as Tori and Kurt and Shane Jonathan went there recent graduate this this inability to have a relationship that's built on and I hear what you're saying Allison and I respect because this is

097your business. um the inability to have a relationship based on trust that we're all here for these students and we talk about these students as our students until the dollar signs start hitting and then it's us versus them their students our you know it's just it's it's untenable really. So all this does is um is answers the 1033 that we have to designate high school. It answers the um that Gilbert's allowed to set their tuition last budget season. It should have shown that they were responsible in their budgeting. Um were our ask was the big ask which has increased everybody's taxes. Winchester public schools and the town voted that we wanted to give that money to the schools so that we could fund the schools properly. And as we've said before, it didn't really increase,

098it didn't give us any any bang for our buck. It's just it's keeping the program going. You know, we want to see for our school more programs. We want to see more bells and whistles, but we want that for Gilbert, too, because it's our kids. My kid is homeschooled. I ran for on the board for all kinds of reasons four years ago. My son is homeschooled, but he wears that Gilder hat because he goes and does the baseball camp that coach Pimentel does, and he loves wearing it around town. He's got a lot of pride for this town, and I look forward for him to be a Gilbert student once we enter into that. So I really feel that this designation is the first step into what we're trying to accomplish which is a new

099relationship forward with Gilbert. We have a new head of school who has experience with endowedmies. We have a new head of school and we need to have a vision for this town and we can't expend all this energy of the constant um you know fighting. I will say that you know again the pie in the sky Winchester sending our students to regional 7. If we did send our students to regional 7 we don't get a a say in the cost. We get no board members. We don't get a say in their class sizes. we don't get a say in their in their programming, you know, so where really is the benefit? We have a high school. We need to make that relationship better and we need to allow our children from K through 12 to

100thrive. So, I am for this and I call for a vote. >> There's still people who haven't spoken, so we need to hear from everyone. Jonathan Oh, yeah. And right now >> I am in favor of this. I am also on the uh negotiating committee. Uh I feel it's the most practical idea for our town. We have a school. I think it would be the most fiscally uh viable option uh because of the possible reimbursement we could receive and that's why I'd be in favor. [Applause] So, I know that this statement came right from the state, right? What you said. Um, but you know, it's it's just very vague like educational services. I don't know what that means. What does that mean? Does that mean special ed? Does that mean transportation? What is Gilbert going

101to provide? What does that include? Um, you know, I just feel like we really need to go back to negotiations and come up with a contract that goes along with this statement so that way, you know, we know where we're going. We, you know, we have some say moving forward. Um, it would be nice if, you know, we're right now on YouTube, right? It would be nice if we could, you know, and if if if the Gilbert Corp meetings were on YouTube as well. If we're paying what? 8 point what is it? How much? How many millions? 8.8 million. >> Why Why can't we have those meetings on on YouTube? I mean, as a town, shouldn't we be able to watch those as well? >> Have you asked that question being on the board? >>

102I did. and I was told that I could record them for my personal use, but they would not be able to be put on the town website or the town YouTube page. >> So, I I would again stick to my position that we take the time in the deliberation to answer all these questions that we have and and go forward with this designation with a contract that answers our questions. So we have the time to work because you know you also saw the attorney's advice. He said no go. >> So there was an email from our attorney there. >> Isn't that privilege? >> Thank you for >> So uh >> secondly you asked me a question. Correct. >> That's what I did. What's the next step? >> So this is the starting block where this

103is getting us out of the starting block. Right now I know we say Gilbert doesn't have to come back to the table. Okay. And I trust that they will. I trust because for 130 years they've been a member of this community and they want what's best for our kids just as much as we want what's best for our kids. This is just a designation. The next step is we are not dissolving the negotiating committee. The next step is to talk about what we want and what Gilbert wants and to create a con a contract. the problem that has happened in the past. We tried to put it all into one and then one or two things broke it down. This is the olive branch. This is the starting point. This will get us to where

