HBOE - Regular Meeting - 11/18/2025-ORG

001Good evening. As chairperson of the Harford Board of Education, I hereby call to order the November 18th, 2025 regular meeting. I wish to extend a warm welcome to everyone present and to our television viewers. The board superintendent and I are pleased that you have joined us as we celebrate achievement, review information, and make policy decisions related to the effective operation of the Harford public schools. This is a regular meeting and all items that will be discussed or voted on this evening have been posted as required by state law. As the Harford Board of Education, we are here to set goals, listen to reports of the superintendent, approve budgets, contracts, and personnel appointments, and make policy for the district. We are not here to make management decisions or solve the problems of individuals. Management is the

002responsibility of the superintendent. The monthly meetings of the board are open to the public. There are the time when the board conducts its business of governing the school system in a public arena. The regular meetings are not meetings with the public. Therefore, comments from the audience will be confined to the time designed for the public to address the board. The quorum and courtesy are important elements in effective public meetings. Please silence your cell phones or communication devices and refrain from talking while others are speaking. Since it is legally mandated that proceedings be accurately recorded, I may have to ask for order periodically should noise begin to interfere interfere with our recording capabilities. I am pleased that you have taken this time this evening to join us. We are very proud of this school system and

003thank you for your interest in Harford public schools. Now this will be read in Spanish. [clears throat] Harford Harford. Mr. forenc. Hartford. Thank you. Now I'm going to turn it over to our superintendent, Dr. Andre Townsel for recognitions. Thank you. Student recognition. At this time, I'd like to call Dia Kalisonen to join us down front. [applause] Dia is a freshman at the University High School of Science and Engineering who earned a perfect score on the PS8 a PSAT 89 practice test. >> [applause] >> Hey, PSAT 8. All right. A PSAT 89 perfect score is uncommon as a score of 1440 is considered the top of the 99th percentile for both eighth and 9th graders. Dia, you are an inspiration to your peers and a shining example of what it means to exceed the bar. It's

004important to share that Dia was also a student at Annie Fischer STEM Magnet School. Let's make some noise for Dia. [applause] >> [laughter] >> That's mom. Dad, this is HBS. Congratulations. So, can you read it from your microphone there? >> Yeah. Three more. >> Okay. >> Correct. >> All right. I have staff recognition. On behalf of Hartford Public Schools, we would like to recognize the following individuals. May you please join us down front. Carrie Blae, Bur Middle School physical education teacher and coach. Will Vetzer, Hartford Public School Safety Officer, and Heidi Schmidt, Hartford Public School athletic director. >> [applause] [applause] >> Yes, I need a hand. Come help me out. Just hold the mic for me, please. Just hold the mic. That's all I need. [clears throat] >> No pressure. >> You by yourself, >>

005I guess. >> Okay. Here we go. Make make some noise for him. >> Mr. Blaze and Mr. Vitzer, we recognize you for your bravery and quick action that saved life saved a life during a soccer game. On October 29th, the Burr Middle School Eagles were playing achievement first in a middle school sports semifinal game when one of the referees went into distress on the field. Miss Blae and Mr. Vitzer did not hesitate to jump into action to perform CPR and use a AED to save the referee's life during that time. In recognition of your lifesaving actions and exemplary courage, compassion, and teamwork, we'd like to present you with a lifesaving recognition award. Make some noise. [applause and cheering] [applause] It's important to share. They did a phenomenal job at the at the time. I believe

006over the weekend, I think the individual did succumb ultimately. uh but but we were able to get them through that opportunity, get them to their families and u it was very brave during that time. So please clap it up one more time for us. [applause] And Heidi Schmidt in partnership with our health services department, we recognize you for your leadership in ensuring that the AEDs at all of our school athletic locations and your staff is trained on using the devices. For those who may not know, an AED stand for the automated external defi diff defibrillator. It is a portable and easy to use medical device that can analyze a person's heart rhythm during a cardiac arrest and deliver an electric shock to restore a normal heartbeat. They are located at all of our school buildings

007and offices. In recognition of your outstanding leadership and dedication to the policy that promotes safety, preparedness, and the well-being of all of our school community, we also give you this award. Please, let's put our hands together one more time for both of these staff members. [applause] >> Thank you so much. Congratulations. [applause and cheering] Thank you. And now we're moving on to public comment. >> Hello everybody. We as a board in collaboration with the superintendent and district leadership are committed to cultivating a culture of excellence at all levels of HBS. We thank you for taking the time to attend tonight's board meeting. We appreciate you coming out to learn more about Hartford Public Schools and for sharing your thoughts and concerns. We have established a protocol to track and respond to concerns raised. We want

008you to know that we take your concerns seriously. And to that end, staff will follow up within 48 hours if follow-up is required via the preferred method of contact the speaker has indicated on the sign-in sheet. As a reminder, you have three minutes to speak. At the two-minute mark, the bell will ring, letting you know that you have one minute left. At the second bell, please wrap up your comments. Now, this will be read in Spanish. Thank you. Hartford. Our first speaker is attorney Reed. here or hello everyone. My name is Tatiana Perry. Um I am here today to share my experiences from enrolling my son into Hartford school systems. He is six years old. Um ever since I enrolled my child, I received a civily letter with false allegations of threatening/harassing being used against

009me by using um the statement. the next meeting will be located outside of of the school. After I explained to them that it meant a school meeting and that that was not my intent, they took my words out of context. I received unanswered incident reports and waiting weeks and receiving answers regarding incidents of my child being bullied, hit on, and teachers being mean to him. The school was aware that I had to remove my son from the after school program due to him being bullied and the next year placed him in a classroom with the same child who bullied him. This child this year my son has had one altercation with the kid um and the school has ignored me about it. I have experienced and seen minimal consequences for staff members exhibiting misconduct to

010teachers handling children aggressively. My son was restricted from recess because he had trouble remembering concentrating. When I asked the teacher the reason, she said she reminded him two times he struggles with a disability. I was provoked by my son's teacher when I told her when I when I said my son said that he did not eat. She was in my face trying to intimidate me. Um and she even poked and shook my child in front of me just because he forgot his lunchbox. The teacher said it would have cut into her time and she would have had to get um an extra key. She even questioned why I packed him what I packed him. I explained to her that my child does not eat meat or school lunch and they can't heat up food, so

011I pack cold items and something's better than nothing. Again, he has trouble remembering and this has been brought to their attention multiple times. I am issued a civil civil sorry that's [clears throat] my throat. I am issued a civily letter threatening possible um future legal charges the moment I began to speak up about my child. I was even um and then I um also went to a meeting with um a higher up and um I think it was an executive director not even hearing my side yet. She told me that she won't remove the civily ladder. This has caused me to feel like um I was dealing with a biased opinion and already premeditated answer. Um I know my time is wrapping up, so I just want something that protects parents that advocate for their

012children. I was told that it doesn't matter um my intent, it just matters that the teacher felt away. Really made me feel away as a parent and a person that my son solely um relies on. Also, I would never threaten anyone. I study law. I do a lot and it just truly hurts to be um lied on in this manner. And um I'm doing this today to get this letter removed. Um they quoted a statute. All right. Is that it? Because it was a third buzz, so I can't Was that it? Okay. Well, if you guys um like I do have copies for of it if you guys would like to review that as well. Apologies. >> Can you please provide um a copy to Miss Santiago? >> Oh, sure. >> Thank you. Apologies. That

013was Miss Tatiana Perry. Our next speaker is Attorney Reed. Good evening. My name is attorney Sylvia Reid. I am an attorney in state of Connecticut. I generally represent um domestic violence victims, parents, um I do family law and I attend a lot of PPT meetings with students, parents and I try to assist with trying to meet a um a place where everybody can be benefited, not just the school system in this situation. Tatiana had stated before that she received a civility letter. And this civility letter I see as a threat to her and that is why she was um she came to me because it was unfair how they so-called conducted an investigation and did not give her an opportunity to be properly heard. there was um there this letter actually threatens her and they're