104we all want to be. Okay? We're not dissolving the committee. This will continue. This will continue long after I'm gone from this board, but it will happen. >> How are you going to ensure that it continues? because I trust I trust that the members that are going to be here will do it and I trust Gilbert. That's what I do. There has been distrust from this board against Gilbert for too long and I believe this will work just because they have hypotheticals. This is my hypothetical belief. This is my hope. This might be a hypothetical but I believe this will work. Okay. So this is a starting block. This gets us out of the gate, which hasn't happened in six years. We cannot go into negotiations with we're not we're not starting from anywhere until

105we get to here. We have this gets us a talking point. >> Why have negotiations broken down before? >> I don't know. I wasn't involved in that. Were you there for that? >> Why have negotiations broken down before? you there. >> What was the problem? >> You tell me. >> I believe there's enough people on this board that wants to work with Gilbert. >> I believe we have a new superintendent. They have a new head of schools. They are willing to work with us. I believe our chairperson went to them when Mr. Sherru said he was stepping down and said, "Let's talk about one superintendent." And the response was not until we get a contract. >> If they're willing to work with us, why can't we go to negotiations first? >> We are making demands

106to get what we want. What? Why? We need to start with this, get a contract together, and then we can maybe move forward with our grand plans. >> It seems like backwards thinking. What we need to do is to come together and work on getting a contract and then putting this into place once it's completed. This is the starting point. >> This is the simplest starting point. You add more to it, it's just going to blow it up right out the gate. This is the simplest starting point. So, I move to vote on what is currently in front of us. >> Second. >> Tiffany, you have Kurt first. Sandra second >> to move to accept. >> Wait to move to accept or move it to the vote >> to >> he's asking to close. You

107need to vote on if you're closing discussion and going to a vote. >> Well, we don't have >> Is that what you should do? >> We have Are we motion? >> We have a motion on the table. >> We don't actually have >> We don't have a motion on the table. >> You can't vote. All that was done without any motion on the table. >> Talk about point of order. >> So, so, so are you making a motion? >> Okay. >> To close. >> Motion to accept. >> Oh, okay. >> To end discussion. >> Well, >> yes. >> Well, we have no motion. >> This is >> just make a motion to enter into the agreement as stated in Okay. >> All right. Do that >> procedurally. Get that on. >> Yeah, we got to

108get that done. I thought that's what >> you don't have to read the whole statement to accept the verbage as >> well no Kurt just >> Kurt made it and I second it so we're good >> so we just have to wait for Tiffany >> so we're not moving to vote Kurt is making a motion to go into the agreement as stated and on the agenda >> correct that we're designating the Winchester board correct is designating the Gilbert school to provide educational >> to the town of Winchester we can provide you hard copy seconded by Sandra Okay. Um, any further discussion >> just feel like if Russia and Ukraine >> a little levity thank you. >> Um, you can either close discussion or put it to a vote if you're ready or otherwise someone can

109make a motion. >> So, does anybody else wish to speak? on this on this. Anybody else wish to speak? Anybody else wish to speak? Okay. All in favor of accepting discussion and possible action on making the following agreement with the Gilbert School. The Winchester Board of Education designates the Gilbert School to provide educational services to the town of Winchester for its middle and high school students. And the Gilbert School agrees to provide educational services to the town of Winchester for its middle and high school students for a period of not less than 10 years after the completion of grant payments or for a period of 20 years after parenthesis date and insert date sign. >> Can you read the what was the very first part of what you said? >> The discussion of possible action.