014claiming that her statements threaten the school. So her words were to protect her child and what we are seeking the board to do if anything is to help us get to the bottom of this issue. this is against her. And all she was trying to do was to let the school know there was a problem with the child and his teacher and the way that the teacher was treating her her son. And they took it as a threat to the school and and told her in the civility letter that she may not be able to come back onto the school um facility. All she wants is to be properly heard. And that's what we're asking this board to do. If you can assist us with meeting with the right people who can address the issue

015because this is against her person and her character and this is not her character and it's being misconstrued and we're asking for your assistance in some way to address this appropriately. Thank you. My time's not correct. >> Okay. >> Our next speaker, Millie Arcas. Good afternoon um Dr. Tonsel and honorable board members. Congratulations for those of you who've gone through an election and have come back. Um but you know I want to continue with what um these uh two speakers have said. There is a culture in some of these schools. We know that there's a professional code of conduct for teachers. We know that there's a professional code of conduct for administrators. But when we start calling it out and we start holding trying to hold people accountable now we're looked at as that okay

016well who are you to be saying stuff as parents. So there is that culture inside of our schools and we as parents need to have a way that we can have a grievance process just like everybody else. Where do we report it at? Eyesight? No, that's just for internal, right? So where do we report it? It can't just be the welcome center. And if it is the welcome center, then it has to be very specific to that because what you're going to see in these schools is you're going to see that safety in that that culture of of unsafetiness because we can't report. And when we do, then we're looked at as these parents can't come in here. And that's not fair to us as parents. That's not fair to a a partner, right? I'm

017that organization, Harford Parent University, that teaches parents how to advocate for their children's learning. Where does that leave me? Am I that organization that people look at and say, "What are you doing? You putting the uproar in the parents talking about our stuff, you know, and that's not fair to us. It really isn't as a partner. It really isn't as parents that are trying to advocate for their children, then we could do better. We could do better as a board. We could do better as a community. We could do better as parents. Bring us to the table, Dr. Tonsel. Please bring us to the table as parents. Bring us to the as a board. Bring us to your policy committee meetings. Have it where you know we can come to the table, not just on

018Zoom. There was a time where we were at those tables. That's how parents learned about policy as well and learned how we can work together to build great schools. So give us that opportunity to bring parents to the table and make our schools safer and make our climate where they're embracing parents as partners. Thank you. Jerica Brown. Good evening. I apologize ahead of time because I'm a little nervous, but I believe that what I have to say is important. So, good evening everyone. My name is Jerica Brown and I am the mother of three children who previously attended Capitol Prep Magnet School through the Regional School of Choice program. On October 24th, my 13-year-old daughter was violently assaulted inside her classroom. This assault was not sudden. This conflict escalated openly for nearly 40 minutes and

019no one intervened. Students were arranging desks to prepare for a fight. A substitute teacher and two security officers were fully aware of a conflict brewing. Security entered the classroom within four four to five times within 37 minutes. Yet no deescalation or classroom management occurred. I addressed the board today to raise a larger safety concern that extends far beyond my daughter. My family's experience is not just a personal incident. It is a clear example of a critical failure in supervision and classroom regulation within the Hartford public schools. I want to ask what is the standard for supervision and classroom control in this district and what is being done to ensure the safety of the students in your care. The lack of intervention sent a message to every child and parent in that room. Safety is optional.

020Disruptive behavior is tolerated in a learning environment. But this is not just about my daughter. It is a reflection of a deeper issue. If a 40minute conflict, desks being moved for a fight, and staff repeatedly witnessing escalation did not trigger action, then the problem is systemic. So, I'm asking the board directly. How is this acceptable in any Hartford public school classroom? If this situation did not activate any safety protocols, then what does? How are students being kept safe if staff are not consistently following proper deescalation procedures? Parents like me were promised safe, structured schools through the regional school of choice program. That promise is not being kept. And while the district continues to recruit suburban families, it fails to protect the students that are in their care. This is bigger than one incident. This is

021a safety issue, a supervision issue, a training issue, a district-wide accountability issue. Our children deserve protection, stability, and a learning environment where safety comes first. Harford Public Schools has the motto, set the bar, meet the bar, exceed the bar, raise the bar. Where is the bar for your safety? [applause] Ernest Bailey >> [clears throat] >> Okay. Uh, apologies in advance. I wrote too much, so I'm going to go real fast. Um, so good evening, Dr. Tel and members of the board. My name is Ernest. I'm the deputy director of campaigns with Educators for Excellence. Uh, I'm here tonight because Hartford's facing a special education staffing crisis that requires your attention. Last October, a quarter of our special ed roles sat vacant, according uh accounting for nearly a third of all teacher vacancies in the district.

022The impact is significant. 50% of students with disabilities were chronically absent last year and their academic performance continues to lag. However, I'm not here to just identify the problems. I'm also here to discuss teacher-led solutions. Our teachers are the experts on what's happening in their classrooms and they've been very clear on what needs to change. Last December, we surveyed more than HPS uh educators to learn from them what needed to improve. Number one was additional annual pay for teachers in hard to staff schools and subjects. The support was overwhelming. Uh 36% selected that as their first choice. 71% of the educators that were pulled ranked it in their top three. Um, so teachers across the country have also identified effective solutions to this. Um, while Hartford already has a onetime $10,000 hiring bonus, research shows

023that annual compensation drives better recruitment and retention outcomes. Consider Detroit, which implemented a $15,000 annual incentive for sped teachers and significantly reduced vacancies. Um, also Ravenswood in California, which uh offered a $5,000 yearly stipend and started the 2025 school year fully staffed. Harvard teachers have correctly diagnosed the problem. research and the solutions and are now telling you what they need to improve student outcomes. We appreciate the ongoing dialogue with district leadership on this issue uh and recognize the district's commitment to the one-time bonus and tonight we're asking for the board to take the next step uh continue uh commit to enshrining additional annual compensation for special ed teachers uh by forging an agreement between HPS schools and the Harford Federation of Teachers. Um, so our teachers, um, who are unable to be here tonight due

024to conflict with parent teacher conferences, um, are counting on you to take action. Thank you so much for your time. Um, I didn't take as long as I thought I would. So, um, so, uh, just a couple of quick things. One, um, you you all should have received a letter from one of our There it is. Uh, from, uh, one of our teachers who was kind enough to send it over. Um, I've left my contact info. Um, so anybody uh that still needs to look at that letter, let me know. And every single person up on that stage, I would love to have the opportunity to talk in more depth um about the research that we've done that I think can uh can kind of ground uh these solutions and also um support that we

025at Ephere can help to provide in this process. So I guess that's it for me. Thank you, >> Raquel Calderon. Good evening, Dr. Danel and and board of directors. I'm really here because somebody hand me some information that I didn't know about it, but I'm I'm concerned. Uh the titros are six schools construction paused solely by the mayor. I'm not aware of that. I was handed by the president of the Harford Federation of Teachers today. Good jobs are on hold in unsafe and unfair conditions in some schools. I'm not really aware of this but I like you guys to know about this topics and discuss that further. Also I am here to to thanks uh to thank you for the opportunity that um our Dr. Tonsels has an open door and listens to concerns and

026I am very thankful about that. That's all I have to say today. Thank you. Alyssa Peterson. Good evening, uh, superintendent and board members. Uh, I did not prepare my usual, uh, diet tribe tonight. I'm just going to speak off the cuff. um a person like me who does not have children in the system. Um, I've appeared many times over the years before th this board and I come because the your business, the business that you do for the city of Hartford does impact residents like me. And how it impacts us is if you're socially promoting children who can't read or can't write, then over time they end up being our residents who end up not being able to get a job, not being able to get an apartment, not being able to have a family