110Oh, the mo I should >> we are making the motion to >> we're making a motion to >> designate the Gilbert School to provide educational services. We are making the motion on this. Yes, we're making the motion to accept this. >> Was that your motion >> to accept this? >> Which designates the Gilbert School? >> This is what's on the agenda. >> Yes. >> Absolutely. >> All in favor? One, two, three, four, five. All opposed. One, two, three, four. This motion carries. Okay. Item five on the agenda is public comment. Anybody wishing to speak, please sign up. Do >> I have to resign up if I'm already on this? >> Um, no. I think you're okay. Anybody new wishing to speak, please sign up. Um, I usually read that thing, but it's um anybody for

111three minutes. You have three minutes per person if you wish to speak. It's a it's um >> it is the practice of >> Anybody know the room needs to be done by seven? Do we need another case? You guys have >> Well, yeah, but I can kick him out. >> He knows I can kick him. >> So, um um [Music] >> I guess we're ready. >> Okay, give me a second there, Teresa. >> Okay, okay, we ready for public comment? >> Okay, thank you, Teresa. Three minutes. >> Uh Theresa P, 124 Meadow Street. You want to start off by saying I think that the passing of this is fantastic. It's a first step. You have to take first step. There's been a lot of conversation tonight and there's just been a lot of comments that

112I'm not sure if everybody in the room necessarily understands are either misleading or wholly inaccurate. But I'm gonna start with the how do we know that Gilbert will continue to come to the table. When that came up a lot and it's I really work hard not to take things personally, but when you say Gilbert, I'm assuming you're talking about the members of the school corp, myself being one of them. The reason that Kurt and Tori, Jonathan, and Shane and um Sandre all have faith that we will come back to the table is because we are actual human people who want what is best for the kids in our town. There is no weird backdoor let's destroy Winston conversation. It's crazy. And I think that so many of you in the room know me and you

113know that I've dedicated so much of my time above and beyond what I've ever been paid for to ensuring that the kids of this town prek through 12th grade are getting what they need. Um so when you phrase things like that, how do we know Gilbert's coming back to the table? Because we are your friends and neighbors. We are people. Just how do we know that you're going to come to the meeting? because you're here because you're invested. It's a it's a insulting comment. So, there's that. Second, the other piece that I think a lot of people are forgetting in this conversation is that Julie and now Mike are hired to do jobs. We It is not the job of the Gilbert School Corporation nor the Winchester Board of Education to supervise or manage school

114districts. They're governance. You set policy. You set budget and you supervise the superintendent. The work that happens after that is done by the superintendent. So when Julie says to Mike, "Oh, it's budget season and we're going to talk together." Those are the two people who are going to work out what needs to be done for the kids. It's our job as boards when that comes back to the table, not to say, "Oh, well, you know, are you sure you checked to make sure you're getting the exact, you know, one cent cheaper glue stick?" No, that's crazy. It's a crazy ask. That's not our job. That's management. It's not governance. So, the questions about if Gilbert are going to come to the table, maybe they weren't designed to be insulting, but they were. And remember that

115you have people that are on your payroll who have very specific qualification skill sets to be operating and managing the school districts. And you need to let them do their work. We shouldn't be fighting over who has control because we are not experts in any of this. That is what you hire superintendents for. Let's let them do their work and make sure collaboratively that the kids are getting what they need. Thank you. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> In the order of >> My name is Steve Larson live in 77 Wheeler Street. Uh first of all, I'd like to thank you all for your work. I know this is a challenging topic. I've been hearing about it ever since I moved here. uh about 15 years ago or a little more. Um and I'm in the

116weird position where I I almost agreed with almost everything that was said tonight. So I I think everybody is wanting the same thing. It's just a a question of process. And I had kind of a follow-up question for what Kurt read out the response that we got from the state. Was that just this morning? >> Yeah. And there was a paragraph towards the end of that that basically said, I don't know if you want to read it again. was something about yeah this will suffice except that we're going to want to see letters of agreement. >> Uh there were also various invalid financial obligations between board of ed and TGS. Ultimately um ultimately TJS would also need to show authorization to cover the local share and allocation. Actually, that's not what there is. >> There

117was something in there about how how this this designation that that everybody as a result worried about tonight that we would need to review their agreement between board of ed and TGS. The exact wording of the agreement is up to the board of ed and TGS. But the statement regardless of an agreement, please note that >> it's up above. We do need to see some evidence that Winchester BOE will send and that Gilbert school will provide educational services. No, that's not it. So >> he um >> we had important discussions tonight but but it's not done this there there has to be further discussions and negotiations >> to to make this designation actually worth the paper it's printed on. Right. So the that's the challenging part is that this is passed. I understand why the

118people who didn't want it to get passed tonight wanted it not to get passed. I understand why the people who wanted it who wanted it passed wanted it passed. I think everybody wants the same stuff. Now, the challenging part is you actually do need to go and get letters of agreement between these two organizations to actually have that come in force. >> So, that's a that's something you all have to work that out. Good luck. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. Frank Oliver, 108 short drive. I'm going to be more generic. I worked for the city of New York for 31 years during when it was bankrupt. And when we had no money to do anything to rebuild the school system, rebuild the sewer system, the treatment plants, the feds came to us

119with a nice deal. Clean water rack, 28 cents on the dollar. We spent 28 cents. The budget went crazy. Oh, we'll give you all the money you need. Don't worry about it. But we had faith. We've had a lot of discussions with the state. with a lot of discussions with the governor's office to get the city out of bankruptcy and it was based on faith. I came to this town five years ago this December. I believe when I look at it, this town is bankrupt because everybody is quabbling about everything. You go to a budget meeting and we've had plenty of them. We've had referendums three times two years ago. Nobody agrees on anything. Nobody's looking for the best of how to make this town a better town in the state of Connecticut. And yes,

120you have to give a little. You have to agree on things. Maybe it's not perfect, but damn it, if you just spent three hours here squabbling about a paragraph. I had a state meeting where we were supposed to do three days and we gave it back to the state and the paragraph and the one meeting was over in 15 minutes. The governor went berserk. The mayor went berserk. But we got the agreement we needed. So I don't understand. Have the faith to work together. We're three blocks away. There's three schools within a walking distance of two blocks and we can't agree on that. The New York City had one superintendent for 46 high schools, 121 junior high schools, and 400 elementary schools. I got an education. This is ridiculous. So, let's get together. Let's end

121this meeting that we are one board, one together with a mission to make this a better school district with a high school that's already built. It's already here in town. I spent three years going to basketball games in Northwestern. I thought that was our high school. Somebody said, "Why city here?" I said, "Well, I live in Winstead. That's not my high school. You should be on the other side of the gym, you know. Come on. Let's show the kids what we got. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> Hi, I'm Virginia Shock Sheret. I've lived in this town for about 45 years. So, I've seen the good, bad, and ugly. Especially when it comes to the school systems, it's been ugly. And uh I've had no great love either for the public schools, um the elementary or

122the high school. And uh so I'll I'll not go over that, but I just can't understand why you would do do something without having your lawyers look at it. That is the problem >> because somebody the town lawyers looked it over and approved it and didn't say that maybe you should um uh find put a little bit of constraint on the uh on the high school uh versus the the um elementary schools. I mean, I um I find that very very odd that it that there isn't some sort of thing that um that would actually talk about maybe percentage-wise what how much budgets could raise or something like that. I'm not talking about the construction, okay? I'm all for having Gil Gilbert has always been, you know, maybe maybe a de facto high school, but

123it's always been the high school since I've been here. So, um I just and and I've been a teacher. I've been a a a college teacher and uh but I also worked with Steve Sedlac on a number of of television a television program for a number of years and we would be going over the um the processes of of a budget and um and we would have Gilbert in um you know whoever was the principal and the ideas are wonderful but sometimes they're rather expensive And sometimes they come at the cost, not just sometimes of the elementary schools. And if you want your elementary schools uh students to stay as well as after the debacle with the money stolen and everything like that, they the um and went into receiverhip here. The uh the schools

124got itself together and actually became an awardwinning elementary school. They did so well and I would just hate to see that we could make a mistake along the line here. I would really like to have seen that you had you can't take everything on faith. You can't take everything on trust. Okay. I've been here long enough to see that. And um I I really wish that uh that we would have had an opinion from our our town attorneys that are going to have to peel out uh end up with any fallout that might happen. Hopefully it doesn't. >> Okay. I'm just uh wishing you >> uh point of clarification. We did receive um an attorney letter this morning. >> Oh, this morning >> the the Winchester Board of Ed attorney responded. >> Okay. the Winchester