027or provide for their family. So your role in providing the basics reading, writing, math is so critical because the students will later become citizens or residents living next to me or in my neighborhood. So this is a really important point about the fabric of Hartford. To that point, Horton Chef has been an unintended consequence or it has had unintended consequences. And specifically, it's about impacting our schools such that so many of our students leave our city and go to other schools, other towns. They don't the kids don't play with each other. They don't uh the parents don't know one another. They don't go to the park together. And what happens is you have a breakdown of the fabric of Hartford. So again, social promotion is bad because the residents end up not being able to

028conduct their lives later. And also an unintended consequence of Horton of Chef is the kids go out of town and it impacts us as residents. Nobody knows each other anymore. Nobody goes to the park anymore. Nobody goes to rec centers anymore. So, I I want you to think about that as you you uh uh carry out your role here. Last um and one of those um to that end, one of those points I made uh previously was about closing schools. It's important that we close out um outside campuses. Superintendent, I've sent you a letter. I would ask you to share it with the rest of the board members. I think we need to focus on that. There are two campuses out of Hartford and we need to possibly save the money, bring those teachers back

029and and focus on our neighborhood schools. We cannot be closing neighborhood schools. We can combine schools and combine programs, but to close the buildings once again, it hurts the neighborhoods and the fabric of Hartford. And lastly, I'll end up I'd like to be involved with the state committee that you're creating. So, if that would be made public, that information um uh the mayor's committee and your committee. And then lastly, um I did file a foyer complaint about the board. And I just wanted to say one thing about that. When you had your last um election, it should have been published who your votes were for um uh what your votes were and who they were for. It is statute. It's 10-218. It should have been published in your minutes. And so I've just filed a

030Freedom of Information complaint about that and I hope that it can be resolved amicably. Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight. >> Jonathan Man. [clears throat] Hi there. Good evening. Uh my name is Jonathan Man. My wife Juliana and I have three children. Jupiter's in sixth grade at Renuli Poetry is a preK3 Annie Fischer and Epiphany Pippy for short is in third grade. She was also at Annie Fischer from preK to second grade. But this summer we made the difficult decision to rent our West End home that we love and move into a small apartment just over Prospect A so that Epiphany who has severe dyslexia could attend West Hartford schools. We did not take this decision to leave Hartford lightly. We very much wanted to stay in the city. But given the issues

031we faced with HPS over these last years trying to get Pippy the services she needed, relocating felt like the only choice. Last year at the end of second grade, Pippy was reading at the level of a kindergartener. This is after years, literally years of us trying to convince the Hartford Public School representatives that she needed heavy interventions for her dyslexia. We had the PPTs, we had the testing, we eventually got the dyslexia diagnosis through an independent evaluation, but every step of the way, the representatives of Hartford Public Schools seemed hellbent and determined simply to not provide the services that Pippy would need to catch up. We ended up paying out of pocket for a weekly tutor, and it was really at the urging of our educators that we made the decision to move to West

032Hartford. When Pippy got her diagnosis, it came with the recommendation that she'd need special daily reading instruction. our tutor and advocate knew with all the kids they've worked with and seen over the years that this was going to be a long, difficult, and ultimately potentially losing battle against Hartford Public Schools. And why my wife and I felt like Pippy just didn't have that kind of time to waste. And so Pippy's reading abilities have exploded. She's come further in the first few months in West Hartford than I could ever have imagined. All she needed was that extra little help. If she had gotten the services we had been fighting for way back in first grade, it's likely we'd still be living in our old house. We are incredibly privileged as a family to have the resources

033to pack up our entire life, rent our home, and move on a moment's notice. But I know our story is far from unique. How many hundreds or thousands of kids in Hartford are just like Pippy, but will not get the services they need because of a school district that feels downright hostile to anyone asking for help. We still have two kids in Hartford schools, one of whom is autistic. And as a result of this experience, my wife and I have gotten involved with our friend Rachel Taylor's organization, Septto, with a mission to make sure that all kids of Hartford get the services they need and deserve. And I look forward to the day that we all make that a reality. Thanks for your time. >> And our last speaker, Jonath John Walton. Good evening, Dr.

034Tanzo, and good evening, distinguished board members. So, wow, Dr. Tanzo. Um, I'm going to be piggybacking off a lot of comments that some of the other speakers have made and also good evening to the audience and I see some leaders in the audience. So one of the things when you make a culture change is this, you know, climate where things are a little shaken. And Dr. Tanzo, to your credit, you came in with this board who who who charged you with making a culture change. And culture change can be very shocking because we've had a culture for so long that was a dictatorship. my way or the highway. Didn't include anybody. Um, so I'm going to speak a little to that, but let me first start with the board and one bylaw that I would

035hope you take into consideration to execute immediately and that's bylaw 9160 to bring our student board members along because if we don't have student involvement and community involvement, then all our efforts will not be where we want them. The other thing is the SGC formulations. Now the past culture like I said before was about a dictatorship and many people let me say some let me not say many do not like partnerships. They like their authority. And when you introduce the SGC what that is saying is that's a partnership between the school and the the school administration and the student governance council to make decisions together. And that's what we need. That's one of the first steps we need in each school to make sure that on the ground we know what the issues are and

036we have a buy in from the community on those issues and how to get to a place where we need to be in each school. Now, we definitely need to restructure our educational model. It's not attractive to our community. Many people don't many of our students who don't want to come here and the parents who don't want their children here are not attracted to what we have. So we have to restructure it to add in options they are attracted to. Now I'm going to talk about the elephant in the room school closure. Now many of you saw me at the mayor's uh conference press conference about school consolidation and closure. That wasn't me giving a cosign to what the mayor was saying. That was me saying that if we're going to have a conversation about

037this on any level, 566 needs to be at that table and we want to be at that table. And if you know anything about me and those of you who are members of our Facebook page, we include the conversation from both ends. I want to hear the evidence on both sides so that I can take a position. And whether we disagree or agree, at least when I take my position, it will be informed. and to the members out there in the community, it should be informed as well. Now, I have no political aspirations. Actually, when I became the union president of Local 566, it wasn't my choice to become union president. It was the young women and young men of that that union who said, "John, we need your help." Because at that particular time,

038I was very selfish in the way I thought until I had an epiphany and decided, you know, I need to help the community that helped develop me. And so those young women and men of local 566 charged me with cleaning up their union and beginning to lead them in the direction of respectability and dignity. And you would see when I first came to board me board meetings three years, four years ago, I had a bow tie on, a a suit jacket, looking the part because I thought maybe that's what we need, right? To look the part because we're always dressed in dirty clothes because we do trades work. And and I would come with written speeches and I would hand it to the board members and you guys would have a chance to read it.

039and was very professional because I would use all the professional tools I had available to me to make it legible for you and on point. And then I thought maybe that gets us to where we need to go. But you know what it really was, Dr. Tanzo and board members was the culture we have here. Because for some reason, unfortunately, a lot of the management style is led by a dictatorship. They don't see us as equals. They do not see us as partners. They don't want us at the table until they've already made their decisions. They don't want to include us. Even though if you look at article 15 of our contract, and I'm sure is in most contracts, it says when it comes to health and safety, we shall make a joint committee that

040makes policy decisions, but they don't want us at a table. Why is that? Well, my opinion is they don't want to set a table because it takes away their ability to leverage the outcomes, right? Because as a previous speaker mentioned, accountability, which is the curse word of professionalism, we can hold them accountable as partners the same way they hold us accountable, but they don't want that accountability. And so they've been taught, well, we'll make our decisions and you react to them. Is that a partnership? Is that a marriage? No. Lastly, we're under contract negotiations. And you know, when I cleaned up the union and I brought about respectability and dignity, it was said to us, whoa, you know, John, we want to do what's right. We care about you and we care about your union.

041You do vital work. Oh yeah. Okay. So even though in public I really want you to listen to this. Even though we had $154 million in surplus during CO, they still came to the contract negotiations with zeros. And then they never they never boosted them past 1 to 2%. Now, if that's a person you care about and people you care about, which 87% of our union is actually residents, the same people that you guys are advocating for and working for and they should as well, then you wouldn't give them things that wouldn't even be able to put food on the table for their young students and children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews to even have an opportunity at getting a proper education in order for you to make that culture change. Dr. Tanzo and board members,

042I plead with you that you start holding them to the accountability of culture change that includes us as partners. We should be at the table of policy decisionmaking. We should not be reacting to the decisions they make because they always use article two which is the superintendent's prerogative and sometime you're not even aware of the prerogative. I thank you for your time. I thank you for the opportunity and I see from your reactions that you are paying attention to what we're actually saying. I appreciate you and all of you have good and safe holidays. Thank you. Um we will now move on to the report of the chair. Uh I would like to say this month um um I would like to provide um several um critical matters affecting our district as well. um also

043include in the report extending a heartfelt appreciation to um board members for their continued commitment. So the first item is um Connecticut State Department of Education executive summaries. So, we have received um three executive summaries um from the um Connecticut State Department of Education pertaining um to three um district components um is three district components of their final report which has not been publicly released yet as far as I know. Um um although the full report remains pending or I don't even know if it exists yet, we understand um that Harford Public Schools and our community at large are await is awaiting it um with great interest, especially following the coverage in the um September 6 um newspaper report. Um, we will continue to monitor its release when it comes out um and assess its

044implications for our district um once it is made available. Um next um um city of Harford response to school um construction inquiry. We're also awaiting for um the city's response to an inquiry that we submitted on October 29th regarding the mayor's authority to halt school construction projects um that have already received 95% reimbursement approval from the state of Connecticut. Um given the substantial progress already made in the state significant finan financial commitment, we are eager to receive clarity on this matter so that we may move forward responsibly and in the best interest of our students, families, and staff. Um, last but certainly not least, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to each of our board members who um were floating around um many community um meetings as well as our superintendent probably more

045very more more so than we were um um present at numerous community events reflecting unwavering commitment to our students and our families. Um, and it complements the mission of Harford Public Schools. Your work does not go unnoticed. Um, and I thank thank you for your time and energy and the heart you continue to give this district. Um, a thankless job, but I wanted to give you some thanks on this evening. Um, that is my report and I will move on to the report of the superintendent. >> Thank you so much, Chairwoman Brody. very excited to share that I've now completed my first 100 days as superintendent of Hartford Public Schools. Um it was 100 days, ladies and gentlemen, of listening and learning. Um the 100 day report is made available at all schools. It's on

046our website and I will pause for a very brief video to try to encapsulate what's went on in the first 100 days. So we have it queued up right here. Let me tell you so crazy. When I started here, it was hot and sunny. Now, it's cool when it's been over 100 days since I had the privilege to serve at public school. Let me tell you, I learned so much in a small amount of time. I met faith leaders, community leaders, elected officials, building, teachers, anybody who love school. One thing I tell you is a passion is real. Let me tell you if you think public schools are behind us in front of us. What I think we can do is capitalize all things. Yes, we have traditional school. We also have schools and they

047have extracurricular opportunities like electronic sports opportunities. theart province. I know you heard about it and it should not be the best. That means if you live in the city proper go to aart public school earn a 3.0 grateful and 93% of you up to $100,000 scholarship to school that's not adverts to see what it is that we have to offer our families, what we have to offer our students, and most importantly, what we have to offer our public schooly right now. into our facility, but most importantly important to read every single day. The more you read, the smarter you at all. I'm talking about giving some great information to our young people so they can know exactly what we expect for you to be successful. Ladies and gentlemen, scan the code on your screen to

048find out more. And in order for the rest of your life to be the best of your life, your next move must be your best move. You take care and I'll see you soon. God bless. That report is made available online. It's I think it's here in the lobby. It's at every one of our schools for our families to see. uh raw data, some anecdotals, and some quantitative data on what's going on in Harford public schools. I do believe that our uh better days are in front of us. It's important that we look at our future with anticipation and not any apprehension. Are there challenges? Absolutely. Can we solve those challenges? 100%. I don't wish it was easier. I just wish we were better. Don't wish it took any less challenges. Wish that we had

049more skill. And as we continue to build our capacity, we will be okay. The next thing I'll share is with regards to the Harford Promise, I've been sharing that since I have the privilege of being here and I ask that our president of the Hartford Promise, Miss Savon Hines, can come and help highlight and showcase the best that the Hartford Promise have to offer. So without further, we ask Miss um uh Hines to come up. Dr. Hines to come up. Do we have the PowerPoint cued? Thank you and good evening. Um, what I'm um going to try and do is in a short period of time give you some idea of success because this is a good news story, but I think there's too much that folks don't know. So um so our HPS grads

050over the past 10 years have been receiving the scholarship and they are really soaring. So it is not just the news of the last 100,000 this year but it is what you should know about what's been going on. So the next slide the basics you all know no application everyone who meets our four criteria automatically qualify. that has been um about it varies by but it's about 120 to 130 students a year. Um, for nine years our scholarship had been 20,000. It just increased up to a h 100,000 which the superintendent has mentioned. But every student is getting really deep wraparound services in high school in college um and for career because it's not good enough to just give students our kids represent Harford's population. 75% are first generation. We can't just give them money

051to go to college and say good luck. It's the support. And so the impact is what I want you all to help me. Next slide. Sorry. Tell the story. So we've had 1,200 Hartford Promise scholars already, 500 current college students. We have 450 college graduates from Hartford Public Schools just since the since 2020. Um, and they're attending 90 plus colleges and universities. in going we can skip to the next slide and the one after. Thank you. So what I wanted to do was give you a quick glimpse of some of those stories because they're coming from all of our schools. It's not just our magnet schools. So Eric Bueno, class of 2017 from Hartford Public High School, went to Yukon with a bachelor of science and computer science and engineering. He then went to MIT,

052completed a postback and he's currently enrolled in a PhD program at Boston University in biomed engineering. The next slide, Rashan Davis was a UHSSC graduate from 2018, went to Yukon, got a degree in financial ma management. He currently works at Travelers as a financial analyst and he closes next month on a home here in Hartford. Tiana Brathweight serving our community in a different way went to Buckley class of 2019 to Eastern class of 2023 Bachelor of Arts and Criminology and is employed at the Connecticut Fair Housing Center as a fair housing specialist. Freddy Fabian graduated from SMSA in 2020, studied computer science at Yukon, graduated this year. He's working at Signis technology development program in cyber security. Freddy had options to go to DC with Ernston Young, um to go to electric boat and to

053go to Sigma. He chose to stay in at Sigma to be close to home and invested in our community. Um, Vaya Rampertab is HMTCA class of 2020, Eastern Connecticut State University, Bachelor of Arts in Social Work. She went to USJ this past year, got her mers in social work. She's working as a psychotherapist at Essence Counseling in Harford, really focused on trauma. And Dedra Huitt is a most recent graduate, class of Weaver, class of 2021. Uh Yukon class of 2025 in accounting. She's um now getting her masters of accounting at Central and is employed as an accountant at Constep. And the last student I want to focus on is we have our first doctor. And Josephine's story is pretty impressive. She went to classical and graduated 2016. She was our first year of the Harford

054Promise Scholarship. Graduated at age 16. Her parents wouldn't let her go away to college. So she went to Capitol for two years, got her associates, used our scholarship to go to Rochester, get her biomed engineering degree, and then went to Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, graduated this year with her doctor of optometry, and she's working as an optometrist in Massachusetts, but would love to come back to Hartford. Those are just a few stories out of 457. It was hard for me to pick stories, but what I want you all to understand, lifetime projected earnings for 4567 college graduates in Harvard is more than $1.2 billion. And we have currently 500 HPS scholars enrolled in college and we have many more to come. Students are working hard to reach our scholarship criteria. now. So,