125bordered but >> Shipman and Goodman. >> Okay. But um but not anything to do with Gilbert. Gilbert >> didn't. >> So they so Winchester Board of Fed said that it was okay to go ahead with this that >> we have received a letter from our attorney >> advising us. >> All right. Thank you. >> So Okay. Thank you. >> Anyone else wishing to speak? Attella 120 Forest Avenue. >> I'm disappointed in the way the vote vote went. I agree it is an opportunity and it is a time to come together, but what's wrong with having um people come together and have some sort of guarantee, you know, um you talk about pie in the sky, okay, well maybe it's pie in the sky to think that everything is going to go great and Gilbert's just

126going to be wonderful. But after decades of living in this town, things don't always work out that way. I speak from my sister who was a teacher in the Winchester public school for over 30 years. And all I ever heard was, "Well, Gilbert's the country club and we're nothing." So maybe that explains the divide that I've heard you all talk about. You know, teachers at Gilbert would get a raise, but the Winchester public school teachers buck kiss. So, I think it's foolish to go ahead without some sort of guarantees for those items that you were bringing up, for instance. And um you know, it's nice to have warm fuzzy feelings about your high school, but you shouldn't let it cloud the financial impact that certain things could have if you don't have some sort of

127guarantees in place. And that's all I have to say. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you for your comments. >> Hans Street, Winstead, Connecticut. I did not go to Gilbert. No, I went to Charter Oakai. Go Lancers. Thank you for starting the first step. I would like to address a couple of things. Pearson School gets more money per student than Gilbert. It's just a fact. You can look it up. It's in the books, right? Okay. We sure it's in the budget. It's in the budget. I the budget. I went to all the meetings. I went to all of that. And listen, and I want to thank you all because I went to Friday night's football thing and I looked at that roof and my husband said to me, "Look at that roof." I went, "Yeah,

128but you need a new one." We just had to have ours replaced. Little tiny, 1250 foot house, $23,000. So now you voted this, they could start working on the grants. And you know Jay's gonna get us as much money as he can because he always stops. Go Jay. So this is a starting point. If that HVAC goes, we pay 100%. What do you think that's going to do to your taxes? If that roof goes, we pay 100%. right now, now that we're going to be able to apply for grants and work with the school and you then we are only going to be better and that's all I have to say. Can we please just work together? Thank you. Oh, and I love this town. Go instead. >> Thank you for your comments. >> Hi,

129my name is Carol. I live at 304 East Wakefield Boulevard and um I've been coming up to this town for 25 years as a weekender. I moved up here three years ago full-time. Um my daughter actually moved up here two years ago and my granddaughter just graduated from Gilbert. She absolutely loves Gilbert. Um I lived in Nor for 35 years after my kids went to school. I have three daughters and I can tell you there's 23 schools in Norlock and there's one superintendent and they're all cohesive schools. Even though There's an A high and there's Brian McMahon and they have their rivalries. The whole school gets I mean that there's one person running all the schools. So I was I couldn't believe when I came here that you had two superintendent for three schools. It

130kind of blew me away. Anyway, but this whole situation I've literally been watching the meetings since March and I mean after the first one I go I need a glass of wine. Like I can't even how do they get anything done? Nobody agrees with anybody. Like I'm shocked that you guys can't work together. Um we have no choice on this. Like if you look up the statutes, it does say we have to pay Gilbert. There's no choice and you have no other options. Where are you going to send the kids? You're not going to have a high school. Like you got to learn to work together. Um I live I mean I So what I do for a living I run an I run a legal department. I'm the director of legal affairs for an