055it's just a powerful story that we would love your help. Um, the superintendent is out there spreading the word about the scholarship opportunity, but what I want you all to help spread the word too is the success because this is a huge good news story for Hartford and it's only going to continue to grow. So, thank you. >> Thank you so much, President. [applause] In Hartford public schools, you can be successful. In Hartford public schools, you will be successful. In Hartford public schools, you must be successful. Just do what you're supposed to do and we'll be here to support you. The next thing I have is um I want to give a major shout out to Annie Fischer STEM Magnet School because they earned the Engar Connecticut School of Distinction for Mathematics. If we can

056make some noise for them. [applause] They have earned through their excellent results in the state next generation accountability report the title of Ingar Connecticut State School of Distin distinction and mathematics level two. The school leaders principal Aaron Wilson and assistant principal Angela Barco surprised their students, family and staff with a great news in the assembly on November 5th. It was a great exciting time. That is how we set the bar, meet the bar, exceed the bar and ultimately raise the bar by achievement. and there will be more achievement to come over time. The last thing I'd like to share and this is an update with our budget and we'll continue to talk about this and be ongoing and we're going to talk early and often about our budget so we all know we are kicking

057off our budget process for next year. Over the next couple of months we will be meeting with key stakeholder groups to share information about our fiscal outlook and how you can be a part of the budget process. Hartford budget. Hartford public schools has a structural deficit. This means that Hartford has had a deficit every year the past decade and will continue to have a deficit unless something changes structurally. Our deficit is estimated to be about $35 million next year and increasing in future years. The main driver of our deficit is the funding for Hartford resident students who do not attend Hartford public schools. Changing the funding system for Hartford resident students who do not attend Hartford public schools is the single biggest factor that would shift our financial outlook and this will require state level

058action. There are some opportunities within our locus of control to enhance the student experience and create financial efficiencies for Hartford public schools, but they have smaller overall financial impacts. These include the number the number and type of school we operate and our in-house special education programming. Navigating this budget process will require all of us. We need you to understand our financial situation. advocate at the state and city level for funding changes and participate in the process of prioritizing what investments are most important for children of Hartford. Please stay tuned, ladies and gentlemen, for upcoming opportunities to learn about our budget and to participate in our budget process. This is an opportunity to pressage and talk about the budget early and not wait till we get to March. with that. Thank you, uh, Councilwoman uh, Chairwoman

059Brody. >> Oh, no. [laughter] >> Oh, one more thing. >> Okay, >> one last thing I do want to share. Um, our student advisory council meeting is on December 3rd where the leadership and the student board representatives will be elected. We will have our student board representatives elected. that meetings are going to take place on December 3rd and they will be seated at the December 16th board meeting. So, I do want everyone to be aware of that. Our young people will be up here representing and we will have that student voice. Thank you. >> Thank you, um Mr. Superintendent. And we do we've we've always um it's been a pleasure for us for our um um student um representatives um to sit. But I just wanted to say as a reminder, you can find the

060superintendent report, full committee reports, student reports, all attachments and videos in the meeting agenda um on board docs. All committee and workshop meetings are livereamed as well as viewable after the meeting. The YouTube links are saved in each meeting's agenda on board docs. So I highly encourage you um the community to view the meetings, read the reports when possible. Um, and if you have any questions or feedback, please contact Christina Santiago, our board liaison at cantiago at hartfordschools.org. And now we're moving on to our B business agenda. Um item 4.1 contract approval for 241 sports. The motion um is that the Hartford Board of Education authorizes the superintendent to execute a contract with 241 Sports for the term outlined in the contract ending June 30th, 2026 at an amount not to exceed $93,485. Do I

061have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Thank you. Now I'm going to turn it over to Miss Monica Kenyonz. >> Thank you. Good evening board of ed members and superintendent. I'm here today to speak about the 241 contract that's up for approval. And I want to start off by saying that the 241 sports is they have a mission and their mission is to provide all students with the opportunity to grow both physically and emotionally um through playfield power of sports. Their vision includes a world at play with individuals who are physically and emotionally well. Both the mission and the vision of 241 sports correlates directly with the district's priority of having whole and healthy students. In addition, 241 Sports's goal is to develop and deliver sustainable physical literacy development programs for children families

062which includes to focus on building culture uh relationships, enjoyment all the time blending both sports and physical activity which includes nutrition awareness and the practical skills of social emotional learning that would lead leave the children with competence comp and motivation to be active for life. So the skills that they're acquiring now won't be temporary. It is something that they can take with them throughout their life. And so to provide a perspective, a school's perspective and more data directly related on how 241 sports has impacted our students, I have with me Principal Thompson who's principal at Environmental Sciences Magnet School, and she can provide more detailed about how this has impacted our students at school. Hi, good evening everyone. Um, we've partnered with two for one sports for the last few years through an extracurricular grant

063through the state of Connecticut um through the Magna School system. Um, we've partnered with them for an afterchool program. Uh, we have a girls leadership program um and the morning sports program. Um it's a morning sampling sport sampling program where our students get to participate um with staff members from the school that are hired and trained through two for one sports. Um and their two for one stands for life's too short for just one sport. So it offers lots of opportunities for students to learn collaborative games um cooperative learning. they implement the social emotional learning um program um within their program um but it connects directly to what we're doing in the classrooms with second step um and the students get to participate in the morning. It also provides a great opportunity for families who

064need morning care as our school opens at 8:30. So it offers an opportunity at 7:55 for kids to get there. Um and there's also a peer leadership part of it. So our sixth through eighth grade students can apply, they interview and they get training on being peer mentors or leaders of the team sports. Um and then the afterchool component for us is a girls leadership program which has served 20 to 30 students um over the last three years and um they take two trips together. Um last year they got to participate in Moheaggan Sun um with a Connecticut Sun um leadership program for girls um which is a great opportunity for them to be connected with other um teens throughout the state of Connecticut. Um for us it's increased our attendance specifically for students that

065are participating in the sports. I know data was provided um regarding um the impact that that has had as well um with the students who are participating. >> Thank you. >> So with that um do we have any questions board members? >> Mr. Walker. >> U thank you chair. Um I I appreciate the follow-up data um that showed the benefit of two for one for uh with the participants. My question is uh total number of students in that population. Um do do you have that number? >> How many students >> in the population of everyone that's been in two for one sports? Yeah, you you've shown benefits in absenteeism and discipline referrals. I just wanted to just have on the record how many students were are in that population. I'm not sure if in the

066data that was presented if you can see that here >> in the actual data slides if you have the data slides it'll show the number of students that were um that were asked the questions of the survey and also of the number of students that uh participated Um not seeing that or not. >> While while you look for that, Mr. Walker, um board member um Fortune is gonna you have something you want to say while >> Board Walker, are you asking about number of students participating? >> Yeah. >> Uh it's 110 based on a report for ESM and then a 100 students approximately at Noah Webster is what I the report says. Was that your question? >> Yep. Okay. Um my question is just if you could talk about the the delta between students participating

067in 241 in terms of attendance and the students who are not participating. How much is the attendance increasing? And I guess I'd also be curious to know what the attendance for those same students were before they started participating in 241. I could provide that as I don't have that data with me today to be able to compare the student like the before and the after specifically for all those the subsets that you just described. Um, sorry. Just looking for ours. >> We can definitely provide that that data. >> Okay. Sure. Thank you. >> Are you all set, Mr. Walker? um your No, I'm just saying it because your mic is still lit up. >> I did find that in the data. If you'd like me to share, go ahead. So, >> all right. So, as

068far as um students that are participating um so specifically, I mentioned attendance, but I think um disciplinary data is important as well, but attendance specifically. So, students participating in the program have a 9% chronic absenteeism rate. Our overall school absent chronic absenteeism rate this last year was over 25%. Um so there's significant difference. Um and um specifically for referrals. So percentage of students that receive a disciplinary referral um three or more for the year was 7%. Um and overall I believe for our school we're at 13% um for that for three or more referrals. Go ahead. Go ahead, Miss Fortune. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, you know, I I think 401 is a great program. It offers, you know, superb um extracurricular activities to our students. I'm always weary of correlation versus causation. Is

069it that the attendance is better for those students because they're the ones who opt into this program in the first place and they have less behavioral referrals because they're the students who have better support at home, etc., etc. or is it you really think that it's participating in 241 that is causing them to be less absent and causing them to have less disciplinary issues because I feel like that is a really strong causation argument that I don't know that I'm persuaded by even though I do think this is a great program and I'll vote in favor of it. So just you know question and just food for for thought. >> I do want to say and I always say it like it's great we have great programming And sometimes we give a lot of credit

070to a program but we know it's a combination of like many things. Um I think I heard um yeah Miss Estrada Perez >> I think what would be helpful for the future is to track not just the like 9% versus like the overall total population but tracking okay x number of students had joined what was their attendance before what was their attendance after I think to your point board member uh board member Brody it's a lot of factors but I think being able to track in terms of future data collection and I know it's more but I think it's a it's a better gauge of where we're at if you can track with those students how their attendance was or even like you talked about disciplinary um referrals as well. So if you can track

071what it looked like before and then after programs that would be really helpful um in terms of knowing a little bit more what's happening >> for the future. >> And then I do think um I see 241 um logos so I just wanted to acknowledge that they are here if we had questions for them directly but Mr. Mills. >> Hi. I don't want to prolong this because I think we're all going to vote yes anyways. Um, but this is an extracurricular grant. Are you guys applying for it yourselves or is this something that the state just gives like the funding source? >> U, we had to apply for it. It was a competitive grant this year. In past years, each schools were were designated a certain amount per pupil. Um, but we had to apply

072for it over the summer time. We were awarded the money. >> Well, then I want to commend you for applying for programs like this considering our cash dropped resources. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> I do have one question. um for I believe for one of the schools um is referenced that one of the sources of um that would pay is title one. Could we um explain um so for ESM we're paying we're um the budget that we're utilizing is extracurricular grant for no Webster I believe it is a different funding source. I think it's yeah funding sources title one for Noah Webster or am I in a whole another present am I in the right presentation >> yes that's correct yes [laughter] >> yes they're using both extracurricular and title one funding >>

073so does it specify um it's so hard guys it's hard with these lights on and at least for me um even with glasses on but um >> yeah it does say title one for no Webster it's nothing I need right now but I was just interested about that title one um funding specifically okay misfortune sure just for my own edification to follow up on board member Mills question um so did your school proactively apply for this grant which explains why it's funding 241 versus no Webster is funding it through title one or was it through the district? Just curious um about what the process was. >> Sure. So all of the magnet schools um I I can only speak for Hartford, but for the magnet schools, this was offered as a competitive grant to apply

074for over the summertime. Um, and we could pick any host of programs or extracurricular type of programming or enhancements to our extracurricular theme-based program. Um, we had to provide data as far as what were students interested in. Uh, was past programs have been successful, what do parents want? Um, and so two for one sports has been a a vendor that we have worked with for a few years. Um, and has had very positive response from families. So, that was part of what we wrote into the grant. other schools chose other things to write in for the grant. I'm not familiar with what Noah Webster applied for. I'm assuming they did because I believe all of the Hartford Magna schools did apply for this competitive grant. And then based off of their scoring structure, they chose

075which um applications to fund for how much. Um and I'm I'm unfamiliar with uh again what Noah Webster applied for. I just know what we did. Um and um they chose with title one. So I don't know if Miss Kyunes can share that part of the information. >> Yeah, I don't have that information right now, but we can definitely find out how much of the title one funds was used for that portion of it and um the reason for why they use both of them, but um title one funding using for um student activities, but we can get that information. I I'd be curious to hear from our representatives from 241 in terms of the when you receive the grant applications. I I'm always mindful of are we leaving some money off the table? Um

076and if one school is applying for the grant or multiple schools are doing it, are we using the same best practices so that we're maximizing how much funding we're receiving from these grants? So, I'm just cur curious to I'd love to hear from 241 if you have any insight to share. >> Is it okay from here? >> Sure. Sorry, I'm told no. [laughter] >> Apologies. I was uh, believe it or not, in Washington DC this morning doing 241 programming and wanted to be here tonight. So, I caught a early train and I'm glad you asked a question because now I feel like it was really good that I did this. [laughter] >> I'm glad to make it worthwhile. >> So, I mean, I'd I'd love to tell you there's a simple answer to it. you

077know, we work with so many different schools in the city now and and across the country that um but we're Hartford based obviously and this is our home and we talk about you everywhere we go. Um we're always especially with the shift in the federal funding working to find whatever sources there are and I do know that you know there's been changes in um the available funds for programs like ours and other other folks uh that are part of the community based organizations. But last year we got funding from ESPN for example um because they wanted to lift us up as a model program for multiport and it was in partnership with Stephan Aisha Curry's Foundation out of uh out of Oakland. um that's not renewable. And so those are funds that, you know, in

078in past years the magnet money was readily available, but that that has changed. And I think that's uh what um what Lindsay was referring to is that we often the magnets were able to apply, but the other thing is is we really want to be in community schools. And so a lot of our funding that we've gone after with Harford Foundation for Public Giving and other um organizations is to be able to get into community schools as well. I don't know principles discretionary in terms of um Title One and how that all works. It's just that when we've had such good reputation being in the schools that we've been able to find different sources so that we can, you know, maintain our relationship because it's so important. The other thing I would just say is

079that these funds were available in September and here we are in the end of November and for connectedness it's really important that kids get to start as soon as possible. If there were a way to expedite this process that we we haven't been able to start at ESM ESM but those monies have been available since end of August early September that would be fantastic because then we could spread that out throughout the whole year and now we're going to sort of pack pack the funding in from now moving forward. So, I don't know if there's a change that could be made as far as that process goes because I think that would be super helpful. >> Thank you for sharing that. Thank you. >> And noted on the timing of the funds being available so

080that our students can have more time with these activities versus less time. I don't see any other lit up microphones, so go ahead. Thank you. I just have one quick question with regards to attendance for students who participate in two for one sports. Um, what does that look like? And is there some type of uh guideline, if you will, where if students too many sessions with two for one sports that they're either removed or what does that look like? >> Yeah, I mean we we program primarily in the elementary schools and when kids are absent it's rarely the kids fault, right? It's always it's always a parental issue. So there are conversations that are to be had but I know there was a question earlier about attendance. Um I mean anecdotally what we have found

081is kids are coming it there is causation right that because and and this is why I think doing a before school model is really powerful because if you can get kids there now you got them right and so if you're running quality programming to start the day and this is the same case literally when I was in DC this morning all the stories are saying the same thing they have kids from uh far away places that aren't ordinarily coming to school might be in homeless shelters aren't ordinarily coming to school and now they are. Um, so we don't have a like a miss three and you're out policy. It's always going to be to work with the family and try to figure out like what is the reason for the lack of attendance. But in

082most cases, the kids are saying it's, you know, I slept on the couch last night and no one got me up, you know, like and it's things like that where the kids want to be at the program. I can guarantee you. >> Thank you. The motion on the floor is that the Harford Board of Education authorizes the superintendent to execute a contract with 241 Sports for the term outlined in the contract ending June 30th, 2026 at an amount not to exceed $93,485. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Any nays? Any abstensions? The eyes have it. The motion moves. >> Thank you all. >> Thank you. >> Next, we have item 4.2, contract approval, Pullman and Conley. Um, the motion is that the Harford Board of Education authorizes the superintendent to execute

083a contract with Pullman and Comi Calmly for the term outlined in the contract ending June 30th, 2026 at an amount not to exceed $137,000. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. I'm going to turn it over to attorney Ed Wilson. >> Good evening. Uh the total amount of the contract is $137,000. Uh it's allocated uh $90,000 on the legal uh services side uh and $47,000 on the school leadership side. uh to further unpack that in terms of the legal services that the law firm provides uh contract negotiations uh negotiates approximately 10 um CBA contracts for the school districts um arbitrations uh title 9 training and general representation uh on the expulsion uh the school leadership side uh the law firm has been appointed by uh the board of education to conduct expulsion