131international company and I do contracts every day and I can't believe it takes seven years to get a contract. That's that's ridiculous. I like I wouldn't have a job if I let that happen. So, um I'm I and that so with in closing, I'm just letting you know that I am running for the board of education in this this coming year. Thank you. >> Thank you. [Applause] Hi, J. Marco, 68 Overlook Road. Um, since Gilbert is here tonight and since you have great faith, would it be possible for someone from Gilbert to come up here for the people who are still not sure about this? Not sure Gilbert, I can't think of the word right now. I'm on the spot. Um, good faith that they are going to work with us. I think that would

132go a long way if they could come up here and give just some kind of um lacking the word again. >> Teresa just did >> support. I think Teresa did >> did she because she's on because she's on the board. >> Oh, she replied. >> My bad. I'm sorry. >> We can't inter interact. This is your comment, not ours. >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That was when I left the room for a minute. I totally missed it. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Thank you for your comments. Paul Marino, 678 East Wakefield Boulevard. Congratulations to this board for getting us through the first step of what really needs to be done um for our kids and our town. You know, government's a messy business. We've all learned that for those of us who have volunteered to

133be part of this process. And uh you know the board that I serve on often has disagreement. Budget seasons in particular are very very difficult. And we've worked through the budget and I've heard a lot of commentary about Winstead Public versus Gilbert in the budget. And yes, we direct a lot of cuts towards Winstead this year because they had this huge ask and Gilbert came in almost flat in terms of their budget increase. So yeah, we had to analyze it. But there's no motivation between favoring Gilbert versus Winston public. We want a great education from K preK to 12. And that's important for this town. If we want to encourage families to move to our town, we have to have great education. And that is so important. In this room tonight, we see people applauding

134for one side versus the other. We saw clear differences of opinion and unfortunate political differences on this board. It's a messy business. Tonight, you took the step towards moving this town forward in terms of of its education. And I respectfully ask that as a board you add two new goals to your list. One is to unify, to come together to put away the partisan garbage and work together for this contract that ultimately is critical for our educational system here. Put away the garbage. And second goal is let's find a way to end the division between Gilbert and Winstead public. Your mission should be to bring that together so that we have one educational system that our kids feel, that our parents feel, and that the town feels and can be proud of. We need to

135work together. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you for your comments. Anyone else wishing to speak? >> Hi, Maryanne Marino. Um, 631 Vera Road. So, I'm just going to come back with some numbers. Um, but before I do that, good fences make good neighbors and contracts are good fences. I have spent my whole career in business and have had a lot of great relationships with partners who I trusted. It doesn't mean I didn't enter into a contract with them before I moved forward with a partnership. I think it's foolhardy. So, I do hope that we move forward with contract negotiations and I do agree there should be a unification. Again, I'm unclear about why Gilbert can't be a public school and reduce the sort of inequity that I'm hearing about teacher pay, etc., etc., one superintendent instead

136of two, one back office instead of two, right? There's probably two accounting departments, there's probably two maintenance teams. So, I don't know how that happens, but it would be probably better for our budget. Um, so taking the last uh three years of the town's budgets into account, the 10-year projection um 10-year projected cost to the town of Winchester to support Gilbert is looks like it's a little over $93 million. And the 20-year one, if you go with your 20 years, is about 187 million. So that's a lot of money. Um, I think that this group is committing to and the town we all know has trouble making ends meet. Um, and so the reason I'm suggesting some sort of combining uh of costs is because clearly what ends up happening is that all of the

137other departments get cut. Right? We've heard that it's been really hard to hire police because we're not competitive. We've heard that it's really hard to keep great people at the Department of Public Works once they're trained up because we're not competitive. If the education budget can't find a way to eliminate duplicative costs and be more responsible, then it is harming all the rest of what needs to happen in the town. So that's it. Those are the numbers. There really should be a contract. I think it's very silly to accept what you accepted tonight without a contract. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Anybody else wishing to speak? Anyone else wishing to speak? Okay, seeing none, item six. I need a motion to adjurnn. >> Make that motion. >> 706. Tori Alison >> Tori and

138Allison. All in favor of adjournment. Let's do this. >> This is unanimous. Thank you. >> Oh my god. >> Don't be upset about [Music] >> Well, that was fun. Glad it's over. He said,