084hearings uh for situations uh that warrant uh exposure Uh I will note that Pullman and Connley have been providing uh legal services to the school district for approximately 8 years. Um in terms of the fees uh that the board will see uh they are at discounted rates uh pursuant to our engagement uh with the uh the law firm. So I believe we're getting essentially about a 35% uh discount um of what they would typically charge. Uh I have with me attorney Kaufman uh from the law firm uh who's our primary attorney uh on our legal uh matters and we're happy to answer any questions that the board has. >> Thank you, Attorney Wolf. >> Thank you. I'm I'm not totally sure whether this question is directed related to this contract or just generally for contract

085negotiations processes more broadly and and for us as a district. Um I know that as a board member I would like to like have more information about when contract negotiations are happening with which units. um sort of regular updates on the processes of like where kind of where we're at in the process. Um and also uh be invited to sit at the table or at least observe um since these agreements are negotiated between the board of education and the uh respective collective bargaining units. it seems to me and we are the body that ultimately approves or denies um their contracts, at least our side of them. They're also ratified by the members um of the bargaining units. I would just like some more uh regular communication and and involvement in the process. And so um

086I guess stating for the record uh whether that can come from the law firm or from our team internally or from um you know the superintendent or a designate. I know um last year uh deputy superintendent Paul Foster was uh a lead uh from the district side uh in a lot of the negotiations. Um, so just making that request more formally and and if if either of you have insight on what that could look like, I'd welcome it. Now, >> well, absolutely. Um, great point and I I remember seeing you at the HFT negotiations are actually a part of those negotiations. So, we absolutely can make sure we're pro uh providing a calendar uh to the board as to when we're in negotiations and the dates of those um so the board members uh can

087attend. uh we you know just procedurally we would have to I believe list them as part of the negotiation teams uh and the ground rules. >> Correct. It's something we could certainly do moving forward with those that we haven't done ground rules with yet. Otherwise, it would take an amendment of ground rules. >> Understood. Both of those things would be very helpful. Thank you, >> Misfortune. Um, thank you. Uh, to echo uh, board member Tatum, I think what would also be helpful is to know some of the asks from the biding units. Um, because I think by the time we see uh, the terms, it's essentially the final version for the most part or what we've already negotiated. Um, and I've learned through other channels, not the board, of asks from bargaining units that we

088turned down that I had no idea was even asked of us. Um, and the final version that I see is what's been negotiated after we've said no to specific requests. So, I think if we're kept a breast of what's happening and the negotiations overall, we'll get to see different iterations of what's being negotiated. Um, for example, um, health insurance is do we want to stay on the private plan or or on a public plan? That would be interesting to me to know and compare the numbers um and see what the value ad is and why uh the the units you know our staff whether it's teachers or um other unions are are requesting um those types of um benefits. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. >> And what you describe um board member Fortune was my

089experience with the um HFT um negotiation. So if we could model that um that was a good experience for board members to um ex all the things that you um described. Um the our our council was very um helpful and and our staff in answering our questions but it is in real time so before so we don't want to be like a hindrance to the process. So, it was um it was it was a learning um opportunity, but it it was very um I would um for those of us that can that don't have conf conflicting um reasons why we should not be in those spaces. It is something good to experience um at least one of the um invites. Um are there any other questions? With no other questions, the motion on the floor

090is that the Harford Board of Education authorizes the superintendent to execute a contract with Pullman and Commy for the term outlined in the contract ending June 30th, 2026 at an amount not to exceed $137,000. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any nays? Abstensions? The eyes have it. The motion moves. And we're moving on to item 4.3. Um, second reading in adoption of the equal protection of students regardless of immigration status policy. The motion that the Harford Board of Education adopts policy 511.3, equal protection of students regardless of immigration status. Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Um I'll turn it over to our policy chair, U Miss Fortune. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um just by way of background uh some of this we discussed at

091the last board meeting. Um, we revised the name of the policy to from protected of I'm sorry, protection of undocumented students to equal protection of students regardless of immigration status. Um, which uh is more apt to what it's trying to do so that all of our students at HPS regardless of their immigration status u can come to school and feel some reasonable sense of safety in terms of how they are protected when they are on school grounds. Um this policy complies with all relevant federal and state law. Um and in particular um it does direct the superintendent um to not allow uh ICE agents or federal enforcement uh agents onto into school buildings unless they have an unexpired judicial warrant from a federal judge, not simply an administrative warrant from ICE itself. Um and the

092policy is adopted and modified from McCabe model policy and it further directs the superintendent to develop clear protocols with step-by-step procedures for principles, teachers, and security staff um if immigration officials are ever at our doors um and seeking to enter our school premises. >> Thank you. Are there any questions or discussion on this policy? Mr. Tatum, >> I'm strongly in support of the policy and just want to commend the um you board member Fortune as the chair of the policy committee and the other members of the policy committee for um taking this action. >> It was a good time. Um you saw the passions come out and it it was great um to experience. So I echo um that of Mr. Tatum. board member Strata Perez. >> Um I also want to just second that

093uh or third that that the importance of this policy I think more than I mean we should have this strong no matter what. But I think what we're experiencing from the federal level what's happening in our schools and in our municipalities. I think we have to be willing to protect our most marginalized students and making sure that we have these policies that are, you know, in accordance with the law as its exist, but also that allows us to protect our students in a way that they feel safe so that they can come to school, that their parents can come, that their parents can drop them off at school, that they feel like there is some level of of support or protection, and that we are really being um adamant and trained on, you know, the

094differences between a war, an actual warrant versus an unjudicial warrant, right? And I think it's really important that we have this and I'm really um uh you know this is also something that came up from community right uh we were thinking about it but also we heard so much about the fear that our communities had and so we wanted to make sure that we were addressing this and just wanted to thanks uh uh chairwoman for the policy committee fortune for all the work that was put into this because it is a direct result of community ask but also the recognition that we have a responsibility to our students regardless of immigration status to protect them especially in a city as diverse as Hartford. So, I just wanted to echo that and and and and put

095publicly why this is so important. >> Misfortune, >> I'll simply just add um just a huge thank you to the board, but also to the community members who did reach out um and provided information um to us to really strengthen the policy even from just the cave model policy and they had very clear concise points about what really matters in the policy. For example, that revision to explicitly require a judicial warrant signed by a federal judge is from our community that is working um with all sorts of students and populations that are marginalized. So that your voices and your contributions have been tremendously helpful. Um, this, you know, I must also say this does not guarantee protection because we are dealing with an administration that many times disregards the rule of law, but we're doing

096everything within our power as a district to protect students to the best of our abilities, families that are concerned and still feel unsafe. this is the best that we can do and it is still on the family to make the decision that feels safest for them. Um I know we're making many resources available um to our families particularly through the uh welcome center. Um so please seek out the information that's coming from your child's school and in all different languages in terms of other ways that we're trying to work with families and support them during a particularly challenging time. >> Thank you. Madam Chair, could I add one thing? >> Sure. >> Um, just for our community, um, because I don't want to be deaf as they're seeing a policy today that we haven't been

097doing this work, uh, for some time. So, while we're here passing a policy, I just want to echo for our school community, uh, that we've trained staff, uh, that we train security officers, that we've h, uh, had legal immigration experts presenting to our school principles, that we've done at least two superintendent memos. at this point uh have definitely uh definitely doubled down on our security uh measures in our schools. So, this is work we've been doing. Now, we're formalizing it in policy, but I just want to make sure our community is clear that they're hearing a policy today that this isn't new work for the district. That's not true, right? We've been making sure we're a safe school district uh for all our students for some time. It's been the uh the mission of this

098school district. We're just now memorializing it in policy. Thank you for um stating that. >> Let me have a question, >> Mr. Walker. >> Yeah, thank you, Chair. Um just to make a request. Um the the end of this policy there's a a statement that um superintendent and and district leadership it's going to develop step-by-step procedures for circumstances when ICE is on uh school grounds but not within the the school building. Um, is there a way that that that procedure can be either attached to link or addendum so we can get some visibility to what that procedure is going to be? It's outside of this policy, but it's it's just an action this policy is calling out. >> Absolutely. uh and the the actual step-by-step procedure was was contained in the superintendent memorandum that spoke

099to exactly how the school district is going to operationalize uh and respond. But we could absolutely make sure that you have a copy of that memo. Um >> well, what I want to do, what you just said, what I'd like to be able to do is get to this memo and have this and have this policy point me to and here's the supporting documentation. I'm saying that because sometimes the lower level procedures and practices don't always get to be visible at the policy level. That's really my request. >> Understood. >> Because I want to ask something too around who do we want to really have access to this. So go ahead, Miss Fortune. Um, with respect to this particular policy, um, we did have, uh, the most recent memo, I think, from August from the

100superintendent, um, that does have some provisions in it that don't exactly align with this new policy. So, the policy supersedes that memo, and it's going to be revised. Correct me if I'm wrong, uh, Attorney Wilson, but we we plan to revise the protocol so that it conforms with this because this is in some ways more stringent in terms of how we're vetting folks um to allow them into the building. Uh but so the the revised memo I believe is uh it's still under revision but the existing memo has been shared and I do I will stay involved and see how we revise the protocols and the new memo that will circulate and I'll be sure to to bring it to to the rest of the board and as does attorney Wilson and his team. They

101usually bring it to to me and we discuss it um and ultimately um share that. But yes, as chair uh board chair Brody mentioned, there is real sensitivity about how we share that information because we don't want to put a target on the backs of our most marginalized students and families. Um so we're trying to handle this with with great sensitivity and and just great care and thoughtfulness. >> Yeah. Um and through the the chair, Mr. You're welcome. >> The the reason I the reason I was asking the question is that there has to be some visibility so we can see that the work is actually done and how it can share is sec secondary to me but but at least yeah I just want to have some confidence we can see that it got

102done. So thank you for doing that follow-up work. >> Yeah absolutely for us I'm just envisioning a link to that somewhere posted. Um, that's how I took it. Not necessarily how you meant it, but for us. Um, so, um, we're all set. So, the motion, um, on the floor is that the Harford Board of Education adopt policy 5111.3, equal protection of students regardless of immigration status. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Any nays, abstensions? The eyes have it. The the motion moves. Thank you, Mr. um Attorney Wilson. And now we're moving to the consent agenda. Um we now move on to the consent agenda. Items on the consent agenda are 5.2 acceptance of funds NEAG grant um for Canelli School. This is the second year that Canelli has applied for and

103received the NEAK grant. The fund will pay existing staff to provide before and after school activities. And there's 5.3 contract approval for the lean flooring for SMSA and UHSSE gym floors to repair and refurbish the gym floors at SMSA and UHS. that have been that have not been refurbished since they were um originally installed. Um 5.4 first reading food services no charging policy. This is a statemandated policy. They are now requiring districts to have note that Harford Public Schools has not charged for breakfast lunch in over 20 years. 5.5 first reading bylaw 9321.2 Move consent agenda. This policy change would allow the board to have flexibility in moving the cons consent agenda first. 5.6 first reading. Um a batch of policies reviewed and no changes. This is a batch of policies that have not been

104updated for approximately 20 years. district staff have has reviewed and determined they are still good and do not need updating. Um, we'll add a review date at the bottom of those policies. 5.7 approval of minutes um from um October 21st, 2025. Um, any comments or questions on the consent agenda? Uh yeah, chair. Um I just wanted to clarify that the those batch policies um have been passed forward to the board with the recommendation of no change. There's still the potential that the board will read these policies and and we will have our own um recommended changes to those policies. >> Yes, this is the first reading. >> Okay. Any other comments or questions on the consent? Um, do I have a motion to vote on the consent agenda? >> So move. >> Second. >> All

105those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Nays. Abstensions. The motion moves. Y >> I'm going to recognize um Mr. Walker. >> Um thank you, Chair. Um [clears throat] I'm taking the privilege to um put into um the record a public comment uh in favor of uh advisory boards for uh the board of education. Uh in the spring of 2024, I proposed to the uh board the idea of a teacher advisory council to provide a an educator's voice to the board's work of evaluating contracts, proposals, and policies. Board leadership acknowledged the value of teacher voice, but more questions, concerns prevented the proposals approval. Uh I've reintroduced the teacher advisory council to the current board in 2025, expanded it to uh the advisory group to include parents, teachers, and community members. Uh the proposal

106uh failed to be approved again amidst questions about the value of an advisory group and how to implement it in the current board committee structure. Um so what are advisory so where are advisory boards used? Uh the Connecticut State Board of Education currently uses a number of advisory councils with teachers and others to provide expertise and insights on topics of concern to the state department of education. Um our our current um um Harvard public school board has directed superintendent and school leadership to create advisory council to provide forms for family, students, staff, and community partners to offer input and share feedback on school district programs, policies, and processes. Um the one group that's excluded from needing an advisory group is the board itself. Um um more broadly outside of Connecticut, uh Fairfax County Public Schools

107in Virginia, they have community advisory uh committees that are made up of community members, parents, students, and other stakeholders who provide input, advice, and recommendation to the school board on specific issues [music] and topics. Unlike standing committees composed primarily of schoolboard members or district staff, their advisory committees are designed to engage the broader community in the decision-making process, ensuring that diverse perspectives are considered. Now, what are the what are the benefits of advisory councils from our own website? Um the uh council's aim to ensure that the school district is responsive to the needs of its communities, promote collaboration and communications across the district, and to gather input and feedback. Now, I'm convinced that an advisory council will provide insights to make our board smarter in doing this work and uh am using the opportunity to

108introduce the advisory council idea to the community more broadly this evening and with future outreach. Um, I really would like to get feedback from the community about um its buyin with the the value of this kind advisory council and um and to understand its benefits and to help me better uh convey its value to my fellow board members. Thank you. >> Any input from any board members? We are We are all set for this e Oh. Oh, Mr. Wilson, we haven't heard your voice this evening. >> Yeah. Nope. Some things are unnecessary. Um uh it has nothing to do with the um the oped that was just read off there. Um I'd like to offer up our thoughts and prayers to the families that we have in our district. um in regards to the hurricane

109um that has um happened that's devastated Jamaica. Um we recognize that this is a very difficult time for those those families. Um and our again our thoughts and our prayers are with you. Um if there are people out there that want to support um and send aid or learn how they can be of any of assistance, you can go to um the West Indian Foundation, West Indian Foundation.org. Um there's a lot of information there on drop off spots for anything you want to donate or how you can volunteer your time um of um if you do have the time to do so and I would encourage everyone to do so. Um I understand with everything that's going on um families are are are strapped and they have a lot of constraints. Um so any assistance

110that is um that can be provided would be appreciated. So thank you. Thank you for that. I knew it. First by stairst ledger. Good evening. So, I just wanted to add um one of the islands that was devastated as well was from Hurricane Melissa, but we're not hearing much about it was the island of Haiti. Um, and there will be some relief efforts. Um, and there's more information coming up, but I would like to recognize that today is the actual um anniversary of the battle of Verier. Um, that was November 18th, 1803. And this was the final major military engagement of the Haitian Revolution. fought between Haitian revolutionary forces led by Jeanjac Deselene and the French colonial army under General Roshambo. It marked the decisive defeat of Napoleon's troops in St. Domain. The significance is

111it secured Hades independence leading to the declaration of the world's first black republic on January 1st, 1804. It represented the only successful largescale slave uprising in history to result in the creation of an independent nation. The victory dealt a major blow to European colonialism and inspired other movements for freedom across the Americas and beyond. Thank you for listening. With that said, the November 18th Board of Education meeting is adjourned. Thank you for joining us.